101 in 1001 - Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman

Kantarou: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman

Back in December I watched a show on Netflix called Kantarou: The Sweet Tooth Salary Man (original title: さぼリーマン甘太朗/ Saboriman Kantarou) as part of the 101 in 1001 challenge goal: 

067. Watch 5 new (to you) TV series (all current episodes).

Netflix suggested this series to me because I was looking for/watching Japanese language films and shows, as I wanted some listening practise. However, this was a show I watched purely for entertainment purposes. 

Unfortunately, I haven't read the manga, so I can't make any comparisons. This is just going to be about the show.

Title: Kantarou: The Sweet Tooth Salary Man [Japanese title: さぼリーマン甘太朗/ Saboriman Kantarou]

Year: 2017
No. of Seasons: 1
No. of Episodes: 12
Cert: PG
Genre: Comedy, food, feel-good, wacky
Language: Japanese (Subtitles available in various languages on Netflix; I had English)

Cast (main):
Matsuya Onoe as Kantarou Ametani
Ren Ishikawa as Kanako Dobashi
Sarutoki Minagawa as Toru Miyake
Hiroyuki Onoue as  Daisuke Yamaji
Hazuki Shimizu as Erika Sano

Kantarou eating melon kakigori

Plot: Graduate Kantarou Ametani begins working at a publishing company as a sales agent but he has a secret: he plays hooky from work to indulge in his true passion - sweets!

Overall:

The series is based on a manga of the same name, by Tensei Hagiwara (writer) & Abidi Inoue (illustrator), and was co-produced by Netflix (this isn't an ad, I swear!) and TV Tokyo. The title contains the pun "Saboriman", which is a combination of 'salaryman' and a form of the verb 'saboru', which means to skip out on your duties and obligations. The kanji for Kantarou (甘太朗) also contains the character "ama" (甘) - meaning "sweet" - though it's said "kan". 

On a side note, there are a lot of Japanese language puns/word plays throughout the show which are also ridiculous and fun, but sadly they often don't easily translate without providing explanation notes, so they're left out or just written as direct translations. 

Having a squats contest in the middle of giant peach volcanoes

For example, when eating a particular dessert with peaches (momo) in, Kantarou imagines that he turns into Peach Boy (Momotaro) and is having a squats contest with an exercise demon, based on a work colleague of his. This is based on the Japanese folklore stories of Momotaro, but they focus the camera on Kantarou and his colleague's thighs a lot and have them say "we're two peaches", which seems a bit strange out of context. I watched this with someone who understands Japanese and someone who doesn't and the latter was a bit confused (but still found it amusing anyway). 

The word for thighs is "futomomo" (太もも; I'm writing the kanji/hiragana for this because it has another meaning also) in Japanese. Throughout the whole scene the writers were playing with the fact that "futo" is also the first part of saying "two" when counting certain things. So essentially, they were saying "two peaches" and "thighs" and "we're two peaches", whilst having peaches for heads and showing their thighs, doing squats on the screen. (Yes, it's that kind of show...).

Anyway, it was an entertaining and fun to watch and gave short snippets of information about food making processes and history along the way. 

Best Bits:

All of the "Sweets Heaven" scenes are bizarre and funny, and Kantarou is just a very strange person in general (he gets stranger as the series goes along), but in a way that makes you like him and laugh with him. Sometimes he does things and encounters things in "real" life that are almost as strange as what he imagines. When you find out why Kantarou love sweets so much, it makes sense, and his going off into imaginary worlds makes more sense as well. 

天国 (tengoku/heaven) on a giant hotcake sun

I also liked all the references/parodies of other films/TV shows, though I probably missed some. It doesn't really make a difference if you "get" them all or not though, because the scenes were enjoyable regardless.

Worst Bits:

The plot is somewhat silly since he only stops to eat sweets after he's already finished all the sales work he needs to complete. I'm pretty sure he would be allowed to go and eat something for lunch at least, in which case he could eat all the sweets he wanted then (correct me if I'm wrong though). Also, sometimes it felt like I was watching a tourist information show about the districts and sweets shops of Tokyo, rather than a fictional comedy, but it was interesting so that wasn't so bad. The way Dobashi behaves towards Kantarou is also slightly odd. Or rather, the way she goes about it doesn't seem to make any sense. But again, it's not something off-putting and I like her as a character. 

