Annual Plum Festival at Hanegi Park / 毎年羽根木公園の梅祭り

It's that time of year again. The annual plum festival at Hanegi Park. It's a nice little walk to the park from apartment and we were going to meet some friends there for an impromptu picnic.

もう一年経ちましたか。毎年羽根木公園で恒例の梅祭りが開催してます。うちから良い散歩になるし、今年は友達と合流して、羽根木公園でピックニックだ！

This year, instead of buying food from the various food booths, we decided to splurge a little and bought some sushi, along with some chicken, yakisoba and vegetable sticks. And we mustn't forget the beer! Actually I treated myself to a couple of cans of ice-tea sour.

今年公園の屋台じゃなく、ちょっと贅沢をして、商店街にある寿司屋で寿司を買った。あとは祭りの定番料理焼きそばや唐揚も。もちろんビールを忘れてません。自分は最近気に入りのアイスティーサワーも買った。

Sushi Platter / 寿司の盛り合わせ
Yes, it's a picnic! / はーい、ピックニックです！


Rino enjoys some sushi / 梨乃ちゃんも楽しんで寿司を食べてる

The local fire department and other local businesses had their booths but as you can tell, the fire department booth was popular with the kids.

東京消防庁とかほかのビジネスのブースもありました。でも子供に人気だったのはやっぱり消防庁のブースですね。

We are not going to let the earthquakes and aftershocks stop us from having our hanami (cherry blossom viewing) this weekend either.
地震や余震があっても、今度の週末私たちは友達と花見する予定です。楽しみがなくなるってたまるか！

Soup Stock Tokyo

After all the earthquake, tsunami, fire, and nuclear accident news, I thought I would return with something a little more pleasant - food! Before I wandered around Osaki, it was lunch time and I had been wanting to try some of the soups from this place. Nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a cold day! I ordered the soup set which means you get to choose two different kinds of soups and also includes some bread. Today, I went with a couple of tomato sauce flavored soups - the Atlantic lobster, tomato and potherb bisque along with the tomato stew with chicken and vegetables. I gotta tell ya, they were both mighty tasty. I must go again soon!

地震、津波、火災、原発事故のニュースばっかりで、今回は元気で明るくなるネタに戻ります。それはもちろん食べ物です！大崎周辺に散歩する前にちょうど昼だったもんで、結構前から食べに行きたかった店はこの「Soup Stock Tokyo」。寒い日にスープはもってこい食べ物と思はない？スープセットがありまして、二種類のスープを選べる。そしてパン付です。今日選んだスープはオマール海老のビスクと野菜と鶏肉のトマトシチュー。や～両方はとっても美味しかった。また行きたくなりますよ。

Soup Set / スープセット

The soups may look the same but I guarantee you they taste mighty different!

見た目は同じかも知りませんが、両方は独特の味があって、とっても美味しいです！

Atlantic lobster and potherb bisque / オマール海老のビスク

メニューに書かれたことは「オマール海老の濃厚な出汁の旨みと、トマト、香味野菜が溶け合った、贅沢な味わいのスープです。ミルクでまろやかに仕上げました。」

Tomato stew with chicken and vegetables / 野菜と鶏肉のトマトシチュー

メニューを読むと「トマトの酸味をミルクでまろやかに仕上げた濃厚なシチューです。ソーテした鶏肉、生クリーム、きのこを加えた深い味わいと食べ応えを楽しみ下さい。」

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Post Earthquake Update / 地震後の最新情報

After the large March 11th earthquake, my wife was really uncomfortable with our standing bookcase (well, mostly mine since it's all my books and most of my miscellaneous collections), that she took it upon herself and tilted it on it's side while I was still at work. I was surprised but not angry and thought it was a good idea. We also took this opportunity to a little rearranging of our room as well.

