I went to Asahi to eat MOS Burger, and later stopped at "Book Off" to buy some cheap used books. Almost everything in the store is 105 yen, or about $1. I picked up three easy novels. I wish I could read something more sophisticated than "The King's Robot," but it's better than nothing.
So this guy has a sticker on his car that reads, "Alcohol Power."
I don't know if McDonald's in America has the new health-menu, but I hope so. Grilled chicken salads and sandwiches, and orange or vegetable juice instead of pop. I'm loving it.
So I read in the news that some expectant mothers are asking their doctors to help prevent their babies from being born today. Superstition about the date. It seems pretty silly to me, but whatever floats your boat.
A new house popped up.
I haven't tried it yet, but as a Pepsi aficionado I have little choice in the matter. ^__^
This was shortly before our quick escape from the Chiba city police. I guess fireworks are frowned upon in city parks.
I made a lot of progress with my webpage design today. I have a few bugs to work out before I can update this site however.
I think this is food of some sort, at least I found it in the lunch aisle at 711. They look like little white larvae. I looked up "Shirasuboshi" (as written) in 5 dictionaries, and it was never listed. Maybe it's better if I don't know what it is.
My friend inspecting his made in Japan Johnsonville Brat.
Today we had a farewell party for our two English student teachers.
The new website design premiers today! If you notice any problems, please send me an email.
It was a pretty usual day today.
A Japanese Torii near Iigura Station.
Just a couple days after going live, I've made a big change to the color theme of the website. Two people emailed me to let me know they had trouble reading the comment boxes, so I increased the contrast there. I also removed the background image completely. I loved the transparent effects I could achieve with it, but overall I think it looked a little amateurish and shabby. I also added a softening filter to the previous and next images to draw the eye away from them. Now the current image stands out much easier. On my to-do list are; to make the page more printer friendly, user comments, and a navigation feature. Stay tuned.
If you know me at all, you'll know how happy I am to have taken this shot. Today we had the first blue sky in two weeks. A bright blue sky means great outdoor shots, so after lunch I headed out to find something to shoot. My plan was to head out to this shrine I always see from the train, but I had some time to kill before the first train left. So, I biked around near the station. On my second stop, I found a little pool full of crawfish and frogs! Probably five minutes after I stopped, the police came and asked for my ID. I have a pretty good idea why he came, but I won't speculate. After that, I was quite discouraged, so I started heading home. On my way, I found an area with butterflies and stopped. But butterflies weren't the only residents of this grassy patch. It was full of Japanese Tree Frogs! I found at least four individuals. This guy was so photogenic it made my day.
In Japanese, the word for "Tree frog" is ?? or literally "Rain-Frog." One of my students told me today that if you touch a Rain Frog, it will rain the next day.
Today was overcast again. I'm glad I was able to take so many pictures yesterday. I don't get too many opportunities during the rainy season.
It was another rainy day today. I saw this dude around lunch time.
Today was a scorcher. The school cat was outside sleeping away the hot afternoon completely oblivious to the world around her.
The two year old+ lighter I found in my apartment upon moving in finally died. I need a lighter for mosquito coils. The new one I bought is pretty intense, so I thought I'd take a picture of it.
After work I took a train to Togane. It harbors one of the very few lakes in Chiba Prefecture. Sorry, that pun came out from nowhere. The lake is called Hakkakuko and has two large temples, one at each end. This temple is called Honzen-ji Temple.
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The school cat always gets a lot of attention.
I'm looking for some Makiyakinabe for my friend Myris.