RICKY DLS 英会話 blog

Think Cuba and you think sultry salsa rhythm, mojito cocktails, gorgeous art depicting voluptuous figures, thick cigars, rum and the omnipresent image of El Che, to name just a few.  I sometimes wonder how this small island nation managed to produce such a vast array of cultural icons. Thanks to La Habana bar & restaurant, Sapporo has its authentic share of Cuban culture. Entering from Tanuki Koji through a narrow staircase, you’ll feel the Latin lust for life right away, being greeted with “Hola!” and salsa tunes coming out of the speakers.  The first floor - adorned with paintings and other memorabila - provides a cozy counter, tables for dining and a dancefloor for those who want to exercise their hip muscles.  Upstairs there’s an even larger dance area where the crowds go bananas on weekends and at special events.  Bartender Mario who enjoys celebrity status in Sapporo mixes super exotic cocktails and supplies fascinating tales about life in the old country.  Mario has been part of La Habana since it first opened back in 1993 and he also prepares original Cuban food.  Choices include moros y cristianos, enchilado de camarones or picadillo especial.  La Habana, Tanuki Koji West 6.  Open daily from 18:00 to 3:00.

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Finally!� DLS is going to have another movie night!� And what’s even better, YOU CAN CHOOSE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE.

There are three options:

1.� Tomb Raider.� Angelina is pregnant again - with twins this time!� In this action flick you can see her slim&trim and before she started her very cool multicultural family.

2. Legally Blonde.� Reese Witherspoon at her best.� America’s top-earning actress - she makes up to US-$ 20 million per movie - in a hilarious Hollywood comedy.

3. Walk The Line.� Absolutely my favorite actor:� Joaquin Phoenix plays American country-music-legend Johnny Cash.� A biography, a drama, a must-see film.

Make your choice, send me your votes by e-mail:� ricky@dls-eikaiwa.com.� DLS Movie Night is May 31st.

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You won’t believe what happened to� us on East Nanjing Road.� But first a brief description of the venue:� Sprawling from West to East, this pedestrian zone bristles with Chinese food stores, Japanese ramen� eateries and American coffee shops.� It was� our last day in Shanghai and� we wanted to exchange some cash for� we realized Nanjing Road was not a good place to use a credit card.� After shaking off about three dozen wristwatch vendors we found an exchange office, only to realize it was closed!� At its locked gate a street vendor opportunely offered help.� “I can take you to a place that exchanges money”, he claimed.� We followed him into a backstreet half a block from the main avenue and into an apparel store.� The mirror-covered-wall turned out to be a� disguised door and boom! through we went and then through another secret door - and we found ourselves in a small room crammed with brand purses, perfumes and more wristwatches.� The vendor� extracted a� pile of yuan� bills from his denim pockets and inquired in heavily accented English what currency we wanted to exchange.� Upon hearing “yen” he replied with a big grin “no problem” and provided us with the desired Chinese currency, and actually the exchange rate was not bad at all but … as we were about to leave he forced himself between us and the door.� It was then that we realized that� he wouldn’t unlock the secret gates to freedom unless we purchased something.� � A flashy salesgirl appeared out of the blue and started� rattling through brand names from Lous Vuitton to� Gucci to Prada.� Her shrill voice� hinted� we better buy something if we wanted to get out alive.� Holy cow, what had we gotten ourselves into!� I checked out the available items within less than five seconds I guess, pointed at a Coach purse, put the equivalent of about $15 on the counter.� The invisible doors opened in an instant and we were escorted out.� Every time I look at the fake bag I can’t help but think it’s a memorabilia of a Chinese B-movie in which I took part.� And everytime the zipper gets stuck I damn myself for having spent $15� on this crap!!

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After strolling through the lovely Yuyuan Gardens all morning my stomach reminded me that it was lunchtime. I had heard about this fabulous restaurant amidst the gardens and I was really lucky cause I managed to skip the line by agreeing to share a table with other customers.� The food was simply amazing.� Steamed buns in all possible shapes, sizes and varieties.� My favorite was a triangle-shaped bun with a crabroe and tofu filling.� I ordered two servings of three pieces each and they literally melted in my mouth.� The tsingtao beer here came in smaller bottles, yep, this� was a touristic place with sizes and prizes for traveling people, not locals. As I lifted my glass of beer to take the first sip the people next to me started a conversation - in Japanese. I said “kampai!” and they were as surprised as I was but in the end it was all smiles. After this power lunch I returned to my hotel in order to change clothing. Shanghai is a great place except for one thing: The weather is miserable. True, it was a few degrees warmer than in Sapporo, but the chilly wind and humidity made me feel like I was on the South Pole. I’ll definitely return to Shanghai to see and experience more of this bustling, buzzing� metropolis, but when asked if I� would want� to move there for good, the answer is no.� I can’t possibly put up with weather like that.� Or maybe I just love Sapporo too much!

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(Continuation) Tired and hungry we decided to walk into the first restaurant that looked somehow decent and appealing. We opted for a bright place with tons of customers and again we had a large table with the indispensable white tablecloth and three waitresses waiting on us. To our amazement there was a large showcase displaying approximately 150 different dishes (see pic). Unlike in Japan though they were made with real ingredients, not plastic! Boy, I thought, looks like a lot of work to make them new every three days or so ..! Most dishes looked either really exotic or really delicious, hard choice. We eventually picked sea snake, fish-stir-fry, crab salad and I just had to have the hot&sour soup once more! Everything was very typically Shanghainese cooked in heavy sauces. The sea snake was quite peculiar, salty and kind of chewy.

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Towards the end of our journey we visited the Jinmao Tower, at 88 stories and standing 421 meters high it is currently the fifth tallest building on the globe, and along with the Oriental Pearl Tower a pivotal piece of Shanghai’s skyline. True, the view from above was impressive, the more so as Shanghai is a hybrid array of old neighborhoods and hi-tech structures. Less impressive was the lack of cabs at the Tower’s entrance & exit gate. Here’s some practical advice: Have a driver from the hotel pick you up at a certain time, otherwise you may end up standing in line for an hour or more, or exhausted like us after unsuccessfully trying to hire a cab in the tower’s vicinity. It took us what seemed like a half eternity to find a driver that eventually took us back to the Bund.

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Whenever I go to Japanese restaurant-bars I order four or five dishes, given the tiny size of izakaya food. Somehow I forgot that in China dimensions are different … So here I was in a typical Chinese restaurant (meaning:� big, bright, loud), trying to make sense of the 300+ dish-menu.� No kidding, the menu was extensive and - good for me I thought at first - everything came with Engish translations!� I ordered a bunch of dishes, among them shrimp dumplings, steamed vegetables, duck and shark fin soup, or at least that’s what I thought.� Big surprise when I was served four giant bowls of soup!!� Turns out that the translations were completely inaccurate, not only for food but also for beverages. What I thought was lily juice was some white milky drink, and what should have been fruit juice was a fruit jelly with black seeds of something. Oh boy, I thought, I have to digest these enormous portions somehow. My guidebook suggested “baiju”. Wow! And I thought tequila was strong.

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私が働いているDLS（ダウンタウン・ランゲージ・スクール）は、とてもフレンドリーな学� �で、札幌の中心街にあります。他の５人の外国人講師たちと一緒に授業を行っています。私たちは、外国語や海外の文化を、インターナショナルでリラックスした雰囲気の中で習得していた� くのをモットーとしております。学ぶ＝楽しいこと。私たちの生徒は学ぶことを楽しみ、日々確実に上達しております。DLSで学び、外国語を身に付けましょう！DLSのWebサイトはこちらです。

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