I`ve visited old red brick buildings in Handa & Tsuruga, but this collection of buildings in Maizuru is much bigger. It was interesting - I like these kinds of places. Also, because Maizuru is a JMSDF (Japan Marine Self-Defense Force) port, you can see their ships nearby. If you`re into that kind of...

I spent a few nights on this remote farm with my two sons & two older brothers. It`s about 5 hours west of Brisbane by car. We saw a lot of native wildlife e.g. kangaroos, wallabies & emus, and at night the stars were very bright - we could see the Milky Way (天の川) clearly. Every day we cooked our me...

At this restaurant in Ichinomiya, you can eat your meal inside this London double-decker bus. You can choose upstairs or downstairs. It`s interesting, isn`t it? Of course my kids loved it. Geeky dad enjoyed it too.This is their website: http://www.lodekka501bta39.com/Pronunciation:- In English, 'Lon...

On Sunday I went to see this old building in Handa, Aichi. It used to be a brewery (beer factory) but now it`s a museum. It`s an interesting building - you can still see machine-gun bullet (銃弾) holes in one outside wall, caused during World War 2. They don`t make Kabuto beer here anymore, but you ca...

When I was in Ichinomiya last Thursday, I noticed this bank had been renovated and was open to the public (公共), so I went inside. It looks nice. I especially enjoyed looking at the safe (金庫) at the back. Good job, renovators!Vocabulary:Be careful: 'リフォーム' is Japanese English!- WRONG: "They will refo...

This lovely old building is in Gifu City, near my school. It used to be a bank, but now it is a gallery. http://www.juroku.co.jp/aboutus/tetsumei_gallery/ The other day I popped out to buy lunch, and noticed that there was an exhibition there, so I popped in to take a look. It was interesting. The e...

Today I went to Inuyama Castle. After looking at the castle, I had lunch in this restaurant nearby. It`s interesting - it`s a converted* `kura`, which is a traditional, thick-walled storehouse. I like this kind of (こんな) building.Grammar:*convert = change, so:オーペンカー (Japanese English) = a convertible...

Day 2 was the toughest day of our trip - we had to climb a big mountain. Sometimes we rode, sometimes we walked, and sometimes I just sat down by the side of the road, ate a mandarin [mikan] (Ehime prefecture is famous for mandarins) and cried for a while. It was hard work.But coming down the other ...

We were on Shikoku for four days altogether. These are some photos from the first day. If you have any questions, please ask me in Comments. For example:- What kind of flowers are those in the second picture? A: They`re cosmos.- What kind of crab is that? A: Sorry, I don`t know. I saw a few of them ...

Have you been watching the Olympics? I`ve watched some events, but I`m only really interested in the football. Japan`s men`s & women`s teams have both done well. I`m really excited about the women`s final between Japan & The U.S. later tonight. The U.S. are desperate for revenge for their World Cup ...