Newcastle Friends at 19 North Terrace

Trip to Kyoto

2011-12-24T04:10:00.018Z

On 20 November, I took a bullet train to Kyoto which goes over 250km/h. Smooth and fast.
I heard that there is a plan to connect Madrid to Portugal by AVE, Spanish bullet train. I wonder if I can take it near future. (I don't want to take a Targo. It was a tiring experience...)
The purpose of this trip is to sit for a Portuguese examination (in level B1) which is run by the Faculty of Literature at the Lisbon University.

I went to this Tempura restaurant with Nuno last summer. This time, a queue was much longer. The chef was very busy with preparing Tempura. Even though there were an incredible long queue, he prepared tempura for all those who lined up till 14:00. It is really a good service.

It is called "Tendon", deep-fried battered eel placed over a bowl of rice and seasoned with a soy-based light-flavoured sauce. There are two regional styles of Tempura: Kansai (Osaka) and Kanto (Tokyo). In the Tokyo style seafood and vegetables are fried in sesami oil which gives a distinct flavour. Tempura is golden yellow. The picture is Tokyo style Tempura.

The man on bicycle is a cook who is delivering a meal to customers such as "Geiko" or "Geisha", traditional Japanese performers who play an instrument and show a traditional dance - the people who do not have time to go out for lunch.

The season for crabs has just started.

Saba-zushi
This fish with a shiny sliver and blue skin is called saba in Japanese. It is called mackerel in English, caballa in Spanish and cavala in Portuguese.
Fish is prepared in fillets, by cutting off the parts which contains bones and marinaded in vinegar which sweeten with sugar. Consequently, smells of raw fish is removed. This type of fish prepared differently from white meat fish like red sea bream or reddish tuna which served completely raw. No horse radish is attached.

This is "Nigiri-zushi", the most well-known type of sushi around the world. Please excuse me if I make any mistakes. From the left, sea bass (suzuki), tuna (akami), amberjack (kanpachi), prawn, squid, octopus, egg and salmon roe (ikura).
Sushi is not served hot as you know but it should not be served cold, either. What I want to say is to be prepared after ordered so that it can be nice in body temperature. When it gets cold, rice sticks together. So, if you want to taste delicious sushi, you should go to a small family-run sushi restaurant like I did.

On the way to have lunch, I luckily encountered "Maiko". They are trained performer who play traditional musical instruments and perform dance called "nihon-buyo". I have not read an English novel called "geisha". Hearing about the images which some foreign tourists told, maiko or geisha were mistakenly known as a misterious prostitute. I believe it was enhanced by fiticious images created by silly novelists. Many of them start their training from the age of 16. They spend a number of years to become a professional performer like the ones in the picture.
Last summer, I and Mr. Vicente met young Maiko trainees at Starbucks. He had a picture with one of them, the prettiest one, I would say. (I am a bit worried if he received any Kanfu kick from his wife later... To defend him, I should say that I was the one who chose her consequently. Because I met her eyes when I asked for photos. Since I met with her eyes, she responded "with me?". I could not say "with all". It's not polite to say so.) By the way, Nuno commented that she was not so friendly apart from being coutesious. Maybe I should explain to you about our culture and etiquette that the Japanese women should have traditionally. They are usually expected to show minimum facial expressions. For those who becomes Maiko in future, it is a must. Until very recently, quiet and less emotional women were admired greatly. They are considered to be more sophisticated in such manner. So, you can not expect Maiko to be lively and talkative. However, they are trained to be very knowledgeable and capable to show true Japanese etiquettes. Next time, I want to go to a traditional "Kaiseki" restaurant with some foreign friends to enjoy Maiko performance. (Unfortunately, Mr. Vicent often resist to dress formally. Last summer, he did not bring anything a bit formal...) I also didn't have enough knowledge as well.

This traditional Japanese house offers green tea and sweet.

When you go inside, you find a typical Japanese room with tatami mat floor, where you must take off your shoes. There are a number of places like this, which are not used for a small cafeteria or restaurant. But you can almost only find them in Kyoto.

On the right, there is a bowl of green tea called "macha". Macha is a high quality tea. Tea leaves are ground into powder. To serve macha, the fine powder is placed into a bowl directly and then hot water is poured over them. Then, it is whisked with a bamboo scoop in a way that you beat eggs or whipped cream to make sweet. In macha, you consume tea in powder directly. It is bitter. So, it is accompanied with some sweet on the right.

This is another traditional Japanese house which is converted into a restaurant. I have been to this restaurant with a Portuguese friend for dinner last summer. We enjoyed the atmosphere of the building and meal.

This time, I went for lunch.
This restaurante served grilled barbecue chicken. In Japanese, it is called "yakitori". I had a bowl of rice topped with different types of barbecued chicken and eggs.

A day trip to Nara (奈良)

2010-09-11T14:27:00.015Z

On the day fourth, we made a day trip to Nara which is the other ancient capital of Japan. Nara (including　Asuka area) is the first capital (592-793). Between 594 and 694, the capital was placed in the area called “Asuka”, therefore it is named as “Asuka Era(飛鳥時代)”. The most distinctive figure in this period is “Shoutoku Taishi” who assisted an empress to govern the country. He sent a missionary to China to learn techniques, religions etc and established a central government and constitution. In order to introduce Buddhism to the country, he ordered to construct the temple called “Horyu-ji(法隆寺)”.
This temple is considered as the oldest wooden architecture which remains at present time. We visited this temple.

The other place that we visited is “Todai-ji(東大寺)” From 710 to 694, the capital was placed in Nara. This temple is the most famous temple of this era. A huge Buddha sits inside the main hall.

You may need to spend two days at least to see major historical buildings and tourist attraction. However, if you have a limited time to stay in Japan, it is better to spend more days in Kyoto. If you stay in Nara, you may not be fascinated by food and atmosphere of restaurants as much as you may be in Kyoto. I took my friend, Nuno to eat out for lunch and dinner for three days but it was not enough to let him taste major traditional dishes in Kyoto.

We met lovely animals in front of Todai-ji Temple

"It is lovely, isn't it."

"But it can do these four skills of wrestling: bite, kick, butt and knock you down! ""

Place to eat in Kyoto

2010-09-11T13:28:00.004Z

The area Recommended
"Gion(祇園)"
The best place to eat should be "Gion(祇園)". Many of the restaurants I have shown in this blog in Guion. There are authentic Japanese restaurants.
Sushi: 寿司- "Emon えもん"
Tempura: てんぷら- "Tenshu 天周"
Eel: うなぎ - "Uokeyaう桶や"
Some other places which I considered to go are:
Yakitori: 焼き鳥　- Korekido 古暦堂
Hachidaime Gihei 米料亭　八代目儀兵衛 - the Japanese footballer Nakata visited.
Next time when I go there, I will explore more.

The Japanese food and drink that Nuno and I had this time:
Sushi (寿司), Tempura (てんぷら), Grilled Eel (鰻の蒲焼), Yakitori (焼き鳥), Shoba (蕎麦), Sake (酒), Sashimi (刺身)

Food he missed
Nabe (鍋), Shabushabu (しゃぶしゃぶ), Kaiseki Ryori (懐石料理), Fugu chiri　(河豚ちり鍋), Japanese Traditional Sweets (京菓子), Koube Beef steak (神戸牛), Shukiyaki (すき焼き)

There are many way to cook Nabe. Kaiseiki Ryori is one of the thing that you must taste once in your life time. Please bring more formal or modest clothes next time, Nuno. I have just found a reasonable but excellent place. There are still a lot to see and experience in Kyoto and around the city. I assure you and all my friends that other is no other place which can satisfy tourists in terms of history, culture, food and shopping as much as Kyoto. Kyoto is like Paris where many people want to visit over and over again. Because you won't see it enough in a short time.

Place to stay in Kyoto

2010-09-11T02:59:00.004Z

Once I was trapped in a "Guest House" which was recommended by "Lonely Planet". It was not properly equipped for accommodation. For budget foreign travellers, my suggestion is to stay at "Utano Youth Hostel" where non members can also stay. Newly renovated and equipped for all you need to stay. If you are in a group of more than two, you do not necessarily stay in a domitory. You can have your own room. Of course, you need to use a common washing basin and a common shower for everyone else.
There is a kitchen to make own breakfast. For those from Italy, Spain or Portugal, I strongly recommend you should bring a cafetera for coffee. Otherwise, you have to find "Starbucks" shops. In Japan, they serve coffee with too much water. Do not trust an expresso or a cappucino from Japanese coffee shops. They are not good.

Name: Utano Youth Hostel (宇多野ユースホステル)
Address: 〒6168191京都市右京区太秦中山町29
Phone: 075-462-2288
http://yh-kyoto.or.jp/utano/ryokin.html　
総客室数 41室　定員170名
charge : domitory 3,300 yen, twin 4,000yen

For those who come here for honeymoon or expect something romanic, my advice is to stay in Miyako Hotel.
Look for a package deal of "Hotel and flight" to get a cheaper rate.
http://www.westinmiyako-kyoto.com/

Kyoto "Cultural Center" 2: Kyo-Yuzen (京友禅)

2010-09-11T02:03:00.003Z

Kyo-Yuzen (京友禅) is a traditional dyed fabric which is made in Kyoto. “Indigo Blue” the translation of “Ai Iro (藍色) is a natural color extracted from a plant and the techniques were thought to be developed in Korea and Japan for hundreds years ago.
Nishimura-ya is one of a workshop where you can experience to learn a little bit of techniques and make your own handkerchief or T-shirt for souvenir.
We just dropped by to buy it for souvenir.

Further Information:
Name :有限会社　丸益西村屋
Access:〒604-8276　京都府京都市中京区小川通り御池南入る
TEL ：075-211-3273　FAX:075-221-1967
Site ：http://www.kyo-komachi.com/
http://www.kyo-komachi.com/koubou/english.html

Kyoto"Cultural Center"1: Tea Ceremony (茶会)

2010-09-10T14:24:00.007Z

You can also say that Kyoto is Japan's cultural center. You can watch the Japanese traditiona theatre, such as "Kabuki (歌舞伎), Nou (能)and Geisha performance (芸者). In addition to it, there are a number of famouos handcrafts such as traditional clothing techniques, "Kyo Orimono (京織物), Kyo Yuzen (京友禅・染物）" and ceramics ( 陶磁器) etc. There is many places you can enjoy the Japanese Tea Ceremony(茶会).
For more than 1000 years, Uji tea producers (near Kyoto city) have provided exclusively tea to the capital. We went to one of prestageous Tea retailing shop to experience tea celemony. It is very interesting to learn a little bit of techniques to make "Maccha (抹茶)".

Further information on the shop and tea celemony
Name : Bikoen Tea shop: 宇治茶の美好園（びこうえん）
Address: 京都市下京区油小路通花屋町下る仏具屋町235
Access: not far from Kyoto Station, very close to Nishi Honganji temple
TEL: 075-371-1013
http://www.bikouen.com　

Kyoto "Historical Capital" 4: "Emperial Palace (京都御所)"

2010-09-10T13:49:00.003Z

Emperial Palace (京都御所と仙洞御所)
Many foreign and Japanese tourists miss an opportunity to visit this magnificent Palace.
The tour takes 1 hour and 15 minutes and it starts certain hours. No Saturdays and Sundays. So, you can not just come and visit any time you want. And you need your passport and have to make an application advance. Therefore, many people miss the chance. However, you make a schedule ahead, no problem.
It really worth to see. The Japanese garden which you see in the Sendo Gosho (仙洞御所) is much larger than ones in any other temples. The palace buildings are magnificent. In addition, it is free. Futhermore, you can have a guide in Enlish. Please check the schedule in advance on the web site. If you visit together with Japanese friends, make sure that the number of Japanese should not be more than foreigners in your party. For example, 3 foreigners and 2 Japanese are acceptable. However, 1 foreigner and 2 Japanese are not acceptable. In this case, one of Japanese should wait outside.
Please check the conditions and schedulhttp://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/index.htmles on :

http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/index.html

Kyoto Gosho

Sendo Gosho with Japanese garden

Kyoto "Historical Capital" 3: Other Places

2010-09-10T13:14:00.012Z

Kennin-ji Temple (建仁寺)
Kennin-ji Temple was one of my surprises. The entrance fee is 500 yen, the same price as Ginkaku-ji Temple.
The highlight is two remarkable paintings: One is "Fujin Raijin / The god of wind and the God of thunder"(風神雷神）" painted by a famous artist, Tawaraya Sotatsu in the Edo era. The other is "Dragon" drawn on the ceiling.

The other aspect which was more impressed and can be good value for money is that we can go inside and enjoy watching wonderful Japanese gardens.

Fushimi Inari Jinnja Shrine (伏見稲荷神社)
The Shrine itself is not particularly interesting. But the Torii passage through the hill gives romantic view to couple hikers. It is recommended to go there one hour before the sunset. You can enjoy walking through there in the daylight and after the dark.

Kyoto, Historical Capital 2: World Heritage

2010-09-08T13:57:00.021Z

Since the emperor "Kamu Tenno" moved the country's capital in 794, Kyoto has been the capital and the emperor's residence for over 1000 years (till 1867). Now, there are a lot of temples and shrines which you can feel the history of this country. Atlthough a number of historical buildings and houses were burn down by a series of battles took place in Kyoto over the centuries, you may find them a lot to see. In 1994, the World Heritage status was granted to seventeen temples and shrines in Kyoto. Those are:

Kinkaku-ji Temple (金閣寺）

"Kinkaku-ji in snow, February 2006"

"With Linda and her husband, Tso Lin"

Built in 1397 by Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu during the "Muromachi Era, the second Samurai government" The temple is historical very important and a good example of Kitayama Culture". Unfortunately, you must watch it from the distance. The entrance of 400 yen is a little expensive.

Ginkaku-ji Temple (銀閣寺)

Built in 1482 by Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa and he enjoyed the tea ceremony here. This temple is also important and the symbol of "Higashiyama Culture". For someone who has studied "Japanese history and culture" may be interested. It is also expensive. 500 yen for the entrance fee.

Shimogami Jinja Shrine (下鴨神社)
Free entrance except special exhibition. Very historical wooden buildings. Well I would say it is very good. It worths visiting before going some place where you are charged. If you go to visit more than 10 temples and shrines in six days, you may be bored. (That's what happened to my friend, Nuno.)

Kiyomizu-dera Temple (清水寺)
One of the highly visited spot and it is also nice to walk around this area.

Nishi Honganji Temple (西本願寺)
This is also good place to visit. It is "free". There is also "air-conditioned" lounge with "free tea". It is good place to rest. Moreover, you can go inside the temple.

Toji Temple (東寺)
The Five-story pagoda is the symbol of Kyoto. It is nice but we did not go inside as I knew that we can not go into any building.

"Do not cross! This is what we do all the time, play with rules!"

Kyoto "Historical Capital" 1: "Gion (祇園)"

2010-09-08T13:05:00.008Z

Before visiting "Kyoto", many foreign tourists imagine the histrical districts which are not "contaminated" with ugly concrete buildings. If you go to Segovia, Avila in Castilla (Spain), Firenze, Bologna (Italy), you may feel as if you were in the medieval time.
Unfortunately, Japanese traditional buildings were built by wood. Therefore, more frequent restoration is required. So, if you come to Kyoto, you may find temples and shrines inside modern cities. I am sorry to disappoint you. However, there are some streets that you could feel as if you were in Kyoto of hundreds years ago, the time when Samurai and Geisha lived.
One of the places is "Gion / Guion in Portuguese / ぎおん（祇園）in Japanese". My recommendation is "Hanami Kouji (花見小路)" street in Gion.

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 5: Tofu Fast Food (豆腐のファーストフード)

2010-09-08T12:01:00.009Z

"Tofu" is one of the foods considered to be healthy and it has become popular among health conscious consumers in Europe. If you drop by a organic or healthy food grocery stores, you may find packs of "Tofu" on shelves. Tofu is originated in China and it was brought to our countries more than one thousand years ago.
Tofu is made from soybean milk which is extracted from the beans. The process of making tofu is quite similar to cheese. We, Japanese use raw Tofu (豆腐) for miso soup (味噌汁) and we eat it in raw with a dash of "soy sauce". The other way to cook is to "fry". "Deep fried Tofu" has its own name, "O-age (お揚げ)" for thin one and thick square Tofu coated with flour is called "Agedasi Dofu (揚げだし豆腐)".

This time, I introduce some "Deep fried Tofu" fast food to you. We droped by this fast food shop after visiting "Ginkakuji-temple". If you get off a bus at the Ginkakuji Michi (銀閣寺道). There is a street which leads to the temple. If you walk a few minites, you will find the shop on the right.
They serve wrapped "Sushi rice" with the deep fried Tofu. It is quite nice.

I'm sure Western vegetarians like it. The owner of this shop is a long established "Tofu" maker. The man at the shop was very friendly and explained us about their product.
Furhter information:
Address ：京都市左京区浄土寺東田町60番地
Access : 白川通今出川交差点から徒歩1分銀閣寺へ　向かう通りの左側
If you get off a bus at the Ginkakuji Michi (銀閣寺道), you will be standing at the intersection. There is a street which leads to the temple. If you walk a few minites, you will find the shop on the right.
TEL ：075-752-3300
Opens：11:00-18:00（不定休）
Site：http://www.nanzenjitofu.jp/user_data/oage.php

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 4:Soba/蕎麦

2010-09-07T15:21:00.007Z

There are some reasons that I called this city as a Gastronomic Capital. Although Tokyo attracts people and money as the nation’s economic and political centre, I may not be impressed with food served in restaurants in Tokyo. Well, it is true that all rich politicians and company’s executives who can throw a lot of money at dining table can maintain the high level and draw extra care on services. Grummet ingredients are brought to serve a highly expensive meal to those who have money. Having said that, it would not always create friendly services which customers normally expects. On the contrary, historical Kyoto has a spirit of “old and good Japan”. They tend to keep old and wise know-how to treat customers as a person, whereas shop assistants and clerks in modern cities deal with them equally as they do not have any personality like a robot. Many restaurants and shops tend to be rather a small entity. They tend to treat a customer as individual.
And Kyoto has a tradition and history which Tokyo cannot compete with. Kyoto attracts eyes of people who expect those elements from all over the world. This certainly contributes to maintain a good traditional food in this city. There is a traditional cuisine called “Kyo-Kaiseki Ryori (京懐石料理)” which are designed to host a special guest. There are a number of old style hotel “Ryokan(旅館)” and old style restaurant called “Ryotei (料亭) which serve these special meals. Each person may spend “15,000 -20,000.” – which is subject to added service charge. Anyway, this luxury is out of our budget. So, I did not intend to take my friend there, at least until he becomes as important as Mr Barroso in the future. (Then I can eat with his pocket money.)
The other aspect which drew my attention is the presentation of a restaurant here in Kyoto. Many restaurants show customers how food is prepared or made. “Tenpura” and “Sushi” are made in front of customers over the counter in any other cities.
“Soba Yoshimura” is a Japanese noodle “Soba (蕎麦)” restaurant which shows how Soba is knelt. I took my friend there for lunch.
Soba is a Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour and wheat flour.

Name : Soba Yoshimura
Address ：京都市下京区五条烏丸東入る北側
Phone ：075-353-0114
Open ： 11:00-14:30　17:30-22:30 Open everyday
Access ：地下鉄「五条」駅徒歩3分 / By metro get off “Gojo”station and 3 minute walk
Site ：http://www.arashiyama-yoshimura.com/soba/sobanomi/index.html　

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 3: Izakaya and Yakitori/ 居酒屋・焼とり

2010-09-07T12:31:00.005Z

“Lonely Planet” is one of the most popular foreign travel guides. While I was in Kyoto, I saw several foreign tourists who carried this famous guidebook. Italians, Spanish and North Americans had it in their language.
In the English guide which my friend possess introduces “Izaka-ya (居酒屋) and Yakitori-ya (焼とり) as popular drinking place at night. Izaka-ya serves a variety of dishes for drinking whereas Yakitori-ya mainly serves grilled chicken. What foreigners should be careful about is that they should select a right place because their stay is limited. Each day they should have a good experience and one disappointing meal will waste their valuable time. But how? I will give some tips and recommend some good places. First, do not go any places where young people and businessmen gather and make noises: screaming and chanting. Second, do not go where they have “Tabe-houdai & Nomi-houdai” style which can be translated as “All you can eat and drink.” This is the way to cheat customers and people do not care about food they eat would go. The method is to limit two hours and limit to 3 different dishes for the number of people to order at once. And they can order another when they finish one. If you go drinking in 10 or 20 people, what you can eat in two hours!
Third, you check atmosphere and customers. If they seem to enjoy food rather than having fun and the atmosphere is more reserved, then it could be a place to go.
My recommendation is to choose a place where they are specialized in fresh fish and “Sake”. The average age of customers there is higher and they are most likely to possess ability to behave. The places where they serve mainly beer is often bad.
“Izakaya, Gyoshin (居酒屋・魚紳)　is one of a place where you can enjoy food and drink in a quiet atmosphere.

Address：京都市中京区河原町三条下ル４筋目BALビル東入ル　クラリオンビル1F
Phone ： 075-212-8661
Open ：12:00-14:00, 17:00～23:00
closed : Monday
Access ：阪急河原町駅、京阪四条駅徒歩７分京阪三条駅　徒歩５分
河原町三条の交差点（三条通り）から河原町通りを下り3つ目を左京阪電鉄本線四条駅　徒歩7分
Site ：http://www.osashimi.com/index.html

For Yakitori, I recommend "Kushi Kura (串くら)". This is also “Michiya” style restaurant and if you make a reservation in a group, you have a chance to have your room. Here is a course that we ordered.

"If you reserve a room, after enjoy your meal, you can also do this"

Address ：京都市中京区高倉通御池上ル柊町584
Phone ：075-212-8661
Open ： 11:30-14:30　17:00-23:30
Budget: from 3500 yen
Note : English spoken
Access ：地下鉄「御池」駅徒歩5分 / By metro get off “Oike”station and 5 minute walk
Site ：http://www.fukunaga-tf.com/kushikura/index.html　

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 2:Sushi (寿司)

2010-09-07T09:01:00.007Z

"Sushi" can be the most popular Japanese food that foreigners want to taste. Nowadays, it is also popular in Europe and in all major cities you can find some "Sushi restaurants". However, the quality of "Sushi" you can get in foreign countries cannot be as good as we, Japanese have in our country. The first reason is freshness and type of fish you can get in Europe. When I shopped in a supermarket in Brussels, Bournemouth and Newcastle, I was almost astonished with the poor quality of fish. Most of them had started to become black...Even when I stayed in some cities in Italy, Spain and Portugal I do not find it is as same quality as fish in Japan. In addition, we have different types of fish in the sea around Japan. I do not think they can fish the same types in the Medeterranean or the Atlantic Ocean.
So, my conclusion is that you must try a good quality of Sushi once you are in Japan.

