The final leg of my cycling trip around Biwa Lake was up the left side, from Otsu to Makino. It`s quite a long way, but fortunately there were good bike paths & wide footpaths most of the way. There was also a lot of nice scenery. I enjoyed myself.
My destination was a scenic tree-lined road called Metasequoia Namiki (メタセコイヤ並木), which my wife recommended seeing. Have you ever been there? I reached it just before sunset. After that I caught a train to Tsuruga, on the Japan Sea coast, camped there one night, & returned to Ichinomiya by train the next day.
Vocabulary:
- footpath* (イギリス英語) = sidewalk** (アメリカ英語)
- *foot 足 + path 道/林道 **side 側 + walk 歩く
While cycling around Lake Biwa, I took photos of any unusual cars that I saw. I saw German cars e.g. the dark green Volkswagen Karmann, French cars e.g. the Citroen 2CV, British cars e.g. the Mini Coopers, and of course Japanese cars such as the white Mitsubishi Galant GTO - I think out of all of them, that`s my favourite. How about you?
Vocabulary:
- Germany (国) --> German (形容詞) ['ドイツ'はドイツ語です]
- France (国) --> French (形容詞)
- Britain (国) --> British (形容詞)
I camped by Biwa Lake again. Although it was cold, I hardly noticed because I was so tired after riding all day. However, I got up before dawn the next morning. I hardly ever get up so early, so I hardly ever see the sun rise. I took this photo with my phone. Actually, I took a bunch of photos - when I`d finished, I had hardly any power left in my phone battery - oops!
Vocabulary:
- 'hardly' = almost zero, so 'hardly ever' = almost never, 'hardly noticed' = only noticed a little, 'hardly any __' = almost no ___, 'hardly anybody' = almost nobody
I rode my bicycle across Lake Biwa & over the hills to Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. It was raining, & I wasn`t wearing* weather-proof clothes, so I bought a cheap raincoat at a convenience store (my old raincoat was worn out**).
When I arrived at Kiyomizu Temple, I saw a lot of people wearing* kimonos. Actually, most of them were Chinese, not Japanese, but they looked nice. I took some photos then went to Kyoto Station to catch a train back to Lake Biwa. I didn`t want to ride my bicycle back over the mountains. After riding all day I was pretty worn out***.
Vocabulary:
*wear = 着る
**wear out = 使い古す, worn out = 使い古した
*** wear out = 疲らす, worn out = 疲れ
A student recommended visiting Sagawa Art Museum in Moriyama City, & I`m glad I followed his advice. Their permanent exhibition (常設展示) is good - I especially liked the bronze statues (銅像) by Sato Churyo, and Hirayama Ukio`s watercolours. There was also a temporary exhibition (一時的な展示会) of famous Japanese 'Ukiyo-e' woodblock prints. I was lucky.
Like my student, I recommend you visit this museum, but if you want to catch the Ukiyo-e exhibition, I suggest you hurry - it finishes this Sunday.
http://www.sagawa-artmuseum.or.jp/
Grammar:
- recommend/suggest + 動詞ing
- recommend/suggest + 誰か + 動詞 (NOT 'to 動詞' & NOT '動詞ing')
- recommend/suggest + 名詞 [+ to 誰か] (NOT 'recommend to 誰か')
![Chat with Cat & Kayak Chap]()
After leaving Hikone, I cycled south for a couple of hours, then stopped at a convenience store to buy food. I hadn`t talked to many people that day, but I talked to a cat outside the convenience store:
"Hello, cat! What`s up? Are you hungry? Nice cat, can I take a photo? Oh, thank you... Say Mee-ow...!" [I took a photo] "Okay, get lost (=失せろ)."
I don`t like cats.
Next I rode a couple of kilometres to a campsite, set up my tent, made a fire, & cooked my dinner. After dinner I went down to the lake to fish & drink beer. About 11pm, a car approached (近寄る).
I thought, "Maybe it`s security."
A man got out & asked, "What are you doing?"
Yes - must be security. I said, "I`m fishing."
He asked, "Where are you staying?"
Yep - definitely security. I said, "I`m camping over there."
He asked me a few more questions, & we chatted a little. Finally he said, "I`m here to go night kayaking."
Haha - he wasn`t security after all (結局). Indeed, he then went back to his car, got a kayak from his car, & went kayaking on the lake ...at 11pm ...in late autumn. What a strange chap (=man)!
