Happy Friday!

"バカボン" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/80 sec, ISO6400
“バカボン” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

We made it to the weekend! I’m kind of stoked because I get to read a Bakabon book, as you can see in the photo above. It’s got English and Japanese so I’ll be able to practice my reading too. And it should be fun!

Today I took my 15-year-old son to get his learner’s permit. I can’t believe he’s almost 16 and going to drive on his own soon! Time really flies… We are doing a parent-taught course, so I’ll be taking him driving but I’m not sure where there is a good, safe parking lot to practice. I guess some local research is in order. 😄

Ok, it’s time to read some バカボンのパパ!

またね~

おやすみなさい!

– バロン Barron Fujimoto

Lost in Translation no more with Word Lens in Japanese

Let Google Translate help you find your way through Japan, now with instant translation

Source: Lost in Translation no more with Word Lens in Japanese

This is so cool! The future is here. 😃 And it works in real-time, with the translated text automagically appearing over the original like some hyped-up photoshop wizardry. Take a look at this photo I took of the feature in action:

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/85 sec, ISO6400

I wish I could take credit for finding that awesome sign, but it was one of the first Google search results.

Thanks to my brother for sending me the link to the article!

Naan… was ok?

"Making Naan" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
“Making Naan” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening my wife went to work before she could finish making naan for us, so I had to take over. Mariko prepared the dough for me in the bread maker, and when it was ready it was my chance to succeed or fail. 😝

When I took the dough out of the breadmaker, it was really sticky and got stuck on my hand. I was thinking that this cannot be right! Did I take it out too early? Was it supposed to rest for 15 minutes? Did I miss something on the bread machine since it is all in Japanese? The doubts were going through my head. 😱

But then I floured up my hands and sprinkled flour on the Silpat baking sheet, and things got easier. I divided the dough into six portions, then went to work forming the dough into flat shapes. While I was doing that, our cast-iron skillet was heating up on the stove and starting to smoke a bit – just about ready to cook!

The first naan I put on was a bit too thick and a little dough-ey, but it was still delicious. The other five naan got better (and thinner) the more practice I got so I was happy. When each one came off the pan, I spread a little butter on it and sprinkled some salt.

The real test came at dinner when the kids tasted it with their curry. And they thought the naan was good! Koa ate two of them and even designated a section of his plate exclusively for curry sauce for dipping the naan in. No rice or chicken allowed in that section. 😄

I think the naan experiment was a success.

———————-

Below is a photo of my hiragana practice sheet. As I mentioned earlier, I am studying Japanese again and part of that is to get used to writing hiragana and katakana.

I’m surprised (and happy) that my writing is getting better and better. I was an art major in college, so you’d think I would have some skills at this, but I have always been very poor at drawing. However, I am really pleased with how it is going so far. I actually had to ask my kids if they did that third line of “あ” because I thought there’s no way I did it!

I still have a long way to go, but I’m trying to make sure I keep a positive attitude and not get discouraged if I go too fast. I want to enjoy the experience! That means a not-so-aggressive timeline. ☺️

"ひらがな" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/16, 1/10 sec, ISO6400
“ひらがな” Cedar Park, 2017

I hope you had a nice Wednesday.

またね!

バロン