These are snapshots I took of my students last week while they were hosting their School Festival. They're just too cute!
Would You Care for Some Salt?
Today I give you my participation to the 25th Blog This challenge: OLD. This new challenge is a photographic one. I went through my pictures and, as I like ancient stuff,I had many photos of old things; it was kinda hard to decide which one to choose. In the end, I decided to go with the strangest one. Voilà!
This is not ice. This wooden cartwheel is stuck in salt. I took this picture last year in South Australia where they have gigantic salt lakes, remnants of ancient inland seas. This wheel was at least a hundred meters away from the "shore" and was found as is, covered in salt. I wonder what it is doing there. We looked around and could find no traces of the cart itself. The only thing we found was the salty remains of an old wooden pier.
What happened? I have no idea.
What do you think?
What happened? I have no idea.
What do you think?
Zauo: a place where you can have your fish and eat it!
My birthday was on Monday and since I'm still a child I requested from Mr. kanmuri a birthday present and a dinner at a fancy restaurant. As a present, I got a long awaited Nintendo Wii Fit (more on that later, I still have to try all the games) and for dinner, my dear husband took me to Zauo.
My friend Ellie had told me once about this great restaurant where people ate in a gigantic boat. I had found the idea interesting and had suggested that we go together sometime. Just like most plans we make, this one was forgotten and we never ended up going. Then two weeks ago, Mr. kanmuri told me about this great restaurant where you could fish your dinner while sitting in a boat. Remembering Ellie's story, I decided that, this time, I wouldn't let the opportunity pass and so I requested that he take me there for my birthday dinner on Saturday.
Apparently, Zauo is really popular in Tokyo and so they request that their customers make reservations online. They then contact them by phone to confirm. That's what Mr. kanmuri did but after three days (the delay given by Zauo) we still hadn't heard from them When I called them, they told me that they were sorry but that they hadn't received anything. Luckily, there was still a spot for us.
On Saturday, we drove to Morioka, my head pounding with a small headache due to my excitement level. Once we got there, I knew the pain had been worth it. A huge wooden boat throned in the middle of the room and it smelled of the sea. The boat was partially immersed in the water that surrounded it on all sides and we had to cross a little bridge to get to our table. In the water all kinds of fish swam around and around at a crazy speed.
Once we sat down, the waiter brought us a small fishing rod and some bait. Mr. kanmuri was the first to give a try at fishing but he had no luck and his bait was taken away by a hungry fish. So he gave me the rod and I tried fishing for the first time of my life.
Within ten minutes I caught a big fish. I don't really remember what it was called (I have zero interest for fish) but what I know is that the sashimi they made out of it was probably the freshest that I have ever had. When they brought it to our table, our catch's fins were still wiggling! Needless to say, it was a real treat!
Now as you can see on the picture, that was a lot of fish for two people and when we were done eating it, we had had our share of raw fish already. So we order from the regular menu which offers all kinds of dishes ranging from friend chicken to spring rolls. I also ordered a few drinks and Mr. kanmuri had alcohol free beer.
All in all this was an amazing dinner and experience but if you feel tempted to go, I recommend you go with a group, so you can try different fish. For those of you of don't eat raw fish, Zauo also offers the option of frying or grilling your catch. Finally, if you intend to go to the Morioka location, make the reservation by phone or just go; the place was literally empty, even though it was a Saturday.
My friend Ellie had told me once about this great restaurant where people ate in a gigantic boat. I had found the idea interesting and had suggested that we go together sometime. Just like most plans we make, this one was forgotten and we never ended up going. Then two weeks ago, Mr. kanmuri told me about this great restaurant where you could fish your dinner while sitting in a boat. Remembering Ellie's story, I decided that, this time, I wouldn't let the opportunity pass and so I requested that he take me there for my birthday dinner on Saturday.
Apparently, Zauo is really popular in Tokyo and so they request that their customers make reservations online. They then contact them by phone to confirm. That's what Mr. kanmuri did but after three days (the delay given by Zauo) we still hadn't heard from them When I called them, they told me that they were sorry but that they hadn't received anything. Luckily, there was still a spot for us.
