Restaurant Art

I went to an Asian restaurant recently. It had Chinese and Japanese food, but was owned by some Thai people.

The wall art was origami, framed in glass. It is quite a nice display, isn't it?





What are the animals in the frame?

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recently : 最近
Thai : タイの、タイ人
frame in ~ : ~ （の枠）に入れる、はめる
crane : 鶴

下線部　It is quite a nice display, : とても良い装飾
　 →　quite は nice を強調している。"a" はquite の直後に来る。
　○　It's quite a nice display.　× It's a quite nice display.

such もquite と同様の使い方をし、同じく"a" はsuch の直後に来る。
　○　It's such a nice display. ×　It's a such nice display.

very, so, などの場合は、"a" は前に来る。
　○　It's a very nice display. 　×　It's very a nice display.

Beijing Olympics 北京オリンピック

The Olympics have started. The opening ceremony in Beijing was amazing!!


The only thing I don't like is the TV channel showing it in the US. NBC has had the rights to Olympic programming for a long time. They have lots of commercials! And lots of commentary by the two male hosts. The commercials are Olympic focused, yet there are too many of them.

They are showing the programs in the evening so people can watch it. But, it will be easy to check the results of competitions before you watch it! Hmmm....

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NBC : アメリカの放送局
right : 権利　
commentary : コメント
male : 男性の
focused : 焦点を当てられた
yet : しかし　（文の最初では「しかし」、文の最後では「まだ」となる）
too many : あまりにも多すぎる （この文では、テレビＣＭを指している）
check : 確認する、チェックする
result : 結果
competition : 競技

L'Aroma Cafe

L'Aroma Cafe is on Newbury Street, the expensive shopping street in Boston. I went with a friend for only a coffee, but I couldn't resist the goodies in the display case. Which one do you think I ate? Hmmm....

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resist : 拒否する　(⇒ resistance : 拒否、抵抗力)
goodies ⇒　goody : お菓子、キャンディー、魅力的な物（の複数形）

which one do you think I ate? : （私が）どれを食べたと思います？

A Walk Through the Park

I took a stroll through Boston Common the other day. It was a cloudy day but I decided to take that route instead of the train. It's really green. That day, it wasn't crowded at all. You can see some boats in the far distance. Those are swan boats, but they weren't operated that day because of the weather. Such a nice view, isn't it?

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stroll : 散歩　⇒　take a stroll : 散歩した、ぶらついた
　　 ( →　stroller : ベビーカー)
through ~ : ～を通り抜けて、貫いて、通して
on the other day : 先日　
cloudy : 曇った　⇒　( cloud : 雲)
decide to ~ : ~ すると決める、~ することにする
take : この文中では、後にある Route (道のり)を取る、選択するという意味
instead of ~ : ~ の代わりに
crowded : 混雑している
in the far distance : 遠い向こうに、遠い距離のところに
operate : 営業する、作動する

What does it mean? Advertisement

"Now your stopping power has staying power."

What do you think it means? There's a play on words with this advertisement.


Look at how she is dressed. She doesn't look like she will do any washing, right?
On the right is the clothes detergent, Tide.

Her stopping power　is her dress. You stop to look at her!

However, she has Tide, so she can stop clothes from becoming dirty. Staying power means that something has power to last for a long time. Coca Cola has staying power, too.

So her clothes will always look clean and new - to stop people again!

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※アメリカの洗濯用洗剤Tideの新しい製品の広告です。どういう意味でしょうか。できれば、最初は下の説明を読まずに理解してみましょう。

advertisement : 広告
play on words : 言葉の遊び
dressed : 装っている、服を着ている
　⇒　Look at how she is dressed : 彼女がどんな風に装っているかを見てください
do washing : 洗濯をする
detergent : 洗濯用洗剤
Tide : アメリカの洗濯用洗剤のブランド
stopping power : 人を（魅力などで）立ち止まらせる力
stop A from ~ing : Ａが～するのを止める、抑える
clothes ⇒　cloth : 服　（の複数形）
dirty : 汚れている、汚い
staying power : スタミナ、耐久力
last : 続く　

広告は、Tideを使用することによってTideを使う彼女の魅力(stopping power)が
いつまでも続くと言っています。なぜなら、Tide には服の形や
色を守り、汚れも付きにくくなる、耐久力(staying power)があるからです。
　
Go to Tide website (a new window opens)