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Soba gluttony
Gluttony isn’t so bad when it’s all based on soba. We tried a restaurant in Asagaya last night on the recommendaiton of a friend. We splurged on the 4,000 yen “all soba” course and were presented with eight courses, all involving buckwheat. Everything was astonishingly good and as each course arrived we declared it better…
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Bunkyo-ku merchants
Bunkyo-ku merchants have banded together to create a point card system. Pink banners with cartoon figures of bees declare “I (heart) Bunkyoker” let you know which shops give points. Last night, I filled up my first card. As a reward for spending 35,000 yen at the ward’s independent stores, I get 500 yen off an…
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Zousan.com wins
I can’t decide whether I’m thrilled or humiliated. In the past 13 days, the Zous website has had 824 visits. Mine got only 166.That explains the possible humiliation. On the other hand, I’m excited because zousan.com was mentioned on KininaruWeb, a Japanese site that shares links to interesting sites. The comment that accompanied the link…
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Construction flagmen
What on earth are these construction workers doing? They are taping a battery powered, blinking light stick to the hand of their colleague–the mechanical flagman whose head and helmet are visible in the upper right corner of the frame. I guess his must have burned out; he’s not really able to just grab himself a…
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Otama-jakushi
otama-jakushi is the Japanese word for tadpole. We’ve been watching these grow in the Tokyo War Memorial Park near Korakuen station. Their heads are bulging out now and if you look carefully, you can see the budding legs (not in this photo, though, sorry!). The park was also the site of my first dragonfly (tanbo)sighting…
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23:56 on Kasuga Dori
23:56 on the way home from a meeting and dinner. Kasuga Dori, the main street through our section of town, is lined with glowing red cones. They have been doing improvements to the undergrown conduits for over two years. The end is in sight. Last night, they were snaking pedestrian traffic through corridors of cones…
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Zousan.com
The Zous are very excited. Their domain, zousan.com, went live yesterday. They have photos, personal favorites, and even a song. They are already considering upgrades, like a weblog and a guest book. They keep looking at the webstats to see if anyone has visited it, so if you have a minute, take a look and…
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Sunny backdrop
What a beautiful day. It’s sunny, warm and not too humid. The perfect backdrop for a do-nothing Sunday. I’ve been reading, napping, and watching movies. I think I’ll go for a walk soon and pick up some veggies to grill tonight.
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Outdoor furniture
Yesterday’s task: build a container for the grill accessories. There’s nothing worse than a soggy cardboard box full of charcoal and tools scattered all over the veranda. I designed and built a simple table with a shelf and a door panel that’s hinged along the bottom. The charcoal, blowtorch and other things are hidden behind…
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Un-procrastinating
I’ve been on a personal crusade to take care of things that I’ve been putting off. I’ll bet you have some of these pesky tasks on your mental “To Do” list. So far, I’ve managed to accomplish several things: visiting the gynecologist and mailing Seth’s VCR to Vancouver count among the prominent items crossed off…
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