My Hometown Matsue

I uploaded a new video on YouTube. I made the video spending my spare time for about one week. I like it. Please take a look. (^^)

Kuri Gohan / Autumnal Equinox Day

September 23, it's Autumnal Equinox Day today and Japanese national holiday.

My tennis friend, Mr. Kobayashi gave me dozens of chestnuts the day before yesterday.
So, I cooked Kuri Gohan or 'boiled rice with chestnuts' with my wife Kiyono.

I had bought peeled chestnuts when I cooked Kuri Gohan last time. But this time, chestnuts wore hard skin.
Though it took longer time for preparing or peeling chestnuts' skin, cooking delicious food was fun to me.

My family members all enjoyed the beginning of the autumn season by eating autumn delight.

The recipe of Kuri Gohan

Peel the chestnuts.

Cut some vegetables.

Rinse four cups of rice.

Put them into a rice cooker with water.

Put some soy sauce, sugar and one spoon of liquor.

Turn the cooker's switch ON.

Wait for about an hour.

Then, yummy Kuri Gohan will be ready.

Business Trip to Mizonokuchi

I went to CANON Mizonokuchi Training Center for taking lectures of management skills last Wednesday and Thursday.
The lectures were, to say the least, not exciting nor interesting to me, but I could have been able to refresh myself by forgetting about daily routines.
It was a crispy sunny day on Wednesday. I took pictures near the Training Center at the afternoon break, as I did when I went there three years ago.
I walked along a small stream, looking flowers and butterflies for ten to fifteen minutes.

The view from the 7th floor of the Training Center

Miami Little Habana/Havana

The final part of our trip to Florida, 2009 is visiting a downtown in Miami.
To tell the truth, I hadn't expected much for the Miami downtown, but Little Havana was a really wonderful town worth visiting.

Southwest 8th street or Calle Ochos is a Little Havana’s main street.

Once you go to Calle Ochos, you almost feel like you've been transported to a Hispanic and Caribbean culture island.

It is said that, since the Revolution, more than 300.000 Cubans have emigrated in Miami area.

You can hear Cuban music from colourful stores and restaurants. There are Cuban grocery stores where you can buy not only local foods and tropical drinks but also hand rolled cigars.

I drank a cup of coffee in a souvenir shop: the taste was strong and too sweet for my wife Kiyono, but it was very nice for me.

The Maximo Gomez Park (or Domino Park) is where the older generation of Cubans meets to play dominoes.

Local farmers opened a tropical fruits shop at the street.

Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum

I visited the Ernest Hemingway House with my family in Key West, Florida in early April this year.
The Hemingway Home & Museum is located near a prominent lighthouse close to the Southern coast of the island.
It's a wonderful crisp sunny day for both driving 129 miles (207 km) from Miami and visiting several tourists' spots there.

We joined a guide tour in the museum.

I've never met Ernest Hemingway before, of course, but my image of him was very close to the tour guide himself.

The way of his explanation of Ernest and the stories of the site were worth the admission fees.

Key West was one of the top priority places in my trip to Florida.
We enjoyed great views while driving and visiting the beautiful Key West island very much.