http://jp.bloguru.com/otto jpn http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/144718/eclipse
I bought special glasses in order to watch it. It was pretty amazing, and quite thought-provoking. As I watched, I thought about the sun & moon...
the universe...
life...
God...
breakfast...

Did you watch it? Did you stand in the garden in your pajamas, hoping the neighbours wouldn`t see you?
]]> 2012-05-21T23:10:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/144469/the-graduate
A young Dustin Hoffman
Simon & Garfunkel
A red Alfa Spider
Scenes full of retro
Pathos & humour
A bitter-sweet ending
These are a few of my favourite things!

I bought a used copy of the book by Charles Webb in Australia & brought it to Japan with me, but when I started reading it, I discovered it was missing some pages. I was quite disappointed.

So I can`t recommend the book yet, but I can recommend the movie.]]> 2012-05-18T23:27:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/144049/okinawa-souviners
(clockwise from left)
- chillis in Awamori alcohol
- a pineapple
- candy
- a lunchbox cloth
- `Shisa` lion-dog figures
- black sesame & salt seasoning

The pineapple was a gift from the landlady [ooyasan] of the cabin where we stayed. She is the owner of a pineapple farm. We ate a lot of pineapple while we were there...]]> 2012-05-14T23:53:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/143922/ishigaki-island-beachcombing
Here are some of the things I picked up from the beach at Ishigaki Island. I found a lot of small cowrie shells, which I like. Unfortunately they`re quite sun-bleached (dry & white). Maybe one day I`ll try to polish them and make them shiny.

Do you like beachcombing? What do you like to pick up?]]> 2012-05-13T16:09:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/143553/challenge
Can you guess what it was?

UPDATE: Answer is in comments]]> 2012-05-10T00:11:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/143449/ishigaki-island-okinawa-more-pics - hibisicus flower
- butterfly (sorry, I don`t know what kind)
- palm nuts
- silver-eye bird
- Ishigaki Island beer

*click on the picture to enlarge]]> 2012-05-09T00:45:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/143328/ishigaki-island-okinawa
Of course I went snorkelling & saw lots of colorful tropical fish. I also saw a stingray [レイ], a big brown moray eel [ウツボ], & a massive white sea cucumber [ﾅﾏｺ]. I have an underwater camera, so I spent a lot of time trying to take photos of fish (but not the moray eel - those things are scary. And not the sea cucumber -they`re kind of disgusting). It was fun, but tiring.

There were also a lot of nice butterflies - I saw at least 15 kinds of butterfly that I`d never seen before. There were also a lot of hermit crabs [yadokari]. They`re pretty funny.
]]> 2012-05-07T22:55:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/141461/music-you-might-like-antenna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq_x9kLQLLg&feature=related

There are things I like & don`t like about this song & video:
- I like the song.
- I don`t like the singer.
- I like the guitarist – Dave Faulkner from excellent 80`s/90`s (& recently reformed) band The Hoodoo Gurus.
- I don`t like his cap though (he`s trying to hide that he`s going bald [hage])
- I`m not sure about [bimyo] his shirt either.
- I`m definitely not sure about [sugoi bimyo] the singer`s shirt - wow!
- The lyrics are a bit rubbish: “Come on spring. Do your thing. What`s your story? Come on spring. Do your thing. Have you got something for me?" Yawn [akubi].
- But, as I said, I like the song. I hope you do too.]]> 2012-04-18T23:54:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/141221/challenge
UPDATE:

Answers are in comments!]]> 2012-04-16T13:37:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/140709/kasamatsu-minato-park-cherry-blossoms
The next day I took my wife, kids and hangover to look at the cherry blossoms at Kasamatsu Minato Park, which you can see in this picture.

Have you been to see the cherry blossoms yet?]]> 2012-04-11T02:53:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/140202/postcard-from-ise
Another reason is that I just enjoy writing & sending postcards.

Do you have Teragoya`s address? Please send us a postcard sometime!
]]> 2012-04-06T02:15:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/139925/11
I went riding around there a few years ago, & afterwards did this woodblock print (10x16cm). I wonder if he recognises this place?

If you have the chance, I recommend a visit - it`s peaceful & scenic, with a nice river. You can get there by train from Ogaki (it`s the last station on the line).]]> 2012-04-03T12:05:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/139363/ise
Unfortunately, on Sundays there are also a lot of people & cars - it took a long time to park our car!

If I go to Ise again, I`ll try to go on a weekday (Monday to Friday).

