[Good evening Tuesday] Tereho

"Tereho" will be discontinued. The telephone service which had/have supported Japan's Dial-up Internet life will soon be discontinued. I was shocked to see this news. I was shocked mostly because I didn't know it's still there... 

Tereho, official name "Terehodai," is a flat-rate phone service which is available between 11pm and 8am. Land line phone costed about 10 yen for 3 minutes, but with this service the connection fee to registered numbers are fixed, so it was very common service back when dial-up was the almost only option. 

It was around 2000 when I used this service daily, and 23:00 was like a gong bell to jump into the Internet world. Action on BBS got busy and loading time got slower... but I think we all felt other users' presence by these. 

When I talked to people from different countries who knows and lived the Dial-up connection age, they've all told me this type of tricks and services they used back then. It's fun to hear those, and I think we're all proud to experience that era.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning. I tried for a while but couldn't go back to sleep. It sounded like so many birds were gathering in our small garden. I quietly opened the window to see... my bird was still sleeping in my room..

[Good evening Tuesday] Baby, It's Hot Outside

Greetings from a country where there's 7th wave of Covid. I know, it's so not cool. But it's still there, and it means we need to remain cautious this summer as well...

Last summer, I joined a series of online travel experience. Participants got together every Thursday or Friday evening on Zoom, and watched the video submitted from small islands of Finland with a navigator (tour guide). At first, I didn't expect much from it, and just thought it would be nice to hear things about the islands from my favorite writer/navigator. But it was so much more enjoyable than that. 

We heard the stories from local people while watching the scenery, we virtually visited local farms, small stores, little houses on the islands, atelier of artists... about 10 hours of trip in total. And after this virtual trip, I received an actual postcard sent from the islands (so nice...) and this makes me feel like I really did experience something, not just sitting in front of the screen. Frankly, I don't think I could have such a dense trip like this if I went there alone. Wonderful memory of last summer...

I like going to local farmer's market 

[Good evening Tuesday] What's in my bag

Just before waking up, I saw a dream of someone calling my name from a car on the road. When I approached, the driver dropped a bag saying "Isn't this yours?" and passed by.

It was indeed mine, it was my yellow bag from kindergarten. The bag was stuffed. Before I checked the full contents, I woke up.

[Dear Diary] The best way to do Afternoon tea in Gunma

 

As a Gunma native, of course I love Yaki-Manju. My favorite shop only offers takeout for now, so dashed home and had them with green tea. Mmm...

[Good evening Tuesday] A Handshake

As a translator, I get to become someone else through texts. It gets more exciting when the person seems interesting and very different from myself. Most of these times are fun, and other times it becomes nightmare.

A few years ago, I had an occasion to become one of the sexiest men on this planet. Actually, it was my second time to become "one of the sexiest men on this planet", and I don't know exactly how many are called with this title, but this person was famously and inarguably that type. 

I know his name but I didn't know much about him. I quickly checked how he talks and behaves to complete the work and it was okay, but deep down I was feeling "I don't think I can fully be him, there's nothing I can relate to".

But the work related to this man had kept popping up since then, so I decided to delve a bit deeper into himself. I read his books and articles to get to know him better, and while I was watching one of his documentaries, I saw one subtle face expression of him. And that was our handshake moment.

After this, it got so much easier to translate his texts and I got more confidence to become his Japanese persona. I don't see his texts so often these days, but I still high fiving in my heart each time I see him on media. 

I think a lot of translators have this type of secret bond. With someone you could never imagine.

Summer pit stop.
Temperature went up to 40c last week. Where's rainy season?