Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Fireplace

     I think all the canadian condominiums have a fireplace. At least all the condominiums that I used had fireplaces. The purpose of a fireplace is, of course, to get warmth, but I guess these fireplaces also have the stage-effect of the canadian lifestyle. This fireplace that I'll show you below is easily ignited by the button. The fuel was the gas, not wood. It might be better than a wood based fireplace from the viewpoint of the prevention of fire. However, to tell the truth, I prefer wood burning fireplaces. I'd like to sip a brandy while listening to the crackling sound of burning wood.

(Vocabulary)
stage effect  舞台効果
crackling  パチパチ［バリバリ］いう音

Kitchen

     I'm showing you the kitchen. Condominiums are still uncommon in Japan, but I like this type of accommodation. I can enjoy food and alcohol that are produced locally. I can choose any food that looks good or intersting and sometimes that I don't know at the IGA (a Canadian supermarket). Such shopping is one of the pleasures while staying at a condominium abroad.
     I've one more thing that I should talk about. This condominium has various kinds of cooking utensils. As for some of them, I don't know how to use them. I'm a man of curiosity and it is also fun seeing and thinking about these utensils.
     Needless to add, but we are keeping two dozen beer and some bottles of wine in the fridge.

(Vocabulary)
accommodations (米)(複数扱い) (accommodation [U](英) とも) 宿泊（設備）, 収容施設
[C,U](フォーマル) 和解, 調停
reach an accommodation  和解する
cooking utensil    料理道具
Needless to add,  言うまでもないが

BC Roll

     I saw my youngest daughter and other friends in our condominium. They came here two days earlier than me. They had just come back from the mountain. It sounded like they had really enjoyed skiing for the last two days.
     They wanted to eat some Japanese dishes for dinner and we went to a Japanese restaurant, "Sachi Sushi", meaning a happy sushi. This restaurant was near our condominium. All the dishes were very delicious and I remembered that Vancouver was rich in seafood. I am showing you a picture of sushi we ordered. The sushi that we eat in Japan is not always the best in the world.

No Peanuts

     I realized that a passenger sitting diagonally forward on the right had received her breakfast first. The same thing was true for her dinner. I'm a man of curiousity. I couldn't overlook this fact. I observed her breakfast and figured it out. "No Peanuts" was written on the red sticker on her breakfast. She must have an allergy to peanuts and was given a peanut eliminated meal.
     I've no allergy to food, but I'm thinking of asking for meals for people who have some allergies to food just out of curiosity. I'm interested in the taste of such meals.

(Vocabulary)
diagonally forward on the right　　右斜め前に

Breakfast

     This is the breakfast set two hours before landing. It was too simple and small for me. I said so to a CA only half seriously, and she gave me some bread. Lucky!
     An announcement about the data on the screen was made about the time almost all the passengers had finished their breakfast. It said that daylight savings time had already started in Canada and the destination time on the screen was not correct. They asked us to move our watch forward by one hour. I wondered if it was much earlier than usual to change to daylight savings time. I wanted to know why, but the cabin attendants looked busy and I refrained from asking. I remembered what had happened two years ago. http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/04/daylight-saving.html

(Vocabulary)
only half seriously    半分冗談で

Dinner in Japan Airline (JAL)

     One of the pleasures in the plane is the in-flight meal. I took pictures of four meals both ways. This picture is the dinner that was served two hours after boarding. Various beverages were delivered with them. I asked for a small bottle of red wine and a cup of coffee. My evaluation about this dinner is not bad, but I didn't like the pasta. If I were a manager of the in-flight food, I would serve Japanese top-class rice for the passengers who aren't familiar with rice as the principal foodstuff.

(Vocabulary)
staple 必需食料品
staples like flour and rice 小麦粉や米などの必需食料品
principal food / principal foodstuff   主食
foodstuff  食品, 食料品

Ainu Cuisine

     I rushed my work until noon and as soon as I finished seeing the last outpatient I changed clothes into a casual outfit and went out of the office, before being caught and asked something by staff members. It was like a get-away from real life. I came by my house, picked up my baggage and left for the airport.
     About one hour's flight was comfortable in bright weather and a stable current of air. I arrived at Haneda airport (Tokyo) about four o'clock. Afterwards I deposited my baggage in a hotel and started out for Nakano station, which was the designated spot that my daughter and I would get together.
     Why Nakano? It's because the one and only restaurant in Japan that serves Ainu cuisine is near Nakano station. Since I visited Ainu Museum last summer, I got interested in the life of Ainu people. What was it like? http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/porotokotan.html

