Review 2

Before going to bed, I ensured to set the alarm clock. Or so I believed. I was woken up by a phone call from a member of the team. When I managed to answer the call, I can say that I was not sure where I was, Singapore or Japan. And realizing I was in Japan, why? Almost one hour late for work, which was definitely embarrassing.

Otherwise, my second day of work went as smoothly as my first. After work, people took Instructor A and me to Tokyo Tower, which I described to Instructor A as a “cheap version of Eiffel Tower in Paris.” It was at dusk. Far away, we could see the top of the Mount Fuji. Surely a nice view. For dinner, I requested sushi-on-conveyor. Almost having got used to the taste of Singapore’s so-called sushi, it reminded me of how sushi, even the kind that moves on a conveyor, should taste like. Variety of fish and texture of rice. It was so yummy!!

On the third day, they started hands-on training that was comprised of examinations of the parts they had already learned on paper, and disassembling and reassembling the system. Then I could give some rest to my throat. “Yakiniku” dinner, which was also very nice!

On Thursday, they completed their reassembling and calibration work. In many senses, at this point, they had only a few things to do. The end of their training was near.

I was very glad and appreciative to see many people gathered for the “shabu-shabu” dinner of the night. One of them was a guy I had met and worked with in Singapore. A reunion.

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昨日の夜、「National Geographic」チャンネルを見てた。オスヘビがメスヘビを飲み込もうとしてできず、あきらめる場面だった。日本語ではオスがあきらめて「立ち去った」と言っていた。ヘビがどうやって「立ち」去れるのだろう

Review 1

On 16th, when I almost completed packing, I closed the bag and started playing with the lock without clear knowledge of how it worked. By accident, It got locked, but I knew no way to reopen it. I started to rotate the three numbered dials hoping to find the correct combination, which was of course nearly impossible. As I had to arrive at the airport in a few hours, what I eventually did was merely give up trying and buy a new bag. I cut open the original and disemboweled it to transfer what was inside to the new bag. 1000% unnecessary expense.

For punishing myself for this stupid mistake, I refrained from taking a taxi to the airport and buying a wristwatch, which would have been handy as my mobile phone could not work as a watch in Japan.

While I did not have much time to wander around the duty free shops, the flight itself went smoothly. Onboard, I proceeded with “When Heaven and Earth Changed Places” and also watched an old Japanese movie, “Doro no Kawa (Muddy River).” The Airbus landed at Narita and this was my first time in six years and eight months to breathe the air of the country. When the passengers were disembarking at the Narita airport in the early morning, I found among them one of the people I worked with on the previous Friday. At the luggage claim, I met another man from the same company. Three of us talked for a while.

Not sure if the Narita Express is of JR or Keisei, I almost went to the wrong direction. On the JR train platform I met one of the man again and we talked some more.

It was still morning at the Tokyo station. I tried not to go far from there as I was very unfamiliar with the area. Waiting until afternoon spending some time at a coffee shop and walking a lot around the underground area immediately around the station, I took a taxi to the hotel that was also the venue of the training of this time. For dinner, I had a “konbini-bento” that I got at a convenience store I found across the street from the hotel.

Monday morning. In the room, there were eight people, and I saw two familiar faces. Starting with the customary self-introduction, the first day was the toughest because the first day is explanation-heavy, but that was just as usual. After work, we together walked to a “food court.” As I believe, it was not yet midnight when we staying at the hotel came back. A surprising thing is that I was offered another interpretation job from this same company, for four days again in Tokyo starting on June 1!

Back in Singapore

Carrying me who went through eventful 10 days, the SIA plane landed at Changi a few minutes after 16:00 yesterday. I will fly out again this coming Friday.

Miscellaneous

Apology to the pharmacist to whom I complained about one of his colleagues who I believed had lost the last prescription. Yesterday morning, I opened a bag I rarely carry and found it inside it. So sorry.

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Today, following a preparatory meeting of yesterday morning, I went to Park Royal for an interpretation work. I was not as good as I had wished I would be, but then I should say that it was above my own acceptable level of performance. Satisfied. But, I prepared my own materials working until the wee hours, and when I started printing the papers this morning, the ink ran out. Well, that’s me. Perfect to almost the last moment and something unexpected happens then.

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For tonight’s dinner, I had a takeout “hui guo rou.” Ordering it, I tried to get my request not to make it so spicy, but they really didn’t understand me though I know they on their part were trying to understand me. Ohhhhh… so hot!!

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Wanting to reserve a room at a cheap Osaka hotel for Friday to Monday, I proceeded inside a Japanese website to make a reservation, I found it accepts only Japanese residential addresses. How unfair! With international websites, those listed are hotels of higher calibers, which I don’t prefer. Do I have to stay outside in Osaka then?

The Girl in the Photo

I’ve finished “The Girl in the Picture.” Kim Phuc decided to defect to Canada wanting freedom from the meddling by the Vietnamese government that was exploiting her publicity as “the girl in the photo.” However, if the Vietnamese government is guilty, the media in the West are also guilty to the same degree if not more. They were more than happy to invite, receive and interview her, and ask her to make speeches as a big symbol of the war, all while interrupting her everyday life. The emphasis on Christian belief is also cloying even if that is true. And Pham Van Dong (prime minister of Vietnam from 1955 to 1976), whom LKY described as “arrogant and objectionable” with a “belligerent attitude,” was depicted as a grandfatherly figure in the book, which I think is a nice touch.

