This week, Hurricane Gustav did a lot of damage to the Louisiana area. This was the same area hit by Hurricane Katrina only 3 years ago, so many places had just been rebuilt before this new storm came. There are many different aspects to these disasters, affecting many parts of the lives of not only caught in the storm, but also for all of America.
First, many people have said that it is a bad idea to rebuild after the storms in Louisiana. They say that because most of the area is below sea level, it is too easily flooded by storms like this, so it’s better not to make a city there. However, the ports in Louisiana are a major shipping center for the US, because it lets ships move up and down the Mississippi River, the 2nd longest river in America. It’s a very important shipping route for the whole country, and without a city at the end to make a port, it would be useless.
Also, on the political front, many people were unsatisfied with President Bush’s (and the government’s) slow reaction to Katrina. FEMA Chief Michael Brown even lost his job over this controversy. This time, Bush has made a lot of effort to show that he cares for the people affected by Hurricane Gustav. Personally, I would like to see the Vice President actually go to the affected areas to help with recovery work, while having the President stay in Washington to update the media on the progress.
By the way, you might know that storms around the Americas are called “hurricanes”, while the same storms in Asia are called “typhoons”. But did you know that typhoons also have names like hurricanes do? Usually, Japanese refer to typhoons by numbers, starting with “#1″ for the first typhoon every year. However, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) uses a list of names, with names from all of the affected countries, including Japan. So, last year’s “Typhoon #5″ was actually called “Typhoon Usagi”!
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Every summer, two networks make a day-long broadcast event: Fuji TV with their 27-Hour TV Special, and Nippon TV with the 24-Hour TV Special. About a month ago, Fuji TV did their 27HTV Special, and the 24HTV Special runs this weekend. While both specials are similar in their length and format, their purposes and styles are very different.
The 27-Hour TV Special is usually hosted by comedians or Johnny’s members. Last year’s host was Shingo Katori from SMAP, and this year was Sanma Akashiya. The host typically appears in many different segments, which are modified live versions of Fuji TV’s various shows. All of the shows are more special than usual, with rare guests and new segments, with the added bonus that the host appears in every segment, one after the other, without much of a break at all. While Shingo’s appearance last year wasn’t so interesting (he spent the entire day advertising his last “star-vehicle” movie “Saiyuki”), Sanma’s performance was outstanding. He appeared on not one, but two talk segments with his ex-wife, actress Shinobu Otake, talking rather candidly about their time together and their current situation. He also had some good back-and-forth time with Takeshi Kitano (they’ve had a rivalry going since they appeared on 27HTV many years back when Takeshi beat up Sanma’s car), and he even broke in on big-name duo Downtown when they were taping their music show “Hey! Hey! Hey!”. It was a really rare chance to see Sanma interact with other famous comedians that typically only host their own respective shows and don’t often appear on other shows.
24HTV, on the other hand, typically has more taped segments, usually dramas with big stars. Also, they focus a lot more on human interest stories about people with disabilities and such. While this is admittedly admirable, it’s not as entertaining as I’d like.
The centerpiece of 24HTV is the 24-Hour Marathon, run by each year’s selected celebrity runner for the duration of the event. The climax of the 24-hour broadcast is when the runner reaches the “Budokan” where everyone welcomes them and sings the ending song, “Sarai”. This year, newcomer comedienne “Harumi Edo” will be running, so I’m sure she’ll finish much quicker than last year’s “Kin-chan”, who’s in his 70’s.
If you watch 24-Hour TV this year, let me know what you thought afterward!
Last week, during my summer vacation, we went with some of our friends to North Safari Sapporo, a small zoo south of Sapporo, on the way to Jozankei. We’d been there a couple times before, and it’s a very reasonable way to spend an afternoon.
They have lots of different animals, like penguins, owls, and even reindeer and llamas! The zoo is pretty small, but you’re always very close to the animals, and you can touch almost all of them! Even at a larger zoo like Maruyama Zoo or Asahiyama Zoo, you can’t touch live penguins like you can there!
