Free trade gone crazy!

I don't usually write about political issues but today I was angered by something I read in the newspaper.

First of all, please go read the story at the Daily Yomiuri or Yomiuri Shimbun websites:

English
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060803TDY01004.htm

Japanese
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20060802it04.htm

If you cannot read the links, see the bottom of this post for the basic details.


This is TOTALLY unbelievable! I'm sorry to say so, but the US companies/government departments involved in this issue are so SELFISH! I am really, really tired of such things. They are just being bullies {bully} and using their power to get money.

WHY does JR East have to allow international bidding but the USA and France refuse such projects? That is just hypocritical. If it must be allowed in Japan, it should be allowed in other countries too!

The USA forced Japan to accept American beef imports. I don't care about that because customers can decide if they want to eat US beef or not. In the end, each consumer must decide for themself. BUT the Tokyo Station problem is not our choice!

I am angry because the money for rebuilding Tokyo Station should stay in Japan. Japanese people need jobs and Japanese companies need to support the health insurance and pension systems. I am very angry about paying for domestic services (train fares) but the money will go out of this country.

Please don't think I am only attacking America because it is not true. I would be equally as angry if the money went to Australia!!!

*****

* U.S. complaints to the government have forced East Japan Railway Co. to include non-Japanese construction companies in the bidding for a 50 billion yen project to restore Tokyo Station to its original 1914 design, when the station opened.

* The U.S. companies argued the project was initiated by JR East, which is on a list of companies subject to competitive open bidding under the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

* JR East claimed that since its privatization, it was no longer a government organization and, to avoid conflict, has reluctantly invited non-Japanese builders to bid for the project.

* The GPA was designed to allow foreign firms to compete for public works projects over a specified size.

* Since JR East has already been completely privatized, the government feels the railway operator should have been removed from the GPA list.

* The agreement has a clause that exempts projects related to transportation that may affect public safety

* The government says that it is unfair that France's SNCF railway operator and Amtrak of the United States, over which the French and U.S. governments have significant influence, are not included in the GPA list.

Thinking of the environment

These days I am trying to think about the environment and my own health more. I am worried that I am using too many chemicals.

One thing I've done is to stop buying various cleaners and just buy big bottles of good quality dish washing detergent. It can be use for everything! For example:

- washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Just use hot water and detergent, you don't need strong cleaners. If you put some baking soda (= bicarbonate of soda = jusou) on the sponge, you have a gentle but effective cream cleanser. This is wonderful for cleaning china, making glasses shiny and cleaning the cooktop without scratching it. And baking soda has the effect of making more bubbles, so you need less detergent.

- cleaning the bathroom. I don't want to take a bath after I have used a strong bathroom cleaner. They smell and even if you rinse the bath carefully, I am sure some chemicals remain. Dish washing detergent is just as effective and much safer!

- removing stains from clothes. If you have a new stain on your clothes (curry, tomato sauce, etc) put a little dish washing detergent directly on the stain before adding the garment to the laundry as usual. It is also perfect for putting on the collars of white business shirts!

- for washing the car
- for washing windows
- for washing the floor
- for washing your hands

By the way, I usually buy some detergent with antibacterial ingredients but never buy ones with added oils like orange oil. I have tried 100yen shop detergent but it wasn't so effective.

Finally, these days I use plain unbleached toilet paper. I used to use nice patterned white rolls with pretty flowers on them to match my toilet! And the paper was also the thick type especially made for 'washlet' toilets. I have kept a few of the nice rolls for when guests come but for daily use the cheap one is fine, AND it is better for the environment.

Basically I think that modern consumers have been fooled by large companies. We can see many advertisements showing the latest cleaning products but they are probably not much better than regular soap or detergent. Our grandmothers would be shocked at the variety and range of cleaning products that are available now. Worse still, the chemicals they contain are killing us and the environment!

A Simple Soup

I really like soup but sometimes I get tired of eating miso soup so I make something 'western'. Here is a recipe for a simple cream fish soup. Sorry, I made it up myself so everything is 'about this much' rather than exact measurements.

1. Put 2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil in a pan. Turn on the gas to low-medium heat. (Point: oil olive burns easily so don't make it too hot. You can use other oil like canola, but olive oil is healthy and delicious.)

2. Add two cloves of chopped or crushed garlic.
(Note: a clove is one small piece of garlic, and a bulb is the whole round thing that comes out of the ground.)

