しゃしん - Photographs

Overlooking the Urakami river, taken from a bridge in front of the Red Cross Genbaku Hospital:

New Year decorations in the entranceway to a pachinko (vertical pinball) arcade:

The Ferris Wheel under construction atop a new department store, due to be completed in April:

A cartoon strip on the side of a building – I don't know why it is there, what it is trying to say, or why all of the characters are naked, so don't ask:

Overlooking the main street and tram-line in central Nagasaki:

It's not just clean. It's "Smokin' Clean":

Detail on some stone stairs at the Nagasaki Municipal Park:

No Music, No Life

A few weeks ago, I asked one of my friends from the hospital if he likes music and he really impressed me with his answer. He replied, “Of course! No music, no life.” It impressed me because that is pretty much exactly how I feel about music; it expresses something for me that nothing else can. Add onto that that it is quite a clever thing to say considering English is his second language. Anyway, after this, I respected him more on a personal level. Imagine my surprise then when I see the following sign outside a music store while I was shopping on January 1st:

That scoundrel! He tricked me. They weren't even his own words! There they are in one foot tall, bright red lettering. *shakes head disapprovingly*

I told May to stand in front of the sign and “look disappointed”, which I think she did absolutely flawlessly. She even seems to have got a little of a “you've been found out” expression in there too. This has to be my favourite photo of her. She said her favourite photo of me is one where I am hunched over a skirt that I am reattaching a button to. She calls me Granny because I can sew and bake and knit. For some inconceivable reason I don't mind being called Granny. I am knitting her a scarf (the only thing I know how to make) at the moment, as a matter of fact. She also calls me Mean Mommy when I tell her she can't have ice-cream for breakfast.

メリークリスマス - Merry Christmas

Here are a few photos from around Nagasaki during the Christmas season. I thought I would share them with you. Also, it saves me writing a real post.

Sorry this isn't really a very good photo. This is Hamanomachi anyway – the main shopping district in Nagasaki. There are actually tons of festive decorations all over the place here, but apparently, not visible from this angle.

This one is a bit more obvious, huh. Even if you miss the giant snowflake light display on the wall in the background, you would be hard-pressed to miss the 25 foot tree in the centre. Japan is a Buddhist country.... that fact and what we're looking at here really doesn't seem to add up, does it?

The “Japanese McDonald's” is called Mos Burger. This is an advertisement for their Christmas menu. Let's take a closer look...

Yes, the sign does read “Merry X'mos!”. (Sorry that it's blurry, by the way). At first glance I thought it was a misprint, just some poor English, but the Japanese continue to surprise me with their rather clever advertising. What is a little funny though, is that 'Xmas' is not pronounced here as 'Eks-mas' but 'Ek-ku-su-ma-su'. You try saying that quickly... it's really difficult.

I know this one isn't very festive, but I couldn't not share it with you. That is indeed a 3D illuminated human heart model plastered to the side of that building. The hiragana beneath it reads “Nagasaki haato kurinikku” ('Nagasaki Heart Clinic'). What you can't see in this picture is that the heart is lit up so that it appears to pump blood! How's that for innovative? God Bless the Japanese and their advertising genius! It might have been a little wasted in this case though. I mean, if you need to go to a heart clinic, whether it has a giant illuminated heart model on the front of the building is of little importance to you really, isn't it. Would you choose this one over a clinic that didn't have such a display? Hmm?

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Well, that's all for now, folks. I hope everyone had a smashing Christmas. See you in the new year.

Engrish

Here are a few photos of some Engrish I have come across so far in Japan.

This was taking at my local video rental store, You-ing.

"Our fantasy and amusement park, that gives a wonderful smile anda deep impression to you, who have been crazy for cinema, music and good culture"... Hmm. You can see what they're trying to say.

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This I took while I was on the tram (the tram system in Nagasaki being easier/quicker/cheaper than the buses, and therefore all I use to get around).

A man was carrying this bag. You can't see but it has a picture of a puppy on the side of it, which, admittedly, results in it making a little more sense.

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I took this while I was at the Kunchi Matsuri a few weeks ago.

You heard the child, rock and move on!

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This I think is actually pretty clever. Champon is a regional dish here in Nagasaki, consisting of noodles in a rich broth, with seafood, meat and vegetables on top.

Queen would be proud of the Japanese right now.

⽉9 ⽇23 – 23/09/07; コミュニケーション – Communication

May and I have been invited to dinner this Friday by some of the hospital staff. Great... free food, interesting company, what could be wrong with that? There's only one snag though: we have no idea what kind of occasion it is going to be. We can't figure out if it is a home-cooked meal in somebody's home with just their family and maybe one or two other (senior) members of staff, or if it is a massive, all-hospital-staff-attending welcome dinner at a hotel restaurant somewhere. We have no idea what to expect – or what to wear! We're going to try and get some more information about the meal from Kimura-san, so hopefully, come Friday, we will have half an idea what's going to happen to us.

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May joined the hospital tennis club. Ha, she can't play tennis to save her life and she's joined a serious tennis club. Also, there was some mention of a Kyūshū-wide tennis tournament between all the Red Cross hospitals, and we think she might have signed herself up for that too. Oh dear. Better her than me. I wonder if there is a hospital athletics club though...

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Here's something that made me giggle in the middle of the supermarket:


I can be so childish sometimes :-D

Landed

Okay. I'm in Japan. It was quite a journey getting here but I won't go into that until after I arrive at my final destination, Nagasaki. Tokyo is great, although quite overwhelming at times. I have already come across some great Engrish and some of their product names are just absurd. Here's a few photographs to keep you occupied until I can be bothered to write something a bit more detailed.





















This is a street in Akihabara - the electronics centre of the world.

















Hmmm... these are different types of diet pills. My favourite has to be FAT MAGNET. Surely you would want the opposite from a diet pill...?

















Ah, yes, the Japanese vending machine - sells everything from green tea to groceries. And they are everywhere.

















Believe it or not, there is a whole line of X-Girl clothing. This one was totally my favourite though... going my wave...LOL, that's great. The shop I found this t-shirt in sold both men's and women's clothing, but I'm not sure if there is a men's x-girl range - that would be the ultimate.

I'll just leave you with one more thing before I go: One of the first things I bought in Japan was a box of green tea and chocolate flavour Pocky (a kind of sweet/biscuit if you don't know) but it was only a few minutes ago that I noticed a great logo on the back that said, A wonderful life in the best of taste. Yep, that's Pocky. The logo had a little dancing man on it too, the relevance of which I haven't figured out yet.