catatan harian 19/3 part1 Sampai semalam, saya belajar selama 70 hari untuk bersiap menjadi seorang sukarelawati. Saya tinggal di asrama terletak di pertengahan gunung dengan 75 orang rakan lain. Setiap hari kecuali hari Ahad, ada kelas-kelas bahasa Melayu dan pelbagai ceramah lain dan kehidupan di situ telah sibuk, walaupun saya telah sangka saya tidak akan begitu sibuk kerana saya tidak harus pergi jauh ke tempat latihan atau memasak masakan. Setiap hari saya bangun pada pukul 6.10 dan menyertai perhimpunan pagi mulai pukul 6.30, dan pada hari malam saya belajar sampai lebih kurang pukul 9.30 malam dan tidur pada pukul 11.00. Tidak ada cukup masa untuk bermain membina rumah salji atau bercakap tentang tugas di tempat tugas masing-masing, atau cita-cita selepas tempoh bersukarela. Tetapi saya boleh membuat ramai kawan yang bagus di situ. Cikgu-cikgu bahasa Melayu pun bagus sekali. Mereka tidak sahaja mengajar tatabahasa dan kosakata bahasa Melayu, mereka juga berkongsi banyak adat-istiadat dan keadaan sekarang Malaysia. Mereka sangat baik hati dan saya boleh nikmati belajar bahasa Melayu setiap hari.

daiari 30/1 Hari ini ada ceramah tentang wabak. Ceramahnya siaran langsung dari HQ Tokyo yang dikongsi antara Hokkaido dan Okinawa. Cikgu menghuraikan tentang berjenis-jenis wabak, contohnya malaria, demam denggi, anjing gila, taun, HIV/AIDS dan lain-lain. Saya belajar bahawa kalau saya kena demam denggi, makan Bufferin perlu dielakkan kerana ubatnya membantu darah keluar dari usus. Saya berasa kalau kepala saya sakit di Malaysia, saya akan pakai Tylenor, bukan Bufferin. Pada waktu rehat tengah hari, saya telah menelefon kepada balai kota Shinjuku untuk tanya soal-soalan tentang cukai pintu, bayaran asuransi awam dan bayaran anuiti. Saya telah berjalan ke mana-mana dalam bangunan, tetapi saya tidak boleh mendapati tempat yang boleh dapat gelombang radio dengan baik. Akibatnya saya menelefon di bilik pintu masuk. Keadaan gelomban radionya tidak baik di situ, jadi telefonnya telah diletakkan semasa kakitangan di balai kota menghuraikan kepada saya. Saya lega kerana saya boleh membayar bayara-bayaran melalui internet. Saya telah berterima kasih atas teknologi canggi.

Popular herbal drink in your country?

Menus at Udon and Soba restaurant Udon (thick wheat noodle) and Soba (buckwheat noodle) is Japanese traditional fast foods.They are cheap, tasty, and fast to be served. -Zaru/Seiro/Mori These are kinds of the way soba with no ingredients are served.There are almost no difference between them. All of them are iced soba, separated with its soup. Zaru and seiro are names of bamboo baskets soba is served. Generally, zaru is topped with nori (dried black seaweed). Mori means "a serving" in Japanese. -Ten soba/udon They are soba/udon topped with Tempura(mostly shrimp tempura). -Oyako soba/udon Oyako means parent and child in Japanese. Chicken and egg seasoned with soy sauce and sugar is their ingredients. -Kitsune soba/udon Kitsune means fox in Japanese. Their topping is deep fried sliced tofu (abura-age), and it is said that foxes are fond of abura-age in Japan. -Tanuki soba/udon Tanuki means raccoon dogs in Japanese. I don't know why it is called Tanuki. Their topping is bits of tempura batter. -Chikara soba/udon Chikara means power in Japanese. They are soba/udon topped with rice cake. -Kamo Namban soba/udon Kamo is duck, and Namban is western countries(especially Portugal) in old Japanese. They are soba/udon with duck and japanese leek. Though I don't know, It seems there is a long story why it is called "duck Portuguese". It's interesting, isn't it? By the way, my favorite is kakiage-soba(soba with mixed vegetable tempula). Try it out when you visit Japan!

Long time no see! I haven't written any notebooks for such a long time! Mmm, I don't know what I was doing... Today, I saw a video of a BBC TV program, "grow your own drugs", on youtube. In that video, navigator James explains effects of herbs and makes herbal remedy joyfully. I want to be a specialist of herb like James! ...How can I be like him? I'm groping in the dark...

Ramadan in high latitude areas Hi :) I don't know much about Muslim rules, but I heard Muslim people do fasting while the sun shines in the month of Ramadan. I think there are many Muslim people in high latitude countries, such as Norway and Sweden. Do they do fasting while the sun shines in their countries? I think that is too hard for them, because in summer, the daytime in high altitude areas are so long, and there are even white nights in these areas! How do they behave in Ramadan? Sorry if I hurt your feelings, I really don't know about Muslim culture... I was just wondering.

Are there any traditional ways to cure cold in your country? Hi :) In Japan, we have many traditional ways to cure cold. For example, tie a long green onion (a kind of leek) around one's neck, drink sake with egg, have a lot of ginger and garlic, and so on. Some of them are effective and some are not, according to modern science. But isn't it interesting regardless of their effects? I'd like to know what people in other countries did in old days.