RICKY DLS 英会話 blog

This was a flamenco show at the Art Park yesterday. The performance was part of a new festival called Sapporo City Jazz with venues in Odori Park and Art Park. Great way to spice up the Sapporo summer!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

… and it is one long party!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

The boys had a cooking event at the TV Tower last night and after that we had our own private party in the middle of Odori Park. We had an entire open air bar with a cask of Sapporo Classic, Rioja wine and Spanish tortilla. Well the party was not that private actually: several young rappers who were practicing their skills in the park joined us and rapped for us in Japanese … great memories! This is one of the things you can only do in Sapporo. Having a party in a park in the middle of the city in the middle of the night and it is one of these things that make Sapporo truly unique. The photos are underexposed unfortunately but I think you get the picture.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Thanks everybody for coming to our BBQ party. The weather was perfect and so were the US steaks and Chilean spareribs, Sapporo Classic beer and Spanish Rioja wine. See you at our next party!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Azure blue sky and not one cloud to ruin it, I wish it had been like that during the Rising Sun Rock festival. Rather than perfect summer weather there was heavy rainfall the day before the concert, and since Ishikari Bay is shaped like a pond - go figure what that did to the ground.

Crossing the vast area between the stages, seven in all, was like trudging through a muddy marsh. Some of my friends arrived in Ishikari ahead of me and warned me about the soil condition. I was therefore equipped with robust rainboots, without them walking around would have been a disaster, if not impossible.

To be honest, I don’t know many Japanese musicians but one artist I used to listen to about ten years ago is Takkyu Ishino (band Denki Groove, genre techno pop). At that time his first big album, “Throbbing Disco Cat” came out and it caught my attention because the cover depicts a bodybuilder. I was bodybuilding back then and well, the rest is history lol. Takkyu (=pingpong) started spinning at 1:30 AM in front of about 5000 people under an unfortunately starless sky. He’s as good as he was then and was my highlight at the RSR apart from the giant paella of course lol.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Vincent, Carlos and Raf at the RSR with their giant paella.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Hi folks, I’m back from my O-Bon holidays. I didn’t leave Japan this time, or Hokkaido for that matter, but rather did the things that people usually do in their free time here like drinking at a beer garden lol or visiting hot springs. I was sunbathing naked at noon in an onsen in the middle of Sapporo OMG lol. I also attended the Rising Sun Rock festival in Ishikari Bay (see pic). More on that later.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

These are two recently opened American-style sidewalk cafes in downtown Sapporo. In the US they’d be crowded at any given time on any given day, young and old alike sipping coffee and doing people-watching. In Japan, people prefer to drink coffee indoors. Outdoor eating or drinking is exclusively done in the beer gardens.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Today the Tanabata Festival is being observed in Hokkaido and this is the tanzaku wish paper stand at ALTA. Rumor has it that this department store for teens and twentysomethings is the next recession victim.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

These are the dog days of summer and especially Luisa hates them. With an outside temperature of 35 degrees she wishes she could trade her gorgeous fur coat for something lighter, cooler. Well the sun seems to be good for my new hibiscus plant at least: I’m expecting it to bloom soon.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。