This past year I have reinvigorated my old fly fishing hobby, changing from an occational undertaking to an addiction that I devote myself to nearly everyday. I won’t be out on the water everyday, not even every week, but I am constantly learning about the art of fly fishing through books and other online resources […]
It may seem surprising, but yogurt is very popular in Japan. Since Hokkaido is famous for its dairy industry, there is no shortage of yogurt based products to choose from. I was able to sample some great yogurt drinks from the island’s northern region at a recent farmer’s market held at Hokkaido University. Of course, […]
I like camping. It is something I have done since I was a child and young adult in the Boy Scouts and continued to do while on hiatus back in Pennsylvania and the Northeast U.S. The solitude is great, food tastes better after a day spent in the woods, and the nature is always inspiring. […]
It’s been awhile. Not that I haven’t been writing, reading, sketching, and exploring my new town of Sapporo. Now that I am back in the swing to some degree, and I have a routine of sorts in place, I feel it is important to reveal one element of that routine – public parks. Usually, here […]
Although Sapporo is a relatively symmetrical city, laid out in mathematical blocks like an igo board and rather flat despite being surrounded by mountains, there are some architectural anomalies that have caught my eye since moving here. They aren’t the famous spots like the Tokeidai or the Former Hokkaido Government Office, both well maintained western […]
Sapporo’s Street Car system (tram, 市電) is getting a bit of an overhaul. This past Sunday saw the debut of a new street car with expanded seating and streamlined features. The old street cars are still in full operation as only one new car has been put into circulation(for now). Below you can see a […]
Moving to a new place also gets my creative juices flowing. While the unpacking has been tedious, and the Japanese red-tape involved mind numbing, we have finally gotten completely settled into our new apartment (after two weeks of early breakfasts camping out at my in-laws). My bookshelf was successfully hauled up through the 5th story […]
Many moons ago I wrote of my strange fetish for the Man Cave and how the condensed nature of Japanese life led me to create the next best thing in the form of the Micro-Man Cave, an elaborately arranged series of shelves that represented all that is good and decent in my own “dudeness”. Sadly, […]