I didn’t take any pictures of the animals this time because it’s better to see them for yourself up-close. However, I did take some videos:
Here, I’m riding a Segway, that famous two-wheeled vehicle that you might have seen before. For only 2,000 yen (with a friend), you can ride the Segway through the forest near the zoo for about 30 minutes. It’s really fun to ride on the Segway, but to be honest, it was kind of slow because we had to follow behind the guide (that’s the man walking in front of me).
They also have many other kinds of rides, like 4-wheel buggies, land-water vehicles, and even a sports car! It’s a little far to go from Sapporo, but you can either drive a car or take a bus from Makomanai Subway Station, so the access isn’t that bad. Next, I’d like to go back to North Safari Sapporo in the winter sometime.
Hello everyone, and welcome back! I hope you all had a chance to visit your families and stretch your traveling legs. The weather was very nice here in Sapporo for most of the Obon Holiday week, and while I didn’t have much money to travel with, I still managed to enjoy my summer!
Today’s story is about the Okurayama Ski Jump. When we moved into our new condominium a couple months ago, we noticed that we have a great view of the mountains to the west of Sapporo. Almost directly west of our condominium is Okurayama, and it looks very nice when it’s lit up at night.
One day, I thought it would be a good idea to get on our bikes and check it out up close. I realized then that it’s much farther than it looks out our window, and it took about 2 hours to get there (of course, it’s all up-hill). By the time we arrived, it was getting close to sunset.
First, we looked at the gift shops and tried some “famous” ice cream (it was alright, I guess). The “Ski Museum” was closed, so we went ahead and rode the ski lift to the observatory above the ski jump. Here’s a look straight down the ski jump:
It’s pretty amazing to think that Olympic Ski Jumpers have to slide down that thing!
Also, the view of Sapporo was wonderful:
If you’ve never been there, it’s a great piece of Sapporo history and a perfect sightseeing point.
I don’t usually use taxis to get around Sapporo, but when I do ride a taxi, I’m generally treated well. The drivers are kind, and although they don’t always try to have a conversation with me like American taxi drivers do, they’re often friendly.
It was raining very hard this morning, and I was running a little late for work, so I decided to take a taxi to make up for lost time. The taxi driver that pulled up to let me in was a middle-aged woman, and at first, she was rather quiet. However, when we first came to a crowded road and slowed down, she pulled out a small basket and set it in the money tray.
“If you’re tired and need some energy, please have some candy,” she said. The little straw basket was filled with throat lozenges and other small candy.
I was very surprised at this, and I asked her if it was really okay to have one. “Yes, please,” she said, “I usually have to keep the basket up front with me, or the candy will spill everywhere!” she laughed.
In other words, she had been waiting for a chance to offer me some candy. I was really moved by such a kind act.
When we finally arrived at the office, she told me to “be careful not to catch a cold… it’s raining very hard out there!”. In a taxi system without tips, it’s such a wonderful way to start your day with such kindness. Thank you, Taxi Lady!
This past weekend, I ran into an old friend in Mitsukoshi department store. They were having a “Food and Merchandise from Around the World” event, and look what I found!
It’s a Nathan’s Hot Dog! If you’ve been reading the IAY blogs for a while, you might remember that I last had Nathan’s hot dogs about 2 years ago. At that time, there was a small stand under TV Tower (the “Alex Channel” image on the left is a picture of me taken there). Nathan’s is a hot dog maker from America that uses beef frankfurters that are grilled, not boiled, for a delicious taste!
Mmmm, tastes great!
Also, they were selling a new item I’d never tried from Nathan’s: a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. It’s basically beef steak sliced up like the beef on a “gyudon”, mixed with onions and topped with melted cheese.
That really hit the spot! Because, after all, summer means it’s time for barbecue, right?
