walking downtown, Shinjuku

What a beautiful day!

Yesterday I enjoyed walking downtown, Shinjuku
with two ladies of Harmonica Circle.

Ms. W, one of us, was a very good guide.

We met at 10:00 at Tanashi Station
where Ms. W lives.

We took a train for Seibu-Shinjuku and got off
at Shimo-ochiai Station.

First, Ms. W took us to 東長谷寺　薬王院.

The temple is famous for its peony flowers 牡丹.
We were ratherlate to the flowers at their best.













Then Mrs. W took us to 林芙美子記念館.





A volunteer guide showed us around the house.



林芙美子lived here for her last ten years—
from the year 1941 to her last year 1951.

(kitchen)


(study)


(garden)




I remembered the saying "All is well that ends well."

After having a late noodle lunch at soba restaurant,
we went to Nakai Station and came back to Kokubunji.

I was glad I could walk 14127 steps in a day.

alphabet soup

In Friday English class we read a short story
from the book ‘Chicken Soup.’

There was an expression ‘alphabet soup’
in the story.

Have you ever tried ‘an alphabet soup’?

It is a common dish made from alphabet pasta.

In the story we read, the expression‘an alphabet soup’
is used in the following sentence:

President of Mali, brought together ‘an alphabet soup’
of UN organizations—UNDP, UNHCR, UNPKO, UNIDIR.

Now I know ‘an alphabet soup’ is used as a metaphor
for an abundance of abbreviations or acronyms.

‘an alphabet soup’ is a very interesting expression.

p.s.
One of my friends in Niigata wrote to me about ‘alphabet soup’.

The Newbury House Dictionary of American English
says as follows:

‘alphabet soup’ means a mixture of many different things:
The population of North America is an alphabet soup of people
from Argentina to Zimbabwe.

Thank you, SS-san.