Blog#14: Hawaiian Atmosphere

Erika Okada

Hello!  I'll tell you about a Hawaiian restaurant which I recently visited.

One Wednesday, my friend and I got off the train at Omiya station in Saitama City in order to enjoy chatting and having dinner.  However, we hadn't decided which restauarnt we should choose, so we strolled in LUMINE, and finally chose "Lanai Hawaiian Natural Dishes".  Hawaiian music and appetizing smell attracted us.

We ordered a Loco Moco, non-alcoholic cocktails, and a Hawaiian pancake.  The pancake was extremely delicious ;-)  I really regret that I forgot to take pictures of it :(  It was not just a pancake.  Maybe tapioca was the key ingredient, I think.



Non-alcoholic cocktails

 
Hawaiian foods were delicious.  Music relaxed us.  Wooden fans were running slowly on the ceiling.  The lights were mild yellow.  Waiters were very kind.  We satisfied with all of them and agreed with each other that we would visit there again.



There was a Christmas tree decorated with Hawaiian lei.


If you have a chance to go Omiya, I'll recommend you to visit Lanai!!

Bye :)

Blog#13: Polar Bears

Erika Okada

Hi!  I learned about polar bears a little in other class.  I was surprised at polar bears' lives, so I'll introduce to you the situation they are now on.

In the North Pole, polar bears which have pure white fur and cute eyes are there.  Sadly, however, the polar bear is a kind of endangered species.  Global warming and environmental pollution make them be on a harsh situation to live.

Polar bears spend almost all of their lives on the ice.  Their bodies are covered with thick subcutaneous fat so that they can survive in a land of severe cold.  They eat seals, walruses, and belugas in order to increase their fat.

Do you know the fact that polar bears have to go on a fast which is up to 8 months?  Global warming causes a shortage of their food.  Rising temperature brings an increase in the amount of rainfall.  Rainfall breaks lairs made of ice and snow.  In other words, seals and other animals preyed on by polar bears lose their houses.  It causes a decrease in the number of seals and other animals.  As a result, polar bears cannot get enough food and are forced to starve.

Another cause making polar bears face a crisis of extinction is environmental pollution.  Toxic substaces such as dioxin and agricultural chemicals are gathering in the North Pole from many parts of the world.  Those toxic substances melt into seawater.  Plankton eat them, and small fish eat plankton.  Going through a food chain, toxic substances get concentrations and are delivered from small creatures to big animals.  Finally, polar bears are affected by high concentrate pollutants.

More and more global warming and environmental  pollution advance, more and more polar bears become endangered.  Of course, other animals in the North Pole also face a crisis of extinction.

Under this situation, polar bears live as strenuous as they can.  We are supposed to think over the problem.