Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Alumni Meeting

　　We got on the tube at Monument Station before transferring to another line, and got off at Covent Garden. We could choose Horborn Station, but I've heard of its name and got off at Covent Garden. There were very busy and enjoyable streets around the station. Just wandering such streets was really joyful. Following the ideal route offered from Google, we got to the designated restaurant, 32 Great Queen Street.
　　We were going to meet two alumni there, who used to belong to my junior high school and graduated from colleges in London and Wales respectively and now lived in London, though they were considerably younger than me. One of them asked me about our choice of the dinner in advance, and I chose the British cuisine. That's why we visited that restaurant. I selected a dish from the menu in the following picture. Pigeon and foie gras pastie was that! though I've never eaten pigeons. That was a little bony and difficult to eat, but delicious. Their stories about their life, families and jobs in London were very interesting to me. I told them about what we got through during this trip, like the parking violation and the conversation with the parking lot attendant and other topics about English. They must be freely able to communicate in English. I envied them their English skills and I hoped that they would build their secure bridge head of life in London.

Monument Station から地下鉄を乗り継いでコベントガーデンで下車。Horborn駅でも良かったのだが、聞いたことのある地名だったのでコベントガーデンで降りてみた。実に賑やかで楽しそうな店ばかりが並んでいた。こういうところはただブラブラするだけでも楽しい。グーグルマップの指示通りに歩いて指定された32 Great Queen Streetという店に着いた。

今日の夕食はロンドンの建築関係の会社で働いている同窓生２人と夕食。どのような料理が良いか、選ばせてもらったのだが、イギリス料理の店でと依頼して選ばれたのが写真の店。僕の注文した料理はPigeon and foie gras pastie。鳩を食べたのは初めて。骨っぽくて食べにくかったのだが、美味しかった。ロンドンで暮らす二人の生活の様子が実に興味深く楽しい時間だった。二人はロンドン、ウェールズの大学の出身で、英語はもう自由に使いこなせているはず。今回の旅行で各地で英語のリスニングで苦労した話や、駐車違反をして、その係員の英語がサッパリわからなかった話などで盛り上がった。あの時は、本当に、こいつの喋っている言葉はもしかしたら英語ではないかも知れないとまで思ったから。またロンドンに行って、話をしたいなあと思っている。

Shopping

　　We headed for the Piccadilly district to visit Fortnum & Mason, which was the purveyor to the Imperial Household. It took about 10 minutes' walk from Buckingham Palace to the Piccadilly district. The shop was really big and was packed with lots of customers. It lived up to our expectations. A cafe was inside and I wanted to try some sweets and British tea, but our time was limited. I didn't take pictures around the shop, so search for pictures of this shop on the net if you want to see them. We got some souvenirs there, and then dropped in at a grocery to get "cashew nuts" on the way to our hotel. I wondered if my daughter liked cashew nuts, and I understood the reason why she got them tomorrow morning.

(Vocabulary)
purveyor (フォーマル) (商品・サービスなどの) 供給（業）者, (情報などの) 提供者

それから、徒歩１０分程度の距離にあるピカデリー地区のFortnum & Masonを目指した。皇室御用達のスイーツの店だそうで、中は大変な混雑。評判通り、規模の大きいお菓子の店。中はとてもきれいでカフェが併設されていた。ゆっくり出来るなら何か食べてみたかったが、この後の予定があり、お土産を買ってすぐにホテルへ戻った。写真はないのだが、Fortnum & Masonを画像検索してみてください。ホテルへ戻る途中で娘は雑貨店に立ち寄りカシューナッツを買った。カシューナッツが好きだったかなあといぶかったのだが、翌朝理由がわかった。

Dinner

　We had dinner at a pub next to our hotel. I didn't expect much for dinner, but the dishes were nice. I ate the spicy roast of spareribs over a British wine. It was a great dinner. I felt for the first time after arriving in the U.K. that it was not bad to re-visit the U.K. The climate of the U.K. looked unsuitable for cultivating grapes for wine. I just had thought so for a long time. When I saw the list of British wines on the menu, I was surprised and I tasted three kinds of red wines and all of them were really nice.

