Began with Disasters ― 2024/01/03
Day 1: The 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake occurred, and tsunami warnings and advisories were issued along the almost entire coastline of the Sea of Japan side of the nation, including the Fukuoka area.
This is the first Tsunami advisory I have seen in my life. The actual height of the tsunami was 10 cm.
Day 2
A JAL airplane collided with a coastguard aircraft and burnt down.
A huge earthquake followed by a plane fire... Our New Year's festive atmosphere is completely ruined, as are the New Year special TV programmes that we watch half asleep every New Year.
This series of disasters has reminded me of the winter of 1982, when we had two calamities in a row, strangely also involving JAL. One was the fire at the Hotel New Japan on 8 February, which killed 33 people. The other was the (also) JAL plane crash on the following 9 February, which left 24 casualties.
I remember being surprised at the time, but not having a sense of the end of the world that I (and other people) have now, even though the scale and cause of the 1982 events might have been more hopeless and ridiculous than these two. Because I was much younger? or Japan as a whole seemed much more hopeful then?
Meanwhile... ― 2024/01/03
In Fukuoka, no damage has been reported so far. Nothing seems to have been washed away by the tsunami despite the tsunami advisory that lasted until 2am on 2 January.
Some people even enjoyed New Year fishing yesterday.
I thought about what I could do right now and decided on a few things to do:
1. Put off online and other shopping that involve long distance delivery until the logistics are back to normal;
2. Prepare to donate to the Japanese Red Cross for when it starts collecting donations; and
3. Stay fit and be extra careful with fire so that I don't have to rely on emergency services. These services may have sent their staff to the affected area and may not have enough personnel left at their stations.
Kohaku Utagassen 2023 ― 2024/01/04
Image retrieved from グランドオープニング | 第74回NHK紅白歌合戦
- Sorry in advance for not being politically correct (excuse has been made), but this time the show seemed to put too much emphasis on so-called "diversity", different ages, genders and sexual orientations, nationalities, races and physical characteristics (eh, disabilities, in short), but not political and religious identities. The performers were so varied the show ended up looking like a kind of chaos. I don't think I'm narrow-minded enough not to listen to people just because they are different. In fact, I tend to assume that anyone who can comprehend my great Japanese English, or my inconsistent Japanese is my friend, even if they don't think so. Anyway, while watching, I felt that heterosexual Japanese men with a wife and two children (a conventional archetype of Japanese), were excluded or simply treated as "wrong".
- Also, what we call "Chu-Ni Byo (14-year-old disease)", which used to be an underground culture, seemed to be accepted, or even saluted in the Kohaku. Girls and boys who might have been left out of the classroom in the past yelping merrily on stage should be something to celebrate. To be honest, it was a bit hard to watch. The more animated they were, the more pathetic and sadder they looked to my eyes.
- Was there ever a time in the history of Kohaku when there were only elderlies on stage like this? When I came across this view, I thought that I had mistakenly tuned in to another station broadcasting "Toshiwasure Nihon no Uta (Year-End Japanese song festival)" where you can see singers who were active during the Showa era. I prefer this if I go for oldies.
A breakthrough!
New Year's Feast and Its Leftover Dishes ― 2024/01/06
New Year's feast, served on the morning of 1 January. This year's speciality was homemade Datemaki made from Hanpen and eggs.
For the coffee time, I especially bought a loaf of butter cream cake. The cake looks so sinful because of its fat content that I only buy it once a year.
A thin slice, about three centimetres, is the maximum quantity I can enjoy without getting heartburn afterwards.
The protein and sugar I put into my body kept me full for the rest of the day. In the evening I even hoped to skip diner. But just in case...
On the morning of the second day of 2024, we still had the same menu, but in smaller quantities and on more casual tableware.
The pudding of the day was a defrosted Christmas leftover cake with whipped cream and banana.
(The sinful cake went into the freezer.)
After the 3rd of January it is usually about how we should eat up the leftovers. But this year, I had stocked less food because of the crazy price rises, and it was easier and quicker to clear out the fridge.
Oden lasted for a couple of days.
Kuromame went with yoghrut and Kinako as a light treat.
Kakuni turned into a topping of ramen and
was cooked with daikon and atsuage for a dinner on Day 3.
Today's Cats ― 2024/01/14
Through the barricades
Perfect day...
A Pleasant Surprise ― 2024/01/15
Today's snack was a doughnut, 110 yen, and canned coffee, 110 yen, at a local library. This humble snack turned out to be my first pleasant surprise in 2024.
Our local library has several vending machines, including one for snacks from Family Mart. I chose this doughnut by chance, without expectation, and was pleasantly shocked to find that it was exactly what I had been looking for all these years.
Its leavening agent is baking powder, not yeast. As a result, its texture is fluffy rather than chewy. Its texture is most, with some crunchy sugar mixed in - just like I used to have between films at a local cinema in my childhood. And its price is 110 yen!
Like the cream of corn-flavored snack I became obsessed with few years ago, Family Mart sometimes introduces a truly irresistible snack. I now hope that the convenience store will stock this product forever, or at least for the rest of my lifetime.
Winter Guests ― 2024/01/16
Migrant birds from the Eurasian continent used to be welcome guests, but these days I have to regard them as a pest carrying the bird flu virus. They are only doing what their instincts tell them to do, though.
Today's Cat ― 2024/01/31
A hotel and a cat. Can you fine him?
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