あの火の玉、橋を転がってくるんじゃ、、ウエルカム！
こちらは鳴門海峡の日の出です。
淡路島の向こうから、じゃじゃーん！
なんとも派手な感じで登場してくれました。
この時期（５月）橋のほぼ直線上に出現するんですね。
それにてしても、鳴門海峡のかっこよさには
どうにも心撃ち抜かれ続けました。一生心に蘇りそうです。
こちらは夕暮れどき。
迷って迷って辿り着けず、日の入り時刻ギリギリに離陸したら
世にもやさしい、かっこよくて力強い、
とっておきの世界が待っていてくれまして。。。
鳴門の空はいつも息を飲む色……
巨大な建造物にゴーゴー渦巻く海！
そこを行き交うたくさんの船、
連なる島々へんな地形、地形に合わせたいびつな街の灯。
飛ばしつつ「すごいすごい、やばいー(;o;)✨」
ひとりごと上等の地でありました。
Everyone likes BBQ. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are. It is such a natural way for people to gather around to spend some good time. What if I tell you, though, that doing BBQ in your backyard is something really hard to do in Tokyo?
It’s really disappointing to know that there are not many space where you can do BBQ. Of course, it is no problem to do it in your backyard but not many houses have enough space especially at the center of Tokyo.
The most popular and practical ways for people to BBQ is to go to a BBQ site. Toyosu area, for example, is known as major BBQ site for people living in the city. It’s accessible for many people thanks to its location and vast spaces are available because this area is a landfill and it’s not as densely populated as other places. In this kind of place, BBQ is offered as a service where you pay for food and drinks prepared by service providers. It makes some sense because you do not have to do grocery shopping in advance or bring all the heavy stuff to the BBQ site. Not to mention, preparing for BBQ and cleaning up takes so much effort as well.
I do not mind this kind of arranged BBQ but I prefer the easygoing one that you do in your backyard.
First of all, a backyard BBQ is cheap. It is kind of obvious but signing up for BBQ service tends to get very expensive compared to a backyard BBQ. In my opinion, there’s no point in organizing BBQ in the first place if it gets more expensive than eating good food at some restaurants outside. A backyard BBQ is a perfect opportunity to go to one of the whole sale supermarkets. You might think of Seiyu, Walmart or Costco kind of supermarket but there are actually many brands. Nikuno Hanamasa (肉のハナマサ), Gyomu-super (業務スーパー), Amica (アミカ), are the brands known as whole sale stores. You’ll be surprised how much discount you get to have in these supermarkets.
Then, backyard BBQ leave you or other people with rooms for improvising and surprises. When we do BBQ in Oakhouse Kichijoji 2, more than enough people bring some good food. Marinated meat is one of the popular choices. Grilling with charcoals always comes in good results but grilling marinated meat makes things even better.
Some people bring cheese, breads, even homemade cakes. Make the BBQ potluck style, so that your guests bring so much more interesting food than what you find in BBQ sites in Toyosu.
The reason I love backyard BBQs in Kichijoji 2 is because it’s easy to prepare and clean. I already mentioned that signing up for BBQ services is great because you do not need any preparation or clean-ups. I agree but it’s a different story if it’s a BBQ at the back of a share house.
Oakhouse Kichijoji 2 has such a big backyard where more than a dozen people can stay and spend some good time in summer. The big kitchen is inside the building which means it’s so much easier to clean or prepare BBQ. You do need some kind of washing space if you’re doing a BBQ outside. I saw many BBQ pits available in public parks in Hawaii. I hope there are pits like that in Tokyo as well but unfortunately I have never seen such things in parks in Tokyo.
These photos below are the ones taken when we did BBQ on the 26th of May. May is one of the best month to do BBQ outside. It’s not too cold or too hot and it’s right before the rainy season starts.
The Oakhouse manager actually gave us a BBQ grill for the community when we told that we were planning a BBQ. We just got a charcoal and a firestarter.