夕食はホテルの隣のパブで。余り期待はしていなかったが、ここはうまかった。イギリスワインとスペアリブ最高。イギリスのワインと聞いてもピンとこなかったが、結構な種類があった。この夕食で、イギリスにもう一度来ても良いような気がしてきた。（笑）

Payment

　　Unfavorable things were happening during this trip. There's a Japanese proverb that says "Never twice without three times." Setting my mind to secure driving, I started for Oxford. The road was well maintained and I was able to come back to Oxford without trouble, though I took a wrong turn once. I saw a signboard on the way indicating the direction for Blenheim Palace, in which Winston Churchill had been born. This Palace was on my yesterday's visit list, but we lost precious time for a visit to complete the report to the police about the pickpocket who had stolen my daughter's purse. I really felt so sorry not to be able to visit the Palace.
　　After grabbing a shower, we had dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. The staff members were kind, but the taste of the dishes was terrible. We should have taken back something from the common world taste of McDonald's hamburger shop. I washed down my dinner with a bottle of red wine.
　　By the way, I put myself to my horrible work, paying the parking fine online. The procedure was very easy, but an interesting idea came up to me. If I didn't pay the fine, what will become of it? My ID would be informed by the authorities from the car-rental company, but they wouldn't be able to claim payment to the credit card company without my signature. Try, or not? Such a thought came into my mind for an instant, but I paid, remembering "Noblesse oblige."

(Vocabulary)
Never twice without three times. 二度あることは三度ある

　
　
今回の旅行はいろいろなことが起こる。日本のことわざに『二度あることは三度ある』というのがある。また何かトラブルに見舞われぬよう注意しなくてはと思いながらオックスフォードへ向けてドライブ開始。道路は整備されていて一度分岐点を間違えたものの問題なくオックスフォードまで戻ってきた。途中でブレナム宮殿（Blenheim Palace）の行き先表示を見かけた。ここはチャーチルの生まれた宮殿で是非とも訪れたい場所だったのだが、昨日のスリのせいで時間が取られて見学できず。本当に残念だ。
　
ホテルについて、シャワーをして、食事。付近にレストランがないのでホテルで食事をした。ウェイターやウェイトレスはとても感じよかったが、見た目は美味しそうな食事が、、、最悪。酷すぎる。世界共通のマクドナルドのハンバーガーでも買ってくれば良かった。ワインで流し込んで夕食終了。
　
さて、ストラットフォードアポンエイボンでの駐車違反の罰金の支払い。オンラインで簡単に終了。ふと思った。このチケットを無視して放置したらどうなるのだろう？レンタカー会社に連絡が行って請求されるのだろうが、サインをしない限り処理されないはず。一瞬、試してみるか？　とも思ったが、大人げないので止めた。

 

Bibury

　　The pictures of a tiny village of the Cotswolds, Bibury, would be surely on the pages of the travel guidebooks handling the U.K.. The following pictures which I had taken show you the symbolic sites of the village. The rain was continuing, but this village was also well-matched with the rain. My daughter in a tiny plastic raincoat, leaving her umbrella folded, was walking lightly. If the Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head by B.J.Thomas was being played, she would have started dancing. You'll know "Time flies" or "Time and tide wait for no man", but the flow of the time in Bibury looked slow to me. I found a trout farm nearby and I wondered what the principal industry was. The water and air was really clean. I wished I could have stayed at the Swan Hotel just in front of us even for a few days. The trout steak seemed to be very famous and popular.
　　Take a look at the third picture in which my daughter was shot in a prim and proper manner. The barn-like house behind her was used even now. We didn't look into the house, but happened to see a person watching the T.V. inside. How long ago was the house built? The last picture is the Swan Hotel. Don't you feel its long historic background?

　
バイブリーはおそらくイギリスを扱った全ての旅行ガイドブックに載っている場所。ここを外すわけにはいかない。雨が降っているけれど、ここもまた雨の似合う村ではないだろうか。娘は傘を差さず、合羽を着て身軽に歩き回っている。B.J.Thomasの『雨にぬれても』がかかれば踊り出しそうだった。時間がゆっくりと流れている、そんな気のする街だった。すぐそばにはマスの養殖場があったが、この村の主な産業は何なのだろう。時間さえあれば一泊してゆっくりと散策したい気分に駆られた。目の前にはスワン・ホテル！スモークトラウトが美味しいらしい。娘がすまして写っている３枚目の写真の家には人が住んでいた。覗いたわけではないが、中にテレビを見ている人が見えた。ここで生活しているんだ！いったい何年前に建てられた家なのだろう。

Burford

　　A cafe originated from Burford is getting known and tote bags of this shop brand are popular in Japan. The shop's name was HUFFKINS. We dropped in at Burford to enjoy cakes and tea at this cafe. The following pictures were taken in the street which the shop was facing. I didn't want it to rain today, but the rain might suit this street. I loved this atmosphere. While we were having cakes there, we checked the prices of tote bags on Amazon's shopping site and knew that they were considerably higher than those of tote bags around us displayed in the shop. There was their souvenir shop next to the cafe and we bought several tote bags there for souvenirs for our friends.
　　By the way, when I ordered something at the cafe, I had a hard time again. The shop person understood me, but I wasn't fully able to understand him. Why didn't they speak slowly to a Japanese who was not familiar with English? It's natural, I thought, to care about non-English speaking people. Was it difficult to speak slowly? However, he was kind enough to explain their products again and again, and to advise us which to pick up.
　　The around 10 minutes' walk to the parking lot was also fun. The typical British street, just as I had imagined before, entertained us.

