豪州カマキリ

3月31日（月）曇

9歳で泳げるようになったことが僕の人生を変えました。夏休みは初日に宿題をすべて片付け、2日目から終日山と海で遊んで過ごしました。ＴＶのない時代です。カマキリを飼育し3世代・3年間餌の蝶を与え続けても蝶に変身しないことを確認したことが、15年後には結構上出来の医学論文に変身。潜って採ったホタテを沈船内部で飼育した経験が20年後のホタテ養殖の成功につながりました。ＴＶの目的は視聴者を消費一筋に洗脳すること。物事を直視する能力、自由な発想、創造力を奪います。

蝶に変身失敗のカマキリ

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Australian mantis
Mon. March 31 : cloudy

Becoming able to swim when I was 9 years old has changed my life. I finished all the homework within the first day of summer holiday and from the second day I spent the whole day in the mountains and the sea every day. There was no TV in those days. I was feeding mantises butterflies for 3 generations in 3 years and confirmed that they were never mutated to butterflies. This discovery has mutated to pretty nice medical thesis 15 years later. I cultivated scallops that I had caught in a sunken boat and that experience was linked to the success in building scallop firm 20 years later. The goal of broadcasting is brainwashing audience to become consumptive. It deprives skills of looking things straight, free ideas, and imagination.

mantis that failed to mutate to butterfly

LOSER（負け犬）

3月30日（日）快晴

LOSERとは本来は失敗者・負け馬の意味ですが、最近では自己制御を失ったダメ人間の意。酒・タバコ・薬・賭けの4大中毒以外にもゲーム・ＴＶ・ＰＣ・携帯・過食・過労・運動不足・買い物中毒など。いずれも少なからぬ人格崩壊を伴い、自分や周囲の人間を不幸にします。ＴＶの魔力はカウチ・ポテトだけではなく、チベットの惨状を嘆いた直後にスポーツ観戦に夢中になれることです。スポーツは観るものではなくて自分でやるものでしょう？(photo bySMH)

カウチ・ポテト

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Loser
Sun. March 30 : cloudy

The word, loser originally means defeated person or horse but recently it means a loose person who has lost his or her self control. Besides top 4 kinds of addiction – addiction to alcohol, cigarette, drugs, and gamble there are others of games, TV, PC, mobile phone, overeating, overworking, shortage of exercises, and shopping. Every case has some grade of dissolution of personality and makes oneself and other people unhappy. TV doesn’t cause only the whammy of couch potato but also that of making people become absorbed in watching sports just after you mourn over miserable Tibet. Sport is not for watching but doing by yourself, is it?

couch potato

五輪ピックはあなたを殺す

3月29日（土）曇

五輪ピックは既に歴史的任務を全うしました。政治・商業主義・薬物に汚染された職業運動屋の祭典なんて永久に中止すべきです。北京五輪の2週間は世界中の誰もが無料でＴＶ中継を享受でき、政治的無関心を増大させ、運動不足で不健康になります。豪州では18歳から飲酒・喫煙は自由。「喫煙はあなたを殺す」と豪州のタバコにはラベルされています。飲酒年齢を21歳に引き上げ、「飲酒はあなたを殺す」との表示義務が現在検討されています。ＴＶを有料にして不健全なスポーツ中継も排除すべき時期かも。(photo by SMH)

前回（4年前）の五輪水泳選考会

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Olympic kill you
Sat. March 29 : cloudy

Olympic game has had enough historical responsibility. That kind of festival must be stopped permanently because it is held by professional athletes polluted by politics, commercialism, and drugs. Everybody can enjoy Beijing Olympic Games on TV free of charge for 2 weeks all over the world. It will encourage political indifference, shortage of exercises and unhealthy lives among people. People over 18 years old can legally drink and smoke in Australia. The label of Australian cigarette says “Smoking kills you”. The Council is considering raising the age you can drink to 21 and making it obligatory to putting the label saying “Drinking kills you”. I think it’s also a good time to start charging people for watching TV and stopping broad casting sports.

the former(4 years ago) Pan Australia Swimming Contest that select Olympians

脱いでもすごい豪州アスリート

3月28日（金）快晴

豪州はスポーツ大国。イアン・ソープは引退しましたが、五輪代表選手を選考する全豪水泳大会で世界記録が続出。無名のカップル・ステファニーとイーモンが揃って世界記録を達成。豪州水泳界2組目のゴールデン・カップル誕生の期待も膨らみます。それにひきかえ水泳ニッポンは今は昔。陸上も水泳も球技も格闘技も駄目。金メダルが期待できるのは早食い競争くらい。ＴＶゲームや携帯や塾通いで日本人はますますひ弱になりそう。僕の学生時代は読書と運動に忙しくて塾も予備校も受験勉強も無縁でした。(photo by SMH)

