Thankfully for drivers, this winter had little snow. I changed tires into summer ones today earlier than usual in this season. Take a look at the following pictures. Looking into the bottom of the car, I found that it was perfectly flat. It corresponds to the bottom of the battery housing. It attracts my interest.
I came to a hospital in the mountainous region in Shikoku to assist a major surgery. After that, I stayed overnight at the hospital to observe the postoperative course and I went out of the building to feel fresh air in the mountains in the early morning. Then I found my car frosted over. I was truly in the midst of Shikoku mountains as you would expect. I had something on my mind when I bought my car driven by electricity. It has no combustion engine and might be weak at warming itself. I was surprised to see my car and I went back in the building and turned the defroster on 30 minutes before departure via internet. The frost had already disappeared when I got to my car. What had been on my mind before purchasing was a mere groundless fear. At the same time, it's all too handy to be connected to my car all the time. I can adjust the room temperature before I get in the car. Cooling in summer and warming in winter!
(Vocabulary)
combustion 燃えること, 燃焼
四国山地の中央にある町へ手術の応援に来た。術後経過を見るために宿泊し、翌朝外に出ると霜が降りていた。さすがに山の中である。この車を買うときに心配したことの一つにエンジンが無いため車を温める機能が弱いのではないかと言うこと。朝、外に出てみて車を見てびっくりしたが、室内に戻り、出発前３０分くらいにデフロスタのスイッチをオン。出かけるときには霜は消えていた。杞憂だった。車とネットを通じて常に繋がっているのは実に便利な機能だと思う。
Chinese originated pneumonia causes havoc in the northern hemisphere. The Japanese Government always ends up reacting after the event because they are concerned for China and trying not to dishonour the Chinese Government. However, the one thing that they have to do is protect the lives of their people, Japanese. I hope that the Government will take strong actions against the virus.
The Yokohama-based cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, came back to its home port, Yokohama city, on Feb 3rd, but almost all the passengers and crew members were stranded in the ship. It carried a Chinese from Yokohama to Hong Kong two weeks ago, who later developed the novel pneumonia in Hong Kong. Therefore, the Government suspected that there might be some people affected with pneumonia. Actually the new type of coronavirus was detected in the specimens from passengers. Both passengers and crew members are confined to their rooms until the end of the latent period of 14 days.I'm so sorry to hear that. Honestly, I had been on board this ship from Dec. 15th to 23rd last year. I can't afford to be indifferent to this incident.
The four pandemics occurred only in 20th century. All of their epicenters were the southern part of present China; Spanish, Asian, and Hong Kong flu, then SARS. From my viewpoint, the social conditions in China are too dirty for me to live, though I'm not going to live in China at all. I hope the virus will be confined soon.
(Vocabulary)
havoc 大混乱, 大損害
end up reacting after the event 後手後手になる
latent 隠れている, 潜在的な
I'm a thirsty soul. Every time I visit strange places across Japan, I drink local sake and buy "Guinomi", a small glass for Japanese sake, which is crafted by local potters as a memory of the trip. They are small and not bulky in my suitcase and they don't take up so much space in my house.
Today's sake is a gift from my second daughter's fiance and I feel happy and sad at the same time. I picked 4 guinomis up for this sake. I'm wondering which guinomi to use now.
僕は無類の酒好きで、日本各地を旅行するとその地方の地酒を飲み、記念に土地土地の土で出来たぐい呑みを買って帰る。小さいものなので、荷物にはならず、置き場所にもそう困らない。さて今日はどのぐい呑みで飲もうか、、、酒は次女のフィアンセが送ってくれたもの。嬉しいような悲しいような酒を飲むことにしよう。
My Tesla Model 3, Ryuseigo, has superb acceleration. I've seen several movies on YouTube in which Model 3 and what you call a super car, whose price is over 200,000US$, vie with each other in acceleration, and Model 3 is always on a par with its rivals or outruns them.
When I drive comfortably on a quiet road in countryside, I often find myself driving faster than regulation. I think I would be surely caught by police some day, so I decided to equip Ryuseigo with a police radar detector. Various kinds of detectors were on the shelves in a parts shop, and I chose one after advice on the internet.