Dobashi and Sano (eating, of course)

Mostly though, as I really dislike the noise of people eating (myself included) the sound was somewhat unpleasant at times (though, some of the noises Kantarou makes when he eats aren't the same as most people, haha).

Kantarou and his mother. Let's just not talk about this...

Watch It If You Like: Quirky comedy; sweets; foodgasms; the processes involved in making food; salarymen; watching people eat; slacking off work; seeing places in Tokyo/Japan in general; bloggers; silly humour; some slightly dark humour; weird, bordering on surreal visuals.

Rating: 7.5/10

101 in 1001 - Take Photos of 20 Birds Native to the UK (Part 1)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Over the past few months I've been making more of an effort than usual to look out for feathered beauties to photograph for the 101 in 1001 goal:

015. Take photos of 20 different kinds of bird native to the UK.

To my surprise, I've managed to snap images of 10 already! Not only that, but there were at least another 5 to 10 species that I saw but didn't manage to take pictures of. 

Anyway, those who had their photos taken were:

1. Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Robin

Robins are relatively small - approximately 14cm in length, with a wingspan of 20-22cm and a weight of 14-21g - sexually non dimorphic birds that can be found throughout the UK and Ireland, all year round. Despite this, they often appear on things like Christmas cards and are very much associated with winter in the UK (there are definitely robins in my garden all year though!).  They are omnivorous, and eat worms, insects, other invertebrates, fruit and seeds.

I took the above photos, at a place in Brixham called Berry Head, on the same day. Both photos were of the same robin, who was having its feather ruffled by the wind on top of the cliff, but I could hear another one chirping to it in the bushes as well. It eventually hopped down from the bushes and pecked at the ground for a while, before returning to the safety of the shrubs.

2. Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)

Great Black-backed Gull in Flight

Great Black-backed Gulls are large - approximately 64-78cm in length, with a wingspan of 150-165cm, and weight of 1-2kg - sexually non dimorphic gulls that live on a diet of fish, carrion, eggs, other birds, and occasionally other prey if the opportunity presents itself. They can be found along all the coasts of Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Ireland, and the south, west, and north-west coasts of England (as well as a few pockets in the east). 

I took the photos above at the very end of December 2017, again at Berry Head, but the gulls hadn't yet gone into their first winter plumage (perhaps due to the milder climates in this area? I'm not sure). This gull and the others I saw were following a group of Harbour Porpoises at the time, presumably picking off the fish that the porpoises didn't catch. (Bonus shot of a Harbour Porpoise below.)

Harbour Porpoise Surfacing for Air

3. Magpie (Pica pica)

Magpie

Magpies are medium-sized - around 45cm in length, with a wingspan of 50-60cm and weighing 200-250g - sexually non dimorphic birds in the corvid family. They can be found throughout most of the UK and Ireland, where they eat an omnivorous diet and flock together when not breeding. 

I often see these fascinating birds at the feeder in my garden (along with a few crows, sparrows, and robins) and hear their croaky chatter. However, the magpie in the picture above was at Berry Head and seem to be part of a pair who had made a home on a radio mast near the lighthouse.

4. Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)

Meadow Pipit 

Meadow pipits are small - a of 14-15cm, a wingspan of 22-25cm and a weight of 15-22g) sexually non dimorphic songbirds that can be found throughout most of the UK and Ireland. Their diet consists mainly of small arthropods, in particular spiders, and insects such as beetles, moths and flies.

The meadow pipit in the photograph was, again, on the clifftop of Berry Head, cautiously running around on the grass. Though it might not seem like it from the picture, unless it moved, it was actually very well camouflaged against the grass due to its size and patterning.

5. Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)

Shag (Juvenile)

Shag (Juvenile) a Mute Swan

Shags are large - 65-80cm in length, with a 90-105cm wingspan, and weight of 1.75-2.25kg - sexually non dimorphic birds that mainly eat a diet of fish, but will also feed on crustaceans and molluscs as well. Their numbers in the UK are quite low and they have a conservation status of red. 