スピード社の水着

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Australian nice athletes even naked
Fri. March 28 : fine

Australia is a sport kingdom. Although Ian Thorpe had retired many world records have established one after another in the Pan Australia Swimming Contest that select Olympians. Unrenowned couple, Stephanie and Eamon has set world record together. They are hoping to be a second golden couple in Australian swimming history. On the other hand, “the swimming kingdom Japan” is an old story now. Track and field, swimming, fighting sports, and many other kinds of sport are hopeless. It could be only the quick feeder contest that we can expect to win the gold medal. Japanese seem to be becoming weaker and weaker because of TV games, mobile phone, and cram schools. When I was a student I was so busy reading books and exercising that I was immune from cram school or studying for exams.

swim suits made by Speedo

ランブータンとコラベフ

3月27日（木）快晴

脱いでもすごいと言われる果実・ランブータン。味はライチやロンガンとほぼ同じですが、手で外皮がむけないのが難点。果物皿とナイフ・フォークで上品に食べるのは大変ですが、まな板と包丁で豪快に食べればノー・プロブレム。問題は隣のコマのような正体不明の果物・コラベフ。硬い外皮を包丁で真っ二つに割り、スプーンで固めの果肉を掬い上げて食べると30％はマンゴ味。70％は筍、アーモンド、牛タンに抹茶を加えたような複雑な味。

フルーツの盛り合わせ

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Rambutan and quarabef
Thu. March 27 : fine

The Rambutan is the fruit that people say it’s a nice even when naked. It tastes almost the same as litchee or longan but the drawback is that it’s difficult to peel the skin. It’s hard to eat it elegantly on a fruit plate using a knife and a fork but it’s no problem to eat it wildly using a cutting board and a food chopper. What is more difficult is how to deal with the unidentified fruit, quarabef next to rambutans. Cutting the solid outer skin and scooping the stiff flesh to eat, it has quite complicated taste. It takes like 30% of mango and 70% of bamboo shoot with almond, beef tongue, and powdered green tea.

assorted fruits

パンノキ

3月26日（水）快晴

豪州ではイースターにチョコレート製の卵とクロス・バンズを食べます。僕はチョコレートは絶対に、パンもほとんど食べません。パンノキが1本あれば一家5人が飢える心配は無用だとか。成木から直径30cmの果実が200個得られます。焼くか蒸し焼きにして食します。でんぷんを多量に含み、味は僕が絶対に食べないサツマイモそっくり。薄切りにして焼いてビスケット状にすれば長期保存も可能。戦艦バウンティー号の反乱が起きたのもパンノキが原因です。

クロス・バンズ

戦艦バウンティー

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Bread fruit
Wed. March 26 : fine

OZs eat chocolate eggs and cross bans on Easter. I eat absolutely no chocolate and little bit of bread. People say if you had a bread tree, 5 members of your family would never starve. You can get 200 bread fruits that are 30 cm in their diameters from single matured bread tree. You eat them by either baking or steaming them. They contain a lot of carbohydrate and taste like sweet potatoes that I never eat. If you cut them into slices and grill just like making biscuits, you can preserve them for a long time. The cause of the rebellion on War Ship Bounty was also the bread tree.

cross bans

War Ship Bounty

シェラトンの朝食

3月25日（火）快晴

シェラトン・ミラージュには6つのレストランがありますが、朝食はプールサイドのラウンジだけ。宿泊客はほとんどが白人。ケアンズ市内を闊歩するのは日中韓の蒙古系アジア人観光客ですが、ポート・ダグラスの500mの大通りでは大半が白人。日中タイのレストランが各1軒ずつあるだけで韓国料理店はありません。中国マフィアがシドニーで韓流スターの弟など2人を殺傷。ゴールド・コーストやケアンズの何でもありの俗化などを考えると賢明な選択かも。

シェラトンのカプチーノ

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Breakfast in Sheraton
Tue. March 25 : fine

There are 6 restaurants in Sheraton Mirage but only the lounge besides the swimming pool serves breakfast. Most of the guests there are Caucasians. Most people who walk around in the city of Cairns are Mongolians, such as Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans, meanwhile, most passersby on the 500m main street in Port Douglas are Caucasians. There is only one restaurant for each Japanese, Chinese, and Thai but Korean one. Some Chinese mafia has killed 2 Koreans, one of them is a brother of a popular entertainer in Japan. It may be a cleaver choice to prevent from secularizing like disorder in Gold Coast or Cairns.

