Sorry for the delay on this post. I’m such a popular guy that it is hard to hang out with the neighbours/friends and write a new blog post at the same time. Yesterday I had plenty of time, but I felt like studying instead. n_n I also attended a small concert last night as well, but I’ll brief you in about that sometime later.

Today, the focus is on the wicked awesome crazy short parade that was the Hokkaido Hippon-Ham Fighters. If you recall for awhile ago, I mentioned I watched the final game that included the Fighters and their opponent, the Giants. But the Fighters lost, so why would they have a parade? No idea. I suppose 2nd place is meaningful enough to host something as big (cough*small*cough) as this. I’m thinking the parade was more of a fan appreciation event. Either way, I wanted to be there. I had no expectations and was curious to see if it would be a full, blown out parade or a small, tiny shindig.

The parade started at 11:15am from where I stood with the introduction of the mighty police (fuzz) cruiser.

The Fuzz were followed by a van and a marching band.

The stars of the show then appeared. Yes, the powerful Ham Fighters made their grand appearance stealing the awes and cheers from the crowd. I cheered for the Giants! (just kidding)

And that pretty much concluded the parade. It ended at 11:23am, thus a total 8 minutes elapsed since the start. I guess this parade would classify as a shindig, but for the amount of people that attended, it was insane. I just wished it lasted longer. By the time I got into “parade mood”, it was all over. It was time to leave, fight crowds and try not to die.

Though, one of the coolest things about the parade was falling confetti from nearby rooftops. Definitely has to be one of those super cool things to be apart of.

And then everyone figured it would also be fun to pick up the fallen confetti for their own personal use.

While escaping with my life on the line, I was forced to stop by The Fuzz. They parted the crowd with their mind bending powers to make room for “the famous ones.” I have no idea who these people are, but Okada san made mention that they weren’t just your average people. So while they walked right in front of me, thinking to themselves that they were so cool, I pulled out my camera and took more pictures.

Well, there you have it. All those mystery dudes for your viewing pleasure.

All and all, I’m glad I went to the parade. It was fun, but on the short side of things. The confetti really made my day.

I give the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters parade for whatever reason 6 Vibrant Coloured Confetti Pieces out of 6.

Yesterday was the long-awaited boxing matching between challenger 23 year old 亀田興毅 (Kouki Kameda) and defending champion 35 year old 内藤大助 (Daisuke Naitou).

Daisuke Naito vs Koki Kameda promo poster

Before I talk about yesterday’s match, a little history.

Daisuke Naito made his professional boxing debut in 1996 at the age of 22.
After five years of professional boxing, he was undefeated and challenged the then-flyweight champion of Japan (Sakata Takehumi). He lost that match.
But he went to Thailand and fought for the world flyweight championship. Unfortunately, he lost again.

In 2004 (just before his 30th birthday), he finally became the Japan Flyweight Boxing champion.
And when he was 32 he became the World Flyweight Boxing Champion.

Daisuke Naito with the World Flyweight Champion trophy and belt, 2007.

And then there’s the controversial Kameda boxing family.
Koki Kameda and his two younger brothers (Daiki and Tomoki) have all been trained since they were very young to become professional boxers by their father.

They are infamous for making rude comments to opponents before and after matches (in Japan, such antics aren’t common at all) and for unsportsmanlike conduct.

In 2007, Daiki Kameda challenged Daisuke Naito for his World Flyweight Championship belt.
Naito retained his championship due to Daiki Kameda’s misconduct during the match.
With encouragement from his father and older brother Koki, Daiki Kameda elbowed Daisuke Naito in the face and the picked him up and threw him to the mat.

Daiki Kameda throwing Daisuke Naito to the mat, 2007

After that match, the Kameda brothers’ father was banned from training his sons forever and Daiki Kameda was banned from boxing for a year.

Daiki Kameda shaved his head after the match to show his regret and he showed up unexpectedly at the home of Daisuke Naito and apologized in person.

The Kameda brothers have since toned down their attitude and became more respectful.

As for Koki Kameda, he wasn’t in the same weight-class as Daisuke Naito before.
In 2006 (at the age of 20), he became the World Lightweight Boxing champion in a match that some have said was fixed.