３月１１日の地震後の話ですが、また大きいの地震が来たら、妻がうちにある立ての本棚が心配で心配で、僕が仕事に働いてる間に、勝手にその本棚を横向きにした。仕事から帰ったあらびっくり。相談なしで怒ってはいませんが、これも良い考えだなと思いました。ついでに初の部屋の模様替えしても良いんじゃないかな。模様替えと言うと、ただのリアレンジだけですけどね。

We are fine and so are our family members who live up north. However, we have still been experiencing a lot of quakes and aftershocks as well. The accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has also been causing problems in Tokyo proper as well as we are currently experiencing rolling blackouts which may last until the end of April. Fortunately, we live in an area that hasn't been affected by the blackouts. However, what's really mind racking is hearing the Early Emergency Earthquake Warning buzzer on tv. After last Friday, you never know how big the next quake is going to be. We currently have emergency supplies set near our front door just in case.

私たちと私たちの家族がみんな無事です。でも金曜日のあとで何回も余震と他の地震もあって中々落ち着きません状態です。福島の原発事故の影響により東京が現在計画停電を実施中。よかったことに私たちは停電の地域には入ってません。大変で怖いなのはテレビで何回も流れる緊急地震速報。本当あの音聞くたんびに、精神的に疲れますよ。今でも玄関に緊急用のかばんを置いてます。

Earthquake in Tokyo / 東京で大地震

I imagine most of you have already seen the news. Japan was hit with a 8.8 Magnitude earthquake today in the afternoon. Although the epicenter was up north, the quake was felt in Tokyo as well. I usually work on Fridays but I had taken this day off and was sitting at home talking to my mother on the phone when our couch started shaking. As we get a lot of little earthquakes, I didn't give it much thought. But when the shaking starting to get stronger and didn't appear to be stopping, I had to tell my mother that I have to get out of the part NOW! and will try to call back later.

みんなはもうニュースで見てると思いますが、今日の午後、東京で大地震がありました。地震の震源地は東北の宮城県のほうでしたが、東京の揺れも凄かった。通常の日だったら、私は仕事に居るはずでしたが、偶然でも今日は休みを頂いておりました。ちょうどうアメリカに居るお母さんと電話してる最中ち小さな揺れが感じてました。そういうのはなんどもあったから、最初はあんまり気にしてませんでした。でも揺れが段々強くになって、お母さんに話しを急に切り、“あっ！地震だ！”と叫んで、嫁と一緒に外に出ました。

When the quake finally settled and I went to check inside our apartment, I found our bread basket and toaster oven on the floor, and our microwave had fallen upside down in our kitchen sink. The large bookshelf and television were unharmed but my collection of mini cars on the bookshelf were scattered all over the floor. Our cd shelf held up for this earthquake as we fixed it after the last large quake we had which helped spill hundreds of cd on our floor. A few other knick-knacks were fallen off of various shelves but nothing major was broken. The only damaged sustained was our microwave oven (but it was still usable). But we couldn't relax after the first large quake because we kept getting these aftershocks every five to ten minutes afterwards. Which makes it hard to relax because you just don't know if this quake is going to be an even bigger one. It's already been about six hours since the first big quake but we're still getting aftershocks even now.

地震が治まって部屋に戻ったら最初目に入ったのは冷蔵庫の上にあったブレッド・バスケットとトスターオブンが床に落ちてた。そして、電子レンジがキッチンシンクで逆さまになってた。リビングにある大きいな本棚とテレビは無事でした。本棚に飾ってたミニカーたちがほぼ床に落ちてた。以前に大きいな地震があった時、CD棚が壊れて、何百枚のCDが落ちてたが、その後、CD棚をもっと丈夫に固定して、今回は崩れてません。いろんな置物が落ちましたが、私たちには怪我もなく、大きいな被害もございませんでした。電子レンジだけがちょっと傷つけられたくらいでした。でもちゃんと使えるので、困ることがありませんでした。リラックスする暇もなく、なんと５分が１０分後何回も余震があって、揺れが中々納めない状態でした。もう六時間が過ぎてますが、今でも余震がつづいてます。

Fortunately, we do not live by the coast. As we watched the news of the tsunami that hit the coastal towns of Northern Japan. The number of fatalities has already surpassed 50 and there are still many people missing. In Tokyo alone, the quake had caused no less than 10 fires. There was also a large fire at an oil plant in Chiba Prefecture. There is still a large tsunami warning for the entire Western coast of Japan. There is also speculation that there may be one more large quake sometime this evening. I hope that's not the case.