So many people brought so many food on that night. Even some fruits were served toward the end of the BBQ and it was really good. This is the kind of BBQ that I like. I’m pretty sure some people bring more expensive food to share but that’s okay. This kind of selfless act bonds people in the community. It’s beautiful if you think about it. Every time there’s a party some people want to share so much with others without asking for any money. People who received this kindness brings something at the next party to reciprocate, and this is an endless cycle.
What makes a good community? I think it’s about bringing slightly more food to share when you don’t even know who is coming to the party.
以前、茨城県中小企業団体中央会で講演させていただいた。
僕の講演依頼って、大多数が口コミでもなく、直接聞いてくださった方からのご依頼。
今回も、前回聞いてくださった石油業協同組合の方が、
「うちの組合でも」とご依頼。
うれしすぎる。
参加者さんは社長さん。
社長さんへ、僕が講演させていただいてる。
光栄すぎます。
うまく僕の勝ちへのノウハウが影響できれば、数社が改善に動き出すって考えている。
そーしたら、数百人の日本人の動きが向上できる可能性もある。
日本に、自分のちからをシェアするタイミングだと感じ、海外の勝負生活へ戻らなかった。
最初は、マジで貯金が減る一方過ぎて、続行できないかもって思ってた。
なんでも、想いあれば、突破できるのかも。
誰かひとりが突破していれば、特に。
少しの貯蓄というゆとりあれば、さらに。
＠＠＠＠＠
新聞に「プロギャンブラー」って単語を載せるだけで、英断かと。
すげーまともなことを発言してても、やはり「ギャンブラー」は載せにくい。
掲載を拒否られても、そりゃ当然な仕事だって考えてる・・・
さらに、その記事がfacebookに拡散されたのを見てかもだけど、次のトークの話もご連絡いただいた。
【人生、キッチリやったもん勝ち♪】
Beers are something widely popular all over the world. The city of Tokyo is no exception. October fest in Tokyo attracts so many people too. Authentic German beers are of course great but trying something new beers are always great too. Apparently there are many local breweries in Japan and beer fairs like “TOYODAクラフトビールまつり (Toyoda Craft Beer Matsuri)” is one of the best opportunities to find some great local breweries.
Toyoda Craft Beer Matsuri is a craft beer fair that I happened to find an article on a local newspaper just a few days ago. It’s an annual fair started in 2015. According to the website, there used to be one of the oldest beer in Tama area (firstly brewed back in 1886) and this same beer was reproduced in 2015. This fair was started to memorialize this historical beer.
The venue of this fair is located right in front of the Toyoda station which is only two stops to the west from Tachikawa Station which is the closest station to where I live: Tachikawa Garden Town.
The site looked so lively with lots of food/drink shops that it almost reminded me of festivals (Matsuri) in summer.
There are many kinds of food to choose from at this festival but I noticed quite a few shops are selling grilled lambs. I did not know this but apparently, lamb is supposed to be the perfect food to pair with beer.
I actually love lamb and I usually get it if I have a choice in an Indian restaurant for example. The first lamb dish above was great but the second lamb was even better.
This is the grilled lamb plate which was being sold right at the beer corner. A local brewery called 10ants Brewing was running this shop and I had a 4 beer set and this 300g grilled lamb to share with friends who I came along with.
The beers were all great but I liked number two and four the best. “10ants Brewing” is definitely doing a good job here.
I thought I’ve heard of the name of this brewery but I could not remember on the spot. I found out later that one of my favorite izakayas in Tachikawa called Wagaya (和が家）is run by 10ants Brewing. No wonder I like their beers!
My friends and I left the fair sometime after sunset. The fair was going on until 8 pm so there were still many people around the place. There was some live music going on too and I thought nothing was missing at that moment. I hope this event keeps going on every year and I’ll definitely come back next year as well.
Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa is one of my favorite parks in Tokyo. I sometimes go there with some camping gears just to relax until the park closes around 5pm. The only downside of this park is that it’s not free to go in.
The admission fee is 450 yen per adult. While 450 yen is not too much if you think about how big the park is and the flowers and activity areas being pretty well maintained, it can still be the reason not to go especially when there are many smaller and free parks available.
