Nov. 25

I finished coloring a few pages of the book "Secret Garden."

Nov. 24 - Village of Happiness Kobe

y husband and I visited the "Village of Happiness KOBE" today.

We decided to go there at 9:00 a.m. this morning.  We hurriedly prepared our camera and other things and left our place 30 minutes later.  

We dropped by 7/11, a convenience store on our way.  My husband didn't go inside the store.  He just asked me to buy food quickly.  He didn't want to miss any chance of taking pictures of a beautiful bird called "kawasemi" or kingfisher which appears in the Japanese garden in the "Village of Happiness Kobe." 

I picked up three packages of rice balls and two doughnuts, and went to the cashier hurriedly.  I was planning to give the two packages of rice balls to my husband and have one for myself.   Plus, we could each also have a doughnut.

My husband's favorite rice ball in 7/11 - it has two rice balls in one package.

We started driving immediately and he asked me what I had bought.  I replied that we got three packages of rice balls, one of which was for myself, and additional doughnuts.  He complained that it was not enough.  Anyway, it took one hour to get there.

Upon arriving at the Village of Happiness Kobe, we drove to P-4 

the nearest parking lot to the Japanese garden. 

I noticed there were some elderly couples who enjoyed sketching the garden with colorful pencils/water color paints.  My husband came to take of the little bird, so he hurriedly approached some men who were carrying long-focus lens and asked if they have already seen the bird.  

I also love taking photos of the kingfisher, but I was too hungry to concentrate on doing so, so

I headed to the hotel complex.  

I knew there were some stores and restaurants in the buildings.

On my way I noticed that they've decorated the hotel lobby for Christmas.

I was very happy to find packed lunches available at a local farm products shop.

There was pickled plum in the middle of the rice, a typical packed lunch.

The "Fishermen's lunch" was only 550 yen and it was with various dishes. 

 

I went for a walk after lunch.

    

The flowers on the ground which were reflected back to the mirror looked like hearts.  

One of the hearts was made of purple flowers while the other, white.

Then, I went back to the Japanese garden where my husband was staying for a while.

I suggested that he also go to the farmers' market while I attended to his camera in front of the pond, but he said no.  He seemed glad when I offered my share of rice balls.  He ate them in an instant.

I asked if he drank most of the tea in the thermos I packed, if so, he should go to the toilet.  I told him that I would be taking photos in his stead.  However, the hard-headed man didn't want to leave the place even for a moment.  He was constipated the next day.  (He had a hard time for pooing the next day.)

We had been waiting for more than 5 hours when a kingfisher appeared out of the blue. 

There were six other male photographers who were carrying their long lenses with them.  They seemed to be as old as my husband who had retired from work.  All of them became suddenly got excited when the bird appeared in the garden.

The kingfisher is said to be around 17-20 centimeters long.

One man shouted "the bird flew to this direction" pointing at it. 
Everyone moved to the same place at once. 

   

Then someone said, "the bird has just jumped into the water and caught a fish. 
He is swallowing it now." 

Five or ten minutes later, another man said "the bird has just caught a dragonfly." 

All of us got so excited watching the bird for an hour.  As we had the same interest, it was easy to talk with the other photographers.

My husband was so serious in taking pictures of the kingfisher. 
He also seemed like a suspcious man.

We were crazy for staying in the park for 6 hours today. 
We burnt a lot of calories despite the colder temperature.

Nov. 18 - Moyashi and mixed vegetables

I would like to talk about the package of "moyashi" or bean sprouts and mixed vegetables today.

We are just two in the family, so having a package of moyashi mixed vegetables is very convenient and the amount of it is just right.  All we need is just a frying pan, an olive oil, and pork.  The meal will be ready in 5 minutes or so.
 

This package includes moyashi, sliced bell peppers, cabbage and carrots.  The price is around 100 yen, which is higher than the simple moyashi package, which is 30 yen.  But sometimes it is convenient when housewives want to prepare meals quickly.