You may think that I am saying that it is easy to get a good quality of "Sushi" in any places. Then you are wrong! I certainly do not recommend to go to "Kaiten zushi(回転ずし)", which I consider "a joke / uma brincadeira". It is a fun to watch small plates of Sushi are brought by a rotating conveyor like a factory automation. In fact, in some of this type of restaurants robots make Sushi. Even if it is a man-made, it is not by skilled "Sushi" chefs.
For lunch I decided to take Nuno to a good Sushi restaurant which I made a research beforehand! Going to a good Sushi restaurant for dinner easily cost over 10,000 yen (100 euro) in a modest portion. A modest portion may not satisfy my friend's stomach. So, we went to eat Sushi for lunch. For lunch, people tend not to spend much. Therefore, restaurants have to fight for customers with a good deal.The time beween 11:30 to 14:00 is lunch time. So, I scheduled in advanced not to miss this opportunity.
The restaurant which we went is called "Emon(えもん)". It is in the Gion district. The Chef, Mr Ajiki (安喰さん) is very friendly guy, who showed us a small inside garden in the restaurant.

Address：〒605-0066京都市東山区東大路通石橋町296-3（知恩院前）
Phone ： 075-551-5585
Open ：11:30～14:00　18:00～23:00
closed : Monday
Access ： By BUS get off at Shijo Kawaramachi, by Metro get off Shijo Station and go along the “Shijo Dori(四条通り)"　street to
the end when you see the shrine and then turn left to go north and you will find the restaurant on your right.
site：http://www.gion-emon.com/　

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 1: Grilled Eel / うなぎ

2010-09-07T08:02:00.008Z

When I travel Europe, mainly Italy, Spain and Portugal, where I can manage communications with local people, I enjoy searching so-called "local speciality" and tasting it. Many countries in Europe has a food diversity in each region. In fact there are some people who drive to a town or village nearby on weekends to do their gastronomic tour. The development of rapid tranport has made easier for people to deliver food products to other places. As a result, food nationalation occurres. To a certain extent, this may be happening all over the world.
I would say, this phenominon is remarkable in Japan.
You can taste "Sushi", "Sashimi", "Tenpura" and "Soba" anywhere in the country. Lobsters from Ise (伊勢海老) and Ooma Tuna (大間の黒鮪) are largely traded in fish market in Tokyo, Osaka and other big cities to be served in expensive restauants. They are not largely consumed in local population.
So, if you are fond of gastronomic tour, you won't be successful by visiting many places to taste different food in Japan because food is nationalized. Instead, you would decide which place to stay to taste something truly traditional and exquisite. My sugguestion is Kyoto.
Kyoto has a lot of small "Machiya" style restaurants which can contains 30-40 people maximam. Some are only 15 to 20, I guess. Cooks who we met are very friendly and we enjoyed some talks. In some restaurants, you can also observe how food is made!
I took my friend, Nuno to eat grilled eel.

Address：〒605-0074　京都市東山区祇園西花見小路四条下ル（祇園）花見小路から西側に並行した通りにある。
Phone ： 075-551-9966
Open ：12:00-14:00, 17:00～21:00
closed : Monday
Access ：京阪電鉄本線四条駅　徒歩7分
By BUS get off at Shijo Kawaramachi, by Metro get off Shijo Station and go along the “Shijo Dori(四条通り)"　street to the east until you get to the crossing with famous "Hanami Kouji (花見小路) which is indicated with a stone-made post. Then turn right and go down the street to south until you reach the first small crossing on your right. Turn right and then take the first turn on the left to go down parallel to the "Hanami Koji" main street. You find the restaurant on your left.

Site ：http://www.yagenbori.co.jp/tenpo/u/index.html

Japan and Portugal 3 (Tenpura)

2010-09-07T06:30:00.010Z

Luís Fróis, the Portuguese missionary had his mission to teach Christian religion to this country. My mission is, however, slightly different but it is as important as the Fróis’s- It is to fill Nuno’s stomach. The great story about the Portuguese missionary can hardly fill his appetite. Since he had quite a lot of exercise before he came here, I did not have to worry about extending his waist line.
The first meal we had here in Kyoto is “Tenpura (てんぷら)”. This dish is also thought to be brought by Portuguese. In Japan, Tempura is considered to be a main dish and you can enjoy a Tenpura course for dinner. Although my knowledge of Portuguese food is still limited, there seems to be no dish similar to Tenpura in main dish in Portugal, now. Maybe “Pataniscas de Bacalhau” is similar in the way they cook:

If we extend a searching area to the Iberian Peninsula, we can find a famous Tapas dish called “Calamares a la Romana”. I wonder this exists in Porgual….

Anyway, I decided to take him to a Temura restaurant on the Sanjo Dori near famous Gion (Guion) district. The restaurant is called “Tenshu (天周)”. We usually use an ordinary vegetable oil to fry. However, in this restaurant, they use sesame oil which is more expensive but Tempura taste much better. When you think about the use of a good olive oil rather than vegetable oil, you can imagine what difference it makes to use sesame oil.
For lunch, we did not order a course. Instead, we had “Tendon (天丼)” which is a bowl of rice served in a “soy-flavored and a little sweet sauce” with deep-fried prawn and vegetables. However, this shop’s speciality is “Tendon with deep-fried ANAGO (type of eel”.
It costs 1,100 yen (about 10 euro) Please do not forget everything is more expensive here. It is worth trying.

Name / Nome /名称 : Kansai fu Tenpura Tenshu/ 関東風天富良天周
Address / Morada / 住所京都府京都市東山区祇園四条通縄手東入北側
By BUS get off at Shijo Kawaramachi, by Metro get off Shijo Station and go along the “Shijo Dori” street to the east and it is on your left. A few minute walk
Phone / 電話：075-541-5277
Open / Aberta / 営業時間：11：00-14：00 (lunch) ／17：30-21：00 (dinner)
Close / Fechada / 定休日：Wednesday / Quarta feiras / 毎週水曜日
サイト：http://tenshu.fc2web.com/　

Japan and Portugal 2 (Conpeitos “Confeitos”)

2010-09-07T05:35:00.009Z

Between the 16th and 17th century, Japan traded with Portugal and it gave certain influences in food. Nowadays, you can find the name “Bolo” in many Japanese sweets. The one of the sweets which is considered to have the origin of Portugal is “Conpeito (金平糖or こんぺいとう)”.
It is basically made from sugar and rice powder. It has a variety of colors. However, all other industrial makers use artificial coloring and flavoring. Therefore it tastes only sugar. I happened to find a shop which use natural ingredients to make it in a traditional method. I mean “by hand”. This is the only shop which has succeeded in putting natural ingredients into the sweet. As the results, you can enjoy a variety of flavor such as lemon, orange, apple, grape etc.
It is said to be brought by Portugal in 1546 and Luís Fróis, a Portuguese missionary gave this“conpeitos” as one of a gift to Oda Nobunaga (織田信長).
Anyway, I took Nuno to this shop to see if it is familiar to him. But according to Nuno, he has not seen such sweets in Portugal. So, now I know at least “conpeito” does not exist in Lisbon. I wonder how the missionary from Lisbon could bring it to Japan....

Further information
Address / Morada / 住所：〒606-8301 京都市左京区吉田泉殿町38番地の2
TEL ：075-771-0755
FAX ：075-771-0766
Site/ Sito/ サイト：http://www.konpeito.co.jp/　Japanese ONLY
Open / Aberta / 営業時間：:10:00-17:00
Closed / Fechada/ 定休日：Wednesdays and the 4th Tuesday / 水曜・第４火曜

Japan and Portugal 1 (Castela)

2010-09-07T05:19:00.006Z

Portugal and Japan
My dear Portuguese friend, Nuno visited me in Japan for the first time this summer. We spent five days together in Kyoto, including one day trip to Nara.
Before writing about historical sites we visited and food we had, I would like to introduce some historical relation between two countries.
This year we celebrate the longstanding anniversary of Japan’s bilateral relations with Portugal, which was signed 150 years ago.

Portuguese has given a significant historical influence in our history, culture and cuisine. Namely, things most influential can be a rifle, Christianity and sweets. In 1543, Portuguese merchants arrived to one of the southernmost island and was said to be the first European to arrive in our country.　Then a trade has begun.
Good examples of sweets which they brought are “Castela” and “Compeito”. However, the process and techniques used to make those sweets have been developed over hundreds years. Therefore, you won’t find the same sweets when you travel to Portugal.
Anyway, I had brought “Castela” to Nuno once or twice when I had visited him in Europe. I knew that he likes it. So, I brought it when I flew to Kyoto to meet him this time. We had it for breakfast next two days (I knew that Portuguese often have some sweets like “Castela (カステラ)”
As you can see in the pictures, it is a type of cake made of flour, egg and sugar. The maker is called “Fukusaya (福砂屋)” and they say that they are the first maker who learned techniques from Portuguese to make it. It was founded in 1624. The origin of this cake has not identified and can be argued to be Catella Lion in Spain or Portugal. What is clear is Castela of Fukusaya is the best. They use granular sugar which provides a certain texture when you bite whereas the one the other maker taste just like an ordinary sponge cake. So, if you want to find Castela, it is better to ask for this maker, Fukusawa. If not, you will regret it! You can find it at major department stores in big cities.

" Remember this package to identify a true Castela when you buy."

"Pão de lo - Portuguese cake which has the same origin as Castela"

For further information:
Fukusaya (福砂屋) http://www.castella.co.jp/castella/castell3.shtml
You can see how it is made.

Supporting Greece 2

2010-07-07T12:25:00.002Z

Hi everyone,
Here is another Greek product that I bought here. As you can see, it is from Crete!

Supporting Greece

2010-06-22T01:23:00.004Z

Hello friends,
We all are in the midddle of economic crisis. Greece is under discussion in the European Unions for financial aid, while Portugal and Spain live under the fear to
become next victim of the crisis.

I feel sorry for nothing much I can do but just buy some food from Greece! Feta, one of a few Greek products I can buy here.

Recent progress

2009-08-22T03:40:00.003Z

I have some news for you.

First of all, I am going to start to work from next Thursday. It is not very good one considering what I did in my academic career but I can not complain by seeing an economic situation. In my new job I must correspond to inquiries from foreigners who live in Japan in English and Spanish (for Peruvians) and Portuguese for Bralians.
These South Americans are normally the third generation of Japanese immigrates who had moved there in 1920s. Of course, I do not speak Portuguese but I can manage with my Spanish.

Talking about Spanish, a few days ago, I confirmed on the result of the Spanish exam in the higher intermediate (B2)on the internet. I passed with the marks of 83.25 out of 100. I would say it is good. Academically, I almost always do
well! Now I am thinking of studying for C1, the advanced level in Spanish and B2 in Italian and Portuguese. I have bought
a text book for Portuguese. Here it is!

Southeast of Belgium: Pays de Herve

2009-07-13T01:34:00.003Z

Nuno drove us to a small town called Pays de Herve, where one of the DOP cheese is produced. We first went to a cheese cellar where Herve cheese is made. Unfortunately, we found it is closed. At a local tourist office, we were told that there is no visit to show the process of making cheese.
Anyway, here is the product. Washed cheese, very strong smell and taste. The surface is very very sticky.

In the view of consumer perception, I think the producer should reconsider the packaging. Little childish. It is surely not targeted to children. McDonald hamberger can be wrapped with this paper.

Paper wrapping may not be appropriate for this type of cheese for another reason. As I mentioned the surface is sticky. It should be packed with a plastic package with sufficient room to breeze! This package suits for soft white mould cheese with dried surface such as Camembert de Normandie and Brie.

If you are interested in the cheese, more information is given:
http://www.herve-societe.be/

Belgium

2009-07-10T00:01:00.011Z

On 26th of June, I left Modena for Brussels to see my friends: Nuno, Lu and David.
This time, Nuno and Lu took me to the South, a small village in the French-speaking region. On a hill, there is a restaurant.
As you can see in the pictures. The restaurant keeps animals. The food was excellent. The portion was a little too big for me.

On Sunday, we went to a large concert and there we met David and his friends.

-Lu's Chinese massage and therapy shop: Green Therapy in Brussels-

-Nuno with a Portuguese tailered suit-

Another trip to Italy (Part12): Frittata

2009-07-08T07:04:00.010Z

On June 26, Friday, three students at Romanica is leaving, including me. So, at class, Yurika, a Japanese girl is going to bring Italian cakes for us. Jorge, a Spanish man from Zaragoza volunteered to make Spanish omelettes / Tortilla de patatas.
As I wanted to learn a correct way of making Tortilla, I asked him.
"If you make some tortilla, can I come to see how you do it? I can also help you."
"OK, we first go to the market to buy ingredients" Jorge answered."
After grocery shopping at the market, we went to Jorge's appartment to prepare it.
He said "Tortilla should be cooked a day before you serve."

OK, here is a recepe:
-Spanish Omelettes (EN) / Tortilla de patatas (ES) / Frittata (IT)-

Ingredients (4 - 5 persons)
- 4 or 5 large potatoes
- 4 eggs
- 1 midium size onion
- Salt
- Olive oil (for frying)

1. Slice potatoes and an onion. The thickness of potatoes should be around 4mm. If a slice is too thick, it takes more time to become soft. Beat eggs in a bowl and add some salt.

2. Pour olive oil on a large frying pan and heat it. It is advisable to use a tefron-coated pan in order to avoid the result that the ingredients stick to the bottom of a pan.
3. Add potato. Turn the potato every now and then.Add some salt.
4. Once potatoes become softer, then add slices of onion. Turn the potato every now and then. Once fried, break potatoes

5. Once the ingredients are cooked, remove extra oil. Do not forget to squeeze fried potato a bit so that oil can be removed. Then put the fried potato and onion into the bowl. Mix it well with the beaten egg.

6. The pan should be heated in a middium heat. Then add the mixture. Once the mixture starts to be cooked, Shake the pan slightly right and left so that the mixture starts to form a round omelletes.

7. Once one side is cooked, place a large plate over the pan. Turn the upside down. (This is the most difficult part.) From the plate, put back the half cooked omelettes onto the pan. Then cook the other side.

If you succeed, the omelettes should be like the picture above. You need a Spanish Mama or a Spanish man to explain how to cook. To cook the Spanish Omelettes for 4 or more people, you need to be a little macho.

Another trip to Italy (Part11): Balsamic vinegar

2009-07-07T14:43:00.009Z

Julian, now I am going to write about my visit to the "acetaio (vinegar cellar)". In order to understand a balsamic vinegar, you must know it has different categories in this product.

The one is used for daily consumption, including a use of salad dressing, can be said "balsamic dressing". This is labelled "Aceto Balsamico". If you look at the label, it shows various ingredients: wine vinegar, sugar, calamel colouring etc. It is fabricated through a factory proces. It takes a few days to get a final product. Well, I would say it is a good vinegar: sweeter and denser than ordinary vinegars. As long as you choose the one labelled with the certificate of Aceto balsamico di modena.

Here we talk about an authenic product, which is called "Aceto Balsamico TRADIZIONALE di Modena". It is made with only "cooked grape malt". It is aged in 12 years at least. (There is a product of 6 years but it can not be called with the name.) It is dense like a syrup, sweeter and less acid. It is aged in barrel of six different types of wood: oak, cherry ect. Each wood contribute to the quality of Aceto Balsamico. The one with 24 years: You may not use as salad dressing as it is dense and sweet. Instead, it is recommended to use two or three drops on meat, table-cheese and fruit. The one aged 12 years costs 42 euro and the one aged 24 years costs 72 euro at the cellar.(It can be more expensive at retailing shops).

(left: called "Saporoso 6years") (centre: 12 years) (right: 24 years)

http://www.acetaiamalpighi.it

Another trip to Italy (Part10): making Pasta

2009-07-07T14:22:00.013Z

Another interesting activity this week was a cooking lecture: making pasta. Our school invited a woman who makes fresh pasta and talks about tradition in this region.

I would say, making pasta is hard work. You need muscles in your arms! I like it more than working at gym to build up muscle on my arms. Unfortunately, I did not have enough chance to knead dough because this activity was most popular. Everyone wanted to try!

Here are some pictures how we got along!

Another trip to Italy (Part9): Market

2009-07-07T13:12:00.010Z

When I stay somewhere in a few weeks on holidays, there is one thing I always do and enjoy: Go to a grocey market to find local products and prepare meals at an appartment.
When I was young, from 19 to 23, I used to challenge new activities and sport, for example, bamgee-jumping, water-skiing in Australia, river-rafting in Switzerland, horse-riding in Italy. Now, I have to think about consequences of these activities. So, now I tend to do more intellectual activities: visiting musemums and concerts. And exploring food culture.

In the first week, I was disappointed by products sold at supermarkets. In Spain, there is "Great" Corte Ingles and in UK, a "Super" waitrose where I can get high quality and gourmet foodstuff.
I first thought I would never make it to do grocery shopping at the market as lesson finishes at 13:00 and the market closes at 14:00. Because I usually enjoy just watching in first hour and then decide to buy which.
"Anyway, this is my last week in Modena. I can't go back without seeing a market" I thought.

Well, it was true that I had enough time to look around all shops but I was very satisfied what I bought. Shopkeepers are more knowledgeable than supermarkets and I enjoyed a little chat with them: Greengrocery, butcher's, cheesemanger's, fishmanger's and bakery etc. Those individual shops have already bunished in Japan. It is hard to negotiate prices or ask for recommendations. But in Italy, people often enjoy a conversation with shopkeepers. They know what they sell.

Here are the stuff I bought at the market:

Beppino Occelli is a cheese craftman from Piamonte who follows traditional recepes to produce cheese and butter.
http://www.occelli.it/inglese/azienda.asp
(I wanted to visit his cheese cellar in a small mountain village in Piamonte. But I did not have enough time to go there, this time.)

This is his fermented butter without salt. It is creamy and has some sweetness (as no salt is added. 2 euro for 125g at the Market in Modena (10 euro in Japan. Carrissimo!)

"Piadino" Romagnan speciality. They eat with ruccola, cheese, sausage or anything. Like sandwich.

"Ciliegie di Vignola" Cherry from Vignola. The consortium is formedI wonder if they try to get IGP (Indicazione Geographica Protetta)to to protect their Product Origin. Elena, do you know?

Washed cheese from Piamonte, milk (mixed: cow and goat)

Another trip to Italy (Part8): Marche

2009-07-07T12:47:00.005Z

One of the most rewarding experiences in studying abroad can be making friends from different countries. Now, in addition to email, we can communicate through the internet. The thing in fashion is now facebook. It is very easy to make networking through this site. Great!

Oh, I've almost forgot what I want to say. Studying abroad is a fun: making friends internationally and you may visit those friends in their countries. I studied English in UK, 1999. Ten years ago and I got to know an Italian girl from Ancona. We were in group of 4 or 5: German, Italian, Korean, Japanese etc. I visited her two years after but then we lost contact for 7 years.

on the first week of my stay in Modena, I was surprised to receive an email from her. What a coincidence! She had no idea where I was. So, I returned an email. We arranged to meet in Ancona.
She took me to a small town near Ancona on Saturday and we enjoyed time.

Another trip to Italy (Part7):Parmigiano Reggiano

2009-07-07T11:51:00.022Z

On Wednesday, I had to skip classes in order to visit a cheese factory where the famous Parmigiano Reggiano is made. Probably factory is not proper word to describe the place. In Italian, it is called "caseficio (cheese maker)". In this region, they argue that a Parmigiano Reggiano is not made by the process of factory automation but made by people: It means that it is made by craftmanship. Of course, total cheese making process is sensored and monitored by modern equipments. For instance, a room temperature is controlled by highly sophisticated monitoring system.
However, actual making process is done by skilled and long-trained craftmen.
This idea can be summarized by the phrase: "il Parmigiano Reggiano, non si fabbrica, si fa": They are probably proud of how they keep their tradition.

Anyway, I woke up at 6:00 to get ready and catch a bus to the suburb where an African lady at the Modena Information office had made a reservation for me to visit a caseficio at 8:30. I arrived at the bus station at 7:15 and bought a ticket and got on the bus.
According to the lady at the information, the bus takes me to the spot which is a 10-minute walk to the caseficio. However, the bus terminated at a hospital. So, I waited there, wondering when a driver starts an engine. 5 minutes passed. I finally asked him.
"No, this bus terminates here. If you want to get to this road on the map, you should go straight on. Walking."
"This is Italy. I have to accept people's mistake." I thought: What the African lady explained was not exactly correct but it is not important. She was very kind. That is what matters. (Most Japanese hate mistakes, criticizes people who give services if they do wrong as if they have all rights to complain. I hated those reactions. So, I am here. It happened. It is better to think this way. Everyone is happy.)

I walked to the caseficio and arrived in time. There were a group of employees of Swiss Insurance company, who were also waiting to see the cheese-making process. A guide was unfortunately in Italian. So, it was my morning lesson. I skipped school today. So, it is a chance to practise my listening skills.

-Before the final check -

-After the final check: the wheel is certified to be called "Parmigiano Leggiano"

YOU CAN BOOK A VISIT at Modena Tourist Information. Visit is ONLY WEDESDAY at 8:30. Free but it is recommended to purchase some cheese!

Another trip to Italy (Part6): Carpi

2009-07-07T11:28:00.003Z

Tuesday, in the second week:
At Romanica, our italian language school, we have some visits every week. All we have to pay is for fares for transportation. In this week, we went to a small town called Carpi.

We meet at the station at 3 o'clock and Our teacher, Elena took us to Carpi. Carpi has 70,000 inhabitants and it keeps the 14th centuries' churches and palaces. In this visit, we had a retired person who explained us about the church and history of the city. In small towns, it is common to find some retired persons working as a volunteer guide. They usually guide us churches or other monumental building which are not opened to the public by their own interests. I wondered how wonderful life would be showing his or her town in sparetime after retirement. This could be only possible in a country like Italy!

Another trip to Italy (Part5): Parma

2009-07-07T08:32:00.008Z

Day by day, Rich, my Spanish flatmate wakes up later. On Friday, he woke up at 8:30 and today is Sunday. Now, it is 10 a.m. and he is sleeping more than 10 hours. On the contrary, I am still suffering from a jet-lag and I woke up at 7 a.m. It is too early for Sunday but I could not sleep.

At 10 a.m., there is no sign of Rich getting out of his bed. So, I decided to go for a walk. I passed the Piazza Grande and walked across Via Emilia. By chance, I bumped into Aleksandra.
"Hi, Yasu, what are you doing? (Italian)" she said.
"I am taking a walk and you?"
"I'm waiting Jonna. We are going to Parma? You want to come?" I remember now that they said they were going to Parma and this spot where we are standing is in front of Jonna's appartment. I hesitate for a while, thinking about what would be the best response. Because if I join, we are three of us: two young European girls and me... Rich will be still in bed, sleeping. It won't be nice to wake him up on the way.
"Yes." I responded.

So, here we are on the way to Parma. It is hotter today. At least I feel so without "i portici" to escape from the sunshine. Unlike Bologna and Modena, Parma is not built under arcades. However, there are something worth to see.

