JR 383 series train going uphill

JR 383 series limited express train "Shinano" bounds for Nagoya going uphill before Obasute. 383 series train has a pendrium system which enables to run faster at curves. It looks like the train rushes to go there. It does not look so fast because it's a bit steep there - roughly I guess 2% uphill. After the train gets out of a tunnel, finally it gets closer and closer to Obasute.

Hayaokidori website

Inpatience 2008

We started transplanting some inpatience flowers in our garden. They bloom better in the shades rather than under sunshine. When we hang some like this picture, we use lighter sand.

Another shot from a bit further distance. It's a little bit tough to choose flowers if your house is painted in red like our house because many flowers are like red in color but not so many other colors like blue, yellow or white. If we choose red flowers, maybe you can not find them good if they are located just close to our house. And still can not find any favorite flowers which can be in bloom good at the shade in our garden because we left some trees around which make shades. After all, we are to choose inpatience because they bloom in the shade and we like them.

Sometimes we put pots full of red flowers which are the same color of our house in some area full of grasses around for our customers to see from their rooms. They look pretty especially after some rain falls. We make our garden little by little :-)

Hayaokidori website

3 kinds of desserts made from vegitable geratine.

I often cook something from vegitable geratine which we call "Kanten". It's made from sea weed. We can get dried kanten in some shops easily. When you cook something from vegitable geratine, you just put some vegitable geratine in some water then simmer/boil it in some water. Vegitable geratine is one of healthy food, you can use it just like geratine. Maybe I had better inform you that vegitable geratine would never be melt again even if you heat it after you curdle it while normal geratine do.

Plain Kanten with sweet black beans. If you don't add any sugar when you boil kanten, it does not taste at all which is a bit tough to eat lol... So usually we add something sweet. When you add some fruit in this plain kanten with sweet black beans, that is what we call "Mitsumame" here in Japan. Actually this plain kanten with some sweet black beans is my diet menu!!! I eat some of it ( usually 150 grams ) BEFORE I have dinner to avoid eating too much yummy stuff :(

Fruits terrine Gyunyu(milk) kan ( abbreviation for kanten ). We can try any fruits. I've noticed that we have many kinds of fruits which are like yellow in color but not so many in other colors. Peach, pineapple, banana, apple, orange etc are all like yellow but if it's red - maybe strawberry, rasberry etc and if it's green- kiwi? Bananas feel great when they come into my mouth, as grapefruits are a bit sour , it would be outstanding in the gyunyukan, so I think some love it love it very much but others don't love it don't love it very much.

Fruit terrine I made last year. I guess this could be one of bad example in the meaning of combination. Too much fruit in it. If it's too much, it easily gets out of shape when you get it out of a form. I guess maybe that's a good idea to put as much fruits as it does not get out of shape :-)


Mizu Yokan. Made from vegitable geratine, anko ( sweet bean paste ), some water and sugar. Now trying some combinations : how much water , anko , sugar for some vegitable geratines. Mizu Yokan is one of popular sweet thing especially in summer I think because usually we eat them after we cool it very good.
Which one is your favorite?

Hayaokidori website

Luggage cars running the layout!

One day after the Golden Week a group of model train fans about 20 people stayed in our place and enjoyed the layout. I was busy to serve a buffet dinner so when I got some time to chat this and that with them, most of them were already in their rooms :(
This time someone brought a set of power pack which was a thyristor control one. It made some unique noise which I had heard before when I got on a train which was controled by thyristor motors.

Figures have been added little by little, a bookstand and a seller and customers around.

Arriving people. You see a man almost falling down backward. I guess perhaps he is asked to pay "some more" additional fee and the "some more" must be unbelievable much! lol...

Moms and kids. I guess probably I had better find somewhere else to put this figure. Maybe somewhere in the town scenery is a better location rather than in a station.

Marinated salmon. One of popular dish in a buffet dinner.

Hayaokidori website

Blue-and-White Flycatcher which did not move.

The other day I found a blue and white flycatcher ( Ooruri in Japanese )at the front in our place. It was definately a male judging from the color. It didn't go away when I got close to it and didn't defence at all even when I slightly touch it. I wondered if he was diing. I put a dish of water beside it to observe for a while.

As there are ravens and hawks in the forest, it was clear that his life was not guaranteed if I got away. I knew a small bird like that didn't understand what I said but I could not help talking to it like "Are you okay?". I felt as if I were a stupid boy. Blue and white flycatchers are small birds like sparrows. Perhaps a little bit bigger than them. Males and females of this bird have totally different body color. Male ones are clearly blue, white and black as you see. But female ones are moss green if I can describe. With that tiny body, they fly over than thousand kilometers from the south to Japan to spend their time in summer here to breed. After they reach Kyushu island, they can fly along the shore, rivers, roads, railways whatever on the ground but before the Kyushu island, they have to fly on the sea which is tough.
I am not sure now it's time for them to be tired after the long distance flying. But if we can help them something to servive , I would.

Unfortunately people seem to feel it uncomfortable to have swallows around their houses nowadays because if they nest there, their poops drop off the nest and make mess around. I guess probably I don't feel it nice if my suit gets any from them, but for me it's more important to protect that kind of small lives. If we are to live somewhere where they can not survive, I don't think we can survive with that circumstances. Maybe we can for some dozens of years but probably not so long.

Hayaokidori website

Golden Week in Hakuba

I am not sure how often I have ever described the GW scenery here in Hakuba. But a picture could describe much more than words do. Japan North Alps mountains with snow around the peak at the background, maybe you can find the Hakuba Goryu ski slope Alps - daira gerande there. You can also see some cherry blossoms are getting in bloom in the pic.

Hayaokidori website

Making flowerbeds for spring 2008

The other day I transplanted more than hundred pots of pangies into our flowerbeds. Since we still get some frosts even at the last half of May, we can not put any summer flower there. If we would do it now, probably better have them in some flower pots then move them below the roof when we get some frost notices.

Someone told me that rosemaries would survive outside of the house even in winter so I tried that way but see, they were all dead! Actually they looked almost surviving in March but they got worse and worse in April. I think Hakuba is not an easy place for them to survive.


I purchased some new rosemary pots. Would keep them inside of the house in winter because we need them for cooking.
I was at outdoor whole day long when I transplanted the panties into the flowerbeds maybe that was why I got hay fever for the first time in my life. No headache at all but it felt itchy deep in my nose, kept sneezing a lot and had a runny nose which looked like zombie lol....

Hayaokidori website