* * * * * * * * * *

The second package is with includes moyashi, shimeji mushrooms, sliced cabbage and carrots.  The price was around 100 yen. 

The first one is with sliced bell peppers while the second one is with shimeji mushrooms instead. 


* * * * * * * * * *

I went to shopping to a mall in Himeji yesterday.  I bought three pairs of socks for myself at the mall.  On my way to home, I stepped in a shotengai for a minute because fried food in shotengai are delicious. 

Nov. 17

 

My husband and I visited a hospital for our annual medical check-ups yesterday.  Our medical insurance offers them free of charge.  The nurses at the hospital checked our heights, weights, blood pressures, blood tests, and urinalysis.  We waited for an hour for the results, after that we were asked to enter the physician's room respectively.

 

The doctor told me that my cholesterol is too high to be lowered by proper diet and daily exercises.   He recommended that I need to take some medications to lower my cholesterol.   This medical check-up offers only doctor's advice.  If I would like to take medicines, I have to pay for the prescription. 

 

I didn't ask him for a prescription, and I wanted to lower my cholesterol level by eating a balance diet and exercising on a daily basis. 

 

I should not eat fried food and sweets, fish and fruits would be healthier.

 

I am now trying to cook healthier dishes like the picture:  

 

 

(the orange above rice is the fruit, persimmons.) 

I would like to show you how I made the Chinese cabbage recipe. 

I prepared one fourth of the Chinese cabbage. 

I chopped the Chinese cabbage into 1 cm pieces. 

I prepared a pinch of salt or 2.5 cc. 

I put the Chinese cabbage and the salt in a plastic bag.

Shake it well so that the cabbage and salt mix well.

Then, make the pack airtight.

 

Put the bag in the refrigerator for one hour.

 

After that, put out the bag and place in a strainer and wash out the salt. 

Mix the following ingredients in a pot: 
2 tbsp. (30 cc) soy sauce or shoyu 
1 tbsp. (15 cc) of vinegar or osu,
2 tpsp. (15 cc) of sugar,
1 tbsp. (15 cc) of mirin,
1/2 tbsp. (7.5 cc) of dashi-no-moto

Then, heat the pot and put the cabbage.
Don't worry about the water.  Chinese cabbage contains water so you don't have to put water.    

Stir with chopsticks for 5 minutes. 

It is done! 

I believe many Japanese people would love the taste! 

(One hour in a plastic bag is the secret of the crispy taste!)

I never thought about putting vinegar is a good idea, but it works! 

******************

 

We ate the meal for breakfast. 

I thought it was good for peson like me (high cholesterol), but

my husband has been suffering from high blood pressure.

I thought that it was a bit too much of salt.

 

I got the idea of having below.

 

 

A recipe for pumpkin mayonause. 

 

 

 Put the punpkin (approx. 100 g) for microwave.

600 kw for 2 minutes.

 

 

 

 Mix all of them with spoon.

Nov. 15 - Himeji Silver Festival 2015

Silver means "senior" citizens in Japanese language.  And the festival was held by a local group which offers short-period jobs to the citizens over 65. 

My husband and I took a gardening lesson together.

We paid 500 yen each for participation.



A set of round-shaped terra‐cotta pot, two ornamental cabbages (white and purple) and one white alyssum were set up on the table for each participant.

Each of participant can choose his or her favorite color for "garden cyclamen" and one Primula.


The teacher told us how to arrange them in one pot. 

After 30 minutes were so, all of the participants were able to make their arrangements.

Even the pots were heavier than plastic pot, my husband and I were happy to bring them home.

  

Nov. 14 - Osaka Bird Festival 2015

My husband and I visited Osaka Museum of Natural History last Nov. 14 for the Osaka Bird Festival 2015. 

 

 

 

 The Festival boards greete us at the entrance of 

Osaka Museum of Natural History.