When we reached the city centre, I suggested to drop by a tourist information office. In Italy, shops and offices are closed between 13:30-16:30 (or 14:00-17:00). It is better to ask for some suggestions of restaurants or trattoria. It is wise to ask locals where to eat well and reasonably.

So, for lunch we ordered Lambrusco for drink.

I ordered "Tortelloni de zucca", fresh hand-made pasta filled with paste of pumpkin, Parmesan cheese is sprinkled over the top. It has some taste of sweetness. Tortelloni is one of local specialities. According to Elena, our school teacher there are some strict rules in Italian pasta: A certain pasta should go with certain sauces and certain fillings: In case of Tortelloni, fillings should be pumpkin, spinach or ricotta cheese. "Spaghetti Bolognese" does not exist in a true italian cooking and she said this combination of spaghetti and this sauce (ragu in Italian) was made by foreigners. If there is "Spaghetti Bolognese" in menu, that restaurant targets tourists and may not serve traditional or authentic Italian cuisine. So, pay attention, guys!
Well, think about dishes in your own country. "Spaghetti Bolognese" is like "Californian roll" in Sushi. Some Americans would say "I love Sushi. I always order salmon and Californian roll". Then we, Japanese think "What is that." without showing our true feeling to American people. If you are Spanish, what do you think a restaurant in Barcelona, Madrid or any place tourist goes which has a "Paella" in the top of menu? You are most likely to get a Paella with seafood from frozen package. So, you know "Spaghetti Bolognese" is something that you should avoid.

Then, "Panna cotta" an Italian pudding.

Another trip to Italy (Part4) : Bologna

2009-07-07T08:02:00.010Z

This is my first weekend in Italy. We went to Bologna, the capital of Emilia Romagna. From Modena, it takes 30 minutes by train and Bologna is known for the University of Bologna, the oldest university of Europe and democratic movements during the World War II.
When we arrived in Bologna, we took the road called Via Independenza to the Piazza
Maggiore.

After that, we climbed a famous "due torri", the twin tower. It was quite an exercise! But "vale la pena (It is worth for a little effort) because the view from the top was magnificent.

Sotto i portici: One thing benefitial to tourists to walk around Bologna and Modena is that you can walk under arcade (sotto i portici). Especially, a hot summer day or a rainy day.

What I had today is nothing special: Prosciutto con frutta.

And un cappuccino

Another trip to Italy (Part3) : Modena

2009-07-05T14:01:00.014Z

Tuesday, my second day at Romanica, Italian language school.
Our school is located in the historic center of Modena, called "Centro storico" in Italian. If you go to Milan or Rome, you will find a lot of modern buildings co-existing in old historical momuments, churches, palaces etc. On the contrary, if you choose to stay a relatively small city in the northern Italy, you will enjoy an atmosphere of a medieval town, hearing sounds of church bells and overviewing a square with tranquilicity. Yet you can get everything you need. If you go to the market near the Piazza Duomo, you will get all you need for cooking. On Tuesdays and on Saturdays, there are some stalls to sell organic products just under our appartment, bread, cheese, vegetable and fruit. When I woke up early (due to a continuous jet-lag) I went down to buy some bread for breakfast. And I enjoyed a conversation with a lady.
"Due giorni qui. Tu parli molto bene. Io non posso parlare niente nella tua lingua cuando vado in Giappone nei questi pochi giorni.(Two days here. You speak very well such a short time. I don't think I can speak any word in your language when I go to Japan." she was saying.
A little exaggerating. I studied Italian before. Probably, it does matter for her. She wanted to demonstrate her joy for knowing that someone from the Far East can speak her language. I thought it is also the way to start a conversation with customers and let them feel comfortable. You know, Italian people love chatting.

After the lesson, there was an activity. A secretary of our school, Carlo, make a walking tour for us to show a wonderful city of Modena.

After the tour, we stayed in a bar at the square and enjoyed having some appetizer with a wine called "Lambrusco" Lambrusco is a sparking red wine and it is a local speciality. The price is also very reasonable. Each of us paid 5 euros or so. If you go to bar to drink a beer, you would pay more.

- (left) type of cured ham "coppa" or "proscuitto"
- (right) Mortadella - local speciality, from Bologna
This region is called "Emilia Romagna". This region is traditionally known for raising pigs and people are customed to eat pork meat. Therefore, it is natural to developed a various methods of preserving almost all part of pigs. I am sure you have heard about "Prosciutto di Parma", the most famous cured ham of Italy. There is a product called "Prosciutto di Modena", from this city. There are more specialitis of this city: "Cotechino di Modena" and "Zappone di Modena", a typical sausage from this city. There are some more. If you really want to enjoy "Salumi Italiani (Cured pork products)", you should come to this town between Oct - Dec because these sausages "Cotechino di Modena" and "Zappone di Modena", are hand-made, following a local tradition. In other seasons, you will find a pre-cooked sausage with some preservatives. It is nice to see and buy an authentic and artisan one, no?

Another trip to Italy (Part2) : Italian class

2009-07-05T12:30:00.018Z

Next morning, my Italian class started. I was already awake at 6:30, although I wanted to sleep till 7:30. I was in insomnia due to jet-lag.

There was plenty of time to put things in order and take a shower. I fixed my coffee as usual. At 8:55, Rich, my Spanish flatmate and I left our appartment. We had to take a little test to see our level in the first hours and then, took an interview.
A writing test was difficult in the last three pages. And in the last page was to write some sentences. Being under an effect of a jet-lag, in the end I gave it up. Anyway, I was the last person to leave a room. I said to myself "I have done well."
After a short interview, I took a lesson for 2 hours. Among several new students, 5 of us were in the same class and we started to introduce ourselves. From the first day, we started to get out together. Romanica is a relatively small school and has a very good atmosphere and we have very good chance to get to know each other well. Teachers and staff are very close to us, we had some occasions to go out together with them. The city itself is also small but people are very friendly and lively. We enjoyed a lot. Well, anyway, I will introduce you many aspects of this attactive city and people.

Firstly, I briefly introduce my classmates here:

Rich, my flatmate (Spanish, from Barcelona)

Alexandra (Polish, a town, 2 hours south of Krakow)

Sonia (Argentina, lives in Barcelona)

Jonna (Finnish, from a town near Helsinki)

Interestingly, we are all from different countries and here we started an italian course on the same day. Aalthought there is a chance that English would be a little easier and more convenient language for communicating each other, without asking each other, we decided to talk in Italian. For me, it was a little difficult, as you may know, I had done a Spanish exam two weeks before. Two languages were mixing in my head!

"Sono llegado in ritardo (I arrived late.)" I was saying in class. "Come? Llegado e che cosa? (Llegado is what? It is not Italian, Yasu. It's Spanish!"
This sort of problems of understanding which word is Italian or Spanish continued almost every lesson in the follwing weeks in Modena.

-My class (center- our Italian teacher, Elena )

-My classmate and other Elena, in the centre of the picture-

Little by little, I introduce my life in Modena. Those who are interested in learning Italian and some wonderful holidays in Modena, check out our school website;
http://www.romanica.it/

Another trip to Italy (Part1)

2009-06-30T21:04:00.014Z

Recent years were very difficult for me, especially my first company decided to lay me off, giving no option after having told them my intention to pursue my academic career in Newcastle in the period of one year. After that, I could not find a good job. Last December I finally found a job to meet some of my wishes. But one week was good enough to know about my employer.
To customers and the public, he pretends to be very kind and cheerful. At work, he is very short-tempered. The worst thing is that he does not even speak good enough to communicate in Japanese (he is an Argentinean) and he cannot read or write at all in Japanese. He thinks as we, Japanese are not good enough to understand him. He can not use a computer properly! Even though he demands us to have competitive computer skills. He has no idea how EXCEL works!There is no possibility to continue to work, is it? Employees change so frequently because of his temper. In the end of trial period of 3 months, we broke up.

After a Spanish language exam, I decided to go to Italy for 3 weeks in order to relax and I have found good friends there.

On June 7, I set off for Italy. My last visit of Italy is March, 2002 and it was seven years ago. Since I travel to Europe almost every year, you may think it can't be true that I haven't been there for such a long time. This time, I decided to attend an Italian language course and stay in an appartment for 3 weeks.

The city I chose to stay this time is Modena, a relatively small city in the region of Emilia Romagna. The region is well-known for gastronomy: There is a saying - In Emilia Romagna, si mangia bene. (Literally, it is said that in Emilia Romagna people eat well.) Now, you know why I chose this city! You will soon find what are the specialty in this region's cooking.

Due to a delay of arrival at the Malpensa Milan International airport, I arrived in Modena one hour later than I informed to Romanica, an Italian language school. My landlord was kindly waited for me for some time. But I did not know and when I arrived at the appartment, a Spanish flatmate opened the door for me.

As you can see in pictures, my flat has a spacious living room and a nice view of a medieval square. “How wonderful condition to spend a few weeks of holidays and the school is within a one-minute walk! I can wake up at eight. There is enough time to take a shower and have a breakfast. ”

Spanish food

2009-01-01T03:16:00.017Z

Hi Everyone, It’s been a long time since I made the last entry. Since then, I have been to Barcelona, “una magica ciudad”.
After I left Brussels in May, I stayed at my friend house, a friend of my Newcastle days.
We had a barbecue party at his place. We had Mojito, the mixture of gin, mint leaves, citrus fruit and sugar. We had a great fun.

Today, I want to talk about tapas. When I had been to a bar with Nuno three years ago, he refused to have some tapas, there saying “Those greasy tapas”. We joked about a couple of times. I should say that there are a bunch of bars where they serve greasy and oily stuff. But it depends on where you eat. If you have greasy and oily tapas, it is your own fault. You have to find a good restaurant or bar by walking around. If you are lucky, you have very good food in your first day. It does not promise you that you will get a good food again next day.

So, here I introduce a restaurant in Barcelona.

La Pulperia: Consell de Cento 329, Barcelona (tel:934 875 398) 5 minutes walk from Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. As the name suggested, their speciality is “Pulpo”, octopus.

When you look at the building, you may not be convinced. But it is a restaurant where they serve delicious tapas.
Here are some tips to find a good restaurant in the Iberian Peninsula. First you observe customers. When you go to eat out at lunch time, check where Spanish businessmen and business women go to eat for lunch. These people have some extra money to spend. Yet, they want to have some reasonable menu. Let’s say 10-15 euro. But if you are skimpy, wanting to spend only 8-9 euro, you have work hard! Spend more time to walk around.
But how do I recognize those businessmen and women? Good question. You look how people are dressed. You are looking for well-dressed single men and women between 28 and 35 years old.

Secondly, you go inside to check some tapas on a counter. Moreover, you check food which customers are having. If it looks good, you ask for a table. If it looks horrible, you just run off. One anther thing, please do not be fooled by a board of pictures that many “tourist” restaurant have. They all look horrible, aren’t they? If a restaurant has such pictures at entrance, you are almost sure that food is not good.

I believe you are already hungry. I introduce some of typical tapas.

“Calamares a la romana”: Battered and Fried squid. Don’t ask me why they say “Roman style” It doesn’t look greasy at all, does it?

“Chorizo Galiega”: Galician spicy sausage. “Spicy” in term of Iberian people. It is not as spicy as Mexican or Thai food.

“Croquetas”: I love croquetas. If you go to an ordinary bar at every corner of the city, you go ones from a frozen package. I don’t think this one in the picture is one of them. Because they were so good.

“Enpanada Gallega” Galician pie. Filling is either tuna fish or meat. I had one with tuna.

“Ensaladilla Rusa”: Russian salad, type of mashed potato salad. Again, don’t ask me why it is called “Russian”

“Patatas Bravas”: Fried potato with mayonnaise sauce and spicy red sauce.

“Pulpo a'feira” or “Pulpo a la Gallega”: This is the specialty of this restaurant. Horrible every-corner bar would serve ones from a frozen package or boiled days ago. The reason that I chose this restaurant is that I saw they boil octopus in front of customers. It was convincing. It was very soft and tender.

Tortilla de Patatas: A famous omlettos. I personally prefer one with fried potato but not boiled one. The one with fried potato is much tastier. What do you say David?

My vacation Part 2: Holland

2008-09-28T08:55:00.002Z

April 30,
Today, we planned to visit Netherlands. Yesterday, Nuno booked hotel for us to visit the neighboring country. It is National Holiday in Netherlands. People celebrate the Queen’s birthday. People go out on streets of Amsterdam chanting and singing. People wear something in orange, the color of their royal family. So, we decided to visit there. It is also the best season to see tulips.
We took Nuno’s Audi to get to visit a flower festival in Amsterdam. It took two hours to get to our hotel outside the city. The place where we stayed is a pleasant town which is close to the sea. A lot of people were wearing clothes in orange – which is the color of the Royal family. It was Queen’s birthday. So, many people go to Amsterdam to join a parade. We parked our car at a football stadium outside the city and took subway to the city centre.
Streets were a full of people who were chanting and singing. Amsterdam was in chaos. The first thing we did was to find a restaurant.
“What are we going to eat?”
We thought about Malaysian food which is famous in the Netherlands. But we decided to eat Argentinean barbecue restaurant.
David volunteered to go to ask a local person as he did in Lisbon.
“Do you know any good Argentinean barbecue restaurant?” I guessed what he was questioning a lady in front of a sex shop. (As you know, Amsterdam is famous for sex shops and coffee shop (=drug shop). I did not want to miss this chance. I quickly took a shot of David and the lady at a sex shop!

The restaurant we chose was excellent. It is called Gaucho (cowboy). If you visit this city, you must try. See Nuno's face. You must be convinced.

-Waiters are friendly. Not like the Portuguese who blocked our picture at the Cerveceria in Lisbon. Good photo!-

-You remember him, don't you?-

After filling our stomach, we went around streets near canals.

May 1
This is my last day. We went to an amusement park to see flower gardens and took a bicycle. In the morning it was a fine weather and perfect for bicycling. The area is famous for growing tulips. We could watch beautiful fields in many different colors. It was extraordinary. I would say it is not good enough to see it in picture.

After a few hours of bicycling around the park, it started to rain hard. We spent some time there. We grabbed some sandwich and then we departed for the Charleroi airport which is located outskirts of Brussels.
"I hope we have enough time..." I hoped. I knew that Nuno estimated how many hours it takes to get there so I would not miss my Ryanair flight. But I was not sure we would have extra 30 minutes for no hustle and no hurried farewell.
It was raining very hard and the sight was not clear. It slowed traffic.
Fortunately, Nuno took me there in time but no luxury of time for much conversation before takeoff. In addition, the Ryanair extra 30 euros for excessive luggage. So, I had to queue to pay which stole my time.
I quickly hugged and kissed each of my friends and headed for the gate.
"Thanks Nuno, Lu, David and Athina. We should see each other again. Next time, I prefer not leaving first."

My next destination is Barcelona.

Linda's wedding and my short trip to Taiwan

2008-09-21T03:25:00.022Z

Dear all,
I am writing some short report on my second visit of Linda in Taiwan. Some of you do know that Tso Lin, her husband and Linda visited Kyoto and Osaka. Here is a picture of them in Kyoto:

-Snowy weather in Kyoto-

Her wedding was held last Saturday and the most memorable and emotional part in Taiwan would be a ceremony of a bride dresses up and departs from her house. A bridegroom comes to pick her up there.

Her wedding dinner was held in a large wedding hall in Taipei. I can not estimate how many people joined but at least a hundred twenty. Both Linda and Tso Lin have a large family. I was surprised to the number of people attended...

-Tso Lin, Linda, me and Linda's mother

I really enjoyed the dinner. The meal was excellent! Linda made a short film. There is a picture with Julian and Nuno at a short trip from Newcastle. A picture of the snowman that we made in the backyard of Northterrace 19.

Here are some other reports of my visit:
- Taipei 101, the second highest building in the world -

Some tropical fruit of Taiwan.

-wax apple-

-pomelo, a green citrus fruit

On Monday, Linda's mother invited me to a famous Dumping restaurant, Din Tai Fung

After lunch, we went to a small town outskirts of Taipei.

In the end of this report, I would like to introduce a guy who I met at a hotel in Taoyun. You remember your visit (maybe some of you haven't been there.) to an aquerium in Lisbon, one of the finest aquaerium in the world. But you would have never met a guy like him:

I give him a name, Simon. Simon is a quite big fellow. He is much larger than others. He is easygoing, timid and a little coward. I saw him chased by a small black fellow who was annoyed by his existence. Simon retreats, retreats every time this black nasty fellow confront him. "Hang in there, Simon!"

Congratulations to Linda and Tso Lin!

2008-09-18T07:41:00.005Z

:-) Well the fact that you apparently all got an e-mail now because I forgot my password will at least increase the chance that you have a look at our blog. And if you're reading this it was 'successful'!

But the actual reason for posting is Linda's wedding!

Linda, many, many congratulations to you and your husband (!!)! Lots of love and all the best for your future!

Juliane

My vacation (Part1:Belgium)

2008-05-18T07:01:00.019Z

Trip to Brussels:

April 24,
I arrived at 7:00 due to the delay of my flight from Frankfurt. Lu and Nuno had been at the Brussels airport to pick me up.
Nuno has a new Audi sedan. The weather in Brussels is still gloomy similar to English weather in autumn and winter. As it is already in the end of April, the temperature only stays at a comfortable level.
We chatted about their life in Brussels and football topic (as it is always our great concern).
“Yasu, are you hungry? What do you want to eat for dinner, tonight?” Nuno asked.
“Pizza or codfish.” I answered him immediately.
“Yasu does not like Belgian food much.” Nuno laughed and explained to Lu,
“OK, Yasu. We can go to a Portuguese restaurant near our apartment. It is not the best in town but it is very close. You can have some cod.”
I love fish. Unfortunately, Brussels is not an ideal place to eat fish from seawater. The level of freshness in fish sold in supermarkets here is as bad as one in England. It convinced me well enough to avoid it when I had cooked it when I had been here. So, dried cod can be a good choice for fish lover like me.

On the way to the restaurant, Nuno told how “wonderful” Belgian builders are. Lu and Nuno were supposed to move to their new flat some days before my arrival. The builders delayed their schedule.
“In Belgium, you can’t expect anything goes on schedule. They are very slow.” Nuno complained, “Our builders are slow. Incredible! They were doing nothing when we went there to check.” In fact, David is also suffering from problems with Belgian builders.

There are many Portuguese cafés and restaurants in their neighborhood. I had Bacalhau a Bras (fried cod with potatoes). It really filled my stomach.
“I will get a few kilos in two weeks.”

April 25,
I woke up at 6:45 and I felt that I would not be able to sleep again. There seemed to be a remaining effect of a jet-lag. So, I decided to do some writing for our blog.
Today, Nuno and Lu took me to an attractive Flemish town, Bruges, located in the northwest of Brussels. As you may know, Belgium can divide into two parts; French and Flemish (Dutch). There is always an argument about dividing the country into these two interest groups. According to Nuno, Flander is the second-earliest region where a modern industrialization took place after England. It was flourished by the international cloth trade from the 13th century. It is also one of the places which did not suffer from any major damage by bombing in the World War II. In Bruges, most of medieval building remained in a perfect condition since the 13th century.
When we arrived there, we parked our car close to the centre. It is also the first time for Lu to visit Bruges. This means that we have Nuno Vicente for our private guide to city-tour.
“Nuno, which way we should go?” Lu asked
“I don’t remember. Let me take a look…” Nuno flipped pages of a guide book.
“With whom did you come here?” Lu asked another question.
“I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember anything!”
“Yeah, I am not good at remembering things. My memory is limited. So, I use it for certain things.”
“Certain things like work.” Lu added.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“And football! Nuno, you remember nothing when I talk to you while you are watching TV!”
“No! You always come to talked me when I am concentrated.” He means watching football games.
Then Nuno turned to me and said, “She never comes to talk to me when I’m watching other programs.
”
- Nuno, flipping pages on his guide book, trying to find where we are -

He now found the street where we were now on the map on his guidebook. In the center of the town, there is a canal. It becomes the hottest attraction for tourists: Some stay in a terrace to enjoy the view and a meal. Others pay extra money to go on a boat cruise. It was a pleasant day to spend time outside.

We had lunch in a square. We were caught by a waiter who ridiculously tried to catch attentions of every tourist passing by with all the languages what he can think of: English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and so on. We did not really care how silly he was but we simply want to fill our stomach.
The meal was ok. Nothing special. Not bad but not so good, too. The only thing that bothered us was the charge of a bowl of rice at 4.50 euro. The restaurant charged us a small side dish.
After lunch, we explored a bit more of the town and we went to Oostende, where Belgian sun seekers spend weekend in summer.
My overall impression of Bruges was a clean and pleasant town. I had only images of gloomy Brussels and rundown ghost-town image of southern part where I passed by train in my last visit. In fact, Belgium is not so bad as I thought before.

April 26
Yesterday, David came back from France and he was so exhausted that he could not come for dinner to Nuno’s apartment.

-Lu, David and Nuno in front of their new apartment-

We decided to meet him for lunch at a cafeteria near Nuno and Lu’s new apartment.
Today, I am going to write about our dear Spanish friend, David from Castilla: region of Madrid. He works as an auditor, same job he had back in Spain. According to him, his job now involves regular visits to countries in EU to check out european rules and standards. David’s team visits different regions to observe how they manage inspections. This takes 5 working days and sometimes includes trips from one region to another.
This time, David travelled to France. It involved a 3- hour travel between two places at the longest. In his previous job it involved frequent business meals. David and his team were usually invited to local restaurants for full-course meals. It sounded wonderful for me but hearing what he said it is a hard work.
Local people usually took them to the best restaurants that they can think of. When they serve some more dishes and drinks, it is rather offensive to turn down their offer. This time, he was in France. The French, of course, is proud of their food very much but in his current line of work these privileges do not exist no more. But still he was in France and enjoyed by himself after work hours.
“I had too much this week.” He admitted. “We tasted their local dishes, their specialty. We went to very good restaurants. So, you cannot simply say “I had enough.” or “I watch my weight”. They poured more wine and after a series of main dishes, they ordered some dessert. This is special in this region. You must try it. If you say no, they insist it is worthwhile to try. You cannot refuse it.”

As no exception, David is also proud of his country. It is probably true that all Europeans are proud of their own countries. So, when they meet other nationalities, a huge discussion often take place: what is good in their culture and country or which is better!
Today, the discussion started with my choice of languages to study. I will take a Spanish course in Barcelona next week.
“Yasu decided to take a Spanish course in Barcelona. Yasu, it’s a good choice.” David began.
“What a shame! Yasu started to learn Portuguese some years ago. You spoke to my mother in Portuguese. Now he betrayed us.” Nuno added.
“Well, that means Spanish is more useful language to him. Spain is so big. Portugal is so small.” David said.
“But I like more Portuguese food than Spanish food. I don’t think Spanish food is better than Portuguese.” Lu made a comment on this Spanish and Portuguese issue in a different angle.
Then David protested “That’s because you do not know very much Spanish food, Lu. And it is because you married a Portuguese guy.”
“No, it is true.” Lu answered.
“What do you think, Yasu?” David wanted some support.
Instead of supporting him, I chose to make a joke so that we could laugh a lot. I remembered Nuno’s comment on tapas. So, I said.
“Yes, I like Spanish food but some of tapas are greasy…”
“No! Yasu. Come on!” David was shocked. We all laughed.
Before this discussion, I remembered Nuno saying “David never thinks that someone outside Europe would say that Spanish food is not good”. So, I tried to create a fun together. In fact, I often select some of Spanish products when I do grocery shopping.