Japanese "Jackson"

Late afternoon, I went to the clinic by taxi to get yet another prescription. As always, it was nice to talk to the doctor. She has been playing many roles for me. On my way home, I dropped by Isetan in Orchard and then the pharmacy at T.B. Plaza. I visited the same pharmacy to get more Cymbalta last week as last time I left the last prescription there. They didn’t have it! I was asked to get another from the doctor because “you lost it.” No, they lost it. That’s why I went to Bukit Timah today. Something is wrong with the place. One of the pharmacist forgot to order Cymbalta for me. And this time, they misplaced the prescription asking me to go to the doctor again.

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Yesterday (or was that the day before?), I found this passage in “The Girl in the Picture.” “An older Japanese man, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, stood under a street lamp in Saigon. It was the AP’s darkroom technician, known as Jackson. He saw the AP van pulling up to the curb and threw his butt to the ground.
“Nicky, what do you have today?”
“My film is very important today.”

The person who developed the film of “The Girl in the Picture” was a Japanese man!! Who is this Japanese “Jackson”?

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Ozawa Ichiro, as most people had expected, resigned from the leadership of the opposition Democratic Party. It seems that once again, he demonstrated his brilliant capability as a destroyer not as a builder.

Dehydrated Cooked Rice

「The Girl in the Picture」に「dehydrated cooked rice」とある。どんなものだろう？軍からの配給保存食のようだが、砂糖なしの「ポン」みたいなものか。

A Letter

Unable to sleep even after dawn, it was definitely frustrating. I guess that the letter that arrived from Japan was affecting my brain. It didn’t contain any news particularly surprising, but then it seems to me to confirm what I had feared from my mother’s stories of two years ago, that is, what I had been constructing slowly and positively in family matters were no more. I don’t understand why things “are made (by whom, I wouldn’t say)” so damagingly complicated. After my next week’s trip, I may not feel any desire or even obligation to go back again, which could effectively close my family relationship.

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For the past few weeks at the least, I’ve seen flying ants in the unit. I had thought they were coming from outside. No, they are living inside. Yesterday, I saw one of them go into a hole of the windowpane. They should be termites.

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What’s this metallic aftertaste of “Anchor” beer?

Saigon Now and Then

「サイゴンの十字架」も終えた。昨年、約１カ月を過ごしたサイゴンの印象は、スクーターの大波と道路沿いや道路を渡って危なっかしく敷設されている電線の束。手のない人、足のない人や、靴を磨かせてくれと寄ってくる子供たち。花売りの子供たち。幼子を抱いて小銭をせびりにくる母親たち。確かに、途方もない貧しさはまだ目の前にあるが、明らかにそれとわかる戦争のキズを間近に見ることはなかった。少なくとも表面的なサイゴンは活気ある街だった。もう一度訪れる機会があれば、その時は街をもっと歩いてみたい。バスにも乗ってみたい。

Japanse as Vietminh Soldiers

「ベトナム戦記」に、太平洋戦争後もベトナムに残ってフランスへの抵抗運動（第１次インドシナ戦争）で、「ベトミンに参加してベトナム兵を帝国陸軍の戦法と規律によって鍛えあげ、たいへん尊敬された」日本人が登場する。「彼らは貧しいベトナム農民兵といっしょに起居しながらわたり歩き、フランス植民地追放のために血と汗を流した。……ベトナム農民兵たちは彼らを“戦争の神様だ”といって尊敬した。“欧米列強の桎梏よりアジア同胞を解放する”という日本のスローガンは当間氏ら無名の日本兵士によってのみ真に信じられ、遂行された」。この当間氏は名前こそ出てはこないが「サイゴンの十字架」にも登場する。

「33」という名のフランスビールも登場するが、ベトナムの「333」ビールとの関係は如何に？

「サイゴンの十字架」の第２編は、「北ヴェトナム正規軍の政治将校で中佐」で、「テット攻撃」の後に自ら南に転向した「チャン・ヴァン・ダック氏」についてあり、中佐の記者会見の模様が訳されている。「何とか訳しました！」という調子の文章になってしまっていて、たいそう読みにくい。

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目が覚めると体がだるい。あんまり暑いので冷房を入れざるを得ないんやけど、この冷房がだるさの原因やろなぁと思う。やっぱり、扇風機を買うべきなんやろな。

3 Books on Vietnam & Me as an Old Man

「ベトナム戦記」「サイゴンの十字架」（ともに開高健）「The Girl in the Picture」（Denise Chong）と、ベトナム物を３冊買ってきた。

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わしもどうやら「年配の人」になったようじゃ。読売新聞（電子版）の「あの日あの時」に、「ＧＨＱに中止されたラジオ体操が４年ぶりに再開された。……
年配の人にとってラジオ体操は夏の思い出のひとつだ。小学生のころ、夏休みは毎日、眠い目をこすりながら校庭に行き、出席のスタンプをもらったものだ」とある。ただ、自分の場合は校庭ではなくて近所の神社だったが。