[*click on the image to enlarge]]]> 2012-03-29T00:28:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/138785/lets-to-horse
I really wonder what `Let`s to horse!` means. Maybe:
- Let`s ride a horse!
- Let`s ride two horses!
- Let`s horse around! (horse around = be silly)
- Let`s go to a place that has horses!
- Horses to let! (to let = rental)

Hmm. It`s a bad English mystery.]]> 2012-03-23T01:39:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/138536/osu-kannon-markets
Most of the stuff on sale is old or antique. It`s interesting - some things look like junk, but they`re valuable. Other items may look valuable, but actually they`re junk. Then there are things like this toy car that I bought - it looks like junk, and... well, it IS junk! But I don`t mind. When I saw it, it really caught my eye, and Owen liked the opening doors ("Look - now it`s an aeroplane!").

And one day, when I`ve forgotten where I bought all my kids` toys, I think I`ll still remember where I bought this car.]]> 2012-03-20T23:47:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/138081/lyles-golden-syrup-label
It`s a dead lion.

With flies buzzing around it.

Nice.

UPDATE: My mother (in comments) says they are bees, not flies, & explains the reason. ]]> 2012-03-16T00:59:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/138074/anzac-biscuits-recipe
Ingredients:
125g butter
150g plain flour
90g oatmeal
65g desiccated/shredded coconut
150g sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup (or honey is okay)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1. Melt butter with golden syrup, then mix all ingredients together
3. Make balls, about 5cm diameter
4. Put on tray, put in oven
5. Cook at 150 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes

Easy!]]> 2012-03-15T23:33:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/137963/white-day If you`re not Japanese, you probably don`t know about `White Day`. In Japan, girls often give chocolate to guys on Valentine`s Day, then guys can give chocolate or cookies/biscuits to girls on March 14, White Day.

I made these biscuits for my workmates. They`re called ANZAC biscuits. I`ll post the recipe soon.]]> 2012-03-14T23:55:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/137767/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows Today my wife & I went to see `Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows` at the cinema. We haven`t been to the movies for ages (ages = a long time). In fact, I think the last movie we went to was the first Sherlock Holmes movie! Anyway, like the first one, it was very entertaining.

The lead actor, Robert Downey Junior, is very good, although his character, like many things in the movie version, is quite different from in the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Have you read any of them? I`ve read them all - they`re great!]]> 2012-03-12T23:18:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/137497/algarve-cup-final Did you watch any of the games? ]]> 2012-03-09T23:58:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/136329/cool-cars-in-ichinomiya-14
More likely it`s what you get from a mechanic with free time, spare parts, & a sense of humour.

Because the engine is in the back of VW Beetles, there must be quite a lot of space under the bonnet/hood in this car - pretty handy.

What do you think of it?]]> 2012-02-28T11:13:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/135991/happy-birthday-to-me Today`s my birthday. I won`t tell you my age, but if you want to know, you can look at the calendar in my classroom - some students kindly wrote my age there in big numbers. Thanks, guys!

As you can see, some students also wrote birthday messages on my whiteboard.

My students really like me, don`t they? I guess they must also like getting extra homework...]]> 2012-02-24T15:47:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/135820/ichinomiya-field-athletics-park If you`re bored with the standard 2 swings [blanko] and 1 slippery slide [suberi daiso] at your local park, how about checking out this place? It`s next to the planetarium (*my previous blog post).

It was a bit too difficult for Owen, who has only just turned 3 years old, but he still seemed to enjoy trying the different challenges with my help. I think it`s more suitable for kids aged between about 4 and 11.

My wife told me she went there when she was a kid, so it`s been there for a long time... Do you know it? Have you ever been there?

Here`s a link:
http://hamada-sports.com/ichinomiya_chiikibunka/ichi/facility/athletic.html]]> 2012-02-22T22:33:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/135742/ichinomiya-planetarium
This is the website:
http://hamada-sports.com/ichinomiya_chiikibunka/ichi/index.html

We went there on Sunday. The last time I went to a planetarium, I fell asleep as soon as the lights dimmed. But not this time! This time I stayed awake. For 10 minutes. Then I fell asleep. And snored [ibiki o kakita], according to my embarrassed wife.

Anyway, it was only 60 yen to enter - really cheap. And it was pretty interesting (well, the first 10 minutes was anyway!). So if you have kids, or you`re interested in astronomy, or you can`t sleep, I suggest visiting Ichinomiya Planetarium.]]> 2012-02-22T00:49:00+09:00 http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/135629/character-toilet-paper
Speaking of which [so ieba], did you know Teragoya sells `Let`s Study English` toilet paper? My wife bought a packet of that too... We have a lot of toilet paper in our house now! ]]> 2012-02-20T20:22:00+09:00