happylife

Root Beer

It was last spring, in a pub in Vancouver that I first had Root Beer. My friend teased me and recommended Root Beer as the first beer in Vancouver. It is terrible! I tasted Root Beer as a kind of real beer, and I almost threw it up. As you know, Root Beer is one of pop drink and has no alcohol. It is far from beer. It tastes like Dr. Pepper. I don't know why they call this pop "Root beer". But, now, I like Root Beer. It isn't bad. I prefer it to Coke and I found today the most delicious Root Beer which is white and includes vaniyla cream.

Folding bike

I'm riding on a folding bike which I brought from Japan. It is designed in Germany and made in Taiwan. It is so small and light-weighted that when I brought it into Vancouver, the airport officer wouldn't believe it was a bike before he opened the carrying bag. I bought it a few years ago in Japan, but I couldn't enjoy it in Tokyo because Tokyo is a cramp city. And the tires of it are so small (just 16 inches in diameter) that it is difficult to get over a small gap which we can find very often in Tokyo. I've already run more than 600km on this bike in Vancouver. I'm planning to run more than 1,000km before I go back to Japan this October.

The Princess Diaries

Last night, I watched a Disney movie, "The Princess Diaries" on DVD. It's a story that a 15-year-old school girl, who has been living in San Francisco with her mother, is one day noticed by her grand mother that she is an heir of the throne of one small country in Europe. Her grand mother teaches her every thing necessary for being the Princess, but she doesn't get used to that. As it is a comical and cute movie, I enjoyed it very much. And fortunatelly, the DVD includes a bonus ticket for "The Princess Diaries 2". So, I'm going to see the continuance in the theatre next week.

Japanese foods in Vancouver

I sometimes go to a Japanese restaurant in Vancouver to have some Japanese foods such as tempura and sushi which are difficult to cook myself. This is a picture of my favorite combo menu which includes both of them and udon-noodle. Generally speaking, Japanese foods in Vancouver are not bad. Of course they are far from the original menu in Japan, but I can totaly enjoy them. When I visited New Zealand about fifteen years ago, I ordered sushi in a local Japanese restaurant. They were so different from sushi that I was almost vomitting them. So, in the point of foods, I think that Vancouver is also a pleasant city.

Cupping

These are cupping glasses. My Acupuncturist always uses them after the acupuncture. When he puts them on my back and sucks air with a handy pump, my excess flesh is sucked into the glasses and I feel like being pinched. He seems to use them to suck my evil blood out. I don't like this treatment because it is a little bit painful. But I can't complain about that, as my backpain is favorably getting better day by day.

Sunshine

The sunshine has come back after a long cloudy period. As my backpain seemed to have gone away, I went cycling to Stanley Park. It was almost one month break. Although I feel no pain now, my legs have got weaken. and also the tires of my bicycle were soft. So, first of all I went to a bicycle shop on Denman to get some air for them, and then I started cycling around the park. I was happy because I had retained one of my happiest time. This is a picture of Kids' Park in Stanley Park where a lot of children were playing in the water last month, and now, no children are playing because it is cool.

California roll

California roll is one of the most popular Japanese food in Vancouver. As you know it is a kind of sushi made of avogado, which tastes like tuna. In Japan, it is not so pupular because avogadoes are not so cheap in Japan, and because many of traditional sushi sheffs and customers do not accept this alternative sushi menu. So if you want to taste California roll, you had better try it not in Japan but in Vancouver.

Heavy rain

Today it was raining heavily in Vancouver. As we rarely have such heavy rain here, most people in Vancouver usually don't use umbrellas. But today, they were reluctantly using them. This isn't a picture of a river, but a road which I passed through after shopping in a Japanese grocery. Huge amount of water filled the drain and the road looked like small flood. Cars were swimming there with splash. I really miss the clear blue sky and the pleasant summer days.

Pizza

Pizza is one of my staple diet in Vancouver. Although I loved pizza when I was in Japan, it was not popular and a little bit expensive there. So, when I came to Vancouver and found a 99-cent pizza shop in the street, I was very happy. I have tried most of pizza shops in Vancouver Downtown, and found most favorate, small take-out restaurant near my apartment. This set of peperoncino and Hawaiian cost only one buck! Whenever I am hungry and want to save money, I have this one.

West Vancouver

Last night, I was invited to a dinner by my friend's friends. They are an old couple a little bit younger than my parents, and they live in a mansion in West Vancouver. West Vancouver is a very good place to live in because it is calm, full of nature, and not so inconvenient. I was very happy to have a nice dinner in a beautiful garden looking down at the sea, and listening to hamming birds. Of course I like living in Vancouver Downtown, but I feel it is a little bit noisy. So I wish I could live in a small house in West Vancouver someday.