2014年12月22日月曜日

Who wants boxing ? 2014

Mission, the year-end boxing fights in Japan (researched 16 Dec 2014)

Hello everyone, the year-end is around the corner. Following the last year, I`ll  let know what will happen on the boxing rings on the 30th and 31st nights



First of all, the eight world title bouts will be held in two large cities (one venue in Osaka, two venues in Tokyo)







30th Dec. Tokyo gymnasium, Tokyo. On Fuji network

WBO World super fly weight bout


Omar Narvaes (Argentina) vs Naoya Inoue (Japan)

Champion, Narvaes has the fighting record (professional) that 46 fights 43 wins (23 KOs)  1 loss 2 draws.  (armature)  more than 100 fights. Narvaes has been defending his title for 12 years, has 28 wins and 1 loss in world title fights, is known as one of the strongest of all time.




Challenger, Inoue is  (professional) undefeated  7 wins(6 Kos)
(armature) 81 fights 75 wins (48 KOs) 6 losses, Inoue is nicknamed "monster".
He has the Japan record that taking the minimum fights to become a world champion. The former world light fly weight champion will fight for the second world title

The fight is considered as the premier bout in year-end. Must watch the highest boxing technics!!


WBC world light fly weight bout
 

Akira Yaegashi (Japan) vs Pedro Guevara (Mexico)




Champion, Yaegashi has the fighting record   (professional) that 24 fights 20 wins (10 Kos) 4 losses (armature) 70 fights 56 wins 14 losses,Yaegashi is known as the man of radical fight.

Challenger, Guevara has the fighting record  (professional) that 25 fights 23 wins (15 Kos)1 loss 1 draw.

Personally, Yaegashi is one of my favorite boxers. I love his commitment  and attitude to being a fighter. Must watch the fierce fight!!


WBC world light weight bought


Jorge Linares (Venezuela) vs Javier Prieto (Mexico)







Champion, Linares has the fighting record that  (professional) 40 fights 37 wins (24 KOs )3 losses, is originally from Venezuela. Now he trains in Japan to fight for the third world title.

Challenger, Javier Prieto has the fighting record  (professional) that 33 fights 24 wins(18 Kos) 7 losses 2 draws.

Linares has been considered as the one with "golden talent". The world title bout will show you how 2 of the best  fight for the world title belt.
Must watch!! 


31st Dec. Osaka Body Maker Colosseum. On TBS network

WBO world super bantam weight bought
 

Guillermo Rigondo (Cuba) vs Hisashi Amagasa (Japan)


 

Champion, Rigondo has the fighting record(amateur) that 487 fights 475 wins 12 losses, two time Olympic champion, two time amateur world champion.
(professional) 12 fights 12 wins (8 KOs) undefeated.

Challenger, Amagasa has the fighting record (professional) that 34 fights 28 wins (19 KOs) 4 losses 2 draws, world ranked 9th.

Asyou see, Rigondo's career overwhelms Amagasa. All what we would like to watch is how the complete Cuban athlete take the under dog down.

I suppose that Rigondo would be feeling comfortable to have Amagasa on the ring, guess that the fight wouldn`t go as far as the 3rd.


IBF world minimum weight title match


Katsunari Takayama (Japan) vs Tsuyoshi Ohira (Japan)


Champion, Takayama has the fighting record that (professional) 35 fights 
27 wins (10 KOs) 7 losses 1 invalid fight.

Challenger, Ohira has fighting record that (professional) 17 fights 11 wins (11 KOs) 3 losses 3 draws.



Takayama has been traveling around the globe for a few yeras to collect
world titles, and has unified 3 ( WBC, WBA, IBF )out of 4.
Personally, I like Takayama because he travels to searrch for one thing.

The journie man had even retired in Japan  to get on the ring for IBF  title i
the Philipnes because IBF title was not authorized in his nation back then.

However, The unified champion has far more expirience than the young
challenger.
I suppose the point of fight would be how Takayama give Ohira lessons  how to fight for a world title.


31st Ota ward Gymnasium on TV Tokyo Network

WBA world super fether weight title match


Takashi Uchiyama (Japan) vs Israel Perez(Argentina)





Champion, Uchiyama has the fighting record (armature) that 113 wins
91 wins 22 losses (professional) 22 fights 21 wins (17 KOs) 1 loss



Challenger, Perez has the fighting record (armature) that 90 fights 80 wins
10 losses (professional)  30 fights 27 wins (16 KO) 2 losses 1 draw




Uchiyama would be the one to watch in the night of  boxing because he rules
 the night by his combination of precised jabs and solid blows.
 The champion  is considered one of the best in his division.
I suppose Uchiyama would deserve to fight for milion dollars in Las  Vegas.

