Tokyo Bizarro

Every once in awhile I check out the Japan Times website for news from Tokyo. Today, I found a story that caused me to laugh out loud and stirred my feelings of fondness for the quirkiness of the world's largest metropolis. It seems the many Col. Sanders statues that grace the front of the ubiquitous KFC fast food restaurants in Tokyo have become the target of "frenzied" fans. The company that owns the KFC franchise in Japan also owns the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. Col. Sanders has come to be viewed as an unlikely icon for the fate of the team. Read the story here.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

This past Friday, we joined our landlord and landlady, Paul and Ann, for a visit to the Coach and Horses pub. They go there nearly every week to meet friends for a few drinks and then usually go out to dinner afterwards. The Coach and Horses is a rather nice pub – at least what I could see of it. It was really mobbed. We managed to commandeer a table in the corner for ourselves, but it wasn’t long before it was standing room only. I sampled a few local Yorkshire ales (I love ordering the half pints; they're just the right size for me!). And I watched in awe as Paul sucked back one after another after another pint of Tetleys' bitter. (It's a good thing we can walk to the pub.) Paul and Ann are just a few years older than Brad and myself. They used to own and operate a few pubs in the area. They no longer own the pubs, but still maintain a few rental properties. They told us about their recent trip to Lincoln, southeast of Harrogate. They drove there last weekend with their caravan (trailer) to attend a concert of 60s music artists. Gerry Marsden, of Gerry and the Pacemakers was there, as well as the Four Tops (only one original member) and several other icons of the era. I let out that I’m a big Beatles fan and Paul and Ann told me then that I simply must take the bus tour to Liverpool and see all the Beatles sites. And I should book ahead for the Bootleg Beatles concert – an annual event in Harrogate. Well, I really would love to go to Liverpool and even though we are close enough to drive or take a bus there, I'd much rather fly. You see, it turns out that the airport in Liverpool was recently renamed John Lennon Airport. The aiport's slogan is "Above us only sky." And, if I go to Liverpool, I can visit Mendips, the boyhood home of John Lennon. Or I can go to 20 Forthlin Road, the home where Paul McCartney grew up. Both homes are now National Trust sites.

Honk If You Love Cheeses

One of the first things I scope out when arriving in a new area is the availability of Italian groceries. In Germany, we lived near a wonderful Italian grocery store, owned and operated by Italians, where I could purchase superb baked goods, deli meats, cheeses and produce. In Tokyo, I also found an Italian grocery store, but the prices were so sky high that I never patronized them. Luckily, we lived near Tokyo's best stocked Western-style supermarket where I was able to obtain very good deli meats and cheeses. Two nearby bakeries satisfied our baked goods needs.

So far, I have yet to find an Italian grocery store or deli in the Harrogate area. I do most of my shopping at the Safeway, a medium-sized grocery store within a 10-minute walk of our flat. As you might imagine, they have a very good selection of British cheeses. There must be a good dozen or two different varieties of cheddar cheese alone. Then there are stiltons and cheshires and lancashires and the list just goes on and on. Yesterday I brought home a Wenslydale that is to die for!

I was surprised to find a decent brand of mortadella at the deli counter, but when I inquired about the availability of provolone I got the distinct impression that the lady at the deli counter had never heard of it. I guess the tip off was when she asked, "Is it anything like cheddar?"

I've checked two other supermarkets and so far, no provolone. We live not too far from a Sainsbury's supermarket -- probably the best stocked supermarket in the area. I've been there once but, at the time, did not check out the cheese selection. We probably won't be going to Sainsbury's anytime soon, as it has the misfortune of being situated near a road that is closed one-way due to construction. The traffic jams are horrendous and we avoid that road at all costs.

So ... keeping my fingers crossed that Sainsbury's will pull through for us after all.

We went to our first car boot sale yesterday. It was held at the Ripley Cricket Club field. We arrived at the field around 10 a.m. and paid a nominal admission fee of 30 pence apiece. I guess the proceeds go to benefit the cricket club. There must have been a hundred or more cars arranged in a ring on the perimeter of the field. Inside that ring of cars were two other rings of cars, each ring succesively smaller in diameter. All the cars had their boots (or trunks) open from which they had unloaded items they had for sale onto tables or blankets. We took an hour or more browsing round the field. There were scant few items that would have qualifed as collectables. Most sellers looked as if they were clearing out their basement or garage of items they'd accumulated over the years. We saw plenty of dishwares and household appliances, record albums and 45s, tools, clothing, books. The typical flea market fare. I must admit I was a bit underwhelmed by the selection. I didn't see much I even felt inclined to make an offer on. Ah well, we will continue our search for antique markets and fairs. I'm sure there are some more intriguing venues out there for us to explore.

The Flies -- A Tale of Horror

Our flat was recently besieged by flies. It was rather horrible. Ours is a two-story flat: the living room and bedroom are on the ground floor and the kitchen, dining room and two other bedrooms are in the basement. All of the basement rooms have windows that allow in a good amount of light. I came home the other day to find a couple dozen flies clinging to the French doors and windows at the front of the dining room. It turned my stomach. I was able to shoo them all out after I opened the doors and windows, but once the doors and windows were closed the flies began to accumulate again. Thankfully the ground floor was free of the nasty little buggers. Brad and I just couldn't imagine where they were coming from. We thought, perhaps, the uncharacteristic heat wave was at the root of the problem. But the amount of flies seemed to be terribly excessive. I complained to the landlord about it, but he seemed to brush it off as a minor temporary inconvenience. The following day, after going out to run some errands, I came home to find the basement full of flies again. Disgusted, I called the landlord and asked him to come down to take a look. He was astounded when he stepped into the kitchen/dining room. He said he'd never seen so many flies in one place before. It was as if we were stuck in the middle of a Hitchcock film. He helped me shoo them out again, then we set out to determine where the hell they were coming from. Fairly soon we began to notice they were emerging from the gas fireplace! My landlord proceeded to remove the insert from the fireplace and there he discovered a dead bird which had somehow fallen through the chimney. I'm surprised we never smelled it! Our landlord removed the bird and our fly problem seems to be under control now.

