happylife

A fire

Late this morning when I was sleeping in my bed, I heard a woman cried something in foreign language. It was like the cheers for the runners I often heard on Sunday morning of a running race in Vancouver, but it wasn't. A few minutes later, I was awoken by my mother. She said, "It's a fire!" I got up and looked out of the window. The next next old wooden apartment was just on fire. It was so close and the fire grew so rapidly with black smoke that I was scared and thought about an evacuation. I had never seen a real fire in such short distance. Fortunately, some fire engines arrived minutes later and the fire was soon put out. The firemen looked very dependable, but unfortunately, an old woman allegedly died in this fire. It's such a common saying but we have to be careful with fire.

Kamakura

A few weeks ago, I visited Kamakura with my friends. We enjoyed hiking through the forest in yellow out there. Kamakura is located south west of Tokyo and it was about a one-hour train trip from my house. The city is sometimes called "Little Kyoto" because of a lot of old temples. The ancient Japanese government was actually in this city about 800 years ago. Sure it is a beautiful city, but it is so close to Tokyo and so popular that it is almost full with people all around the city on every weekend. As it was Saturday when we visited there, not only the roads in there but also small trails in the forests were full of people. We viewed more people than yellow leaves. I would like to visit there again on a weekday next time.

Night view in Tokyo

It's bright even at night in Tokyo. We can't find perfect darkness at anytime in everywhere in this city. I don't think this situation is good because it's unnatural, but I can't do anything to stop this never-dimmed city. As proverb says, "Do as Romans do!" and I found a good way to enjoy this brightness at night; I sometimes enjoy night walking and taking pictures on the way. This picture shows a typical small park in my neighborhood. The place is far from relaxing because it has no greens, no ponds and of course no sea, but it is always full of people mainly small children and their mothers. I had had no interest in this kind of small park, but it changes into something different at nights. This picture is taken with a long time exposure and it looks brighter than it really is. Doesn't it look like a toy world with no people, no sun and some artificial lights?

Touch Typing

I often think that touch typing is one of the most important skills in this age. It is definitely a great help for us when operating a PC and it would be a terrible experience to face towards a PC without this skill. I wonder why it is not taught in elementary school or at least in junior high school. Sure I can do touch typing, but I was only able to type A to Z by touch; I needed to use my eyes when I type numbers and most symbols such as bracket and the four operational symbols. A few weeks ago, I found that it was the major reason why I got easily tired in front of a PC and I decided to master perfect touch typing. I'm now using this black keyboard which has very faint print on each key-top. It was a bit of stress for me to use it because I often had to look close at the key-top to check what it was, but now I can type in any keys without looking. It is nice and relaxing. If you can't type numbers by touch typing, you had better practice it.

Udon

Udon noodle is a kind of Japanese pasta menu items which is made from flour. It is so popular that we can enjoy it even in a buffet in a train station all around Japan. We usually enjoy it in soy-sauce base soup and with some toppings such as tempura, been curd and so on. This picture is my favorite choice of toppings; the red one is cod roe and the green one is sliced leek. There is no soup and just a little bit of soy-sauce and row egg are sprinkled over the udon which is boiled until al dente. It's very simple but tasty. My appetite is aroused by the color combinations.

Rabbit hutches

Japanese houses have been called "rabbit hutches" for a long time. This picture shows the typical hutches just as they really look like. They are so small and cramped that I never want to live in, but most people are working hard day by day to get one of them. I can't believe they deserve tens of annual income of ordinary people. Why do they insist on living in Tokyo? Sure Japan is a small country, but it's not so small that you can easily get a better house for a much lower price outside Tokyo. They say there is no good job outside Tokyo, but there are jobs anywhere people live. Wages in Tokyo are higher than any other local cities but the living costs are way higher there and you can't save more money in Tokyo. After living in Vancouver and Obihiro, I strongly feel that Tokyo is not my place to live.