     The shortest answer was that the dishes were very good. One thing I was suspicious about was whether Ainu people had such good oil and seasonings. I put pepper on my venison steak and I wondered, "Is it the proper way to enjoy Ainu cuisine?" Either way, we enjoyed Ainu cuisine and the crafts that were displayed in the restaurant. http://kumo.typepad.jp/photos/ainu_cuisine_mar_2008/index.html

     I was going to put up at her dormitory. Her dormitory is only for women and has some guestrooms for men in the basement. However, she forgot to make a reservation and there was no vacancy, so I stayed at the nearest hotel.

(Vocabulary)
rush one's work    大急ぎで仕事をする
call in / come by  立ち寄る
an air current / a current of air  気流
one and only one   唯一の
The shortest answer is .....    一言でいえば、
I put some pepper on it.   コショウをかけた
either way　どちらにしても
craft [C] （手）工芸, クラフト
put up at 〔ホテル・家などに〕泊める、泊まる
venison  シカ肉

Venison Steak

（ＫＷ：レラ・チセ レラチセ アイヌ料理 ポロトコタン）

CANADA Again! See You Soon!!

     I'm going to visit Vancouver and Whistler in Canada tomorrow. I'll bring digital cameras and a DVD video camera. After coming back I'll post the diary, photos and motion pictures of the Canadian days.
     I'll stay in Tokyo and have dinner with my eldest daughter in an Ainu cuisine restaurant tonight. I have been eager to taste it after visiting an Ainu Museum last summer.
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/porotokotan.html

Valentine's Day

     I received an interesting present on Valentine's Day. The giver is a nurse in my hospital who has a cat. She is crazy about cats. The gift from her is a cookie for dogs, which is shown in the picture.
     Many women present chocolates to men on Valentine's Day in Japan. Originally they gave chocolates to their husbands, lovers or some people like those, but now they give chocolates to their co-workers or men around them. It seems like a rite.
     When I received this cookie, I thought she had had concerns about how many chocolates I accepted and she chose cookies instead of chocolates for me. However, it was not true. My dog, Mocha, is a male dog. The present was not for me but for Mocha. It was just a witty present. See also http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/02/lunch-on-valent.html

Traditional New Year's Dishes

     My family visit my parents' house on Jan. 1st every year. We drink a small dose of New Year's spiced sake that is called "Otoso" and pray for the peace of our families and relatives this year. My father always wants us to tell our own new year's resolutions. I don't like to say anything because I would be required to do something hard, but he wants all of us to say something, so I replied that my new year's resolution was to pass the third grade of Korean. See also: http://kumo.typepad.com/weblog/2006/12/hangul_test.html

     The picture shows the new year's dishes prepared on the table in my parents house. It was taken on Dec. 31st. These new year's dishes are called "Osechi". Osechi includes a lot of food that can be kept for a few days and is all prepared before New Year's Day. We and our visitors will have it for the first three days of the year. Dishes that were made were carried to the back table shown in the second picture.

     Traditional Japanese room. The visitors are usually shown into this room first, but during the new year's first three days this room is used as a storage room for foods and is kept cool without any air heating. As the foods in the living room get short, these foods are taken into the living room.

     However I like king crabs rather than traditional foods.
(King Crab Party on Jan. 1st)

Japanese Traditional Cuisine; Udon

    Udon is kind of noodle. Kagawa prefecture, where Yakuri-ji Temple is located, is famous for its delicious Udon. Three of us were from Kagawa and knew many Udon restaurants of repute. We decided to go Udon restaurant-hopping. Enjoy the pictures!
     The Udon restaurant that we went to first was just beside the parking lot. The restaurant was small and stood in obscurity beneath the steep slope of the hill. The price of Udon was cheap but delicious. As expected, we were in the midst of the Udon prefecture. The 2nd picture is the menu.
     There are many Udon restaurants in Ehime prefecture where I live and I often go to some of them. I thought I knew Udon well, but it was the first time I had seen such a scene shown in the 3rd picture. The thing that was delivered to our table first was two raw pieces of radish and two radish graters. We grated the radish waiting for our Udon. The 5th picture is the soy sauce Udon that I ordered. It was a very simple Udon that was doused in soy sauce. The next picture shows the outside of the room I used. The last three pictures are the 3rd Udon restaurant we went to.

