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19 Nov 09
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Takoage Throughout the year many kite flying events are held across the country. The festival has a long history dating back to the Eiroku era. Perhaps now, the gatherings, kites and armies of happi clad flyers are not as big as they used to be (see Takoage... |
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12 Nov 09
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Snow on the hills The start of the week brought snow. On the news yesterday, there were many marvellous scenes from around the country; vivid autumnal leaves contrasting snow. These in turn were marred by horrific road traffic accidents. It’s likely a good many... |
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03 Nov 09
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Gym: one month in The idea was to write how I survived the first month in the gym unscathed. Being near the end of my session today, I thought I’d do a few sets of barbell pullovers. After the warm-up, the weight of the bar seemed to strain more than it ought as I... |
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03 Nov 09
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Hakusai and garlic Both the hakusai and garlic should have been planted at the beginning of the month. At least now they are in. This season far fewer cloves were planted. Three rows of twenty-four. 10 rows of the usual 6-piece white, 10 Shanghai and the remainder Aomori.... |
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03 Nov 09
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Gnawed satsumaimo The sweet potatoes were harvested over the weekend. There wasn’t really much harvesting to be done. The dozen slips that were planted never really got going this year. It seems to be the same story elsewhere; a bad summer, lots of rain etc. Half of... |
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24 Oct 09
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Sudachi Whilst uncommon overseas, here, sudachi is a cheaper alternative to the lime. It is quite similar in taste and smell, perhaps stronger. They are smaller than my impression of a lime. When in season, usual fayre get a dressing, as do chūhais.
Supermarket... |
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24 Oct 09
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Asahi Lager 7
5%
¥254
Brewer Asahi
Style Japanese Rice Lager
Unremarkable, but not unpleasant. Can’t read the kanji. Mentions 1958. Has what looks to be the war flag of the Imperial Japanese Army on the can.
Related posts
No related posts. |
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11 Oct 09
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To the gym I’ve wanted to go the gym since the first summer’s digging ended. A lack of real commitment and the talk of money had relegated the scheme. The garden doesn’t provide the amount and sort of exercise I think I should be getting. In addition, heaps o... |
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29 Sep 09
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Where do Japanese get their vitamin C? Whilst I’m still to reach a firm conclusion, I can be certain the answer to the above is not the following: berries and imported citrus fruits, too expensive; home-grown citrus fruits, seasonal availability; brussel sprouts, unpopular. Could it be... |
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17 Sep 09
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Keith Floyd I am saddened to read to that personality and chef and Keith Floyd passed away on Monday. It is almost as if I had a premonition whilst weeding the garden yesterday. He practised what he preached: “to enjoy food and drink” and lived life to... |
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11 Sep 09
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Spring onions p>Allium wakegi are sown this time of year. They seem much the same as spring onions or scallions. The dry stems are pulled off and the ワケギ bulbs broken apart so you can plant two or three together. Space every 15 cm, maybe two or three rows wide... |
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10 Sep 09
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Varicocele For some time, I’ve been thinking about how my diet and lifestyle mirror each other. It’s not that both are particularly unhealthy; more that they could be bettered in some areas. I squander too much time. Does a Japanese diet provide the best nourish... |
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31 Aug 09
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A new hope The red team wins the election. Minshutō (DPJ) has unseated Jimintō (LDP), gaining toward three times the seats of the incumbent. The change brings an end to an almost unbroken half century reign. It also signals a real change in voters attitude; conte... |
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30 Aug 09
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Election Day It is Election Day here in Japan. The month long ordeal of maddening speaker vans has come to a close. Turnout is expected to be high. Who will the people choose? The grandson of a former Prime Minister or the grandson of a former Prime Minister. A... |
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29 Aug 09
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Peppers The ubiquitous ピーマン (p-man) can be found in every veg growers garden over the summer. パプリカ (papurika), another species of Capsicum annuum is less common. As there are so many of the former about over harvest time, there doesn’t se... |
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25 Aug 09
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Obon rained off I think the usual dance over obon was close to being called off. The weather was typical of the year’s summer. I took Kento and an umbrella, determined not to let the rain spoil the meet.
Related posts
Obon (2)
Mount Daisen: Utopia and... |
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25 Aug 09
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Autumn wind Apparently the cool wind blowing through the screens is a sign that autumn is approaching. With the weather as it’s been, I think, it is hard to say.
