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May 31st. Full Moon Rising There were two full moons this month, on the 2nd and today. I couldn't take pictures on the 2nd because it was too cloudy. Today's full moon rose around 6:47 PM, almost exactly at sunset. I thought it would be cloudy again today, but I managed to photograph the full moon rising over the paper mill through a gap in the clouds. Because the moon now rises due east, it will be difficult to align it with the paper mill in the future. There aren't many good shooting locations left.
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May 30ｔｈ. Saturday English ClassMy wife cooked our meals again today.
I attended my Saturday English class starting at 10:00, where I talked about our climb up Mt. Hokyo yesterday.
My wife took a photo of me with her iPhone while I was photographing Mt. Kaba. I rarely get to see photos of myself taking pictures.
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May 29th. Climbing Mt. HokyoMy wife and I climbed Mt. Hokyo, near Mt. Tsukuba.
I have been to the foot of the mountain several times this year to take pictures of the stone Buddha statues and streams. However, this was the first time this year that we both hiked all the way to the summit.
It was a beautiful day. The temperature in the sun was quite high, and
the lack of wind on the trail made it very humid, causing me to sweat profusely.
At the summit, we enjoyed a great view of Mt. Tsukuba with its fresh green
leaves while a nice breeze blew. Including some breaks to take photos,
it was a four-hour round-trip hike from the parking lot.
After descending, we visited Cafe POSTEN for iced cafe au lait and cake. Cafe POSTEN is a cozy cafe converted from an old wooden post office in Hojo town, located at the foot of Mt. Hokyo. Their coffee is always fragrant.
For some reason, it is a very comfortable place for us, and both the coffee and cake are delicious. That is why I always stop by on my way back from the summit of Mt. Hokyo.
For some reason, it is a very comfortable place for us, and both the coffee and cake are delicious. That is why I always stop by on my way back from the summit of Mt. Hokyo.
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May 28th. Quick Fruit and Cream Sponge CakeMy wife made some dishes for our breakfast, and I made café au lait. I defrosted a frozen jiman-yaki and had it.
The roses that I fertilized with compost last year are blooming beautifully. Buds are appearing and blooming one after another. They should continue to bloom for a while.
We went to Kokuo Shrine to take pictures.
According to her, this homemade sponge cake is a handy recipe because
it's easy to make and looks fancy. She bakes the cake into a dome shape
without a mold, cuts it in half, and fills it with whipped cream and seasonal
fruits like strawberries, bananas, or kiwis. Apparently, it's great for
quickly preparing for unexpected guests. All you need is flour, sugar,
and heavy cream.
I walked about 6 kilometers through Yasaka Park starting at 4 PM.
I walked about 6 kilometers through Yasaka Park starting at 4 PM.
For dinner, I made braised pork spare ribs and sweet corn rice, while my wife made a salad and a vegetable dish.
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May 27th. My wife came back to Iwai.I had grilled atsuage (deep-fried tofu), ebideiko (simmered radish with dried shrimp), chikuwa and vegetable soup, and granola yogurt for breakfast.
It was a fine day. I walked 3 kilometers and ran 3 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting at 8:16 AM. I seem to have unintentionally paused my Nike running app, so some of my running data wasn't recorded.
Iwai Junior High School's sports day was being held on a 400-meter oval track.
I went to Torisen to buy groceries, but it was Wednesday today. I mistook it for Thursday, which is Senior Discount Day.
For lunch, I had tekkamaki (tuna sushi rolls) that I bought at Torisen, a salad with cucumber and tomato, and natto.
My wife came back to Iwai from Ueda. I went to Shimizu Park Station to pick her up at 3:30 PM.
She cooked dinner. As expected, it was delicious and beautifully presented.
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May 26ｔｈ. Favorite Cup BrokeMy cat is always getting in my way. It can be a bit annoying. However, it's also comforting for me.
I got a daikon radish for free. I took a bite to taste it. It was so delicious that I made ebideiko. That's a dish of simmered radish with dried shrimp.
I walked 3 kilometers and ran 3 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting at 8:21 AM.
