Memories of Nagano ― 2023/07/20
I saw incredible (in many ways) things there.
いろいろスゴいものを見せてもらいました。
This is an incredible nostalgic shopping street; I would call these landscapes "Modern Kare Sansui" or "Hidden Legacies of Showa Era."
いまどき珍しい商店街もありました。こうなるともはや枯山水。または隠し昭和遺産。
I thought we couldn't get away from here when I strayed into this path. In reality, this is used as a local walking path and a kind local helped us and told how to get to a railway station which was only 10 minutes from here.
ここに迷い込んだときはもう帰れないと思いました。が、実際は地元の人のウォーキングコースになっていたらしく、通りすがりの親切な方が駅への行き方を教えてくれました。駅まで歩いて10分でした。
A stove in a local railway station,,,I wish I could see this in operation...
駅にストーブが…。火がたかれているところが見たかったなあ。
And local people seemed to have a great appetite...especially for deep-fried items. This is something called "Sorce Katsu Don"・900 yen. I couldn't eat up all of the three cutlets on the rice.
そして地元の皆さんは大変食欲旺盛と見ました。特に揚げ物好き？これは「ソースカツ丼」(900円)というものです。カツが3枚乗っていたのですが、私は全部食べ切れませんでした。
Tonkatsu+Spaghetti+Tempura served on heated baby griddle called "Carso," probably less than 1000 yen.
これはスパゲティナポリタンにとんかつと天ぷらがついて、熱い鉄板に乗って出てきたもの。「カルソ」（たしか1000円以下）というそうです。
The Madam of this restaurant kindly offered me cooked dry beans and Shiso juice for free of charge...I wished I had been a 16-year-old boy doing baseball or Judo so that I could reward her generosity by wolfing them down at once...
このレストランのマダムはおまけに煮豆とシソジュースをつけてくれました。一気に食べて見せて喜んでいるところを見せたかったのですが、16歳の運動部の男子ではないので無理でした。
A Fukuokan in Toyama ― 2023/07/18
In mid-June, we went to Toyama for a couple of days. Here are this and that I saw and thought there.
6月中旬に、2，3日富山に行ってきました。
First of all, I felt everything and everyone was calm and gentle. At first, I thought the receptionists at the hotel and tourist information desk were sulky and disengaged, but they were reasonably attentive and responded quickly to what I asked. Not being showy might be their locality.
最初に思ったのは、何もかも静かだなあということ。ホテルのフロントの人や観光案内所の人も、最初は機嫌悪い？やる気ない？と思ったのですがそんなことはなく、普通に親切で、頼んだことはすぐにやってもらえました。わざとらしくない、というのが県民性なのかもしれません。
The town itself felt calm and gentle, too. Parks (most of which looked quite old) and paths were very well maintained and kept clean. I thought the local government spent the tax money wisely for people actually living there, not for foreign investors and tourists.
街そのものも静かで落ち着いた感じでした。道も公園（どれも古くからあるような雰囲気でした）もよく手入れされていてキレイ。市役所は外国の投資家とか観光客のためではなく、住民のために税金を（賢く）使ってるんだろうなあ。
It could be safe to say you could get lost without having to worry about safety, which is one of attraction when traveling unknown towns. I assume I wouldn't get easily involved in crime, or kidnapped, or killed here
ここなら、迷子になっても大丈夫そう。知らないところで「安全に」迷うというのは、旅行の楽しみでもありますしね！そうそう犯罪に巻き込まれたり、誘拐されたり、殺されたりしなさそうです。
Food was nice. Probably nicer than those we could access in Fukuoka. Even at very ordinary-looking shopping center next to the central station, we could enjoy fresh sashimi and other seafood dishes, even though it was rainy season when we have to be very careful about food poisoning. I guess they don't export locally caught seafoods to our neighboring countries.
食べ物もよかった。福岡よりも失敗が少なそうな感じ。梅雨時で食中毒が心配だったのですが、駅ビルの中にあるどうってことない食堂でもお刺身や魚がおいしく食べられました。地元の魚を外国に輸出してないのかもしれません。
A quick language lesson: they call escalators "eska."
エスカレーターのことは「エスカ」というらしいです。
There was a mini showroom of Mitsuoka Motors in a small shopping center. Very Toyama. I hope to visit the main showroom with cafe.
