Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Man' Noodle Number II

     At first, look at the picture of this entry:
     http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/06/mans-noodle.html
     In the entry I wrote, "I think it will disappear from the store shelf soon." Exactly as I wrote in the entry above, that instant noodle disappeared after a while. It must have been unpopular. However, I found a new type of Man's Noodle at the same convenience store today. When I bought the noodle last time, the price was unreasonably low. I'm not sure, but the store owner wanted to clear out the stock and I fell into his trap.
     By the way, take a look at the picture below. The word "Die Hard 4.0 and Bruce Willis" caught my eyes. "Why is he on the package of instant noodles?"
     It was special sales campaign. If the winning ticket was in the package, you win! You'll receive the goods that makes and trains men. (I don't know what it is.) It might be a kind of trainer or cosmetics for men. Bruce is a hero among men in Japan too.
     Anyway I bought this Man's Noodle again, though I wrote that it would be the last time I tasted it in the entry...
.... and I tried it just after I had written the above.
     The taste was a little improved but it was not good for me. I realized that I will never learn.

(Vocabulary)
clear out stock　在庫を処分する
clear out　
〔ロッカー・押し入れ・机などの〕中を掃除する［片付ける］
〔中身を〕捨てる、空にする

(KW:インスタント焼きそば　ブルース・ウィリス)

Man's Noodle?

     Take a look at the picture below. It shows an instant fried Chinese noodle. You can eat it in 3 minutes after you pour boiling water into the bowl. I often eat such instant foods in my office and I'm picky about those instant noodles. I have favorites, of course. Today I found a new instant noodle that you can see in the picture. The brand name is "Man's fried noodle". Not woman, but man. What does it mean? I got it without any hesitation. What is the man's taste like?
     The taste was very spicy and not my preference. It will be the last time I taste it. I think it will disappear from the store shelf soon.

A Moving Stall

     When I was making my morning rounds on the third floor, I happened to look out of the window. It was a nice day and a little hot. I really felt that I'd like to go out and ride my motorcycle. At that exact moment I saw two people walking to a car like ants gathering around candies. The car was a moving stall. The two people were my co-workers. It was more than one hour left until lunch time. They had sneaked out of the hospital and had been waiting for the opening of the stall. It was intersting and really funny that they didn't know that I, the head nurse, and another staff member were observing them from the 3rd floor. They must have thought they had successfully slipped out and no one knew where they were. The picture shows them and the stall that is getting ready to open.
     I didn't know about the moving stall, but the owner of the stall appears to be famous. The menu he presents is only two kinds. One of them is Thai-style vegetable curry and seems to be very popular.
     Anyway today's targets of the owner must have been my staff members and his tricks turned out to be completely successful. Next time he comes here, I'll try it.

(Vocabulary)
sneak  (sneaked または snuck)
sneak into/out of something
＜場所＞へこっそり入る［からこっそり出る］
it appears (that) …ということのようだ
It appears that the two aircraft were in no danger.
2機の航空機はまったく危険な状態ではなかったようだ．
appear to be  …のように見える
The man appeared to be in his late twenties.
その男は20代後半ぐらいに見えた

Lunch on Valentine's Day

     In Japan it's an annual event for ladies to present chocolates to men who mean a lot to them. I think that it is a sales strategy of chocolate companies.
     A small chocolate cake that is shown below was served for every staff members at today's lunch. It was kind of fun and was arranged by the chef. He sometimes entertains us with his humor.

Trumped-up Story

     The Dietary effect of natto that I wrote about before was disclosed to be based on fake data. The TV program was a fabricated story. The story was extremely vicious. I guess that the producers were desperate to make the program work at any cost. They have been making a similar program every week. It must have been hard work.
     When I was in postgraduate school to get a Ph.D, I sometimes felt a kind of frustration. You know, when I couldn't get preferable data from the experiments, I got depressed. I imagine that the feelings of those TV producers were likewise and they yielded to the temptation of making up the segment. The TV program might come to an end.

(Vocabulary)
trumped-up  〈申し立て・口実などが〉 でっち上げの, 偽りの
trumped-up charges  でっち上げられた容疑
fabricate  〈話・うそなど〉 をでっち上げる, 捏造(ねつぞう)する
The police were accused of fabricating evidence.
警察は証拠を捏造したとして告発された
vicious  悪意のある, 意地悪な
a vicious rumor  悪意のあるうわさ
at any cost  金をいくら出しても、是が非でも、意地でも、絶対に、万難を排して
segment  〔テレビ・ラジオ放送などの〕一区切り、一番組、ひとコマ

A Cheap Wine

     I got the cheapest foreign wine at the nearest supermarket. That cost me only 500 yen, about 5 US dollars. You know, I've wondered about that price. This wine is from Chile. So ... somehow, they have to grow the grapes, turn the grapes into wine, make a bottle, slap a label on it, insert a cork in it, box it up, ship it halfway across the world, store it in a warehouse and then bring it to the store in a truck - all for under four dollars, because the store has to make at least a dollar profit too. Someone must be getting a raw deal.
     Anyway, the taste of the wine was worth it for more than 10 US dollars.