(Vocabulary)
of ill repute  評判の悪い、悪名高い
do a pub-crawl  はしごをする
go bar-hopping  はしごする
go from shop to shop    店から店へとはしごする
in obscurity    ひっそりと 世に埋もれて
grater おろし金［器］
grate [他] (おろし金などで) 〈チーズ・野菜など〉 をおろす
douse (火) に水をかけて消す=extinguish ; (書き言葉) 〈明かり〉 を消す
douse sth in/with sth  ＜…＞に＜液体＞をかける

(KW: 讃岐うどん)

University Festival

     I arrived at Nagoya station at about six o'clock on Nov. 3rd. I got on the subway to my daughter's apartment. I had two hours to go until the opening of the festival and could take a nap in her room.
     Have you ever seen the magnetic levitated train? We call it the "Linear Motor Car". Test runs of linear motor trains are currently under way. Linear motor trains will connect Osaka and Tokyo in about one hour, with a maximum speed of 500 kilometers per hour in the not so distant future. The first commercial linear motor line is in Nagoya City and my daughter uses it every day for commuting.
     The first two pictures show the train. The next two show my daughter making octopus dumplings at her class stall. The last is the octopus dumplings called "Takoyaki" which are very popular in Japan. They were delicious.
     I could walk around the campus and see a few facilities and bulletin boards. The best thing I could do was that I had the chance to talk with her friends. I could understand the atmosphere of the university and it made me feel happy.
     This time last year, I hoped that she would get into the local national university and I thought it was enough, but she didn't think so. She wanted to try a higher level of university and succeeded. I was afraid that she would have many dificulties away from home, but such a concern proved unfounded.

(Vocabulary)
levitate [自] 宙に浮かぶ; [他](まれ) …を宙に浮かべる
That concern proved unfounded.  その不安は杞憂に終わった。

Korean Cuisine

    The other day I tried Korean broiled meat at a mama-and-papa restaurant that is near my office. This restaurant doesn't look good and I didn't want to go there, but I heard that they serve very good dishes and I decided to go there.
     As for Korean cuisine, I guess the king of it would be broiled meat. There are many broiled meat restaurants in Japan too and I thought there's not so much difference between Japanese and Korean roasted meat.
     The picture shows the Korean style grilling. The meat has been immersed in basting for a couple of days before serving. I ate grilled meat in leaves just like a wrapping. The green leaves in the picture are for wrapping hot meat. It was really delicious. Soy sauce is often used in Japanese and Korean dishes. It may be the reason why I like Korean dishes.

(Vocabulary)
broil  (グリルで)(食べ物)を焼く, あぶる, 網焼きにする
ma-and-pa  mama-and-papa  mom-and-pop 夫婦だけで経営する【形】
roast (オーブン・じか火で)(肉・野菜)を焼く, あぶる
grill  (米)(肉・魚など)を焼き網で焼く, (下から) 直火で焼く
immerse  …を熱中［没頭］させる; (フォーマル) (液体に) …をすっかり浸す, つける
immerse somebody in something
＜人＞を＜…＞に熱中［没頭］させる
immerse yourself in something
＜…＞に熱中［没頭］する
baste (肉)を焼き汁をかけながら焼く
basting  《料理》たれ（をつけること）

(KW: 韓国料理 あん 松山市)

Today's Night Meal

     I've got a lot of work these days and I have to stay in my hospital tonight. I called in a convenience store on the way to my office this morning and got some night meals. There were a lot of instant foods and I chose some that I've never had.
     The 1st picture shows an instant noodle. The reason why I chose it is that a famous governor and also a former comedian is illustrated on it. He was just a comedian only ten years ago. He seemed to get into Waseda University, one of the two most famous private universities in Japan and learn political science.
     I remember that I was so surprised to hear his first speech when he declared his candidacy in the election for Governor of Miyazaki prefecture. His speech was not that of a comedian. I was foolish enough to have looked down on him because he didn't look clever and committed a crime. However, his first speech was reasonable and understandable. My wife told me that he had learnt politics at Waseda University. I got it. He changed his way of life.
     The 2nd picture shows him with a signboard saying "Welcome to Miyazaki". This was taken by my friend at Miyazaki Airport. He must be a big salesman for Miyazaki Prefecture because most Japanese know him. He is one of the people whom I'd like to talk with.