While washing the dishes, I accidentally broke a coffee cup that my son had made when he was in elementary school. I really liked the design, so I used it all the time. Favorite cups tend to get used more often, so they're more likely to break.
For dinner, I had katsuo no tataki (seared bonito), chikuwa and vegetable soup, and ebideiko. Ebideiko is ebidaikon, as we call it in our local dialect.
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May 25th. HerbicideI made two servings of yakisoba with plenty of vegetables. I also made a hot sandwich with kiwi, ham, and cheese at the same time.
Breakfast was yakisoba, granola yogurt, and café au lait.
Lunch was the hot sandwich.
Miya-O likes to fit into small spaces. Apparently, that's a cat instinct.
Dinner was yakisoba with green onion, cabbage, and carrot, and a tofu soup.
I sprayed herbicide. I sprayed a 1,000-fold dilution of MCPP on the lawn. For the other areas, I used a 100-fold dilution of a glyphosate-based herbicide.
Since it was sunny and the temperature rose today, I think the herbicide will work well. However, the final results will be seen in two weeks.
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May 24th. Not in Condition to RunYesterday, a huge amount of free green onions arrived. I made a stew with green onions, cabbage, sausages, and tofu. I ate it for breakfast with granola yogurt.
It was a bit chilly today. I walked 6 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting
at 4:00 PM. I slept well last night, but I just couldn't shake off the
fatigue. Today I was extremely tired and not in a condition to run. So,
I walked the entire distance.
For dinner, I had curry rice topped with a raw egg, a cucumber and tomato salad, some apples, and granola yogurt.
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May 23rd. Disposing of Old BooksI had chicken meatball soup with cabbage and onion for breakfast.
I feel bad about throwing away old books with the paper waste. Older books don't have ISBN barcodes, so I tried posting some of them on Yahoo! Auctions today.
I ran 3 kilometers and walked 3 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting at 11:00 AM.
I stir-fried potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and onions with garlic.
I had it for dinner with a Kirin beer.
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May 22nd. Monthly Meeting of the Photo Kano ClubFor breakfast, I had curry rice and a café au lait.
I went to Chikusei City to join the monthly meeting of the Photo Kano Club. Mr. Tokunou brought a lot of his photos taken over the past month. He had visited many places in Fukushima with his partner.
On my way back from Chikusei City, I stopped by Tsukuba City. I had Tenseiro
Soba at my favorite soba restaurant, Kimura, in Tsukuba City. Next, I went
to Costco and bought bell peppers from Miyazaki Prefecture, Greek yogurt,
yellow kiwis, and new-season onions. I shared some of everything except
the Greek yogurt with my younger brother.
I was interested in the Acer laptop on display at Costco. It has 32GB of memory and costs 199,800 yen. I thought it looked stylish, but I wondered about its durability.
I was interested in the Acer laptop on display at Costco. It has 32GB of memory and costs 199,800 yen. I thought it looked stylish, but I wondered about its durability.
I ran 3 kilometers and walked 3 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting at 4:30 PM.
For dinner, I made chicken meatball soup with cabbage, onion, and tomato.
For dinner, I made chicken meatball soup with cabbage, onion, and tomato.
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May 21st. Trekking Shoes RepairFor breakfast, I had a ham and cheese hot sandwich, stir-fried negis and green beans with garlic, sliced tomatoes, granola yogurt, and café au lait.
The trekking shoes I sent to Mont-bell for repair came back. The soles, as well as the rubber toe and heel protectors, were replaced. The total cost was 15,550 yen, including shipping. I'm sure I'll be able to use them for another 10 years.
I feel bad about throwing away old books with the paper waste. On the other hand, selling them on Yahoo! Auctions is too much trouble. Maybe I should just take them all to Book-Off.
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May 20th. I'm getting tiredI had simmered daikon radish, vegetable and egg soup, granola yogurt, and café au lait for breakfast.
I ran 3 kilometers and then walked the rest of the way home, totaling 5.72 kilometers at Yasaka Park.