小さいショッピングセンターの中に光岡自動車のミニショールームがありました。さすが富山。今度はカフェ付きのショールームに行ってみたいです。
Regarding the transportation, as long as moving around within the urban area, it was relatively simple and useful. I didn't feel it difficult or complicated to get around with a one-day ticket at 630 yen, which allowed me to limitless travel with a variety of mobilities including the LRTs and buses within the designated zone.
街中であれば、移動もそれほど難しくありませんでした。1日乗車券（路面電車などが乗り放題で630円）でわりとどこにでも行けました。
As a whole, I think Toyama was a quite good choice as a travel destination. I felt at ease there and didn't feel an unreasonable urge I tend to feel here. If I lived there I wouldn't have to be so self-conscious as people didn't seem to pay much less attention to other people's appearance as well as their own (sorry!). On top of that, there were much fewer tourists: this is the best thing!
まとめて言えば、富山は旅行先としてかなり良い選択肢だと思います。ゆったりした気分になったし、福岡で感じがちなよく分からない焦る気分とも無縁でいられました。もし富山に住んだら、福岡ほど見た目で値踏みされないのかもしれません。皆さん人の（ご自分のも含めて）見た目にはあまり関心がなさそうでしたし（失礼！）。何よりいいのは、観光客が少なかったことです。
This town might not exciting enough for young or young-at-heart people but was perfect for me to enjoy a sense of being away from everyday concern, good food and hotels at relatively reasonable prices.
I wish I could get there more easily, by few hours on Shinkansen, for example.
若い人や気が若い人にとっては、富山は盛り上がらない場所かもしれませんが、日常の面倒くささから離れて、おいしいものといいホテルをそこそこの値段で利用できる点では、すごくいいところだと思いました。
もうちょっと近かったら（新幹線で2～3時間くらい？）いいのになあ。
Do You Remember Him? ― 2022/09/09
To be perfectly honest, I was surprised but didn't feel much loss when former Prime Minister Mr. Abe was shot dead.
But having witnessed the recent "state funeral” mess, I began to feel sorry for him, not for his tragic death, but for the humiliation he has received after passing away.
If Mr. Kishida had not declared to hold the event so swiftly, Mr. Abe's death wouldn't have been used as a source of a political strife, his "dirty" side and his and his family's relationships with a particular group may not have been further dug up. These mess may well have damaged his image rather than promoting feelings of mourning for him nationwide. Also, it has been reported not many important people would make a visit to the government-led funeral as it hopes which is also embarrassing and face-ruining). Meanwhile, now comes the greatest Queen's passing away, for which everyone all over the world can unconditionally offer their condolence.
Those who bother to feel sorrow for him seem to be very limited, I think, except for his close family members and me, a woman with a great amount of spare time, in other words, jobless.
I was not a big fan of him when he was alive and active and am rather against the "everyone is a good person once they're dead" culture, but I began to wonder whether he deserved to be humiliated to this extent.
Before holding such a "grand" event, can anyone do anything for Mr. Abe's SNS account, which is still left untouched. It kind of reminds me of a roadkill.
Image retrieved from 安倍晋三（@AbeShinzo）さん / Twitter
on 2022/09/10
Reference:
安倍さんが撃ち殺されたときには、驚きましたが、正直言ってそれほど悲しい気持ちにはなりませんでした。
むしろ、ここ最近の「国葬」騒ぎを見ると、死んだ人にそこまで恥をかかせなくても...と、気の毒になります。
岸田さんがあんなに慌てて「国葬」って言いださなければ、安倍さんが亡くなったことによる変なごたごたもなかっただろうし、安倍さんの「人には言いにくい」事情や、ご自身とご家族が結んでいた特定の団体のとの関係がじゃんじゃん明るみに出てくることもなかったのかもしれません。こんな騒ぎになったら、国を挙げてその死を悼むどころか、安倍さんのイメージが悪くなるのでは。政府が期待したほど多くの重要人物が弔問に来るというわけでもなさそうですし（これも恥ずかしいし、面目丸つぶれ）。そこにもってきて世界で一番有名な、誰もが遠慮なく追悼の意を表す女王様が亡くなるという惨事。
安倍さんについてお気の毒に...と心を痛めているのは、近いご遺族と私（仕事がなくてめちゃくちゃ暇なおばちゃん）だけなのでは、という気がします。
私は安倍さんがご存命でご活躍の間は、熱烈なファンというわけでもなかったし、「死んだらみんないい人」的な風潮を全肯定するわけではないけれど、死んだ人にここまで恥をかかせなくても...ねえ。
そんなに大騒ぎをするよりも、安倍さんのSNSを何とかできないのかなあ。亡くなる前日からまったく変わっていなくて、言葉は悪いけど、車にひかれた何かがいつまでも道端に放置されているような感じなんですけど。
Library Souvenirs ― 2022/06/24
Grocery stores and libraries are one of prioritized places to visit when I travel. I like having a cup of coffee at the library café, and if I found library shop, I couldn't be happier.