Most of the breeding pairs live in the north and west areas of the UK, so I was very lucky to see this beautiful juvenile (in the south west). This photo was taken in the harbour of my town, but nearby there is a small colony of great cormorants and a few Shags out on some large rocks in the sea. At first I mistook the above bird for a juvenile cormorant, but on closer inspection I noticed that the angle where its head meets its bill is very steep, the bill is comparatively delicate, and the beginnings of the distinctive crest of the shag can be seen as well. Therefore, I'm fairly certain that it was a shag and not a great cormorant.

6. Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

Mute Swan Swimming in the Harbour

Highly recognisable, mute swans are very large - 140-160cm in length, with a 208-238cm wingspan, and weight of 10-12kg - sexually non dimorphic birds. They feed mainly on a diet of insects, aquatic plants and molluscs and can be found all over the UK and Ireland throughout the year.

Pair of Mute Swans and a Shag (juvenile)

This pair of swans lives in the harbour in my town and I often see them swim out into the bay as well. Despite their size and the fact that geese, who also long-necked silhouettes, appear in the bay at various times of year, it still seems somewhat surreal seeing the swans gliding around in the sea! Surreal, but beautiful.

Mute Swan

7. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Herring Gull with a Dirty Bill

Herring gulls are large - 54-60cm in length, with a 130-140cm wingspan, and weight of 700-1440g - sexually non dimorphic birds. Their diet is extremely varied, eating everything from carrion, small mammals, young birds, fish, insects, offal and eggs to fruit and seeds. They are found around the coast of the UK and Ireland throughout the year, but will will also venture further inland sometimes, particularly during the winter months. Unlike other gulls of a similar appearance, herring gulls have pink coloured legs, rather than yellow.

Herring Gull from the Side

I've lived near the coast since I was a child, so I've always been used to seeing large gulls like these and find them quite majestic. However, a friend moved to live with me some years ago and the largest/feistiest birds they were used to seeing regularly were pigeons, so the herring gulls around here came as something of a shock! Friend absolutely adores them now though, so it all worked out in the end. 

Herring Gull in First Winter Plumage

The herring gulls I took photos of for this entry were in the harbour and were entering first winter plumage at the time.

8. Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)

Carrion Crow Perched on a Bench

Carrion crows are medium-sized - 45-50cm in length, with a 90-105cm wingspan, and weight of 370-650g - sexually non dimorphic birds, with a diet consisting of carrion, worms, insects, eggs, seeds, fruit, and scraps left by humans. They are very similar to the hooded crow, but the two have diverged into separate subspecies. Carrion crows are found throughout the UK, though they are not as common in Northern Ireland.

The photo above was another I took at Berry Head, but I really didn't do this gorgeous bird justice. The crow and its partner were sat on top of a rooftop, but one of them decided to swoop down, perch on a bench and kindly posed for a photograph. I think it was hoping for some food, but I didn't have any!

9. Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Two Gulls and a Great Cormorant

Great cormorants are large - 80-100cm in length, with a 130-160cm wingspan, and weight of 2.1-2.5kg - sexually non dimorphic birds, with a diet consisting entirely of fish. They can be found throughout the UK and Ireland year-round. The angle that their bill meets their head at is much shallower than that of a shag and the bills themselves look more robust than those of the shag. Great cormorants also do not have a crest on their heads, as adult shags do, and they have more yellow and white on their face area.

I see these birds fairly regularly and feel very lucky that I'm able to do so, as I find them fascinating. There is a small colony of them on the rocks in the bay off the coast of my town (I mentioned it when talking about the shag), which is where I took a photo of the one above. This isn't the best picture I've ever taken of a great cormorant, but it was one I took during this time period, so nevermind!

10. Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)

Male Stonechat on a Fence

Stonechats are small - 12.5cm in length, with a 18-20cm wingspan, and weight of 13-17g - sexually dimorphic birds that mainly feed on fruit, seeds and invertebrates. Both male and female birds have an orangey breast. but the feathers on the head and back of the male are darker, and the face is black instead of brown, as it is in the females. Stonechats can be found throughout the UK and Ireland, year-round, but they are more common in coastal areas, Scotland and Wales.

Although stonechats are considered "garden birds", I must admit that I've never seen one in my garden before. The above photo was yet another I took at Berry Head, and when I spotted the little bird at a distance, I thought it was a robin at first, simply because I'd never seen one before. I'm glad I have now though, because they're really lovely!

