Thursday, March 22, 2007

A day of great food!

A old teacher from my school is in town so we went to a buffet then sang some karaoke. So I thought I'd show you all what a Japanese organic/natural food buffet menu looks like.
http://www.roan.cc/news.htm
It was super super good...

Dinner was great but so was lunch. I ate this
<span class=DSC00250" height="180" width="240">
Pork katsu served at a restaurant attached to a sake brewer's museum. Super good sake too.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Collect These...


IMG 0221
Originally uploaded by sleepytako.
...and win beer!

Most drink companies have these sticker/postcard based campaigns for winning free beer, electronics, travel, toys... I always thought that no matter how many I sent in I'd never win anything, But last Friday night I found a notice from the delivery guy, I had a package. So on Saturday I called the driver and had him deliver it to my job. I won two bottles of special Kirin beer. It seems a bit more foamy and sour than typical Kirin, more Belgium-beer-like. I like it. Not to mention it was FREE!


IMG 0220

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Golfin' and Bathin'


IMG 0193
Originally uploaded by sleepytako.
Last Sunday the weather was great and I made my way out to Arimafuji Onsen about 20-30 min or so by bus from my house. Arimafuji Onsen is quite unique as it’s a combination supersento and golf practice range--one of the two story wacky Japanese kind. While I haven’t played golf for years, I decided to check it out. As a teenager my father got me into golf, which I enjoyed, but I hated the rampant racism, misogyny, and typical upper middle class mindset exposed by the players--including my father. So, I soon left the sport go when I graduated college. That said, I had a great time whacking balls with a rented 3 iron. Funny thing however, to get my balls I had to by a card from a ticket machine in the lobby, but to rent my club I had to pay the lady at the counter. After getting my gear I walked to my spot, second story at the far end. I don’t know wether the lady placed me there because I’m a gaijin or because I’m left handed... Either way, I liked spot. The first few balls totally sucked, but near the end of the bucket I got my groove back on. I even sliced two over the fence! HAHA! Oh yea, the onsen attached, while small, had a great outdoor bath that on that cool sunlit late winter afternoon really felt great!





IMG 0188
Arimafuji Onsen Hanayama no yu
有馬富士温泉 花山乃湯

www.hanayamanoyu.com
兵庫県三田市尼寺835-1

IMG 0189

IMG 0191
I hit two over that left fence.

IMG 0194
The ball vending machine

IMG 0192

Monday, March 05, 2007

Emergency Exit Shadows


IMG 0204
Originally uploaded by sleepytako.
非常口 means emergency exit in Japanese, so if you ever need to escape, that's the place.

Taken on the 神姫バス (Shinki Bus) in 三田 (Sanda).