　
バーフォードではある喫茶店に寄るのが目的だった。名前はHUFFKINSという。写真はHUFFKINSの前の通り、この街のメインストリートの雰囲気を撮ったもの。雨が残念だが、雨がこの街には似合うかも知れない。さてこのHUFFKINSだが、日本でそのトートバッグが人気が出てきているのだとか。調べてみるとアマゾンでも入手できるようだが、ここでお土産用にたくさん購入。日本の価格に比べるとかなり安かった。

写真にある一番人気のケーキと紅茶を注文した。これはウェイターのお勧め。美味しかったが、彼の英語がまた早口で聞き取りにくかった。こちらの言うことは理解してくれるのだが、リスニングがしんどかった。英語に不慣れな日本人に対してゆっくり喋ってくれるという配慮があっても良いのにと思うが、ゆっくり喋るのが難しいのだろうか？まあそれは置いといて、この喫茶店の隣がお土産屋でいろいろな種類のトートバッグが置いてあった。娘はしばらく居たかったようだが、先を急ぐので１０分ほどで店を出て街を歩く。歩くだけでも楽しい街だった。

 

Oxford Half Marathon

　　I arrived at the Best Western Linton Lodge, in which we would stay three nights. I received our luggage at the front desk - it wasn't carried to our room. When we entered the room, I found a slip of paper on the table. It said that the Oxford Half Marathon would be held on Oct. 7th and the access to the hotel would be restricted from 8 am to 2 pm. I was supposed to return my car, which would be rented on the previous day, at 10 o'clock on 7th. Would I have to check out by 8 am and kill time until 10 am?
　　I searched for the detailed information on the route on the net and found that we would be able to go out of the area of the marathon until 9:15 am. I asked about the marathon route at the front desk in detail. Then, to my surprise, the detailed route map, which I found on the net, was already delivered to the hotel. I told the hotel person, "If you had known the information, you should have told us the correct and detailed information in advance." She arrogantly and with a heavily thick accent answered that she wouldn't be responsible if I could go out of the route or not. I didn't want her to be responsible for my escape from the marathon area, and just wanted to know the accurate announcement from the organizer of the marathon. Was she an idiot?
　　I'll show you the slip of paper from the hotel and the route maps (overall and localized ones) below. Our hotel was located on Linton Road and within the loop of the route. According to the map, we should be able to go out of the loop at F point from 8 to 9:15 am and 11:15 onwards. In spite of this notice, the hotel told us that the traffic would be regulated from 8 am to 2 pm. Their poor and rough service was unacceptable.
　　We took dinner in a restaurant in the hotel. The taste was awfully terrible. You might not think so from the following picture, but the medium-roasted beef steak was hard and sounded like it was made from oily clay. What's more, a large amount of plain-tasting potato. I didn't want to make leftovers for the chefs, and ate them, but needed much water to wash them down. Digestive drugs from Japan were helpful. The dinner price was more than 20 GBP and almost criminal. The chefs should come to Japan and try Japanese beef steaks.

(Vocabulary)
thick 〈言葉のなまりが〉 強い
He spoke with a thick accent. 彼は強いなまりで話した．
clay 粘土

三晩投宿するベストウエスタン・リントン・ロッジに到着した。フロントで荷物を受け取り(部屋に運んでくれていなかった)部屋に入ると、1枚目の写真のチラシがテーブルの上に置いてあった。なんと、出発の日にオックスフォード・ハーフマラソンが開催され、8時～14時までホテルが封鎖されてしまうらしい。この日は前日に借りる予定のレンタカーを10時に返却することになっているのだが。食事を済ませて8時前にはホテルを出て10時まで時間を潰さなければならない？

すぐにネットで調べると、9時15分までは出られるとのこと。フロントでこの件を尋ねると、僕がネットで見つけたコースマップがフロントにも有り、9時15分までは出られると書いてある。わかっていたのなら正確な情報を教えてくれるべきだとフロントのスタッフに話すと、8時～9時15分の間に出られるかどうか責任が持てないという。それも訛りの強い英語で。一番年配に思えた(それでも若い)高慢なスタッフが言うのだが、僕はホテル側にそんな責任を負わせるつもりはなく、大会運営者からの正確な情報を伝えてくれさえしたら良かったのだが。マラソンに関してのクレームをホテルに言うわけないではないか？この女、もしかしてアホ？

夕食はホテル併設のレストラン。非常にまずかった。写真を見たらそうは見えないかも知れないが、硬い、合成したのか思われるような不味いステーキに大量のポテト。残すともったいないので全部食べたが、吐き戻しそうだった。念のため持参した消化剤が役に立った。日本円で２０００円以上の料理なので、この味では犯罪的だと思った。シェフは一度、日本のステーキを食べてみるべきだ。

