Postcard from Dusseldorf, Germany

Hi Jim,

I arrived in Dusseldorf, Germany. It's a sunny day. There's a nice breeze coming through the window.

Tonight, I'll have a good beer with my company's staff.

Tomorrow's meeting will be tough, but I will enjoy my business trip.

Yumi

No class tonight - let's go to the pub!

A nice, sensible evening out with my NHK class involving the magic word 'nomihodai'!

OK, not a pub I admit. We met up at a nice little restaurant which used to be called something else and had the best, juiciest, cheeseburgers & sludge-gravy ever. Easy for everyone to find, and the food still passes muster. Happy to report, the beer was cold and delivered promptly (see previous rant about the beer garden!).

Our usual class tonight was off, as NHK is closed for Obon holiday - busman's holiday for Jim then. Tonight though, he could enjoy a quieter chat about 'other' stuff, and not have to worry about the predominant amount of chatter in Japanese.

As ever the case, always find out more about students when they let their hair down. Our new member Emiko is quite the party girl, and has added a very nice dynamic to our group. For the more 'odd' photos, please check out Luna's Facebook page!

Beer Party!

Come and join us for a cold one!

When?
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Where?
Daiich Kokan (rooftop beer garden next to the castle)
What time?
meet outside at 6:30pm, nomihodai from 7-9pm, party might continue until later..
How much?
Y3500 (about), meal Y1500 plus drinks Y2000
Meeting Place?
outside Daiich Kokan, entrance of castle opposite the Family Mart

Please let us know asap so we can book a table. Pleas note that payment is compulsory once we've booked, as the restaurant does not make any allowances.

Hope to see you there!

The Luna Team :)

World Cup in Matsumoto LIVE - Sunday

And FREE - if you wear your team's colours. Non-compliance fine = 2 cans beer for the house.

Sunday 11pm at LUNA. Bring drinks & snacks & comfort blankets or whatever. Can a truly dreadful England campaign actually get into gear? Will Heskey ever be retired? Putch come to a shove, will we ever beat the Germans at anything beyond our own borders?

In my opinion, teams busting a nut like the Yanks, the Aussies & the Kiwis fully deserve to be on the bigger stage. About time the big yins of England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany got a kick in the shins.

Chocolate beer - what would Homer Simpson think?

And why not? There's chilli beer, after all, and all those poncy fruit beers from the Low Countries! Up until now, my favourite was an English grapefruit beer.

Chocolate beer, indeed. Now I can almost stop eating altogether! I have no idea what the calorie count is, but let's assume my doctor would be hanging his head in dismay!

I found this hiding on the shelf in Jusco, and very literally did a double take, thinking "No, can't be right." I took it home, curious, and poured it out into a nice glass. Instant 'chocolatey' smell, but not sweet or overpowering. It tastes...well, like beer with bitter chocolate in it. Rich but bitter, with that nice refreshing beer 'hit'. I don't know if I could drink the stuff all night, but certainly something I'll be trying again before it gets sold out.

Surely a Valentine's gimmick, but not a bad one. In a land of 'giri choco' (girls 'obliged' to give chocs to the boys in Japan, especially to teachers/bosses/colleagues) this is one gift I wouldn't feel too unhappy about opening - and certainly more likely to be enjoyed by me rather than my dentist!

Beer in the garden

Wow, that was fun!!!!!! Let's do it again soon!!

A big thank you to Naomi for making it all happen, and a high five to all who attended and made it such an enjoyable evening.

And who are all those pretty girls wearing yukatas??

Tana

Free entrance to Matsumoto Castle Gardens, and ice-cold beer!!!

What a great combination!

For those of you who don't already know, the Matsumoto council has announced that entrance to to Matsumotojo gardens will be free for all those wearing a Yukata.

This is great news for anyone who will be joining us for an ice-cold beer on Saturday(18 July) as we will already be in the correct attire!

Why not make the most of this opportunity by coming a little earlier and taking a stroll around the gardens with us.

I'll be in the garden from about 15:30, and then will move onto the beer garden at 17:00.

The name of the beer garden is YAMAGA IKUZO, and we've booked a table so there will be plenty of space for everyone. Please follow the link to the map below if you are not sure where it is.

http://walk.eznavi.jp/map/?datum=0&unit=0&lat=%2B36.14.12.70&lon=%2B137.58.10.90&fm=0&spt=01125.n831900&cp=mapmail_MapView_nw

I am looking forward to seeing you there!

Tana

Beat the Heat with an ice-cold Beer!

That's right! It's that time of year again, and we've decided to celebrate with an ice-cold beer in the Matsumoto Castle Beer Garden. Please join us!!

When? 18 July (Sat)
What time? 5pm - 8pm

Please wear a summer yukata if you have one as we want to celebrate in style ;)

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Tana

PS. Please let us know if you can come so we can book a big enough table!!
XX