2016年04月11日
The Clean Center
Hello, all!
Today I'm doing my spring cleaning, in preparation for my friends' visit next weekend! Part of this cleaning was to break down all my old cardboard boxes (I had over 10kg of cardboard boxes!), packing materials, and my older, broken exercise bicycle and throw them out. Since they're all oversize trash, I had to the take them to the Shikokuchūō Clean Center.
Yes, most Americans would be surprised by the Shikokuchūō Clean Center! It is a very, very nice building, with a distinctive "clock tower" (actually a smokestack for the incinerator), built between a lovely park and the open ocean. It's such a beautiful place to throw away your trash!
The only strange thing for me was that the Clean Center is built on reclaimed land, but it has an incredibly deep pit into which the burnable trash is thrown before it's incinerated. Don't they have problems with water seepage? I'm also a little surprised that no one is worried about possible environmental impact. Certainly when Hong Kong did the same thing people complained. However, I think that Westerners in general are a little more nervous about land reclamation. I'm sure that Shikokuchūō has plenty of protections in place.
At any rate, the process was very easy—I just threw the burnable trash directly into the incinerator (which is cavernous! It looks so much like a video game level!) and gave my recyclable trash to the attendants. It was all free! In America, I'd definitely need to pay for this, since most cities have privatized garbage collection services. I'm very happy with Japan right now.
Have you ever visited your "Clean Center"?
—Matthew
PS: Couri may also enjoy this song full of phrases Shakespeare coined!
Today I'm doing my spring cleaning, in preparation for my friends' visit next weekend! Part of this cleaning was to break down all my old cardboard boxes (I had over 10kg of cardboard boxes!), packing materials, and my older, broken exercise bicycle and throw them out. Since they're all oversize trash, I had to the take them to the Shikokuchūō Clean Center.
Yes, most Americans would be surprised by the Shikokuchūō Clean Center! It is a very, very nice building, with a distinctive "clock tower" (actually a smokestack for the incinerator), built between a lovely park and the open ocean. It's such a beautiful place to throw away your trash!
The only strange thing for me was that the Clean Center is built on reclaimed land, but it has an incredibly deep pit into which the burnable trash is thrown before it's incinerated. Don't they have problems with water seepage? I'm also a little surprised that no one is worried about possible environmental impact. Certainly when Hong Kong did the same thing people complained. However, I think that Westerners in general are a little more nervous about land reclamation. I'm sure that Shikokuchūō has plenty of protections in place.
At any rate, the process was very easy—I just threw the burnable trash directly into the incinerator (which is cavernous! It looks so much like a video game level!) and gave my recyclable trash to the attendants. It was all free! In America, I'd definitely need to pay for this, since most cities have privatized garbage collection services. I'm very happy with Japan right now.
Have you ever visited your "Clean Center"?
—Matthew
PS: Couri may also enjoy this song full of phrases Shakespeare coined!
2016年04月11日
Making Things
I've always liked to make things. I like most all crafty things that involve a needle with an eye - Embroidery, Needlepoint, Quilting, to name a few. Since coming to Japan, I've started doing English Paper Piecing and especially like the hexagon shapes. This is a quilt I recently finished - totally pieced and quilted by hand.
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2016年04月11日
Hanami food!
Last week I mentioned setoyaki and the street food vendors down at the Kamo river during cherry blossom season. This week, I have some pictures!
This is setoyaki. It's covered in sweet okonomiyaki sauce and some mayonnaise. It's really good!
Of course there were other foods available there as well. One of my favorites was this fried chicken.
It came with various topping sauces that you can mix together. I got spicy mayonnaise, sweet chili, and garlic sauce. It was delicious!
This is setoyaki. It's covered in sweet okonomiyaki sauce and some mayonnaise. It's really good!
Of course there were other foods available there as well. One of my favorites was this fried chicken.
It came with various topping sauces that you can mix together. I got spicy mayonnaise, sweet chili, and garlic sauce. It was delicious!