3. Add one half of an onion, thinly sliced.

4. While the garlic and onion are frying on LOW HEAT, do the next steps. You should stir the pan sometimes.

5. Slice some potatoes very thinly. (About 2mm - I use a slicer/grater you can buy at the supermarket or homecenter.) Add the potatoes to the oil and mix. Be careful not to break the slices.

6. Cut the ends off some green beans and cut them into 3cm pieces. Add to the pan and toss in the oil.

7. Add half of a very thinly sliced carrot. (Again I use the slicer.)

8. Add about a 5mm slice of butter. Toss the vegetables so the butter and oil covers them.

9. Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of plain flour. Mix so the flour and butter coats all the vegetables. It looks a bit sticky but make sure the butter/flour is on the vegetables, not on the bottom of the pan.

10. Add some milk a little at a time while mixing, about 700ml in total. MIX continuously! If the butter/flour coated the vegetables, it will be very easy for it to melt into the milk to make a very smooth soup. DO NOT BOIL IT!!!
(Note: more milk or less flour will make the soup thinner. If you want a thick soup like stew, add more butter and flour at first, maybe 1cm of butter and 3 to 4T of flour. I usually use skim milk that I made from powder, but any milk is okay.)

11. Add two fillets of white fish. I like cod (tara) and I rinse the fillets under water first. Cook on a low heat for a few minutes until the fish becomes white. DO NOT BOIL!

12. Serve

The total time from start to finish is less than 15 minutes because I prepare the next thing while the first things are cooking.

This is delicious served with a simple green salad and French bread. You can use salmon fillets for variation or add a pinch of curry powder to the cod soup. It is also nice the next day for breakfast! If you make it thick like stew you can change it into gratin by putting it in a baking dish, adding cheese to the top and baking. Or put the stew on top of toast, add some cheese and bake it :)

A Frog on a Rose

Lots and lots of baby frogs in my garden. I found this one on a rose last week.

Cute, huh?

Lovely Lotus

Lotus flowers are so beautiful! And of course, lotus root (renkon) is great to eat.

When I married I stopped eating lotus root so much because my husband said he disliked it. I don't remember why, but last year I bought it and he tried it. Now he says it's delicious!

Maybe the reason is that the one he ate before (in Western Japan) was not so fresh or not good quality. Tsuchiura is the lotus root capital of Japan and it is said to be the best. Try driving around Lake Kasumigaura to see fields upon fields of swaying leaves and pink flowers. You'll have to hurry though because the flowering season is almost over. Ueno Park in Tokyo also has a small lake with many lotus.

The only problem is that I think the water in Kasumigaura probably isn't too clean. Hmm, just try not to think about it when you buy lotus root this winter!

By the way, if you want to try a new dish, slice the root thinly and fry it in a tablespoon of olive oil. (Just a little oil is enough.)

A Step Back in Time

Would you like to step back in time? It's really easy if you go to Sobaya in Yanagibashi, Tsukuba. It is a handmade soba restaurant inside a 150 year old farmhouse. Actually, the farmhouse was originally somewhere else in Ibaraki and it was moved to Tsukuba.

You can find Sobaya really easily because it is next to Mizuho vegetable and flower shop on Route 19. It's just south of Banpakukinen Koen. Please check the map and more info here -->

http://mizuhonomuraichiba.com/sobaya.htm

Sobaya is probably my favorite soba restaurant in this area, and the best choice on the menu is the hot kamo-jiru soba (wild duck soba). Unfortunately, it is also the most expensive!!! (And be forewarned, the amount of soba you get mightn't fill you up.) However, it is really delicious and the texture is great.

Here are some photos from a rainy day when I went to Sobaya recently. It is better to go on a weekday because weekends are so crowded and sometimes they finish up all the soba before closing time.

Stinky flowers

Lillies are lovely to look at but I am allergic to them! In fact, I think they stink and they make me sneeze.








These ones are right outside my front door. Hold your nose!

Beautiful bugs

It is amazing what you can find if you look carefully ...








And here is my new 'pet'. Thank you to Y and her daughter for giving it to me :) Can you guess what it is?

A spider?
A bee?



No.


Hint: It lives in water and it will fly when it turns into an adult.








Its the larva of a dragon fly!