I had simmered daikon radish, grilled atsuage, natto, granola yogurt, and rice for lunch. I'm getting tired of eating simmered daikon radish with every meal. Plus, this radish itself isn't that tasty. Winter radishes are much better.
I made a beef bowl and vegetable soup for dinner.
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May 19th. It Was HotFor breakfast, I had stir-fried negis with garlic, a tomato and carrot salad, simmered daikon radish, natto, and TKG (tamago kake gohan: rice topped with a raw egg).
I purchased a deep eyepiece rubber cup for my Sony ILCE-7RM3. Because
the regular eyepiece leaves a gap, light gets in between the viewfinder
and my eye, making it difficult to see. Until now, I had been using a homemade
one made from spare parts, but the problem was that it fell off easily
and got lost. In fact, I lost two of them. So, I bought a proper one from
Amazon for 1,699 yen. It fits perfectly and doesn't seem like it will fall
off.
It's only May, but today was hot and the sunlight was strong. So, I made
a sunshade for the west-facing window. I simply attached a 45-cm-high piece
of plywood to the bottom of the window frame, and it was very effective.
In the afternoon, it kept the room temperature down considerably.
For dinner, I made stir-fried chicken breast and green beans with garlic, ginger, and soy sauce, bound with a beaten egg. I had it with simmered daikon and a Budweiser.
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May 18th. Cooking with DaikonFor breakfast, I had café au lait, TKG (tamago kake gohan), and a salad of grilled broccoli, carrots, shredded cabbage, and tomatoes.
Starting around noon, I walked 1 kilometer, ran 3 kilometers, and then
walked the rest of the way home, totaling 6.79 kilometers in Yasaka Park.
My younger brother gave me a daikon radish. I wanted to make ebideeko
(a local dish of simmered radish with dried shrimp), but I didn't have
any dried shrimp in stock. So, I used Maggi bouillon cubes instead and
cooked it that way.
For dinner, I had a daikon radish and glass noodle soup, along with a
stir-fry of negi, tofu, and garlic, and a Budweiser.
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May 17th. A Retro Japanese DinerI made salad, grilled atsuage, anko mochi, granola yogurt, and café au lait for breakfast.
I had pork curry rice for lunch. I pulled weeds from the spot where the fig tree had been cut down. Myoga (Japanese ginger) grows wild there. It's a type of ginger, but we eat the flower buds. The harvest season is coming soon, so I cleared the area.
I walked 5.58 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting at 3 PM.
At 7 PM, we had a birthday party at "Isami-ya" with seven of my junior high school classmates. Today was Shige-chan's turn, and he turned 73. He's the first in our group to turn 73.
I had always thought of this place as an izakaya (Japanese pub) because I had only ever been there at night for birthday parties. However, it's more of a diner than an izakaya or a restaurant. Isami-ya is a retro Japanese diner. They cooked the rice really well, so I would love to go there for lunch sometime.
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May 16th. Cat in a Wooden BoxI had coleslaw, sliced cucumber, tomatoes, a fried egg, a sandwich, and café au lait for breakfast.
I walked 5.58 kilometers in Yasaka Park.
I heard Miyao meowing, but she was nowhere to be seen. Looking closer, I found her inside a wooden box. It has been a long time since she was last inside a box.
I had yakisoba, tofu, and granola yogurt for dinner.
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May 15th. Tuning the InsolesI made a ham and cheese hot sandwich for breakfast, along with stir-fried broccoli and tomatoes with garlic. I also ate some coleslaw and lettuce that I grew in a flowerpot.
I tuned the insoles of my new Mont-bell trekking shoes.
The running shoes I used to wear when running full marathons were tuned by an insole craftsman. I had him tune a total of three pairs of running shoes. I think I paid about 8,000 yen to make each new insole and about 3,000 yen per adjustment. It was expensive, but the effect was tremendous. If it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't have been able to run full marathons.