I'm hopeless about mechanical stuff and had it installed. The detector has a GPS-receiver built-in and works very well.
I make it a rule to do squats once a week. I started muscle training 3 years ago and I was surprised to know that the amount of muscle increases even over 60 years old. The picture shows my struggle to lift 90 kg weight. For now, this is my limit, but I'd like to lift 112kg, as men are said to be able to raise up one and a half times the weight of his/her body weight. I weigh 75kg, so my target comes to 112kg. This is far beyond my strength now, but I set it as my goal.
I attended the New Year Party of my Lions Club in "Kimono". I put on my Kimono after a long interval. Are we gorgeous? A lady was also in Kimono, so I asked her to take a picture of us two and upload it on the net. I really like this picture, and what do you make of it?
所属しているライオンズクラブの新年会があった。久しぶりに着物を着てみた。着心地が良くて落ち着ける。同じく着物で出席の女性と一緒に記念撮影。良い写真でしょ？
At the beginning of the New Year, the father of my sister-in-law passed away. My wife and I headed for Tsuyama city by car where the funeral would be held. As you know, I have a Tesla Model 3 named "Ryuseigo", which is driven by electricity.
The charging spots open to the public are becoming prevalent around my hometown, but the Tesla's Supercharger, which is specially and exclusively designed for Tesla cars, doesn't exist. The Tesla's charging network has been also expanding in Japan, but not enough yet. I had been eager to use the supercharger after I got my Ryuseigo.
The amount of charge of Ryuseigo was enough to reach the destination, but I went out of the toll road to try to use the Tesla Supercharger(link) in Kurashiki city on the way, though the highway toll become a little higher once you get out of the highway.
Then I dropped in at a Tesla charging spot in Kurashiki city and charged Ryuseigo from the Supercharger for the first time. Adding to the easy procedure, I was amazed at the speed of the charge! I usually charge it in my house. The speed of the Supercharger was 10 times faster than my usual charge. As the following pictures show, it can charge electricity for the drive of 336km in an hour.
https://www.tesla.com/supercharger
親戚に不幸があり、岡山県の北部の町まで流星号でドライブ。目的地までバッテリーに余裕はあったのだが、テスラスーパーチャージャーを試してみたくて倉敷で高速道路を降りて充電してみた。さすがにテスラ専用の充電器だけあり、速い! 写真が示すように１時間で３３６ｋｍを走行できる電力を充電できるようだ。
CHAdeMO is the trade name of a quick charging method of EVs. Ryuusei-goh, which is the nickname of my tesla model 3, has been charged in my home, but I utilized CHAdeMO for the first time away from home. As you know from the following pictures, it requires a special adaptor to connect the car and the charger, and it looks a little strange. This type of charger is found everywhere in Japan and is handy, but it takes more charging time than the tesla supercharger. I hope for the prompt development of the tesla supercharger network.
CHAdeMOというのはEV（電気自動車）の急速充電方法の商標名。流星号(僕のモデル３にニックネーム）はいつも自宅充電だったが、外出先で初めてCHAdeMOを使ってみた。写真でわかるとおり、アダプターを付けなければいけないのでなんとも妙な具合に写っているが、これで正常。この充電器は至るところにあるので便利だが、テスラ専用充電器に比べると遅い。テスラのスーパーチャージャーのネットワークの充実が待たれる。
When the ship entered into the channel to Tokyo Bay, the sea surface became really calm. The Diamond Princess proceeded to Yokohama Bay. The last night was stormy, but the weather changed for the better this morning like my usual last day. It's always like that. The last day of my trip will be sunny with a high probability. I just hope that it will be so in the midst of the trip. Anyway, I enjoyed the scenery of Yokohama from the deck. When I started the trip 8 days ago, it was dark. There were lots of suitcases lined up on the pier. They would belong to the tourists who would join the next cruise. The staff members would be busy preparing for the next cruise by cleaning up the rooms and public areas, or to bring food and necessities in or to take garbage out, and so on within the limited time. We were able to disembark about 2 o'clock. As our flight to our hometown was at about 1900, we were able to take a rest in Haneda Airport.