私たちは梅の近くに住んでないのがよかった。ニュースを見たら、東北地方で津波に呑まれた街が結構ありました。現在犠牲者も５９人までのぼってます。まだ行方不明の人は何人もいるみたい。地震の影響で１０件の火災も発生しました。千葉県の石油の会社で爆発もあって、まだ燃え続いてます。現在でも太平洋側の日本に大津波警報が出ております。ほかにまだ今日の午後より強い地震の予想もされてるらし。

The first thing I saw when I went back into our apartment. The microwave on top of the fridge had also fallen off and I found it upside down in the kitchen sink.

部屋に戻って最初に見た光景。先ほど言いましたが、冷蔵庫の上にある電磁レンジがシンクで逆さまに落ちてた。

About five years ago when we had another fairly large quake (not as large as this one), the shelves collapsed and we found hundreds of cds scattered throughout the floor. Fortunately, we re-enforced the shelves so that wouldn't happen again and am proud to report that the shelves held up. Of course, a bunch of loose items fell off the shelve though.

五年前くらいにまた別な地震があった時、CDの棚が崩れて、床に何百枚のCDが落ちたことがあった。その後、棚を強く固定して、今回の地震にちゃんと耐えた。ま、置物が落ちまたけどね。

As you can see, our bookshelf and television were unharmed, except for the little avalanche of my mini car collection and a baset of DVD-Rs.

見れば分かると思いますが、うちの本棚とテレビは無事でした。床に自分のミニカーコレクションな雪崩があった感じだけでした。

Star Wars space ship thought it could really fly and crashed to the ground while the Jawa's sand crawler crawled off a cliff and fell as well.

スター・ウォーズの宇宙戦艦が本当に飛べると思ったら、床に墜落。そしてサンド・クローラーも崖から落ちた！

My wife and I survived the quake just fine. The only damage received was our microwave, but as I said, it was still usable.

私たちは無事でしたが、怪我したのはうちの電子レンジのみ。壊れてなかったので、この後に夕飯をちゃんとチンして、食べられました！

A Walk around Osaki / 大崎の散歩

For my second neighborhood walk of the year I decided to roam around Osaki. The area around the station has grown since I moved to Tokyo and now features a couple of large shopping areas such as Gate City Osaki and Osaki New City. It's also the location of Art Village Osaki.

今年第二弾の散歩する場所は大崎周辺。駅の周りの開発は凄い。今は大きいなショッピングセンター、Gate City OsakiとOsaki New Cityなどが立てられました。他にArt Village Osaki。散歩場所には面白そうな発見がありそう。


You couldn't miss Gate City Osaki if you tried, so I decided to explore that area first. The art object in front of the building was pretty interesting as well. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors feature a lot of restaurants and a large open space with a lot of tables. A nice place to spend some time on a cold day. As I had lunch before walking around the neighborhood, I will have to come another time to check out some of the restaurants and cafes inside the building. 　There is also a large garden located behind the building so of course I had to walk around there as well.

駅に降りたらすぐそばにGate City Osakiがある。行ったことないので、最初はその辺を探索。ビルの前にあるアートオブジェもなんだろうなって感じ、でも面白い。ビルの１階から３階はだいたい飲食店が入ってました。駅ビルと違って、店舗数はそんない多くはない。でも１階に広いロビがあって、寒い日にのんびり出来る場所に良いかも。行った日にやっぱり子供連れの家族が多かった。先ほどランチを食べたので、中にあるカフェやレストランはまたいつか行ってみたい。ビルの裏側のほうに大きいな庭もあって、もちろんそこも探索しました。

There was a lot of interesting art around the garden as well.

庭の周りにも面白いアートオブジェもありました。

There was more art work around the plaza as well.

プラザにも良い雰囲気な感じでした。

But what really made me decide to walk around Osaki was this statue of a Gnome with a very large hat which I always saw from the Yamanote Train line as I was headed to work (when I still worked in Shinagawa).

