Ramen Jinanbo Again

We went to Ramen Jinanbo (らーめん 次男坊) again.

My choice was a pork soup ramen with green onion, boiled egg and sliced roasted white pork.
My choice looks like the same with the one when I went to the restaurant last time, but there is indeed a difference, white pork or black pork. :)



Compared to the black pork ramen, white pork ramen is less oily and acceptable for more people.

BTW, Jinanbo (次男坊) means the second boy in a family.
This seems to come from that the owner of the restaurant is the second boy of the owner of Tamazou(たまぞう) in Fuchu city.

Koganei Awaodori

Awaodori is one of the most popular traditional dances.
I didn't know that they have an awaodori festival,Koganei Awaodori (小金井阿波踊り), every year in front of JR Musashi Koganei station.



The above are pictures I took on my way back home Today, and I was surprised because the bus stop I usually use was moved because of the festival. :o

BTW, of course, the Koganei Awaodori festival was held last year too, but I didn't notice it's held there. This is because I was very busy last year in July and August, and I got back home after the festival finished. :o

27 Weeks

From today, thatsdone 3.0 is her 27th week.
Weights 1222 grams, and still ahead of common babies by 2 weeks.
Can be a giant baby. :o

BTW, she is a breech baby at this moment.
Our doctor fixed her position once today, but she restored the breech position
in 15 minutes.
Can be a stubborn baby. :(

TORRONI BACI

Tonight dessert, Torroni Baci.



We bought the chocolate at Fujiya Hotel in Hakone.
That's veery good. :)

Gotemba Premium Outlets : Act2

Well, on our way back to Tokyo, we went to Gotemba Premium Outlets AGAIN. :o

It's a very crowded place usually, and I have to park my car at a parking lot far from the mall and take a bus from a parking lot to the shopping area. :(

But, it's Monday today and there were small number of people compared to week end days, thus I could have a parking lot very close to the central area. :)



The above is a picture take from the nearest parking lot. :)

While I was reading the 7th book of Harry Potter again, my wife spent about an hour and was captured by another purse. :o



The above seems to be the first Slvatore Ferragamo for her.



BTW, we got another Chocolixir again. :o
This time, Dark Chocolate Decadence.

Lalique Museum, Hakone

Hakone area is also known that there are many museums.

For example,

• The Hakone Open-Air Museum
  
• The Museum of The Little Prince in Hakone
• Meissen Museum
  
• Lalique Museum, Hakone

and so many other ones.

This time, we chose the Lalique Museum because the weather was not good, and most of the museums in Hakone are open-air style.
Lalique Museum, on the contrary, is an usual indoor museum, and my wife loves jewelries very much, so we chose Lalique Museum.



Compared to other museums in Hakone area, they seem to have enough funds and keep their facilities in good repair. In this sense, they also have a good (but expensive!) restaurant in the site like the pictures at the bottom of this entry.

My wife's favorite is "Winter Landscape Brooch."



As for my favorite, I couldn't find a picture of that in the catalogue which we bought at the museum shop. But, it's a perfume bottle named something like "Four Suns" in Japanese.
Although is a small perfume bottle made of white frosted glass, its shape consists of four curved surfaces and each of them has a slight bulge which looks like a embedded lense and reflects light. Amazingly, because of the structure, bulges of the bottle looks like shining like four suns without any electricity.
It was really beautiful. :)

Grill Wisteria

The Grill Wisteria is one of restaurants of Fujiya Hotel.
I had a curry and rice dinner course for the dinner.

Some literature says that Fujiya Hotel first offered curry and rice in Japan against the common belief that it's Shinjuku Nakamuraya that offered curry and rice first. I'm not sure and I do not care what is the fact after all, but anyway, I wanted to try their, Fujiya Hotel's, curry and rice. :)



The above left is consomme and the left is the curry and rice with sea foods. :)
Its taste is not so spicy, but not too mild neither. I think the taste stick with the original, old good and a bit naive curry and naive taste when curry and rice was imported to Japan.
Anyway, exquisite taste, I think. :)

Also, here is my dessert.