On my last cruising trip on this Diamond Princess, I had an opportunity to talk with a medical crew. I learned how they work on board and her story aroused my interest. The company that operates the Diamond Princess is Princess Cruise in the U.S., and it apparently has 16 cruise ships or more. I informed her of my skills in the medical field and languages. She said to me, "fully qualified!" I can speak in German, though a little haltingly and naturally Japanese, so, according to her, I would be welcomed to the cruise especially in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, as the number of Japanese people who enjoy cruising in those waters is soaring. I started thinking of taking up a new lifestyle as a ship's doctor.
Postscript:
Disgusting Wuhan pneumonia occurred on the Diamond Princess during the next next cruise tour after our disembarkation. I was so surprised as I had already submitted my resignation on Dec. 30th. declaring that I would quit my job on June 30th. Postponing my ship's doctor plan, I had to seek for my new job until that day, but don't worry. I already received so many offers from various facilities.
(Jan. 30th)
東京湾に入ると、鏡のような海面になった。ダイヤモンド・プリンセスは滑るように進んでいく。いつものことだが、旅の終わりには晴れる。本当に良い天気だ。昨夜の嵐は夢だったのか。ベイブリッジをくぐり、大桟橋に近づくと、大量のスーツケースが見えた。どうやら今日、乗客を入れ替えてまたどこかへ向けて出発するのだろう。客の入れ替わるわずかの時間に掃除をしたり物資の搬入、搬出とスタッフは忙しいことだろう。我々夫婦は１４時頃に下船できた。６時間以上遅れたけれど、羽田発は１９時頃の便なので余裕。前に乗ったときにも思ったのだが、この船、あるいはこの会社で船医として働きたい。船医への転身を真剣に考えてみようと思う。ま、これまでも、多分これからも、成り行き任せの人生だから、、、
（２０２０年１月３０日)
追記 次の香港へのクルーズのその次のクルーズで例の武漢ウイルス感染が起こった。心底驚いた。船医計画は延期となった。１２月末に辞表を提出してしまったし、さて次は何をしよう(^_^;)
We were supposed to arrive at Yokohama in the early morning on Dec. 23rd, but the last night's stormy weather made for the delay of 6 hours or more. As the passengers will be allowed to leave the ship in order of the rank of the room from the higher to the lower, then it would be toward the last in the afternoon for us to disembark. It was a nice decision to book the last flight from Haneda Airport. Even if the arrival was late, we had enough time to connect to the next schedule. The internet room was crowded last night. I thought that they were attempting to change their modes of transportation via the internet.
Most of our possessions were sent to disembarkation control last night, and we were bored as I had no books, and no mobile pc. The sea became incredibly calm and we climbed up to the restaurant on the highest deck. I was sure to have had enough last night, but became hungry in the morning. We were able to take a nice table to view the ocean. Eating too much to kill the time (grin), a vague silhouette came into my sight. It was Izu-oshima Island! I felt we were approaching Japan. I'll show you the map which was shown on the screen when we got back to the room.
