April 26th, 2013
---Atsushi Negishi Clinic---
On March 31st, I had a
clinic with London Olympian Atsushi Negishi who rides at a different
branch of my club. Every time we have a clinic, we always have a
meeting over breakfast, either before or after the clinic, where the
clinician will discuss the main theme of the lesson, and we can ask
questions. I found out that he keeps his horses in Saitama (just
north of Tokyo, and where I had my Japanese teaching conference). I
asked him if he wants to enter in the Olympics again, and he said,
“It isn't a matter of if I want to or not. I'm getting old now and
there are younger riders. Besides, everything is paid for by the
company so the decision is really up to them.” On the one hand, I
feel like it's really great that the club will pay for his
competition fees, because then people with talent who don't have a
lot of money can afford to compete at a high level. In the U.S. If
you don't have the money to go to an A show then there's no way you
can compete above 3'6” since higher classes are only at rated
shows. So in comparison, I like that it affords opportunities to
people who wouldn't have them otherwise. On the other hand, the fact
that the company gets to choose who from their company is allowed to
try out is really too bad. However I would assume that they are going
to choose whomever is doing the best since they want to get their
name out through employee's wins.
The clinic was alright. It was
down-pouring ice cold rain the entire hour and a half so it was a
little rough, and the arena got a bit flooded. I was told that I need
to make sure to re-balance my horse's forehand after the jump sooner
(bad hunter habits!). I still have a tendency to ride too freely
which, if the horse gets too heavy on the forehand, can be dangerous
for bigger jumps because they can't lift their forehand enough to
clear the jump. I'm going to continue working on this from here on
out as I finally (mostly) got rid of my ducking habit. Until I got
rid of this habit, I never realized how much it really affects your
riding. If you duck, you take longer to get back to your original
position which means slower reaction time after the fence. In hunters
you're going at a nice, relaxed pace so this doesn't matter so much
(other than ruining your horses form) but in jumpers when you're
flying around a course, if you don't stay in contact and control the
whole time, you'll end up having a refusal or wasting time taking a
wide turn, so it's really important to keep your two point and use an
automatic release rather than ducking on your horse's neck.
---New Restaurants---
-Oni Koroshi-
 |
| mabodofu and soup |
The other day I planned on going to get
Italian with a friend, only to find that the restaurant was closed
that day! We then decided to just wander the streets until we found
something, and we stumbled upon an izakaya called Oni Koroshi (demon
killer). I ordered mabodofu (spicy
tofu) since I had never eaten it before, and my friend ordered
nikudon (beef rice
bowl). The izakaya also had several other offerings like ramen and
yakisoba. More than anything I have to recommend this place because
it's cheap as hell. Pretty much everything on the menu was only 500
yen and it came with soup on the side. The soup was excellent by the
way. This was my first time eating mabodofu so
I have nothing to compare it to, but it was pretty good. The flavor
was a little plain for me, but it was still good. My friend said that
his nikudon was really
good. Also, the portion sizes were absolutely huge (aka
normal American sized) I
couldn't finish my whole dish, and the mama-san came over and offered
me a to-go box!!! For those of you that don't know, that is pretty
much unheard of in Japan. Generally you can't take anything home, and
who would want to with Japan's small portion sizes anyway? I suppose
since it was an izakaya it isn't so absurd though; but I've never
been able to take anything home when I wasn't at an enkai before. The
mama-san was so nice. She was like “it will be so troublesome for
me if you don't finish it all!” She even came over to talk to us
for a bit, expressing how grateful she was that we speak Japanese,
because she had no idea what she was going to do otherwise :P
-Osakana Club-
 |
| Sazae Curry |
A new
branch of the Osakana Club
(fish club) restaurant
opened this past Wednesday in Tomiura, and I had
the chance to take some
photos, and later have lunch there. For lunch I ordered the sazae
(mollusk) curry. It was my first
time having sazae curry,
so again, I have nothing to compare it to, but as far as curries go
it was just alright in my opinion. The flavor wasn't anything
special, but I have to say that the amount of sazae in
the dish was quite generous. The restaurant mainly has set meals but
it also has some individual items you can order. One
lady I ate with ordered namero-don (namero
is raw diced fish mixed with
various seasonings) which is
famous in Minamiboso, so if you want to try a local specialty then
you can find it here for sure. The fish are pulled from the harbor
just out back of the restaurant as well, so you know they're fresh.
One complaint I do
have to make however, is in relation to the layout of the restaurant.
The tables are so huge that you feel quite distanced from whoever is
sitting across from you, and it's quite difficult to hear what they
are saying. Everyone was joking that it would be a horrible place for
a date :P
 |
| not related to anything but I ate some biwa premium soft serve again **drool** |
No comments:
Post a Comment