大崎の散歩の決め手はまだ品川が職場の時いつも山手線で見かけた帽子の長いガーデンノーム。

This is an art piece called "Growing Gardener" by Inges Idee. 2006 Aluminum, steel

「グローウィング・ガーデナー」 インゲス・イデー作品 ２００６年 アルミナム、スチール

More funky art work / また面白いアートオブジェ発見

The Meguro River also flows past Osaki / 目黒川は大崎にも流れてます

On the left is Onari Bridge and and the right is the Suzukake Overpass.

左の写真は御成橋で右のほうは鈴懸歩道橋。

As I was walking back to the station, I couldn't help but notice this character. Since the Art Village Osaki was close by I figured the person must be a student. But no, he was a walking ad for a neighborhood English school called "Monster English" and this is their character mascot.

大崎駅戻る途中でこういう人を発見。アート・ヴェイレッジ大崎が近くにあるからそこの生徒かなと思いましたがそうでもなかった。近所にある英会話学校「モンスター・イングリッシュ」の宣伝で学校のキャラクターでした。

I'm familiar with blowfish restaurants and places that specialize in whale meat, but this was a first for me, a restaurant that specializes in sardines! I may have to eat there at least once just for the experience. This concludes my walk around Osaki.

ふぐ料理店や鯨の店は聞いたことあるけど、こういう店初めて見た。いわし料理の専門店。気になっていつか食べに行きたいと思います。これで大崎散歩終了。

Suitengu Taian / 水天宮たいあん

Probably my biggest fan and most avid reader of my blog - my father, wrote to me in an e-mail that he had no idea what a taiyaki which also meant that he did not know what a taiyaki ice cream was. Perhaps there are some other readers who are not familiar with taiyaki as well. To put it simply, it's a hot bun shaped like a fish and usually filled with azuki. An even easier explanation is available. Check the "snacks" label and you will find a post about a shop called "The Tai Yaki".

多分私のブログの一番のファンと思われる人物（自分のお父さん）が電子メールでたい焼きってわからないようとつぶやいた。当然たい焼きアイスも分かるはずがない。他の読者もたい焼きが知らない人もいるの思うので、簡単に説明します。鯛の形のあったかいまんじゅと言えば一番分かりやすいかも。そじてまんじゅの中につぶばんとかあずきが入ってる。もっと簡単と言えば、“Snacks”のラベルを選択して、“The Tai Yaki”の店の事を書いております。

If you look at the picture above, it looks like an ordinary taiyaki. However, it was the end of summer and this shop had for a limited time only, a vanilla ice-cream filled taiyaki.

上記の写真を見たら普通のたい焼きにしか見えないと思います。店に行ったのは夏の終わり頃でまだ期間限定のたい焼きアイすを売ってた。

Manten Ramen / 満天らーめん

And yet another ramen shop we went to and I neglected to write about. A few months ago a friend of mine gave us tickets to see a children's performance at some hall in Ningyocho. As the show started sometime in the afternoon, we decided to grab a bite to eat and nearest place that was open was this ramen shop called [Manten Ramen]. Seeing the large poster of one of their latest ramen's, "Shanghai / Sechuan no Kyosho Bunji Aihara Style Tantan-men" I knew what I was going to order, while Mikako ordered their regular tantan-men.

また紹介遅れのラーメン屋です。半年前位友達から人形町にある劇場のチケットを貰いましたので、その舞台が一時か二時位に始まるということで、その近くに昼食を食べようと思った。店が少なく、唯一空いてたのはこの「満天らーめん」の店。店内に入ると壁に貼ってあたポスターを見て、今日のラーメンが決定：「上海・四川の巨匠 相原文治流 坦々麺を注文。美香子は普通の坦々麺をチョイス。

Bunji Aihara Style Tantan-men / 相原文治流坦々麺

Just seeing the word Sechuan on the poster, I assumed this was going to be one spicy bowl of noodle. In actuality, it was rather mild. It was still delicious and the ramen shop makes their own noodles. We still had time before the show was to start and it was such a nice day that after we finished our bowls of ramen, we went next door and treated ourselves to some taiyaki ice cream at a place called Suitengu Taian.

