adekun’s japan blog

Early Saturday morning accompanied (and funded) by my wife’s aunty, I boarded a bus bound for Hiroshima. Instead of the expressway we took a route that meandered south through small snow covered towns. Even half way through the four hour journey the signs outside read 0°C. By lunchtime, having been collected by her boyfriend, we were aboard the JR Miyajima Ferry. Since the island is sacred trees are not cut for lumber. Aside from the vista, the first surprise were wild deer roaming about. From the terminal it was only a short walk to the Itsukushima Shrine.

It would be great to spend more time in the autumn, when the leaves turn.

Or see the place set under a bluer sky.

The heavy rain washed away the plan to visit Iwakuni, as did the traffic to the plan to visit the naval museum at Kure. I did get to bed early though.

Having run with Adsense for over a year, I’m well on my way to meeting half my web hosting costs for a year. I’m sure there’s plenty I can do to improve this. It’s little surprise that gardening isn’t amongst the more lucrative subjects.
The other day I was accepted to join the Rubicon Project’s beta. It claims to automagically optimize your ad space. At present with the tiniest snippet of javascript, one of nine ad networks is picked. It’s incredibly easy to setup and offers plenty of scope to tweak if required. Although it’s early days it looks rather special.
On the other foot, please have look at the first comment. It’s the recent dialog between a text link peddler with his good offer and myself. If you want to make a quick buck at least type text link pr into Google beforehand.

Over the New Year we visited the nearby Kiyomizu Temple. Recently rebuilt, it not as impressive as the one in Kyoto (of the same name), but we came for a different reason, as did hordes of other people. I only got rough idea of the history and have since forgotten most of that. Over 1200 years ago some holy lightning appeared above a mountain. A temple was built at the site to venerate the god(dess) of mercy; bodhisattva Kannon. During the Edo period the temple was enlarged under Lord Matsudaira. There has been a history of fires, hence the reconstruction. It forms part of the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

I thought I would be uploading a photo of a pristine snowfall taken from an upstairs window. I must have been awakened a dozen times as a slab of snow slid off the roof and landed with a weighty thud on the veranda. Returning back with some milk, Kento bore the brunt of an earlier flurry. Sitting behind the handlebars on the bike, he got most of it in the face as I peddled hell for leather with my own kind of snow blindness. The milk was soon put to use, and he was soon jigging about like Michael Flatley cum Stevie Wonder spinning out mudrās.
By the time I lumbered out of bed this morning there wasn’t much left outside but a wet mess. It is still cold.

I meant to post this the middle of December. The current garden developments only add support. Reading through last years notes the brassicas seem to be about six weeks behind. I think the hakusai are of a different variety as they have bristly trichomes along the veins and seem to be squatter in shape. The latter could be a difference in the weather my wife suggested.
In my idleness, putting off erecting netting for the peas has turned out a good call. Only about a fifth of one variety has made an appearance. I guess being laidback doesn’t always work; I should have got them sown earlier after giving them a longer soak.
On the upside, the garlic, onions, carrots and beetroot look strong. The spinach has been a success as has the mizuna, the potatoes given up for lost, came good in time for Christmas.

I hope I’m not jumping the gun.
The last couple of months have been far from the pick of the year. Perhaps the icing on the cake was the latest laptop misfortune, hence the lack of posts.
Some black vertical lines appeared on my screen whilst knocking up some New Year cards. Having rebooted the best I could get was the BSoD. After a few exchanges with Dell, the best they could come up with was a repair in their factory - fit a quickly superseded graphics card. For which I would have to pay dearly for, in both cases, and they would also not be liable for any damage caused etc.
Although difficult in Japan, I eventually found someone with a separate screen to test the output. Despite concerns about the motherboard, I pushed them to sell me a graphics card since you can’t buy them elsewhere, but to no avail.
Well there is always eBay. For a quarter of the price (again) I got the newer card I was after. It has two heat pipes and is currently running with the fans off, about 15 °C lower than the old Go 7800 with the fans on high. While I was shopping I got some thermal grease for the CPU, probably do the card as well when it gets de-furred before the summer. That will be the overheating test.

Kento seemed to have been saying Dadda months back, but it soon stopped in favour of Mamma, which could mean anything; of late, chiefly food. However, this has changed. Whilst upstairs yesterday I heard a little voice down below, behind the stair-guard calling Dad over and over again. Here are some photos from last month.

Playing Peekaboo.

Ready to brave the cold.

Aside from running around everywhere, he’s in the habit of climbing onto anything he can.

It seems just about everybody has the snuffles. I didn’t help myself by going to the nearby brewery to indulge on the last nomi nodai; drink as much as you like. Our party proved why it would be a commercial disaster in our own country. As a result, I doubt we will be well received on our next occasion. Monday was spent feeling much the same as I did at the beginning of the month.
The following day, enlivened, I set about transplanting the onions. By lunchtime and after moving some of the other plants around, the following were squeezed in:

84 Japanese White, 3 months drying
48 Japanese White, 5 months drying
48 Red

The leftovers were stuck amongst the garlic chives of which I had neither last year. It felt really good to be out there, fingers in the dirt etc.

Yesterday two rows of peas were planted just before the rain, which I thought may have turned to snow.
On the news this morning, there was footage of heavy snow up in Aomori prefecture.

What little motivation I had was sapped by a lingering cold. Beginning to get the better of it, I harvested the rest of the sweet potatoes. Later in the day, my wife brought back some sushi. After eating it, we both took Kento for an evening walk. I was just about to heat up my cup sake when I thought I best take to the toilet. By my second hurried appointment, I was having to debate which way to face first. I felt dreadful. It was suggested I go to hospital as I might be infected with Anisakis; a parasitic nematode. After another hour of it, I relented and at half ten my wife drove me to the San-in Rosa hospital. Incidentally, over here you check the local newspaper to find which hospital to visit, since they rotate the aliments they treat.
Upon arrival, we had our insurance details taken and joined the back of the queue. I am glad I didn’t have to queue for the only toilet as I was still going both ends and quite explosively too. After sometime, I was then examined and soon found myself prone and on a drip, but not before getting an injection in the arse. There I lay for a good hour and a half thinking about the toilet. Towards the end of my course, I did take to my feet to relieve myself. Sadly, it was another toilet with an empty soap dispenser. Just before two we set off home.
I didn’t get a good explanation of my malady, although the word taichyo was mentioned a few times; something to do with being run down and getting ill. Whilst I was being treated, a father there said both himself and his son had the same sushi. His son took a turn for the worst though, having had a cold. It could be there is higher bacteria count in the fish this time of year. Having a weakened immune system gives rise to the chance of food poisoning. Although over that, I am yet to shake off the cold.

The latest typhoon has brought heavy rain to Honshū. It’s passing south of Tokyo at the moment. The brassicas have taken a weathering as the gusts have been strong.
I took a photo a few days prior on what was a nice day. From the left:

Garlic
Sweet Potatoes
Hakusai, Cabbages, Broccoli
Spinach
Carrots
Beetroot
Mizuna
Potatoes (jumble of oddments in front)
Asparagus at the back