Real Ale

There aren't many things I miss about England. Since the arrival of the internet I have been able to catch up on all my UK telly, buy import goods which are delivered directly to my door, read all of the London news and stay in touch with my family and friends via e-mail and Skype.
However one of the things I have missed, and one of my favourite things about going back to London, is British real ale.
Brewed in small quantities in local breweries around the UK, these ales are made from centuries old recipes and are made using the finest natural ingredients, including the best UK hops, which give ale it's deep, distinctive, often fruity, taste.
When I went back to London in March this year and stayed with my parents, me and my dad went shopping together every day and bought a different ale to drink each night. It was heaven!

I have never seen British ale in my 9 years in Japan, until last week when I was out shopping in Hiroshima.

I was in Tokyu Hands!! looking for some art materials, leaving the shop empty handed, when, as I was coming down the escalator, a display of 'Belgian Beer' caught my eye.
As I walked towards it I suddenly saw, at the edge of the display, 2 bottles of British ale!
I had to check that I wasn't dreaming...then took them to the till and bought them.

For the last 2 nights I have had a bottle a night and, if I close my eyes, I could be back in London, sitting in my local pub, drinking.

I have to go back to get some more...I have my fingers tightly crossed that they haven't sold out!

Sorry

Hello everyone.
I am so sorry it has been so long since I wrote my last blog post.
A few weeks ago I fell off a ladder and broke my wrist!

So now I am in a cast, can't use my right hand and am having trouble doing anything...
Hopefully my cast will be off soon and I can get back to writing more posts
Take care and be careful on ladders!
Osca

I Want My Hat Back

I love reading to my kids and I am always looking for new English books to read to them.
When I was a child I used to, and still do, love children's books which adults can enjoy too and with some dark humour.
I found this book, called 'I Want My Hat Back' on the net and, after reading the reviews, bought it.
It is so good!
It is funny, the illustrations are fantastic and it has the best dark twist at the end!
I recommend it to everyone, adults and children

I said I would...

This is something that often comes up in class.

"I said (that) I would (do...)"

It is a very useful phrase to remember for talking about the past. It is usually used to talk about past plans you had which didn't happen in the end.

"I said (that) I would meet her at the station but she didn't show up"

"I said (that) I wanted to be a pilot but I failed the exams"

It is used often when talking about others' promises to you which were broken...

"My wife said (that) she would buy me a new coat for my birthday but she didn't"

Please try to make your own sentences with the phrase and try to use it in conversation

Thanks

This is FANTASTIC!!

When we went to London in March we were walking around in east London one day and we came across a young woman painting a mural onto a wall. We stopped to watch her work for a few minutes and asked her if it was ok to take some pictures. Then we left and I never thought any more about it...

Yesterday I was surfing the net and I suddenly came across this video of a stop frame animation, and it is the same piece we stopped to look at !
It is fantastic ! Apparently the whole animation took 3 weeks to finish and the resulting video footage was edited down to this 3 minute video.
Please check it out...

LONDON #2 - Street Art

Sorry I have been away for so long...life has been hectic for the last month.

Any way back to business!

I am a big fan of 'street art', which used to be graffiti until it branched out into other areas of publicly displayed 'art works'.
London is covered in 'street art' and while I was there I took many photos of the best pieces I saw, and here they are for you...I hope you like them :)

LONDON #1

So last week I went on a quick trip home to London...and I am in love!!
Since I came to Japan 8 years ago I have been back to London 4 times now, and every time before this time I have had mixed emotions about my home city. Sometimes I love it, others I hate things about it, but this time I am in love again.
For probably the first time in my life we had a whole week of sunshine!!

It didn't rain once in a week, which is almost unheard of in March, and the sun brings out the best in Londoners. People walk around with a smile on their face and everyone comes out to stroll the streets and eat lunch in the sun in the park...and it made me remember all of my best times in my London life.

London is such a beautiful city and I enjoyed just walking the streets, soaking up the atmosphere and going to all my favourite places...I can't wait to go back!!