Koki Kameda, World Flyweight Champion 2006 hoisted by Sumo Yokozuna Asashoryu

But Koki Kameda recently moved up to the Flyweight class and yesterday he challenged Daisuke Naito for the championship.

Koki Kameda (23才) vs Daisuke Naito (35才) on 2009 November 29.

I won’t put a YouTube clip of the match in this post because it wasn’t a very exciting match.
But the challenger, Koki Kameda won in an unanimous decision.

The new World Flyweight Boxing champion (2009), Koki Kameda after the 2009 Nov 29 match.

So now their records are:
Daisuke Naito (former World Flyweight champ)
wins 35 (22 by KO)
loses 3
draws 3

Koki Kameda (current World Flyweight champ)
wins 21 (13 by KO)
loses 0
draws 0

Camera: Canon Ixus 70

Date taken: 15 July 2009

Time taken: 9.17am

Place taken: Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan

Camera: Canon Ixus 70

Date taken: 14 July 2009

Time taken: 11.01 am

Venue: Biei, Hokkaido, Japan

Camera: Canon Ixus 70

Date taken: 14 July 2009

Time taken: 10.57 am

Place taken: Biei, Hokkaido, Japan

Camera: Canon Ixus 70

Date taken: 15 July 2009

Time taken: 1.58pm

Venue taken: Ishiya Chocolate Factory, Hokkaido, Japan

Aperture: f/2.8

ISO: 200

Exposure: 1/40 sec

I’ve found one thing that I definitely don’t like about Japan: their damn cold houses! It was ok as long as it was summer, but now that autumn arrived and we’re heading for winter, I’m finding myself constantly freezing, and that while I’m inside the house! Something’s wrong here… My dad’s got a very good point there: why on earth have the otherwise so clever and ingenious Japanese not invented a smart way to keep their homes warm even in winter? My hostdad claims that they can’t build their houses the same way we do in Sweden, due to the high humidity in summer, which would ruin the house, or something…but at the same time the houses in for example Hokkaido, which has about the same kind of temperatures and weather as Sweden (apparently), has nice warm houses… Luckily for me this (apparently) includes the houses of Nagano, where I’ll be spending the winter. I’m definitely not used to having to walk around freezing inside the house and I do not like it! If I end up staying in Japan, I’ll make sure to order my house from the popular company Sweden House (there’s a village in Hokkaido which consists entirely of these houses, and when you go there you might wonder how on earth you ended up in Sweden… I have to go visit!), so I won’t freeze to death wintertime in Japan. It’s either that, or migrating to Sweden and my parents’ warm house during the cold winter-months, but that makes no sense at all: change Japan’s above zero degrees Celsius winters to Sweden’s way below zero, just so I won’t freeze while I’m inside the house!

Today my hostsister and I spent the day in the kitchen, the warmest room in the house. As soon as we left the room to go get something, we soon ran back inside and to the little stove in the corner, that heats up the room. It felt really good to get in to the hot bathtub this evening, and it was, as usual nowadays, quite funny to see how the hot water and my ice-cold body created fog, as soon as the water touched my skin… Now I’m really happy about my long-sleeve fleece-pajama that my parents sent me from Sweden! That and my 3 layers of covers on my bed… I really hope that it’s true that the houses in Nagano are warmer! If not I’ll be spending my nights in the nearby onsen…

Camera: Canon Ixus 70

Date taken: 14 July 2009

Time taken: 3.12 pm

Place taken: Tomita Farm, Furano, Hokkaido, Japan

Camera: Canon Ixus 70

Date Taken: 14 July 2009

Time Taken: 2.56 pm

Place Taken: Tomita Farm, Furano, Japan

Hokkaido ou le lieu où on mange les meilleurs gyozas de Paris dixit plein de gens…

Bon c’est vrai qu’on n’est pas déçu !! Le cadre est vraiment chouette style cantoche avec cuisine ouverte ! Ca sent la cuisson, la fumée et la convivialité ! On mange sur de longues tables de 8 ou 10 qui se libèrent très rapidement, il ne faut donc pas rendre peur en voyant la file d’attente à l’extérieur du restaurant !

La carte offre un large choix de nouilles cuisinées, ramen et riz… Le menu « ramen=gyozas » est à 11€ (soit pas grand-chose) et vraiment les quantités sont là ! On ne peut pas tout manger, c’est trop !!!