By the way, today was the first time for me to hear a cicada in the daytime. The ones that go 'mi mi mi'. I heard the first evening cicadas a few weeks ago - the kind that go 'whee whee'!

Big is not always best!

I feel very depressed. I just learned that my favorite pharmacy will close down.

I really like the small pharmacy inside of Kasumi Supermarket in Takezono. The pharmacy is small and maybe a little more expensive than the big drug store chains, but the staff are wonderful. If I have any kind of medical problem I go ask them for advice and see what they recommend. For example, when I wanted some good pain relief medicine that was also safe for the stomach etc, I searched on the Internet. After that I went to that pharmacy and the one they suggested was exactly what I researched about. The staff take the time to chat and are so kind.

I'm so upset that the store is being forced to close because a big chain drug store opened up very close. I DON'T like that store for buying medicine! A few times I went there but the pharmacist was not at all helpful and couldn't give advice. He just showed me the medicine and said what it is. I can read that by myself! One time he told me the store didn't have what I was looking for, but a few seconds later I found it on the shelf. Grrrrrr!

Anyway, there is nothing I can do about the small store closing. I have always tried to shop there and support them but it seems many people are only interested in low price products. I asked the pharmacist where she will work next and I will try to go to her new workplace.

Please support small stores. Big stores might be convenient, have long hours and have cheap prices BUT they are often not very professional or friendly. I fear that someday there will be no staff in stores and that we will just see robots/machines. Don't laugh - now in Australia there are 'self serve' registers with no staff. You scan your own groceries and pay by credit card. And of course, everyone is familiar with self serve gasoline stands.

Ah, now I feel blue.

Another Indian Restaurant

A while ago a friend recommended a new Indian restaurant in Ninomiya so my husband and I tried it out. It's called Raja - India/Nepal Foods Raja.

There is a lunch menu with various options and prices. We chose the set with two curries, naan (or rice), salad and a drink. It was just over 1000yen. The four curries we had were mutton, Kashimir chicken, keema and vegetable. All were delicious but the mutton was the nicest. The naan was great - really big and not so oily. The waiter asked if we would like more naan {okawari} but I think one per person is enough! Oh, and we chose 'average spicyness' {futsu} for the curry. It was nice but maybe next time I'll try the medium level. I had iced chai to drink. That was okay but I prefer stronger tea. Lassi is not on the set drink menu but you can get it at an additional price.

The service was WONDERFUL! I was really impressed with the sincerity of the greetings, the service during the meal and when we left. I think we will go there quite often from now.

By the way, Raja is not so new because it opened in February. That shop used to be a coffee shop, so you might know the place - the Parkside Building in Ninomiya. On Nishi Odori, turn between Mercedes Benz and Otaru Zushi, go about 100m and you can see it on the right, parking is on the left.

I was pleased to find another Indian restaurant because my other two favorite places weren't so good last time I went. My husband also said the taste wasn't so good, and a friend said so too. I don't know if the menu changed, the cook changed or they were just having a bad day! But the disappointing thing was that TWO restaurants' quality fell. Hmmm.

Great Jazz

Do you like jazz? You can find a great jazz show on internet radio at the BBC website.

Actually, the BBC has a lot of radio stations and many jazz programs, so many I can't tell you about them all. One of my favorites is called the "Best of Jazz" on BBC Radio 2.

Here is an easy way to find it:

1. Go to the BBC Radio page at -->
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/

2. In the toolbar in the top right corner, click on OPEN BBC RADIO PLAYER.

3. A new window will open. Now in the top right corner, find the SELECT TYPE OF SHOW menu box, and choose JAZZ. Click GO.

4. The window will change again. Choose BEST OF JAZZ.

5. Listen!

Spicy Cod Roe

A few weeks ago N gave me some spicy cod roe. She ordered it from Fukuya in Fukuoka city, where she lives. Fukuya was the first store that started making spicy cod roe. This season the store brought back it's original recipe for one season.

I received 3 different packs - mild, regular and original. The original was the spiciest but the most delicious! I really recommend it. I don't think you will be able to buy it in department stores, so you might have to call the Fukuoka store direct.

I made lots of different dishes with the roe ...

Simply on rice!

Fettucine with cream sauce.









As a snack with Italian crackers, cheese and blueberries.










Mixing the left over sauce in the container with yogurt to make dip.







And these are scallops in miso sauce also from Fukuya!

Summer Tiredness?