WBA  world super fly weight title match


Kohei Kono (Japan) vs  Norbert Jimenez ( Dominican Republics)




Champion, Kono has the fighting record (armature) that 4 fights 2 wins 2 losses, (professional)  38 fights 30 wins (13 Kos) 8 losses

Challenger, Jimenes has the  fighting record (professional)  that 31fights 20 wins (10 KOs) 8 losses 3 draws

Kono gets on the ring for a world title in the night of New year`s Eve
4 consecutive years, is very much comitted to defend his tite.

WBA world light fly weight title match


Ryoichi Taguchi (Japan) vs Albert Rossel (Peru)


Champion, Rossel has the fighting recotd (armature) that  represents Peru in  the Atlanta Olympics, (professional) 40 fights 32 wins (13KOs) 8 losses

Challenger, Taguchi has the fighting record (armature) that 2 fights 2 wins, (professional) 23 fights 20 wins (8KOs) 2 losses 1 draw  

Those 3 Japanese boxers (Uchiyama, Kono and Taguchi) belong to Watanabe Boxing Gym, those Watanabe boys will rip the night up on the world title ring. Must watch!!!



2014年11月21日金曜日

The journey for the golden bowl of Wakayama ramen noodles:bowl 3

Mission the golden bowl of Wakayama ramen noodles, Bowl 3 at Castle
 キャッスル (researched 17th Nov 2014)

Castle キャッスル = ☆☆☆☆ out 5

The other day, I had a nice bowl of Wakayama ramen noodles to let the journey go on.

Today, I will let you know what's special about that hidden little ramen restaurant on this report.



Noodles

The straight shaped thin ones are used with a good quality boiling process. I felt them quite acceptable but were not as good as those at Marutaya 丸田屋 (refer the search for the ultimate bowl of Wakayama ramen noodles; bowl 2)

Soup

Pork bone and soy sauce broth fills the bowl. A little thick fatty pork bone stock well matched soy sauce. The soup had Wakayama's traditional flavor.



Menu

Standard Wakayama ramen noodles 中華そば "chuka-soba"  ¥600
Large Wakayama ramen noodles 中華そば()"chuka-soba dai" ¥650
Double Wakayama ramen noodles 中華そば(W)"chuka-soba dabulu" ¥700

Large one equals 1,5 more noodles than standard one. Double one equals double more.

Castle also serves curry with rice "kare", oden stew "oden", Japanese fried chicken "karaage".

Over all 

 Castle has a good accessibility for wheelchairs but has no Western style- toilet (only has Japanese style-toilet)

How to get there

Castle is located in Miyamae area. You can approach the noodle restaurant on foot (10min walk) from Miyamae Station 宮前駅.

It has the car park (accommodates 2 cars) nearby.




Address
128-6 Shinnakajima Wakayama City Wakayama

Open 11 30am-01 30pm  05 30pm-11 30pm

Close Sundays

Ph 073 475 1658


Conclusion

Taking the fact that the noodle restaurant is operated by an old lady, the hole thing dies when the lady retires. There fore, I urge you to try the spot as soon as you can.

However, Castle could have been rewarded more with the Western type-toilet.



2014年11月3日月曜日

A Nice day in Saikazaki 雑賀崎.

Mission  what`s on the coast line of Wakayama City.(researched  30 Oct 2014)

I and my wife love to explore Wakayama City`s coastal area.

 A few days ago, we had a quick ride to Saikazaki (雑賀崎) to find what`s there.

Here is the photos which were taken by my wife
.

             The Saikazaki lighthouse. You can enjoy the nice view of Wakayama City from the spot.
              A dog from the neighbor was walking around for food. My wife was feeding him little bit.



       

There is a fishmonger called Sanmaya さんま屋 near the lighthouse. Selling ash dry saury.






  Hello!!





 The road in Saikazaki is generally steep.






The old fishing village of Saikazaki.






The fishing port of Saikazai.  The seagulls were frying by.





The fishing boats.
. I hear the morning market is held by local fishermen sometimes.





It was a nice and sunny day in Saikazaki.



As I mentioned, we love to have a ride to go down to the coast. Now, we have another  plans to go down to different parts of the coast in Wakayama to find what's there. Stay tuned.


2014年10月30日木曜日

The search for the ultimate bowl of Wakayama ramen noodles; bowl 2.

G'day friends.

Following the previous Wakayama ramen noodle restaurant Marushige  Chuka-soba (丸繁中華ソバ), I researched another restaurant called Marutaya (丸田屋) to let the journey go on.

