After a looooong wait, we finally have a shinkansen line here in Kyushu. Service started the day after the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami and aftershocks. Those events put a big damper on the festivities, but the trains are running, and boy, are they nice. The above photo is at Kurume station where there are both smoking and non-smoking rooms while you wait for your train.

You’ll need to know if your train is a 6- or 8-car train, so you line up at the correct gate. It makes a difference because the trains will have a different place to stop depending on their length.

I had a reserved seat, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but, as you can see, the train I was on was not crowded. In fact I was the only one on my car. I could have saved some money by buying a non-reserved seat. You really need to know how busy a train will be at any particular time.

The seats are comfortable, and there is at least one 100V, 60Hz electrical power outlet for every two seats. The front seats at the bulkhead each have their own outlets.

I haven’t ridden the shinkansen in years, so I’m not sure about the power outlets in the other lines of the JR systems. I have to assume they also have power outlets available. I’m hoping to have more chances to ride the trains a write about those experiences.

[Editor's note: The above photos were shot with the best camera (is the one you have with you): my iPhone 4. I thought it did pretty well in both bright and dark conditions.]

Thanks to everyone for your concern. Please keep the Japanese in your thoughts. We hope for a speedy recovery.

The shop is on the first floor, next to the grocery store. I think the space used to be a cell phone store and the information counter. You really should go.

The Department of Environmental Resources heads out each year to clear out some local areas in Kumamoto. This year we went to the mountains near Nagomi Town and cleared out a lower area of some tree growth. There were lots of weeds and much brush to cut and move. The area you see here was pretty grown-over and needed some work. After doing the cutting, we took a break and had a bento. The weather was cold in the morning, but was perfect around lunch time. Students brought the cut material down and divided it into wood and brush piles. The plan was to have a barbecue after, but was postponed. Thank you all for a great job!

My favorite fruit is strawberries, and these are the best strawberries I have eaten. They are grown in the wintertime in Nagasaki. Big, sweet, and juicy, they are wonderful. Try them out if you get a chance.

This is the main part of campus. It looked very different with the white and dark contrasts.

If you entered school from the west side gate, this is the view you might have seen yesterday morning. It almost looks like a black and white shot, but I can assure you it’s a color photo (look carefully and you can see some red).

This is about the same area, but from a different angle.

Not much to comment on, except I like the shot and the contrasts. This one is pretty close to the center of campus. I hope we get another shot of snow this winter. It was a fun morning yesterday…

To their credit, the forecasters are having to deal with the latest rainy season I can remember.

Posted via email from jklmelton’s posterous

Anyway here goes. The bigger the pan, the more you can cook at the same time. I have a great iron skillet I bought more than 30 years ago at a Sears (10 bucks!), so I usually make two at a time. I always turn the heat up to high first while I get the other things out of the fridge. By the time anything hits the pan, it is getting warmed up.

I get my flour tortillas from one of two places: A-Price near the Jietai (Self-Defense Force) base or Premier Cru. A-Price is kind of a restaurant supply shop that has some bulk items and a variety of things for the kitchen that you might not be able to find other places. Premier Cru is an imported food and spirits shop that is small, but it packs a lot of stuff in there. I peel off two of the tortillas and put the inside side down. Don’t laugh. Each side of these tortillas looks different; I save the more attractive side (it usually has some nice brown spots on it) for the outside.

As the pan heats up, I turn down the heat. This takes a bit of practice. There’s a balance between scorching your quesadillas and waiting forever for the cheese to melt and the tortilla to heat up. I don’t leave it on this one side long, just enough to get the tortilla softened and warmed a bit. Flip it/them over and cover 1/2 with your favorite grated cheese (I get the 1 kg. bags at A-Price).

Then I add some hot sauce. I’ve become a major fan of the Marie Sharp’s Fiery Hot sauce. Great stuff!

My preference is to go full steam ahead with the cheese quesadilla. The other Viajeros like a slice or two of something meaty (I can be persuaded to join in when there’s some leftover taco meat… ) If you want something else in there, by all means add it in. I will say, though, that the more you add in, the more you need to flip the ‘dilla and reduce the heat. When I have a pile of leftovers from, say, chicken tacos the night before, I’ll add some chicken, homemade salsa, sour cream, tomatoes, and a bit of lettuce for some crunch. I’ll use the burrito-sized tortillas from Costo (in Fukuoka) and make a real meal out of it.

I have to say that it’s best to work quickly at this quesadilla-filling stage, so the tortillas don’t burn. The trick is to get it all in there, so the heat is working on that cheese and the other ingredients. As long as the quesadilla is still open, it’s at risk. You have been warned.

Once it’s all together, I turn the heat most or all of the way down. Then it’s all a matter of flipping every 30-60 seconds. Hotter pan, more frequent flipping. Cooler pan, have a sip of coffee while you watch the moisture evaporate from your tortillas. I don’t use a spatula for any of this. It’s finger food, so I use my (clean) hands. It’s okay to peek inside if you want to check. It’s done when it’s the color and consistency you want AND the cheese is melted. If the cheese still has the same look as when it went in, it’s not ready yet. Hint: this one is NOT ready yet:

I’ll add some shots of the stuff I can get here in Kyushu to make this all work.