Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning
I am a native Japanese speaker who used to teach Japanese in a university somewhere on this planet. Currently I don't work but stayed in my house in Northern part of JAPAN. I hope that you could enjoy reading my posts and know what life in Japan is like.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
Rain started falling before the noon, became strong in the afternoon. I gave up going outside today, though I’d better go shopping to the supermarket for the main dish of the dinner. Now I am starting cooking using frozen dumplings that I made by hand two months ago and kept in the freezer since. Today’s rain gave me the chance to consume that two-month old dumplings.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
All these photographs were taken in June.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
A fig tree is vulnerable to damage by long-horn beetles. Since the trunk of a fig tree is relatively soft, the insects make holes and go into the inside. In that case, the trunk of the tree becomes houses and also food. And then there will be so many holes on the surface and the trunk will have void inside. It quite often results in the death of the fig tree.
If it is in early stage with a little number of holes, injecting insecticide would be one of solutions. However, it means that the injected chemical could go up in the tree and reach to the fruits. So I don’t think injecting insecticide could be a solution as a countermeasure against long-horn beetles in a fig tree.
A practical solution is as follows. You need to accept the damage caused by long-horn beetles on a fig tree. In other words, you admit that a fig tree is short-lived. But it does not mean you need to give up the fruits. What you need to do is renewing your “main” fig tree in relatively short term. You make young trees using a branch and/or shoot that are taken from the existing fig tree. By keeping several young trees as the spares, and planting them every three or four years, you will get the fruits, even though some times the damage happens.
So, this year, I made three young fig trees using the existing fig tree’s shoot.
They were taken from a native Japanese fig tree. So those fruits are not so sweet because the species has not been improved like some western fig trees. But this kind is hardy and can stands for winter cold. Although its sweetness is not perfect, eating fresh is actually good. And a good thing is that I can make a lot of jam (jelly) and compote in autumn.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
These flowers were planted at the edge of someone’s vegetable fields. They are not just growing vegetables, but those people have some kind of reserves in their minds such that enjoys beauty of flowers.
This flower is natural one that is growing by the platform on a railway station.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
Actually, the edible part was just a little. I forgot to take photos of grilled half body slices.
Though nothing has to do with fish, they are fruits for breakfast.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
These are the photos taken while I was taking a walk one day in June.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
Nothing has to do with a fan of heavy metal music. “Kana-” means metal and “Gashira” a head. So the fishes’ heads looked very hard and strong.
I bought them in a supermarket. They were local fishes so they were not expensive, even I would say they were cheap.
All three were placed in a pan, and then they were boiled. Actually it took time for me to remove their scales on the surface. Although I just threw most of the inside, I kept egg and boiled it together.
I usually use soy sauce for the taste when boiling a fish, but this time I used the salty soy-beans paste “Miso”.
They were on the dish. That means it’s ready to eat.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
Bones of a sea bream are sharp and hard. Sometimes people lose their lives by accidentally swallowing those bones. But it is sure that the sea bream is one of the best fishes to eat. The fish is always served in meals of any celebration in Japan.
The taste is good, but cutting the sea bream for cooking is not that easy. That is another problem with sea breams. These days I am just trying to learn how to cut many kinds of fishes that are available in the supermarket where I always buy food.
So this is what I have done with a small size sea bream. Please do not point out that thick meat remains on the back bone. Anyway, bones and the head were so hard that it needed some forces in my hand when cutting them. But that hardness could helped me a little when I was making two slices of right and left half bodies from the back bone. Yes, the bones can be a guide for the blade of knife.
I boiled the head, bones, and tails with salty water so that could be a nice soup of fish taste.
I grilled the half body slice. Salt was the only thing that I used for seasoning. I used no pepper, no spices of any kind, other than salt.
It was so nice for me to eat this with boiled rice, although I still had to be careful about bones.
My another photo blog “LQ Laoshi’s Photo Gallery”(outside wordpress)
So many Japanese bloggers do the same thing this time of year. It’s spring, and now is the time for cherry blossom “Sakura”.
Cherry trees were on the other side of the river. I wanted to cross the river to get there.
Sakura flowers were not in full bloom yet. Although it was not so clear, I could see Iide Mountains behind.
I could still see some buds of pink color.
The mountain in this photo is part of Mt. Gozu Ridge. They are lower than Iide Mountains. The altitude is less than a half of IIDE. So the snow remaining on Gozu became already very little.
I was walking on a river bank. And then I turned to where I came from, to go back home.
I saw vessels floating on the water when I crossed a bridge again to go home.
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 