When I was living in America, I drank a lot of soda pop. I’m trying to cut down on it now, but I still drink it now and then. If you’ve ever been to America, you might know that Americans are usually split very sharply between drinking Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. In restaurants, you will never see only “Cola”, like you sometimes see on Japanese menus. Even restaurant owners are specific about whether they serve “Coke” or “Pepsi”, and often, customers will decide to drink something else if the restaurant doesn’t serve “their kind of cola”.
For research, many people have done blind taste-tests in America. They’ll ask a person to drink Coke and Pepsi without labels, then ask them which brand they think it is. Ironically, people who swear that they never drink Pepsi and they always drink Coke… usually can’t correctly choose Coke.
Anyway, I’ve usually been a fan of Pepsi products, although I drink Coke if it’s the only kind available. When I was in America, Pepsi released a limited edition of Pepsi called “Pepsi Blue”, which was… well… blue! It tasted kind of like “Blue Hawaii” or blueberry or something blue, and I thought it was pretty good. Then, the other day, when I stopped by a convenience store for a drink…
“Long time, no see!”
It’s not exactly the same as before, but it was very nostalgic, and quite delicious. If you like soft drinks, especially drinks like “Fanta”, give it a try while you can!
One of my good friends gave me this small figurine as a present.
When I was an elementary school student, I practiced “Tang Soo Do”. It’s a Korean martial art that’s very similar to “Tae Kwon Do”, which is another Korean martial done even as an Olympic event. She told me that she remembered about me learning Tang Soo Do when she saw the figurine, so she bought it (actually, she bought the bottle of tea that it was attached to).
I’ll tell you more about Tang Soo Do and my experiences very soon!
First thing’s first - here are the Tokyo Cakes, as promised. If you didn’t know, they’re like really small pancakes. Pretty delicious!
As I planned, I went to the Hokkaido Shrine Festival in Nakajima Park on Saturday evening. Usually, I don’t like big crowds, but since I went at around 9PM (an hour before closing), it was easy to move around and get what I wanted. I usually try to sample the new, hot items every year, and this year, one of the hot items was the “Tornado Potato”. There were about 5 or 6 stands selling them over the whole festival grounds.
There’s a stand right now! Every stand that sold these potatoes were posting a picture of Downtown’s Hitoshi Matsumoto eating one during the broadcast of TV show “Downtown Deluxe”. So, if “Macchan” likes it, it has to be good! And they’re selling many different flavors, mostly kinds that you’d expect from potato chips: Soy Sauce and Butter, Nori and Salt, Barbecue… I tried the Nori and Salt.
It looks very interesting! It’s a whole potato, sliced in a spiral and baked on a stick, and it’s all connected! It was quite tasty, actually, and not very expensive. Give one a try if you have the chance!
The beginning of summer is a great time to have festivals in Hokkaido. Just last week, thousands of spectators and participants from around the country, even around the world, gathered for the Yosakoi Soran Festival. I managed to see a little bit of the dancing one day, but everywhere I went, it was so crowded! I finally gave up and went home, but of course, I watched the final competition on TV last Sunday.
The winning team this year was the Hiragishi Tenjin troupe from Hiragishi. As some of my students have also said, I was very happy that they won over some of the other teams. The reason I was happy was that Hiragishi Tenjin’s dance and uniforms were on the traditional side, and their performance had a very Japanese feel to it. However, other teams that reached the finals, JAL’s team for example, gave a performance that had a very strange style to it. JAL’s team’s dancers wore outfits that looked almost metallic, and some of them carried large, fake “garbage” blocks. They tried to convey a message of “environmental care” and such, but it didn’t seem like the place for this kind of activity, even if Hokkaido will be hosting a summit this summer with environmental themes.
The TV broadcast MC, Yoh Oizumi, was quite happy, too. Of course, Hiragishi is his hometown…
And the next festival is… the Hokkaido Shrine Festival! As I live right next to the festival grounds in Nakajima Park, I’ll definitely take a look this weekend. See you at the Tokyo Cake stand!
