Dave-sensei was on "Let's Enjoy English!" on Radio MOMO (79.0 FM). Dave and D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu talk in English and Japanese about the difference between weddings in Japan and the US. Click the button below to listen.
Dave-sensei will be on Radio MOMO (79.0FM) with D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu on Thursday, May 25th (today!), at about 5:40 pm. They will talk in English and Japanese about weddings in America and Japan.
5月25日（木）5時40分ごろにDave先生がRadio MOMO (79.0FM) に出演します（DJは上別府千晶さん）。英語と日本語の両方でアメリカと日本の結婚式について話します。
http://www.fm790.co.jp/
Last Saturday night Dave, Nick and Jules joined a group of NEO students for an Indian curry dinner and a live jazz performance.
We ate dinner at a restaurant called Sundar Mahal that is close to Tenmaya. I had chicken curry with cheese nan. I don’t really like spicy food, so I ordered “child mild”. Some of the other people ordered very spicy curry, though.
After dinner, we all walked down the shopping arcade to Bird, one of Okayama’s oldest jazz bars. We watched a five-member band consisting of piano, trombone, saxophone, bass and drums. They played 2 sets, lasting about an hour each.
The band was great. All of the songs were original compositions. I had a fantastic time talking to everybody and listening to some great music.
At the end of Golden Week I went to Osaka for two days. It was a trip with very few plans. We just wanted to take it easy and explore Osaka. One thing we did a lot of was eating. Osaka is famous for its food and there are many things I still want to try there.
Our first stop was Takoyaki. We ate at a famous chain called “Kukuru”. Despite the heavy rain that day there were a lot of people lining up outside both their stores in Dotonbori. I was surprised how soft it was compared to other Takoyaki I have eaten. Soon after we also ate some hamburgers. There is a lot more choice of burger shops there. That night, we went out to eat kushikatsu near our hotel. I had never had kushikatsu in Osaka before, and it was amazing. The waiter also made a mistake, and they prepared some kushikatsu we did not order. So, they let us have them for free. I felt a little bad, so I ordered some extra food.
The next day we went over to the Expo ’70 Commemorative Park. At the expo mall, there is a KFC restaurant. While I had eaten too much the day before, I had always wanted to try eating there. The KFC restaurant offers an all you can eat service for about 90 minutes. This includes regular KFC dishes such as chicken or fries, but there are also many other kinds of foods you usually cannot get there on offer from salads to desserts and many kinds of bread and meat. I enjoyed eating there, even if my stomach regretted it after. The last stop was 551 Horai before we caught a train back to Okayama. The pork buns there are always delicious.
If there is one memory I will remember from my trip to Osaka this golden week, it will be the food, that’s for sure.
Golden
WEek 2023
Huis Ten Bosch
During Golden Week, I had the opportunity to go to Kyushu and hang out with some old friends. We did things in both Fukuoka and Nagasaki, but the highlight for me was a place I had never been before: Huis Ten Bosch, the Dutch-style theme park and popular tourist attraction.
This park was not quite like anything I’ve ever been to, and it’s a little hard to explain. It’s similar to a theme park like Disney or USJ, but forgoes the roller coasters and teacups in favor of more small-time attractions, such as VR headset “rides.” Many of the “attractions” are actually just fancy shops and restaurants with an eye-catching façade.
That may sound negative, but in the end, Huis Ten Bosch is still an interesting place to walk around and explore. The park is built around a series of canals and expertly decorated with European-style structures, including the famous windmills. Of course, there’s a flower garden as well – we didn’t go at the right time to see tulips, but it was beautiful nonetheless. In addition, there are a number of musical shows that happen at regular intervals on several different stages around the park. The taiko show was particularly exciting!
One day was enough to walk around the whole park, but there were several areas and attractions that we skipped because the lines were so long during Golden Week . I’m sure there’s much more to see and experience, and it may even be worth another trip someday!