Japanese has a word 'natsubate' which hasn't an equivalent in English. My translation is something like 'summer tiredness'.

At first I thought this word was silly! My hometown is MUCH MUCH hotter than Japan but no-one says they are tired because of the heat. Nowadays I truly believe in 'natsubate'. In fact, this week I have been suffering from it!

It is quite hard to explain to those who don't live in Japan. The best way I can describe it is feeling lethargic, often having a headache, no appetite and generally not feeling well.

How to get better? I don't know! Right now it is over 30 degrees and the humidity is high. Some days in the rainy season the humidity is almost 100% and it is really hard not to feel awful :( My solution is to set the airconditioner to 28 degrees and 'dry', try not to go from inside to outside very often, drink lots of water (over 1 liter a day) and eat light but nutritious food. For example, last night's dinner was a green leaf salad with olive oil and lemon juice dressing, green beans, creamy tofu and a half serving of pasta with homemade basil sauce.

Yesterday I skipped breakfast and lunch because I didn't feel well, but I don't think that is a good idea. Even less energy! So this morning I ate a piece of baked sweet potato :)

Maybe we should eat more food like the traditional Okinawan people or people in South East Asia. If you have any good recipes for 'energy food' please tell me.

The Star Festival

July seventh is the 'Tanabata' star festival in Japan. (In some places it is August 7th.)

I don't have children so I didn't do anything special for Tanabata like writing wish papers to hang on bamboo. But on Friday afternoon Mrs N gave me a lovely paper decoration and showed me how to make another one. This picture is her decoration and it is on the artificial bamboo (shhhh - don't tell everyone it is not real!) in my classroom. I made another decoration for my house at night.

According to the tale of Tanabata, the Weaver Star and the Hunter Star can only meet each other by crossing the Milky Way. If the night is cloudy they must wait another year. Um, I think this year it was cloudy but I forgot to look! But I did get this very beautiful picture of a pink Tanabata sunset.

Look at Mr Spider weaving his web right outside my bedroom window. He looks kind of small but is really very large :( Spiders are EVERYWHERE outside my house this season. Hah, hah, no burglars will come because the spiders will catch them!

Look carefully at the picture!

Take a careful look at these pictures before you read on ...










Last Sunday morning I saw a mini nature show in my front garden. When I looked over the rail of the veranda while putting my futon out to air, I thought "Oh, what a big black worm." But it wasn't a worm! And then I saw what the 'not worm' was doing!

This is a baby snake, and maybe it is called 'hibakari' in Japanese. -->
http://homepage3.nifty.com/japrep/snake/namihebi/hiba/text/hibakari.htm

Anyway, baby snake (which was about the thickness 0f your little finger and about 20cm long) was holding onto a baby frog (which was a little bigger than your thumbnail). Baby frog was desperately trying to escape and was actually pulling baby snake along!

I am not sure what happened in the end because they went under the veranda. I suppose baby frog became breakfast. Maybe a little sad but baby snake also has to live! Most of us happily eat meat and fish, etc every day without any thought. Baby snake might have to get his own food, but what an effort it must be!

Now I wonder where daddy snake, mummy snake and sibling snakes are???!!!

For the first time ...

Last Saturday evening a friend suddenly called and asked if I'd like to go find fireflies with her family. Of course I said "Yes" as I had never seen a firefly before.

We went to an area near the foot of Mt Tsukuba and after an hour or so, found a spot with a few fireflies. I was quite surprised because they were really small! My friend's husband caught one and I held it - it was less than 1cm long. I thought they would be 2 or 3cm :)

The fireflies were on some plants growing in the middle of a small river. I heard they only live in clean water where a certain kind of freshwater shellfish live. Firefly larvae eat the shellfish. Nowadays it is really hard to find such clean water as farmers use pesticides and herbicides. It is such a pity that we are destroying our own environment.

This final picture is one I found on the Internet and it shows you what a firefly looks like in the light. I tried to get a picture of the one we caught, but he moved too quickly!

firefly - 蛍
foot of a hill/mountain - ふもと
shellfish - 貝
larvae - (larva is singular) 〔昆〕幼虫;〔動〕幼生(オタマジャクシなど
pesticide - 殺虫剤
herbicide - 除草剤

Coffee plus ...

I don't drink (alcohol) so much but I do like Bailey's Liqueur. It's nice by itself, on the rocks, with milk, mixed in a cocktail or in coffee!