(Vocabulary)
candidacy  立候補

(KW: 東国原英夫　宮崎県知事　そのまんま東)

A Canned Coffee

     A really lot of kinds of canned coffees are sold from vending machines in Japan. I like these canned coffees. I'm not particular about the company and materials of canned coffees and I usually choose one from its name or looks.
     When I took a short ride around here last month, I got a canned coffee that is shown in the picture. The name of it is as you see. I wondered if there is a noted production area of coffee beans in Europe. I also wondered if Georgia in the U.S. is famous as a producer of coffee beans, or Georgia means the Republic of Georgia and this country is known as a producer of coffee beans.
     I don't know the reason why this is named as "European". The manufacturer may want us to have a feeling of travelling in Europe. Anyway, I got back with a feeling that I was riding in Europe.

(Vocabulary)
Many people are very particular about the way they cook rice. 多くの人がご飯の炊き方に強いこだわりをもっています。
have (a) feeling of being there     その場にいるような気分になる

Korean Cuisine (参鶏湯 삼계탕 Samgetang）

     I have been learning Korean for two years from TV or radio program on the NHK educational channel. I knew many things about the Korean culture on the program and got interested in them. One of them is Korean dishes. I happened to know about a cooking class of Korean dishes the other day and the dish that would be cooked in the class was samgetang. I immediately signed up for the course.
     I was expecting that I could cook samgetang by myself, but I couldn't because it takes more than four hours only to boil it and we didn't have enough time in the class. The instructor prepared the dish previously on our behalf, and we had only to boil it for an hour. I learned how to prepare the food while boiling it. The instructor was an elderly Korean lady who owns two restaurants. She was Korean but was not good at using Korean because she was born and grew up in Japan. However, she looked happy when I told her things about South Korea. Pictures show the boiling pot and served samgetang. It doesn't look so delicious, but the taste was very good. Anyway, I enjoyed not the cooking class but the eating class!
     Many Japanese people got intersted in the Korean culture and watch Korean TV dramas and movies now. Many artists of both countries visit each other. She repeatedly and happily said that she couln't imagine today's boom in Korean culture in Japan when she was a child. She seemed to have been living in Japan trying to avoid Japanese society.
     There's a Korean primary and junior high school near my high school. I used to belong to the soccer club in my high school and I knew the level of Korean soccer was relatively high. I wanted to play a friendly match with them, but I couldn't. I felt a kind of unvisible barrier between us and them. The direct distance between both schools was only 200 meters but there was no exchange of students. I didn't know why that happened in those days. See also here.
     I feel learning languages, including Japanese, makes me open-minded. I don't know when the next class will be held, but I'll try the next dish.

(Vocabulary)
on behalf of sb/on sb's behalf ((米)in behalf of sb/in sb's behalf とも)
＜人＞に代わって, の代理として, を代表して

Serch Engine

     This blog system is designed to be able to know how the visitors came. About a hundred subscribers access regulary now. They usually drop in directly by inputting the url of my blog in the browser window like Internet Explorer. To my happiness, the number of unknown people is increasing now. They came to my blog via some search engines like yahoo, google etc. They put various key words in the window of the search engines.
     Key words that were most used are the name of places. I am lucky to have written my travel memo on this blog. Some people were collecting information for their trip to Japan. It was a great pleasure to offer what they wanted.
     The other day, I wrote about the Ainu museum on the blog. Then an American replied and gave me information about a restaurant where I can eat Ainu cuisine. He seems to live near the restaurant. I was so happy to know about it. Next time I go to Tokyo, I'll try it. http://www2.odn.ne.jp/rera/

Return Flight

     I returned my car to the car rental company. The company's driver took us to the airport. Shin-Chitose Airport was very crowded. It might be due to the high season now. We bought something for the rest of my family and the staff members of my hospital. There were many kinds of packed lunch. Hokkaido is rich in food. It was not easy to choose only one pack.
     We passed through the security check a little earlier than usual because the airport was so packed and I thought it might take a lot of time to go to the boarding gate. At the boarding area we had one hour to go and I was hungry. I couldn't wait for boarding and ended up opening my lunch box. My lunch was a barbecue lunch. I got a glass of beer at the stand. I can't imagine a barbecue without beer.
     I put the noise cancelling headphones on again for the return flight. At that time I tried to talk with a CA with this headphone on. I could listen to her voice clearly. Besides, to my surprise the conversation from the seats in the back row reached my ears with clarity, even though the passengers in the back row were talking at a low volume. It was because this headphone erased the noise. You know, I couldn't help overhearing!

