Today is the last day downtown department store ALTA is open. Built in 2002, it originally catered to fashionable twentysomethings and then evolved into a haven for late-teen-girly fashion. Not a smart move: The number of teens has been decreasing slowly but steadily and hence the mini-mall went out of business.
私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。
Miss Mexico, Jimena Navarrete, has been crowned Miss Universe 2010. The sultry brunette represents her country gracefully, a country that is blessed with everything amazing this world has to offer: the best white sand beaches on the globe, a crystal-clear turquoise sea, tropical rainforests, snow peaked mountains, cactus clad deserts, colorful birds and marine life, ancient ruins that provide vivid evidence to a rich pre-Columbian history. Not to mention a world class cuisine that is completely unique and extremely varied in flavors. The list is so long, I might as well start a blog that deals exclusively with Mexico.
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。
Sapporo’s best Thai restaurant just opened their second branch at the location where Cuban bar Caribe used to be. Latin and Thai culture are similar in quite a few ways - the use of vivid colors in, the love of life and the exotic cuisine - and it was no surprise that ex-Caribe proved to be the perfect venue for Pattaya’s second outlet. The wall colors are still bright orange, only the Che paintings are gone and have been replaced with Buddhist ones, the Cuban flag with a Thai one, and there are lots of big wooden Buddha statues all over the place. We were a group of six and sampled lots of different foods. My favorite is still and always the spicy green papaya salad, my #2 the classic shrimp tom yam kun soup. I am immune to chili peppers so I didn’t perceive the spice but if you have a sensitive stomach or tongue for that matter, caution is recommended. The sesame shrimp pie was out of this world as well. As for drinks, I had a fresh squeezed watermelon juice, perfect for the season. Pattaya 2, Tanukikoji S3, W6
The Cuban and the Thai flag: similar colors and design
私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。
Seven puppies died last week on an American Airlines flight from Tulsa to Chicago apparently due to exposure to high temperature. The airline has a policy to not accept live animals as cargo if temperatures are expected to rise above 29 degrees. It was 30 degrees in Tulsa before 7 AM that day and yet the puppies were accepted. I’m glad I didn’t fly American but Japan Airlines when I came to live in Japan: I had two cats in tow, Luisa and Mercedes, both five at that time, and we took the long journey Mexico - Los Angeles - Osaka - Sapporo. My cats stayed in Osaka in quarantine for three weeks to be exact, and were then sent here to Hokkaido, again by JAL. I used to be a frequent flier on American Airlines and accumulated tens of thousands of miles for which I was rewarded with several free airplane tickets. However, I’ll probably never fly American again. The incident involving seven dead puppies is just the latest in a string of unfavorable events that sheds light on the airline’s unprofessionalism. In my personal case as a frequent flier I was only 10.000 miles short of a free overseas ticket when my miles were deleted due to expiration - without any notification whatsoever. They gave me the option of having my miles reactivated through making expensive purchases with partner companies but after making numbers I realized that was just another deceitful technique because it is actually cheaper to buy a regular ticket. There was an article in TIME magazine last month titled “10 reasons why we hate airlines” and I very much agree. I’ve had my share of frustration with American Airlines and I’m not even speaking of Delta, the way they deceive passengers is hair-raising and the internet is full of it-happened-to-me stories. The one thing that works in their favor are the incredibly low fares but if you consider all the frustration and wasted time trying to figure out their misleading policies it’s not worth it.
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。
I saw several girls dressed in yukata cotton kimono today, heading for the Toyohira River Fireworks Festival. I absolutely love yukatas and I’m so jealous that I don’t have the time today to don one and head to Toyohira River and join the 50-min multicolor spectacle sponsored by Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper and UHB TV. Unfortunately this is the only fireworks festival this year in Sapporo. The second one has been canceled and the third was moved to the debt-ridden melon town of Yubari three years ago. Wearing yukata, watching fireworks and drinking beer - sounds like the perfect summer! Don’t miss our fabulous DLS Yukata Beer Garden Party next week on Saturday, I’m already counting the days See you there.
私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。
Former North Korean spy Kim Hyon-hui wearing an anti-suicide mask while being escorted by South Korean officials (1987). When I first came to Hokkaido a Japanese friend told me that there were rumors about Japanese people having been abducted by North Korean submarines on the coasts of Niigata, Akita and here in Hokkaido. The stories seemed very far-fetched and I didn’t give them much thought. I was stunned, however, as shortly thereafter North Korea admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens for the purpose of training its spies. A few weeks later then prime minister Koizumi traveled to Pyongyang and brought back five of the abducted Japanese. It was a historical moment and all TV channels broadcasted the news almost non-stop. The news had double impact on me because I was doing homestay in East Hokkaido at that time and one of the activities for improving my Japanese was watching TV. The expression “rachi mondai” (abduction issue) to this day remains etched in my memory: A non-fiction story that reads like one of Ian Fleming’s best spy novels. Kim originally studied acting and appeared on national television. But the North Korean leaders had other plans for her. She was sent to a spy training camp outside Pyongyang where she learned the craft for seven years. In 1987 she was on a mission to South Korea where she successfully blew up Korean Air flight 858: 115 people died including her spy partner who bit a cyanide capsule. Kim tried to do the same but was caught in the attempt and arrested. She escaped capital punishment by supplying detailed information about life in North Korea. Kim is currently visiting Japan where she is meeting with family members of some of the abducted Japanese. Quirky detail: The house she is staying at is ex-prime minister Yukio Hatoyama’s second home.
私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。
The famous Odori Beer Garden, stretching several blocks along Odori Park, opened today. Actually it is not just one beer garden but six: Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi, Suntory, International and new this year Sapporo Classic. Also new this year are the reduced opening hours. The gardens close at 9 PM (last order 8:30), one hour earlier than in previous years due to complaints from people residing in the neighborhood.
私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。