00:00
Welcome to Kevin's English Room Podcast.
Hello.
So, hi.
Happy New Year's.
Happy New Year.
Great.
January 9th.
9th.
Our first.
Our first.
Yes.
Not for the listeners, but our first podcast.
Yes.
2023.
Yes.
Feels great.
Feels great.
Brand new year.
Fresh start.
Fresh start.
Yes.
Feeling great.
Feeling good?
Super great.
As I told you before, I went to my parents' house, watched Kohaku Utagassen, watched Yukutoshi
Kurutoshi, and then Toshinohajimeyashida Masashi.
You did that.
And then from the first day of 2023, watched the Ekiden.
The classics.
The classics.
Eating Mikan and Osechi, Omochi and everything like that.
And watched the football Koko Saka Senshiken.
Yes, yes, yes.
Things like that.
Warai Neta things.
Those.
The classics.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I spent time with my family.
We went to Autretto.
Hatsuriseru.
Yeah, let's just go to some outlet.
Yeah.
We did like typical things like those.
Yeah.
You guys have a, Ichiba has like a huge mall, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We have Kisarazu, Shisui, Makuhachi, and then we have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
We have a little bit of a big mall.
Yeah.
Very, very, very Osechi-like, you know.
So you enjoyed it at least.
I enjoyed the experience.
I enjoyed the experience.
Yeah, yeah.
03:00
Okay.
I enjoyed the tradition.
Traditions, yeah, of course.
The act of eating the Osechi was what I enjoyed.
Yeah, yeah.
So what was inside exactly like?
You know, a lot of things.
Yeah.
You know, it was a sandang.
Oh, that's a--
That was a lot.
--gorgeous one.
Yeah, it took me three days to finish it up.
Yes, yes.
You know, all the classics were there.
Ebi.
Okay, ebi, yeah.
The swirling tomatoes.
Yeah, yeah.
The maki.
Yeah.
And the black mame.
Yeah.
That's good on mame.
Yeah.
And there are a lot more.
Kurikinton?
Yeah, kurikinton.
Kamaboko.
Kamaboko.
Kombu.
Kombu, yes.
Kombu, definitely there.
Yeah.
But all the other ones, 80% of it, I couldn't read the kanji.
Oh.
I had this list of like--
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was all numbered.
It was all labeled.
Like, this is--
Like, there was a picture of the osechi, and like, it was labeled, right?
And then underneath had all the--
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
--names corresponding to the numbers.
Yeah.
Plus the description of what it's supposed to mean.
Yeah.
I read everything.
Like, I was going through in numerical order.
Yeah, yeah.
One, this, yeah, eat.
Yeah.
That's great.
It's an experience.
Right.
Yeah.
But 80%, I couldn't understand.
I couldn't read the kanji.
Oh.
First several ones, I was searching it with my phone.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
OK, what is this kanji?
But like, throughout the-- like, midway, I was like, no, this is too much.
Like, this isn't going anywhere.
Yeah, true.
So I gave up.
Right.
All the kanji's are difficult for osechis.
Yeah.
Even me, maybe I can't read them.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
But many of the ones that I thought were good--
OK.
--were sweet.
OK.
So--
Like, kuri kinton, or like, tatemaki.
Right.
So I found my mouth very sweet very often, you know, after I'd gone through the whole list.
Yeah.
I start, like, you know, chop sticking all the things that I personally liked.
Yeah.
And ended up with a very sweet mouth.
OK.
And that was-- yeah.
Even if I tried to, like, salty it up a little bit, it just-- very osechi flavor, right?
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah.
Yeah.
What did you enjoy the most?
I enjoyed-- hmm.
06:04
So definitely forgot the name.
OK.
It was very-- so many kanji's in it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I remember liking-- well, this might not be number one,
but one thing I do remember that I enjoyed was this-- it was chopped up kombu.
OK.
It was a little bit toro toro, like okura-ish toro toro.
Oh, OK.
With some green shit.
It was with a little bit of, like, ume flavor infused.
Oh.
Yeah.
Ah, with yamaimo?
Maybe.
