A Walk around Nakano Broadway / 中野ブロードウェイの散歩

Last weekend we went to the other Akihabara, Nakano Broadway. Mikako had never been there and was curious to check it out. Unfortunately for Mikako, I was the one who was more entertained with all the anime figures and other related items. Still, it was a nice day for a walk.

先週の休日に別の秋葉原、中野ブロードウェイに行きました。美香子が行った事がないので、行ってみたかった。でも美香子より、自分のほうが楽しんでた。なぜなら昔のアニメフィギアとおもちゃが沢山あったからです。ま、散歩日和の日だから、美香子は文句一つ言えず。

We also thought we would shop for Mother's Day here as well but heck, this is Nakano Broadway, nothing to be found for our mothers. But we knew we were sure to find some place nice for lunch.

母の日の為の物も買おうと思ってたんですが、ここは中野ブロドウェイ、お母さん達に合う物があるはずない。でも昼ごはんに美味しい店が見つかると思った。

As we were walking around the shopping area, it was noon and we found a nice little beef tongue restaurant and decided to eat there.

歩きながら、昼になって、牛タン専門店を発見。ランチはそこに決定しました。

I ordered the beef tongue and tongue stew special which included soup, rice, and salad. Mikako ordered just the beef tongue special.

僕が注文したのは牛タンとシチューのランチスペシャル。美香子は牛タンスペシャルを頼んだ。

But on our way to lunch, we passed by this dango shop that was giving off this heavenly scent so we had to go there for dessert. There were four different kinds on offer: isobe, shoyu, mitarashi, and an. What's a dango? Its three small omochi balls on a skewer. Isobe is dango wrapped with nori (seaweed). Shoyu is soy sauce. Mitarashi is a sweet and sour sauce, and an is a sweet bean paste. We ordered one each of isobe, mitarashi, and shoyu.

ランチを食べる前に、良い香りの団子屋もあって、ランチを食べた後にもちろん団子買いに行きました。四種類の味があって、醤油、いそべ、あん、とみたらし。私たちは醤油、いそべ、とみたらし団子一本ずつを買いました。

It was so delicious!!

とっても美味しかった！！

1958 Edsel Citation / エッドセール・サイテーション

I don't think I need to write a sentence. 文章は必要ないでしょう。

Notice / お知らせ

This is a notice to let you know that I've finished my post that I started on April 24 on my trip to Italy.

４月２４日のポストをやっと終了致しました。イタリア旅行の話。

Go Speed Racer Go / マッハ Go Go Go

A tribute for the movie that's about to open. If you didn't know that this is the Mach-5 then, where have you been?

映画ロードショーのトリビュート。　これがマッハ―５と知らない人いるの？

And we mustn't forget Racer X's car either (or rather Rex Racer, Speed's older brother).

レーサXの車を忘れずに。主人公のお兄さんの車です。

Ge Ge Ge no Ernie? / ゲゲゲのアーニー？

It's the same picture featured on the right. Here I am with my yokai buddies. Characters created by Shigeru Mizuki. This is at Jindaiji Temple in Chofu.

Lets see if I remember my yokai. The big wall thing in the back is Nurikabe. The flying sheet thingy is Ittanmomen. The only other ones I know are Konakijiji (the yokai with the staff), Nekomusume (standing to the right of Konakijiji), Kitaro & Medama-Oyaji (standing to the right of Nekomusume). Kitaro is the main character of "Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro". The eyeball is his father. To the right of Kitaro are Sunakakebaba and Nezumi Otoko. I do not know the names of the rest of them.

右側と同じ写真です。妖怪仲間と一緒。水木しげるの妖怪達です。本当は調布にある深大寺で写真を撮りました。

Another mini-car? / またミニカー？

Nope, it's a real thing. It's a little sake delivery truck. It looks like a mini car with Mikako standing next to it.