早朝に着く予定だったはずが、６時間以上遅れるとのこと。部屋のランクの高い乗客から降ろされるので、我々が下船できるのは昼を優に過ぎるだろう。羽田からのフライトを最終便にしておいて良かった。昨夜インターネット室が混んでいたのは、交通機関の予約変更などをするためだったのだろう。
荷物のほとんどは昨夜のうちに部屋から送り出しており、手元には必要最小限のものしかない。何もすることがない。昨夜の揺れが嘘のように穏やかな波になっており、最上階のレストランに行って見た。昨夜も食べて飲んだはずだが朝になると腹が減る。眺めの良い席を取ることができた。厚い雲がどんどん晴れてきた。暇に任せて大量の朝食を食べていると、島が見えてきた。スマホで確認すると伊豆大島！日本に戻ってきた実感が湧いてきた。部屋に戻ったときにテレビに表示されていたマップ、１時間後のマップをＵＰする。
Passing through the tunnel on the way to Taipei, the sky changed for the better, just as the tour guide had told us. The bad weather was unlucky, but it was good for us to have enough time to talk with the tour guide. I asked her about what I felt was unusual on the cruise ship. There are so many Chinese people everywhere in Japan who talk loudly in their distinguishing high tone. Their behavior is often criticized in lots of tourist spots. However, no Chinese on the ship, quite the contrary. A quiz show was held on the ship on the first night and one of the questions was to ask the number of the passengers by nationality. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the largest was Japan, second, the U.S., then Australia, Canada, Germany,,,some other countries followed like that. To my surprise, there was no Chinese! I didn't see why, and I told our tour guide about this mystery. She laid out the reason why there was no Chinese on the ship. She said Taiwan was in the midst of the presidential campaign. The government took several steps to avoid sabotage by the Chinese Communist Party and stopped granting Chinese people visas. Her comments reminded me of the instruction of the chief purser on the Diamond Princess. Even if you don't get out of the ship in Keelung, you need to undergo the immigration check. If someone was refused entry into Taiwan, the Diamond Princess itself is not allowed to berth in Keelung. The ship's company would have rejected Chinese people on this cruise.
Then, the main topic of our conversation moved onto the presidential election. I hoped that cài yīngwén will win the presidential race, but the guide looked disappointed to know that I'm for cài yīngwén.
(Vocabulary)
sabotage
〈敵対者の設備・乗り物など〉 に破壊工作を行う
…を妨害する
[名] [U] 破壊工作,妨害行為
cài yīngwén 蔡英文
We had to give up sightseeing in Keelung due to the terrible weather and made for Taipei following the tour guide's suggestion, though we didn't have any special plan in Taipei in advance. A certain Taiwanese drink has been getting popular in Japan recently. It's various drinks including tapioca. Taipei is the birthplace for the tapioca drinks, so we decided to taste them. As for me, I wanted to buy my wife some accessories made from hokutolite, which is very precious now. This mineral is found only in Taiwan and Japan, and it's prohibited to newly mine them.
The tour guide told us that it was clear or at least cloudy in Taipei, though the city is only less than 30km away from Keelung. It was natural for us to feel doubtful about her words. According to her explanation, Taiwan is geologically divided into two parts, the east and west side, by the 4000 meter class mountain range. Both sides show totally different climates. It appears there are few plains on the east side. As she put it that way, there were no vast areas in Keelung as far as I saw. Moreover Taiwan can be climatically divided into two parts longitudinally. Its northern half has a subtropical climate, and its southern half has a tropical one. I understood the affluence of various kinds of fruits in Taiwan.
(Vocabulary)
hokutolite 北投石
climatically 気候(上)の; 風土の.
I hate the phrase "Chung Cheng", because it's another name of Chiang Kai-shek. I didn't want to visit the place bearing his name, but the tour guide advised us to take a look at Keelung port from the Park even though it was raining. As she said, we were able to see the panoramic view of Keelung. I wished it had not rained. Our tour guide seemed to have moved to Taiwan from the continent after the Great East Asian War, or his/her descendant. I'm going to write about this issue in the next entry. By the way, her Japanese skills were excellent and we got lots of knowledge about Keelung and Taiwan.
I think a word of caution is in order here. Taiwan used to be under Japanese reign for about 50 years since 1895 in the wake of the conclusion of the diplomatic pact with the Qing Dynasty. That is to say, it was a simply legal act. On the other hand, the reign by Chiang Kai-shek had no legal basis. Consequently, Taiwan is not acknowledged as an independent nation yet.
Leaving the park, our tour guide wanted to walk around the city center, but the weather was terrible, so we headed to Taipei to taste Taiwan's tapioca drink, which is getting popular also in Japan. We'd like to try genuine ones.
