It`s only a 30 minute drive from my house to this museum, but this was my first visit. I was especially interested in the various old military aircraft. It was the first time I had seen many of them in real life.
My favourites planes were the Salmson 2A-2 biplane (1922) & F104J jet fighter (1985). Did you know that early models of the F104 had downward ejector seats? Not surprisingly, this caused problems, so it was changed to an upward ejector seat. This museum`s F104 has an upward ejector seat.
This is the museum`s website:
http://www.city.kakamigahara.lg.jp/museum/
On Saturday night I went to Pinthai Thai restuarant in Gifu ( http://www.gifucomi.net/shop/shop.shtml?s=2711 ) with a bunch (= group) of friends.
As usual, the food was outstanding (= very good). One of the dishes we ordered was chicken & cashew nuts. I asked my friends, "Do you know where cashew nuts come from? It`s pretty strange." Nobody knew, so I explained (I once visited a cashew factory in Thailand), but I think nobody believed me.
By the way, the cashew apple is edible (= you can eat it) & it`s higher in vitamin C than oranges or even blackcurrants!
A couple of years ago, I spotted (= saw) a black 1959 Chevrolet Impala near my house in Ichinomiya:
http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/131316/cool-cars-in-ichinomiya-13
Yesterday I found a black 1965 Impala near Ichinomiya Teragoya. I was surprised!
It`s a nice & unusual car, & it`s in good condition. However, in my opinion the wheels don`t match. It`s like (= similar to) seeing your father with an eyebrow piercing.*
* If your father really has an eyebrow piercing, that`s okay. I`m sure it looks good on him & he is a nice guy.
A couple of weeks ago I made a biplane from recycled wood: http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/194997/one-mans-trash-15
Well, I had some wood leftover (のこり), so I made a second one.
Do you know the famous WW1 pilot `The Red Baron`? This plane looks like his, but it`s different. His was a triplane* but mine is a biplane.
*`bi-` means 2, & `tri-` means 3, so a triplane has 3 wings, a triathlon has 3 events, a Triceratops dinosaur has 3 horns, etc.
I saw on the news that the JMSF (Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force) boat `Oosumi` accidentally hit a fishing boat on Wednesday. Two people died.
http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/106217.php
I went on the Oosumi in 2010, when I was visiting Nagasaki. By chance, the Oosumi was there at that time, & it was an `open day` so anybody could go on & look around. It was a really interesting experience. However this news is sad.
Recently I was telling my son about flying fish. I think he didn`t believe me that fish could fly. However, near our house there is a business with this sign, so I took him to see it.
"Look - that`s a flying fish," I told him.
I don`t know if he believes me now or not but it`s a good excuse to post this sign on my blog. I like it. It`s cool retro-Japanese.
Have you ever seen a flying fish? Or, like my son, do you think I`m lying that fish can fly?
Today I went to Ohirashima Park in Ichinomiya with my son to have lunch & look at its steam train.
Japanese people often call this kind of steam train a `degoichi`. At first I was confused because I couldn`t find this word in my dictionary. Finally I found out (= learned) that it refers to the make/serial number; "de" = the letter D, "go" = 5, "ichi" = 1. Look in the photo -you can see the serial number D51718.
These trains were made in Japan between 1936 & 1945, so this one must be old. However, look at the wheels - so clean & shiny!
There are a couple of steam trains still working in Japan, but they don`t run very often. I want to ride on one. Maybe this year I`ll get a chance.
Near my house, there is a new house being built. The other day I walked past it with my son.
Me: Look - they`re building a new house.
My son: It`s big, isn`t it?
Me: Yeh. Oh, look - they threw away (すてた?) some wood. Shall we get some & make something?
Son: Yeh! Let`s make an aeroplane!
When we got home, we looked at World War 1 biplanes* on the internet and he chose one that he liked. I tried to copy it.
* Did you know "bi-" = 2, so a biplane has 2 wings, a bicycle has 2 wheels, a biped is an animal with 2 legs etc.
By chance, I found this movie (called 'Never Give Up' in English) playing on TV late last night. I really like the actor Ken Takakura, especially his early movies, but this movie wasn`t very good. The story was pretty ridiculous (= crazy & unbelievable).
Have you seen this movie? Please tell me how it ends, because I don`t know - I gave up & went to bed before it finished.
Happy New Year! This is my New Year`s postcard design for 2014, Year of the Horse.
Thankyou to everyone who looked at my blog last year. Please continue to look, and I`ll do my best to post interesting items.
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エメラルド 
ウチクラ ケンイチ 
yukio 
birdy 
bokushi 
内倉憲一 
KUMA 
mokomoko 
田仲なお美 
PSPINC JP