Blogwonky

Today we asked the question “Nan Desu Ka?” – which is Japanese for “What is it?”. The answer was surprising…

Today I had to go and vote in the NSW election. There was some misunderstanding between Yuko and me about the nature of this event…

In the evening, I turned off our lights for Earth Hour. YouTube also thoughtfully provided a light switch on their site so that users could watch videos in the dark…

As expected our neighbours were not so supportive of greenness…

Today we saw one of the staff at Firefly eating food from another shop. So Yuko interviewed him to get the full story…

Yuko had to go to the city today to pick up documentation relating to her upcoming trip to Japan. So we took the opportunity to have dinner in the city. We met up in the QVB and went to a dandy Japanese restaurant in an arcade off York Street. Yuko photographed the sushi chef…

I ordered wagyu on a hot rock. I thought that a ‘hot rock’ was a diamond not in the posession of its legal owner, but it turned out to be a stone slab at a high temperature. I also didn’t realise that they would actually bring the hot rock to the table!

Wagyu (left) and hot rock (right)

I had to cook the dead cow myself – on the hot rock. It was very nice indeed!

Dead cow on a hot rock

At the QVB Yuko bought some dandy chocolates as gifts for people she will meet in Japan. However, she also gave me a sample which I ate later at home…

Today Suzy joined the Noswonky family, and we stimulated the Japanese economy. The environment was not so fortunate as Suzy’s existence will accelerate the global descent into disastrous climate change (apologies to greenman)…

Suzy

Because Yuko didn’t want to drive home from Lindfield, we took the train to go and pick up Suzy. At least that saved some greenhouse gas emissions!

Although I had considered buying a more ‘green’ vehicle (such as a hybrid), I was unable to find one big enough for my needs – to carry my optical equipment.

Later, I tried fitting my telescope in the back. Even with Suzy’s large capacity, it was a tight fit…

We left home at 6am today to take Kazuki to the airport…

Yuko helps Kazuki check in

After we got him checked in, we had coffee at the Jazz place (below). Note the cool jazz dude pictured on the wall…

We then took Kazuki back to the check-in area where we handed him over to the airline staff who would escort him through the gate and onto the plane (after all, he’s only a minor).

Later we heard that he had arrived safely in Japan.

In the evening, I went to the NAG (New Astronomers’ Group) at the NSAS. The attendance was rather low…

The audience

But despite this, the presentation went ahead and it was very interesting indeed.

It was time for the boy to meet some fauna. Strangely for a Japanese tourist, he chose to eschew the Australian wildlife and go for the African…

Applying deadly chemicals

Funny hat - long neck

Meeting the lizard - It was very docile

Checking wingspan

Then... pizza

I woke up before dawn this morning because I had to drive to the airport to pick Yuko up. She was returning from Japan with a young boy! Here’s the video…

Yuko and the minor

The minor feeds Rocky

We got up at 5.30am this morning for another sushi job. It was dark and raining…

Just like last Friday we picked up Keiko and her two assistants and drove them to the venue. This time the destination was Greystanes High School in Sydney’s west. We had to get there by 7.30am for an 8.30am start.

Keiko and her assistants

Like last time, I didn’t stay for the class. I headed back, but it was morning peak hour and the M4 was in gridlock. I therefore decided to delay my return by stopping off at Westfield Parramatta where I had coffee and read the paper while I waited for the traffic to subside.

Meanwhile, Yuko took these pictures…

Keiko demonstrates to the students

Students display their sushi

Carrying stuff back to the car

I returned to the school at about midday to pick them up.

Celebrating after another successful class

Having five days off work each week is not all leisure and beer-drinking. Today I actually had work to do – as a ‘Sushi Driver’.

Our friend Keiko of Studio Keiko has employed both of us to assist with her remote sushi classes – Yuko as a photographer and me as a driver.

We went to pick up Keiko and her two assistants at 8.30 am…

Our destination was Knox Grammar School, a dandy private boys’ school on Sydney’s leafy North Shore…

I dropped the four Japanese women and left them in a big empty room.

There were two double-period sessions scheduled for the day, so I went home and left them to it. I therefore didn’t get to see the sushi-making in progress, but below are Yuko’s photos of the event…

Keiko demonstrates sushi-making to students

Students making sushi

Table 4 display the results of their work

I returned to pick them up at 3.45pm and they reported that the day had been a success!