(Vocabulary)
slap sth on sth  ＜…＞をべたべた塗りつける
box (up)  …を箱に入れる［詰める］
ship  [他] (船・飛行機・トラックなどで) …を運ぶ, 輸送する
a fair deal   正当な扱い
get a raw/rough/bum deal   (informal) 不当な扱いを受ける

Natto Boomlet

     Natto is one Japanese foods that most visitors from out of Japan hate. Natto is fermented soybeans. Natto is a very healthy food. Soybeans contain many kinds of nutrients, such as protein.
     By the way, it appears the production of natto cannot keep up with the rapid increse of demand now in Japan. It's because a new method for diet by eating natto was introduced on a TV variety show on Jan. 7. On that night I went out shopping for natto as soon as the program had finished, though it was late at night because I was afraid that natto would run out.
     Next evening I dropped in at the same supermarket after work. As I expected, natto was out of stock. A few days later, I found some new brands of natto from out of Ehime Prefecture arranged at the supermarket. All of the natto producers across the country seem to be working to capacity.

"Tako-Yaki", Octopus Dumpling in Dazaifu

     Octopus balls or octopus dumpling is very popular in Japan. I think many visitors to Japan have eaten it at least once. Needless to say, I've eaten it many times. Octopus dumpling is not a formal food, but kind of a snack. I always find a few "Tako-Yaki" stands among fair stalls. Every "Tako-Yaki" ball has a piece of octopus in it. I was so surprised to see how big the ball was here. You can see it in the photo. Every "Tako-Yaki" ball has a whole body of a small octopus. I took a picture in a mad rush.

(Vocabulary)
fair stall  お祭りの屋台
in a mad rush  あわてて　大急ぎで

(KW:太宰府　たこ焼き)

Late-Night Snack

     Today is Sunday. It's a holiday, but I'm in hospital now and I'm on duty now, though today is Christmas Eve. I have to stay here until tomorrow evening. If there aren't any acute changes in the hospitalized patients, I have some free time. I wonder what to do today.
     I'm going to have a hospital dinner that the patients eat for now. This dinner is a little small in amount for me. The photo shows my late-night snack.
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/11/todays-lunch.html

Oyster Nabe (Food Boiled Together in a Pot)

     Today's evening TV news says that the price of oysters has decreased sharply because one of the origins of the Norovirus infection is said to be from eating raw oysters. Despite that there's no evidence of epidemic food poisoning from oysters, but such a rumor is getting around in Japan. It's a shame to believe such groundless rumors.
     I'm going to have oyster pan dish today or tomorrow. This food is very popular in Japan, especially in winter. We put oysters, tofu, various vegetables, anything if it's needed and Japanese dressing materials in the pan and boil them. Norovirus will disappear when heated up. It's lucky that oysters are cheap now.

Two Parties

     Two end-of-the-year parties coincided with each other last night. I attended the hospital end-of-the-year party at first, then attended another party of my rally team.
     I had a little hangover this morning. Every time I have a hangover, I regret drinking too much and my wife says, "You just never learn, do you?"

Today's Lunch

     According to the Medical Care Law, every meal for the inpatients must be checked by someone just before serving it to the patients. I usually check ordinary lunches for the patients who are hospitalized. Besides, some special meals are prepared for the patients who suffer from specific diseases; diabetes, hypertention, kidney or liver diseases,,,and so on. I check the ordinary lunches and fill in the form (shown in the picture) as follows. The time I check the lunch. How about taste; excellent, good, bad. How much the rice is; too much, moderate, too small. How hard the rice is; hard, good, soft. How it looks; excellent, good, bad. I think the kitchen staff of my hospital are excellent. Every lunch is satisfactory to me. I took a snap of today's lunch shown in the 2nd picture.

Eruption Noodle

     This Toyako Spa Area was devastated hopelessly by the eruption of Mt.Usu in 2000. People who live around are struggling to get over the difficulties. I found commercially-minded food there. See the 1st photo. What was written on the advertising display in front of the Chinese noodle shop is "Eruption noodles" if translated into English. What kind of noodle is it?! I dropped in at the shop on the impulse of curiosity. The 2nd photo shows the eruption noodle. It was extremely hot. The naming of this chinese noodle seems to be from the hotness and redness of the eruption. It was unbelievably hot and good. After that I got the breakfast of tomorrow morning in a convenience store and went back to my lodge. I enjoyed the hot spa.
     I wondered what is the happiest reason to be born in Japan?  Natural hot springs are absolutely one of them. What else? Raw fish which we call "sashimi", Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice, and we can select any kind of motorbike with the best technology in the world. You know, the world championship is centered on 4 big companies; HONDA, KAWASAKI, SUZUKI, and YAMAHA. All of them are Japanese companies. These happiest things I now have!

