Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO2000 “Study TIme” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは！How’s it going?
As you can see from today’s photo, I have picked up a new textbook, Genki 1! Our future plans involve living in Japan, and it would be helpful if I could communicate with the locals a little better. So, it’s time to get serious (or at least spend some time) studying Nihongo.
I did some research on textbooks and the Genki books seem to be among the best, so I ordered textbook #1. So far, so good! The first chapters are kind of a review for me since I am familiar with all the greetings, numbers, hours, hiragana, and katakana. I’m also covering up the romaji as best as I can so that I force myself to practice reading hiragana.
So far I am having fun studying Japanese again! And having a textbook that I know is a highly regarded is a huge confidence booster. 頑張れ！
This afternoon Mariko and I attended a funeral. Mariko’s co-worker’s son passed away this past week… the service was sad of course, but it reminds everyone that life is fleeting and we should take the time to hug our kids whenever we can.
Here’s another photo I took this evening. Aren’t clouds amazing?
The other day I went with some workmates to a Japanese restaurant for lunch to celebrate a couple birthdays. It was a lot of fun and the food was yummy, but it got me thinking of how the food at the restaurant wasn’t really authentic Japanese food. But is that a good or a bad thing? I wonder…
I have a different perspective on Japanese food than I had 20 years ago. In 1996 I moved to Japan and live there for three years. I married my wife there (a native of Osaka), and I have been enjoying 20 years with her – an amazing cook and foodie/food blogger. So I’d say my experience with Japanese food is far more advanced than most Americans.
The food at the restaurant was delicious, but I still felt an internal conflict as to some of the dishes. For instance, instead of edamame, there was “spicy edamame” in which the edamame had a sweet/spicy sauce on them. It tasted ok, but it was strange… I mean edamame is edamame, and is traditionally eaten just salted or in something like a hijiki salad. Also, sushi with fruit on it is new to me. In short, this wasn’t authentic at all. (And I didn’t see any Asians behind the sushi counter, and no Japanese patrons)
Although I love authentic food and think that recipes developed over many (sometimes hundreds) of years have been tested by time, the newer dishes that are modified for the local palette can be wonderful too. They are both delicious!
Maybe I am getting hung up on the semantics of the word “authentic”. Perhaps “traditional” is a better way to denote the differences I am thinking about. I like that.
Traditional food is food that has remained popular and has withstood the test of time, using ingredients that are relatively unchanged.
The food at the restaurant we went to had some non-traditional dishes, some traditional dishes (I had the katsu-don, which was yummy), but in the end, what was important was that everyone enjoyed their meals. Food can be delicious and satisfying even if it’s not traditional. All different kinds of food can bring happiness and joy, right? Variety is the spice of life, as they say!
———————-
Today’s photo is of the breakfast taco I enjoyed at the Whole Foods Market. It’s very convenient to order because you use a touchscreen at the counter to “build your taco” using various ingredients. When your order is ready, you see your order # pop up on a large tv, or you can have a notification sent via txt to your phone.
My taco had scrambled egg, chorizo, black beans, and cilantro-lime rice, on corn tortillas. I also added more cilantro and jalapeños. I have no idea if this is traditional or not, but it sure was delicious!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO640 “Dashboard?” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Tonight I rode my motorbike 🏍 around the neighborhood and stopped by the gas station. ⛽ For some reason, I thought the fuel tank was almost empty but when I filled up, it only took .6 gallons and the gas was right at the opening. I’m not sure how I got confused by it.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO1000 “Fuel Stop” Cedar Park, 2017
But whatever. I then rode around some more, which is totally fun at night, but it’s also very dangerous in this part of Texas because there are so many deer that come out in the evening. So it’s important to have a finger or two around the brake lever when going past the forests.
I love my bike so much. It’s so nimble and easy to ride. It’s relatively small as far as dual-sport bikes go, but for a little guy like me, the F650 GS is pretty heavy. All that weight disappears like magic though once you are moving. Riding a motorcycle is so liberating… you feel so free. In reality, you are going the same speed and places as cars but since you are not trapped inside a steel cage, it feels like you are flying. A truly incredible feeling. I love it!!! 💖
This video for the Yamaha SR400 is one of my favorites. It’s a little cheesy, but it kind of gets at what is great about riding a motorbike.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, ISO2000 “Magic Bands” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Tonight we bought park tickets for our upcoming Disney World trip! We’ll have two full days visiting the parks and we’ve decided to go to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Initially, I was disappointed to not be visiting the Magic Kingdom… I mean, it’s the classic park! But we’ve gone to it many times (and I’d count Disneyland with it since they are so similar), and the more I thought about it, the more I think it would be better to spend our limited time in a location-specific park. For instance, if I had to choose between visiting Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea, I’d have to choose the latter. Still, I’ll miss visiting Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and all the classic rides…
Anyways, one attraction we wanted to check out is the new Frozen Ever After ride in EPCOT’s Norway area. It used to be a very unpopular ride called Maelstrom, where you traveled back to the time of the Vikings, but then also ended up alongside huge, modern tankers. I actually thought it was a fun ride! I’ll let you all know if Frozen Ever After is better. 😜
We tried to get our FastPass+ for Frozen Ever After, but they were unavailable. 😩 So I guess we’ll just head there as soon as the park opens. I’m hoping it won’t be too bad a line, but we’ll probably be so excited it won’t matter. FYI, we got FastPasses for Test Track and Toy Story Mania the following day.
After writing this post, I’m pretty fired up about the Disney trip. Can’t wait!
おやすみなさい！
– B
Like this:
LikeLoading...
My camera & photos
I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
