I saw this cool Landrover in Fukui. I`ve never owned a Landrover, but I`ve always wanted one. I`ve just been looking at Landrovers like this one online & they are all manuals (ミッション). Unfortunately I`ve only got an automatic license. I`ve never needed a manual license in Japan - I`ve only driven automatic cars here.
Grammar:
- I have + never/always/only/just + 過去分詞
On Sunday I went with my two sons to a car show at Nagoya Port. They were really impressed:
"Wow! Cool!"
"Great! Look at that!"
"Look at this one - I like this one!"
"Daddy, buy this one, please!"
Actually, this was when they saw the food stalls outside.
Finally, after eating, we went inside the exhibition hall & looked at the cars. There were a lot of impressive cars. This was one of my favourites - a Ford Mustang.
Vocabulary:
- Be careful: impressed = 感じ入る impressive = 印象的
On Saturday night, after work, I went to a Thai restaurant* with some friends. It`s not far from central Gifu, & now it`s spring (春) it`s nice to walk at night, so we walked there. On the way, I saw this nice old car. It`s a 1960s Mazda Carol. What a cool little car!
I had a good time with my friends, but I didn`t stay out very late, so in the morning I felt fine.
Grammar:
- On Saturday... At night... On Saturday night...
- On Sunday... In the morning... On Sunday morning...
* http://tabelog.com/en/gifu/A2101/A210101/21011096/
I was watching my son play soccer and I noticed this car behind a building nearby. I think it has been there for a long time, because not only is the car rusty (錆び錆び) , but the wall behind it is rusty too!
I don`t know what kind of car it is. I guess it`s from the 1940s.
Vocabulary:
- rusty = 錆び錆び OR 腕が鈍る / 腕がおちた, so: "I lived in America & used English everyday, but then I moved back to Japan, and now my English is pretty rusty."
I was surprised to see a car like this in a place like Ichinomiya. It`s a 1967 Ford Mustang.
It`s similar to the one Steve McQueen drives around San Fransisco in a 1968 movie called `Bullitt`:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk9SZbrh_Tg
I hope the driver of the car that I saw in Ichinomiya never drives like that.
Vocabulary:
- 名詞 + like this/that = こんな/あんな + 名詞
- 動詞 + like this/that = こんな/あんなふうに + 動詞
When I went to The Toyota Automobile Museum ( http://www.toyota.co.jp/Museum/english/ ) a couple of weeks ago, I was amazed by the variety of cars. I had expected just Toyota cars, but there were also cars by Honda, Ford, MG etc. They were all in excellent condition. I was really impressed.
Which was my favourite? I can`t say - it`s impossible to choose.
When I see old cars, I really want to have one. Maybe when I retire I`ll get an old car and try to restore it. Unfortunately, I don`t know anything about car restoration. When I have time, I`ll study!
Grammar:
- When... 動詞... 動詞... (about always)
- When... 過去形動詞... 過去形動詞... (about the past)
- When... 動詞... will 動詞... (about the future)
- When... 動詞... 過去形動詞... etc. WRONG
- When... will 動詞... will 動詞... WRONG
Have you ever been to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology in Nagoya? I went there on Sunday. I was surprised to learn that Toyota started out as a textile (織物? 繊維? ) production company. I didn`t know that. The museum was interesting & there was a great area for kids called "Technoland". My kids played there happily for a couple of hours.
There were some cool old cars (and an ugly white one - see above) on display, but not many. To see lots of old cars, it`s better to visit The Toyota Automobile Museum. I want to go there next. I`ve never been there. Have you ever been there?
Grammar:
`Ever` is used in questions, but not usually in sentences:
- Have you ever + 過去分詞...? OK
- I`ve + 過去分詞... OK
- I`ve ever + 過去分詞... NO
On the way (途中に) to Ichinomiya Teragoya today I saw this old Porsche. Of course I didn`t take this photo while I was actually driving; I was stopped at a red light. I`m a safe driver.
By the way, you know that a big typhoon is on the way, don`t you? Are you ready?
Vocabulary:
- `ON the way` = 途中, but `IN the way` = 邪魔, so:
"Hey, you`re in the way - I can`t see the whiteboard!"
At first I thought this was a Triumph but actually it`s a Honda S800 (1966-70). I think it`s the first one I`ve ever seen. It was outside Gifu Teragoya yesterday so I went to take a photo. First I took a photo from the front, then... I didn`t get a chance to take any more photos because the owner came, got in, revved the engine noisily to impress me, then drove away.
Vocabulary:
- First... = まず...
- The first... = さいしょの...
- At first... = さいしょは...
I`ve been waiting ages (ages = a long time) for the chance to take a photo of this car. I knew this garage on Route 22 had it, but they always kept a cover on it. I could just see the wheels, & sometimes the rear bumper, but that`s all...
I waited and watched... waited and watched...
Finally (やっと) last week the cover was off & I could get some photos of it.
It`s a 1964/65 VW Type 34 Karmann Ghia. It`s kind of rare (めったにない) , so I think I`m lucky to have seen this one.
It looks a bit (a bit = a little) like an old Mazda Cosmo I saw: http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/190440/cool-car-in-kagawa
I really like it. How about you?
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