Related posts
…And Peanuts for All (0)
Yuki Wonderland (0)
Year of the Hamaomotoyot... |
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16 Aug 09
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36th Gaina Matsuri Over the weekend the city summer festival was held. It was humid unsurprisingly. There was quite a breeze at times. As a result, there were several spills during the lantern balancing.
Perhaps a more controlled descent. Most of the lanterns were out... |
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07 Aug 09
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Compost Bin Mk III Two years have passed since the last incarnation of the compost bin. As expected the sides did not hold up, however the latest rebuild was due to a forced relocation. Held back by the sodden mass, the posts put up a bit too much protest as they were... |
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06 Aug 09
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August rain It is August and it is still raining. I should have sown the peanuts before our trip abroad. However, it seemed sure to rain back then. After giving them a water, peanuts want two weeks of dry weather once they go in the ground. I guess there will be... |
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25 Jul 09
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Amaizing A corny title but there’s plenty to be said about just picked sweet corn. Even so, I’m not quite decided on what or rather how to express what is so pleasing about it. It is certainly very satisfying just to twist off a couple of cobs. Akin to... |
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25 Jul 09
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Half price herbs It’s way past the recommended sowing date for the herbs I got cheap recently. However, I had to open some of the packets. The four that got tested, germinated two days after being sown, rather than the noted two to three weeks. Unfortunately, with... |
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21 Jul 09
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29th Kaike Triathlon The morning looked reasonable for this year’s triathlon. There were no sightings of sharks or incoming typhoons. It wasn’t particularly humid or hot. It was cloudy. By the afternoon things had turned wet, very wet. It was hammering down, in... |
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21 Jul 09
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Taro Aso election Beleaguered PM Taro Aso has at last set a date for the general election. However, not much earlier than the mandatory date. The news follows his party’s crushing defeat in Tokyo’s municipal election yesterday. Having survived several attempts... |
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19 Jul 09
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Asiana Airlines We took advantage of an offer from Asiana Airlines (Airline of the Year) for our recent trip. A few things could have been better and a few beyond any carrier’s remit. The queue for the toilet found the baby a convenient distraction throughout the... |
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15 Jul 09
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Welcome to the Jungle Upon our return, the view of the garden did bewilder. It was great to see how much things had come on in the short time we were away. Kabocha had climbed up the sweet corn and over the tomatoes, many of which were ripe. It’s warmer than it was in Engla... |
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15 Jul 09
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English garden It would have been nice to have spent more time in gardens; especially beer gardens, but alas our time in England is coming to an end. I was encouraged to see that the town’s allotments had expanded and not developed unlike the immediate surrounds.... |
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15 Jul 09
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Flower Town It is so good to be back in England. Even the weather makes the long list of reasons. Instead of the cold wave we had over our last trip, it has, and looks set to remain around the 30°C mark. It will make the busy schedule busier.
Relate... |
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09 Jul 09
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Korea transit The first leg of our trip back to England included an overnight stay in Seoul. It was our first time in Korea and we were both surprised at differences between it and Japan; the relaxed impression it gave, at odds with other big cities. Nevertheless the... |
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18 Jun 09
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No rain, rainy season There’s plenty of pictures on the TV of the rain further south in the country. Up here the rainy season has already arrived, yet there is no rain. I was quite excited last night to hear the pitter-patter of rain. However, it turned out to be just a... |
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18 Jun 09
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Yebisu cho choki jukusei 7
6%
¥254
This limited version of Yebisu Beer has been given longer lagering time for rich, mellow flavor and satisfying smoothness.
Brewer Sapporo
Style Other
I seem to have reviewed Sapporo’s Cho choki jukusei and few years ago. I... |
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18 Jun 09
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Another early garlic harvest Not wanting to take a gamble on the weather, the garlic got pulled yesterday. The end of the month would have been better, especially for the larger, apple sized Aomori. Still, rust set in at the start and can’t expect the heads to miraculously... |
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12 Jun 09
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Wordpress 2.8 upgrade troubles It never quite works first time.