Yeah, like a--
A potato.
String yamaimo.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh.
Did they have that?
Yeah, it was in it.
It was-- yeah.
Oh.
Yeah, so inside osechi is, you know, a bit different on each--
Right.
--maybe family or, like--
Right.
--regions.
So yeah, wow.
Is that like a regional thing, maybe?
Maybe that's mainstream and my house isn't, maybe, but I'm not sure, but--
I see.
Yeah, wow.
Yeah.
I mean, there were a lot of things that I wasn't familiar with and I thought it was--
Maybe this is regional.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe.
Yeah.
OK.
So what did you hate the most?
I hated, um, actually, um, the dried fish.
Oh.
Dried--
Small one.
Yeah, the small dried fish.
Tired.
Very, um--
That's tazukuri, right?
Maybe.
Yeah.
That very, um, aogusai.
OK, OK.
Like, I actually know many, um, those dried fishes that aren't.
Uh-huh.
It's like namagusai, but that one was actually--
Oh.
Yeah, namagusai.
Oh, really?
Aoboi.
Aoboi.
Aogusai.
Aoboi.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was--
Yeah.
Oh, I've never felt, personally, namagusainess from those tazukuri fishes, so--
Mm.
Maybe the taste?
Like--
Yeah, maybe.
The way they cook, maybe?
Possibly.
Yeah, possibly.
Oh, OK.
Yeah.
Uh.
Yeah.
OK.
But I got to enjoy the, um, the experience.
Yeah, that's great.
Eating the osechi.
Your first osechi experience.
Oh, I bought the nihonshu.
Oh.
Yeah.
How was that?
Yeah, I took two sips and done.
OK.
Yeah, very--
Not a nihonshu guy.
Oh, really?
No, definitely not a nihonshu guy.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, I, um, I had, uh, o-sashimi--
OK.
--with my family.
OK.
It was, like, two days-- day two or day three.
Uh-huh.
And had a nihonshu.
Oh.
And it was my first time that, like, finally--
OK.
Oh.
This is so good.
Oh, damn.
Like, sake with sashimi and--
09:00
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Felt, oh, this is it.
Finally, I kind of understood.
Yeah.
This is it.
Finally, I kind of understand the taste, like, uh--
Uh-huh.
--you know, oishisa.
Oh, damn.
Those combinations.
OK.
Yeah.
And I-- yeah, I drank--
That was your drink?
--pretty much, like--
Wow.
Yeah.
Um, six, seven of this--
That's a lot for you.
Yeah.
Yeah, a lot for me.
Yeah.
Not for many, but--
But for you, that's, like--
Yeah, to me, that's--
Yeah, that's a lot.
Yeah, that's a lot.
And you were OK?
I was OK, and I completely enjoyed the taste.
Like, it was so good.
Was it, like, a good nihonshu, do you think?
Yeah, I think so.
OK.
My parents bought this bottle.
OK.
Yeah, so that was my new experience on this year.
I see.
Yeah.
I see, I see.
Finally, finally kind of felt it.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
OK.
That's cool.
Yeah, yeah.
You saw the Kohaku, right?
Yes.
Which means you saw Ive and Lacerapham.
Um--
They were there.
Yeah, I think so.
I've watched them, I think.
Oh, OK.
Yeah.
Any thoughts?
Um, you know, um--
All right.
They're good.
Yeah, all right.
But the thing is, I thought there were-- like, if there were, like, only one group from those,
like, industry or those work--
Oh, OK, OK, OK.
I could, like, you know, vividly remember the group.
But, you know, there were many groups, right?
There were two, right?
Oh, really?
From-- I watched, like, six of seven--
You mean you're talking about Kohaku, right?
Yeah.
Those groups.
I kind of-- oh, really?
So my impression of--
OK.
--this year's Kohaku was, oh, there are so many Korean groups.
Uh-huh.
So I can't even-- if there were, like, one or two, I can--
OK, this is-- OK, this is the group Kevin was talking about.
Uh-huh.
I kind of now kind of mix it and--
Oh, OK.
No?
There were-- I don't remember that much.