 

To Oxford

　　I forgot to write a topic about British English in the previous entry. I don't have opportunities to write or talk in English in my daily life, and it's why I keep writing this blog. If I didn't do that, I wouldn't be able to keep my English skills, nor improve it. I sometimes listen to the news program from the BBC as a listening lesson and I can understand more than half of what the casters say. Therefore, I didn't have any concern about communication with local people. However, I wasn't able to understand the words of the front desk person of the hotel. It was a huge discouragement to me.
　　My daughter often kiddingly tells me that she forgot English during learning German, but she was better at least at listening to the front desk person. She was surprised at the fact more than I. She was in Freiburg in southern Germany when she was about 20 years old. Was that helpful? Anyway, I was often annoyed at communications in the U.K..
　　The breakfast was included in the hotel fee. It looked gorgeous at first glance, but the variety of vegetables was poor. I felt that the breakfast was so simple, but it would be the standard in the U.K.. The content was the same as other hotels which I stayed at later, Best Western in Oxford and Conrad London St. James. I was a little sorry about breakfast. I remembered that my wife had put retort bags of rice and miso soup into suitcases which we brought to the daughter who lives in Oxford. It might be a good choice.
　　I asked a concierge to calculate how long it would take from the hotel to Oxford by bus. It was considerably longer than we had expected and we didn't want to move to the bus stop with four suitcases on the reverse route of what we moved the previous night. Then we decided to take a taxi to Oxford. This concierge and the taxi driver were nice and friendly. The first impression of the U.K. recovered, which had gotten worse by the English of the front desk person last night. Surprisingly, the receipt of the taxi fare came to me by an e-mail. I'll show you that below.
　　These are the ideas which I thought after coming back Japan: we should have put up at a hotel near Paddington station, which is one of the principal stations in London. It would take about an hour from Paddington to Oxford by train. One thing, however, it was a first time visit to the U.K., the first time on the tube and the national railway of the Great Western Railway. It's doubtful if we were able to successfully use that transportation, but it wasn't so hard to utilize transportation like above. On the other hand, I think it's hard for the first-time visitors to Tokyo to use public transportation. I believe that the authorities should improve this situation before the Olympics.

昨日の投稿で書き忘れたこと。それはフロントスタッフの英語。聞き取れず。日頃ＢＢＣのキャスターの英語を半分くらいは聞き取れるので英語に何ら心配していなかったのだが。まだ娘の方が理解していた。１０年くらい前に英語圏ではないドイツに留学していたことが役に立ったのだろうか？「なぜ聞き取れるのかわからない」と、僕よりも本人がビックリしていた。このイギリスの英語にはこの後、あちこちで悩まされた。

ホテルの朝食。一見豪華に見えるのだが、日本のホテルに比べて野菜が極めて貧弱。非常にシンプルに感じたがこれがイギリスの一般的な朝食なのだろう。この朝食の内容はこの後泊まったベストウエスタン、ロンドンのコンラッドでもほぼ同様。イギリスの朝食の定番なのだろうが、毎日これだったので少し辛かった。カミさんが留学中の娘にレトルトの米や味噌汁を詰めていたが正解だったかもしれない。

ヒースロー空港からバス移動した場合のオックスフォードのバスターミナルまでの所要時間を計算してもらった。さらにそのバスターミナルからホテルまでタクシーを必要とするので、費用と時間を考慮して、ホテルからタクシーを頼んでもらった。このコンシュルジュの英語は比較的わかりやすく、感じの良い人だった。タクシードライバーも感じよく、ホテルのフロントの話す英語で悪くなった初イギリスの印象が改善された。（笑）タクシーの領収書は、なんとメールで送られてきた。参考になるかなと思い、ＵＰする。

帰国してからの考えだが、前夜のうちにパディントン駅まで移動しておけば良かった。電車ならオックスフォードまで１時間だったし。ただ、初めてのイギリス、初めての地下鉄、はじめての国鉄。スムーズに切符を買って移動できたかどうかはあやしい。あくまで帰国してからの考えとしてそう思った。また一方で日本の国鉄、地下鉄は多分外国からの旅行者にとって使いこなすのはかなり難しいと思う。オリンピックまでに改善すべきと感じた。

Matsuyama Freiburg Friendship Meeting

　The sister city treaty between my hometown of Matsuyama City and Freiburg City in Germany turns 30 years. As one of the memorial events, the Freiburgers visited Matsuyama City and the Matsuyama side held a reception party for them. The following pictures were taken at that time. The two men who are holding each other's hands in the center of one of the pictures are the mayors of each city. The model house under their hands was the model of the city office of Freiburg. The rice-pounding entertainment excited all the people there. Next year, if I could take a week's leave, I'd like to join the tour to Freiburg.