(Vocabulary)
zhōngzhèng gōngyuán, Chung Cheng Park 中正公園
中正という名前は嫌いである。なぜかというと、蒋介石の本名だから。こんな名前を冠した土地には近寄りたくもないが、一応観光地で景色が良いというので行って見た。ガイドさんはどうやら外省人のようである。日本語が実に堪能で、前回の台湾旅行で案内してくれたガイドとは雲泥の差。何でも尋ねられる。 ここで一言注意をしておく必要があると思う。かつて台湾は日本の統治下にあったが、それは１８９５年に清国と結ばれた国際条約によるもので合法的な行為であった。しかし、蒋介石が台湾に住み着いたことについてはなんら法的根拠はない。 さて、ガイドは街歩きの後、夜市を案内したかったようだが、天気が悪く４時までには船に戻らねばならなかったので、台北へタピオカドリンクを飲みに行くことにした。やはり本場で試してみないといけないということで。
No matter how strong the wind was, I was going to visit Peace Island, which was called Sharyoujima under the Japanese reign. Lots of Okinawan fishermen are said to have lived on the island in those days. Its terrain was like yěliǔ dìzhì gōngyuán at which we looked during the last trip to Taiwan.I viewed the raging ocean from the tip of the island and the scene reminded me of the last night's pitching and rolling of the ship. If an old fishery boat like one which was made in the early times of the Meiji Era faced such furious waves, it would never survive the storm. Four or five dozen fishermen were actually washed up on the island due to a violent storm early in the Meiji Era. They weren't able to communicate with local inhabitants and most of them ended up being killed by the natives. The Meiji Government came to dispatch Japanese soldiers to Taiwan in the wake of this incident. It was the first military dispatch to an overseas country for modern Japan.
I put my hands together for victims in front of their monument and felt the difference between Taiwan and China. Chinese people would never build such a sincere monument but a simple signboard with a fake description. On the way to the next spot, the driver pulled over abruptly at a tiny fishery port called zhèngbīn yúgǎng, which was apparently one of the picture spots. Now that he mentioned it, the port had a little European feel.
(Vocabulary)
hépíngdǎo 和平島
yěliǔ dìzhì gōngyuán 野柳地質公園
zhèngbīn yúgǎng 正濱漁港
雨風がひどいのだが、どうしても訪れたい場所があった。和平島だ。戦前は社寮島と呼ばれていた島である。沖縄の漁民が大勢暮らしていたとされる。前回の台湾旅行で行った野柳地質公園に似た地形が似ていた。荒れた海を見た。昨夜の揺れを思い出した。これでは明治初期の漁船では遭難するだろう。ここへ流れ着いた宮古島住人を地元民が虐殺した事件があった。言葉の通じない時代のことだ。明治政府が初めて海外に派兵した事件はここから起こった。
琉球漁民慰霊碑に手を合わせた。やはり台湾は違うなと感じた。支那だったらこんな慰霊碑は絶対に作らないだろう。帰りに正濱漁港で記念撮影。観光スポットだという。少しヨーロッパの雰囲気があるかも。
Unlike Miyakojima, Keelung was perfect as a port for big vessels. Miyakojima Island is formed by coral reefs and is shallow to a considerable distance from the shore. We had to use a tender boat to reach the island, but the Diamond Princess was able to directly berth at the pier in Keelung. The Diamond Princess sails under British colours and Japanese passengers disembark in Taiwan. I presumed that the procedure of passport control would be too much trouble, but all the formalities were already finished by morning. Really skillful! I recalled the incompetent Russian officials whom I had met in Karafuto, Sakhalin in Russian language. (link)
When we walked along the designated route at the pier, our guide spotted us. It was a good idea to have sent our pictures in advance. By the way, where should we go in the heavy rain? I wanted to see shīqiúlǐng suìdàoas built in the period of the Qing Dynasty and has been partly preserved. It's also a historic spot of the first-ever tunnel in Taiwan, but I had to give it up due to the heavy rain. I'd heard of a historic battery, Ershawan Battery , in Keelung, which was originally built against the British invasion in the times of the Opium War and was destroyed during the Sino-French War (1884-1885). However, the battery was renovated and now open to tourists. I wanted to see it, but our tour guide advised us not to visit the place in the heavy rain, because the tracks to the battery were very muddy.