Today, we took David’s car and drive to the southern part of Belgium. As I was not very impressed with Brussels in my last visit, they decided to take me to the countryside. We travelled to Namur and visited a castle. We walked along a river. It was indeed pleasant to spend time there.

-David on revenge against Portugal and its supporter-

In the evening, we had dinner at a French restaurant. The restaurant’s specialties are duck and Foie gras. They planned to take me to a Swiss cheese fondue restaurant. But none of Fondue restaurants were open. So, David decided to the French restaurant. I found that the food was excellent. After dinner, we went to a bar to drink. We did not stay long because I started to fall asleep.

- grilled duck, a wonderful dinner. Thanks for David -

April 27
Last night, Nuno suggested David to meet at a Portuguese cafeteria for breakfast. So, we left the apartment a little earlier than eleven. The cafeteria was introduced in a gourmet magazine in Brussels and it is known for serving a nice Pasteis de Nata, egg tart. To make it more clear what it is like, the best known Pasteis de Nata is called Pasteis de Belem in Lisbon. The one we all tried at least once near the Monastery of Jeronimos in Lisbon.
David told us that he will bring his friends from Madrid to join our trip to Luxemburg.
“David maybe bring his Spanish friends because he felt bitterly defeated.” I started.
“Yeah, a Danish girl does not help much to support Spain.” Nuno responded. David brought a Danish friend from his work for last night dinner. But the Portuguese side was outnumbered. The result was obvious.
Luxemburg is located in the southeast of Brussels and it takes less than 3 hours by car. 20% of population is Portuguese. In the 1960s, the country was developed with manufacturing steel. During that period, Portuguese migrated to Luxemburg and engaged with manufacturing sector and other low-paid serve sector. Nowadays, the country’s strong industry is financial service.
Luxemburg is rather small as a country. Even if we consider it as a city, it is still small. As the weather was good, we walked around the town under the sun.

A trip to Taiwan

2008-05-18T06:31:00.024Z

I am glad to fulfil a promise: A promise that I made about two years ago. Linda and her boyfriend, Tso Lin visited Japan two years ago. I went to Kyoto to spend three days with them. For a long time, I was so occupyed to look Europe getting away from my busy life in Japan. I had never had a chance to visit her in Taiwan.
I actually travelled to Taiwan a couple of times on a business trip and my last visit was almost a decade ago. In that period of time, the Taiwanese government has been enphasizing a fast growing industry: such as high-tech and computer industry. At that time, my first impression of Taiwan was like early 1980s in Japan. I felt as if I was making a time travel to my childhood. Cars were old and shops were not so clean and run by families.
However, this time, once I arrived in Taipei and I was surprised with the country’s rapid growth.Highways and roads are much more in order. Taiwan’s largest commercial area is much bigger than my city. It could be similar to Tokyo and Osaka. Shopping area also far larger than Fukuoka.

In order to build your knowledge about the country, firstly I wrote a little bit of its history and political situation.
In the early seventeenth century, Dutch landed in the southernwest coast of Taiwan and started to occupy the island. In that period of time, Chinese people started immigrate in the island of Taiwan and beat Dutch to establish their government.
In the end of nineteenth century, Taiwan was occupyed by the Japanese government after China lost war. Many Taiwanese felt betrayed by the Chinese government when it gave away Taiwan for the war settlement. The Japanese occupation continued till 1945.
To my surprise, unlike China and Korea, Taiwanese people tend not to have strong hatred for Japanese. This is probably because the Japanese Empiral army contributed to develop industry and build infrastructure during the period and there was no unlawful killing of innocent people, forced labour and imprisonment which occurred in China and Korea.

I flew to Taipei on 8th Februrary. A few days before, people had celebrated the Chinese New Year. This is the longest and most important holiday in Taiwan. During this period, the majority of people go back to their hometown to spend their holidays with their families and relatives. In Taiwan, large manufacturing service industry are concentrated on the northern part of Taiwan. Due to a rapid economic growth, a large number of population moved from the southern parts to find a job. In the New Year holidays, those people were leaving for their hometown. So,highways were crowded.
When I arrived, there was a traffic control in order to flow the traffic smoothly : No car with less than three passengers was prohibited to enter the highway. So, poor Linda who only knows how to get around the city and get to the airport by the highway, took much longer time to get to the airport.
“Lu and Nuno are often late to meet me, ok. Maybe I cannot expect David and Athina to be punctual. Linda would not be like them.” I was thinking never knowing the situaion on that day. But I was relaxed. There was no need to be nervous or in a hurry. I was in holidays. She arrived twenty minutes after my arrival and apologized for her late arrival. The traffic was not normal.
It was raining and the temperature was lower than what I was expected.
I was invited to her parents’ house. I had traditional new year dishes and I got a bit tipsy with strong liquor which her grandfather constantly served me.
“My family tries to avoid getting drunk, trying to find an excuse” she told me.
“So, today I am the one to have a drink.”
The liquor that her grandfather offered to me was really strong. I tried a few before I could finally stop him...”
After the meal, Linda took me to a temple and then we still had time to spare. So, I decided to challenge “Foot massage”.
Frankly speaking, I did not try it for fun or my healthy. I simply wanted to write some funny experience on this blog.
However, I suffered a lot! A man really enjoys how customers suffer. Really.
“My friend, a female friend tried this foot massage. She suffered a lot and felt ill.” Linda said.
“It is just a painful experience. I do not think anyone enjoys. The only one who enjoy is this guy. This mean-machine!” I thought. The man is still smiling.
The good thing came only after great agony. My foot and lower part of legs light and I felt incredibly well. However, I thought I would choose a western style body massage rather than this painful experience.

On the second day, we set off for Tainan. A few years ago, they opened a new high speed railway which connects Taipei and towns in south.
As what happened during our stay in Lisbon, running all the time, we had to run crazily to get on the train to Tainan as well. Linda took her car to the high speed train station which is far away from the city centre and we circled up to the top of a car parking without no success in finding a space on the ground, first, second floor. We finally parted on the top floor on open air.
“Yasu, we have to run. We have only five minutes!”
When we reached the platform, the train was about to stop and we got on and took a seat with relief.
The train smoothly left the platform. On the way to Tainan, the train offered us a pleasant landscape of Taiwan’s countryside. It showed scenes of rice planting. In Taiwan, farmers grow and harvest rice twice a year. Two seasons: They plant in February and harvest in late spring and then plant again in June.
It took less than two hours to get to Tainan. Tainan is the first place where a town was built. About 400 years ago, Dutch settled down this place and Chinese immigrants took control on the town later.

Linda’s boyfriend, Tso Lin and her friend at work, Roy waited us in the city center. We went around the town by scooter to visit historical sites and traditional first food shops.

Food in Tainan is excellent: Let me introduce you some of Taiwanese first food.

Deep-fried shrimp roll: This is my favorite! Coated deep-fried. The outside is crispy. The inside is elastic.

Bean curd pudding: You can have different types of beans: red, green, yellow etc.

Sticky rice cake with sweet red bean: This is exactly what we, Japanese call Zenzai.

Pork dumpling in soup.

Tso Lin, Linda and Roy, my guide in Tainan

In Tainan, people go around to taste just one dish at a time and move to another. Like Spanish, when they go to eat Tapas. Eat and have a little chat and go. Almost nobody stay long. Basically, Taiwanese do not spend so much time at table.
“I remember that the first dinner with Nuno at the North Terrace: the first Portuguese night. He spent about one hour for cooking. The dinner started at nine and lasted 4 hours. We, Taiwanese, eat and finish very quickly.” Linda said.

On the next morning, we went back to Taipei. We enjoyed a sunny day tour in Tainan. But when we came back to Taipei, it was rainning again. We went to the Taiwan’s largest history museum.

On the evening, we had dinner with Linda’s family: parents, uncle and aunt. To my surprise, Linda’s uncle and aunt both speak very good Japanese. When they were young, the Japanese army occupied Taiwan. They were taught in Japanese when they were at junior high school. A lot of Japanese family lived during that period until the World War II ended. Her uncle brought Kurosawa movie to show me. It was my great surprise.

On my fourth day, we went to the countryside to visit a region where they grow tea. Taiwan produce very good Woolong tea. We had lunch at tea cuisine restaurant and after lunch we watch a shopkeeper how to make tea.

Next morning, Tso Lin had to leave for Korea for a business trip. We took Linda’s car to bring him to the airport. He regularly takes a business trip to Korea for two weeks. After seeing him off at the airport, I asked her about their wedding.
“Yes, we are planning to get married this year but we are busy at a lot of other things and preparaton now. Probably in autumn. Will you come?”
“Yes, I will.” I made a response immediately. I could be an only foreign guest who does not understand Chinese. But I did not mind. It must be another interesting experience. Now I know both Linda and Tso Lin. I have knowing them together since their trip to Japan. It is nice to see them getting married.
On the following day, we visited the ceramic museum before my departure and she took me to the airport. She dropped me off at the terminal and we exchanged the last salute. I watched her driving away.
"The trip was short but I will come back soon."

Goa is nice!

2008-02-17T20:33:00.009Z

Hello guys,

Before Yasu tells something about his adventures in Formosa, let me also give you a bit of insight into the last odissey Lu and me did: we went to India, more specifically to the small state of Goa. Strange, no? Why to go there and not somewhere else in India (Agra to see Taj Mahal, Delhi, Mumbai...)?

The answer is that in our group of two there was a portuguese: me! And being one, I always heard in school the History lessons about the great journey of the navigator Vasco da Gama from Lisbon across the south of Africa until arriving to the west coast of India, thereby establishing a fundamental and new trade route to Europe. Vasco and his successors established the capital of the Portuguese empire of the East in Goa, and from there sent expeditions all across Asia: Persian Gulf, East India, Malaysia (in particular Malaca), Indonesia (therefore East Timor...), China, Taiwan/Formosa and until reaching distant Japan! Belem area in Lisbon (that you visited last year) celebrates all of this, but Goa is for me a more striking symbol of this far distant period. It's also there that it is buried St Francis Xavier, the jesuit that was a main actor behind expansion of Christianity in Asia.

Besides these "national" motivations, there were also two more: visiting a friend teaching Portuguese in Goa (he was professor of Portuguese in the University of Newcastle and we met there - Juliane may have known him, he was also Cristina's friend) and enjoying the fantastic weather and beaches at a time of the year when in Brussels it's so rainy, grey and depressive! All in all it was a great experience which I think Lu also enjoyed a lot, although it seems to me that between India and China there is always a sort of tension and we did not see too many Chinese around. It was funny to see the incredulity of some Indian we met during the trip to meet a Chinese married with a Portuguese and traveling in Goa. It seemed quite an impossible conjugation, until we explained "we met while studying together in England"!

But this little state of India (the smallest with " million people) is nowadays more known for being the main tourist spot in India, and attracts people a bit from all over the world at this time of the year. We met a lot of english, american, russian, but especially Indian from Mumbai and Bangalore. A lot of young people (especially guys) come for sun, beach, disco parties and western girls. It's clearly an outcome of recent economic development of India: more and more people have more money and travel around in holiday periods. The result is that some beaches are overcrowded with people, resorts, salespeople and are a mess as I've never seen (and I was in Torremolinos in south of Spain!). Some other beaches are paradise on Earth, almost empty stretches of sand, sea and palm trees and that's the sort of place where we've been for several days in the south of the state: Agonda beach! Near there was also the Palolem beach where it was filmed the beginning of the movie Bourne Supremacy, with Matt Damon - did you see?

Rest of the time we were mostly in the capital, Panaji, and the region around it: north coast, spice plantations, hindu temples, old colonial spots (including Old Goa) and a lot of cows (and also elephants) everywhere on the road!!

Hugs to everybody,

Nuno

2008-01-04T10:46:00.000Z

Happy New Year to you!!!
May your wishes come true!
Juliane

Newcastle again!

2007-12-05T18:09:00.000Z

Dear North-Terrace friends,

it's been so long that Yasu posted and anybody else. I'm wondering if you're still bothering to check our blog for news. Definitely time to do something about it and to send you an update! And thanks for Yasu's great contributions!!

So, what have I been up to? Don't ask about these three letters, I want to have eventually following my name!! Still a way to go. But I'm back in Newcastle in order to work on it and to cover a lecturer's maternity leave at our department. A lot has changed here but even more makes me still feel at home. I moved in with another German girl who's lecturing in linguistics. It's brilliant with her although we've been knowing each other only for 4 weeks now. Newcastle has now kind of a German Christmas market at the monument, I joined my choir again and we'll sing Handel's Messiah on Sunday in the SAGE (very exciting! It's the new concert hall at the Tyne), I'm extremely disappointed with Swing dancing classes here in Newcastle (something I've been doing now for quite a while in Hamburg), the Brit's are still using 2 tabs for cold and warm water each and the beaches are still so beautiful! Here some first impressions:

Isa - my new flatmate!

Someone just grabbed me...

In case you'll plan a trip to the north of England during the next 6 months, just pop by!

Love, Juliane

Trip to Lisbon: Part3: RUN RUN RUN

2007-09-07T07:15:00.001Z

On the day after the wedding, we made a plan to visit two festivals. Before I got information about the Fiesta dos Tabreiros. The Fiesta dos Tabreiros is a traditional festival that only takes every four years in a town near Lisbon. From 30 June to 9 July, flowers and quilts decorate the streets of Tomar colourfully. We were fortunate to visit such a festival. Therefore, I had suggested visiting Tomar before the trip. A trip to Tomar takes approximately two hours from Lisbon.
On the day before the wedding, Nuno gave David some information about another festival which was going to take place on the same day. Red waistcoat festival is held in a small town called Vila Franca de Xira. The town has almost no attraction for tourists. However, from 6th to 8th July, the town becomes very crowded by tourists. I believe you have heard of the festival of San Fermin in Pampulona? This festival become widely known by a novel of Ernest Hemingway. The main event is running in front of bulls. Bulls are released on streets and lead to a bullfighting stadium. The street which lead to the stadium is only open and other streets are blocked by fences. People run in front of angry bulls and some get injured. According to David, ones seriously injured are usually foreign tourists. In Vila Franca, bulls are also released on streets before bullfighting. Nuno told us it is worth watching. So, we decided to visit Vila Franca.
It was also my first time to visit these two towns. Therefore, automatically, David became the one who organizes a day trip. Being Spanish, he has no trouble with communicating locals: Buying tickets for four of us and ask ways becomes his routine in the rest of days. On the way to Vila Franca, we had to change a train. The train stopped about for five minutes. We were completely relaxed. The wedding was over. We had some more days for only tourism. We all maybe thought in the same way as I did. Suddenly the train started to move to the opposite direction, starting to back. In a few minutes, we understood that we had to get off the train on the stop. But it was too late. We got off at the next station. We had 40 minutes to wait for next train. David suggested taking a little walk around the station before taking the next train to Vila Franca. I was not very happy about his plan. The bulls were released before eleven o’clock. It was already on that time. When we reached there, it would be twelve. We would miss the event. But David was optimistic.
Although we had different opinions about our plan, we took the next train to Vila Franca. Arriving there, we saw bulls remaining on streets and people watching and chanting. “We were not too late to watch this spectacular event. ” I thought. At the same time, I thanked for David’s optimism.
The streets where bulls were released, were guarded by wooden fences so that they can not escape or can not knock down speculators. Sand was brought to cover all the streets where bulls go. Some people went through the fence to attract the bull’s attention. The bull stayed inattention. He sometimes reacted and ran toward people. No fierce charge toward people. Still people enjoyed atmosphere and this unusual event. There was no dangerous running event like Pamplona. We made a little tour around the town before setting off for Tomar. We were supposed to meet Nuno and Lu in Vila Franca but when we got there, they had already advanced. Nuno contacted David saying we meet in Tomar.
From Vila Franca, it took another one hour and half to get to Tomar. When we got closer to the town, the train started to be crowded. Everyone around the town seemed to go to watch the festival.
According to Nuno, the main event of the festival is a parade that was held on the afternoon. The festival follows Catholic tradition. Couples take part in this event carry a tray which is decorated with colourful flowers and bread march on the streets of Tomar. In this event, women carry the tray and men support women. The majority of couples were young but there are some middle aged couples who joined the event. It seems that this event has been a tradition and ceremony for marrying couples in the town. I felt very pleased with the fact that young people in Portugal try to keep their tradition. Nowadays, almost all young people in my country have abandoned traditional culture. When we arrived in Tomar, streets were a full of people, much more than Vila Franca. After lunch, we did not manage to watch a full view of the parade. So, we moved to another spot where the parade march through later. We reserved spots in front of a fountain to wait the parade to come. Waiting for more than thirty minutes, the parade arrived. Most women looked cheerful but some looked already tired. We could spot a few men took over the job to carry trays. Nevertheless, the parade was fascinating. Each couple decorates the tray in different colour. Looks fantastic. “I’m sure the couples in the parade will remember this event for their life and tell their children in future.” I thought. The tradition would be passed to next generation in such a way. After watching the parade, we headed for the convent of Tomar. This town is not only famous for the festival. The convent is nominated as the World Heritage site and many tourist visit it. Unfortunately, when we reached there, the convent had been closed. We headed back to the town to meet Nuno and Lu. We met them at a cafeteria. Nuno was in T-shirt and a pair of trousers. Lu was also in a very casual clothes. I found that a huge contrast to them in the day before. But rings on their left hands proved that they are married.

We had a little chat with Nuno and Lu and their family. It was a pity but we were running late to catch the train. We exchanged hugs and we headed for the station. But we still did not know which way we had to go. David asked a few passer-bys to get the direction. At that time, there was 15 minutes to go. After 5 minutes for running, Linda could not catch up with us.
“David, I don’t think we can make it.” I said to him
“Yasu, you take this. I will carry Linda’s bag” David responded passing his bag.
Athina and I ran furiously toward the station. David went back his way to get Linda. With our great effort, Athina and I got to there in time. In five minutes, David arrived with Linda’s bag. Then Linda arrived. Then ten minutes passed and we had enough time to catch a breath. The train did not leave for a while stationed at the platform observing our action. “We really did not have to run hard. Trains does not leave on time. Yes, this is common in this country.” I am relieved. “Maybe it was a good exercise.….”

I was sitting at a table in a restaurant for almost 30 minutes. Waiting for my companies to arrive.
A waiter stopped in front of our table and said with an unfriendly face “Are your companies coming? ”
“ Yes, in a minute.” I responded. I was a little frustrated. The waiter started to treat me as unwelcome guest as the restaurant was fully packed. In five hours, I was leaving for Japan. “David said it is only ten to fifteen minutes.” I sighed. Nuno had recommended the restaurant because it serves typical Portuguese seafood dishes. He had also added it is always crowded since it is very popular spot for dining. David said that Athina and Linda needed to do some shopping before dinner. Since there was a queue, David and I volunteered to wait in queue.
“Women always want some time for shopping” David explained. Then he said to look for them. He’ s also going. Without any explanation for waiting, I was not happy. “Why today! I wanted to be relaxed before my flight” I thought. “Maybe I had to look for a cab near the flat, wandering streets. That could be a nuisance ” David, Athina and Linda finally arrived at the table.
“Sorry, it took time for shopping but let’s order. ” David said. Still no explanation.
“What do you want Yasu.” Athina asked.
“I have already chosen. You three choose your own.” I simply answered.
“Maybe we take two seafood platters and two others and we share them ” David suggested.
“Ok, we ordered quickly.” I said with frustration.
“Yasu, we have a little surprise for you” Athina said. She passed me some wrapping “ Open it.”
There was a muffler and cap in the wrapping. It was of the Portuguese National Team. I was speechless.
“I hope you do not have the same thing already. ” Athina said cheerfully “You prepared and planed for our trip. I did almost nothing before I arrived. If you were not here, I probably stayed alone in Lisbon. So, we decided to send you some gift.”
“No I don’t, thank you.” I said.
“Yes, Yasu, without you and David, we do not know how we get around Lisbon.” Linda added.
“Yasu, don’t you remember, in Sintra, Athina asked you borrow you shoulder. Didn’t you feel strange? She tried to measure your size.” David said, “And I also tried a couple of times to distract you. At that moment, Linda and Athina went to buy a muffler and cap. You did not notice?”
“No, I didn’t think it at all.” It was an honest answer. In another wrapping, there was a shirt. It is in green and has a logo of Springfield. I was moved and speechless. I thought that I did anything special. I just planed and booked accommodation. I never thought that they were thinking of giving me any gift. At the same time, I was ashamed with my temper and stupidity not knowing how they felt about me. My eyes were wet and honestly moved.
“Sorry about how I react. I never thought…” I couldn’t continue. “Yasu, Nuno said Lu and he regretted for having enough time to say good-bye. I guess that he meant to drive you to the airport tonight. Don’t worry.” David said.
Although we had a little disturbance with an unfriendly waiter, we enjoyed the dinner. We took a taxi to our apartment. Lu and Nuno were going to set off for their trip to Brussels on the following day. They brought some gift for us. They gave me an autobiography of Cristiano Ronaldo. He drove me to the airport. I exchanged words and hugs with Athina, Linda, David, Lu and Nuno. I walked toward the departure gate. “I wish I could have one more day here. To make things right. ” I wondered if I deserved their action.

-Hey, you are not supposed to be in our picture -

- The photo was retaken.-

Trip to Lisbon Part2: Exploring the city

2007-08-13T04:14:00.000Z

Exploring Lisbon
In the next morning, after breakfast, we (David, Linda and I) decided to explore the city of Lisbon. “ Where are we going today?” Linda asked me.
“Well, we have time…So” I was trying to suggest and then David interrupted, “ We go to watch bullfighting.”
“Yes, we go to Camp Pequeno.” I followed and David and I continued “ Linda, you missed a great thing last night. We should go there again with you.” We already told Linda that we went to Campo Pequeno to watch bullfighting the previous night and we continued to suggest bullfighting every time we discuss next activity. Anyway, we stopped teasing Linda for a while and we headed for the Baixa district. We visited Castelo de Sao Jorge (St Jorge Castle). The castle is located on the hill along the River Tejo. It is one of the best spot to overlook the city of Lisbon. When we got to Rosio Square, we walked up to the Castle. When we were walking along, Linda started to shoot some photos. As my camera started to refuse working, I could take a few photos. David left his camera at the table in his room. So, we were totally dependent on Linda. This time, she brought a bigger camera with a manual zoom lens, the type of a camera that I would never manage. When we got to the castle, David volunteered to queue at a ticketing office while Linda and I looked around some shops nearby. In fact, as a Spanish, he manages conversations with local people better to get more exact information. The view from the castle is magnificent and spectacular. This was my third visit. My last visit was in January 2002. The view was still impressive. From the castle, you can overlook the River Tejo on your left and on your right, you see Lisbon’s red roof building. This could be the best spot to spend a quiet afternoon and let time pass.