　
愛媛県松山市とドイツのフライブルク市は今年で姉妹都市提携３０周年を迎える。それを記念してフライブルク市民団が松山市を訪問した。写真はその歓迎会で撮られたもの。来年には松山市からフライブルク市へ向けて市民訪問団が結成されることになっている。写真では二人の市長が手を繋いでいるが、その下にある模型はフライブルク市庁舎である。余興が盛り上がって大変楽しい歓迎会となった。

Beer Trolley Train

　　My hometown, Ehime Prefecture, was hit by a catastrophic rainfall in July and it took so much time to recover. Lots of houses were immersed by muddy water and train tracks were also cut across the prefecture. My friends and I applied for a train tour in May and this tour was so popular that the passengers were chosen by lot. We luckily got tickets for Aug. 6th and the tour re-started on that day, though we were wondering when the tour would start. That is, we came to join the first tour after the disaster. The tour route is well-known as a scenic area, especially for viewing the sunset. I'll show you some pictures taken on the way.

(Vocabulary)
trolley train いわゆるトロッコ列車

In Cabin

　　Several dozen beds were arranged for taking a rest in the cabin. Then, walking through the bed area, I found the owner's gadgets. The ferryboat was heading for Hakata, but would detour and pass a famous island. The owner might have thought that we would be bored due to having a lot of free time and he would entertain us with his hobby. However, he didn't need to worry about that. A lively party started with some local sake, which was offered by him.

次にキャビン内を見学。休息用のベッドが並び、その先に、、、社長の趣味の道具が、、このフェリーは博多へ向かっていたのだが、途中大回りをしてある島の近くを通過する予定だった。暇をもてあますだろうと心配した社長が演奏してくれるつもりだったのだろう。が、ここでもやはり飲み会に、、、(^_^;)

In Cabin

　　Several dozen beds were arranged for taking a rest in the cabin. Then, walking through the bed area, I found the owner's gadgets. The ferryboat was heading for Hakata, but would detour and pass a famous island. The owner might have thought that we would be bored due to having a lot of free time and he would entertain us with his hobby. However, he didn't need to worry about that. A lively party started with some local sake, which was offered by him.

次にキャビン内を見学。休息用のベッドが並び、その先に、、、社長の趣味の道具が、、このフェリーは博多へ向かっていたのだが、途中大回りをしてある島の近くを通過する予定だった。暇をもてあますだろうと心配した社長が演奏してくれるつもりだったのだろう。が、ここでもやはり飲み会に、、、(^_^;)

Kamisou Hotel

　　We stayed at Kamisou Hotel. As soon as I arrived at the hotel, I went out for a walk with my camera. Following the signboard, I found a monument to commemorate the Showa Tennoh's visit to the island. To my regret, however, caretakers of the monument didn't seem to work faithfully. The signboard was dirty and the plants around the monument were left as they were. I found several historical items like a well, water from which was used to wash off the oil, coal ash and seawater of the Russian soldiers who had been rescued after the sinking of their military vessels on May 28th in 1905. Getting back to the hotel and after taking a bath, a big party was held. It was really a lot of fun.

今日は花海荘という宿に宿泊。保守の大先輩方の話を拝聴するのが楽しみ。宿についてすぐ、カメラだけを持って付近を散策。昭和天皇の対馬への行幸を記念して建てられた碑があったが、管理が行き届いていないように思えた。もう少しなんとかならないものか。ブラブラ歩きながら撮った写真の一部を載せる。日本海海戦に関わる史跡があちこちに残っていた。ホテルに戻り、風呂の後は言うまでも無く宴会。楽しい時間だった。

Manzekibashi Bridge

　　We landed at a port in the southern part of the island and went up north by bus. A red bridge abruptly appeared in front of us and its name was Manzekibashi Bridge. Our tour leader advised us to walk on the bridge and I followed his words. Looking down from the bridge, I noticed that both sides of the shore were surely artificial. According to the guide, the channel, which we were looking at, was secretly constructed just before the Russo-Japanese War to make it easier for military vessels to move between the eastern and western areas of the island. A signboard was attached saying "Don't Dive Here!" in Korean, and I found a Korean restaurant on the opposite side of the bridge. I realized that this island was really the border island.