Try adding about a tablespoon of Bailey's to either hot or cold coffee. Yum! And if you'd like an extra 'kick', add a teaspoon of brandy too!

Did you know that such liqueur coffees are very popular? Almost all restaurants in Australia serve them.

Oh, and Bailey's over vanilla ice-cream is a heavenly treat for 'grown-ups' :)


grown-up = adult

Dai koubutsu!

I like the word 'daikoubutsu'. The Japanese kanji are 大好物。If you can't read kanji on your computer, they are 'big' 'like' and 'thing'. Actually, it means a 'favorite food'.

I learned this word long, long ago on a nature show. I know lots of vocabulary from nature shows :)

This picture is of my 'daikoubutsu'. Apricots are truly my favorite food and I could happily eat them every day. It is a big pity that you can't buy nice apricots in fruit stores here.

The secret of good apricots is to leave them ripen on the tree. If you pick them green and ripen them later, they won't taste nice at all.

Last autumn Mrs K was very kind to give me two apricot saplings. I am growing them in pots. This year they had blossoms but it was windy so most of the blooms fell off and I could get only one fruit. But that is okay because I thought I must wait a few years for the trees to mature.

And I was a wonderful wife and shared my single apricot with my husband :)

ripen - 熟する, 実る
sapling - 若木

A Week of Pets

This week was a week of pets ....

* First of all, I was driving south along Nishi Odori between Otaru Zushi and Anderson when I saw something strange. The traffic was slowing because of a red light so I had time to look around and I saw an old man taking his 'pet' for a walk. He was holding a leash and the pet was behind some azalea bushes - I could just see its back over the top of the bushes. I thought "Wow! That's the biggest Golden Retriever I have ever seen!" for I could see a golden-beige back. Another part of my brain realized it couldn't be so large because the biggest dogs I know are either pure white or pure black (Pyraneese or Newfoundland {sorry if the spelling is wrong!}). Suddenly the pet walked out from behind the bushes and I did a double take - it was a HORSE!!! A miniature horse!

-- Actually, I have seen some other strange pets like this being taken for a walk on a leash. When I lived in Tokyo a man was walking a ferret, and I've seen a cat and a rabbit on leashes in Banpakukinen Koen! --

* The next pets were at Joyful Honda Arakawaoki. The small animal section allows some pets to walk about in the shop. You can find a giant tortoise and recently a lovely white hen (chicken) that allows you to pat her. I really like this chicken and go looking for her. She is usually walking about so please go try to find her.

At J.H. Arakawaoki I also found a new friend. As I was paying at the cash register, I heard flapping wings and suddenly felt a weight on my shoulder. A little yellow parrot landed on me! I was quite surprised but it was really cute.

Why have I been in the pet shop a lot recently? I will tell you later! :)

leash - （動物をつなぐ）革ひも, 綱 -- 《英》 lead
azalea - つつじ
realize - …を悟る, はっきり理解する, 実感する
do a double take - はっと見直す;振り返って見る
miniature - 縮小模型
tortoise - （陸上または淡水の）カメ
pat - 〈人・動物（の体の一部）を〉軽くたたく, なでる
flap - 〈翼が〉羽ばたく;〈鳥が〉羽ばたいて飛び回る

Kita-kamakura

Before moving to Tsukuba 4 years ago, I lived in North Kamakura. Since my first visit to Kamakura in 1995, I had dreamed of living there and in 2001 it became a reality. I was terribly upset when my husband said we had to move to Ibaraki again :(

The rainy season always brings back memories of Kamakura because of the hydrangeas. The blooms are best in North Kamakura - the soil seems to be perfect for them and they are a gorgeous rich violet color. Meigetsuin Temple has so many hydrangeas that it is called 'Ajisai-dera' (Hydrangea Temple). I often took a walk to Ajisaidera and could see countless other beautiful gardens on the way. My own house had hydrangeas too.

Last weekend a TV Tokyo show (Tokyo Admatic Tengoku???) featured Kita-kamakura. It was bittersweet seeing my old neigborhood and the shops I passed every day. I said to my husband that I want to retire in Kita-K.

Tsukuba has its good points and of course Kamakura has its bad points, but I think Kamakura will always be my favorite Japanese town. If only it could have a natural hot spring, then it would truly be perfect!