ポスターで四川だけの字を見て、結構スパイシーなラーメンが出されるかなと思いましたが、食べてみたらそうでもなかかった。美味しいは美味しいですが、個人的に辛さがちょっと足りない。入り口のサインを見れば、こちらの店はこどわり自家製麺使用。食べ終わったら、まだ時間がありましたので、隣のたい焼き専門店「水天宮たいあん」に行って、夏限定のたい焼きアイスを食べた。

Tantan-men / 坦々麺

Of course the regular tantan-men was delicious as well. I found it to be spicier than the bowl of ramen that I ordered but what the heck.

もちろん通常の坦々麺も美味しいですよ。自分が注文したラーメンよりこちのほうがスパイシーな感じがしました。でもやっぱりいろんなラーメンも食べるのも冒険なんですから、悔いはございません。

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Noodle & Bar [Sancha Fukami]

I can't believe I neglected to write about this ramen shop which opened in our neighborhood a couple of years ago and which we finally went to last year. Unlike your regular ramen shops, you can see from the sign on the store that this is also a bar. It seems ramen bars have become rather popular in the last year or so. Anyway, the specialty of this shop if the Tokushima Ramen which is what I order while Mikako settled for a standard Chashu-men.

あっ、近所に二年前も開店したラーメン屋で、去年やっと行ってみたのに、ブログネタでまだ書いてなかったのはショックです。店のサインでも分かると思いますが、ただのラーメン屋ではございません。夜になるとバーに早変わり。こういうラーメン・バーが最近増えてる感じもする。この店のおすすめのラーメンは徳島ラーメン。もちろん僕はそれを注文しました。美香子はチャーシュー麺を頼みました。

Tokushima Ramen / 徳島ラーメン


Americans may be put off by the raw egg but that's what probably makes it a Tokushima Ramen. The broth used is only a chicken broth. Instead of chashu, the ramen is topped with boneless pork rib and a lot of green onions and bamboo shoots. You mix the egg with the broth and enjoy your ramen. This ramen doesn't fill you up as much as a tonkotsu or soy-based ramen. Quite tasty.

アメリカ人は生卵が入ってるの気入らないかもしりませんが、これこそが徳島ラーメン。つゆうは徳島の地鶏から取ったもので、あっさりで凄い柔らかい味わいです。トッピングはチャーシューではなく豚バラ。そして多めのねぎとメンマ。最後に生玉子で乗せる。卵を混ぜて召し上がるとメニューに書かれました。鳥がらなので、胃に優しい。

Chashu-men / チャーシュー麺


The wife's bowl was filled with thick slices of chashu and also topped with onions, bamboo shoots and a slice of seaweed. I only had one bite but this was quite delicious as well.

嫁が頼んだラーメンのトッピングにでっかいチャーシュー５枚とねぎ、メンマと海苔が乗せらてます。一口しか食べなかったが、こっちも結構美味しいでございます。


Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Seiseki Park / 聖蹟公園

As I mentioned in my previous post, after leaving Tennoz Isle, as I making my way towards the closest train station, I came across an interesting park. It was the Seiseki Park and is also considered one of the 100 Scenic Sites of Shinagawa Ward which is located on the Old Tokaido Road. It's also the site of a feudal lord's inn. Coming across another scenic site in Shinagawa Ward reminds of those walks I took during my lunch break while still working in Aomonoyokocho.

前回のネタに書いた、天王洲アイルから一番近い駅を目指してる時に、聖蹟公園 （せいせきこうえん）を発見しました。あとから気付きましたが、この公園は品川区百景の一つでした。この道は旧東海道でこの公園に本陣跡の場所でもある。また品川区百景の一つを見つかったことで、青物横丁に働いた時期のランチ散歩を思い出す。

Seiseki Monument / 御聖蹟の碑

Unfortunately I have no idea what the writing says.

残念ながら、書かれてる日本語も読めません。


I have no idea what this monument is for either.

こちらは何の記念碑も分かりません。

Darn, the bushes around the placard were overgrown so I didn't bother trying to read it.

森な感じになって、下になにを書かれたが読んでなかった。

Perhaps part of the feudal lord's inn? I'm definitely going to have to do a more detailed walk around this area next time.

本陣跡なのかな？ また時間があればもうちょっとこの辺を探索してみよう。