Soon after that, I gave up trying to catch a giant Lake Biwa catfish (ビワコオオナマズ) and went back to my tent in the empty campsite to sleep.
I slept well.
Vocabulary:
- go fishing = 釣りに行く, fish (動詞) = 釣りする
- go camping = キャンプに行く, camp (動詞) = キャンプする
- go shopping = 買い物に行く, shop (動詞) = 買い物する
etc.
After arriving in Hikone from Nagahama, I had lunch and fixed my loose bicycle seat, then went to look at Hikone Castle. It was larger than I expected. The autumn leaves hadn`t reached their peak yet, but the grounds & views were nice. I was impressed. After I looked around & took photos, I returned to my bicycle. Before leaving, I checked my bike seat one more time. It was okay, so I left Hikone & continued cycling down the east side of Lake Biwa. I wanted to find a campsite before dark.
Grammar:
- After/Before + 名詞: OK
- After/Before + 動詞ing: OK
- After/Before + 主語 + 動詞 (NOT 動詞ing): OK
- After/Before + 主語 + 動詞ing: WRONG
In my last blog post, I used the idiom, 'every cloud has a silver lining' (すべての雲は銀の裏地を持っています = 不幸中にも幸いあり). This is a song by a band (band? They are 2 sisters) called First Aid Kit. The song is called My Silver Lining, & it`s about wanting good luck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKL4X0PZz7M
And a couple more songs of theirs:
The Lion`s Roar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekHV9DIjHc
Emmylou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC57z-oDPLs
Grammar:
- a band/restaurant/town called ___ = ___ というバンド / レストラン / 町
While riding From Nagahama to Hikone, my bicycle seat became loose. While I was trying to fix it, I looked across the road & noticed this field with several old-fashioned water pumps in it. Cool! I like this kind of pump, especially the curved handle. I popped across the road & took this photo.
Every cloud has a silver lining! [イディオム: すべての雲は銀の裏地を持っています = 不幸中にも幸いあり]
Vocabulary:
Be careful!
- A bicycle has a SEAT, not a saddle (In English, saddle = 鞍)
- A car has a STEERING WHEEL, not a handle (In English, handle = 取っ手)
Last week I went on a cycling trip around Biwa Lake. I started in Nagahama, on the north-east side of the lake. It`s a picturesque town with a castle & lots of traditional buildings. It`s famous for glassware (vases, drinking glasses, jewelry and things like that), but I didn`t buy any glassware. Instead (代わりに) I bought a lunchbox wrapping cloth (風呂敷) as a souvenir of my visit. After about an hour, a big group of students on a school excursion (遠足) arrived, so I decided to get back on my bike & head for Hikone Castle.
Grammar:
- go/be cycling, go/be traveling, go/be camping
- go to/be in Nagahama, go to/be in the bathroom
- go/be ON a trip, go/be ON an excursion, go/be ON a tour
Australia finally made it* to the World Cup Finals in Russia next year, by beating Honduras 3-1. Nice. I wish I could make it* to Russia to see them (& Japan!) play live, but I guess I will just have to watch the games on TV. I wonder what the time difference (時差) is...
* 'make it' = successfully reach
Yesterday my wife took me to Magome-juku, in Nakatsugawa City to see the autumn leaves (紅葉). I`d never heard of Magome before, but I saw quite a lot of foreign tourists there. A lot of them were wearing hiking gear.
There were also a lot of soba (buckwheat noodles) restaurants, so I had that for lunch. However, I didn`t try the horse tongue that I saw for sale in the souvenir shop...
Vocabulary:
- 秋 = autumn (英英語), or fall (米語)
- 紅葉 = autumn colours / autumn foliage (英英語), or fall colors / fall foliage (米語)
A student sent us this postcard from NZ. As you can see, it was missent to India! I wonder why? She didn`t misspell 'Japan'. Maybe the post-office mistook Japan for Jaipur, a city in India? Strange.
Grammar:
- 'mis-' is a prefix (接頭辞) which means 'incorrectly' or 'by mistake'
- be careful: 失敗 = 'make a mistake' , NOT 'miss (ミス)'
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内倉憲一 
田仲なお美 
mokomoko 
birdy 
KUMA 
TERAGOYA おとな 
エメラルド 
PSPINC JP 
yukio 
bokushi