“Yasu, what do you suggest for tonight’s activity after we meet Athina?” David asked me.
“I was thinking we all go to a Fado restaurant together. I know one restaurant, which is quite reasonable in price.” I replied.
“Ah, sounds nice.” David agreed. Linda also agreed and she said “By the way, is anyone knows Athina’s mobile phone and what time she arrives? She said we do not have to go to the airport …”. “Well, me no.” David responded.
“ I asked Nuno but he does not know and let me see…” I quickly checked my note and there wasn’t her number. “Neither do I”
“We will see. She knows the address of our apartment.” We continued our tour around the Castle and in the end we got thirsty. So, we decided to drink something. About thirty minutes after our discussion, David’s phone rang and it was Athina. “OK. Athina is now at the airport and waiting her luggage. We will meet her on her way to the apartment.” David said.
“Good. We haven’t had lunch yet. So, why don’t you and Linda to go to meet her on our way back. I will go to Corte Ingles to buy something for preparing lunch at the apartment.” I suggested. I arrived at the apartment first and started to check if I have everything I need for cooking. After a while, Linda and David brought Athina to the apartment. I quickly exchanged greeting with her.
At Newcastle University, I had much less chance to know her than Nuno and Linda. In the beginning of the school year, Nuno and I met her and her Greek friends in an excursion to York. We went out with her group a few times. After I started to party with a Spanish group, a bucket of Sangria!, I went out less with others except ones at the Northterrace. But I remembered her with a red scarf. This trip was a good chance to know her better. Now, we, four of us, all arrived at our Gulbenkian Apartment and we are ready to attend our friend’s wedding, tomorrow. We are very unique group. All four come from different country with different background. I am a Japanese. I met Nuno on the first day in Newcastle. Finding another supporter of Luis Figo (Portuguese football star), we became friends and I became an unofficial residence of Northterrace. Linda comes from Taipei and she was an official resident of Northterrace. She studied Chinese-English translation at our university. David is a current colleague of Nuno. He also works for European Commission. He studied and worked in Madrid before going to Brussels. Our fourth member, Athina is a Greek. Her family live in Athens but she works about 2 hours away from there. Coming to Lisbon, she first went back to Athens and then took a flight to Milan. But the connecting flight to Lisbon delayed there and she finally arrived here now. She said she’s actually from the island of Crete, which she is proud of.
“ Crete is the biggest island in Greek and the most beautiful place!” she said proudly.
As Greece is the only country which I have never been, I wanted her to show me where Crete is in my little European map. I had marked all the places in Europe where I had ever been. People who see it, they are usually impressed how many places I have visited. “Oh, Yasu you have been to so many places ” her first reaction was right.
“Yes, you mostly travelled to Southern Europe: Portugal, Spain, Italy…” David added.
“Yeah, Yasu loves Italy” Linda added her comment
“ But not yet in Greece, you should visit Greece” Athina started say and then “ But there is no Crete in this map!”
“Oh, really, I am very sorry” I apologized to her. The map that I brought is designed by European Rail Network to show rail lines which passengers can travel with a special pass call “Eurail Pass”. As Crete is an island in the Mediterranean Sea without railways(?), this little map does not show
…

-My Euro Map-

-Crete is located below south of this map! Sorry... Athina.-

I prepared chicken with Teriyaki sauce, some salad with oil and vinegar. We had bread and mineral water. We started to fill our stomach and we continued our conversation and plan for this afternoon.
“So, what are we going to do this afternoon? Bullfighting?” David looked at Linda.
“ Good idea.” I added. We are still trying to convinced her “ Well, I think bullfighting is not such an evil thing. Better than McDonald!” I said.
“Why?”
“You see McDonald and other first food giants over-raise cows and bulls. Then they kill them. A lot of meadow and green yard becomes desert. They all over-use wrapping paper. Overuse of paper cause deforestation. In bullfighting, they just follow their tradition and they kill bulls. But not as many as McDonald. I am against McDonald but not bullfighting.” I commented in a little hint of joke.
“I have never heard a discussion about bullfighting comparing McDonald!” David laughed. I actually quit consuming beef since I stayed at an organic daily farm during the period when I wrote dissertation for graduating Newcastle University. I had stayed completely vegetarian for one month. I believe it is possible to obtain enough protein without slaughtering cows. As I said before, a large conventional farming cause deforestation.
“Well we may have to end our discussion here. Otherwise, we spend a whole afternoon discussing bullfighting and McDonald!” David said. We all agreed.

- Picture of us at our Lisbon apartment-

Fado Restaurant
David made a reservation at Dragon do Arfama, a Fado restaurant at eight pm. We spent time in Baixa Alto visiting a church which was half-destroyed by the earthquake in the eighteen’s century. When you visit Portugal, Fado is one of thing you should experience. Fado is a Portuguese traditional song. There are many restaurant which offer Fado performance in Lisbon. In my opinion, Fado is not so spectacular as Framenco in Spain. In Fado, there is no dance performance. Instead, Fado is more poetic and nostalgic. Fado means fate in Portuguese. In Fado, sad and nostalgic stories are written in song. Not many are song with happy endings. Streets in Alfama are narrow and winding. As I went to the restaurant with Nuno and his friends who knew the location, I barely remembered. So, David had to ask locals where is the restaurant. One of a local who is actually a waiter at the other Fado restaurant, said “It is here. My restaurant!” We laughed and ignored him.
After asking several people, we found the restaurant. David told a lady at the restaurant that he reserved a table for four persons. She firstly did not think there was a reservation and then she quickly directed us to a table. A piece of paper on the table said “ Spanish, 4 persons ” instead of his name.
“She did not get my name over the phone and she wrote “Spanish” David confessed.
“Well, if she did not understand David, there is no way for me to make a reservation in my “Portnhol”” I wondered.
We ordered some fish and pork and shared dishes. We had a bottle of Vinho Verde, a tipical Portuguese white wine. During our dinner, four Fadista (Fado singers), men and women made a turn to sing Fado. There are two other tables with customers. During performance, a group of young women come in. They are in their twenties. I thought that younger generations in Portugal do not seem to totally abandon traditional culture such as Fado and Bullfighing. “How many youngsters watch Kabuki in their life? I think almost never…” I wondered. After dinner, on the way back, we passed the restaurant of the waiter who suggested his restaurant.
“Did you find Dragon do Alfama? Now, you enjoy a dinner, here!” he said to David, something like that in Portuguese. We laughed and ignored him again.
“A bloody joke!” I thought.
Except this interruption, we enjoyed a walk till Rosio, the square in the centre and took subway ride to our apartment. “Tomorrow is Nuno’s wedding. We must not forget we are here for his wedding.”

Saturday: The day of wedding
This was the day of Nuno and Lu’s wedding. Nuno told us that it would not be possible for us to leave our formal clothes at the hotel where we will have dinner. So, we decided to put off sightseeing in Sintra till Monday and relax at our apartment before the wedding.
The wedding ceremony was scheduled to start at 16:30. The priests who attend their wedding is Nuno’s uncle. Nuno said that his uncle lives in an African country by following his religious duties and he came back to Lisbon for his nephew’s ceremony. Previously they worked many hours for preparing consents and doing rehearsal.
Nuno told me that it is his family tradition to get married at Igreja de Santa Maria since his parents and other relatives had married there. I found that in Roman Catholic, a wedding is more traditional and formal. They invite family and friends. On the other hand, in Japan few couples get married at temple in a very traditional way. Japanese tend to invite people from workplace and ceremony and dinner take place at the same place. It often becomes drunk or Karaoke party! In Portugal, wedding seems to be considered to be more family matter. Therefore, a few very close friends from workplace are invited. No bosses or secretaries. There is no a VIP table for company executive. So, there is no sign of Mr. Barroso at Nuno’s wedding. He must be excluded with courtesy! When we arrived at Santa Maria church. Nuno and his parents, Claudia and Sergio were already there. As a bridegroom, he was quite busy with greeting friends and relatives. Later, Lu arrived in a top-open French car. She was in a white wedding dress.
The ceremony lasted for one hour or so. Nuno’s uncle led the ceremony, some pray and consents. I have been to messa a few times when I stayed in Italy. I am not very religious (maybe not at all). It is not easy to describe but I feel different when I attend some religious ceremony at Catholic Church. Feeling of refreshing my soul…
The ceremony ended. Both Lu and Nuno read their consents well with no sign of high tension. After the ceremony, we were all led to Tivoli Hotel where we are having a wedding dinner.

The dinner began with a glass of Porto wine and various croquettes such pasteis de Bacalhau. Before the time to seat at a table, I enjoyed a chat with Sergio, Claudia’s boyfriend.
After my last visit in Lisbon, Nuno sent a copy of my mail, my first long writing on holiday overseas, to Sergio and his colleague who I had played football together. “He is a famous man in my office. My colleagues and I read his email. I said to them Yasu is coming to Portugal. They remember him very well.” Sergio said to the other man at the party. My conversation with Sergio usually starts with topic of football. Sergio buys seasonal tickets of Sporting games. He is a Sporting supporter. I would say I am also favour of Sporting. Because players from Sporting make a great difference to Portuguese national team. Namely, Luis Figo (retired), Cristiano Ronaldo (22), Quaresma (23), Nani (20) and Joan Moutinho (21). Currently, Benfica, the opposing club in Lisbon makes less influence in the national team. “I saw a highlight of Under-21 championship. 2-0 against Canada. Great goals by Bruno Gama.” I said Sergio. Bruno Gama is a rising star in a younger national team. He leads the team as a captain. Unlike other young stars whom I previously mentioned, he was trained in FC Porto. “Yes, Bruno Gama, he is a great player.” Sergio agreed. Conversation is normal and fun. The Benfica man who I previously mentioned, had ignored my point in the same topic and that men did not even care his national team.
“Maybe, it is wise for me to go against Benfica…” I thought.
The dinner consists of soup, rice, fish, meat and dessert. It was a lot but manageable volume for us. But what I was surprised was a volume of additional dessert, set in a separate room. After the meal, there was a plate of dessert. However, guests could still take some more dessert placed on a table in the room in the back. There were more than ten different desserts on the table waiting guests to tackle!

During the dinner Nuno and Lu made some speech and visited each table to entertain and thank guests. There was dance time. At the dinner, Lu was in a bright red China dress. I suddenly thought she was so beautiful. Of course, she was beautiful in her wedding dress but was not as impressed as she was in the China dress.
I thought it was good to mix some Chinese tradition in the dinner party. Because the ceremony was completely Catholic and Portuguese. When the bride and bridegroom visited each table, they gave Chinese cigar and a little gift. The dinner ended after twelve. Sergio voluntarily drove us back to our apartment in Lisbon. During and after the wedding, I wondered how Nuno and Lu’s life could be from now onward. Nuno is Portuguese and Lu is from China. They now live in Belgium, far away from their home and less contact to their culture and tradition. “I hope they won’t become Belgian, culturally insignificant people. This is my worry. What would I do if Lu cooks Belgian mussels saying it is her speciality instead of Chinese barbecue rib? What would I do if Nuno suddenly becomes indifferent in football, saying “Cristiano Ronaldo? Who? We don’t talk about him in Belgium! Yasu, you want some snack? Pasteis? No! Here you go, some waffles. It’s good for you! ” I imagined, “How horrifying!” “But one thing is sure, they will be happy together. Happily united. That won’t change.”

Trip to Portugal

2007-08-04T06:12:00.000Z

Prologue
“ I, Lu, take you, Nuno, to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, In joy and sorrow, In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish all the days of my life.”
I was sitting several rows away from a bride and a bridegroom at a church in Sintra. A couple was making consent of marriage in front of their family and friends in a bright early summer afternoon. Until the moments Lu and Nuno spoke for their consent, I had almost forgotten the purpose of this trip. Along with other friends at Newcastle University, I was invited by Lu and Nuno to attend their wedding ceremony. In last few days there was a full of activity: I went to watch Bullfighting at Camp Pequeno, had dinner at a Fado restaurant and exploring Lisbon with other friends. I felt a little shame for forgetting their wedding ceremony. But to defend myself, when I met them three days before at a department store, they did not look tense at all. Indeed, both of them look relaxed at the ceremony.
From this moment, they are husband and wife. They might have had some difficult periods, especially when they were living in different countries. Nevertheless, they will get over any difficulty together. I felt truly happy for them.

Portugal
This is my fifth visit to Portugal. My relation to my dear friend, Nuno Vicente (as well as my great passion toward das Quinas, Portuguese FANTASTIC national team) has caused to discover this attractive country in the western-most country of Europe. When you look at the Japanese history, Portuguese left their remarkable footprints in the 16th century. They brought rifles and Christianity. The first item became a key element to end civil wars. Christianity spread across the country for a hundred years until it was finally banned by the rulers: Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although the religion was banned and Portuguese merchants were forbidden to enter our country, Portuguese culture left strong footprints in our cultures. When I list things from food and gastronomy, I can name a lot of things. For example,, Tempura, bolos, confeitos, castela (=the origin is pan de lo) and so on.
For Portuguese people, this episode may interest you on the point how the man from the Far East see your country, culture and people (yourself). For other foreign travellers, I hope my writing give some tips to enjoy this wonderful country or draw your interests to consider Portugal for next holiday destination.

The day one: a fearful Benfica man!
On the 5th, on the way to pick up Linda at the Lisbon airport, I finally felt relieved, relieved to get away from a Benfica man. This Portuguese man spoke as a machine gun and unstoppable.
Arriving on Monday, the 2nd, I stayed at a Youth Hostel for three nights. I shared a room with the Bengfica man and a Japanese boy who was visiting Lisbon for university seminars. The man whose name was not common enough to be memorised but he sells laboratory tools to companies and organizations to make a living. He said he is from the central region of Portugal and stays in Lisbon a couple of weeks.
“These tools are made in China. China is the future! And tell me some words in Chinese!” he asked another Japanese roommate who did not even learn Chinese at his university. Then he started to tell me how great Benfica is. Benfica is one of three major football clubs in Portugal. “Yeah, Benfica is the greatest club in the world. Do you know Benfica has the most subscribed members in the world, more than Barcelona! Benfica is the first club that made a tour to China.” he claimed. “Sounds ridiculous. I certainly doubt many Chinese still remember Benfica.” I thought.
“But the majority of young Portuguese stars are from Sporting, no? Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma, Joan Moutinho, Nani. And even Benfica captain Simon Sabrosa is from Sporting. Nowadays, Benfica does not produce any possible star players.” I launched a counterargument. Sporting is another club in Lisbon and it has a great reputation of training young players and it is a rival of Benfica. Bascially both club supporters hate each other.
“No, Simon plays in Benfica. Do you know Jose Mourinho first coached Benfica? In a football team, a coach is important. Star players think they are the most important. Not true! A coach is the boss! Players just have to follow coach’s orders!” he just ignored my point of argument. He started to introduce “disciplined football” and he even think Fabio Capello is a great coach. I quickly realized that the man is not capable of making a rational discussion and obsessed with his favourite team of Benfica. I now remembered Nuno saying Benfica is a horrible team and educated men support Sporting. At that time, I thought he said so because Benfica is a rival of his team. “ Well, maybe Nuno is right.” I thought. I remembered my last visit to Portugal: I went to watch a football game of Portugal vs Russia with him, his sister Claudia and her boyfriend Sergio. We enjoyed the match and it was a great victory with 7 goals. Sergio is an enthusiastic Sporting supporter. He talks about Sporting proudly and on the other hand, he also has a good knowledge of wine and olive oils. He is balanced. Not like this mad Benfica man. A good guide for the taste of Portugal. Probably more than Nuno Vicente. When I say good things about Portuguese National team or players, Sergio seems to be pleased. However, this guy, the Benfica man does not give any reaction whatsoever when I say how great his national team is or Portuguese stars are. Instead, he starts to produce another praisal to his beloved club of Benfica!
“Well, this guy is definitely obsessed with his team and his business. He does not have any space for other people to intervene. How possible! This guy speaks without pose. No space for others to interact. ”

Portuguese food/ Comida portuguesa
Finally, I managed to escape from his unstoppable talk and went out from the hostel to the outside world. In early July, the sun has already strong in Lisbon. I saw pedestrians trying to find shade on streets. However, the temperature did not seem to be so hot. In this period, it is absolutely boiling with high humidity in Japan. I rather felt warm and comfortable. Lisbon did not look changed since I was here three years ago. Walking down the Avenida Liberdade toward the river, I reached Baixa, the centre of Lisbon. “ Maybe this guy has become much popular. This could be a significant change in Portugal” I thought looking at an advertisement of Banco Spirit Santo. The ad says: “We do as Cristiano Ronaldo does. Investing money into our bank is as you pass a ball to who knows how to handle it well”
“Well, Ronaldo has become one of the best footballer in the world. The Bank Spirit Santo is just a leading bank in Portugal. It is not even a main bank in Europe. Definitely the ad is exaggerated”

In a department store in Baxia, I quickly did some shopping and tried to find some place to eat.
In Portugal, restaurants usually have several choices of recommended dishes called Menu del Dia: today’s special. Prices are normally reasonable for lunch. Like other countries in Europe, people become busy at work and have less time and tend to eat quickly. Although it is not so significant as in Japan or UK, first food certainly affected younger generations here in Portugal too. I suppose traditional restaurants seem to put reasonable price for lunch around 10 Euros for main menu in order to keep customers coming in. I had Pataniscas de Bacalhau (9.45 euros) with mineral water and a cup of coffee. The total was about 11 euros. That was not expensive for lunch.

-Grilled octopus-
But I noticed that other customers in the restaurant were mostly well-dressed: Business men and women, elder couples. No younger generations in casual clothes. On my right, there seems to be a group of university students. But men are in suit and women are well-dressed too. The lunch can be a special occasion after big examinations for example. I suppose, younger generation in Portugal as well have some quick lunch such as hamburgers. There is an unanswered question about Portuguese food in my last visits: What is a significant difference in food and eating customs between Portuguese and Spanish? I had already known that Portuguese eat cod (bacalhau) regularly. If you go to a Portuguese restaurant, you will find four or five different cod dishes. But you can also find dried cod in every city in Spain. They also eat cod. Probably the difference would be how regularly Portuguese eat cod. When you walk down streets in Portugal, you will find a shop where they only sell cod. It is called Bacalheria. In fact, it is said that there are countless cod dishes in Portuguese cooking.

- Bacalhaoaria (Cod shop) -

Here are some examples:

Pataniscas de bacalhau: Dried cod fritter

Bacalhau a Bras: Maybe a picture does not tell what exactly this dish is. Flaked cod and shredded potato is fried and then mixed with sauted onion. This mixture is once well heated then beaten egg is poured and stirred gently to become consistent.

-someone could not wait.....-

Pasteis de Bacalhau: Cod croquette: shredded cod flake is mixed with mashed potato and sauted onion. The mixture becomes consistent and then fried in oil. No coating of bread crumb. (Please somebody, introduce a picture!) You will find it almost all snack bars in Portugal and this is actually my favourite.

The Second difference would be that Portuguese have soup for a meal more often than Spanish. When you go to a restaurant area in a shopping centre, at least one of the first food stand mainly serves soup. It is popular to have a bowl of soup as main dish with some bread and drink instead of hamburger among Portuguese. Those soups served as a main dish in Portuguese cooking are rather dense and consistent compared to Japanese miso soup which is merely a side dish. The next one that I introduce can be a significant difference between Portuguese and Spanish. This difference is not about food itself but it is related to their eating habits and customs. Frankly speaking, it is not easy to point out differences in food itself. Not like differnces between French and German, or French and Italian. Both Portuguese and Spanish use olive oil and garlic in most dishes. They eat various seafood as well as meat as a main dish. Both eat rice as well. So, what is the difference? Well, Spanish has a habit to take some snack between meals. I used a word, “Snack” as there is no word in English equivalent to this habit; having tapas. Probably it can be an insult for Spanish to use the word, snack because for them it is more than a mere snack. When you go to any place in Spain, you will find a snack bar or restaurant that serves tapas. Tapas is a small portion of dish served at these places. Spanish go to these places in mid afternoon or early evening before main meal. Tapas is not a particular dish. It can be calamaros fritos (squid fritters), Tortilla de patatas (potato omelette), jamon (cured ham) or chorizos(sausage). There are only a few pieces in each plate. If you go with your friend, you order bigger one but you take a piece or two. Sometimes Spanish people go to eat tapas instead of having dinner at home. So, it could be a meal too. But they go to one bar to take a glass of wine or beer and two or three types of Tapas and then go to another. Then to another. When they go out to eat tapas, they go around several Tapas bars. In this trip, I finally realized that there is no tapas bar in Lisbon. There can be some just to attract Spanish tourists but at least I could not find any. And then I remember what Nuno said:“I don’t like tapas. It never fills my stomach.” And when I was in Barcelona, he visited me just one day and we went out after dinner. We had some tea at a bar. “Look , Yasu” he said pointing with his finger at sausages sunk in a POOLl of oil which set on a bar counter “This is also the reason I hate tapas. This oily sausage! Horrible.” Actually, some dishes in Tapas are served in this way and there are many deep-dried dishes that contain a lot of oil. In many cases, paper under food has not absorbed extra oils which food remains greasy. This also the reason for Nuno to oppose this Spanish custom. I remembered I laughed a lot because the way he addressed the issue in discussion. No insult but funny way.　
　To sum up, Portuguese food is similar to Spanish food. Especially ingredients and how they prepared dishes. However, there are some differences in what they prefer. Portuguese take soup and cod more often than Spanish. More obvious difference can be that Portuguese do not have a custom to have tapas.

Now, I want to leave previous discussion and pick up a particular item: cheese. When I was little, I only knew two types of cheese. One is “Sliced cheese” which is used for filling for simple sandwich. The other is “Powder cheese”. Both are horrible example of “Processed cheese” introduced by Americans. I call it “Americans’ SIN”
In Europe, various types of cheese exist. Nowadays, some of them are imported to Japan. I can find some in grocery stores in the city centre in Fukuoka. However Spanish cheese is very rarely sold. In case of Portuguese cheese, we, Japanese probably never import them. All I can find from Portugal is Vinho Porto (Porto wine). So, here I would like to introduce some of Portuguese cheese.

Quejo Picante da Beira Baixa
One of Portuguese cheese denominated DOP. Made from mixed unpesticide milk of sheep and goat. Strong and salty. Excellent in taste. Only problem is wrapping: You should take extra care to remove this aluminium wrapping (See picture). If any little piece remains, you can imagine how terrible you feel when you bite.

Reference: http://www.beiralacte.com/queijo2.htm

Quejo Serra da Estrela
This type of cheese is also found in Spain but in Portugal, it is widely eaten throughout the country. It is also named “quejo amanteigado (buttery cheese)”. As you can see in the picture, the interior is fluid and creamy. It should be eaten in a few days after cutting. Otherwise, the interior creamy part flow out and spread its smell all across a fridge! Be careful!