But OK, so for you, it was, like--
But I saw--
--overwhelming.
Yeah, like-- but I saw, like, Ive--
Oh, OK, yeah, yeah, yeah.
--and Lucela Farm--
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
--was on it.
And oh, this is the group Kevin--
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
--and I was watching it, of course.
And yeah, they're good.
But kind of were kind of mixed with--
A lot of the other groups.
Was it, like, six or seven groups?
No, I don't think so.
12:01
Really?
I don't--
Including all-- oh, really?
Maybe you're mixed up with the Japanese groups, Phoebe?
Yeah, maybe.
But I don't remember--
I don't think they had that much--
Like, you don't get mixed up with the AKBs and everything, right?
No, I don't believe so.
Like--
Hm.
Like, within 10--
OK.
--within 10 members--
OK.
--and singing and dancing at about the same time--
OK.
--and songs were, like, you know, has typical style.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like, I found, like--
maybe that's a trend, maybe?
OK.
I found six--
I see.
--or, like, five, six, seven groups.
So from the first one, I was like, oh, OK, OK.
OK, here we go.
This is it.
But like, through the Kohaku, there were so many.
So I was like, oh, wait, wait.
Again?
Yeah.
OK, OK.
But yeah, only two?
I see.
That's what I remember.
Oh.
I have to rewatch the Kohaku, right?
OK.
See the--
Right.
--the performances, right?
Right, right, right.
Oh, and I--
Nijuu.
Ah, Nijuu.
OK, right, right.
So I kind of include all those--
I see, I see, I see.
So that's why maybe--
I see.
I saw Nijuu, and the rapping was cool.
Ah-ha.
The girl you told me that she's a rapper lady, right?
Yes, yes, yes.
I found her, and she was great.
So she was really cool.
Nijuu's purely Japanese.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Very-- I'm sure their songs were all in Japanese, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh.
I don't think any of them are Korean, Nijuu.
OK, OK.
Yeah, maybe that's why.
Kind of--
Kind of like--
Yeah, style.
Right, right, right.
That's true.
Yeah.
In terms of like style.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right.
I'm sure there were a lot of--
I don't know if there were a lot of these or those.
So--
Absolutely.
Right, I get it.
Yeah, that's why maybe--
I see.
All right.
But yeah, but I felt the trend and the wave--
Right.
--is like coming.
All right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Thank you.
Well, I enjoy them, yeah.
Thank you.
I'm happy.
And I didn't know they--
You know, to me, Kohaku is kind of catching all the trend of this.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I didn't know Fox dancing.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was a thing.
That was a--
Was this thing?
That was a thing.
It was-- So I know that that song was from several years ago.
Yeah, it was like eight, seven, eight, nine years ago, right?
But recently, I think several months ago, they--
15:01
Some of the--
It wasn't AK-- I don't know.
Maybe it was AKB, but a girl group.
Yeah.
They put like a Fox--
Yeah.
--Katusha.
Yeah.
They danced to it in some baseball stadium.
Yeah.
And it got popular.
And it got popular.
And they gained a lot of attraction because they were like, oh, it's cute and everything.
So that's how it like repopularized.
OK.
Right.
Yeah, so I didn't know that trend.
And I was like, why now?
This song--
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
True.
So I catched up that.
Yeah.
And I'm not sure if you watched that.
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
I did.
You did?
Yeah.
Even in [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
They played Fox Dance.
Oh.
Well, I was skipping all the channels.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I didn't see everyone, every moment of it.
But they did.
Yeah.
And I was like, [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
You know, those tones, they went to like, [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
Yeah.
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
And then they played it.
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
You know, I was like, what?
It was chaos, right?
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
It was chaos New Year's day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I kind of catched up all the cultural things.
That's good.
That's good.
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah.
Yeah, but I got to rewatch those groups.
Yeah.
Because they kind of, you know, sadly, kind of mixed up now.
Right, right.
Let me check the--
Yeah, kind of.
The who were in the Kohaku again.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
OK.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Thank you.
Bye bye.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right.
OK.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Thank you.