Otto's blog

Colombia v Japan

6月

20日

I finished work at 10pm, then went straight to Marquee Australian Bar in Gifu. I got (= arrived) there just in time for the second half of the Colombia-Japan game. I got (= bought) a beer then talked about the first half with a customer. She said a Colombian player got shown (= was shown, 出された/見せられた) a red card. Of course when Japan scored their second goal, the bar got (= became) pretty noisy. At full time, I got (= received) a free glass of champagne. Thanks, Chris!

Vocabulary
- As you can see, 'get' has many meanings.

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Yanagase Okinawan Restaurant

9月

17日

While looking at dinosaurs in Yanagase in Gifu (http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/249138/yanagase-dinosaur-display), I noticed (見かける) a new Okinawan-theme restaurant. We decided to have lunch there. I ordered Okinawan-style `souki soba` noodles. It was delicious. I decided not to drink Orion beer. I noticed they had root beer, so I ordered that instead (代わりに).

Sorry, I don`t remember the name of the restaurant, but if you look for it in Yanagase, or ask somebody there, I`m sure you can find it.

Grammar:
- decide [not] to 動詞 = 動詞[ない]ことにしました

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Pele`s Up Diner, Ginan

5月

27日

Upstairs from our Teragoya Ginan school is a restaurant called `Pele`s Up Diner`. I went there for the first time on Monday & tried one of their American-style hamburgers. It was really tasty. Yum!

The decor is great too. There`s even a `bobber`-style bike inside. If you have a chance, I recommend checking it out.

http://www.pelesup-diner.com/

Vocabulary:
- In Japanese, `bike` = バイク = motorbike
- In English, `bike` = motorbike OR bicycle, so:
I ride my bike to school = 自転車で学校に行きます
Do you have a bike license? = バイクの免許はありますか？

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Scones With Gerunds (どうめいし)

2月

27日

A student of mine had trouble making scones.
I recommended trying my recipe ( http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/160064/scones-recipe )
After trying my recipe, she was happy.
She gave me two of the scones which she made.
I enjoyed eating them.

It was a win-win outcome (outcome = result = こうけっか).

Thank you for making scones, Chikage!

Gerunds:
- have trouble ___ing
- recommend ___ing
- After ___ing
- enjoy ___ing
- thank you for ___ing

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Hot, Groovy & Embarrassing

2月

10日

When McDonald`s have a new kind of burger on sale, I like to try it. Today I tried their new `Hot & Groovy Beef Burger`. It`s a silly name & kind of embarrassing to order:

"Hi. Can I have one hot & groovy beef burger, please?"

Anyway, it tasted pretty good - a bit hot but not too much. I guess it tasted groovy too. I don`t know - what does 'groovy' taste like? Like gravy maybe?

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The Curious Case of the Cashew Nut

1月

27日

On Saturday night I went to Pinthai Thai restuarant in Gifu ( http://www.gifucomi.net/shop/shop.shtml?s=2711 ) with a bunch (= group) of friends.

As usual, the food was outstanding (= very good). One of the dishes we ordered was chicken & cashew nuts. I asked my friends, "Do you know where cashew nuts come from? It`s pretty strange." Nobody knew, so I explained (I once visited a cashew factory in Thailand), but I think nobody believed me.

By the way, the cashew apple is edible (= you can eat it) & it`s higher in vitamin C than oranges or even blackcurrants!

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Cocon Cafe, Gifu

11月

25日

This cafe is near Gifu Teragoya. Recently I noticed (きについった？) it & thought, "Mm, looks interesting!" but I didn`t go in.

Later, by chance (ぐうぜんに?) a Teragoya student told me that her friend is the owner, so I decided, "In that case, I`ll go!"

I`m glad I did. My meal was good & the furniture & decor was interesting to look at. Also, the owner was friendly & interesting to talk to. Her hobby/side-business is making ceramics. In fact, nowadays she has lots of ceramics orders, so... she`s closing this cafe soon!

If you want to go there, you should hurry.

Directions: When you walk out of our Gifu school, turn left & walk about 100 metres. It`s on the left, on the corner.

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Udon You Do & Udon You Don`t Wanna Try

11月

12日

Kagawa Prefecture is famous for udon-style noodles, so when I went to Kagawa, I ordered it at 2 different restaurants.

At the first place, it was average (= so-so). I was disappointed.

At the next place, it was great - really tasty (= delicious).

I`m glad I didn`t give up on my udon undertaking (企て/ くわだて).

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Wild Boar (いのしし) Curry Q&A

8月

4日

Q: Where did you get it?
A: At a souvenir (おみやげ)shop, on the way back (かえりがけ) from Fukui last weekend.

Q: How was it?
A: Not bad. The curry was pretty spicy though.

Q: Are there wild boar in Australia?
A: Yes, but they look a little different from Japanese wild boar.

Q: Is it a popular food in Australia?
A: No, but it`s popular in some parts of Europe, so Australia exports (ゆしゅつ) wild boar meat to Europe.

Q: You know quite a lot about wild boar.
A: Well... Hey, that`s not a question!

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