위험　　危険
뛰어들지마시오　飛び込まないでください

対馬の南部の港へ上陸して北部へ向かっていた我々の前に立派な橋が現れた。万関橋という名前だった。我々のリーダーが是非この橋は歩いて渡ろうというのでバスから降りて歩いた。下を見ると、両側の岸辺は明らかに人の手が加えられている。聞けば、日露戦争に備え、島の東西を迅速に軍艦を移動させることが出来るよう極秘裏に運河が作られたのだという。飛び込むなと朝鮮語で書かれた板が橋に取り付けられていた。朝鮮語でメニューの書かれた食堂もあった。聞いてはいたが、朝鮮人観光客が多いのだろう。

Tsushima Tour

　　After wrapping up my work, I put my gadgets and clothes into my bag and jumped on a night bus bound for Fukuoka City, which is located in the north of Kyushu. A long-distance bus ride is cramped, noisy and really uncomfortable. I always suffer from lack of sleep the next day, but there was no other option. Anyway, I got to Fukuoka on the 26th. As I was wandering around the harbor, my companions got together. I got on a high-speed boat from Fukuoka to Tsushima island. I found a ferryboat named "Mikasa" moored at Iki port on the way. I'm going to write about a wonderful story about this ferryboat later. When we got off the boat at Tsushima, several local people welcomed us and took us to a restaurant. I enjoyed seafood from the Sea of Japan there. Then we went out for sightseeing. We headed for a lookout from which we viewed the landscape of the saw-tooth coastline of Asowan Bay.

５月２５日の勤務を終えて夜行バスで福岡へ向かった。夜行バスは窮屈だし、うるさいし、眠られないので苦手だが仕方ない。早朝、福岡に着き、港で待っていると仲間達が集まってきた。福岡からは写真の高速艇で対馬に向かう。途中、壱岐島に寄ったときにフェリーみかさを見つけた。翌日に乗る予定の船だ。対馬に着くとすぐに昼食。地元の海の幸をいただく。そして、バスに乗り込み対馬観光へ出発。まず寄ったのは、上見坂（かみさか）園地。対馬の浅茅湾（あそうわん）のリアス式海岸の景観を堪能。

Last Dinner

　　We walked around the shopping street in the Hilton Village to get some souvenirs in the afternoon. After much consideration, we picked "Honolulu Cookie" up, as they were light. I heard that they were really popular just now. I tried to eat some, and they were nice. Then, we headed for the Ala Moana Center, which was the huge shopping mall, by trolley bus. The information board which was posted inside was written in English and Japanese. I'll show you the Japanese version below. Our destination was a local supermarket next to the Ala Moana Center, where we got some meat for steak and a bottle of red wine. My wife tried to cook beef steaks using American cooking utensils and the sizzling steaks were really delicious. Viewing the ocean at sunset, our dinner was enjoyable. Though dinner-out was costly, self-cooking was reasonable. We've made up our mind to prepare "bento" to save money when going out. I assume that the Japanese word "bento" had already become worldwide like "sushi", "kimono" and "tofu", but "bento" means a light meal packed in a lunch box.
　　"Bento" reminded me of a funny episode which had happened up the mountain in Whistler, Canada. I was staying in a condominium in the world-class ski resort of Blackcomb and my friends prepared several rice balls with leftover rice from the previous night and we brought them up the mountain for lunch. When we were eating them in a lodge, we noticed that people on both sides' tables were gazing at what we were eating, a black baseball-sized mass. That was a rice ball wrapped with dried seaweed. Dried seaweed, called "Nori", is very common in Japan and is served as a part of a Japanese style breakfast. However, the black ball would be seen as a mysterious object to them. Their eyes were full of curiosity and that was fun to us.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/03/lunch.html
グロテスクなにぎりめし

(Apr. 12th)

午後からはビレッジ内で買物。お土産だ。いろいろ考えた末、軽い物をと考えてホノルルクッキーを選んだ。流行っているのだとか。滞在中に食べてみたがなかなかいける味だった。そして夕方からはトロリーバスでアラモアナセンターへ。車内にあった停車場所の案内は英語と日本語。日本語の方をＵＰする。アラモアナセンターは巨大なショッピングモールだが、目的は地元の人も利用するその隣の食料品店。ステーキ肉とワインを仕入れて焼いてみた。アメリカ製の調理道具ももう慣れた。窓からの景色を眺めながらの食事はまた格別。そして、自炊をすると滞在費がはるかに安くつく。次回からは昼食を持って出かけよう。『弁当』はsushiとかkimonoとかtofuなどと同様に英語になっているようで、英語ではbentoと綴る。

弁当で思い出したことがある。カナダのウィスラーでの話である。前の晩の残りご飯でおにぎりを作り、全体を海苔で包んで山に持って上がり、スキー場のレストランで食べていたところ、両隣のテーブルの人からの不思議そうな視線を感じた。真っ黒な野球ボール大の塊を見て、いったい何を食べているのか？と思ったのでしょうね。その顔が面白くて、、で結局、海苔を一袋、それぞれのテーブルに差し上げることに。(^o^)

 

Hilton Grand Vacations Club

　　I had spent hectic days until yesterday so that I didn't waste precious limited time in Hawaii. I relaxed leisurely today. I visited the Hilton's office 10 minutes' walk from my condominium to collect useful information for the U.K. tour which I'm planning in the coming fall. It will be my first visit to the U.K. and I was going to choose hotels taking security as the top priority in mind. I'm a member of Hilton Grand Vacations Club and the husband of the person in charge owned a Tesla car and I chatted with her about her husband's car. Her husband seemed to be surely a Tesla freak. I really came to want to buy one, but it was extraordinarily expensive and I have to wait for a considerable time. The following picture shows my lunch. It cost about 25 dollars with a beer. Eating in a restaurant around here will inevitably be costly.