Les gyozas sont vraiment bons c’est vrai, on sent qu’ils ne sont pas congelés et ils sont bien croustillants et goûteux ! Les meilleurs de Paris, je n’irai pas jusque là mais ils sont très bons !

L’accueil est vraiment sympa et souriant ! Même si on voit le monde attendre on ne se sent pas poussés à partir le plus vite possible et c’est quand même agréable ça aussi…

Bilan : Quand est-ce qu’on y retourne ??

La table

La cuisine

Hokkaido : 14, Rue chabanais, 75002 Paris

Der Sonntag enthält sich wie immer jeglicher Küchenexperimente. Entspanntes Kochen ist sicherer mit bewährten Rezepten, vor allem in fremden Küchen.
Monique mag Fisch und Gemüse und verzichtet so wie ich gerne auf die klassische “Sättigungsbeilage”. Da lässt sich doch in der Menüauswahl was machen…
In der entspannten Atmosphäre von Moniques herrlich dekorierter Wohnung, Raumduft inklusive, liess es sich prima kochen und fotografieren.

Herrn Saibling habe ich Samstag auf dem Markt getroffen und gleich adoptiert. So ein schöner Kerl, aber auch ein schlüpfriges Scheisserchen.

Moniques herbstlicher Salat: Radiccio und Feldsalat mit Gurkenwürfeln, getoppt von karamelisierten Hokkaido-Kürbis und Putenbrust aus dem Wok.

Salat kann man nie genug essen, daher gab es zu meinem Hauptgericht auch Salat, den bereits erfolgreich adaptierten Rotkohl-Fenchel-Salat mit Orangen und Feta.

Herr Saibling verbrachte einige Zeit im Ofen mit Petersilie im Bauch und bekam Mandeln und den restlichen Kürbis zur Seite. Im Vergleich zur Forelle, die ich sonst gerne mit Mandeln und Butter backe, schmeckt er feiner und hat ein hübsches rosa-farbenes Fleisch.

Der perfekte Nachtisch, Mirabellen-Tartes mit clevererweise von mir eingefrorenen Mirabellen. Farblich haben sie leider etwas gelitten, aber geschmeckt haben sie immer noch herrlich sommerlich saftig. Dazu ein paar Nocken Vanilleeis, Pistazienstifte und eine Tasse Kaffee.

Meine wunderbare Freundin Monique ist übrigens noch nicht vergeben. Wenn ein attraktiver Mann aus dem Raum Frankfurt hier seine potentielle Traumfrau erkannt hat möge er sich bei mir melden.

Even in my small Japanese town, random places and objects remind me of Philadelphia. Here are some things spotted within Kitami that make it feel a bit more like home…

Across the train tracks from my apartment lies the 北見しんきん (Bank of Kitami).

It is the only modern architecture to be found among the drab and decaying buildings that make up my city. My office, called the Parabo building, might actually be the biggest eyesore in town.

Kitami Shinkin is covered in color-changing LEDs, and reminds me of a miniature version of the Amtrak building, which often lights up with Philadelphia team colors and logos. I can see it glowing in the distance on the bus coming home from Sapporo, much like I used to see the faraway sparkle of the Amtrak building while driving south on 95.

While riding my bike home from Koizumi Junior High last week, I spotted another familiar Philly landmark, albeit a bit bastardized in usage. The Love Park symbol is being used for some kind of Pachinko (Japanese gambling parlors) campaign called “Love Juggler and Love Sea Story.” Interesting…

I’ve also seen the LOVE Park symbol on student’s pen cases and notebooks.

Even at work, I bump into things that take me back to Philly, like…

A poster for La Salle High School in Hakodate. I almost did a double-take when I spotted this at one of my junior high schools.

Chili mit schwarzen Bohnen und Hokkaido-Kürbis – ein wärmender vegetarischer Eintopf für kalte Tage. Und Kürbisse, die man evtl. von einem Foto-Workshop übrig hat können dabei problemlos verarbeitet werden
Der Klecks Saure Sahne hätte grösser sein können, aber ansonsten das perfekte Soul-Food passend zu diesem regnerischen November.

I don’t eat fish. I don’t eat sashimi. I don’t eat sushi. There, I said it. I live in Japan and sushi makes me vomit. Get over it, people.

