Kangaeroo got a much better day than expected today, Japan’s National Foundation Day but not a holiday because it fell on a Saturday. Waking, Your Humble Narrator (to borrow a turn of phrase from Anthony Burgess) was greeted by a winter wonderland from the previous day’s snowfall. There would be no customary morning bike ride on this day. Instead, with great community spirit, Mrs. Kangaeroo suggested Kangaeroo get his morning exercise by shoveling the snow off the paths so none of our neighbors slipped and hurt themselves. So, it was out on the shovel and into the snow. And great…
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Tokyo, or at least the hillier Tama part of it, got dumped by a heavy snowfall on Friday, turning the place white. Kangaeroo Corner’s trees, never keen on the cold, struggled with the heavy snow clogging their branches. It did look good, to be fair dinkum. But it was another source of worry for the worry wort writer. Amazingly, just a day earlier, Kangaeroo was thrilled when hit by direct sunshine and felt the warmth of the sun, seemingly for the first time in months. And the weekend is set for temperatures in the high teens. Notable performances include some…
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Has Kangaeroo mentioned that he’s got a garden? And he loves it! Just in case he hasn’t, let me remind you again that Kangaeroo Corner is a little Aussie plants garden in comfy outer suburb of Tokyo. And playing a prominent role in that Aussie garden is the Fountain of Strewth. At first glance, there seems to be nothing untoward about the fountain (which is actually a bird bath with a solar-power water sprayer, but still….). Except, of course, that few Tokyo homes have a fountain. But this is a little special, and that’s where the strewth factor comes into…
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Today, February 8, is The Day of the Chicken in Japan, according to the Japan Anniversary Association. The anniversary was chosen because of one phonetic reading for the date. In Japanese, phrasing today’s date would be 2月8日, which is literally the “second month and eighth day” if rendered in English. One way to phrase the two days making up today’s date in Japanese is “ni,” symbolizing two, and “wa,” for eight. Chicken in Japanese is niwatori, so the bird (tori) of the ni (2nd) and wa (eighth) is clearly the chook, thus The Day of the Chicken. The Association says…
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Kangaeroo Corner has got one of the greatest gardens in Tokyo, at least according to Kangaeroo, and one of its features its the extensive lighting. Alongside the mostly Aussie native plants adorning the garden are plenty of garden ornaments of Australian native animals and birds. The kangaroos, koalas and various types of avian life such as a kookaburra, cockatoo and galah, are lit up using solar-powered garden lights. Much to Mrs. Kangaeroo’s chagrin, Kangaeroo adores these garden lights. And the growing length of sunshine each day as spring approaches affords each lighter with a greater charge of its battery, which…
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A good mate of mine often quotes William Shakespeare’s Hamlet by reminding me that, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Kangaeroo is prone to over-thinking, and this week is looming as a tough one. There’s plenty on the schedule, both professionally and privately. And it’s still bloody cold and dark. Moreover, riding up some hills yesterday and being easily overtaken and outpaced by another old codger, then hearing my heavy breathing along the river this morning sparked another reminder from Hamlet that I am fat and scant of breath! But in better news, the…
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Didn’t do a lot today. Except eat. And play with the bird. Turned out to be something of a wasted weekend. It wasn’t a total failure. Cleaned the house. And got the garden looking good. Including some shopping for new lights. Related posts: Harbor City Coathangered! Sydney Opera House Among World Heritage List’s ‘Three Great Disappointments’ It’s All Happening Here! Amazing Alex’s Aussie Oasis in Tokyo’s Tama The Strine Why Atorkin: Plain English Grass is Greener….Here, And Not On the Other Side! Go Tiges!!!!!! Cheating Death! Wahoo for Wahoo, and Thanks Y’s Road Lads Warm Weekend Pushing Pedals in an…
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Lots of appetites where wetted today, in a quiet and pleasant day. A long sleep was followed up by playtime with the bird. Then it was a short stint in the garden. By this time, Mrs. Kangaeroo had risen. So, it was a shower and off to Costco, visiting the secondhand store along the way. Upon returning, it was Death Machine time, for an unexpected and awesome ride. Related posts: Strine Dictionary Strine (オージー英語)Dictionary Beating Jobsworths with Luck There And Back Again: Oz 2022 What a Gift! Lyre, Lyre, Pants on Fire Amazing Alex’s Aussie Oasis in Tokyo’s Tama Give…
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Kangaeroo is delighted another working week is drawing to a close as he is absolutely exhausted. Kangaeroo’s boss is a serial power harasser. The boss’s gnawing attacks on co-workers have driven away every single colleague bar Kangaeroo since their employment started. And the boss has gone out of their way to make life difficult for your author, including a threat to slash his pay in violation of his contract (and would have been a second huge pay cut in consecutive years). Despite working from home, Kangaeroo is constantly in flight-or-fight mode. It’s draining. And the constant fear has an alarming…
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Kanageroo hasn’t really won a great deal in lotteries or the like over the years (despite hitting the jackpot in so many other ways), so it was a pleasant surprise last week to win a great prize! That prize was a gift coupon for undies! Kangaeroo won the undies through a website called Miles. Miles is a downloaded phone app (at least that’s how I use it) that keeps a record of all my travel. A bit ominous perhaps, but I have nothing to fear and my phone is tracking my every move and sending all the data anywhere, anyway.…