On Sunday I played golf with some friends. It`s the first time I`ve ever played a round of golf in Japan.
The course was very different from the courses I`ve played on in Australia, which are quite flat. Like many Japanese courses, this course is in the hills, so it`s quite uneven, with forest & valleys all around. In fact, on a couple of holes, there was a forested valley instead of a fairway - I was nervous about teeing off on those ones!
It was very hot, but I enjoyed myself, & my score was okay. I managed to score `par` on a couple of holes, so I was pretty satisfied. Also, I didn`t lose many balls, & I didn`t get any blisters [mizubukure]- great!
Sometimes Pepsi in Japan brings out new, strange flavours such as cucumber, or shiso (a kind of herb leaf used in some Japanese dishes). Now you can buy `Salty Watermelon` flavour Pepsi!
Actually, it`s not so salty. If you can imagine raspberry soda mixed with soda water or tonic water, I think it tastes like that.
Although `salty watermelon` sounds very strange to non-Japanese people, it`s not so strange if you know that in Japan people sometimes sprinkle salt on watermelon when they eat it. In Australia nobody I know does this.
On Monday we went to Laguna Water Park in Gamagori. I thought it would only take one, maybe one & a half hours to drive there, but because of some bad traffic it took more than two hours. That`s pretty tough, especially with two restless kids in the back, an annoying Anpanman CD on auto-repeat, the car navigation system giving strange instructions, & the sun getting hotter & hotter... Oh...
Fortunately my wife was driving. I slept the whole way.
Laguna has various kinds of pool. We spent most of the time at the pool with the pirate ship. There are also various rides [norimono], but we didn`t go on any.
Afterwards we looked around the shopping centre across the road, & had dinner at a restaurant there called Washaganchi. Not only was the food very good, it also had a nice view of the marina. A great way to end the day!
This is their webpage:
http://www.laguna-gamagori.co.jp/index.html
On Sunday my family & I went to the Tanabata festival in Ichinomiya. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see the parade featuring Miss Tanabata. I was disappointed about that. But we were in time to see a huge `cosplay` parade, which included some foreigners (but not my friends. Well, not anymore anyway).
After that sight, I really needed a drink, so we walked to Masumida Shrine to have something to eat & drink, & watch some stage performances (school band, singers, traditional dancers, etc). I enjoyed that - it was nice & relaxing. And no coloured wigs.
Did you go to the Tanabata festival this year? Did you see the cosplay parade? Did you enter the cosplay parade?
One of Owen`s favourite books is The Little Red Caboose, so he was excited when we found two black cabooses near Ogaki Station. I`ve also seen the same type of caboose outside Leaf Walk Shopping Centre in Inazawa. I think they look pretty cool - old, tough & practical, but also kind of cute. Just like me! Right? Right? No?
It`s getting hot now, isn`t it? What do you like to eat in hot weather? Shaved ice [kakigori], which many cafes & restaurants serve in summer, is pretty good. Mizumanju (a jelly-like traditional Japanese sweet) is also cool & tasty, & you can get it at most supermarkets. Even better though, is... mizumanju IN shaved ice!
However, there`s only one place I know that sells it...
"Owen, grab your hat - we`re going to Ogaki!"
"Ogaki? Yada..."
"...to eat mizumanju! In shaved ice!!!"
"Iku!"
Of course it tasted great, & from another shop we bought some more mizumanju which we ate in the park by the castle. Finally, we got some to take home too.
On Sunday we had our annual Teragoya kids daycamp in Inuyama. First we prepared the barbeque & food. Then we cooked fried noodles [yaki soba], sausages, & chicken. We also made curry. I thought it was too much food, but the kids were hungry & there wasn`t much left over [nokoteiru].
After that we went hiking & looked for animals. You can see some of them in the photos (click to enlarge). A couple of kids also managed to catch some baby fish & shrimp in the river.
When we got back from hiking, we made marshmallow-chocolate sandwiches:
RECIPE - M.C. Sandwich
1. Put marshmallow on stick
2. Heat over bbq
3. Put between 2 chocolate-coated biscuits & squeeze
4. Eat
5. Say: a) "Mmm - yummy! b) Oh - so sweet! or c) Argh - my diet!
I think everyone had a good time, but maybe the local wildlife was glad when we left.
No Japanese business, product, prefecture, public service or personality is complete without its own character. So Teragoya has been asking students at our schools to submit designs for our own school character, who will be called `Tera`.
Here are some of the designs displayed on our lobby wall at Ichinomiya Teragoya. Can you guess which one is mine? Which one do you like?
(You can click on the photo twice to make it larger)
UPDATE: My design is in comments.
When I caught my loach [dojou] three or four years ago, it was only about 5 cms long. Now it`s about 15 cms. I decided it was finally time to release it.
Good bye & good luck Mr. Loach!
Now I can use his fish tank for breeding more killi fish [medaka].
On Wednesday Japan played Australia in a women`s football friendly (= not a competition or tournament). Japan were much better than Australia and won easily, 3-0. This is Japan`s last game before the Olympics. Australia are not playing in the Olympics, so I`ll definitely support Japan.
Japan`s men`s under-23 Olympic team played New Zealand on Wednesday and were much stronger, but N.Z. scored in the last minute of extra time, so the final score was 1-1. After the game, one of the Japanese players was crying, even though the game was just a friendly. That was pretty funny.
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