BTW, Nikko Kanaya Hotel is also famous for their "curry and rice of 100 years."
I guess curry and rice was one of symbols of modernization in those days. :)

A Magician

Fujiya Hotel has a special room named "Magic Room" in the lobby area where guests can enjoy a magic show. :)



I'm not sure if we can enjoy the show every day, but anyway I and my wife enjoyed the magician's a bit verbose magic show. :o

The magician asked me to hand him my marriage ring, and we were surprised the ring moved instantly to his pocket. Besides, the ring was held in his key holder. :o
I'm still wondering what the trick is...

Fujiya Hotel

Fujiya Hotel is the most popular classic hotel in Japan founded about 130 years ago.
It's like Nikko Kanaya Hotel, and visitors can enjoy good harmony of Western and Eastern architectural culture.



The hotel is also well known in Japan because it's along the course of Hakone Ekiden which takes place on Jan. 2nd and 3rd every year.



To tell the truth, I like Nikko Kanaya Hotel better because Kanaya Hotel preserves the original buildings more. But, because of its good location, I mean convenient access to Tokyo, apparently Fujiya Hotel has more visitors including both domestic and foreign people.

The above right picture is the tea lounge in their main building.
John Lennon also visited the hotel and had a cup of tea at the lounge.



The above right is the Flower Palace built in 1939, and the building seems to be a cultural heritage registered to the agency for cultural affairs Japan.

The above left is the main building and there is a revolving door in front of it like other classic hotels.

BTW, there are several classic hotels in Japan.

1. Nikko Kanaya Hotel
2. Fujiya Hotel, Hakone
3. Karuizawa Manpei Hotel
4. Nara Hotel
5. Tokyo Station Hotel
6. Hotel New Grand

Our next target is Karuizawa Manpei Hotel.
Because there is a shopping mall near the hotel. :o

Godiva Chocolixir

In Gotenba Premium Outlets, there is a shop of Godiva,
and here is Today's afternoon tea. :o



Godiva Chocolixir, Milk Chocolater Decadence
I like it veeeery much. :)

Jacasse

Jacasse is an Italian restaurant in Gotemba Premium Outlets.
Here are several snapshots when we had lunch there.
I think they serve standard quality dishes in Japan...

Gotemba Premium Outlets : Act1

Well, Gotemba Premium Outlets was the most important place to visit in this trip. :o



Fortunately, the weather got better on Sunday, so we, especially my wife :o, enjoyed shopping there.

Here is a picture of things she got today. :o

• A pair of shoes (Cole Haan)
• A bag (BALLY)
• A purse for my wife's mother (BALLY)
  

Well, what I bought?

Nothing! :o

Actually, I kept sitting on a bench and reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while she was enjoying (absorbed in?) shopping. :o

A Car Through the Looking Glass?

We made a small trip to Hakone.

Here is an interesting picture took on our way to Hakone. :o



My car is in the center of the mirror(?).
Well, of course, it's my wife who took the picture. :)

Wrote on July 24, 2007.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J.K. Rowling
ISBN 978-0-7475-9105-4

Got one with 1 day behind. :)
I guess I would need about 1 week or 10 days or so to finish that.

Hormone Center Dougen

Today, I met several old friends when I worked for the previous company.
It's like an alumni meeting at a barbecue restaurant. :o

Around the building where I worked through the nights many times, there is a very good Beef barbecue restaurant, Hormone Center Dougen (ホルモンセンターどうげん).
Here is a map.

Among high quality but not so expensive dishes of them, actually the best one I think is their Cold noodle (冷麺) . Actually, I've dreamed of the noodle for two years!