 

 

We had to leave our place at 6:30 a.m. to arrive at the nearest station before 7:00 a.m.  We took a local train to Oshio Station to transfer to a super express to Osaka.  Then we took a subway to Nagai Station.  Finally, we arrived at Osaka Museum of Natural History at 9:30 a.m.

 

 

 The heart-shaped bell was the symbol of this park.

 

 

Roses were still in full bloom at the middle of November.

 

We had been planning to participate in the one-hour birdwatching event one month earlier.

 

It sounded attractive because one of the famous photographers who has been popular among Japanese birdwatchers over the past 30 years joined the event as a lecturer.  He visited the event all the way from Tokyo.

 

 

 

 

 Mr. Kanouchi, the famous photographer among Japanese bird watching fans

 

 

     

 

Mr. Takuya Kanouhi gave a lecture where to find wildbirds in the park.  It started at 10:30 a.m. and ended at 11:30 a.m.  The event staff members expected 20 participants only.  However there seemed to be more than 100 participants.  There were too many participants to hear the lecturer's voice.  I was surprised that many enthusiastic fans, like us, came to join the event despite the weather forecast of heavy rain and thunder storm. 

 

 

 

 

If he used a speaker like a bullhorn, wildbirds would be astonished and flown away from us.  Luckily, he was accompanied by an apprentice who was good at what birds can be seen during the tour.  I was trying to be near to his apprentice so that I could learn something from him.

 

Mr. Kanouchi has a website titled "the enjoyment of watching wild birds" with a subtitle of "for fullfillment of retirement life"

 

 

 

 

My husband spoke to Mr. Kanouchi after the tour for almost 30 minutes after the tour.   

Mr. Kanouchi was born in 1946 and my husband was in1953. 

   

In the afternoon, Mr. Kanouchi gave a lecture of how to take good wildbirds picture in the auditorium.  We stood in a queue for about 30 minutes.  The lecture started at 12:30 noon and ended at 2:00 p.m.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

After the lecture, we went to the museum to see various events.  There were approx. 50 nature and wildbird related groups joined the event.  Each of them had their own booth  to show their studies.  I addition, some of them handed us their pamplets.

 

 

 

 My husband enjoyed coloring at a booth.

 

 

I was very impressed by one of the nature groups which showed their accessories in their booth.  An elderly lady who seemed to be in her 70s spoke to me if I would like to make an accssory for myself as a sourvenir.  

 

She said that they picked up shells in Osaka bay, and arranged sets of accessories for the event.  She added "Even in urban areas like Osaka, shells can grow bigger."

 

They were collecting their visitors' signatures for the petition of conserving the nature in Osaka.  By signing it, we were given a set of accessory as an exchange.

 

The accessory is a set of wooden board, real shell for the face, felt paper for the ears, white stickers for the eyes, red stickers for the mouth, and a green string.  She showed me their examples.

 

 

I put on the stickers and drew the eyes and the mouth. 

 

I chose a smaller shell. 

 

It looked like Kumamon.  I liked it. 

 

 

 

 

 

We left the place at 4:00 p.m. and took trains to get home after 7:00 p.m.  We spent 6 hours on trains, however it was very interesting and worth visiting.

 

I bought some books written by Mr. Kanouchi more than 10 years ago.  They were still in my book shelves and I read them sometimes.   However, I never had a chance to see him until this event.  The 90-minute lecture was summarized his experiences of keen birdwatcher over the 30 years.    

 

I started birdwatching 15 years ago, and what I have experienced was he talked about during the lecture.  What I find interesting from birdwatching is similar to him.   His knowledge was much deeper than mine though.  

 

 

My husband bought Mr. Kanouchi's book titled "How to take wildbird's pictures" at a booth.

Then, my husband asked for his autograph personally. 

 

 

 

 

My husband was exhausted.  This picture was taken before 4:00 p.m. when we were just leaving the museum.