BONUS:

Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

Mr. Pheasant - not very well camouflaged!

I can't actually include the above bird as part of my goal, because it's an "introduced species" and therefore not a bird that's native to the UK. However, I still wanted to post this photo, because he looked so elegant and it was very unusual (for me) to suddenly see a bright orange pheasant on the top of a cliff!

And with that, I've come to the end of part one of this challenge! Onto the next ten...

101 in 1001 - Build A Robot

Manfried Mantis the Robot

Previously, I wrote that my friend Miseria very kindly shared some of their mochi and daifuku with me for another 101 in 1001 challenge. Having seen my list, the same friend also gave me a "build your own robot kit" as a present to help with the goal:

055. Build a robot.

mBot from Makeblock.
It says STEM on the box, but neither cells nor Ruvik were included.

Before you ask, yes, this is a kit designed for children, but it's a robot nonetheless! Also, you can get various add-ons to the initial bot if you want to, which allows for a greater array of programming to be entered. But before any of that can happen, you have to put it together...

Robot "Brain" (Circuit Board) and
Chassis

All Other Parts, Including Connectors,
Screws, Bolts, and Screwdriver/Hexkey

The kit comes with an instruction manual that is laid out much in the same way as a Lego kit: pictorial diagrams with numbered arrows and minimal explanatory text. This is clear and simple and works very well. 

Everything is in its own packet and, while that might seem excessive, some things need to be in anti-static packaging and the screws need to be differentiated from each other. Also, though the packets aren't labelled, it's obvious from the images and measurements which item you're supposed to be using where. 

The Chassis with the Right  Left Motors Attached

Everything needs to be secured using either screws or bolts with a screwdriver (provided) that doubles as a hex key or your hands. The whole thing fits together very well, but spare pieces are provided, just in case anything does go wrong or go missing (the pieces are quite small if you're an adult!).

The Bot and the Remote

You're given the option of powering your bot with either one lithium battery, or four AA batteries during construction, but you can change this later quite easily. I opted for the AA batteries as I didn't have a lithium battery lying around at the time and the batteries aren't included in the kit. 

Once your bot is all put together, it's already able to produce sounds, has lights, and has sensors that let it to follow lines and detect objects. The remote control provided allows you to choose different options (explained in the instruction manual). Be aware, the remote control also needs a certain size of button cell battery.

Manfried Mantis, the mBot♥

Above is a photo of my completed mBot. I have gendered him male, because I decided to name him Manfried Mantis, due to the M on each of his sides. Manfried is a name, but also means "peaceful" and the Mantis part is not only from the fascinating insects of the mantid family, but also Psycho Mantis and Screaming Mantis too. I enjoyed this very much. :)

101 in 1001 - Complete 5 Online Courses: Animal Behaviour and Welfare (1/5)

Completed!

Today, I completed the Animal Behaviour and Welfare MOOC on Coursera, which is run by the University of Edinburgh. It was part of the 101 in 1001 list goal:

058. Complete 5 online courses (do not include those from other goals).

Each week/unit had a different theme or area of focus and, with the exception of Weeks 1 and 7, there were tests at the end of each one. The passing grade was 60% or above and, while you could re-take it to improve your score if required, luckily I didn't have to (nor did I want to!). 

Results

There was also an option to purchase a certificate, but I just opted for the regular free version, as you are still able to complete the course without it. 

That's one down, four to go!

101 in 1001 - Finish A Jigsaw Puzzle

Puzzle Pieces

During the recent festivities, someone very kindly bought me a 3D puzzle, which means I was able to complete another goal from the 101 in 1001 list!

• 054. Finish a jigsaw puzzle with at least 500 pieces.

Puzzleball

The above photo is of the box of the puzzle, just to prove it actually had more than 500 pieces (or something like that). 

Putting it together

From the other side

The puzzle, which features artwork from 1611 by Dutch engraver and globe maker Pieter van den Keere, was fun to put together and only really got tricky towards the end. I couldn't push the pieces together very easily because if I put too much pressure on them then there was a risk of a cave-in! Still, it all went well and with a bit of care there were no problems at all.

Altogether, the puzzle took around 4 or 5 hours to complete and it's now solidly displayed on the included stand.

The finished puzzle on its stand