Three Vehicles

 

Click to enlarge to see a food delivery motorbike, a gardener's truck with ladders on the back, and one of the biggest cars on the road here.

Yaki Imo Truck

Little Brother came running inside saying, " The yaki imo truck is here!" This is the yaki imo truck in our neighborhood. I took this picture yesterday. The driver said it was okay to take pictures of his truck. He didn't want his picture taken. He slowly drives around the neighborhood with a tape echoing "Ya---ki--mo!" It's a nice sound of fall.

What are yaki imo? Roasted sweet potatoes. The imo (potato) were at the top on the left. He lifts the boards to put potatoes in and to take them out. I didn't get a picture of the inside. I may get one and post it later if I can chase him down. He usually doesn't stop and sit.

This is what I really wanted to get a picture of. I think it's funny (and dangerous) that he drives around with a fire on the back of his truck. I remember sitting behind the fire of a yaki imo truck at a red light.

I bought two roasted sweet potatoes from him. He gave me one for free. This is a bag of three. The peeling is sometimes blackened or charred.

The sizes of these sweet potatoes or satsuma imo vary. Some are big, some are small. The inside is yellow. We sometimes eat the peel if it isn't charred.

Yaki imo are really good. They are nice to eat any time but today was a perfect day for them. It was rainy and cold. He didn't come by, though.

Above and On the Street

We were sitting and waiting at a traffic light. A shinkansen or bullet train slowly pulled into the station. The light turned green as the train came in.

As we were waiting this truck drove by us. It has billboards or advertisements on its sides.

Crowds of people were waiting for the traffic lights, too. It was lunch time.

Recycling Man

This truck goes around our neighborhood every now and then. On a loud speaker, the driver asks for old electronic, mechanical, or motorized items. Today he had an old computer, a television and two motorcycles on his truck.

The parts are salvaged or the items are repaired and redistributed. This is another way to recycle here. This truck comes by very rarely, but there is another way to get rid of these kinds of items. By calling the city, you can arrange for them to come to get them for a small fee.

By the way, there is also a truck that goes around asking for old laundry poles. He actually sells new ones, too.

Big Job and a Big Haul

A workman came today to put wooden molding around the shower door in the laundry room. We had a leak so the door was replaced last week. They had to take off the molding and had to order more.



Here is his work truck. He pulls the green tarp over the back of the truck and ties it down before he drives.





Here are some of the tools he used. Can you see the wooden handles on some of the tools? I'll show you great-grandfather's tools someday. He was a contractor.

The workman cut the molding in the garden and brought it upstairs. I was stuck in the kitchen with the dogs. They were quiet as long as I was with them. When he finished upstairs, I went down and took pictures. As I was taking pictures, he was replacing the ceiling in Baba's kitchen because of the leak, too. It was a big job. There was no room to take pictures in there! Jiji, grandfather, had never liked the idea of putting a bath on the second floor. He was worried about plumbing problems. Luckily, it wasn't the pipes!





My son carried home the rice he had planted at school. Bless his heart! He hauled it all the way home along with his water bottle and calligraphy bag not to mention the heavy randoseru, school bag, on his back! He said it was really heavy. His hands were red and he was dripping with sweat. After drinking a big glass of water, he said he has to keep it watered. He has to keep the birds away, too. School will be out next week so little by little he'll bring things home. He had a pretty big haul today. (See the June 13th post to find out how he chose the rice seed to plant.)

Bulldozer on Truck

Just a picture of one of those little bulldozers being transported from one place to another.