How do you say it in English?

Ferris wheel

a fairground attraction consisting of a large upright revolving
wheel with seats suspended around its rim.
The first such wheel was built by
American engineer G. W. Gale Ferris in 1893.
It stood 250 feet high and carried 36 carriages,
each of which could seat up to 40 people!

What!

Rock climbing

Last weekend I tried rock climbing for the first time. And I had lots of fun! It is not as easy as it looks! And you need to be pretty fit and have some strength in your arms which...I don`t T-T So today I am quite in pain BUT it was worth it! I need to get my arms ready for the next time, that`s for sure but if you haven`t tried yet I think you definitely should!

Cell phone bills going up?!

How many of you have smart phones now?


I bet over half you reading this have said "yes!" And I'm sure a lot of you enjoy using your smart phone and are on it over almost every hour without too many problems. For those of you in Japan, you should enjoy this for now. In America, the demand for wireless data services is sky rocketing. Major cell phone companies in America have increased their cell phone plans by $10. Can you imagine your cell phone bill increasing by almost ¥1000? If that happens, maybe a lot of you will think twice before purchasing a cell phone. Or how about your data speed slowing because you have an unlimited usage plan? So basically a web page that took only seconds to load now takes over 2 minutes. Again, you will think twice about buying a smart phone.

This is what's happening in America and it's only a matter of time before this hits Japan. Smart phone users be prepared!

Countable & uncountable!?*@#

We know some nouns are countable
& others are uncountable,
but some are both!

Countable		Uncountable
There are two hairs in my coffee!	hair	I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom.	light	Close the curtain. There's too much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. There are so many different noises in the city.	noise	It's difficult to work when there is too much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (newspaper) Hand me those student papers.	paper	I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms.	room	Is there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party. How many times have I told you no?	time	Have you got time for a coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works.	work	I have no money. I need work!

e.g

Follow this link to watch an interesting
video about English abbreviations.

Bourbon Pointu

Bourbon Pointu is a very expensive coffee and it is grown in Reunion among few other places. Actually the very first time I heard about it was last Christmas! A Japanese friend of mine asked me to get some and I had just never heard about it! So I made some research and actually that coffee used to be very famous until the 50s but then due to epidemics and other natural disasters its production kind of disappeared. But a Japanese guy called Yoshiaki Kawashima, whose life seems to be dedicated to coffee, came to Reunion in the late 90s beginning of 2000 and after a few years he finally found some very people still grew Bourbon Pointu`s cafe. Nowadays It is amongst the most expensive coffees` in the world. And it`s like veeery expensive. I found that one pack is sold around 7,300 yen in Japan! But even though it makes me kind of proud I don`t like coffee and therefore will probably never try it!

Reunion forever

I had the exact same face when I watched that TV program about Reunion last Saturday. I love my island and seeing it on TV (in Japan!) was sooo unexpected! Did some of you had a chance to watch it???

Beautiful Slugs !?

Slugs are ugly, right?

That's what we imagine when we think about them.
But have a look at this one!


This is Glaucus atlanticus,
a type of sea slug.
Isn't it cute!
So even slugs can be beautiful.

Movie Night?

Do you like to watch movies?
Well I was thinking it might be fun to have a movie night at RLE.
If you think it is a good idea and would be interested in coming,
just click the interesting button at the bottom of this post.
If enough people show an interest I will organize it.
The movie will be in English of course, but with Japanese subtitles.
:Phil

FANTAILS

WHO AM I?
A children's music group formed in Australia in 1991.
The group consists of four men,
two of whom were members of a pop group called the cockroaches.
Some of their most famous songs are,
Big Red Car, Dorothy the Dinosaur,
Henry the Octopus & Captain Feathersword.

My hero

When I was younger I used to be a huge fan of Sailor Moon. I collected the cards, the magic wands, the stickers and I even had the star shaped music box (and you DO know what I am refering to!)! And I still love that anime actually! I will probably soon watch a few episodes because looking at the pictures of Sailor Moon on Google makes me so nostalgic!!
PS: My favorite was Sailor Venus (Love chain pawaaaaaaaaa~)

Turning Japanese

The following is an interesting list of things that
foreigners see as being quintessentially Japanese.
(Or at least not common in their home countries.)
When we find ourselves doing them, it makes us think
"Wow, I have been in Japan for so long
I'm starting to think & act more like Japanese people."
101 SIGNS YOU'VE BEEN IN JAPAN TOO LONG.

It must be love...

Yesterday was VALENTINE'S DAY.

Thanks to everyone who gave the teachers chocolates.
We feel very loved.

When I got home last night after work,
my girlfriend had made me chocolate muffins with a soft center.

YUM!

Did you get anything special?
Please tell us in the comments!

:Phil

Alohaaaa

Last week the RLE team went to Hawaii and personally I had a fantastic time!!! I was a bit upset the first two days because it rained a lot but from Wednesday the weather has been more than enjoyable! It was my first time in Hawaii and I loved it a lot. I really want to go back there!

happy setsubun!

Yesterday was setsubun. Until the afternoon I didn`t know actually! But I got to buy my biiiiiiig maki and Jesus! I promise I tried really hard but there was just no way I could eat the whole thing! Of course I had ponzu with it! Still there are always a few ingredients in there I do not like and even my dear ponzu couldn`t help... I will try to make my own maki next year! (said "try"!!!)

Funky Monkey Babys

Here is a Japanese band I really love! Their PVs always make me cry!! Do you know and like them?

FANTAILS

Today's chocolate caramel question is....

WHO AM I?

Born in Nigeria in 1960,
he arrived in Australia with his family in 1976
and graduated from NIDA in 1981.
He has starred in a variety of films including
The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994),
The Matrix (1999),
The Lord of the Rings (2001)
and V for vendetta (2005).
He has voiced characters in Babe (1995),
Happy feet (2006)
and Transformers (2007).
His fight scene against Neo in the film "The Matrix"
in which he played Agent Smith
took 27 days to shoot.

SNOW!

I keep seeing little flakes of snow falling.
It's not a big problem at the moment,
but if it gets heavier and you still want to ride your bike,
this looks like a cleaver idea.

Click the photo to enlarge it.

New Restaurant Opening In Hawaii!

Hey do any of you remember this TV show?


Any guesses?





Still can't figure it out???






Well, for those of you who gave up, its the Iron Chef! (料理の鉄人) I used to watch this show when I was in junior high school and high school. This show actually helped me learn some basic cooking skills. I sometimes wish that they would start this again. Well, anyway, one of the chefs, Hiroyuki Sakai (Iron Chef French), will be opening a restaurant in Hawaii. It is going to be located on the 1st floor of DFS in Waikiki. It is expected to open in July, but knowing Hawaii's working style, I think it might open in September. So if any of you are planning to take a trip to Hawaii after July, you should try this new restaurant. And, let me know how it is. :)

FANTAILS

Fantails are lollies that are popular in Australia.
On the wrapper there is a question about the movie industry.
Today's question was an easy one.


What movie am I?

Written and directed by George Lucas, the first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The movie spawned two immediate sequels. Starring in the film were Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. Sixteen years later after the release of the trilogy's final film, the first in a new prequel trilogy of films was released.

Idiom of the day

Speak of the devil and he appears
A person comes just when one is talking about him.
We were just talking about Tim when he came in the door. Speak of the devil and he appears. (Tim came when we were talking about him and did not expect him.)