New mini post box saves up coins for child’s future adventures
Tag Archives: japan
Rolling Elsewhere: Japan trains / various incl. Kanazawa and Yokohama
Roll around Japan with ambient train window views from various locations and rolling stock including the Thunderbird Limited Express towards Kanazawa and a Shinkansen service from Yokohama towards Osaka. In situ sound with no narration or drama rather a rather meditative “space cruise” looking as rice fields, towns and stations go past, and occasionally abstract from the speed, plus the whooshing of zipping through tunnels. That’s all. Enjoy the ride.
Diary: Baby and blossoms (in the time of quarantine…)
Amidst all the chaos and commotion and confusion and concern, my adorable wife and our incoming child are bright healthy and happy… Everything going normal except for all the stuff that’s not.
Receiving excellent care at “sun clinic” near our home and today spent time making Plan A, Plan B and so on with lovely midwife & wonderful dr. + I’m learning a lot more birthing specific Japanese words – we also checked out the birthing room and the room where we will stay for a couple days afterwards, and then shared a moment under sakura tree.
Some of the fun/extra parts of preparing for the new arrival – including stroller and crib shopping and what not – well, need to be adjusted. We’ve got a baby bath, some clothes and a diaper strategy. We’ve also been reading to the belly in both English and Japanese and of course lots of music.
We’re getting the house already as best we can and and i’m doing my best to be a sweet supportive husband instead of worrying about everything everything everything.
We’ve canceled tea ceremonies and picnics and get togethers of course & have had food delivery service set up for some months now, plenty of rations, masks and first aid kits and blah blah blah so we will work on the garden, plant trees and stay busy in the barn.
We got this and June is going to be a magical month for us. We hope some calm come to the world at large by then but the future is unwritten.
Fondly x3
Rolling Elsewhere: Sitayama / Unazuki Onsen, Toyama (Japan)
Rolling various local quirky trains from rustic Sitayama station towards the mountains on Toyama and Unazuki Onsen station – not chronologic or accurate, just ambient views of rolling stock, carriage interiors, watching from windows, as well as catching trains going by.
Mixed with music by Dan Mangan, “Tragic Turn of Events (demo)” from “Nice Nice Very Nice (10 year anniversary)”
Note:
Sitayama: https://goo.gl/maps/i4Vq3xfG7weVfx9M9
Unazuki Onsen: https://goo.gl/maps/crnF9NC2hZ5jKFJ58
More space cruises – by train, tuk tuk, float plane and occasional taxis – from global locales
Diary: Homecooking at Tsuchida Cottage
No doubt lots of folks the world over are getting re-acquainted with their kitchens while experienced cooks share tips and try new things. Indeed, so much sourdough going on in the world!
We have a counter-top convex oven here at Tsuchida cottage now and aside for well-documented visits to ramen shops and coffee/cake stops, we eat at home.
As such, here’s round-up without much in the way of annotations or context of some recent meals i happened to snap a snap of before digging in.
Noto Fish Auction / Dave + Ryoko Shinkonryoko Ramble
[Note: catching up with dossiers from May 2019 when we took an extended ramble around rural areas of Japan as a sort of honeymoon – see Shinkonryoko for more from this journey]
The following is as documented at a small morning fish auction in Noto, Ishikawa-ken [map] (at the end of the Noto peninsula) where various Norwegian and Russian ships also exchange wares.
So many kinds of sea creatures! How many can you name? a few of these (Ankou / angler fish and shellfish of which i don’t the name and more slippery little treats) were later consumed by our hosts and us.
+ Fish etc Variety Pack +
{update: the remarkable Sandra DeMonti sent along many names for many fish, added as captions – consider helping with the rest]
Continue reading Noto Fish Auction / Dave + Ryoko Shinkonryoko Ramble
Diary: Coffee with views plus Ramen and painting preview
In today’s (really March 7th but hey…) edition of “tasty coffee in scenic places with Daveo” I bring you this glorious handcrafted bevvie experience & view of the Seto-nai-kai (Inland sea) from an olive garden (no, not that one, an actual one) in Setouchi, Okayama, ergo:
grinder with a view
elegant workstation
served with affection
Continue reading Diary: Coffee with views plus Ramen and painting preview
Rolling Elsewhere: Toyama, Japan (mostly)
Ambient views from various trains’ windows rolling past rice fields, towns and stations in and around Toyama, Japan (mostly) – No narration, action, plot or really context of any kind, just views and the pleasant clackety-clack of trains (with various station announcements if you really wanna know where the train was passing) on a journey in May 2019.
Ready for anything (as long as shiitake are required)
Stocked up / ready for anything (mostly, as long as *anything* only requires shiitake mushrooms).
Really, this delightful gift arrived by courier yesterday from one of the wife’s fans/friends and I am so happy about it – Taguchi-san cultivates these beauties in logs, as well as all sorts of other fruits and mountain vegetables. Yum! 
Ryoko’s paternal grandparents, Ichiro and Tomiko
Ryoko’s paternal Grandparents Ichiro & Tomiko / wedding photo. My kin.
Notes: Getting ready for the wedding, put together a little inspiration set of some cool old formal photos with plans to do this but everything got a little hectic afterwards so we didn’t get a chance… We still will one of these days, maybe even with the baby in tow… I always go for a chance to dress up in something interesting for photo fun times :)
By the way, we visited grandpa’s grave today – he died in 1972 at 49 years old so assuming married in his early 20s, this was right at the end of World War II… I’ll take another look and see if I can get an exact year as I’m figuring out his bio.