Reference: http://www.saogiao.com/

In the second evening, Nuno invited me to his house for dinner. Nuno’s family live in the suburb, 30 minutes by train. It is called Massama. I met Nuno’s family and Sergio, a boyfriend of Claudia again after 3 years. We spent roughly two hours for dinner and my stomach enlarged by a regular portion of Portuguese meal. Ready for wedding dinner!

Linda’s arrival and the Gulbenkian apartment
Day 4 was not really productive for me. I just spent time figuring out how to get around: how to get to Sintra for Nuno’s wedding on Saturday afternoon, Tomar and master the transport in Lisbon. I told Sergio and Nuno that I would visit “Great” Sporting museum (Lisbon’s football club). But when I arrived there it was almost time to close. However, we decided to our first activity together when Linda and David arrives on the following day: Bullfighting. In the end of my discussion with Nuno, we agreed to exclude Linda for this event. “Yasu, why don’t you go to watch bullfighting tomorrow night with David? The Bullfighting stadium is very close to your apartment. It was recently renovated and it became quite popular. I ‘m sure David also likes it.” “Well, what about Linda? I don’t think she likes it.” I said.
“You don’t have to tell her where you are going.” Nuno answered.
“I actually suggest it once. She said she is an animal lover. She cannot stand watching such a cruel show like that.”
“You did suggested it to her. Well, Yasu, we do not kill bulls in bullfighting in Portugal.” “Yes, not in front of audiences. But bulls are slaughtered and sent to a butcher’s, no?” I knew that Nuno is playing with words. So, tried my knowledge about bullfighting.
“Ha Ha Ha, you knew it.” Nuno confessed and continued, “But you don’t have to tell Linda. You and David say to take her to watching something interesting.”
“I guess she won’t pay for watching it”
“Ok, the girl will be very tired and maybe she needs some sleep. You can keep it as a secret.”
We agreed on the condition and according to him, David also said “Yes” for watching it.

On the 5th of July, after breakfast, I packed everything to check out the Youth Hotels. I said good luck to a Japanese room mate for his trip and being with thehorrible Benfica man for a few more days. The Lisbon Airport is located very close to the city centre compared to other cities in Europe. It takes only 15 minutes by bus. It is also very small. I had to take a connection flight in Amsterdam and in case of Linda, the transfer was at the London Heathrow. It took her about 40 minutes to get through the custom and baggage claim. Our meeting is since she made her trip to Kyoto. It was one year and several months ago. Her luggage was lighter and fewer. I regret choosing my old and half-broken suitcase. Her suitcase is smarter and of course, wheels seem to work properly. In my case, as I did not have time to think about packing and luggage, I realized both suitcase had broken wheels which force me to drag it hard to go around. Well if you carry around 25 to 30 kg without using taxi to accommodation, your suitcase wheels surely wear out, anyway.
After exchanging hellos, she said “I did not sleep well. On the flight to London, a baby next to my seat, cried almost all night and then I was with drunk English group shouting and chanting all the way from London to here…
”
We took a bus to our accommodation. We rented an apartment in the area little bit away from the city centre, in the area called Gulbenkian. Linda and I had discussed about accommodation about two months before this trip. Originally, she said she would bring her female friend together. So, I chose two bed room flat but after one month, she sent me an email notifying her friend could not come.
“What exactly happened to your friend? The one who was supposed to come with you?” I asked.
“Her father did not allow her to come to Europe. She said to him she wanted to go to Lisbon. And he thought it was Brisbane, a city in Australia and said ok once. When he knew its exact location, he said no to her daughter.” “Geographic knowledge in elder generation is fantastic!” I thought. I remembered my relatives who went to Austria. They did not realize that they actually went to a German speaking country instead of an English speaking country: Australia. Until I told them, they thought they were hearing English around on their trip.

When we arrived at the apartment, it was not ready yet. The guy welcomed us named Pedro, very common name in Portugal. He quickly showed us facility in the apartment. He said he is a boyfriend of Dona Andrea, the owner of this rented apartment. He apologized for her absence and said he will collect rent on behalf. He was not absolutely certain how much is the rest of our payment. He trusted my calculation. What I like about this type of accommodation is friendliness. If we follow the rental condition strictly, we have to deposit some amount in case of any damage caused by tenants. But he said ok without it. If you stay in a five-star hotel, you will be addressed sir or madam. But you rarely experience hearty and personalized service. We also liked room, kitchen and furniture. Very lovely and maintained very well. Another reason for choosing this type of accommodation is that I can experience a real life, such as preparing breakfast and dinner, going grocery shopping and washing dishes and cloth, watching TV on a sofa. The life like the Northterrace apartment at Newcastle University. Leaving Pedro for his work, we went out to have some lunch and collect my stuff at Youth Hostel. After lunch we went back to the time when Pedro suggested. Before going to do grocery shopping for next day’s breakfast, I said to Linda I would go alone as she may be very tired.
“ No, I will come. I also want to buy something myself, a supermarket is close, no? “ she said.
“Yes, it is not far.” I answered. But she found it was not so close on her way to the supermarket. Actually, I meant the supermarket nearby was 15 minutes walk. It is El Corte Ingles. And her idea of “closeness” is a corner shop on the same street.
“Yasu, you said it is close. We are walking more than 5 minutes.” She said.
“Well, it is just down there. You see that big building. It is El Corte Ingles.” I answered by pointing the building which was just emerging in our eye sight “My idea of walking distance is far from her standard?????” I wondered it. After buying favourite cheese in Portugal and other ingredients, I finally released Linda to take a nap. To make my confession, I feel like a child who goes crazy at an amusement park when I go to a grocery store like the one in El Corte Ingles. There are hundreds of products that I want to taste: Jamon Iberico, chorizos, various types of cheese, goat milk and yoghurt, Sicilian blood orange. Countless! In my last visit to Lisbon, he had asked me what I would do during the day while he was working. I told him I would be happy if he drops me off in front of El Corte Ingles in the morning and collect me before going home. He laughed.

Our apartment:

Bullfighting Night
On the previous day, Nuno told me that he would bring David to our apartment around at 7 p.m. but David phoned him that his flight would delay. So, Nuno and Lu arrived our apartment to greet Linda whom they have not seen since they left Newcastle in December 2002. David arrived around 8.30 to 9.00 at our apartment. We exchanged hellos. David and I told Linda that we have a secret mission tonight without knowing her that it is bullfighting and left her saying good night. On the way and during bullfighting, he volunteered to be my Spanish teacher and we spoke in Spain. I wondered if my Spanish made sense to him but communication was possible.
Talking about bullfighting, I would believe few foreign tourists know or actually experience it in Portugal. Probably many of them had not known there is bullfighting held there before their arrival.
In Portugal, bulls are not killed in front of audience. It is not because some people do not want to see a brutal moment but to avoid possible fatal risk for bullfighters. Some people might say that it is the most exciting moment of bullfighting to put a sword into a bull’s back through the heart. But if a bullfighter missed the point to put the sword, he would have a great risk. If a bull still has energy to fight, a bullfighter can be knocked down to the ground easily. In Spain, a protagonista is the one who put a sword into the back of a bull. It is called “Matador”. It comes from a verb: matar (to kill). Instead of having a Matador, there is a Cavariero / knight in Portugal. A cavariero shows up on a horse and tries to show his wonderful riding skills as well as skill to put spears into the back of a bull. One of the cavariero who we saw is just nineteen years old. But he showed us a wonderful riding skill to avoid a bull’s attack and pierced his spears into its back. The crowd applaud and gave him a lot of claps.

-the nineteen-year old cavariero making a fantastic performance-

The second stage of Portuguese style of bullfighting is a group of forcados fight against a bull. The group of forcados line up in front of the bull. A boss in the group approach one step and another to show its braveness. But unfortunately, he usually is flown into the air and his face got wet with blood. The other forcados try to stop the bull charging against them. When they stop the bull, the show will end.

In the final stage, a matador fight against the bull. Once the bull looks defeated, the show ends. There is no final ritual to kill the bull.

David and I enjoyed this spectacular show together. We noticed that there are many younger Portuguese in the stadium. The stadium was almost full. When I went to watch bullfighting in Spain, the majority of audience were the elderly or the middle aged. Almost no younger people. We went home with a full of satisfaction. We have a lot of events to follow: Dinner at Fado restaurant, Festivals and not to forget, Nuno’s wedding!
(to be continued)

Have I entered our blog?

2007-08-01T12:31:00.000Z

Have I entered our blog?

The wedding in Sintra, summer 2007

2007-07-23T08:21:00.000Z

Dear all,

Yasu and I have finished our trip in Lisbon and to the wedding and met two other sweet friends there!

The above is one of the photos from the wedding, sorry it's a little bit vague but I promise Yasu or I will bring up more nice photos to our blogs for the two absent. Yasu will write his (our) journals here and I will contribute the photos :=)

First of all, thanks Nuno and Lu for inviting me to the wedding. Many people (including my friends, colleagues here, and the girl I met in the Lisbon airport who got lost on my last day in Lisbon) are really stunned by our friendship, especially the friendship composed of so many people of different nationalities who live in different corners of the world.

Lisbon did not seem so far away. Despite of the cost and time spent, honestly I really needed a vacation at this time and thanks to the wedding, a very good excuse for me to escape temporarily from the busy and "kinda boring" life in Taiwan. Of course, the wedding was not just an excuse. I did want to see you again after all these years and check out Lisbon as I promised Nuno many years ago in 19 north terrace. I was really very impressed by you two and the very sweet and wonderful wedding in Sintra (nice church, the atmosphere and very delicious food). Nuno and Lu seem to me are more or less the same as many years ago in Newcastle and I really enjoyed the time in Lisbon very much, a very friendly and easy-to-go-around city (with no Portuguese or Spanish was really no problem for me :P). I was relaxed and refreshed again.

Thank you so much for the hospitality though we did not meet so much in Lisbon :P I hope you already had a very nice trip in Spain, France and Brussels with the family. Maybe we'll meet again somewhere else in the world some day!

Linda

Oh My God~~~

2007-05-14T07:26:00.000Z

I received my tickets last weekend and now proceed to the application of a Portugal visa.
But.......................there is no Portugese office in Taiwan and I am to go to only Portugal this time, so no other countries are able to issue me a Schengen visa.
The worst situation is I will have to go to Macau for the visa....which I hope will not happen...

Investigation

2007-04-17T02:35:00.000Z

Dear all,

Nuno's wedding is approaching. I would like to know who'll be able to make it to the wedding and the exact date of the wedding before I can make my final decision and if I will be in the wedding, I'll have to book my tickets earlier.

My little brother's wedding will be on the 30th of June. I hope the two dates won't be too close....

Hug
Linda

address

2007-04-09T16:31:00.000Z

Dear friends (especially Linda and Juliane),

Could you please send me by email your postal addresses so that I send you an invitation by letter? Merci!!

Hugs, Nuno

Happy birthday to Nuno

2007-03-23T03:43:00.000Z

As far as I remember, 25th March is the big day for Dr. Nuno.
Congratulations to him~~~

My friends and I

2007-03-02T16:07:00.000Z

Michael's Back

2007-03-01T03:40:00.000Z

Dear all,

Michael is back to the society, finally.

Last year seems to be quite a big challenge to me. I changed my job from B&Q to Sallmanns, where I am doing business valuation, mainly intangible asset valuation, for the moment. I am still in the probation period, struggling for my next piece of bread.

I met a girl last year. And you know. :)

Linda is happy with her bf. Hope your relationship advance in 2007.

Shall I call Julia "Dr."?

Congratulations to Lu and Nu. Should Lu change her surname?

Yasu is enjoying his life in Europe. He seems to never work at all.

...and Happy Birthday Linda!!!

2007-02-17T08:41:00.000Z

Caros amigos,

And to end this February series, we also wish a wonderful birthday to Linda on the 17th of February, the super-Taiwanese girl who has a cultural passion for Japan!!!!

Hope everything goes ok with your life and continues like that in the year of the pig :)

We hope also that all of you can be on the 7th July in Lisbon for an interesting celebration!

Big hug from Nuno & Lu

PS: our apologies if Michael's birthday is on the 19 and not 10, anyway happy birthday for him also

'PIG' year, greetings from lu

2007-02-15T20:17:00.000Z

Hi, Everyone:

It’s Chinese New Year time…Happy new ‘pig’ year! It’s golden pig….very wealthy and good fortune! So here goes my first contribution for the blog to celebrate a bit with you! -- et Voilá! Finally, Nuno stopped travelling around to visit me. Now I am in great great Brussels with him! Therefore I would like to share some new episodes of my life in Brussels with you…

^!^ also it is inspired by our great Yasu..

Move and Change:

Honestly, I am happy to be here because of Nuno, although working and living in London was a very nice experience for me, and learning French, starting a new life in Brussels will be a new challenge for me.

It was a bit hard at the beginning of the moving. However, I am adapting…and getting better and better…

I arrived in Brussels at the beginning of December, the first thing after my move was to reorganise the apartment. Yasu, if you come again, probably you will not complain again of the apartment. Now it gets more tidy, more furnished, and in better order. The room doesn’t seem empty any more…because probably I have too much stuff to fill in. Anyway..it is becoming more and more like a home---the first home for me and Nuno!

And of course, all of you are welcome to visit anytime, and there is a spare room waiting for you!

I.D. card:

The first thing that is making me know better how Belgians work is to get my I.D. card through the Commune. I was told by Belgium embassy in London that it only took few days to get an I.D, and after that I can travel freely outside Schengen, but until now I am still waiting for it, and no idea when it will arrive. I really hope that I can get it as soon as possible, so that I can go back to China to visit my family or go to London for visiting my friends! Now I finally understand why a Belgium doctor told me once a while ago that he preferred working in Brussels than in London..because it has much less pressure and more relax!

Studying French:

Ye, unfortunately here people speak French or Dutch…..so it becomes necessary for me to study French (I think French sounds prettier than Dutch!). Also unfortunately I am not like Yasu who fancies Latin language very much, otherwise I would have already spoke some Portugese…

However, I am now at level A2 and studying French every day. The school is good, very international and I also got a very nice professor. Apart from learning French there, it started becoming a place for me to socialise and make some friends. Most of my classmates are in the similar situation as me---women mostly, not working at this moment…and just moved to Belgium, they are English, Scottish, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, American, Lithuanian …..beaucoup beaucoup ….! And so far we already had few parties, like Japanese sushi party, which was funny and we made sushi by ourselves, great taste! Ye, now I can write a little bit and read a little bit, but for speaking, I think I should practice more, not only with Nuno (he is not patient enough, and a bit lazy, and I think he prefers to speak Portuguese to me), but also with some other persons. Oui, je suis heureuse d'étudier le français ici!

Food in Brussels and cooking

Food in Brussels is not bad. Of course for a person who lived in U.K for sometime, you can say food here is much better. It is not difficult to eat well in Brussels, even just for a pitta (Greek/Turkish food), I like it! However, I still cook most of the time. Can you believe? I think my ability of cooking is improving. So Yasu if you come again, I will prepare some Chinese cuisine for you to try, to see if it is improved. I realise Nuno likes my food in general….but not beef balls (which is made by Vietnamese ) I also want to learn some western food, like portugese or French, I like both very much. And I feel in some way portuguese cuisine is similar to Chinese….do you agree?

Nuno’s colleagues and our neighbours have tried my cooking, in the end they like it…I believe!

I'll continue with some more writings soon.

Bye for now, Lulu

...and Happy Birthday Michael!!!

2007-02-09T09:25:00.000Z

Chèrs amis,

After Yasu, now it's time to wish a very happy birthday to Dr Michael on the 10th February, the super Shanghai-man who seems to be missing in action in the past few months!!!

Some secret sources informed us that he may have got a new job, but we wait for his confirmation. It seems also he has let a respectable moustache grow, and this is having huge success with ladies. Please send us your picture!

Big hug from Nuno & Lu

Happy birthday Yasu!!!

2007-02-04T18:17:00.000Z

Dear friends,

Simple post just to wish a very happy birthday on the 6th of February to our most prolific writer and traveller, the super Yasu Tashiro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the month of birthdays, Linda and Michael will follow!

Big hug from Nuno & Lu

Merry Xmas

2006-12-22T02:32:00.000Z

Dear all,
Wow...the end of the year again. Another year of our blog has passed, see what have been happening around us this year.
I just had a wonderful trip to Japan for maple leaves in autumn. Visited the national park Nikko. Very beautiful leaves and stuff and I can't wait to show them to you. The photo is me sitting at the lakeside of Chuzenji lake and you can see some of the leaves behind me.
Will post other photos to you later and wish you here a very happy Christmas. See you 2007.

Belgium

2006-09-06T07:57:00.000Z

I took an Intercity train from Muenchen for Brussels to meet Nuno. He now works at the European Commission. He is involved in some work to improve agricultural policy standards in the countries which intend to enter European Unions, such as Cyprus and Rumania.
When I had called him from Isaac’s apartment a few days ago, he had been traveling to Cyprus to attend a business meeting. As he was scheduled to be back on the same day after my arrival, we had planed meet a cafeteria in front of the cinema close to his new apartment in Brussels.
After the train entered Belgium, the landscape and buildings completely changed, beautiful rural scenery and neat German houses were gone, a frock of dark gloomy brick buildings appeared. The trained stopped for several minutes in a southern Belgian town. This is the first Belgian town that I have seen and my impression was not so wonderful. The city looked like an abandoned ghost town. As it was an early evening, streets were deserted. Before arriving Brussels, I was already regretting to leave Germany.
The train arrived in Brussels before dark. I took subway to the meeting point.
Belgium is located between France and Holland. Official languages are therefore French and one of Dutch languages. However, the majority of places where tourists go there is no problem to communicate in English.
In the first few hours of my stay in Brussels, I was amazed how cosmopolitan Brussels is. There are a lot of African immigrants who speak French. I also saw many Spanish in a subway station. Young Spanish girls were talking aloud: “Venga!!!!…….Vamos!!!”
While slipping coffee at a cafeteria, I also overheard conversations in different languages. The table to my right was occupied with young African couples who were speaking a beautiful French language. In the next table, a native English speaker was chatting in his language with someone with a slight German accent. On my left, African men were talking aloud in English with his broken accent. Although I haven’t seen them yet, there were a lot of Portuguese immigrants as well.
The clock has already ticked eleven p.m. long ago, the Portuguese migrating bird from Massama has not appeared yet. I wondered if I misunderstood his instruction in the email where to meet. But soon I realized it is not unusual for him to be late.
“Well, he knows that I do not feel unease to be left in a foreign city. And it was likely that the flight from Cyprus can delay. ”
After the half past eleven or so, I saw Nuno walking toward the cafeteria and looking for an unusual species of the Japanese fish in the ponds of Belgian cafeterias. I waved my arm.
“About one hour ago, I and a Spanish colleague passed the cafeteria in a cab trying to find you but we couldn’t. So, I went home first to leave my luggage ” he explained.

We took a bus to his new apartment. The building is similar to the one which we used to see in Newcastle, a brick building. At the time I visited him there, his apartment had not redecorated inside. There seems to be a lot of work for Nuno and Lu after starting to live together. The wallpaper was torn and the shower hose was broken. His cosmetics items were randomly placed on the shelves.
“I just moved in this apartment before going to Cyprus.”, he said.
As he explained many things were not properly placed. However, in the living room, all his books were put aside in the bookshelf. It seems to show that things related to his work and study is in order. There were two Chinese textbooks which he bought in Shanghai. It looks untouched. I found Sydney Sheldon’s paperback too and took it from there.
“ Lu likes Sydney Sheldon” Nuno explained with a slight hint of his disapproval in the voice.
“Ah, ok.” I gave him a short response. When I started to study English in Australia about twelve years ago, my host mother gave some of Sheldon’s books for my reading practices. I was fascinated his storytelling. So, in next few years I read half of his books in English. Therefore, I did not give Nuno any negative comment on reading them.

“ So, Nuno, you said you have Portuguese cable TV.” I asked him.
“Yes, I have asked a man to set it up but I have not paid him yet.”
According to Nuno, he is not sure how to pay him because the man left after he set it up. Probably, he will drop by Nuno’s apartment a few weeks later to collect money. I suppose, in a Portuguese immigrant community, some work seems to be done in a casual manner by trust and little contract.
I heard that from the 1960s, a number of Portuguese immigrated to France, Belgium and Luxemburg to find work there. Many of them were engaged in hard blue color labour such as construction and steeling. In the middle of the 1980s, the entry of ECC motivated some Portuguese people to move to those countries where they can possibly earn higher income. For example, there are about 50,000 Portuguese living in a small country of Luxemburg.
Like in Luxemburg, there are some Portuguese communities in Brussels. There is one near Nuno’s apartment. We went there to have some coffee and talk about football
“Nuno, I was quite disappointed. Germany beat Portugal with 3-1. In Munich, that night was a nightmare. And they almost got to the final! IF, if there was no penalty for France.” I started.
“But Yasu. We, Portuguese have never been to be so successful in the World Cup for 40 years. I am quite content. ”, he said.
“Ok, that is true.” I was discouraged to continue an argument.
“What I don’t understand is the English. You know, they don’t realize that they play horrible football.” Nuno tried to lead our conversation to a positive part. In the round Eight in the tournament, Portugal has beaten England miraculously and English fans were in disbelief. He continued an episode of meeting an English man in the European Commission. The man seemed to be narrow-minded and had an “incredible” theory like: such a small and poor country never beats big and rich England. In this event, we were happy to show that he was wrong.

Next day, Nuno took me to a Belgian restaurant to taste mussel. Mussel is the best-known dish in Brussels. The most traditional mussel recipe is one in green sauce. The mystery is why it becomes Brussels’ specialty because the majority of mussels are imported from Holland.
The restaurant we went is specialized in mussel. The method of cooking is very simple: It is cooked in white wine. A large saucepan is used to simmer mussel. The pan is as large as one to feed a big dog!

Although the method is plain and simple, there are a variety of flavors to choose from: one with white wine, tomato, blue cheese and even curry. The atmosphere was good and a waitress is friendly. So, I enjoyed the dinner. But to be honest, the dish itself was not so impressive. Maybe it is because I still remember the taste of mussel in a tomato sauce that I had in Italy.
Several years ago, I visited Mihoko, a friend of mine who married with an Italian lawyer. They bought a kilo of mussels at fishmongers near the beach. We almost finished them all in that night.
Well, it can be wrong to compare Belgian cooking with Italian….Actually, I can say that Belgian cuisine is not so distinctive compared to ones like French, Italian or Spanish.
According to Nuno, there is very few PDOs (Protected Designation of Origin) in this country. Only a ham and butter.
“How impressive…”

Nuno is cooking Chorizo (Portuguese sausage)

Nuno is acting like Zidane!

So far, I gave only negative comments about Belgium. But there are, of course, some good aspects: For example, services in shops and restaurants are in high standard. When you go to shops, they salute with a friendly manner and addressed you with Mr. or Miss. When I bought a pair of trousers, a shop assistant had it made ready by next morning.
Belgian cooking is not so impressive but it is not such a bad place for sweet teeth. The most popular ones are waffle and chocolate. A box of assorted chocolates is a perfect souvenir.

