Flower shots

I have been bitching about this camera for almost 2 years as I have been unable to get it to take proper close-ups of flowers without blurring. I think I sussed it out today (click to enlarge). I was so happy. I wish I had a smell camera as they smelled to sweet, I want to remember the scent.

Club BBQ

Today was the hiking club's autumn BBQ at Shonai Ryokuchi Koen and we had perfect weather for it. When I think of BBQs, I think of rain, burnt burgers and wilted salad. I had no idea that the Japanese version would be so sophisticated! Ito-san cooked kajiki maguro (marinated tuna) and other fish on the hot plate, Takashi brought sushi, Masa made a Thai curry and there was also chicken, squid pasta and yaki soba (meat and noodles). Yum! I made some new friends including a lady who has tea parties, a girl who lives on my street and another lovely woman who spoke wonderfully slow, clear, simple Japanese so that I could understand everything :-)

BBQ photos here

After the BBQ a few of us went to see the roses in full bloom in the rose garden. It was also a good chance to see dogs decked out in their finest.

Want to see my etchings?

We just saw a lovely exhibition of over 100 of Rembrandt's etchings at the Nagoya-Boston Museum of Fine Art. My favourites were the biblical ones as they were so detailed. I also liked the way he portrayed street people, often sneaking in a self-portrait of himself as a beggar or something (see pic). I think that if Rembrandt were around today, he'd have great fun making etchings of people in Japan as there are some great costumes and hairstyles.

See more etchings on this website.

Again and again

We loved The Bird and the Bee! After the show we bought their EP and even got it signed by Inara and Greg. We were the only non-Japanese in the audience and I think we took them by surprise. Check them out on MySpace

Za ba-do ando za bee

Tonight we are going to a gig at Club Quattro. I had to ask for the tickets in my best "katakana" English (za ba-do ando za bee) because the girl didn't understand "The Bird and the Bee". I wonder what kind of crowd we will get...

Our local

We have a local pub. A real local pub like one you'd find in Ireland that does draft Guinness and has big wooden tables. You have to edit out the apartment block above it. The place is always, dark, empty and plays jazz. We went there last night for the second time with Michael, Dan and Wilailuck. It was nippy outside so felt nice and snug inside. The barman is frosty but pulls a good pint and knows his whiskeys. We think he's modeled himself on a character in a Haruki Murakami novel. We think the bar should be called Murphy's or Finnegan's, but we asked the barman again about its name: it's Frando (フランド) "because it is like a French bar". No, we couldn't work that one out either. There's nothing French inside, just lots of things with Guinness on. Strange place, but we will be back.

Another year, another school festival

Check out more pics here