There are two ways to avoid this admission fee and still enjoy the time in the park. One is going to the park on free admission days. Showa Kinen Park does not charge admission fee on several national holidays. It’s not all national holidays so it is better to check on the website in advance. It gets pretty crowded on those days though.
The other way to avoid the admission fee is to go to free admission areas. There are some areas in Showa Kinen Park you can enter without paying the admission fee. Fortunately, the free area is located really close to Tachikawa station. I go that area often when I just want to relax in the park. The free area is not always crowded thanks to it’s size. Sometimes, there are even big events going on in this area.
Manpaku is a food fair that has been going on in Showa Kinen Park until the 3rd of June. This event is a food fair and many restaurants brand comes to the park and sells food in the food court style. Some of my friends in Tachikawa Garden Town have been there too and this is something we have been talking about.
There is an admission fee for this event so it actually costs to just to go in but it makes sense if you like to try many different foods at once. It makes more sense if you go with your friends so that you can try all the different kinds of food little by little. The admission fee is about 600 yen on weekdays and 800 yen on weekends. It would be better if it’s like 300 yen but I guess it still is a good deal because you can come for lunch and dinner with this fee.
Each food costs about 500 yen to 1000 yen so it’s not particularly cheaper than restaurants outside. I guess the value of the event is that you get to try all these restaurants food in one spot. I found one of the restaurants even came from Okinawa.
One of the most popular food at the event. A rice bowl with wagyu and Ikura (800 yen)
Manpaku venue is located at the free admission area in Showa Kinen Park so that you do not need to pay for the admission fee of the park on top of the admission fee of the event which is great.
I had 4 kinds of food and all was pretty good.
This is another wagyu bowl. Gyu-Toro Don (600yen)
There are some ramen shops too. I tried an olive oil/scallop ramen. It was the combination I have never tried before but it was actually great.
Olive oil/scallop ramen (800 yen)
Overall, the quality of food was great. I wished the entrance fee could be cheaper. The Manpaku food fair is ending soon (it ends on Monday, June 3rd). If you have not been there yet, better try it out this weekend.
もうね！
高知の海が圧倒的すぎて!!!
室戸岬の朝
ザッパーーン
ドッパーーン
しかも地形ふくざーーつ
室戸岬の朝
室戸岬の朝
あらやばいわ。
県民性豪快って言われるのわかる。
あんな力強い黒潮見て育ったら
豪快になりそうな気がしてしまう。
短絡的だけど。
須崎の漁港
室戸岬港
どこの港でも、防波堤の太さ高さ頑強さすっっごい、
構造は特徴的だし、テトラポットも超巨大。
室戸岬港なんて、防波堤の端から灯台まで10分じゃつけなかったよなんてこと！
海の深さもすごいみたい、Googleマップ見ると
海岸から近めでガクンと深くなってるとか、へー！
室戸岬漁港
なんとも人の手に負えぬ、あー自分ちっぽけ海かっこいいよの万歳感。
常にここちよく海に負け、海という豪快なあり方のお手本がそこにあるって、最高ね。
この旅でいろんな方とお話していつも楽しかったけど
高知の方は男性も女性もまた特徴的でした。
物怖じしない強さと、すっごくここちいい自己主張があって、
とにかく話していて気持ちよかったんです。
池之浦
ときどき、ああいう豪快な世界の空気を吸いに
行った方が自分のためな気がするのです。
僕はお祭り大好き人間。
友達もお祭り好きが多い。
毎年いろいろfacebookにシェアされるけど、
いつも「今日いきました」報告で、
えっ！今日だったのか、行きたかった！！！ って感じる。
そんなお祭りのひとつが、かなまら祭り。
シェアハウスで、ご成婚され、お子さまも産まれたパパの方から（左）
「明日、かなまら祭り行こう」って誘ってもらった。
仕事の準備はいっぱい残ってるときだったけど・・・
チャリだと15分。の川崎大師ちかくで開催とのこと。
たまたま、仕事ではないし、近場で開催。
なら、行くべきっしょ♪
家を出る直前にリビングで逢った、古株住民の黒ちゃんもお誘い♪
濃すぎる３人ｗｗｗ
そりゃ、多くの人に振り返られたのも、写真を見れば、納得ｗ
シェアハウスのメンツで行くお祭りは楽しすぎる。
だって、お互いの性格がわかってるから、アホなノリが遠慮なくできる。
そして、こんなオバカに行ける友達なんて、人生の宝っすよ、おたから♪ｗ
一般的には、年齢を重ねるごとに友達って作りにくくなってくものかなと。
でも、ソーシャルレジデンスだと、リビング降りれば、すぐ作れる。
ちょこちょこイベントもあるし、仲良くなれる体制が整ってる。
マジ住んでて良かったっす♪
ソーシャルレジデンス一覧
https://www.oakhouse.jp/house/social-residence
Do do you know what petanque is? I didn’t until French friends of mine who’s living in Tachikawa Garden Towntold me about it. It is a sport what game started in Marseille and apparently it is very popular.