In my last day, Nuno recommended me joining a bus tour. The most interesting spot was Peeing boy statue and fountain. To describe, the shameless kid is usually completely naked and pissing to the fountain in front of the public. He has a rather naughty to embarrass national guests from overseas by wearing their national flags. (Nuno, please exhibit some pictures if you have).

The tour bus took us around major tourists’ spots such as historical buildings, monuments, and museum. When the bus went past the European Commissions, Nuno said “Yasu, when you come to Brussels again, I will arrange a visit to the European Commissions. Sorry but this time, I was busy…”
“Yeah, ok. Promise me to meet Mr. Barrozo. ”

A stinky French cheese which was melt and spread its smell all over the fridge at Nuno's....

Kick off to Germany

2006-09-06T07:36:00.000Z

World Cup has Kicked off in Germany (shoes by Hugo Boss)

Dear my friends and readers of our blog,
I enjoy writing my experience in foreign countries and cultures. It has been more than twelve years since I first traveled abroad. So far I have visited eighteen countries in four regions: Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. Now I must accept the fact that I am becoming old and my memory is fading. By this reason, I decided to put my experience in writing to record enjoyable time that I spent with friends and people who I met during trips. This is actually my third edition in this blog and I traveled to Germany and Belgium for the first time.

Prologue:
I remember it was in April: I received an email from Isaac, a friend from Barcelona who I had met in Newcastle. In his message, he said he was going to Germany from the following month. According to his message, he received apprenticeship from a Swiss firm, Roche and he will stay there at least for one year. Before receiving it, I had been thinking of taking another Spanish course somewhere in Spain and had planed to visit him during my stay.
“I should put off Spanish study this time. Maybe, it is a good idea to watch the World Cup with him in Germany! No, it is an excellent idea. ” I said to myself and I imagined Luis Figo* raising the golden trophy at the Berlin stadium.

*The Portuguese legend who received FIFA’s best footballer award in 2001 and he has been my hero for six year.

Day 1
At 5:40, I was ready to leave my apartment. In fifteen minutes, I had to catch a bus to the airport and the nearest bus stop is a few minutes away from my apartment. I still could not turn off the TV. The TV was showing the quarterfinal: Portugal vs. France. Portugal’s hope was diminishing. France was winning in the score of 1-0 with a controversial penalty. In this hour streets were almost dead. Almost of Japanese people returned to their normal life after Japan had lost in the group stage. My next-door neighbors were only ones who suffered from some insomnia by hearing occasional cheers and shouts from the next door.
Portugal got a chance of free kick. The kicker was a Portugal’s new star, Cristiano Ronaldo. He produced a massive drive shoot toward Fabian Baltes and the ball made a sharp drop in front of the French goalkeeper who was astonished and fumbled. Figo dashed toward the ball to strike it with a header. But the ball flew over the bar. I switched off the TV. Slowly I drugged out my luggage and locked the front door.
“Whatever happens, I can see my beloved squad in Germany…” I headed for the airport.

I arrived in Munich at 17:30 in the local time, after spending over twenty hours for transport. According to his last email, Isaac asked his supervisor to give him an early leave to meet me at the airport.
“Hi Yasu, over here!” Isaac waved his hand.
We exchanged hugs. We have not seen for over four years and now he let his hair grow and has long curly hair. Isaac was a post-graduate student in biochemistry when I was at Newcastle. He continued his PhD studies and has just finished his course in last summer. He was born in Barcelona but his family originated from Andalusia. Like many other Andalusians, his family also moved from Andalucia. I would say he is more Catalan than an Andalucian. He supports FC Barcelona and does not seem to have much interests in neither flamenco nor bull fighting.
Last October, he moved to Seville, the capital of Andalucia and worked in a small fertilizer company. He worked there several months before coming to Munich. According to him, his boss has good personality and the job was not bad. But his boss is not very talented in managing a business. Creditors often call his boss to repay debts and when a secretary was not around (maybe hiding), Isaac was the one who had to pick up the phone.

From the airport we took a train to Penzburg, a small town located in the southwest of Munich. It was already seven but it had no sign of sunset. In summer, the sun sets after 9 pm in Europe.
It is my first time to visit Germany but the view from the train to Penzburg looked familiar: It looks quite similar to Switzerland but of course without mountains.
After one hour and half, we arrived in Penzburg. As Isaac described, it is a small town. People in Penzburg go to a main street for drinking and have fun. There are several bars and restaurants on the street. That is it.
“After the quarter final against Germany, Italians drove up and down the street by car with their national flag. ” Isaac said.
He lives in an apartment located a 15-minute from the train station. His apartment is spacious. He lives with another colleague from Poland. We had a chat before my eyes refused to stay open. Unlike my younger days, it took me almost a week to get over jet lag.

Day 2
In my second day, I stayed in bed till a little late. I slept very well. In Germany, houses are not equipped with air conditioning because both temperature and humidity was not high.

Before starting to write about my holidays in Germany. I want to introduce a little bit about people and customs of this country.
Generally speaking, Germans are more health conscious than other Europeans. You may find a lot of people doing some sport and exercises in their free time. If you travel by car in Germany, you will come across many cyclists. In each side of roads, there are bicycle lanes where pedestrians are prohibited to walk. Trains have bicycle carriage. Like in Switzerland, many people take a train with bicycles to the countryside where they enjoy their leisure.
The other aspect is that Germans have a strong awareness to protect nature. Local communities and governments are keen to enforce regulations and systems to protect their environments. Coming to Germany, some foreigners take time to get accustomed to some rules of German life. For example, you may be used to putting all waste into a rubbish bin. However, in Germany, many apartments and houses have compost where they throw food disposals such as peels, bones and some rotten food. Glass is separated in color. Brown glass and green glass go into different bins. Paper is also collected separately. Some keen environmentally friendly consumers separate household dust into even smaller categories: papers, plastics, aluminum, steel, cloth and so on. Many shoppers bring a shopping bag or used plastic bag to a supermarket. When you take out some sandwiches and drink, you are charged for extra, for example one Euro per bottle. If you bring it back to a shop, you will get it back. The government introduced this system to reduce waste and make people aware how important for them to contribute their environment.
Organic food is quite popular here too. If you go to a supermarket, you will find a wide range of organic products from fresh vegetable and fruit to meat and cheese. There are also some grocery stores or market stalls where they sell only organic products.
In Japan, you cannot get any organic meat. There is also a small range of organic fruit and vegetables. And organic products are only found in a department store targeted to higher income segments. But in Germany, you will find them in any supermarkets.

Today, I decided to cook some dinner. As some of you know, I love grocery shopping and cooking (even though my cooking sometimes turns into a horrible disaster).

I went through an entrance door and then I first found vegetables and fruits section. In the shelves, there is a good range of organic products: onions, potatoes, kiwis, apples and so on. I picked onions and kiwis and go to a cheese section. I was surprised to a variety of foreign cheeses: They have not only Italian and French cheeses but also Spanish ones such as Manchego, Queso Samorano, Valdeon (in Picture).

Penzburg is a small town in the southwest of Munich. I previously thought that Germans are more conservative in food. At least, they may not hesitate to take some foreign cheese and ham.
I prepared some rice soup and pork with soy sauce. Around 5:30, Isaac came home and told me that he asked several friends to come over for dinner. So, I had to prepare more rice and Isaac made some Spanish omelets. At aournd 9:00, friends started to arrive. We had a fun and the party was successful.

"Mosquitos attracted to Isaac's yellow T-shirt. They chased him all around Regensburg..."

Day 3
Today is Saturday. We planned to go to Regensburg, a city located in the north of Munich. In the morning, we had Spanish breakfast with café con leche (milk coffee), toast, jamon (cured ham), chorizo (spiced salami sausage) and cheese. And freshly squeezed orange juice.

When we realized, we were about to be late to catch a train. Unfortunately, train connection from Penzburg is not so good. If we miss it,rain, we have to wait about one hour or more. It takes 15 minutes to the station on foot. There was only ten minutes or so. So, we had to run. Gasping my breath, I followed Isaac to the station and we arrived there in ten minutes. Luckily, we made a mistake about the time when the train leaves. We actually had enough time to catch it. We took off the shirts as we felt hot with an early exercise and try to catch our breath.

We bought tickets and got on a train in time. Regensburg is a pretty city with a Gothic cathedral and Roman ruins. After visiting a few historical sites, we found a small fair on the opposite side of the river. Some people dressed in costume of old days. There are a lot of food and playing stalls in the fair. There were many German families who brought children to spend a quiet weekend.
We ordered grilled sausage and drinks at the fair. German sausages are different from region to region. Here in Regensburg and Nuernberg, grilled brown sausage is famous.
In Munich, a famous one is a white boiled sausage. People peel off skin before they eat. People have a different taste. I personally favor this grilled brown sausage over boring PALE boiled sausage from Munich. A common habit of eating sausage in Germany is that it is served with mustard and ketchup. I preferred to pour a little bit of sweet mustard. It was delicious. On the other day, I saw a man pumping out ketchup all over his sausage and chips. I glanced at him with a disgust….

We left Regensburg for Munich after five. We were going to meet Isaac’s friends at the English garden in the city center.
Isaac hang up his mobile and said, “Gloria and David will be there to keep a table for us. ”
The English Garden is one of the places where you can watch football matches in an open air during the World Cup. A huge screen was installed on the stage. In summer, German people come to drink beer here.
When we arrived in Munch Bahnholf, we took the subway to the English Garden. By the time when we got there, the beer hall was almost full: full of German supporters.
“Gee, I am in an enemy territory. ” I wondered and I tried to find some Portuguese there but no success.

On July 8, Germany meets Portugal in Stuttgart for the third place match. I had thought that Germans were very discouraged with the last minute loss in the semi-finals but the audience in the English Garden was in a festive mood. Many people brought the national flags. When the replay of previous matches started to be shown, Germans began to chant:
“Deutchland, Deutchland! ” they waved the flags.
The match started. We were sitting in the fifth or sixth row in the middle of the garden. In addition, in front of the screen, there are enthusiastic German supporters with flags in hand. We did not have a good view of the game.
Scolari did not put Figo in the starting lineup. Ricardo Carvalho, the best Portuguese central defender could not play in this game because of suspension. Instead, the coach had to put a horrible one for the replacement: Ricardo Costa who conceded four or five goals against Iraq in the Olympic games in 2004. I had a bad feeling about this game.
In the beginning, the match seemed to be played evenly as German supporters were still anxious. As I could not have a good view of it, I sometimes had to guess what was going on the pitch by just watching the reaction of German supports.
They were very excited and screamed time to time. All of sudden, they were exploded with a joy. It was a nightmare for me. Schweinstaigar scored.
“Deutchland, Deutchland! ” the crowd in front of us stood up and started to chant and sing.
Soon the second goal was made. After all, Germans were playing in their home ground. Portugal had not recovered from the loss of the semi-final. I was almost the only one who could not speak and watch the game in horror.
“Yasu, it is not over. ” Isaac and other friends at the table tried to cheer me up.
The game was over. The score was 3-1: Portugal lost. In the last ten minutes, Scolari put Figo and Nuno Gomez. They created a goal to avoid a humiliating defeat.
Isaac and his friends suggested us to got out to see Germans’ celebration. We took the subway to the other part of the city. We walked down the main road to the square. Many Germans walked down the street chanting and singing, “We are the champion”. Interestingly there were not so many cars and horns. Two years ago, after semi-final of Euro 2004, beating Holland, Portuguese went to the street with cars in the center of Lisbon. Full of cars. Here in Munchen, I just saw a man with the national flag on his bag went past us, pedaling a bicycle toward the square! Germans seemed to be very happy with the result of their World Cup.
While David was taking us back to Penzburg, I was knocking my head up and down with sleep. I had not fully recovered with a jet lag yet.

Day 4
Our plan for Sunday is to visit Neuschwainstain Castle. It is said this castle is a model of the Disney castle and there are a great number of visitors every year. Interestingly, the castle itself does not possess a historical importance. The castle is very beautiful but as the name suggests, it is quite new building in the German history. It was built in the end of 19th century by Ludwig II. He spend a lot of money to build this castle. But he ended his life with a mysterious death. His body was found at the lake nearby and the cause of death was unknown.
We took trains and bus to visit the castle. We saw it on the hill surrounded by wood.

“There was nothing but wood before the castle became famous in tourism” I wondered. Now there is a small town nearby with some holiday houses and hotels.
I joined a tour alone as Isaac visited once before. As he said, the castle is well worth to visit because of its beauty but the inside museum is not very interesting to visit twice. The part of the castle was decorated by Ludwig II but the majority of rooms remains untouched because of his early death.
After the tour, we went further up the hill to overlook the castle. The view from there was splendid.

After the visit, we headed for Munich to watch the Worldcup final. When we got to the central station in Munich, the match was about to begin. When we caught a Metro, a referee whistled to kick off. The metro’s electronic signal board which usually show the next stop, started to show “France 1-0 Italy.” Zidan succeeded in the penalty kick. Before the Metro reached our destination, there was a drama. The board showed “Italy 1-1 France”. There was a cheer inside the Metro.
When we got there, Gloria and David had kept seats for us again. There were two French girls. They were not in a comfortable position. The rest of us favored Italy: There were three Spanish and a fanatic Portuguese supporter whose teams were defeated by French.
Today’s main casts were Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi in both good and bad ways. The screen showed Marco Mafiozino arguing with Zidane. All of sudden, Zidane made a massive header not toward a goal net this time but onto the naughty Italian defender. Zidane knocked him out in front of the worldwide audience.
The match was ended when Italians snatched victory in a penalty shoot-out. The night was noisier than yesterday with the minority of Italians driving cars with their national flag around the city of Munich.

Day 4 & 5
On Monday and Tuesday, I spent days on shopping in Munich. In the evening, Isaac cooked some Spanish meal for us.
A pack of meat was laid on the kitchen table.
“What is it?” Stan asked Isaac with curiosity. Stan is Isaac’s flat mate. He’s from Poland . They started scholarship at the company in the same month.
“It’s rabbit.” Isaac answered. The skin and fur was neatly removed. So, there was no obvious clue for him to guess it.
“So, where did you get this guy?” I asked Isaac.
“I brought him from Spain.” He answered with laugh.
“Rabbit is my favorite meat.” Isaac continued
“I cooked rabbit for my girlfriend. She likes it but hates eating head. So, I cut the head into half trying not to look noticeable for her and placed it into her plate. She was angry when I told her that she had just had the head. ”
I laughed.
“Yasu, it’s a pity. You can not stay longer.” Isaac said.

“Yes, true. You should stay another week. I do recommend to go to Austria.” Stan said
I was glad. We had some rabbit and wine for dinner. It was nice and I noted down the recipe to try it when I go back to Japan.

My visit to Germany was short. I missed visiting a lot of places around Penzburg. “Germany is a place where to spend a relaxing holiday. German people respect nature and environment. And they also enjoy the nature in life.”

"One thing I did not like in Germany. People have to pay to use a toilet. This toilet is the worst one. Ripping off travellers at the central station!"

Great Georgian food!

2006-09-03T18:14:00.000Z

Russian (advanced) engineering

2006-09-03T18:08:00.000Z

Received greetings from Germany

2006-07-26T03:15:00.000Z

Yesterday, a postcard of a very beautiful castle in a small village near Munich arrived my mailbox. Many many thanks, Yasu, for your contribution to my postcard collection. :D I guess this is the first time I see your handwriting. Your handwriting is very neat and you write quite good Kanzi!
I will try to sqeeze some time resuming my traveling journal which took place last year :P
I now have a rough plan to go to Czech Republic and Austria next year, and maybe Japan again (I can choose either one). Very looking forward to my next trip.
btw, I am also looking forward to reading your journal in Germany and Belgium!!!

Congratulations!!!

2006-07-03T05:41:00.000Z

For Portugal and Germany!!!

Congratulations

2006-06-10T18:27:00.000Z

A bird told me that one of the people in 19 North Terrace would get married soon.
Congratulations to that luckiest people.

Having fun in Germany

2006-05-05T06:47:00.000Z

Everyone at the Northterrace 19, I have some news to tell you. I am planning my next coming vacation. I have just booked flights from Fukuoka to Frankfurt (July 6 to July 16).
I was planning to take another Spanish course in Spain at first. But a Spanish friend of mine called Isaac told me that he will stay in Germany for job training in Munchen for one year. Ultimately, I have decided to visit him there to enjoy some World Cup atmosphere and practise Spanish.
I will be in Germany from 6 July to 16 July. But my plan is flexible. I will visit Isaac in Munchen before the Final. I may travel around by train. I think that Brussel is still reachable from Frankfurt. Do you have any particular plan in this period, Nuno?
Julian, I suppose that you are working on your PhD thesis during this period in Newcastle. Please advise some tips to enjoy in Germany. Do you know any grocery store in Germany which collects very high quality, an English equivalent to Waitrose or Mark 6 Spencer. And Shopping spots like a large department store.

The World Cup Previews

2006-04-07T09:10:00.000Z

I am very excited about this year’s world cup final in Germany. Unfortunately, we missed many games as our final examinations at Newcastle took place at the same time. In addition it turned out to be very disappointing and boring as a half of teams, which normally play an exciting football, defeated unexpectedly in the first group stage.
Anyway, this year World Cup is held in Germany, one of the nations that won the final. It can be most attended and watched games in the world cup history. Here, I am going to make a personal review on games:

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador
A1(the first place in Group A)- Germany
A2 (the second place in Group B)- Poland
Undoubtedly, I select Germany as the team that goes to the final tournament by getting 7 to 9 points. Germany is very luck to have such weak opponents. Ecuador played the most wonderful football in home games at the altitude over 1000 meters during the qualification run by beating Brazil and Argentine comfortably. They have great midfielders like Luis Valencia. However, they have never proved in away games. It is very much dependent on a Colombian coach who should concentrate on mental training and let players adapt meteorological conditions well in advance. Poland is a boring opponent but I think they will play well to get the second place.

Group B
B1- England
B2- Sweden
England will be qualified to the second stage before the last match against Sweden. There would be little chance that they are disqualified in this stage though it can be interesting if it occurs. England will maintain a boring tradition of 4-4-2 formation using direct and long passes.
Viewing recent friendly matches, Sweden seems to have a big problem when they cannot score. Sweden may be placed in a difficult position to win against England in the last match to be qualifying to the next stage if they lose some points in the first two games.

Group C
C1 – Argentine
C2- Netherlands
Although I choose above two countries to be qualified, it can turn out to be the other two opponents who are qualified for the second stage. Both Argentine and Netherlands do not have a strong defense. Serbia plays an unattractive football in deed. But it can steal a victory with 1-0 score against both teams. 3 teams in this group have world-class strikers such as Lionel Messi, Van Nisterloy and Drocba. The most goals can be scored in this group. There is no boring games in this group.

Group D
D1 – Portugal
D2 – Mexico
The starting lineup of Das Quinas will be: Ricardo, Ricardo Carvalho, Marco Caneira, Miguel, Nuno Valente, Maniche, Costinha, Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco and Pauleta. If I were Scolari, I will definitely bring Quaresma and Moutinho. Viana is missed out because he did not prove himself in his club as well as the national team.
There is no doubt about winners of this group. Portugal and Mexico. Portugal beats Angola with 5-0 and Iran with 3-0. Probably, Mexico will not lose points before facing Portugal.
Tactically, Portugal can lose the last match in order to avoid Brazil till the final. However, I believe that Felipe Scorali will not use this tactics.

Group E
E1- Italy
E2 – USA
Even if Totti does not recover early enough to play in world cup, Italy will go through the first stage. Czech Republic is beaten by USA and has to say good-bye to Germany in the early stage like Portugal in 2002. It can be everyone’s surprise. Observing a friendly match, Japan vs. USA, I became confident that all the US players physically strong and trained well as a team. It is not easy to beat them when they enter the competition in a good physical condition.

Group F
F1 – Brazil
F2 – Australia
No one probably opposes that Brazil goes through this stage as the top of Group F. Some Japanese media says that other three teams have an equal chance to qualify to the next stage. Optimistic one says that Japan will beat both Croatia and Australia. But I am very realistic. The chance is narrow. Australian players are not only physically strong but almost all of them play in major leagues in Europe. We have some strikers who play in Europe but none of them play in games constantly. The Japanese football federation chose some weaker Western countries to play friendly matches for preparation. Yet they were beaten by Latvia and USA. Drew against Bosnia and Ukraine. A single victory against Norway does not prove anything much. The last game against Ecuador was so poor. The Colombian coach did not bring great midfielders: Valencia, Lala, Franklin Salas, Delgado did not come. The secondary team traveled to Japan and spent more than 2 days to arrive. Yet we got a narrow victory in the end of second half. Anyway, if we win against Australia in the first match, we may do good games and be qualified to the next stage.

Group G
G1- France
G2- Korea
France is still dependent very much on Zidane. If he goes to Germany in a good physical condition, no tiredness and injury, France will go to the next stage. The second place will be taken by South Korea.

Group H
H1- Spain
H2- Can be any team
After a continuous terrible performance game after game at their qualifying campaign, Spain has got a great luck. There is almost no threat at all to be sent home in this stage.

The second stage
Germany (A1) vs. Sweden (B2): 2-2
A chance of winning is even. Definitely, Sweden has superior firepower; Ibrahimovic and Henrik Lasson. German key players are Bullack and Shweinshteiger. Having home crowd and great support, Germany will win after the penalty shoot-out. German fans enjoy a lot of beers and sausages this night.

Argentine (C1) vs. Mexico (D2): 3-2
The game starts with furious attack from the Argentine side and Mexico defends well. The first goal scene is created by Lionel Messi, cutting in from the right side and makes final pass to Crespo. 1-0.
Mexico bounds back with Jorgetti’s header. The game becomes very exciting. In the end, Argentine’s firepower overcomes Mexico’s defense. Argentine goes to the next stage.

Italy (E1) vs. Australia (F2) : 1-0
Italy tries to show their mode of new attacking football but Australia defends superbly and scores is 0-0 in the end of in the first half. Italy changed tactics to traditional catenacio. In reverse, Australia creates many changes. However, a small mistake gave a chance for Gattuzo to intercept the ball. He passes to Pirlo. Pirlo makes a long direct pass to Totti. Totti and Giraldino make short passes to remove markers. A quick shot on goal. Italy steals a victory in one chance.

France (G1) vs. Ukraine (H2) : 3-1
The old Le Blu system with Zidane works perfectly in the game. They scores three goals in the first half. Shevchenco scores a goal in the end of the second half to avoid a shameful defeat. Although France beats Ukraine comfortably, the players get tired in the second half.

Poland (A2) vs. England (B1) : 0-2
Rooney and Owen creat one goal each to eliminate Poland. On the stadium English fans are happy. After the match 30 English hooligans are arrested by German police at night.
In the next day, the English Football Federation receives a severe warning from FIFA.

