As with so many things, dessert is something that is done well in Japan, with thought and consideration. Not to mention the absolute beauty and deliciousness of Japanese sweets! Recently we visited Chocola, a small cafe and cake shop on Lake Biwa in Otsu, Shiga. Chocola offers a 1000 yen all-u-can-drink plus 1 dessert deal [...]
Every once in a while you just have to get away and relax, and this year with all its ups and downs and continuous bad news here and there and all around the world, it is tempting to just remain complacent and wait for better times. At least we are not at war! But the [...]
Hello y’all! I hadn’t actually planned this to become a competition but as an after-thought, here it is! We really do have a favorite festival each year! So here goes: this is the third and final installment in my rather lengthy 2011 Fireworks Festival Calendar and Review. Tsuruga has by far and wide been our favorite [...]
The second festival on our most-loved list and one that deserves at least an honorable mention in any one’s top five review is the Aug 8th show at Otsu Biwako. This is a very good show in a charming setting but the crowd can be quite daunting as you’d expect. The setting off the beach [...]
Hope you all had a great break! With the festival season now pretty much coming to a close, I thought it might be a good idea to review and recap some of the festivals that my wife Yoko and I are particularly fond of. The rationale behind this is that next year all of you [...]
Hello all! Now I cannot profess to know very much about Ikebana, but it is one of my wife Yoko’s favorite hobbies and she is surprisingly intuitive and talented for it. Sagagoryu is the type of Ikebana Yoko has studied at length as a hobby, but anyone even remotely knowledgable on the subject can tell [...]
スミス英会話なかもず校・堺東校の講師が書いた記事。日本語はこちらへ。 I have a class of teenagers who are always so enthusiastic to participate in class. I enjoy class time with all of my students, especially those who are so eager to do their best, learn a lot and to help themselves. I think that good effort should be rewarded, and I often try to come up [...]
The super summer heat this year really makes me feel like I’m melting. It saps my strength and drains my energy, leaving me feeling drowsy and lazy and useless. So last week I decided to sets some goals to help me beat the heat. I started by asking myself what my symptoms were and then [...]
This weekend is SSE Otsu’s first bowling event. We have 3 annual events- Halloween Party at the school in October, Christmas party in Al Plaza in December, and the Hanami Party in Osaka Castle Park in April. We also do numerous other smaller events- movie nights, English cafes, theme parties, special guest events, karaoke, and [...]
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