やっ、本物です。酒配達の車です。美香子が車の隣に立つとミニカーに見えるでしょ？

Roman Holiday / ローマの休日

A few years ago, I went to Rome, Italy and met up with my family and some assorted relatives for my aunt's wedding (my aunt on my mother's side, who was marrying an Italian national). I had a free day to myself before the wedding as my family was in Venice with my aunt at the time. My aunts' fiancee's family provided us with an apartment for the week we were in Rome. I was to call my aunt's fiancee when I reached Ciampino, a little suburb of Rome. If I were to write about my entire week, you might be bored to death so I'm just going to give you the tour highlights. The wedding shall remain private.

五年前位、僕のおばさんの結婚式の為にイタリアのローマで家族と親戚と合流しました。おばさんはお母さんの妹で、イタリア人と結婚する事になりました。僕がローマに着いた時は、家族がおばさんとまだヴェネッツィアにいました。結婚式の前日フリーだったので、ローマを一人で満喫しました。一週間滞在するときはおばさんのフィアンセの家族が私たち家族にアパートを用意してくれました。結婚式の事は書きませんが、ローマハイライトのポストになります。

The first thing I did when I reached the Rome Termini from the airport was treat myself to some Italian beer.


ローマ駅に着いたら、一番最初にイタリアのビールを買って飲みました。

So what did I do on my free day before everybody was to come back from Venice? I had my own little Roman Holiday. I had to check out all the tourist spots that were featured in the film with Audrey Hepburn. First I went to the Basilica de San Pietro (St. Peter's Church). Can you believe I forgot to take a picture of the church featuring the dome that was designed by Michelangelo? This is the piazza in front of the church. Of course I took a lot more pictures but I thought I would just feature a few.

フリーの日は何をやりましたか？昔の映画と同じく「ローマの休日」を楽しみました。最初はサン・ピイエトロのバシリカに行きました。ドームの写真撮れなかったのは信じられる？

The picture above is of St. Peter inside the Basilica. Pilgrims come to the Basilica and touch or kiss the foot of statue to receive a blessing. Of course I touched it too. And for lunch, when in Italy, you must eat pizza!!

上記の写真はサン・ピエトロ。巡礼者はサン・ピエトロの右足を触るかキッスをします。もちろん僕もサン・ピエトロの足を触りました。その後ランチを食べに行きました。イタリアに居るから、かかせない食べ物ってピザでしょう。

These are the Swiss Guards who protect the Vatican. The uniform was designed by Michelangelo.

この人たちはバチカンを守るスイスガード。征服はミケルアンジロがデザインしたものです。

Here I am with my brother and sister (they came back from Venice), and we decided to explore more of Rome without our parents.

両親なしで、兄弟でローマ観光に行きました。

Here I am with my brother sitting on the Spanish Steps.

ここは兄貴と一緒にスペイン広場の階段に座ってます。






On the right is the church located at the top of the Spanish Steps.

右側の写真はスペイン階段の一番上にある教会です。

That's my sister having her caricature being drawn near the top of the Spanish Steps with her boyfriend sitting on the ledge looking on.

妹が似顔絵のモデルになってる間、彼氏がレッジに座りながら、見守ってる。

The Trevi Fountain.

トレビの泉

The Pantheon. This is where the artist Raphael is laid to rest.

パンテオン。有名な画家ラファエルはここに眠ってます。

Inside the Colosseum.　コロセオの中。

The Roman Forum

ローマ・フォラム

Spiral staircase inside the Vatican Musuem

バチカン美術館の中のラセン階段。

Boca della Verite　(The Mouth of Truth) / 真実の口

Of course I had to do it myself. もちろん手を入れました。









Sitting amongst the ruins of Pompeii. 世界遺産のポンペイの中に座ってます。


Being a bartender in the ruins of Pompeii.

ポンペイの中でバーテンダーごっこ。

Here I am standing in the middle of the amphitheatre of Pompeii.

ポンペイに結構満喫しました。




And lastly, a picture to capture the moment. 最後に皆と記念写真。

Geese on a nightly stroll / 鴨も散歩中

As we were walking at night, we notice this pair of geese also having a nightly stroll before hopping into the little stream.