cappuccino in Sheraton

サトウキビ列車

3月24日（月）快晴

マリーン・ミラージュからグレート・バリア・リーフ行きの観光船が発着していますが、小さな鉄道駅もあります。サトウキビ運搬用のトロッコを観光用に改造。海辺やゴルフ場やサトウキビ畑をのんびり1時間ほど走り回ります。サトウキビの収穫期は運休。不定期便なので観光客の多い時期しか運行しません。団体客を受け入れれば経営的には楽でしょうが、ポート・ダグラスは世界的な保養地・大人のリゾートを自認して、安全・清潔・上品な街造りを続けています。

サトウキビ

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Sugar cane train
Mon. March 24 : fine

There are sightseeing boats for Great Barrier Reef arrive and depart from Marine Mirage and there is also a small rail station. The trucks for transporting sugar canes were converted into sightseeing trolleys. They run leisurely beside the beach, the golf courses, and the sugar cane field for about 1 hour. They go out of service during harvest time. They run during only high sight seeing season as they have irregular service. From economical viewpoint it will be better to accept some party travelers but Port Douglas has carried on building the secured, clean, and elegant town acknowledging itself as the global resort spot and adult’s getaway.

sugar cane

マリン・ミラージュ

3月23日（日）快晴

昨夜はクリントン夫妻も食事をしたというジェイド・イン（翠宮飯店）に行ってみたら街の小さな中華料理店。メニューもありきたりなので和食処・在で夕食。味は二流でも値段は一流の店でした。ところでシェラトン・ミラージュは敷地が広大で設備も立派ですが、客室の細部はくたびれています。TVも写りが悪かった。シェラトンは港にマリン・ミラージュという豪華なモールも経営しています。客足が多くなさそうだけど大丈夫なのでしょうか？

ポート・ダグラス

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Marine Mirage
Sun. March 23 : fine

We went to Jade Inn last evening where Mr. and Mrs. Clinton had dinner before. It was a small Chinese restaurant in the town and their menu was not so attractive. So we had dinner at Zai, the Japanese restaurant. They tasted the second class and cost the first class. By the way, the garden at Sheraton Mirage is immense and the facilities are excellent, but the detail of the guest room is dilapidated. The TV was fuzzy. Sheraton also has a deluxe mall called Marine Mirage at the port. I don’t see so many customers. I worry about the management.

Port Douglas

シェラトン・ミラージュ

3月22日（土）快晴

クリントン夫妻も泊まったことのあるケアンズ1の豪華ホテル。自然林とゴルフ・コースとビーチに囲まれてセキュリティーは万全。ホテルは巨大なプールに浮かんでいます。イースター・ホリデーはシティーから車で1時間のポートダグラスで過ごします。こちらもあちらも最近やや人気が下降気味なので、地元ではヒラリーの大統領就任に期待をかけています。

クリントン・ミラージュ

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Sheraton Mirage
Sat. March 22 : fine

It’s the most luxurious hotel in Cairns where Mr. and Mrs. Clinton have stayed before. As it is surrounded by natural forest and golf course the security is perfect. The building is floating on the huge swimming pool. We are spending our Easter holiday in Port Douglas that is 1hour drive from City. As both sides have been decreasing their popularities local people hope Hiraley’s win in presidential election.

Clinton Mirage

豪州の大型野菜

3月21日（金）快晴

本日よりイースター・ホリデー。日本より1ヶ月早い大型連休です。豪州ではクリスマスから年初めまで1－2週間の夏休みもあります。年間40日間の有給休暇や育児休暇が両親に保証されているので、1年の半分を遊んで暮らします。残業という制度もないし太るはずです。日本を訪れるOZが驚くのは家の狭さと野菜の小ささ。デパートにおもちゃのような小型野菜が並んでいます。日本人が小型である勝手な解釈に納得しています。気候に恵まれた豪州の野菜はどれも大型です。

携帯不能なスイカ

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Large size vegetable in Australia
Fri. March 21 : fine

Easter holiday starts today. It’s Australian big holiday that comes 1 month earlier than Japanese one. There is also 1-2 week summer holiday from Christmas to the New Year. Besides them workers are guaranteed to have 40-day paid holiday a year and child care leave for both parents, so OZs spend half of the year for fun. There is no way to avoid obesity for them as there’s no over time work system. Visiting Japan, OZs are surprised by small houses and tiny vegetables. They see miniature vegetables displayed in the department stores and they find the reason by themselves why Japanese people are small. Most Australian vegetables are big because of good climate.

