Supermarket Maze – スーパーか、迷路か

This month’s M.E.C topic – Finding your way around the supermarket

Chris:       This place is like a maze. It’s almost impossible to find anything. Excuse me, I’m looking for a bag of dried seaweed. Could you tell me where to look?

Stan:        It’s located in aisle nine in the ethnic food section with the other Asian food.

Chris:      Thanks. I’ll have a look. Wasabi paste, short grain rice, tofu cookies… no seaweed. Sorry to trouble you again, but you seem to be out of seaweed.

Stan:        Oh, you’re right. I’ll check if we have some out the back.

Chris:Never mind, I’ll see if they have some ready-made sushi in the deli.

Stan:        You’ll find the deli across from the express checkout.

Word Bowl

almost: not quite; nearly　　Ex. I can eat almost anything. The driver almost hit me.

Could you tell me ~ : Politely asking for information.　　Ex. Could you tell me the way to the station? Could you tell me how to fill out this form?

seem: An impression about what something or a situation looks like.　　Ex. You seem happy. No one seems very interested today.

out of ~ : Do not have any ~ now.　　Ex. We’re out of gas. You’re out of luck, the sale finished yesterday.

Never mind: forget it; pay no more attention (to something).　　Ex. I wanted to talk to you, but never mind. It wasn’t important. Never mind. I’ll come back tomorrow.

across from: opposite; facing　　Ex. There’s a school across the road. John sits across from Mary.

Please Share More Fake Part 3

Congratulation!!! 

Your email has been choosing has one of our annual Award winning through El Gordo Int. Lottery commission. Kindly Open the filed attached to this mail and get back to your agent that was indicate in the letter, to make your claim. 

Thanks for your Co-operation. 

Jose Manuel Perez

Jose, there was no filed attached (sic) for me to open. But to save your time, please just send my prize money directly.

 

 

Supermarket Maze

At MEC this week, we covered some more of our latest topic “Supermarket Maze.”

The dialogue sees Chris looking for some seaweed in the Asian food section, but he’s out of luck – the supermarket is out of seaweed.

 

 

 

 

But looks like this supermarket is pretty well stocked up on, what’s this?, cheese.

Let me remind you – 君に念を押す

From the movie “Slumdog $ Millionaire”

Jamal :   I’ll play.   (やります。)

Prem :   Let me remind you, Jamal… If you get the answer wrong… you lose everything. Ten million rupees, Jamal. It’s a fortune.   (ジャマール、君に念を押すが・・・もし、間違った答えをしたら・・・君は何もかも失う。１０００万ルピーだ、ジャマール。一財産だぞう。)

アカデミー賞８部門で受賞した感動作のスラムドッグ＄ミリオネア、貧困で残酷な育ちをゲームショーを通して振り返るジャマールはnothing to lose(もっとだめだから)のため、答えがわからなくってもどんどん挑戦する。素晴らしい映画の上、サウンドトラックも最高のもの。

Otherwise – さもなければ

From the movie “Die Hard 4.0″

Gabriel :   You think I’m afraid of you?   (おまえを恐れているおｔ思っているのか？)

McClane :  ‘Cause otherwise she’d be dead already. You need a bargaining chip.   (さもなけらば、彼女はもう死んでいるさ。おまえには切り札が必要だ。)

133km of Country Road

Thanks to a special company holiday, I used the opportunity to go for a long ride out into the beautiful countryside of eastern Gifu.

 

My route was mainly along R363, which began with a climb over Amezawa Pass to about 500m elevation over 6km. Nice workout usually, but as I wanted to go for distance, I kept the pace down.

Taking a detour from the main road, I nipped across to the michi no eki (road station) called Obaachan ichi Yamaoka which is situated next to Ori River dam. Getting up to the dam from the southern end requires a climb up and over what must be one of the highest bridges around. It’s got to be more than 50m high.

Maybe doesn’t feel so high when driving fast in a car, but pretty thrilling on a bike right next to the railing. The michi no eki has the largest water wheel in all of Japan, plus the gohei mochi is delicious. A short walk to the dam and you can take a self-guided tour inside and down to the bottom of the tail-race about 90m below.