Now I tune my shoes myself using the method I learned back then. I watched, stole, and imitated his technique. I do this for walking shoes, running shoes, trekking shoes, farm work shoes, and even rain boots. Since I don't run full marathons anymore, I don't need super precision, and I can feel the benefits just fine when I do it myself.I tear off pieces of sponge rubber and stick them to the underside of the included insoles. There is a specific rule for where and how to stick them, but I don't know the exact science behind it. I just copy what I saw him do. Then I wear them to see how they feel. If it's good, I leave them as is, and if not, I make further adjustments.
Evaluation takes time, so I'll wear them for a while, and if I feel an improvement, I'll consider it a success.
I walked to a paper mill to take pictures in my newly tuned trekking shoes. I walked 6.55 kilometers round trip, and they felt so much better than before they were tuned.
I made stir-fried tofu and green onions with garlic for dinner, and also drank some white wine.
My cat loves to sit on top of my bag.
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May 14th. My SunglassesI made a ham and cheese hot sandwich. I placed a little shredded cheese between four thin slices of ham, put that between two slices of bread, and then grilled both sides in a hot sandwich maker over low heat for 5 minutes each. I had it with a fried egg, lettuce, coleslaw salad, and a café au lait for breakfast.
I gave Miya-O her medicine as usual. Then, I looked for my sunglasses as I was about to go for a walk, but they were nowhere to be found. Had I lost my sunglasses somewhere again? If so, this would be the third time.
Calmly trying to recall, I remembered that yesterday I had placed my sunglasses on a bench near the 400m oval track in Yasaka Park when I took a picture. I hurried there at 7:30 AM, but they weren't there.
I then walked 6.34km around the park.At 8:30 AM, I went to the office inside the park's gymnasium to check if my sunglasses had been turned in. They weren't there. It turned out that the park management office was located somewhere else. I had thought the gymnasium office was the park management office, but apparently not. Fortunately, my sunglasses had been turned in and were being kept at the actual park management office. They were safely back with me. What a relief.
Today is Thursday, which is the senior discount day at Torisen, so I went grocery shopping. I made pork curry. For lunch, I had pork curry rice and a broccoli and tomato salad.
Dinner was curry rice again. I also had a salad of cucumber, tomato, and steamed broccoli, along with coleslaw, some apple, granola yogurt, and a café au lait.
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May 13th. Paying with PayPay
For breakfast, I made a soup with chicken meatballs, tofu, green onions,
carrots, and cabbage. I also had a coleslaw salad with cabbage, carrots,
and burdock root, along with granola yogurt and a café au lait.
I went to my usual barber shop, Shimoda, for a haircut at 9:00 AM. I always pay with PayPay. It's convenient because the payment history is saved on their server, even without a receipt. With cash payments, I often lose the receipt or forget to record it, so there is no paper trail.
I walked 6.54 kilometers in Yasaka Park. A ground golf tournament was being held there. I happened to have my Sony camera with me today, so I sat on a bench and took a few pictures using my MAMIYA-SEKOR 1:2.8 f=100mm (No. 106984) lens.
I made soba soup for lunch. It's made by breaking dried soba noodles into pieces and adding them to leftover vegetable and tofu soup, then simmering it for about four minutes.
I walked 6.54 kilometers in Yasaka Park. A ground golf tournament was being held there. I happened to have my Sony camera with me today, so I sat on a bench and took a few pictures using my MAMIYA-SEKOR 1:2.8 f=100mm (No. 106984) lens.
I made soba soup for lunch. It's made by breaking dried soba noodles into pieces and adding them to leftover vegetable and tofu soup, then simmering it for about four minutes.
I had braised pork spareribs over rice, coleslaw salad, and some apple
for dinner.
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May 12th. A Boｔtol of BudweiserMarinating chicken in milk makes it juicy and delicious. Last night, I marinated bite-sized pieces of chicken thigh in milk and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. This morning, I stir-fried them with green onions and bell peppers in garlic soy sauce. For breakfast, I had that along with cheese toast, iron-fortified yogurt, and a café au lait.
I walked 6.46 kilometers in Yasaka Park.
I had an appointment at 10:00 AM for a regular check-up at Yoshihara Internal Medicine Clinic. The doctor said there were no significant changes and told me to continue monitoring my condition. As usual, he prescribed a 56-day supply of my regular medication.
