RICKY DLS 英会話 blog

As featured on MTV last weekend: Jero, American by birth, enka singer by choice. In Japan everyone between seven and seventy knows him by now, but in case you’re a non-Japanese reader and don’t know what the heck enka is click here. Jero’s so far biggest hit is Umiyuki. His maternal grandmother is from Japan, he’s the first black enka singer and he speaks Japanese fluently … with a really cute accent. Enka music with hip-hop moves, pretty cool I’d say. I do listen to traditional enka music as well - my Japanese friends say I’m crazy but I have to say to my defense that I listen to pretty much everything from rock to pop to electronica, as long as it’s quality it’s all good. My favorite enka smash hit is “Ishikari Banka” about fishermen at Ishikari Bay (near Sapporo). I once sang it with Yui at a company karaoke party and Vincent said no wonder you like that song, it’s mariachi enka. Come to think of it, he has a point …

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Have you always wondered what Muslim women hide under their black burkas? The mystery’s been solved: Revealing lace lingerie! Because according to Islamic law, at home they can wear whatever they want. Go figure! Check out the full article here.

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Did anyone say spring? Well I walked home in heavy snowfall last night, and this morning I looked out the window only to realize that everything in the neighborhood had been covered with a white blanket again. What do you do in such a situation? I keep warm with a cup of hot coffee and indulge myself with … cake. Before I came to Japan, like most foreigners I associated Japan with sushi, sake and teppanyaki. Now I think of it more as a country with great-tasting chocolates, cake and shochu cocktails. Hard to believe from a foreign point of view, but most Japanese don’t eat sushi very often! On the other hand, confectioneries are all over the place and the good news is that Japanese cake won’t make you fat because a) the portion is tiny b) it’s not sweet! In short, guilt-free pleasure. My recommendation: Fruitscake Factory’s lemon pie, Le Tao’s bitter chocolate roll and Cherry Merry’s cherry pie. All three confectioneries are unique to Hokkaido.

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Zafiro working the new sofa cover and Atomo watching him from atop Technically it’s spring now and I thought I’d make a few changes to get ready for the season. I replaced the earthy beige sofa cover with a vivid turquoise beaded one, purchased in a souq in Dubai. Only - the pleasant feeling that accompanied this decorational variation didn’t last very long. Little destroyer Zafiro was immediately all over it ripping off the beads and enjoying every second of it!

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Timely for the WBC, the subway signs in Sapporo, previously in Japanese and “Romaji” (Latin letters) were replaced with new ones showing the station’s name in Japanese, Romaji AND Korean. It seems like the Korean population in Sapporo is increasing. I do hope so because I love Korean food and I am hoping for a Sapporo Koreatown! Btw, Japan’s win over Korea really boosted people’s moods here. Last night when I took the subway home I thought I’d never seen so many happy faces in Japan. Congratulations on the championship!

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Funky bath salts and Zafiro checking them out End of March and it still snows every day, that’s Hokkaido. Gotta see the good things about it though, for example taking hot baths or keeping your hands warm with hokkairo pocket warmers - the bestsellers of this winter. Hot water bottles had a revival as well. Pictures: Just for fun, I tried these diet bath salts. Did I lose any weight? Not a gram!

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Rockstar energy drink (new in Japan) tastes like Lush rock star soap bar - not that I’ve eaten the soap, it’s more like the flavor is the same as the scent if you know what I mean. I used to get my daily bottle of Regain Executive downstairs at Lawson, then switched to Red Bull, but recently I’ve been into Rockstar. For the uninitiated, I’m talking about energy drinks. So I really like this Rockstar potation full of ginseng, B-vitamins and guarana even though it tastes like my body soap smells. Yep, Lush body soap, called “rock star” as well (see pic, the pink one). I’m just wondering who copied who. My guess is the soap came after the drink. Talking about rock stars, have you been watching MTV’s 20 best rock songs of all times? They’re showing it over and over again this month and it’s worth watching not only for the music but also for their elaborate stage shows. Lots of action, big hair, black leather and cool guitars. My personal favorite is Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and I have to say that, visually, I prefer American rock stars to British ones. They are so much more glamorous and unique than their English counterparts (sorry my British friends). I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the sound of Def Leppard and the likes, but when I see British rock bands I always feel like I’m looking at the guy next door playing the guitar. So, BritRock is great to listen to but American Rock is fun to watch at the same time.

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I went to the hairsalon earlier this week to have my ends trimmed and learned a lot about Japanese hair culture AND company rules! The very talkative stylist updated me on the latest hairy trend: These days Japanese women prefer shorter hair and, during the month of March, many women dye their hair back to black. You guessed why: People start new jobs in April and most Japanese companies require natural looking hairstyles which in Japan translates to black. The popularity of shorter haircuts is an indicator that Japanese women these days are more independent - and busier in their professional lives. As far as the color is concerned, I guess they dye it back to fashionable brown shades as soon as they have settled in their new jobs!!

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Jozankei by day and on a full moon night. Entrance to a rotenburo.
I just had to take a trip to a Japanese hot spring before the winter ends. Why? Because contemplating a Japanese rock garden covered with snow, from a steaming hot tub at midnight, is priceless. Even the more so as it was a full moon night! I went with a friend and as soon as we arrived at the hotel we threw on our yukatas and yukata overcoats and explored the premises. Yes, in a Japanese hot spring hotel you can walk around in pajama-like robes, pretty cool! We had dinner in yukata (delicious fresh seafood & hotpot) breakfast in yukata (Japanese food buffet style) and explored the hotel in yukata. Among the quirky things were a game center with the indispensible UFO catcher, and a beer vending machine (unthinkable in the US) selling Sapporo Classic (only available in Hokkaido!) and Sapporo Black Label beer. If you haven’t tried a Japanese rotenburo in winter in Hokkaido or another snowy place you’ve really missed out on something.

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Megan Fox at the Golden Globe Awards
We’ll watch scifi-thriller “Transformers” at our next DLS movie night on Saturday 3/28. Megan Fox had her big break with it and you’ll for sure enjoy every minute. We’ll have real American pizza and soda pop. Start is 19:00. Make your reservation: info@dls-eikaiwa.com, ricky@dls-eikaiwa.com or come to our front desk. See you soon.

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