Portugal (D1) vs. Netherlands (C2) : 2-0
The same card is drawn again in this tournament as well. Cristiano Ronaldo and Figo change their side from right to left and vice versa to create chances. Pauleta find a net on the right corner by putting Figo’s cross ball Cristiano Ronaldo has created four goals in the first stage but there is no luck in this game. Scorali put Gipsy, Ricardo Quaresma on the pitch. It is a gamble for Scolali because Dutch gradually create some chances to score. Scolari’s miracle happened again. Quaresma passes two defenders with sharp dribble and made a shot into the Dutch goal. Dutch hope has disappeared.

USA (E2) vs. Brazil (F1): 1-3
A Brazilian coach, Pereira puts Ronaldo, Robinho, Ronaldilho and Kaka for an attack. Ronaldilho and Kaka creates a lot of chances but unlike the group stage, Ronaldo misses every opportunity to score a goal. With everyone’s surprise, USA score the first goal after 30 minutes. The champion is now under threat. Pereira substitutes Adriano and Ronaldo is out of pitch without a goal. Brazil attacks furiously but American defense is very tough. After 20 minutes Brazil levels with Adriano’s header. USA lost their concentration and concedes two more goals. The game is over.

Korea (G2) vs. Spain (H1): 0-1
Spain has made nine goals in the group stage. Many Spanish regarded Aragones, a Spanish coach as “Mono”, a stupid monkey in their qualification run with a severe lack of goals. Now, people admire him for a great success in the group stage. But monkey is monkey. In this game, they suffer from goal-less ninety minutes. The players who save a team is not a beloved Raul Gonzales but new generation players. Torres, Reyes and Fabregas.

Quarter Finals
Germany vs. Argentine: 1-3
Germany tries hard to win this game taking 1-0 lead. However, German young and inexperienced defense can not hold Argentin's firepower. Pequerman, finally put Lionel Messi, who has recovered injury. Quickly they turn over the game to 2-1 and before the final whistle, he assisted the third goal.

Italy vs. France: 2-1
France takes their lead with Zidan's header. French fans chanted and remined the final of 98. However, the most aged team gradually lose their possession. Most of Frenchmen is out of gas just after the whistle of the second half. They allowed two goals.

England vs. Portugal: 1-2
An uncomfortable start for Portuguese. They concede a goal in the first ten minutes. However, they gradually increase their ball possession to 60% of the game. Deco takes a corner and Ronaldo's header finds the net before the second half.
The second half continues the same. Rooney is not fully recovered. That was very much crucial to the game. Figo makes a brilliant shot just outside the penality area. England's hope has vanished. Again Sven Golan Ericksson can not overtake great Felipe Scolari. Another drama takes place on the street of a German city. A number of English fooligans have arrested by German police.

Brazil vs. Spain: 2-0
Spain creates a number of chances to take a lead in the first half. Some shots squad over the goal and anothers hit the goal post. Again Spanish show indecisive performance which were indicated in the preliminary matches. One strike by Adriano. Another by Ronaldinho. Brazil looks unstopable.

Semifinal
Argentine vs. Italy
Argentine hold a 60 percent of ball possesion but Italian defense is strong. The first half result is 0-0.
In the middle of the second half, an Italian defender steal a ball and pass it to Pirlo who quickly pass it to Totti. He advances with a dribble and before Argentine defense react, he kicks a ball over the defender drawing a slow loop and Luca Toni hit it hard. 1-0!

Brazil vs. Portugal
The most exciting match of the tournament comes. Scolari and Deco face their home country against. Technic versus Technic. After the kick-off, Brazil quickly advances and go pass Maniche and Costinha easily. The last pass made to Adriano but Ricardo Carvalho close him down before he gets it. Portuguese defense is very tight in the penalty area. However, having Ronaldinho and Kaka in the center, Brasil is deadly enough. Emersson dispossess Deco in the center of the midfield. Brazilian fans chants. Deco quickly recover the ball. Brazilans on the stand boos! Exciting moment!
Maniche loses a ball and Kaka advances with a great speed. No one catches up with him. Before Portuguese defense close him down, He shoots it hard. Ricardo can not reach out! A great goal! 1-0! Portuguese defense gets nervous. Ferreira puts down Ronaldinho in the penalty area. A match official indicates a penalty spot. 2-0!
Scolari makes no hesitation but pull out his first card. The first substitute: Ricardo Quaresma in the right wing. Costinha is out. C.Ronaldo and Pauleta are two top. Scolari increases front men to pressure Brazil defense. Figo and Quaresma beats Brasilian sidebacks and makes a lot of services to the center forwards. Pauleta kick it in. But still 2-1. The games procedes to the final 15 minutes. No progress.
Scolari finallly pull out the joker: the last card. "Felipe Scolari announced next substitute. The number 10, Manuel Rui Costa. The man comes back from 2 year silence. Can he get his last glory in Germany before ending his career or quietly finish it at Benfica stadium! Now the great number ten step into the pitch to face his clubmate, Kaka."
Rui Costa touches the first ball and pass it to Deco. Combination is not bad. Again he gets it and dribble to the right. He swing his right foot and an accurate cross finds Pauleta and he headed in! 2-2! Portugal continues to attack and gets a corner kick. Figo takes it and hurriedly kick it into the penalty area. Pauleta can not finds the net and tumbled down with Brasilian defenders. C.Ronaldo is blocked. Quaresma stays far side and can not reach. One player with Portuguese shirt rush into the ball and crowded area. He made a dive and the ball passes the line! A goal! The number 10 falls down on the pitch. "Rui Costa! A great comeback! He takes his nation to the Worldcup final! First time in history! A lot of Portuguese supporters are crying!"

The Final: Portugal vs. Italy
"The Worldcup final in 2006 is going to be played with two European nations. Portugal and Italy. Portugal has never beaten Italy in their history. Today is the day for them to change the history or Italy will celebrate their 4th victory. We are here to witness this great moment. According to Italian media, the coach Marcello Lippi will absence this important match for unknown reason. An urgent meeting was held between FIFA and Italian Football Federation. The Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took in charge the matter. In a few minutes the players will step into the stadium. Nobody still knows who will lead Italy. Oh ladies and gentlemen, Italian team has arrived. The first person appeared on the stadium is, oh, can you believe it: It is Roberto Baggio. He leads Azzuri in the final of Worldcup 2006! It is said that he may join the directing board of Inter. Now he is here to get the trophy as the Italian coarch!"
The starting lineup of Italy and Portugal are no surprise. Portugal has Figo, Ronaldo and Deco behind the one top, Pauleta. Italy has Giraldino and Totti to attack. The whistle is blown. The game starts. Totti passes Pirlo. Portuguese advance and chase the ball. The first half has played even. Portuguese hold the great share of ball possession and Italians make several counterattack. Great game! The score is 0-0.
10 minutes after the second half begin, Scolati makes a move. Put Rui Costa and Quaresma into the pitch to increase their attacks. Four midfielders; Figo, Quaresma, Deco and Rui Costa supply a lot of balls to Pauleta and Ronaldo but no goal. Italian defense is strong.
"Cannavaro missed clearing and the ball stops in front of Ronaldo. Ronaldo kicks toward the goal. Bufon reaches out. The ball passed over his finger tip. Gooooal. Portugal leads!"
"Scolari experience as a coarch is well over Roberto Baggio. Now Baggio faces his second agony in the Worldcup final? Or does he have any plan to overcome this situation. The remaining time is just 20minutes. Oh, the official announced a substitution, Number 18, in the Italian side? Who is Number 18??? The Italian coarch gets mad? Oh, Baggio started to take off his tie and shirt. The number 18 appeared on his chest! Oh amazing. There is some rumor that Baggio has continued his training even after his retirement and the press speculated his possible comeback. Here he is in the Worldcup final!"
"Now, remaining time is 10 minutes! after careful warm-up, he steps into the pitch. Does he really change the situation. Portugueses players started to pressurize italian defense to make a decisive second goal! Figo's cross ball was well cleared by Cannavaro. Manich hit it toward the goal from the edge of the penalty area. Buffon punched off. Now, Deco takes a conner kick. Cleared by Nesta. Italians passed it forward. Pirlo kicked to Roberto Baggio. As Portuguese focused on attacks, there are only two remaining. Ricardo Carvalho seized to Baggio. Baggio trapped the ball high to go over the head of Carvalho. He swiftly passed him. Now, one on one situation against Ricardo. Baggio hit it hard. Wow, what a goal! It's a screamer! Ricardo can not move! 1-1"
"Now the situation is reverse. Italians makes short passes to attack. The remaining time is just 2 minutes. Oh, Ferreira pushed down Totti in the penalty area! The official pointed at the penalty spot. I believe Totti himself take the kick. Oh, Totti said no! He is giving a ball to Baggio. Baggio takes it and kick it, Gooooal! Roberto Baggio, now he finally buried his misery of 1998's worldcup final. He has made new history for Italy. Now it is the final whistle. Italy won the world cup. The MVP must be Baggio. Wonderful night in Berlin! The final score is 2-1! "

Gourmet Quest 1

2006-04-07T09:07:00.000Z

Gourmet Quest 1
Today, I introduce you some gourmet food product that I found on a local and foreign market. I think finding and tasting delicious food is one of the aspects that we enjoy the most on trip.

In my case, cheese is the subject that I am currently interested in.
Tentation de Saint Felicien (France)
Milk : Cow milk
Type: Uncooked, unpressed and soft cheese with white mould
This creamy cheese is best suit with simple white bread.

Fiore Sardo (DOP)
Origin: Sardigna, Italy
Milk: sheep
Type: Uncooked, pressed, hard smoked cheese
It is said that this cheese dates from the Roman Time. It is hard like a stone and has no elasticity. It breaks down when cutting. It is strong cheese but not spicy or salty like Pecorino cheese.

Kyoto and Japanese tradition

2006-04-07T08:45:00.000Z

Kyoto and Japanese tradition
It was in the end of November when Linda told me that her boyfriend and she had a plan to visit Japan for the Chinese New Year. In the beginning she chose Tokyo as their destination and asked me for some advice where to visit. My advice was not to visit Tokyo but to fly to Osaka to visit two past capital of Japan: Kyoto and Nara. There are a lot of temples and shrines in these towns and most foreigners love them. In the end they decided to visit Kyoto instead of Tokyo. So, it has become my obligation to guide them in Kyoto. Well, obligation may not be precise because I always wanted to guide some foreign friends in Japan. Usually, I am the one who travel to visit them. When they see me off in the end of my visit, they say, “You have to show me around Japan when I visit you”. I say ok but they often add “But you are always traveling. You’re never in Japan.” Or they greet me saying “Hi Yasu, it’s been a long time. You’re always traveling” Either way. So, this is my first time to be a guide for foreign friends.

Kyoto
Kyoto is regarded as the center of Japanese culture and history. It had been a capital for almost a thousand years in Japanese history since 794. Even after Shogun, the head of Samurai moved their government; the imperial government remained in Kyoto until 1867. During these eras, Kyoto culture flourished and influenced greatly in our life.
Kyoto is the city that I proudly recommend to foreign tourists.

I took the first flight to Osaka on Friday, the 3rd of February to meet Linda and her boyfriend at the lobby of Kyoto Miyako Hotel. After ten or fifteen minutes of my arrival, they came back to the hotel from a short walk. Linda introduced me to her boyfriend. It was more than three years since we last met.

When I asked her where she wanted to go first. She seemed to have studied her guidebook and said that she wanted to walk along the path called “Tetugakunomichi”, namely Philosopher’s path that leads us to Ginkaku-ji temple, a temple which is crowned the world heritage site.
I had no idea about this path why it is called in such a name.
“I know there are hundreds of Buddhist and Shinto monks in our history but a great philosopher?? We are not Greeks. Well, Japanese exaggerate such a story to bring more tourists. That ‘s what it is! That philosopher could be anyone. ” I made my own conclusion.
“I don’t know the story but we can check it out. It is on the way to Ginkaku-ji temple. That is the one you should not miss while you are in Kyoto” I said to her without revealing much of my ignorance.

Ginkaku-ji temple was built by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, 8th Shogun of Muromachi Bakufu government in the 15th century. The English name is Silver pavilion. It was meant be built to be painted with silver like Kinkaku-ji. However, in the end of Ashikaga Shogun era, the Samurai government was never able to finance this work and has finished without painting it. You may be disappointed with the size of the pavilion. But the garden and the view from the hillside are breathtaking.

Kinkaku-ji temple was built by the third Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397, during the most flourished time of the period. The pavilion itself is rather small, too.

The other temple we visited is Kiyomizu Temple. You may be disappointed by visiting previous two temples if you expect to see some truly beautiful Japanese temple. If you feel so, I recommend you to visit Kiyomizu-dera temple. It is built on tall wooden base. In Japanese, there is an expression related to this temple. When we encourage someone to overcome fear or make his mind to set off for a big challenge, we say “Try it bravely like jumping off from the Kiyomizu terrace.” However, I believe that the expression is not really appropriate. Because if you jump off from there, you will definitely break every bone in the body and result in a terrible death!

By the way, there is a small shrine in the place of Kiyomizu Temple that is believed to achieve love. I took a photo of a new Taiwanese couple.

It was snowing in Kyoto. Linda told her boyfriend about her first day of snow in Newcastle, the story how we built a snowman at North terrace. We were four of us. Linda, Michael, Nuno and me. Michael retreated inside in the early stage. You know, people remember events in their past differently. I did not remember that I was the one who taught how to make a snowman till she told me the story again today.

In the second day, we went to Nijo Castle. Unlike other castles or forts, buildings in the castle are no more than two stories. It was because the castle was built for a residence for Tokugawa Shogun, the head of Samurai government to stay during his visit in Kyoto but not to protect themselves from battles. Actually the work was started in 1603 after Tokugawa government won a major war. Therefore, it was built like a palace rather than a castle.

The places where we visited in two days are the major tourist sites in Kyoto. However, Kyoto has a number of other places where you can experience Japanese culture. Tokugawa Shogun took major authority and power from the Imperial government and built a new capital in Tokyo in 1603. Since then, Tokyo has developed as political and economic center. However, Kyoto remained its position as a cultural center. It developed own culture. Nowadays tourists visit Kyoto to enjoy traditional theater, Kabuki, music, tea ceremony and food. Here we concentrate on dining out in Kyoto and its dishes.

Many Europeans whom I met considered the Japanese cuisine is among the healthiest food in the world. It is quite popular in Europe. For example, our beloved football King, Luis Figo is a great fan of Japanese food. Most popular dishes are Sushi, Sahimi (raw fish), Tenpura.

On the second day, we went to the river-side area to have some lunch. We walked along a traditional street and went inside a restaurant where they cook Unagi (grilled eel).
We, Japanese traditionally eat eels grilled with a sweet soy sauce. It is said to be good to regain some strength and energy in your body. An eel is a fresh water fish found in river. It is long and has a smooth skin like a snake. It used to be found in many clean rivers when I was a child. But nowadays, most of eels at supermarket are grown in fish farms same as many other fish. They are given chemicals and mostly tasteless compared to the ones caught in river. So, if you want to eat a good eel, you should go to an eel restaurant.

Here is some grilled eel with a bowl of rice (I do not know the name nor gender of the eel on my plate. It could be Taro or Hanako).

After lunch, we went shopping on the streets of Kyoto and lost our way back to the main street. On that evening, I took a flight back to Fukuoka, wishing for next interesting trip. I hope you gain some knowledge of Japan and became interested in visiting Kyoto.

Remaining story of Barcelona

2006-04-07T08:27:00.000Z

DAY 13
Shopping in Barcelona
After Nuno’s departure, I realized that I had only three more days to spend my time in Barcelona. Yet I had so many things to do. Barcelona is the city that you probably wish to visit again and you would still find something new and interesting. It is said Catalan people are creative and are accustomed to adapt something from outside world in their culture. You can observe these characteristics in the buildings and arts. I am sure you will be never disappointed with visiting this city.
In addition, I found people on the streets of Barcelona are more fashionable than people in Madrid and in the rest of Spain. One of the reasons why I chose Barcelona is to enjoy shopping. In recent years, Spanish fashion business is becoming strong. I am sure you have heard Bota and Zara.
The label that I introduce here is called Tous.

Glasses and sunglasses (Tous, Grand Optical) Website: www.grandoptical.com

I went into a Zara shop to buy jeans and asked if I have their length adjusted. A shop assistant said that I could only collect them after weekend. I wanted buy them just because they are cheap. So, I gave it up and went out to look for another item, a pair of glasses. At Grand Optical, a optician shop, you can make your own glasses in a few hours (including eye examination). I always wanted to replace my old glasses and suffered from irritated eyes by putting contact lens for long hours. I found their service is quite professional. While you are waiting, you are served a glass of water and some chocolate. I was bit excited about testing my Spanish. Not all opticians speak English

Price: 320 Euros in total

Here are some other items that I bought in Barcelona.

Agenda and backpack (Piquadro, Pas Gracia 11 )

Price: Agenda (74 Euro), backpack (74 Euro)
Website: www.piquadro.com

I first came across this brand when I was staying Bologna in Italy three years ago. It was not so popular even in Italy and they probably did not have their own outlets. Now here they are in Barcelona, expanding their business to the Iberian peninsula. Shop assistants were Italians. English spoken

Day 14: Last class
It is my last day in Spanish class today. This class is unique. In fact, I always find very exciting and fun to learn a language in a multinational class. In Japan I was fed up with being criticized to be talkative and original. Here I can be myself and my classmates are generous.
Gaspar was flipping a pencap into his coke can and a teacher scolded him
“Eres como un ninho! ( You are like a child)!”
Our teacher is a strong Barcelonista, supporting her football club. All in class almost agreed that FC Barcelona is currently showing the best and most exciting football.
One of the girl in the class love Deco and all of them confirmed Ronaldlho is fantastic in football but muy feo (ugly).
“How cruel girls are!.” I thought. I remembered almost all the girls support Italy over Brasil in the last World Cup. One of girls in the class fancy Cristiano Ronaldo. Now, after David Beckham and his media campaigns, football is becoming a hot topic to girls in general.

I took some pictures of our class in the end of the lesson and gave a brief comment and said our classmate good luck with their study and left the room.

Day 15
At five o’clock in the morning, I woke up with a sharp noise of the alarm clock. I dragged myself out of bed before falling asleep again, headed for the bathroom to wash my face. I made a cup of espresso to revitalize my body system (Actually, I can hardly be myself without it).
I made the last check of my personal belongings before heading for the door and I heard somebody entering our apartment. It was Stephanie and Isabel, my flat mates
“You are leaving?” they asked me.
I answered yes and they started to ask about what happened last night. They went to discos.
“Stephanie finished a bottle of vodka and she is drunk! She never stopped laughing on the way home. She is crazy .” Isabel said.
Her face is red. “No no, you are crazy ” Stephanie protested. It was a fanny moment.
I said to them it was time for me to leave. We hugged each other and said good luck. And then they returned to the bedroom.
I took subway and a shuttle bus to the airport. On the way to the airport, I enjoyed the last view of Barcelona.
“I’ll come back here again and I have a lot of things left to see here.” I said to myself.

My vacation lasted only two weeks. It was too short to experience a life in Spain. When I got used to a Spanish life, it was almost time to leave. Time flies. There are a lot more to see. This will probably motivate me to visit this country again. I hope that my travel diary may be of some tips for you to visit Spain.

The theme: 19 North Terrace and Newcastle

2006-03-30T09:50:00.000Z

This is Michael's contribution. The credits are given to Mike :-)

Isn't it Nuno's birthday today?!?!

2006-03-25T12:56:00.000Z

Hey, Nuno:
If my memory's still functioning well, I think today is your BIRTHDAY!!! I think I'd better ignore the sensitive question of how old you are this year :b You're forever young.
Let's give this birthday BOY a big HUG!!!
Get drunk!!!

Yellow submarine

2006-03-18T14:54:00.000Z

U know, in China, we call those people who occasionally wrote sth on the blog 'submarine'.
I feel i am a yellow submarine, yellow submarine...

:)

Happy Birthday, Michael!!!

2006-02-19T14:47:00.000Z

Just pop in and give Michael a "Happy Birthday" greeting, though this is the last hour of his birthday!!!

Newcastle Friends at 19 North Terrace

Trip to Kyoto

A day trip to Nara (奈良)

Place to eat in Kyoto

Place to stay in Kyoto

Kyoto "Cultural Center" 2: Kyo-Yuzen (京友禅)

Kyoto"Cultural Center"1: Tea Ceremony (茶会)

Kyoto "Historical Capital" 4: "Emperial Palace (京都御所)"

Kyoto "Historical Capital" 3: Other Places

Kyoto, Historical Capital 2: World Heritage

Kyoto "Historical Capital" 1: "Gion (祇園)"

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 5: Tofu Fast Food (豆腐のファーストフード)

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 4:Soba/蕎麦

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 3: Izakaya and Yakitori/ 居酒屋 ・焼とり

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 2:Sushi (寿司)

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 1: Grilled Eel / うなぎ

Japan and Portugal 3 (Tenpura)

Japan and Portugal 2 (Conpeitos “Confeitos”)

Japan and Portugal 1 (Castela)

Supporting Greece 2

Supporting Greece

Recent progress

Southeast of Belgium: Pays de Herve

Belgium

Another trip to Italy (Part12): Frittata

Another trip to Italy (Part11): Balsamic vinegar

Another trip to Italy (Part10): making Pasta

Another trip to Italy (Part9): Market

Another trip to Italy (Part8): Marche

Another trip to Italy (Part7):Parmigiano Reggiano

Another trip to Italy (Part6): Carpi

Another trip to Italy (Part5): Parma

Another trip to Italy (Part4) : Bologna

Another trip to Italy (Part3) : Modena

Another trip to Italy (Part2) : Italian class

Another trip to Italy (Part1)

Spanish food

My vacation Part 2: Holland

Linda's wedding and my short trip to Taiwan

Congratulations to Linda and Tso Lin!

My vacation (Part1:Belgium)

A trip to Taiwan

Goa is nice!

Newcastle again!

Trip to Lisbon: Part3: RUN RUN RUN

Trip to Lisbon Part2: Exploring the city

Trip to Portugal

Have I entered our blog?

The wedding in Sintra, summer 2007

Oh My God~~~

Investigation

address

Happy birthday to Nuno

My friends and I

Michael's Back

...and Happy Birthday Linda!!!

'PIG' year, greetings from lu

...and Happy Birthday Michael!!!

Happy birthday Yasu!!!

Merry Xmas

Belgium

Kick off to Germany

Great Georgian food!

Russian (advanced) engineering

Received greetings from Germany

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations

Having fun in Germany

The World Cup Previews

Gourmet Quest 1

Kyoto and Japanese tradition

Remaining story of Barcelona

The theme: 19 North Terrace and Newcastle

Isn't it Nuno's birthday today?!?!

Yellow submarine

Happy Birthday, Michael!!!

Kyoto "Gastronomic Capital" 3: Izakaya and Yakitori/ 居酒屋・焼とり