I am not sure how widely this game is played worldwide. but I bet not many people in Japan know about this game for half played this game before.
One day during the badminton match in Shibasaki gym, Hugo and Flora ask me how we can play petanque game Showa Kinen Park. I wrote about this park a couple of times before it is one of the biggest national Park in Tokyo.
The park is not just known by its size but also that variety of sports you can play. I used to come to the park often to play disc golf which is one of the new sports that you can play in a big spacious park. There are only two parks that you can play this sport in Tokyo.
I did know that there are other new sports that I can play in this park but I did not have a chance to play because there was no one who can teach me how to play.
These are what you need to play petanque. A couple of iron sphere and a small ball with color.
The point of this game is to throw the iron sphere and stop the ball as close as you can to the colored ball. You have 3 balls for each game and you can shoot other spheres if you want.
It’s kind of like curling but you play on the ground, not on the ice. It means you need to take the little rocks into account as it affects the movement of the sphere after you throw. It is a game of physics.
I was completely a beginner on that day but I really enjoyed it. In fact, I kept on playing with friends and we realized after that we played for more than 3 hours without a single break. It’s such a simple game with simple rules but it had something that made me stick.
First, this is probably one of the most gender-free sport I know. In most sports, your muscles matter. Playing better is about how you train your muscles. You do need some muscle to play Petanque but it’s not really about power.
You need some luck to win. Even if you’re good, you can’t always win. Petanque field doesn’t seem to be needing a lot of effort to maintain. The ground looked just like any ground in any park. Small rocks are everywhere and it’s obvious that the sphere is affected once it touches the ground. I was surprised to find out that it is part of the game. Because of these rocks, you miss shots sometimes. I thought why the ground is supposed to be like this but soon later I started to understand why. The sphere does go to places where you originally did not expect it to go. You miss shots because of these small rocks but at the same time, sphere stops exactly at the right spot.
I thought this is really fun and even addictive.
I would definitely want to come back here soon and play more with friends.
GWから明けまで、しばらく四国に行ってました。
すばらしかったなー、四国の風景！
そして、四国独特の人当たり……♡
県ごとに確かに県民性みたいのが見えてほっこりし通しでした。
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝個人の勝手な感想＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
（愛媛はやんわり元気なおばあちゃん系のほっこり）
（高知は豪快で明るい、アネゴ系のほっこり）
（徳島はチャキチャキしてるイメージ）
（泊まっていない香川はイメージがわかないー）
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
コースは岡山スタートの、しまなみ海道を通って
愛媛、高知、徳島、香川とぐるっと四県1300kmドライブ。
がんばりました、えらい自分。
車内あほあほにつき始終どうしようもなく笑い通しの
運転だったけど、何もなくてよかったですほっ。
それにしてもしまなみ海道のかっこよさたるや!!
大自然と、超巨大人工物の調和が最強。
がたぼこ島をつらぬくまっすぐ実直な橋にぐっと心つまらせました。
先出しでしまなみ海道のぐっとくる風景、ご覧ください★
この旅のこと連載などで書き始めたので
よろしければご覧くださいませ☆
』さんで