(Vocabulary)
be centered in/at sth  〈活動などが〉 集中している  ＜場所＞に集中している, を中心に行われる
Most of the fighting is centered in the southeast of the country.
戦闘のほとんどが国の南東部に集中している

(KW: 洞爺湖 噴火ラーメン)

Scallop

     My bike friend and the friend in Aomori city had a big party in an inn last night. We had a great time there. One is a PC specialist and the other is a journalist. Everything I heard from them was new to me, and I got a lot of information. We enjoyed talking and having a lot of local sake and cuisine, and the next thing I knew, it was about 1 o'clock after midnight. Time passed as quick as lightning. Next morning, we started for Mutsu city. We dropped in at a tiny, crummy eating house along the roadside on the way to Mutsu city. The photo shows Chinese-style noodles served in a hot soup, which I ordered there. We call this kind of noodles "ramen".
     To my surprise, there were 3! scallops in the ramen. I realized that Aomori Prefecture is the home of the scallop.

(Vocabulary)
scallop  帆立貝
crummy (インフォーマル) 安っぽい, くだらない, 不快な
home of  発祥地　生息地　本場

Yumeji

     Good sake and tasty appetizers ... this is heaven.
     I was called for dinner by my co-workers from the previous hospital where I worked.  Because I drank too much 2 days ago, I'd like to have said no!  However, I couldn't refuse their call.  I might be a born alcohol drinker.  The name of the Japanese style pub is "Yumeji".
     Mr. Yumeji Takehisa is a painter from the Taisho Era and famous for paintings of beautiful ladies.  Yumeji-related goods and paintings were exhibited on the wall of the pub and the pub's atmosphere was different from that of an ordinary pub.  I liked it.  The food was good. Next time I visit, I'll be sure to take a snapshot inside the pub and show you.

Viola

     A new Italian restaurant opened near my hospital recently.  Viola is the name of the restaurant. Every time I pass by the restaurant, I have been seized with an impulse to visit the restaurant.  I finally got a chance to go out for dinner there today.  I'm a member of an English speaking club of working people.  I went out with them.
     Speaking of Italian food, I knew only of spaghetti. At the restaurant many kinds of Italian food were served to us.  I was surprised about the variety and enjoyed the tastes.  I drank a little too much wine.

Instant Food

     My eldest daughter is 19 and lives away from home because she is attending a university in Tokyo. I have to send money in order to provide her with her university and daily expenses. I heard that average American students are working to get money for their university fees. Is that right?
     My hospital is located in the heart of the city and several banks and a big post office are in the neighborhood. You know, it is a very convenient site. It's the reason why I have to send money instead of my wife. I have a break during lunchtime and go out of the hospital. I usually drop in at a convenient store to get some snacks and cakes on the way. I got a pot noodle (as the photo shows below) today for a midnight snack because I have to stay at my hospital overnight. By the way, what do you call this noodle in English? If you pour the boiling water into the container, you have delicious pan-fried noodles in only 3 minutes. Please teach by e-mail.

(KW: カップラーメン　カップ焼きそば)

3rd Ski Day

     The weather was a blizzard on top of Blackcomb. I couldn't see the surface of the snow. I had to ski down looking at my feet. I felt a little scary. I went back sheepishly to my condo about noon. One of my buddies is a great breadmaker. My daughters are learning how to make bagels from him. I enjoyed taking a walk around the village or in the forest with snowshoes. At night I saw my daughters washing with an electric washing machine. I wondered why it was so noisy.

I'm so tired!

She is making bread.

Sushi Bar

     Just after getting on the bus, I fell deeply asleep like in a coma. I found myself at Creekside just before getting to Whistler. I'd like to have enjoyed seeing out of the window, but I couldn't. I knew that I was seriously suffering from jet lag. Anyway I could see my ski buddies and my daughters. Tonight's dinner was sushi. Sushi is very popular for Japanese but Canadian sushi is good too. Vancouver is famous for good sea food.  Can you imagine what's a caterpillar roll or spider roll? Of course both were so delicious. This time, I made a big mistake. I left my dictionary in Japan. I'm going to correct this blog after returning to Japan.

     The photo shows caterpillar rolls.

 

Bowling Meeting

     My hospital is a member of the Matsuyama city Medical Association(MMA). Today the annual bowling meeting, hosted by the MMA, was held. Of course I attended. After the bowling, my boss treated all of us to a barbecue. It was a fantastic time. I got the 2nd prize (55th in all hospitals) in my hospital. I think it was pure luck. I'm afraid I could be in bed for lumber pain or shoulder pain tomorrow morning. I tried to shoot a group photo just after the barbecue but I found the battery of my camera was dead. I won a prize as below.