Wednesday, February 19, 2003

What I did today Today, I... Finished off my message for the sixth-years graduating from Etajima Elementary School, and sent it off; Was on duty at lunch-time; Cooked cheese risotto in the evening; Went to taiko and taught Fukushima-kun and Kitagawa-kun, the two chaps from the JMSDF, how to play 'Santoko'.

Japan unfathomables Why do bread manufacturers in Japan make so many five-sliced loaves, when the six-sliced loaves are the only ones that sell out?

Web sites worthy of mention... Wireframe Skeleton I suspect that this could well be very useful for some people. In any case, useful or not, what I do know that it's a heck of a lot of fun. It's a wireframe skeleton with 'strings' attached to various parts of its body. The position of the strings can be adjusted, and 'pulling' any one of the strings causes the skeleton to contort in a most amusing (albeit slightly sadistic) way. Excellent! (And less messy than pulling the wings off a fly, which would seem to be about the same level of sadism...)

Japan A-Z Tai Tai is a fish very commonly seen served as sashimi in Japan. The English name is 'sea bream'. This fish is popular partly because of its colour-a deep red- and partly because of its taste, but also because of its name. 'Tai' sounds like the last syllable of the word 'medetai', which means 'happy' or 'felicitous'; as such, the fish is often served at celebrations and the suchlike.

Japan zatsugaku In Japan, there is one vending machine for every 23 people!