Restaurant 2;Marutaya (丸田屋)=☆☆☆ out of 5

I was very much right to have a bowl of  double noodles (大盛) because what  they served me was pretty damn good.


 As you see the photo, the bowl was perfectly filled with noodles and soup.

My favorite noodles (thily straight ones) are used. The noodles were cooked
just right whith good quality boiling process. Those thinly straight noodles match the best with the soup because the soup well twists around thinly
shaped straight noodles.

The pork bone and soy sauce soup  was perfectly harmonized with selected soy sauce. I guess their years of study on the broth would pay off.

How ever, I heard that the founder of the noodle restaurant was in practice at
 Ide shoten (井出商店)that is known as the inventor of the pork bone and soy sauce stock.


Menu


Chuka-soba 中華そば(Wakayama ramen noodles) ¥700

Special chuka-soba 特製中華そば "tokusei chukasoba" ¥800

Double chuka-soba 大盛中華そば "omori chukasoba" ¥800

Double special chuka-soba 特製大盛中華そば "tokusei omori chukasoba" ¥900

special chuka-soba gets double more roasted pork filets

Raw egg with rice たまごめし "tamago-meshi" ¥250


             My wife had a bowl of shirasu-meshi. She says it was yummy

Rice topped with scaled young sardines しらす飯 "shirasu-meshi" ¥300
refer Wakaura and Shirasu-don (researched 17th Jul)

Haya-sushi 早すし "haya-zushi" ¥150

Boiled eggs ゆでたまご "ゆでたまご "yudetamago”¥50 each


Toppings ¥100 each


Chopped spring onion ねぎ "negi"

Chinese bamboo shoots cooked and flavored in soy sauce  メンマ "menma"

Salted dry plum うめぼし "umeboshi"

Chopped roast-pork きざみチャーシュー "kizami chashu"

Roasted pork チャーシュー "chashu"

Kimuchi


A bowl of steamed rice ¥100 (small) ¥150 (medium) ¥200 (large)


Drinks


Beer ¥450

Chu-hi (lemon, calpis, grapefruit) ¥450

Non alcoholic beer ¥350

Cola ¥200

Orange juice ¥200

Oolong tea ¥200

Further more, it is all accessible for the wheelchairs at the restaurant
(though it has a  small step in front) the Western type-toilet is located.

On the other hand, the  restaurant is loacted in Iwade city, thus it's distant
from the major gateways  such as the Wakayama Station.


Address

Iwade head restaurant
632-1 Nakaguro Iwade City Wakayama 649-6248
Ph 0736-63-1245
Fax same as abovve

Open 7 days at 11am-12am



How to get there.

Go there by taxi from the Iwade Station
It takes 30min by car from the Wakayama Station

Conclusion


If with better accessibility from the Wakayama station, Marutaya could have been rewarded 5. However, what they produce was pretty grate with sugar on top.

2014年10月13日月曜日

Search for the best bowl of Wakayama ramen noodles; Restaurant 1

Hello every one.
.
As I wrote it on the report "I am addicted ",  I love Wakayama ramen noodls
( refer 03 September 2013 issue )

Today, I will tell you what`s good and bad about a Wakayama raen restaurant

 Their are hundreds Wakayama ramen noodle restaurants in town.
 There fore, I choose one each repot on my own selection for you.

However, grading each restaurant is done by my own judgment.

RESTAURANT 1 ( 11th Oct 2014), Marushige chuka-soba "丸繁中華そば"

☆☆ out of 5

out of 5

What they serve you is classified  into the pork bone and soy sauce type


.
As you see the photo, the bowl is filled with a little too much soup

The noodles them selves are slightly thicker than those traditional thin ones which I love the most.

I suppose the noodles wouldn`t have the best quality, thus they left me imperfect texture.

The soup had little bittrerness. I guess they would have over boiled the soup little bit.

Further more, it`s accessible all the way for wheel chairs at the restaurant, has the car park right infront and the Western type-toilet.

In addition, they serve you not only Wakayama ramen noodles but variety of
food such as dote-yaki どて焼き(Stewed beef sinew in miso and sake)

Marushige is centrally located, requires 15 min walk from the Wakayama
station.

Conclusion, it has no doubt that I am searching for the best Wakayama
ramen noodles. Yes, Marushige has good accessbiity, is friendly for the wheel chair users while what they produce wasn`t as good as such.

Open 11am -1pm  6pm- 2am. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays

Ph 0734-473-0190

Address 177 Kuroda Wakayama City 177 黒田 和歌山市

2014年9月26日金曜日

disabled travel in Japan.

Mission, how a disabled person travel by train in country side of Japan.
(researched 20-21st September 2014)





The other weekend, I made a solo back and forth train trip Wakayama City-
Gojo City, Nara Pref and I did it with out a wheelchair.

