Summer Memories

Now that summer is almost over and hopefully most of you already enjoyed some vacation time, let's share our favorite memories about this summer!

Last Saturday (8/26) I went to Koenji to watch the summer festival. The festival at Koenji was the best I have seen so far. There was a huge dance contest. Teams from all over Japan danced in the streets in a huge parade. Each team had small children all the way to seniors. They danced with so much energy and since it was a competition, they really tried to be unique and creative. It was so exciting and I was really glad to have seen it. Also, I really enjoy the city Koenji because it seems to be more youthful and interesting than the area I live in. The only bad part of last Saturday was how crowded it was and how it was almost impossible to leave Koenji when the festival was over. The line just to try and buy a train ticket wrapped all the way around the building. I ended up having to follow the tracks and walk towards Nakano to find a way home!

Good advice Takuma

Dear Takuma-san,

Thank you for the good and very practical advice about vacationing in Thailand. I think your advice about being careful about the water is extremely useful. Thanks to you, I should return back safely without any sickness!

　For your Bangkok tour, to Jennifer

this is the advices for your trip. please enjoy your vacation.

§1.　Enjoy shopping in a night bazaar or a water market:
Try the shopping with pleasure and thrill of getting some discounts.
　I think you should try the discount talks more than two times.
　　If you want to buy the good of a price tag 100, at the first try for discount, You may ask for40%off. At the first round the clerk will answer only 10%ff to your request.
Next you ‘d be better to ask for 30%off instead of 40%off. But when
the clerk say only 10%off, at that time you pretend to go to another shop. The clerk may answer to you 20%off.　 Try this shopping thrill.
　　　
§2.The caution
1.　The water to drink
You should not drink water from the water supply of your hotel.
You must pay for the bottle of water to drink.
But when you get a bottle of water, you’d be better to select the bland of bottle and the shop.
2.　A pickpocket, a burglary
The hotels of Bangkok are not always safe. Care about a burglary.
As if you locked the room door, you must not leave your valuables in your room of the hotel.
3.　Vendors around the sightseeing spots
　　You should ignore them if the vendors called you.

Western-style bath

Every time I stay at the overseas Hotel, It is nothing short of mystery to me about the western-style bathtub. Generally speaking, Japanese people have a poor physique, so everything is bigger in foreign countries than in Japan. However, only as to the bathtub, it's very poky and I am still not used to take the western-style bathtub. In the case of Japanese baths, we can welter in a lot of hot water in a relaxed manner. However in the case of the western-style bathtub, it's downright halfway, it's too small to welter in hot water, and I have to be careful about using water, because it is unacceptable to drop water on the floor. For the Japanese people, the bathroom is the best relaxing space in the narrow house, so we can enjoy a lot of hot water and enjoy hearing the sound of water’s overspill. For the Japanese people, the western-style bathtub is only the tray of a shower.

Vacation in Thailand

Hello everyone!

I am going to Thailand next month for vacation. I will be visiting Bangkok and Pattaya Beach. If anyone has good advice about Thailand and sightseeing recommendations for me, I would be so very thankful!

Beautiful picture

Hi Takuma-san!

Your picture of Mt. Matterhorn during sunrise is absolutely beautiful. You were so lucky to see such a beautiful sight, let alone capture it on film successfully. Thank you for sharing the beautiful picture.

Have you ever had the chance to see the sunrise from Mt. Fuji? Last year, around this time, I climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji during night time in order to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, the weather was so rainy and cloudy that we were not able to see anything from the top. :(

It seemed the crest of a cock.

we gathered at 5:00am in front of the entrance of the hotel to see Mt.Matterhorn in the morning glow . The view point was on the bridge near to the church. When we arrived there, there was still dark. After a little while ,the top of Mt.Matterhorn became to turn to red color. It seem to be burning brightly. Many people there was fascinated by the beautiful scene and unintentionally cheered with “Oh！