polski
7 pm sharp. Holding a basket overflowing with oranges – symbols of prosperity and good luck – we knock at the doors of an HDB flat. Wearing a red dress Kasey, with a warm smile invites us inside. The moving carpet, called by the household ‘a dog’, frantically runs around. “This is my dad, my […]
About 500m from the southern tip of the main island of Singapore lies its smaller neighbour – Sentosa. These five square kilometres are the national playground of Singapore. Locals call it ‘The State of Fun’. The island is divided into five main parts: north-western ‘Sentosa Cove’, northern ‘Resort World Sentosa’, central ‘Imbiah Lookout’, eastern ‘Siloso […]
At random, we enter the nearest restaurant Harper’s Restaurant & Lounge and sit at a table right next to the huge open windows. On one side, there is a stunning view of a river bank and the old town. On the other – greens of the nearby grove. Below, runs a river cooling us with […]
We beat about narrow alleys, between low shop houses and freshly painted modern blocks of flats. Large palm leaves shade neatly kept lawns. Backs of the buildings are adorned with nice-looking spiral staircases. Mouthwatering scents coming from opened kitchen windows fill the air. A huge painted peacock and goatling peek from the murals. In one […]
A passing downpour fills the air with a scent of steaming soil. Inescapable humidity is intensified by large-leafed tropical trees and fan-shaped palms. Under a bridge, through the forest floor, flits a small, brownish animal. Black, beady eyes watch cameras and hidden behind them, people. Small, mouse-like nose sniffs the air. Thin, deer legs carry […]
A tiny booth – one of the many similarly looking. A kitchen and storage at the same time. Its supreme king – bent by time small grandpa – skillfully shifts between metal shelves full of bowls and cups. Sunburnt hands, covered with creases of wrinkles, briskly toss fish cakes sizzling on a grill grid. From beneath […]
![[English below]
Trzydniowa Japonia w pigułce rozniosła nam głowy. Kilka lat później przeprowadziliśmy się do niej na sześć miesięcy. Kraj przez pół roku konsekwentnie i nieodwracalnie przepalał nam styki. Dlatego nie zdziwiliśmy się wcale, kiedy kilka lat później w Wołgogradzie po meczu Polska-Japonia kibice naszych rywali zabrali się za porządkowanie stadionowych trybun. Co kiedyś mogłoby wywołać uśmiech politowania i wymowny gest posuwisto-zwrotny palcem wskazującym w stronę czoła, dziś było tak oczywiste, że aż trzeba się było dołączyć. Wcale nas nie zdziwiło, że przed stadionem rzesze japońskich fanów gratulowało Polakom tak żarliwie, jakbyśmy wcale nie grali o pietruszkę. Przy tym wszyscy byli tak urzekająco szczęśliwi naszym… hmm… szczęściem, jakby sami właśnie wygrali puchar. Wymianom szalików, koszulek nie było końca. Andrzej wrócił chyba z trzema. W tym jedną vintage z rozgrywek w latach dziewięćdziesiątych ubiegłego wieku. Co prawda juniorska, ale przynajmniej na jedno z nas pasuje.
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Three-day Japan, in a nutshell, blew our minds. A few years later, we moved in there for six months. The country has been consistently and irreversibly frying our brains for half a year. That's why we weren't at all surprised when, a few years later, in Volgograd, after the Poland-Japan match, our rivals' fans started cleaning up the stadium stands. What once might have caused a smile of pity and a back-and-forth gesture with the index finger towards the forehead was now so obvious that we had to join in. We were not at all surprised that in front of the stadium, crowds of Japanese fans congratulated the Poles as passionately as if we were not playing for honour at all. And everyone was so charmingly happy with our… hmm… victory as if they had just won the cup themselves. There was no end to the exchange of scarves and T-shirts. Andrzej came back with at least three, including one vintage from the 1990s. It's a junior size, but it fits at least one of us.](https://www.peryferie.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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