夜に散歩した時、散歩中の鴨と出会った。小川（小川？）に入る前に緑道に普通に歩いてた。

Mini car dioramas / ミニカージオラマ

Just goofing around today. Check out my collection of mini car dioramas. There were ten cars in the collection but I only managed to get nine of them. Not so bad I guess.

*今日は日本語書いておりません。

A Walk around Komazawa Park Walk / 駒沢公園の散歩

It was a nice day for a walk so we left our apartment at 11:00am and walked to Komazawa Park. The last time we did that walk, we ended up walking for six hours. We were prepared for another full day of walking but it turns out that the park was a lot closer than we imagined. We realized that when we walked back from the park our first time, we walked in the totally opposite direction of where we lived. Because we didn't get lost today, we walked for a total of three hours.

今日も散歩日和の日で朝十一時に出かけました。アパートから駒沢公園まで歩いた。最初に駒沢公園に行った時、往復で六時間も歩いた。今日もその覚悟で出かけたが、思ったより公園は近かった。最初に行った時の帰りはまったく逆方向に歩いてしまい、それで六時間の散歩になった。今日は迷子にならず、往復で三時間の散歩になった。

We were going to buy lunch at a take-out shop and eat in the park but I realized that most of the items on the menu were over 800 kcal so we decided to go to the soba shop next door instead. We both ordered the ten-seiro which is cold noodles with an assortment of tenpura.

ランチはほっかほっか亭で弁当買って公園で食べるつもりだったが、メニューアイテムが全部８００KCAL以上で、隣のそば屋に行った。僕は美香子と同じ物を注文し、天せいろを食べた。

Before walking around the park, which is quite huge by the way, Mikako had been wanting to go to this ice-cream shop that was located right outside the entrance. It was a gelato shop called La Belina. Mikako ordered a banana gelato. I ordered one of the specials, it was a strawberry rare cheese gelato that also includes lemon gelato and is topped with cookie crunch, graham crackers, and chocolate sauce.

公園を歩き回る前に美香子が気になっていたジェラートの店があるというので、そこに入ってみた。美香子はバナナのジェラートを頼んで、僕は店のメニューにのってたストローベリレーアチーズをチョイスした。僕が注文したものは、三種類のジェラートが入って（ストローベリ、レーアチーズ、とレモン）、で上にクッキクランチとグラハムとチョコレートソースがかけてある。

Thai Festival at Home / 家でタイフェスタ

Next month on the weekend of the 10 and 11th is the annual Thai Festival at Yoyogi Park. A festival I haven't missed since it's inception some ten years ago now. Of course we'll be going this year too. But before that, we decided to have our own little Thai festival at home. Mikako bought a couple of packets of Thai seasonings to make some Thai style fried rice and Thai style stir-fried vegetables using kushinsai or Chinese spinach (also known as morning glory).

来月の１０と１１日代々木公園で毎年恒例のタイ祭りが開催されます。もう十年位になる祭りですが、ぼく第一回からずーっと行ってます。もちろん今年も行く予定です。でもその前に、今日うちでプチタイ祭りをやりました。近所のスーパーでタイ風のスパイスを買って、タイ風チャーハンと空心菜炒めを作った。

The fried rice is similar to Indonesia's nasi goreng as a fried egg is placed on top of the dish. We skipped out on using shrimp though which the recipe calls for. Still, it was delicious. The vegetables were awesome, if you like your food hot and spicy. I think we'll be having this again at home.

タイ風のチャーハンはインドネシアのナシゴレンと似た様な感じで、上に目玉焼きを乗せるの。お好みで海老も入れてもオッケイ。美味しかったよ。特にその空心菜炒め。辛かったけどマジ旨い。これはまたうちで作りますね。

Critter from the Beach / ヤドカリ

Cute little critter isn't it? One of our friendly neighbors when we were on vacation in the Maldives.

可愛いでしょう？　モルディブに行った時のお近所さん。