After a short snack, it was back on the bike heading north. Passing through the countryside was absolutely peaceful; being a Monday meant there were few cars on the road. A section of flat roads gave way to the start of a long, but not steep, climb to the hilltop boarder of Ena and Nakatsugawa cities. I had planned to stop at a campground which I located on the map, but when arriving at the top I found a side road pointing to Nenoue Kogen, so my instincts told me to go explore. And thankfully I did as the highland area was amazing. First to greet me was an awesome view across the valley to Mt. Ena.

Carrying on up the road was my picnic spot in front of a small lake. I read today that the highland is known as Gifu Prefecture’s “Karuizawa” due to it’s elevation of over 900m making it a great place to escape the summer heat.

On the return leg, I came across this sign saying the observatory at the top of the steps offered the best farm village view in all of Japan, so I just had to check for myself.

Here’s the panorama. What do you think?

Next stops were an old post town called Iwamura and the 1920′s style of Taisho Mura.  Both beautiful-looking places in the spring sunshine.

Coming back across Amezawa into Aichi, one last stop was at the Seto Shinano michi no eki, where I bumped into the eki cho (station master) who is also a keen cyclist. After a short chat, I returned home to complete my journey. Only a little sunburn, but very stiff muscles, yet well worth it.

If you are keen to join me, I’m planning to ride the same route again soon, possibly extended to Tsumago. Let me know if you want to come too.

Take me for granted – みくびる

From the movie “Sunset Boulevard” (サンセット大通り)

Norma : What’s the matter with you?      (どうしたの？)

Joseph : What right do you have to take me for granted? (どんな権利があって、あなたは僕をみくびっているんだ？)

Norma : What right? You want me to tell you? (どんな権利？あなたは私に言ってほしいの？)

Joseph :  Has it occurred to you that I may have a life of my own, that there, there…there may be some girl that I’m crazy about? (あなたは、僕には僕自身の人生があって、えっと、えっと・・・、僕が夢中になっている女性がいるかもしれないなんて、考えたりしないんだね？)

Norma : Who? Some car-hop or dress extra? (誰なの？ドライブインの給仕とかドレスエキストラとか？)

Please Share More Fake Part 2

Good Day My Dear,

My name is Madam Barakah Jasim, and I am a banker. It is true that we  have not met each others in person, but I strongly believe that no  trust, no friendship in every business. I have a deceased customers  pending fund, which I am his personal financier adviser before his  accidental death, that being the main reason why I alone working in  the bank here, know much about the existence of this fund  ($ 7.5 Million Dollars) and the  secrets surrounding this money.

But before I disclose the full details  to you, I will like to know your interest and willingness to assist me  by reverting back to me with your :

Private Email ID…………

Age………

Private Phone no………. for further confidential details about the  said fund.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

Madam Barakah Jasim,

 I think I’ll write back to Mr..Washidi ALLAMU. He said he can give me $25,500,000.

Monkey business – いたずら、いんちき

For some Golden Week fun, we headed to the Monkey Park in Inuyama.

I haven’t been for years, so it was great to see my friends again. The big climbing structure is pretty impressive.

I wish I could swing around all day like that. It’s so amzing how they seem to float from bar to bar without any effort at all.

Another drawcard at the park is the super hero hall.

We also really enjoyed the kid’s zoo where you can pet a variety of small creatures, like rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles and newts to iguanas, scorpions and even the world’s largest variety of cockroaches!

  

 

 

Get mixed up in – 関わり合いなる、巻き込まれる

From the movie “The Third Man“  (第三の男)

ANNA    ::            You shouldn’t get mixed up in this.  (この件に関わるべきじゃないわ。)

MARTINS  ::            Well, if I do find out something, can I look you up again?  (はあ、もし何かわかったら、また訪ねてもいいですか？)

ANNA    ::            Why don’t you leave this town? Go home.  (この町を出られてはどうですか？国に帰られては。)

Visiting Austria, Holly Martins finds his friend has died in an accident. Trying to find out more about his death, he learns of a third man’s involvment. Martins digs deeper, literally, to find the truth.

This is a great suspense movie set in post-WW2 Vienna, starring Orson Wells. The English is not so difficult, so check out this classic.