A ridiculous amount of eating (and drinking) has been going and I haven’t had time to catch up on all the blogging.

I’ve also learnt a new word to accompany all this eating.
常連客　= regular customer/patron/frequenter of a place.
It has become my local study cafe. They do great teas in pots with hot water refills, and a hot breakfast to order.

I have become quite the Sekka じょうれんきゃく.

Last month they put on a Sunday roast and what a feast it was.
For Y2000, there was an assortment of breads with dukkar and olive oil, fresh Hokkaido salad produce, chick peas, potatoes, peas, roasted vegie sides, and of course, a roast pork.

All that savoury goodness, was topped off with a homemade caramel, orange, brittle ice-cream.

I came across another Yojijukugo today which I could totally relate to, unflattering as it is.
無芸大食　むげいたいしょく　　　　　　　　　
Let’s break it down:
無 = not existing (negation)
芸 = arts, skills, talents
大 = big
食 = meal/eat

Literal translation is: no talents, big eater/meals
Someone whose only talent is eating, essentially an unaccomplished person.
To have no special talent besides the ability to eat a lot. Which, mind you, is not necessarily one would ordinarily be proud of.

And so I did what I do best, and ate some more.
Another dinner with workmates/friends. The occasion was a friends housewarming.
Fresh spring rolls, and tomato and cabbage bake, and thai curry which was so delicious. Finished off nicely with homemade cheesecake and ice-cream.

今日の用事熟語

Youjijukugos are four kanji compounds to form an idiomatic expression.
Here’s one for today, after last night’s big drinking episode.

酔生夢死　　すいせいむし　

Let’s break it down:
酔　= drunk
製 = live/life
夢　= dream
死 = die

Live drunk and die dreaming. To drink your life away, idle one’s life away.

And now for today’s Word of the day:
解毒する　- げどくする　(’dissolve’ + ‘poison’) = to detox.

Yes, let’s dissolve the poison. 水をいっぱい飲むぞ。

みね
mountain peak

峰

A couple of weekends ago, I hiked Mount Youtei - the local majestic mountain which towers over the local surrounds. It’s nickname is Ezo Fuji.
It is 1898 metres high, and it took 8 hours return to hike to the summit and back.

We set off hiking at 7am and got back at 3pm, for a well-deserved onsen afterwards.

It was probably the second hardest mountain I’ve hiked after Mount Fuji. Third on the list was Mount Bandai.

We took the steepest of the trail choices and paid for it for the next 5 days. My legs were still sore 5 days afterwards. I don’t think I was in this much pain after climbing Fuji.

It was a nice day for a hike but was incredibly windy at the peak. As soon as we reached the summit, we took the obligatory photo and headed straight back down.

Enjoy the pics.

Today’s Japanese word of the day is ‘Pearl’ ー真珠

Here is an idiom using that word:
豚に真珠 ぶたにしんじゅ , literally pearls on a pig, or in English, “to cast pearls before swine”.

It basically means, that regardless of the jewels and pearls you adorn yourself with, you’re still pretty ugly and not really attractive. You’re mutton dressed as lamb.

It conveys the meaning that a particular situation or thing is a waste of something precious,or futile to do something. In this case, it’s futile and wasteful to put pearls on a pig to make it look beautiful.　Pearls on a pig will decay. 宝の持ち腐れ　

雨どい　　　あまどい gutter

蜂の巣　　はちのす bee’s nest

水溜り　　みずたまり puddle

水玉　　　みずたま　　polka dot

I’ve never been much of a political follower, but today is election day in Japan. So today’s word for the day is 選挙日 せんきょび。

It is a national election which could see a major shake-up to Japan’s government. The BBC are calling it a ‘landmark election’. I don’t know if I would go so far as to say that, but it is quite interesting that the same political party (bar one year) has ruled for the last 50 years or so, pretty much since after WWII. Japan has also had 4 Prime Minister in 4 years. They certainly could do with some stability and consistency. This could be the first time in decades that the LDP won’t be in power. The DJP (Democratic Party of Japan) is expected to come out on top.

Japanese voters are taking to the poll booths today - perhaps a new Prime Minister for Japan by the end of the day. Hatoyama, the party leader of the DJP is 62 years old though (6 years younger than the current PM Taro Aso). They need some young blood in Japanese politics.

The BBC news website has some interesting articles relating to today’s election for further reading

In English there is the expression, “the walls have ears”.

In Japan there is not only a Japanese translation of it, but there’s even a further Japanese extended version of it. I learnt it today from a work colleague. I found it most amusing.

壁に耳あり　　（かべにみみあり）

障子に目あり　（しょうじにめあり）

The translation being, not only do “the walls have ears but the shouji have eyes”　－you never know who’s watching or listening.

(Shouji is the thin Japanese paper doors that usually slide)

呼気 (アルコール濃度) 検査= breath test for alcohol
｛こきのうど けんさ｝

‘Breath’ testing for alcohol in Japan is quite literal.

Last night I was out with some friends for dinner and then an after-dinner drink at a bar, as you do on a Friday night. Drink driving in Japan is illegal as it is in most countries, so being the responsible people we are, we had a designated driver who refrained from drinking alcoholic beverages.
There is zero-tolerance for drink driving in Japan. Drivers caught face massive fines and imprisonment. Even being a passenger in the car is liable for massive fines.

We were making our way back home just after midnight last night and we were pulled over by the cops who were on drink-driving patrol. The driver (my friend) pulled out his licence, and then was randomly breath tested. I’ve never been breath-tested in Japan as a driver, so it was my first experience to witness a breath test. To my absolute shock, horror, bewilderment and disgust, my friend (the driver) was asked to breathe into the policeman’s face. When the cop said 息you’ve literally just got to breathe into his face. There was no blowing into a straw or breathalyzer machine or anything. So my friend breathed into the cop’s face. The police then said 大丈夫です, and after a 気をつけて we were on our way. I can’t believe that he actually did that. If I had to breathe onto some stranger’s face I would be mortified. You could knock someone out with your breath.
One of my other friends in the car - a Japansese girl said that when she was once pulled up for random breath testing she had to do the same thing and as a girl, was really embarassed to do this.

How crazy is that!  Apparently this is quite common for breath testing in Japan, althought I think RBT in Japan is rare on the whole. Naturally this wouldn’t fly in court so if a cop detects the smell of alcohol you will be taken to the station for a blood test etc.
What if you had really bad breath. We had all eaten pizza that night so we all had smelly pizza breath - a combination of cheese, garlic, olives, meats etc.The poor cop! Do the police undergo special training in alcohol breath detection?

Can I just say now, I do not want to be a cop in Japan - would not want someone breathing on me as part of my job description.

Drink driving prohibition in Japan also applies to bicycles.

運転飲酒禁止