I arrived at my favorite soba restaurant, Kimura, in Tsukuba at 11:30 AM. Today's lunch consisted of three seiros' worth of soba noodles (a large serving).
The insecticide seems to have worked, as the aphids have decreased. I should probably use Ortran as well. I need to go buy some.
Miya-O licked her lips contentedly. Carelessly, I had left the lid of her food container open.
I had stir-fried chicken with green onions and bell peppers in garlic soy sauce, some apple, and a botol of Budweiser for dinner.
I bought Budweiser at Costco today. The 24-pack of 340ml bottles was 300 yen cheaper than the 24-pack of 340ml aluminum cans, so I bought the bottles. However, the glass bottles are a bit heavy, so I think it will be a lot of work to dispose of them.
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May 11th. Five Books Related to HitlerI made a ham and cheese hot sandwich for breakfast.
I walked 5.94 kilometers in Yasaka Park. Afterward, I did some weeding, sprayed a glyphosate-based herbicide on some sections, transplanted some grass to part of the flowerbed, and prepared soil for flowerpots. I spent the rest of the morning gardening.
I cooked rice for lunch. For me, eating freshly cooked rice with a raw egg on top is a favorite custom. I also had lettuce grown in a flowerpot on the veranda, along with grilled atsuage.
I made stir-fried snap peas and cabbage with garlic, and a pork sparerib rice bowl for dinner.
I have a lot of old books. I hesitate to throw them away as wastepaper. Older books don't have ISBN barcodes. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It seems that major secondhand bookstore chains won't accept books without them. So I tried listing them on Yahoo! Auctions. First, I put five books related to Hitler up for auction. The starting price was 50 yen.
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May 10th. CF-FC7BRVCPI made a soup with potatoes, green onions, sweet corn, dumplings, sausages, and chikuwa.
I walked 6.30 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting at 9:00 AM.
In the afternoon, I pulled out grassy weeds from the lawn, continuing from yesterday.
I made potato buckwheat soup for dinner.The graham bread was ready at 8:00 PM.
My laptop is old. It's still usable, but I'm thinking about replacing it. Last month, my younger brother bought the latest model of Let's Note. It seems to be a Let's Note FC7 Premium Edition in Calm Gray [64GB memory model], specifically the CF-FC7BRVCP, which cost 491,700 yen (including tax). I got to see it, and it's really nice. However, 490,000 yen is a bit too much.
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May 9th. I Pulled Oout Grass weedsI had sugar snap peas and cabbage stir-fried with garlic, sliced tomatoes, a ham and cheese hot sandwich, and a café au lait for my
breakfast.
I walked 5.31 kilometers in Yasaka Park starting at 10:00 AM.
I made dumplings and vegetable soup for lunch. I also had three inari sushi that I bought at Torisen.
In the afternoon, I pulled out grassy weeds from the lawn. I recently sprayed a herbicide, but lawn weed killers are not effective against grassy weeds. Therefore, they need to be pulled out by hand.
I defrosted some frozen bamboo shoot rice and made vegetable soup to eat with it for dinner.
In August 2019, I acquired a MAMIYA-SEKOR 1:2.8 f=100mm lens (No. 101042) for 300 yen, modified it, and used it with a digital camera. Then, in January 2021, I obtained a cleaner, identical lens (No. 106984) for 13,600 yen, including shipping. I replaced the old one with the cleaner one, and put the older lens up for auction on Yahoo! Auctions today with a starting bid of 1,100 yen.
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May 8th. I returned to IwaiMy wife made breakfast for us and tow lunch boxs for our son and me.
I left Ueda around 9:30 and arrived back in Iwai around 13:00. For lunch, I had the bento box my wife made, along with granola yogurt and tofu.
The mont-bell trekking shoes I bought at the Yachiho Kogen mont-bell store are the wide-sole type. They fit very comfortably, and I'm glad I bought them.