On Saturday, we drove to Morioka, my head pounding with a small headache due to my excitement level. Once we got there, I knew the pain had been worth it. A huge wooden boat throned in the middle of the room and it smelled of the sea. The boat was partially immersed in the water that surrounded it on all sides and we had to cross a little bridge to get to our table. In the water all kinds of fish swam around and around at a crazy speed.
Once we sat down, the waiter brought us a small fishing rod and some bait. Mr. kanmuri was the first to give a try at fishing but he had no luck and his bait was taken away by a hungry fish. So he gave me the rod and I tried fishing for the first time of my life.
Within ten minutes I caught a big fish. I don't really remember what it was called (I have zero interest for fish) but what I know is that the sashimi they made out of it was probably the freshest that I have ever had. When they brought it to our table, our catch's fins were still wiggling! Needless to say, it was a real treat!
Now as you can see on the picture, that was a lot of fish for two people and when we were done eating it, we had had our share of raw fish already. So we order from the regular menu which offers all kinds of dishes ranging from friend chicken to spring rolls. I also ordered a few drinks and Mr. kanmuri had alcohol free beer.
All in all this was an amazing dinner and experience but if you feel tempted to go, I recommend you go with a group, so you can try different fish. For those of you of don't eat raw fish, Zauo also offers the option of frying or grilling your catch. Finally, if you intend to go to the Morioka location, make the reservation by phone or just go; the place was literally empty, even though it was a Saturday.
50k Words in 30 days
As you may have noticed on my widget bar on the left, I am an official participant of Nanowrimo 2009. For those of you who don't know, Nanowrimo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Each year in November, people from around the world sit in front of their computers and type away in order to meet the Nanowrimo's goal: writing a 50 000 word novel in 30 days.
I discovered Nanowrimo in December 2007 and was really sad to see that the event was already over. Last year, I was ready to give the challenge a try. I had the names of my characters but no plot and absolutely no idea where the story would lead. I ended up thirty days later with a 70 000 word novel.
I've been writing stories ever since I was in elementary school and even had a 160 pages manuscript going on when I was in junior high school. Unfortunately, whenever I wrote, I would never finish my stories; I always knew how to start and finish the tale but never how to get from A to B. Last year, the pressure from the deadline forced me to write at a madman's speed and thanks to that, I was able to finish my first story, ever.
Of course the final result is nothing I would even dare to send to a publisher but with a lot of editing, I think it has potential. My friend Gen, who keeps me going by reading my new updates daily, surely seems to think so. I must say, tho, that I prefer the novel I'm currently writing.
So far I have 17600 words. I plan to rocket that to 25k this weekend. If you are doing the Nanowrimo, I would love to become your writing buddy. I go by the name of kanmuri and this is my profile page.
To learn more about nanowrimo, please take a look at their excellent website.
I discovered Nanowrimo in December 2007 and was really sad to see that the event was already over. Last year, I was ready to give the challenge a try. I had the names of my characters but no plot and absolutely no idea where the story would lead. I ended up thirty days later with a 70 000 word novel.
I've been writing stories ever since I was in elementary school and even had a 160 pages manuscript going on when I was in junior high school. Unfortunately, whenever I wrote, I would never finish my stories; I always knew how to start and finish the tale but never how to get from A to B. Last year, the pressure from the deadline forced me to write at a madman's speed and thanks to that, I was able to finish my first story, ever.
Of course the final result is nothing I would even dare to send to a publisher but with a lot of editing, I think it has potential. My friend Gen, who keeps me going by reading my new updates daily, surely seems to think so. I must say, tho, that I prefer the novel I'm currently writing.
So far I have 17600 words. I plan to rocket that to 25k this weekend. If you are doing the Nanowrimo, I would love to become your writing buddy. I go by the name of kanmuri and this is my profile page.
To learn more about nanowrimo, please take a look at their excellent website.