These are some reminder of my journey.
With them, I will never be short of library bags (and possibly grocery bags) in the rest of my life.
And this pin badge makes me smile.
At a library of a northern town, I asked at the reception desk whether they dealt with any merchandise. Then the young man at the counter brought this from somewhere. I would have definitely looked suspicious for him: a flat-faced obachan suddenly appeared and abruptly questioned him in heavily accentuated English. If I were him, I might have called the police. I'm sorry. But you made my trip a happy one.
I wish I could travel like that one day again.
旅行した時には、スーパーマーケットと図書館に行くのが楽しみです。図書館喫茶でコーヒーを飲むのもいいし、売店があれば言うことなしです。
私の旅行の記念品を紹介します。これだけあれば、もう図書館バッグ（とおそらくエコバッグ）には一生困らないでしょう。
このピンバッジにはちょっとした思い出があります。
北の町の図書館に行ったとき、受付で何か売っているものはないか聞いてみると、係のお兄さんがどこからともなくこれを持ってきてくれました。今思い出すと、どう見ても不審者ですね。平べったい顔のおばちゃんがどかどか入ってきて、唐突に、強烈に訛った英語で何か売れと迫ったわけだし。私だったら警察呼ぶかも。お兄さん、すまん。でも、おかげで楽しい旅行になりました。
またああいう旅行ができるようになるといいなあ。
Only on NHK? ― 2022/03/24
Is NHK the only broadcaster in the world that shows news programs from both Ukraine and Russia?
The subtitles read: How the things are reported in each country.
On the same channel, you can watch news from various countries, including USA, China, India and France. I currently tend to focus of Singaporean news programs.
A Memory of Rugby World Cup ― 2019/11/02
I don’t intend to put a damper on the joy of the sport…but is it OK for the Westerners to put on this headband…particularly ones carrying the word “Kamikaze (神風)”?
This reminds
me of WWII and the related extreme sentiments at the time which made absolutely
no one happy.
A Half-Day Scandinavian Trip ― 2019/09/30
To make the most of my three-month bus pass due to expire soon, the other day I launched a half-day excursion to taste the Scandinavia as much as I could.
Ikea is the first place I think of when I hear the word “Scandinavia”. For me it is simply impossible to go there by bike or on foot. But this bus pass allowed me to visit there for the first time in my entire life. I took a two-hour bus ride to there.
On my way, I came across a couple of exotic place names.
I felt being outside of my territory, and get more excited.
On arrival, as I do at every airport I step on, I had a snack before exploring.
This is my first Scandinavian meal. The meatballs were colder than I expected—probably because Sweden is so cold that food can get cold quickly!!
Regarding the Scandinavian shopping, it was a bit tricky for me to find anything useful for my everyday life…I guess you need a special talent to make your room stylish and quality-looking with these things…Sadly, I don’t seem to have such a gift myself… To be honest, it should be easier for me to shop these kind of things at Sakoda or Nitori or even GooDay.
For what did I spend two hours on bus? To have a reheated frozen food (which was cold)?
Little disappointments are one of those things when you travel abroad, yeah?
Having enjoyed a full of Scandinavian air (without having to speak any foreign language), I headed to my next destination, H&M.
Again, having bought nothing, I just enjoyed the air of Sweden and some fluff getting into my nostrils.
Strange… I certainly enjoyed shopping at H&M 10++ years ago.
Is it time to admit that I can not get along with Scandinavia? Or am I just too old to appreciate Scandinavianess on this aspect?
Railway Feast ― 2018/02/10
On our way home, we had a chance to enjoy some Osaka food.
I tried a curry udon, which I often cook at home but have never tried professionally cooked.
...I think my idea of curry udon has been quite different from marketed ones...
This is just a boxed lunch sold at a station.How can they provide this exquisite and carefully cooked meal under 1,000 yen?
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