ハワイに来てから昨日まで忙しく動き回ったので、今日は一日のんびりと過ごすことにしている。ヒルトンビレッジ内のヒルトンのオフィスに立ち寄り、秋に計画しているイギリス旅行に役に立ちそうな情報を集めた。愉快だったのは、ヒルトンの僕の担当者のご主人がテスラファンで、ここでもテスラの話を聞いた。欲しいのだが、そう簡単に買える価格ではないので、しばらく我慢。写真はランチ。これにビールが付いて２５００円くらいだったと思う。このあたりでは外食は高くついてしまう。

Peaceful Waikiki

　　I came back to Waikiki by transferring to the fixed-route buses. I became used to the public bus service on Oahu island. I left my single lens reflex camera in my condominium and went out for a walk on the beach with my small digital camera. There were lots of tourists waiting for the start of the hula show around Waikiki beach. After seeing miserable pictures and records, those scenes touched the very core of my heart. I realized how wonderful peace was. I wondered if the distinctive terrain of Diamond Head was in the sight of the pilots and submariners who had attacked Pearl Harbor 77 years ago. The symbol of Waikiki was very beautiful, reflecting the evening sun.
　　The temperature went down to a comfortable level and I walked along Kalakaua Avenue, the main and most busy street in Waikiki. 50 or 60 people were waiting for their turn in line in front of a Udon noodle restaurant, which was a franchise of one of the most popular Udon noodle restaurants in Japan. A third of them seemed to be Japanese. I gave up eating American Udon noodle and dropped in at a restaurant street, called Yokocho, which means a group of small inexpensive shops in Japanese. A few artificial cherry trees were decorated there. It goes without saying that the cherry trees are one of the symbols of Japan. Would it be possible for 70 year-ago Japanese people to imagine such scenes that this island took on Japan's culture. I had a round trip of the island yesterday and received lectures from the taxi driver. Today I learned the history of the island from another aspect. Oahu island is a tiny and small island, but it has something profound.

路線バスを乗り継いでワイキキに戻り、一眼レフカメラをコンドミニアムに置き小さなデジカメだけをポケットに入れてビーチを散歩した。ビーチではもうすぐ始まるフラダンスショーを待つ人があふれていた。戦争の記録を見た後なのでこの幸せな風景が身にしみた。なんと有り難いことか。あのダイヤモンドヘッドを攻撃隊のパイロットたち、小型潜水艦で特攻攻撃をした潜水艦乗りたちも眺めただろうか。

ビーチを離れてカラカウア通りを歩いた。日本国内では名の知れたうどんのチェーン店である丸亀製麺には大勢の人が並んでいた。日本人は１／３くらいか。アメリカのうどんを諦めて横町と呼ばれる食堂街に入ったのだが、ここも大勢の人がいて諦めた。通りには日本を象徴する桜が置かれていた。この地がこれほど日本の色に染まるとは７７年前の日本人に想像できただろうか。昨日のオアフ島一周、タクシードライバーからのレクチャー、そして今日の真珠湾歴史地区の散策、、、小さな島なのに、奥が深い。

Dinner Show

　　The most known attraction in the Polynesian Cultural Center would be its extravagant dinner show, and that was really great as I had expected. I'd like to show you some scenes of the wonderful pageant, but picture shooting was prohibited. The pictures below were from the warm-up show performed by students of BYU. In such a situation, I don't drink a beer to avoid spending time in the washroom, but it was sad to eat steaks without wine. The center was run by the Mormon foundation and alcoholic beverages were prohibited in the park due to religious reasons.
　　The long-waited dinner show started at 7.30 after the stage was blanketed by darkness. While I was watching the show, I often forgot to eat the gorgeous dinner. The story was gripping and was about a baby who was born in a King's family and grew up to a great leader of the nation. It's worth while to visit Hawaii and watch!