This will begin a weekly (hopefully multi-weekly) installment of Japanese public school lunches that I not only tolerate, but actually really enjoy.

Today’s fine piece of mass-culinary magic (Japanese school lunches are made in school lunch factories and delivered by tractor trailer every morning — I am dead serious) is udon and shrimp shumai, with a side of cheese balls wrapped like candy. This is one of my favorites, and usually comes around once or twice a month.

(Sorry for the vertical photo, my iPhone equilibrium isn’t so great).

300 Yen Izakaya’s famous dish… “Jumbo Chicken Katsu.” Enough to feed a whole family (or two Japanese families) for only ¥300. Sadly… we couldn’t even finish it… And Japan isn’t too keen on carry-out.

The photo does absolutely no justice, and I apologize for not leaving something in the shot as a point of reference (I’ll return someday with my Nikon). So, the cabbage at the top left corner is about the size of half a head of iceberg lettuce (sorry people, I’m a lettuce man, I have no idea what a head of cabbage looks like). The plate it was served on the biggest plate I have seen thus far in Japan, and rivals even the biggest of Cheesecake Factory plates back home.

The snow has subsided, but it remains a chilly -.03 degrees. I hope the snow remains through Saturday for some Kurodake snowboarding…

Autumn leaves dancing,

Float softly on the quickening breeze,

Tiny ribbons of scarlet and gold drift slowly down,

Rustling plaintive song of farewell.

As the stubborn limbs of the trees,

Reach for the last precious moments of warmth,

From summers fading light,

Cool tendrils and woodsmoke and mist enfold the woods…

In autumn heart we rest.

In Japan, each of the 4 seasons is distinct from one another. From the fresh green buds of spring that gives way to the lush heat of the summer. And in autumn, the forest turns red and yellow. Soon the white snow will blanket these vibrant colours as if preserving the forest for the seasons to come.

When you look at Japans autumn scenery, you cannot help but notice the astonishing huge variety of colored leaves. This has to do with Japan wide variety of vegetation. Most parts of the country belong to the Temperate Zone and there are a large number of broad leaves trees. Some of them, including camphor trees and oaks are evergreen. Others are deciduous, meaning they change colors in autumn. This includes the maples, which turn red, and gingko trees that turn yellow.

Most mountainous areas in Japan have a nice balance of evergreen and deciduous trees. It is this that creates the beautiful multi-colored autumn scenery. Since ancient times, the Japanese have come to deeply appreciate the beauty of autumn leaves. The autumn is mentioned many times in the tale of Genji in the 11^th century for instance.

Back then, when the autumn rolls around, the Emperor and court aristocrats would gather in gardens to admire the maple leaves. And they would sometimes make trips to the mountains to admire the leaves. A custom known as “Momiji-Gari” (紅葉狩り) literally meaning `maple hunting` .By the 16^th century , momiji-gari had spread to the common people.

It’s not just the colored leaves the Japanese enjoy but they also find beauty in the leaves fluttering down on the ground and the carpet of fallen leaves. The image of the fallen leaves has been used as motif in countless works of arts, paintings and even children songs. The monk Ryokan once wrote in a famous Haiku (Japanese poem) saying that,

Both the front and back of a maple leaf become visible as its flutters down,

And so it is when people die, everything is then revealed,

When the time comes for me to die,

I have nothing more to hide…..

Seeing the fallen leaves many Japanese are reminded of the transience of life and feel a sense of wistfulness. That’s why they have always found a special meaning, even in the fallen leaves. Beauty it may seem but the leaves is a reminder for us of our precious life. What will we be remembered when are no more? Will we be trodden upon and thus forgotten all together? Or will we be seen as a thing to remember by?

p/s: Famous sites for Momiji in Japan : Nikko (Tochigi-Ken), Kawaguchi Lake facing Mount Fuji

-yeh-

The other day when I was vacationing in Hokkaido, I put on my polar bear disguise (well, my hat was warm and fluffy), and visited the very famous Asahiyama Zoo!

And a female polar bear at the zoo… fell in love with me!? Here’s a video, but be careful because the volume is quite loud.

And from another angle…

Then when I moved to the next window…

I took a peek at the bear from above ground too, but she seemed ready to pounce on me so I made a hasty retreat… (^^; )

I think I’d like to start off just as friends with this bear. (smile)