Today. I`ll let you know how I went with JR Wakayama line and how things work.

First of all, I made a phone call to the JR West (West Japan Railways)
Customer Service Centre to preinform them the schedule and the requirement

The phone number of the centre is listed below.
 057-000-2486 (Japanese is only spoken)

However, if you travel with any other railway operators, you may ask me for
 a help by leaving me a comment. I`ll find a way to negotiate with them for
 you.

Second, The railway stations which I went were partly accessible and the
station attendants are helpful.



Accessible slopes are placed at the entrances while no accessible slopes
and elevators are available for underground passages. Plus, the priority toilets are  not located.



However, they sent me a couple of guys and a wheelchair that I did not use to back me up. One of them carried my backpack all the way down and up the
stairs to the platform.


Third, it`s noisy and wobbly on the running train.



Fourth, the Western type-toilet is available on a train.(there is a step in front of the toilet.)

Fifth, since Wakayama line is a minor line, trains are all operated by the drivers. There fore, Wakayama line has rules which you must remember.

Rule A, in case you get on a train at a small station,  you pay your fees to the driver, when you get off the train.



Rule B, you should stick to the door at forefront (the driver side) because the door only opens at every station.(the rest don`t open at small stations)

In fact, I really had a hard time to get off the train at Kitauchi Station in Gojo.
Unfortunately, I took a seat that is far from the door, I got rushing into the door on  a little crowded train. That was one of those things which I wouldn`t want to do with a huge backpack on my back.

Overall, yes, a disabled person with paralysis on the left side can make a train trip in Japan. Here, I'll let you know these three things to make you go.

1, inform the railway operators in advance to tell what you need. Never hesitate to ask 'em for a help.

2, avoid busy hours.

3, You could be better to study the language at least before you travel to listen to the audio guidance wherever you go.



Conclusion, the train trip was a bunch of fun. As a disabled person , it was
the first train trip and made me stronger and more confident.
I would like to thank guys at JR West and my wife for the greatest support.


2014年7月23日水曜日

Wakaura and Shirasu-don

Mission, Wakaura and Shirasu-don (researched 17th Jul)



Shirasu-don (しらす丼)=a bowl of rice topped with scalded youg sardines

Today, I`ll let know  how to cook shirasu-don at home and Wakaura
 the place where we bought Kama-age shirasu  (scalded young sardines)

As I  told you through a report "What`s in Wakayama" (issued 08th jun), Wakayama has variety of  gourmet food such as Wakayama ramen noodles, Green ice cream and so on.

However, shirasu-don is one another good food that is cooked of Wakayama`s fresh seafood. In  fact, shirasu-don is  popularly served at local restaurants. But  it`s worth cooking your own shirasu-don with nice fresh kama-age shirasu. This is how my wife does at her kitchen.




Ingredients
 steamed rice, scaled young sardines, salted dry plum, bonito flakes,
 soy sauce and chopped spring onion.



Quantity
We don't care about amount of each ingredient, we usually go generous.
 I suppose you would be better doing it with common sense.

The 1st, cook right amount of rice. (short grain rice is preferred)



The 2nd, making some dry plum mixture.


A, take the seed off a sated dry plum. (one plum serves two.)


B, chop it evenly.

C, mix it up with bonito flakes (refer "The old man and the bonito flakes" researched 18th Sept 2013)

D, chop the mixture all the way.



E, add a large spoon of soy sauce.



The 3rd, top a bowl of freshly cooked rice with the above mixtue.



The 4th, cover the mixture on rice with scald young sardines



The 5th, garnish it with a pinch of chopped spring onion to serve

Tips
   The dry plum mixture is optional.You can toss the scald young sardines in lemon juice instead of using the mixture to reduce the fishy flavor.

Cost  a container of shirasu cost you 800 yen.




However,  we got "shirasu" supplied  at "Yabushin" in Wakaura.
 Yabushin process their products at the fishing port after unloading the fishing boats. Therefore, those shirasu is as fresh as it  can get.






How to get there
It takes 40min by car from the JR Wakayama Station.Heading South on the
route 42.

It takes 30-40 min by bus from JR Wakayama Station. Getting on a bus to
Wakaura, getting off the bus at Shin-Wakaura.



Open 8 am-3 pm

Closed on Wednesdays

Ph 090-3281-1149


In fact, shirasu is sold at supermarket across the nation. But I found the
Wakaura-shirasu has far better texture. It was as smooth as silk!!



The toilet for disabled people is located nearby. You can shop at Yabushin in wheel chairs.




We actually bought another seafood called "ash dry Pacific saury. It was  beautiful.