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| Banana Crepe |
There are many pics in my PC and I feel I am so behind!
At the end of last month, I went to Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture and stayed overnight.
This was for an international conference. It was a kind of interpretation and help the inbound guests ( mostly professors / specialist of some IT industry's professionals/ researchers ). Since the morning start was early and Tsukuba is far ( from my place, say, door to door is two hour trip.) , my client booked a hotel for me. ( Very kind! )
I have a friend who is studying there, so contacted her and we met at CoCo's that night. CoCo's is a family restaurant and originally from US, I guess. The menu is very different from the states, though.
She's been studying there for several years now and I believe eventually she will acquire PhD.
It was nice to catch up with her. I am not familiar with academic world, so she explained how she is doing and what the challenges are. Learned a lot. She is a writer, journalist, but still writing academic report seems to be difficult. Totally different approach, skill is required.
Anyway, I only took this pic, but what I enjoyed the most was their fried potatoes!
Shredded, crispy potatoes with salsa/ avocado/ sour cream was delicious!
While I was waiting for her arrival, I finished the whole plate!!! ( Too much calories!)
With a glass of beer and enjoyable talk, I fell asleep immediately after I went back to my hotel room. LOL.
Oh, and one thing I'd like to remember from that trip is " sometimes I need to expose my 5 or 6 senses to nature."
What happened was interesting. I shouldn't do it again, but I walked from Tsukuba station to the business hotel for 15 minutes at night. Usually , in Tokyo, it's no problem. Safe enough.....at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m.
However, in Tsukuba area, it's totally dark. If I took the easy way, took a main street, it would have been much easier.
Somehow, I relied on my Google navigation.. Kindly, Google suggested me the fastest way which was to go though a rice field..... which is very dark!
I didn't think it would be that long... but it took me about 20 min.!
It was dark, very dark. It was scary. Luckily, nothing happened to me, but I shouldn't do it again... Too risky. Too dark. Japan is safe, so nothing happened, but I should remember that I was just lucky.
However, I learned something different. at the same time I was able to feel the nature. Utter silence, quietness. My senses were on the alert and became sharp.
In usual city life, I don't use it. May sound funny, but I felt I should use these senses once in a while. Like digging out sleeping senses.... waking them.
If I don't use it, they will become stale, dull. It was a kind of awakening.
Instead of taking too much risk like walking dark rice field alone ( ! ), I should visit forests, mountains or lakes..... more often.