We dropped in at qìng ān gōng, or Qingan Temple which is dedicated to Mazu (the Goddess of the Sea). Our tour guide was a real pro and her explanation on the temple was perfect. We were lucky to hear her story exclusively though it was expensive to hire a tour guide. I informed her about a shrine also dedicated to a deity of the sea which is located near my hometown. It's well-known in Japan. It would be helpful for her future guidance.
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/09/review-of-the-karafuto-tour.html
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/09/immigration.html
(Vocabulary)
berth 停泊する
shīqiúlǐng suìdào 獅球嶺隧道
qìng ān gōng 慶安宮
Taoism 道教
宮古島上陸とは違い接岸しているので上陸は楽ちん。船はイギリス船籍でその船から日本人が台湾へ入国するわけだが、入出国の手続きは昨夜のうちに終わっている。実に手際が良い。樺太で目にした仕事の遅いロシア人たちを思い出した。(リンク)
船から下りて決められたルートを歩いていると、ガイドが待っていてくれた。あらかじめこちらの写真を写メしていたのですぐに見つけてもらえた。さて、このひどい雨の中でどこへ行くか、、、、獅球嶺隧道を見たかったが、諦めた。これは、清朝統治時代の鉄道トンネル跡で、台湾で最初かつ清朝時代のものとしては唯一現存する鉄道トンネル。そして、海門天險（アヘン戦争時代にイギリスの侵略を防ぐために築かれた砲台で、清仏戦争で破壊されたが修復された）も道がぬかるんでいるため訪問できず。
あまりに酷い雨のため、雨を避けてまずは慶安宮へ立ち寄った。支那文化について少し学ぶ。こういうとき、独占的にガイドの話を聞けるのは有り難い。高いガイド料の価値はあった。四国に金刀比羅宮があるが海上交通の安全を守る神様ということで似ていたのでガイドに教えてあげた。次からの日本人客のガイドに役立つだろう。
I awoke past 6. It was raining heavily and very windy. The ship should pitch. Last night, I brought some nibbles back from the restaurant to my room and drank wine which I brought from Yokohama. That helped me sleeping on the raging ocean. By the way, what do we do in this heavy rain? The Diamond Princess offered us a variety of bus tours, but I wanted to freely walk around Keelung, so I had asked a travel agency to exclusively prepare a tour guide and a driver. We were able to choose places where we would visit and I had some places.
I viewed around from the top of the ship after breakfast. The port of Keelung is the nearest port to Japan and is now known for its second largest trade volume in Taiwan. This port has been developed under the reign of Japan and now its appearance must have changed from those days. However, its mountainous terrain would still retain the general atmosphere of the old days. I recalled zhèng chénggōng. He must have taken a view of these mountains in the 17th century and I imagined the scene of 17th in which Spanish sailors were the first Europeans to see this beautiful island. French soldiers would have seen them in 19th century when they waged war against the Qing Dynasty. Those images always get me turned on. On the opposite side of the pier, several military vessels were moored.
(Vocabulary)
zhèng chénggōng 鄭成功
the Qing Dynasty 清王朝
基隆港
６時過ぎに目が覚めた。ひどい雨だ。風も強そうだ。揺れるはずだ。昨夜はレストランからつまみを部屋へ持込み、横浜で買ったワインを飲んで寝た。お陰で揺れには悩まされずに済んだ。さて、この雨の中、どうする。自由に行動したかったので団体行動は止めて個人的にガイドと運転手を頼んでいる。どこへ行こうか、、、見たいところはいくつかあったのだが、この天気では難しい。
朝食後、デッキに上がって周囲の風景を眺めた。基隆港は日本に一番近い港であり、台湾第二の規模を誇っている。日本統治時代から開発されてきたために雰囲気は変わっているだろうが、１７世紀にやって来たスペイン人や鄭成功、１９世紀に戦争をふっかけたフランス軍もこの山並みを見たかと思うと感慨ひとしお。対岸には海軍の施設があった。
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