I came across a red Ferrari pedal car while out for a walk. It even had a red desk pad and the prancing horse logo. Nice! The owner's father owns a real Ferrari.
My laptop, a Panasonic Let's Note CF-SX2, was released 14 years ago. I doubled the memory and replaced the HDD with an SSD. I'm still using it, but its processing speed is noticeably slow. I find processing RAW photo files particularly frustrating.
My neighbor gave us some sugar snap peas. I boiled them in salted water and ate them and tomato for dinner.
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May 7th. Hiking from Ikenotaira to MiharashidakeWe hiked from the Ikenotaira parking lot (elevation approximately 2,061m) to Miharashidake (elevation 2,095m). With an elevation gain of only about 34m, it was an easy hike. However, we were still able to enjoy a panoramic view from 2,000 meters up. What's more, the sky was incredibly clear that day, offering breathtaking views far into the distance. Below us stretched the city of Komoro, and we could see the area we had walked through yesterday. The fresh greenery was also beautiful—the best we had seen so far this year.
To my surprise, except for Kasama, every place we visited was uncrowded, despite it being Golden Week.
My wife made gyoza dumplings for dinner. We realized that if we went out sightseeing, we had to be back in time to start making dinner.
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May 6th. Komoro CityMy wife and I visited Komoro City for the first time. We took the train and left FJ and my cat in the parking lot in Ueda.
The Komoro Castle ruins are divided by the railway tracks. Kaikoen Park is a park formed from part of the castle ruins, with the castle's third gate serving as the entrance. There are three soba noodle restaurants within the park. One of them is Kusabue Honten, where we ate soba. Kusabue is a well-known soba noodle restaurant chain based in Komoro City. Their Honten(flagship store) is particularly renowned for its delicious soba.
Then we strolled around the park. Afterwards, we visited the Otemon Gate on the other side of the railway tracks. From there, we walked along the Hokkoku Kaido, which runs through Komoro City.
The Hokkoku Kaido is an important "byway" (a major route equivalent to a main highway) that was developed during the Edo period. It branches off from the Nakasendo at Oiwake-juku (Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture), passes through Ueda Castle and Zenkoji Temple (Nagano City), and leads to Joetsu and Izumozaki (Niigata Prefecture). It roughly overlaps with the current route of National Route 18.
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May 5th. Koumi-machi Kougen Museum of Art My wife made breakfast. It's been a while since the whole family was together.
My wife and I visited Koumi Town. You can see the Southern Alps and the Chichibu Mountains from there. It's about 70 km away from Ueda, but it only takes about 60 minutes via the highway. Plus, the Chubu Odan Expressway is free.
My wife bought strawberries and vegetables at the Michi no Eki Yachiho Kogen. I was planning to go to the Montbell store near Kashiwanoha-campus Station to buy trekking shoes sometime soon. Coincidentally, there was a Montbell store right next to the Michi no Eki, so I bought new trekking shoes there. And I used them right after buying them.
Next, we visited the Koumi-machi Kougen Museum of Art. First, we had omurice for our lunch, where we could see the three-story observation deck from at the cafe table. It's designed to offer a view of the entire museum and the surrounding mountains, and it's also a work of art in itself.
This small art museum nestled in nature allowed me to enjoy the building itself in conjunction with the surrounding landscape. I can imagine that it will show a different kind of charm in each season. I will came.
We saw the special exhibition "Shima Shuichi: The Spirit Towards Tableau." I felt that from a design perspective, it's not bad, but I don't really understand its meaning. My wife said she didn't dislike it, but she didn't particularly like it either.
Next, we visited Lake Matsubara. It was a small lake, about 1 km in circumference. There are the Inari Shrine, Hakusan Shrine, and Matsubara Suwa Shrine on the lakeshore. Apparently, it's a popular spot for ice fishing for smelt in winter, and it was quiet even in the middle of the Golden Week holidays in May.
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May 4th. Kasama HIMATSURI I made a hot sandwich with ham, cheese, and green bell pepper for our breakfast. My wife made café au lait.