Kondo Family

「バンコクの妻と娘」（近藤紘一）を昨日の午後買って、ほぼ一気に読み終えた。パパとママンの娘ミーユンへの言葉は時にかなりドギツイが、それは愛情と信頼があってこそ成立するもの。涙を見せたり、生意気しながらも、ミーユンはパパとママンが大好きだ。この家族はやっぱりすばらしい。

「それでも私がときおり、六時、七時などという常軌を逸した時間にベッドから飛び出すのは、この世にまだそういう時刻が存在することを忘れないため、それに、なぜか前夜半までの呻吟も甲斐なく、締め切りまぎわの原稿を仕上げそこなう、という事態がしばしば生じるからである。ときには早朝会見、早朝発表などという始末の悪いものもある。
こういう日は、天の摂理に反して早起きした、という、健康管理上のうしろめたさが丸一日つきまとう。その精神的重圧感だけでもう気力体力の保全がそこなわれ、ぐったり過ごしてしまうことが多い。結局のところ、誰の得にもなりはしないわけである。」
「日本でも国外でもそうだが、未知の土地を訪れたさい、私はよく足の向くまま、気の向くままにひとしきりあたりを歩き回る。それも、とりあえず時間の観念を忘却し、いわば行雲流水に心と身体をまかせた心境でさまようのが楽しい。
というと、いかにも風雅で詩的に聞こえるかもしれないが、暑湿の土地では、そう太平楽な作業とは限らない。長時間、脳天を南国の太陽にさらせば、中身の老化現象もそれだけ促進されるものと覚悟しなければならない。」

自分も「万葉集」をのぞいてみることにする。

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けさの夢、イヤだった。右側上の歯茎を含めて、体のあちこちに縫い針を刺されていて、それを１本づつ抜いていた。誰が刺していたのかはわからない。１カ所に長さの違う針が２本刺さっていた。刺された時の激痛と、針が体内にあることによる鈍痛がたまらなかった。動くと激痛に変わるので、できるだけ体を動かさないようにして抜いていた。目が覚めると汗ダクだった。それから結構若い女性が兄とともに登場した。兄が何かを教えている生徒のようだった。理由は闇の中だが、この女性をたいそう嫌っていた。母親はおどおどと心配するだけだった。そしてまた、雨上がりの知らない土地から（多分自転車で）帰宅しようとしていた。はなはだ狭い道の両側を白壁が囲んでいて道路はどちらかと言うと鮮やかな黄色だった。急斜面のこの道を下ると、直角に横切る舗装道路に出た。近所に住むと思れる30代後半あたりの女性に道を聞くと、「工事が始まってから、道が変わったからねぇ」と答えた。

全く断片的に過ぎて、文章にできない程ではあるが、何週間か前、何カ月前に見た夢を思い出すことがある。不思議なことだ。

Unreported Side of Yasukuni Pilgrimage

靖国神社に国会議員が参拝すると、各紙が報道してくれるが、そんな記事を注目して読んでる人が何割あるのだろう？自分としては、参拝しない議員は誰だったについて報じてほしい。共産、社民は当然として、絶対に参拝しない政党に所属する議員が他にもいるではないか。自らが信仰する宗教宗派以外は邪宗だという理由で。

Makoto

先月28日、北野誠が「不適切発言」でおわびの会見を開き、松竹芸能は彼を無期限謹慎処分に。深夜番組「ザ･言うたもんマッチ」、おもしろかったのになぁ。

"Kogitte" Bigger Than "Kitte"

小切手をどうして「小切手」と呼ぶんだろうとくだらんことを考えている。郵便切手よりずいぶん大きいのに。

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よく眠れた（気がする）。夢には２人の「よしだ」さんが登場した。どちらも同級生。ひとりは間違いなく「よしだ」さん。もうひとりは多分「よしだ」さん。学校の体育館のような会場で何かのイベントが準備されていた。自分は音楽に合わせて英文でナレーションを入れる役目を仰せつかっていたが、全く準備していないので台本を見ながらでもリハーサルを失敗した。台本に書かれていた台詞も印刷が悪く見えなかった。いっしょに役目を果たす方の「よしだ」さんも、申し訳なく思ってくれて、本番用に台本を新しくしてくれた。舞台に立つ劇団員の人たちは白地に青で何かが書かれたジャンパー姿で、普段は北欧にいるという。実際に舞台に上がるメンバーには日本人が多かった。本番のナレーションはリハーサルよりマシだったが、それでも成功には程遠かった。もうひとりの間違いない「よしだ」さんは高校時代のガールフレンドでよく知っている人だった。25年以上を経ての再開か。彼女はラジオ番組も担当していて、コメントを「かんで」しまった失敗談を話してくれた。自分は嫌味ではなく、なつかしい思い出で、「あなたならやりそうな失敗だ」と言った。

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世界的に新種のインフルエンザへの感染が広がっている。