non-portable water melon

雨上がりのシティー

3月20日（木）晴

そろそろ雨季が明けそうです。雨季と言っても日本の梅雨のように長雨が続くわけではありません。ケアンズの雨は夜半過ぎに降るので夜遊びにも差し支えありません。日中に雨が降ってもじきに止みます。アジア人は雨が嫌いらしく、雨の中を駆けたり、晴天の日でも傘を持ち歩きます。OZは老若男女とも「土砂降りじゃ。濡れて行こう」と悠然と歩きます。ラグビー、ゴルフ、テニス、馬術など、名誉を重んずる英国由来のスポーツには雨天順延などあり得ません。

ヨーキーズ・ノブの虹

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City after rain
Thu. March : fine

Rainy season seems to finish soon. Even it is called the rainy season rain doesn’t last for a long term like the one in Japan. As rain in Cairns falls after midnight it doesn’t spoil night life. Even if it starts raining it will stop in short time. Asian people don’t seem to like rain. They run in the rain and they even bring umbrellas on fine days. OZs, irrespective of age and sex walk bravely in the rain. There are no games delayed because of rain in England deprived sports such as rugby, golf, tennis, and horse shows.

rainbow in Yorkys Knob

孵化した果物怪獣

3月19日（水）晴

油断のならないモンステラ。購入して1週間はカチンカチン、指で押しても凹みません。7日目に根元が少しはじけ出し、はやる気持ちを抑えて待つこと3日。亀裂が均等に行き渡ると堅牢な外皮は容易にはがれます。姿を現したのはまたもや蜂の巣模様の果肉。トウモロコシを食べる時のように両手で持ってかぶりつくと食感はバナナ、味はパイナップル、香りはマンゴ。絶品とは言えませんが試す価値あり。せっかちな僕は10日間もの待機が嫌だから当分御免です。

美女と野獣

モンステラ

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Hatched monster fruit
Wed. March 19 : fine

Monstera is the Tricky Fruit. For a week after purchasing it, its skin stays quite hard. You cannot even dent it with your finger. On the 7th day its base starts to pop up but you need to wait for another 3 days. When the cracks expand equally all over the surface of the fruit the skin can be peeled easily. Hold it with your both hands and gnash it like when you eat corn, and then you can experience its texture like a banana, the taste like a pineapple, and the flavor like a mango. It’s not exquisite but it is worth to try it. As I’m short-tempered and cannot enjoy waiting for 10 days I’m not going to need it for a while.

beauty and beast

monstera

開発推進に待った

3月18日（火）晴

一昨日の選挙でケアンズに初の女性市長が誕生。開発推進派の前市長は土建屋との親密な関係を問題にされ、シティーで多くの票を集めたにもかかわらず、市北部のビーチやテーブル・ランドで票を獲得できず僅差で敗退。同時に行われた10人の市会議員選挙でも環境保護派が多数を占めました。日本と違って美観を損なう品の悪い選挙看板や騒音公害もない静かな選挙戦です。（photo by Cairns Post）

豪州の選挙

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Stop the development
Tue. March 18 : fine

The first female mayor was born in Cairns in the election the day before yesterday. Former mayor, the development advocate, was defeated by a narrow margin. He won a lot of votes in City but lost in northern suburban beaches and Tableland. The environment conservationists have won the majority force in the 10 councilor election took place at the same time. The election campaign was very different and quiet one from the one in Japan which brings coarse public signs or noise pollution.

election in Australia

速読術

3月17日（月）晴

僕は日本語の本なら速読の達人。文庫本なら1日4冊くらい読破できます。だけど英語の本は苦手。現在英語学校では3ヶ月間英語速読術に挑戦中。辞書もペンも使わず、口を動かさず、分からない単語は読み飛ばし、戻らず、立ち止まらず、ひたすら読み続けます。現在A４の文章1ページに6分かかっていますが、あと2ヶ月で1分まで短縮できるでしょうか？

シドニーの英語学校

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Speed-reading
Mon. March 17 : fine

I am a master of speed-reading in Japanese. I can read 4 paperback books a day. On the other hand I’m not good at English books. I’ve been challenging to master speed-reading in English for 3 months in my English conversation school. I simply have to keep reading without using a dictionary or a pen, or moving my mouth. I skip the words that I cannot understand and do not go back or stop. It takes 4 minutes to finish 1 full A4-sized page for me now. Can I shorten it to 1 minute in the next 2 months?

English school in Sydney