We left home at 6:30 a.m. and took the highway to Kasama with my cat. We arrived at the parking lot in Kasama Tougei-no-mori Park around 8:00 a.m. The parking fee was 500yen per a day.
It was cloudy with occasional sunshine, and very humid. The Kasama HIMATSURI was officially scheduled to open at 9:00 a.m., but we were able to enter at 8:30 a.m. We were glad we woke up early. It was not crowded yet. The entrance fee was 500 yen per person.
Over 200 pottery shops and artists had stalls. We were able to see the works of many pottery artists in a short amount of time. Seeing so many at once helps you understand your own preferences. This is unique to HIMATSURI.
My wife bought a vase is likes contemporaly artwork, and I bought two small, photogenic plates.
Around 11 o'clock, as the venue was getting crowded, my wife and I happened to run into the Satos. Just the other day, I had also coincidentally met them, and they had told me they wanted to meet my wife. Everyone was surprised by this miraculous encounter in such a crowded venue. We enjoyed matcha tea and kashiwa mochi at a stall inside the venue and chatted for a while.
Afterwards, we left the HIMATSURI venue and visited the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum. We watched an interesting special exhibition: "The Design of Shoya Yoshida: Imaging the Future with the New Mingei Movement." We also love the design of Mingei Movement, so we enjyoed it.
We had soba and tempura at a soba restaurant around 1:00 p.m. for our lunch. After that, we visited Gallery MONN, a pottery gallery that is a must-visit spot whenever we go to Kasama, because we are highly likely to find pottery we like there.
We took the highway to Ueda and arrived around 5:00 p.m.
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May 3rd. My wife came to IwaiI made Charumera ramen with lots of vegetables for my breakfast. I cleaned the interior of my FJ Cruiser. There was a lot of cat hair.
My wife said that the train connections from Ueda to Kasama were poor and it would take too much time. So, she came to Iwai today instead. I went to Shimizu Park Station to pick her up at 4 PM.
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May 2nd. Morning Photography I woke up early. The weather was nice. I photographed the first bus of
the day bound for Noda City. I'm looking for photogenic scenes in the city
to enter into a photo contest in Bando City, but I'm not quite there yet.
I photographed a woman on a bicycle crossing the Nakamachi intersection. This scene was bright, but it lacked something impactful. It is not suitable for the photo contest.
Next, I went to Kokuo Shrine to see the morning sunlight. Coincidentally, there was a woman there praying, so I was able to take some pretty good photos.
I made and had tofu tomato soup, granola yogurt, anko butter toast, and café au lait for my breakfast.
This year, Kasama HIMATSURI is held at the Kasama Tougei-no-mori Park Event Square from Wednesday, April 29th to Tuesday, May 5th, from 9:00 to 17:00.
I went the year before last. It was a rainy and cold day, so it wasn't crowded. I bought two small plates. I didn't go last year. I didn't need any pottery plates, and there wasn't anything I particularly wanted. I wasn't planning on going this year either. When I told my wife about it on the phone, she seemed to want to go to the Kasama HIMATSURI this year. She hasn't been in a few years, and she is looking for a vase. We decided to meet in Kasama City at noon on the 4th, since my wife will be coming from Ueda and I will be coming from Iwai.
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May 1st. Pulsations in the Misty Rain In the misty rain, traffic lights and bus turn signals pulsated like a heartbeat, marking the start of the day. A woman boarded the first bus.I went out early in the morning to take photographs. Camera equipment: Tokina SD 400mm 1:5.6 No.4003284
I woke up early. It was raining. I photographed the first bus to Noda
City. I'm looking for photogenic scenes in the city to submit to a photo
contest in Bando City. This scene is photogenic; however, it is too dark
and unsuitable for a photo contest.
I had lettuce, tomato, and cucumber salad, a white fish fry burger I bought at Torisen, granola yogurt, and café au lait for my breakfast.
I made a ham and cheese hot sandwich for my lunch.
I had inari sushi that I bought at Torisen and homemade tofu and vegetable soup for my evening meal.
I had inari sushi that I bought at Torisen and homemade tofu and vegetable soup for my evening meal.
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