ポリネシア文化センターの一番の呼び物は、ディナーショーだ。ただ、ショーを写真に撮ることは禁じられていた。下記に並べる写真は、前座のショーを撮影したものでここまでは撮影を許可されていた。演者はおそらく学生たち。彼らのショーに続いて行われたプロによる(と思われる)時代劇を豪華な食事をいただきながら鑑賞。このようなとき、トイレへ行かなくてすむようビールは飲まないが、ワインが飲めなかったのが辛かった。
プロによると思われるショーは完全に暗くなった１９時３０分開演。食事の手が止まってしまった。どうやら、一人の男が生まれ、いろいろな試練を経て次世代を率いるリーダーに成長する物語。迫力満点の素晴らしい野外劇だった。一見の価値、十分に有り。

Hanauma Bay and Koko Crater

　　When I visited Hawaii for the first time last year, I asked an American for his advice and he suggested Hanauma Bay as the most beautiful beach on Oahu island. However, that was a little far for me, a first-time visitor. This time, our drive was already behind schedule and there was a short-cut route, but I wanted to drop in at this beach at least. My impression was just "What a beautiful bay!" I heard that the beach was shot in the movie starring Elvis Presley, "Blue Hawaii".
　　The beach was not a park, but located in a preserve. The colonies of coral prevent sharks from sneaking into the bay, and it leads to the safety of small fishes and humans. The fishes in the bay seemed not to fear humans. You can swim with fishes there. I thought that snorkelling would be fine. I decided to swim in Hanauma Bay next time. The parking lot along the road was fairly high, but you can use a tram to the beach.
　　Just after leaving Hanauma Bay, our car got into an area called Hawaii Kai, which was really beautiful and looked peaceful. Admiring its gorgeous atmosphere, the driver told me that the area was included on the route of the Honolulu Marathon. I felt that it would be wonderful if I was able to run the street in Hawaii Kai. However, the runners have to run more than 30 km until arriving at Hawaii Kai and then the slope of Diamond Head was waiting for them. In order to enjoy running in Hawaii Kai, I would have to build my strength up, but I wanted to join the Honolulu Marathon in the not so distant future.
　　One more thing. I noticed at Hanauma Bay that we had passed by a steep slope on the right side. Koko Crater was along the road. The three big craters on Oahu island are Diamond Head, the Punchbowl, and Koko Crater. I stood on two of them. I'd like to climb the last one, Koko Crater next time. The scenery from the summit must be great. I heard that it took an hour to reach its summit. The trail to the summit used to be an important route for supply to the military fort on the summit. A part of the railroad seemed to remain.
　　We parted in front of my condominium after receiving his contact number to get in touch with him during our stay on Oahu island. I got various information from him during the drive, like an annual senior bus pass on Oahu island, issues of garbage and industrial waste, supplies of water and electricity, reasonable and secure bars and pubs in downtown, and so on.
　　We got tired and bought some food which was easy to eat. I think that it's the best way to save money in the Waikiki area. We went out to the beach with wine and ate the food viewing the boats on the ocean. Today was also a wonderful day!

ハナウマ湾

昨年、あるアメリカ人に初めてハワイに行くのだと話したら、ハナウマ湾へ行って見ろとアドバイスを受けた。だが、ホノルルからは意外に遠く、行きにくい場所にあったため立ち寄ることは出来なかった。なので今回初めて来て見たが、何と美しい海だろうと思った。聞けばエルビス・プレスリーのブルー・ハワイの撮影地だと言うではないか。

ここは公園ではなく、保護区になっており、サンゴが群生しているためサメが入ってこないし、魚類は保護されているため人間を怖がらないらしい。次の機会には絶対にここで泳ごうと思った。シュノーケリングが楽しそうだ。道路はかなり高い位置にあり、ビーチまで下りていかねばならないのだが、トラムが運行しているようなので大丈夫。

ここを出てワイキキに向かうとすぐにハワイカイと呼ばれる地域に入った。実に美しい街並み、入江に感心していると、フルマラソンではこのあたりを走る、ということでコースを走ってもらった。ここを走ったら気持ちいいだろうなあと感じた。ただし、３０キロくらいからのコースで、しかもハワイカイからダイヤモンドヘッドの登りになるので若干きつめになる。なので楽しむためには十分な走力を身につけておかねばならないがフルマラソン、走りたいぞ。

通り過ぎてわかったのだが、右側がいやに急で、左側も落ちている。ドライバーから聞いた。ココ・クレーターが右側にあったのだ。我々の車はそのクレーターの東側斜面を走ったことになる。頂上まで登山道が有り、かつてはトロッコで頂上にある陸軍基地までトロッコで物資を運んでいた名残りで、今も線路が残っていて、線路を歩いて上るらしい。そんなことを聞くと登らずにはいられない。

うちまで送ってもらってチャーターしたタクシーとはお別れ。連絡先をしっかりと聞いているのでまた利用したい。路線バスの年間シニアパス、ハワイの粗大ごみ事情や、産廃事情。電気や水の供給問題、地元の人たちが利用する飲み屋など、、、いろいろな情報を仕入れることが出来た。

今日も疲れたのですぐに食べられるものをいろいろ買い込んで帰宅。結局これが一番安い。ワインを下げてビーチへ出て海岸で軽く食べたらもう眠い。素晴らしい一日だった。