Finally, my dream comes true. :o

Bodaiju no Kage

Bodaiju no Kage (菩提樹の陰)
Kansuke Naka
ISBN4-00-310513-3

There seems to be no English translation of this book. I'm not sure its English title,
but it would be something like "Umbra of Buddah Tree."

Actually, Kansuke Naka is the author of "The Silver Spoon" (Gin no Saji, 銀の匙) which the title of this Blog comes from. :)

Nintendo DS

Recently, my wife bought a Nintendo DS Lite, and now she is enjoying "Professor Layton and the Strange City."

It's an RPG where a player has to solve puzzles or answer quizzes to go forward.
Although I had almost no interest in so far, I like this game.

BTW, she solved about 80 puzzles out of 120 in total at this moment, and I'm asked to solve difficult ones (for her) about five times a day. :o

A Communication Device: Stethoscope

Today, I bought a special device for communication with thatsdone 3.0
at Newton Style in Musashi-Murayama Diamond City Mu.

Here is a picture of the device. :o

But the problem is, this is just a toy and it's difficult to hear her heartbeat. :(

NINA's PARIS

Today's lunch at NINA's PARIS in Musashi Murayama Diamond City Mu.



A Taco Rice and a dessert. :)

Menya Kotaro(2)

Today's dinner at Menya Kotaro. :)



Green Kotaro Ramen with a half cooked egg.
Green means 'green chili', and it's like a Thai cuisine. :o

The Enemy Is the Pirate: Eye of Justice

Teki ha Kaizoku, Seigi no Me (敵は海賊・正義の眼)
Chohei Kanbayashi
ISBN978-4-15-030893-3
Bought on 2007/07/12
Finished on 2007/07/13

Chohei Kanbayashi is one of the best Japanese Sci-Fi writers, and this is the 7th book of his "The Enemy Is the Pirate" series.

There are no translations of the series, but its English title would be "The Enemy Is the Pirate: Eye of Justice." Actually, there is an OVA DVD of the 2nd book, "The Enemy Is the Pirate: Banquet of Cats", and I guess it's close enough.

BTW, one reason I like the series is that I love two space ships, Rajendra and Kali Durga that play very important roles in the series. Both of them have very advanced A.I. systems, and they have emotion. I like especially Rajendra's personality. :)

A Pillow

Recently my wife bought a pillow.



Today, it's delivered and I was astonished... :o

Almost 25 Weeks

Thatsdone 3.0 is almost 25 weeks today.
24 weeks and 6 days, and weight is 965g.
In addition, today the baby turned out to be a girl. :)

BTW, the girl seems to be 2 weeks ahead of common baby.
Maybe a giant child. :o

Long Wang

Long Wang (龍王) is a Chinese restaurant along Shin-Koganei Kaido avenue (新小金井街道).

• Ramen with meat and vegetables boiled in soy sauce with sugar (旨煮ラーメン)
• potsticker (餃子 )

I think it's average level, but compared to ones of other Ramen restaurants along the avenue, it's difficult to find out things to distinguish it. :(

Guin Saga Extra 21

Guin Saga Extra 21 : The Warrior in Wonderland
Kaoru Kurimoto
ISBN978-4-15-030894-0

Wow, Guin finally got the Guin 2.0!

Alchemist

Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
ISBN978-4-04-275001-X (Japanese translation)

Summer Vacations 2007

Well, it turned out that I had to have 8.5 days off by the end of this September at work.
In addition, I have 5 more days special summer vacation. :o
As I wrote before several times, now I'm working for a veeeeery bureaucratic company. They have also one of the strongest union in Japan because of a historical background. In addition, the union is bureaucratic too. :(
That means employees are asked to follow union's regulations not only the employer even an employee do not want to have days off.

Thus, I was forced (!?) to have big vacations this year.
One is 9 days vacation in August and the other is 11 days one. :)
The only thing I regret of a bit is that it's difficult to travel abroad because my wife cannot come with me because of the upcoming baby in October. :)