We went to see Nicholas Nickleby last night at Harrogate's only movie theater, the Odeon. The film was great fun, a typical Dickens storyline full of colorful villains and do-gooders alike. The actors were very well cast in their roles, especially Christopher Plummer as Nicholas' cold hearted uncle. The Odeon theatre, I'm told, was a lovely art deco movie house, but it has unfortunately been chopped up into smaller screening rooms. The screening room we were in was so small as to be almost claustrophobic -- only 68 seats (I counted 'em). The theater never got fully dark owing to the bright exit light that was posted very close to the back rows. The popcorn was a disappointment too. Oversalted pre-popped corn poured out of giant plastic bags into warming bins. Yuck!

One of the things I miss most about living in Tokyo is going to the many shrine sales on the weekends. Shrine sales are antique and collectible markets that take place on the grounds of a shrine or temple. We managed to pick up a few items here and there during our three years in Tokyo. I'm discovering that here in Britain I just may be able to find an alternative to Japan's shrine sales. In the local papers I see Car Boot Sales advertised. I gather a car boot sale is what an American would call a flea market. Some of them charge a nominal admission. We haven't attended one yet, but hope to soon. Then there is the absolute proliferation of charity shops. These are thrift shops operated by various charities, such as Oxfam, the British Heart Association, etc. You can get incredible bargains on clothing, books and bric a brac at the charity shops. i recently picked up a lovely photo album at the Oxfam shop in Harrogate.

I'm at the Harrogate public library getting free access to the Internet. They have 30 computers here. You can book a computer in advance for up to four hours of use. You don't even have to be a library cardholder to use the computers. Anyone can walk in off the street and use the computers.

Yesterday we went to Leeds. We've been shopping for some household goods -- mainly a decent coffeemaker -- and we had heard there were many shopping centers in Leeds. What we didn't know is that many of the stores and restaurants in the city center are closed on Sundays. We knew that Harrogate was a bit sleepy on Sundays, but did not expect the same from Leeds. I did not take readily to Leeds. It's a bit grimy and depressing. There was certainly not much activity going on yesterday and it seemed we walked miles before finding a place to eat. It was also very HOT yesterday. I think it got into the upper 80s, though it was more bearable than the humid heat of Tokyo.

The good news is: I've got wheels!
The bad news is: I'm still afraid to drive around here. :-(

Last night we purchased a 1994 Ford Mondeo from a British woman. She loved the car, which she herself had bought from her brother. (He love the Mondeo so much he just bought a new model.) However, the car has a large engine and therefore drank a lot of gas, so the current owner has switched to a diesel car. The Mondeo is in excellent shape; we can see that it was well cared for by its two previous owners. I shouldn't have to worry too much about gas bills, as I can buy gas on base and will only use it for tooling around downtown. Brad will turn in the rental car he has been using and drive the Mondeo for the time being, until our Volvo arrives from the U.S. (most likely late in July). Soooo, I guess I can put off driving a little while longer.

Oh, and by the way, the car is a deep blue color, officially known as "java blue".

On Monday we moved into our new flat. Since we were able to negotiate for storage space in the garage, we decided on the two-story flat near the Stray. None of our stuff has arrived from Tokyo, so we are using loaner furniture and household goods from the base. We have one sofa, one easy chair, a double bed, one night stand, one coffee table, one end table, a dining room table and four chairs and the most basic of housewares. We have a coffee pot that doesn't work. Army-style linens: two starchy white flat sheets, pillow cases and thin pillows and a scratchy gray wool blanket. I will be sooo glad when our own stuff arrives! No radio. No TV. We have a British washer and dryer which means the loads are small and it takes about 1.5 hours minimum for one wash cycle! Yesterday, I spent the day cleaning out the kitchen and discovered that, though we have plenty of cabinets, there are no drawers whatsoever! We'll have to improvise for storage of cutlery and utensils. We also just realized there is a street lamp right outside our bedroom window. Even though the window has full length drapes, it is still quite bright in our bedroom at night. Brad says, the light doesn't bother him, but I've had trouble falling asleep and am thinking of getting some black-out blinds for the bedroom windows. Of course, no place would be perfect and we are still quite happy with our new apt. The rooms are spacious and the landlord used muted colors throughout on the walls. There are mint green wall-to-wall carpets throughout. The only rooms without carpet are the kitchen, laundry room and one bathroom. The other two bathrooms have wall-to-wall carpeting, something we found to be quite common in the houses and flats we looked at. We are guessing it's because a tile floor here would be quite cold, especially in the winter time.

We have been enjoying exploring the neighborhood. We are just a 15-minute walk from the bus station, the train station and the city center. In another direction there are many interesting restaurants and shops. There are a few antique and second-hand shops near us that don't look quite as pricey as the antique stores in the city center.

Our landlord and landlady are a very nice British couple. They spend half the year in Florida (north of Orlando in a community with lots and lots of golf courses). The other half of the year they live in the same building as us on the upper two floors. They are quite friendly and have given us a standing invitation to join them for their weekly get-togethers with other neighbors at a nearby pub.

Tomorrow we plan to attend the Great Yorkshire Show. It's like a county fair in the U.S. with lots of agricultural displays. It takes place about a mile from our apt. and we plan to walk there as we imagine traffic and parking will be a nightmare.