(Vocabulary)
I couldn't help overhearing.　盗み聞きするつもりはなかったのですが聞こえてしまいました。

Toyako Lake

     I should have driven my car enjoying the idyllic scenery around here, but... there was a sudden change in the weather. The rain started to come down in sheets just before Toyako Lake. We were going to call at the Windsor Hotel TOYA Resort & Spa which is the conference site of the next G8, but I gave up. The heavy rain was one of the reasons. The other is that the hotel was not on our map. The hotel was built recently and the map in our car was not updated. I had a cellphone and could have called the hotel, but I was too lazy to do so. I'd like to have had coffee in the lobby and taken some pictures around there to show them off next year during the G8 meeting. I supposed that we couldn't have enjoyed the scenery of Toyako Lake from the lobby.
     There were two sites I wanted A to see around here. One is the crater of the volcano, Mt. Usu. I'll show you two pictures near the crater. Take a look at the 1st picture. Do you recognize the road traffic sign? It stands for the speed limit (50kph) around here. You will find a fence between the road and the walkway. The oblique area between the fence and the signpost used to be the road.
     Look at the other picture. You can see the horizontal road on the near side and this road is winding to the right on the far side. Besides, this road is going diagonally down. There's a pond on the sagging road that was made by the eruption of the volcano.
     Such dynamic scenery can't be seen in any other place in Japan. This is the reason why I took A there. However, to my sadness, she seemed not to be interested in the activity of the volcano. I visited here last year, but I wanted A to see it and went again.
     Next, we left for Mt. Showashinzan (398m). This is a very famous attraction too in southern Hokkaido. This had been heaved up and made over 2 years. I can easily imagine that people were astonished by it. Talking about A, she didn't look happy standing in front of the mountain. I didn't know why. Because she is a girl? Generally speaking, women might have less interest in earth science than men.
     We had lunch at the small restaurant near the parking lot. The lunch was so-called Sapporo ramen. Hokkaido is also noted for its ramen, but this ramen was lousy. After that we made for the Ainu Museum, POROTOKOTAN.

(Vocabulary)
idyllic scenery　牧歌的な風景 ai-di`-lik
come down in sheets　雨が滝のように降る
sagging   たわんだ, へこんだ, たるんだ;  低下した, 落ち込んだ
heave [他] (苦労して) 〈重い物〉 を持ち上げる, 引き上げる
lousy  (インフォーマル) ひどい, 最低の, お粗末な

(KW: 洞爺湖 有珠山 火口 クレーター 昭和新山)

The 2nd Day of the Open Campus

     I felt a pain in the sole of my left foot last night. I checked it and found that I had got a blister. I came here with new shoes and took a long walk during these 2 days. It must be the reason for the blister. I dropped in at a convenience store and got a box of Band Aid before taking breakfast. After that we had breakfast at a coffee shop at Sapporo station. The 1st picture shows the coffee shop.
     As soon as we sat at the table in the shop, I started to treat my foot with a band aid. When I tried to take off my socks, I felt a chilly glare from my daughter. I made sure that there was no customers around us and no one looking at my foot but she didn't allow me to treat my foot at my seat. I had to go into the restroom to treat my blister. It's not easy to be with teenage daughters.
     The 2nd picture shows the main entrance of Hokkaido University and the next shows a family of mallards on Ono Pond. (http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/hokkaido-univer.html)
     The 4th picture shows a sign post and when I found the signboard which the last picture shows, I laughed. Everyone would think something similar. People of Hokkaido University seem to have the same way of thinking as me. As I thought and wrote (http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/william-smith-c.html), they enjoy barbecues here on the lawns. The signboard says, "Clean up after the barbecue, extinguish the fire and put the charcoal into this pot." The authorities permit barbecues here. It's wonderful.

(Vocabulary)
glare  まぶしい光, ぎらぎらした光; にらみつけること
mallard   マガモ (水鳥)

(KW: 北海道大学 バーベキュー)