New Year, New Machine ― 2011/01/03
My 2011 started with a new ThinkpadTM.
Could I introduce my new machine that is the successor of my old IBM which died in the beginning of December last year?
Even if you are not pleased, I will show off the latest technology (by my standard, don’t forget I am a member of the generation of 5-inch floppy) anyway.
Compared with its predecessor, this machine has lots more advanced feature. My old machine was made in 2005. For these five years, technologies seem to have advanced beyond my recognition.
The trackball(the Stone Age thing for you?) became firm and textured with the grid on the surface.
The new feature that surprised me is the fingerprint identification system.
When I turn on the machine it asks me to slide my finger on this device.
What would you call this, fingerprint reader or scanner?
But when my hand is rough, the machine seems to hesitate to decide whether it should accept me. I have to take care of my finger to be recognized as myself…
Although this machine could do millions of things I would never imagine, I don’t know how many of the advanced functions I happen to find in my lifetime.
I think this machine is now mourning its fate - "I wasn't made to be bought by such a novice "...
His Winter Cottage ― 2011/01/04
During winter he is kept warm in blankets and solid door set at the entrance of his house.
On the day I visited him, he came out to show off his winter accomodation.
This is my first time to have seen him awake and standing boastfully. During summer he was always lying on the ground, showing that he had no energy to do anything.
( posted in August)
* This entry is written in 2010 when the weather was not as terrible as now.
Sukiyaki Udon ― 2011/01/05
680 JPY (not 100%sure)
This is one of our winter delicacies.
You know Sukyaki, don’t you? A kind of stew in which thinly sliced fatty (the more you pay for your meat, the fattier it is) beef and various vegetables (leeks, hard Tofu and Konjac strips are the popular ingredients, but my mother used to add chopped Chinese cabbage and garland chrysanthemum probably in order to feed the 6 family members within her budget) are cooked in sweet and salty sauce. After eating up the main ingredients, we cook Udon noodles in the residue of the sauce to fill up our stomach. Without carbohydrate, we can’t finish our meals, you see.
I personally prefer the udon to the main Sukiyaki. Softly cooked udon that have soaked up all flavor (and fat) of the main ingredients can’t be more delicious.
Usually, Sukiyaki is quite a feast. You need to be prepared to spend most of your food budget for the good beef—at least in my household.
Then, here is a cheaper alternative. Many udon restaurants in this town (possibly nationwide) offer a menu called Sukiyaki Udon, udon cooked with a bit of beef, vegetables (in addition to the vegetables I mentioned above, in this case there were few slices of carrots), and egg, costs you less than 700JPY.
Anyway, something piping hot is the best feast in winter, particularly after walking in biting cold wind.
By the way, this Udon restaurant was one of my drop-in spots when I was a high-school girl. At that time I could only afford to a bowl of ‘plain’ udon (no topping, whatever, just noodles and soup) .
I just longingly watched the samples displayed at the entrance.
Now I can indulge myself in the luxury of sukiyaki udon. What a successful life!
Officially New Year ― 2011/01/06
After being housebound for a whole week due to bad weather, I finally got out of my flat to breathe in fresh air.
While cycling around, I found a new year ornament put up in the entrance of a local ward office(picture above). Driven by curiosity, I cycled around there to see whether other public institutions displayed the sign of New Year. I had a look at the entrances of a tax office,
a health centre,
and a police station.
No building indicated any festive atmosphere. They look operating their business as usual, as if nothing had happed.
I wonder why only ward offices (and maybe the City Hall) had budget to buy the ornament I this age of austerity…
Or did people working in the office share the cost? Very unlikely, I think, though.The Dogly Dog ― 2011/01/07
In biting wind, this dog was patiently waiting for his master in front of a local library.
Unlike spoilt little dogs wearing (or worn) fancy jumper (despite the fact that most of them are originally bred in colder countries) and cuddled in their owners’ arms, this dog stood straight alone in chilling weather, without any protection.
You are the dog of dogs!
The successor of Hachiko the dog!
I screamed in my mind (in case I might look weird).
Fluffy Buds ― 2011/01/09
Magnolia trees lining local streets have begun to
bud. In freezing weather, seeing the furry buds gives me a sense of warmth.
During this season, aftermath of festive season when the temperature drops to almost zero and it rains, rains, and sometimes snows, it feels that spring will never come. But these buds convince me that spring is actually approaching.
New Year's Find ― 2011/01/10
At last, I have made a New Year visit to a local shrine.
Without visiting a shrine(not for any religious reasons, but because of my gift to make up excuses for loafing), I can’t start a new year. Now I am feeling like having completed an overdue homework.
In the entrance of shrines, usually there is a stone water basin where you are supposed to rinse your hands and mouth (if you don’t mind transmitted diseases through indirect contacts) .
So there should be water dippers to scoop the water from the basin. While most of the ladles in other shrines are commercial products made with metal or plastic, this shrine shows its individuality with these bamboo ladles
which seemed to have been made with bamboos growing in the shrine site.
The vivid green colour and the fresh material boost the festive and solemn feeling of New Year shrine visit.
Also, this dipper looks quite up-to-date in the recent “how far can you be eco-friendly?” craze.
I would love to get one as a souvenir of my visit, but they weren’t on sale. Instead, the shrine offers fortune-telling papers called Omikuji accompanied by a variety of tiny free gifts.
Today's Cat ― 2011/01/11
Why are his whiskers drooping?
Is it too cold for him to keep the whiskers straight?
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