Fatal error: Class 'Translations' not found in /wp-includes/l10n.php on line 408
Open up the dashboard (/wp-admin) which will prompt to update your database…
Related posts
Wordpress 2.7 upgrade troubles... |
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12 Jun 09
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Lemon Verbena Finally managed to get a pot of this fragrant herb. Hopeful that the winter isn’t too harsh so we will have plenty of leaves the following summer. At the place we bought this the entrance price includes a pot of herb tea. They served hot lemon... |
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03 Jun 09
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Older It’s been said countless times before, yet it’s surprising just how quickly babies turn into children. It’s also surprising just how quickly the time passes once you have them. Kento will be three in the summer and is already playing... |
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25 May 09
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Coughs and sneezes We decided against going to the annual air show over at Miho airbase. Not due to the current influenza epidemic gripping the country, but on account of the weather. Instead we had a sukiyaki party. During which we caught a few minutes of a television... |
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22 May 09
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Baisen 7
5%
¥217
The superb aroma of Sapporo Baisen is created by a unique malt roasting process. This roasted malt is blended with pale malt for a flavor experience so thrilling it even smells delicious.
Brewer Suntory
Style Japanese Rice Lager
This has... |
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16 May 09
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Mesclun A little different to the more common salad mixes, hopefully the following will make good eating.
ブロンズ 赤 - red buronzu?
グリーンリーフ - green leaf?
エンダイブ - endive
サラダ菜 - lettuce
チコリ 青 - blue chicory*
チコ... |
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12 May 09
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Summer veg planting A week ago the bulk of the summer veg were planted. The patch they now occupy isn’t the best. Only a year ago it was full of flowers, weeds, and camellia trees. It would really benefit from the ridiculously deep digging the initial beds got. In the... |
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09 May 09
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Micro-weeding Maya’s baby tweezers were put to good use with her in the sling and the seed trays in front. Her mother wasn’t too enthralled, despite the uncluttered seedlings. There’s a reasonable showing from the chilli peppers, hopefully the... |
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05 May 09
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Summer veg shopping After battling against holiday season traffic and hordes of old people, the bulk of the summer vegetables for planting have been purchased.
3 momotaro tomatoes
3 satan tomatoes
7 aiko tomatoes
3 other mini tomatoes
3 aubergines
5 p-man peppers... |
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03 May 09
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Silk Ebisu （シルク ヱビス） 8
5.5%
¥254
Wheat malt, fine barley malt and select hops create this “smooth as silk” flavor.
Brewer Sapporo
Style Other
This is the latest in the Yebisu range and much better than the last “The Hop”. Interested in the... |
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03 May 09
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World Sand Festival Back in March on the television, there were a few foreign sand sculptors being interviewed over at the eastern side of Tottori prefecture. They were competing against each other, a deadline, and the unexpected rain. From the Tottori Sand Dunes, the centre... |
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29 Apr 09
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Takenoko Not usually found growing in the garden, bamboo shoots are harvested around this season. We were lucky to be given a sack this weekend. The preparation takes some time. Once the outer layers have been removed the shoots are boiled in nuka (rice bran) for... |
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23 Apr 09
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Plan It Green To coincide with Earth Day yesterday, Merscom and National Geographic announced the upcoming release of Plan It Green an Environmentally Themed Building Sim.
Transform Greenville from an eyesore, into a beautiful green city!
Improve 8 neighborhoods... |
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18 Apr 09
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Soft, smiley and not slender Maya is now three months old. Although it seems she has big for quite some time, the time has passed quickly. Something I’m very pleased about is that she seems a Daddy’s girl (certainly Daddy’s little girl). For me, there is longer the ne... |
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15 Apr 09
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Potting mix #1 It’s probably too late to being messing around with seed trays. Anyway, there’s plenty of seeds to play with. So far I used old potting mix, recovered from old pots. It’s all gone. A small bag costs close to ￥1000. Instead I bought... |
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13 Apr 09
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Green finger It’s inescapable that on my part, cookery needs full concentration. In reality, the tendency to undertake or at least start several different tasks at once doesn’t carry its self in the kitchen. The other week, I just thought I’d chop... |
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09 Apr 09
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My bag It is encouraging to see that more people are taking reusable bags with them when they go shopping. On the news this morning there was a feature highlighting the problems caused by this practise. One of the examples the presenter played out, was how much... |
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09 Apr 09
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Stressful hanami The cherry blossom has been out a good week, which was a bad week weather wise. Late Sunday morning, the four of us met another couple of parties at a nearby park to sit and enjoy the sakura. Despite everyone else in the jumpers/jackets, I found it a hot... |
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