Tennis Tournament in Kiyohara Industrial Park

I took part in the Kiyohara Industrial Park Tennis Tournament yesterday. The tournament this year is different from the past ones in several points.

First, it is usually held on the first Saturday in September, but it's held in August this year.

Our company, CANON offers part of employees to take promotional examinations on the first Saturday in September. One of my tennis friends had been unable to participate in the tournament because he should take the exams. I was happy to ask him to attend the tournament this year.

Second, my closest tennis friend Mr. Ogata was transferred to Tokyo Head Office in the end of August. Our branch has been targeted to reduce the number of employees as a part of our company's slim down policy to fight against the world wide economic recession. I feel sad that we have to compete the tournament without him this year.

The result was that we became a runner-up. We won the tournament two years ago, but all three doubles teams were defeated by the winner's three teams at the final this year.

We promised to win next year.

After coming back home, my wife advised me that the shorted way to win the tournament next year is to ask the winner's team to become one of their members, lol.

"Robert Is Here Fruit Stand" in Florida

For visiting the Everglades National Park, we stayed three nights in Homestead, Florida in early April.
It took a couple of hours from our hotel to Whitewater Bay area of the Everglades where wild dolphins were living.
On our way to the park, we found a cozy fruits shop called “Robert Is Here Fruit Stand.”

They offer various tropical fruits, vegetables and milkshakes made from their fruits. We had a cup of Canestel or egg fruit milkshake which was completely unfamiliar to us. The taste was very nice: I promise you can enjoy it!

They also featured a mini petting zoo where there were emus, donkeys, goats, parrots, ducks, chickens, geese, tortoises and more. Amazingly they lived in the same area together! The staff members were feeding animals with fresh tomatoes and watermelons there.

My Summer Holidays End Today

My company CANON offers employees summer holidays from August 8 to August 16 this year. It’s the last day of my holidays today.

I went to my hometown Shimane prefecture on August 10 and stayed 6 days at my mother’s house and came back here in Utsunomiya yesterday.

I enjoyed every minute meeting my 84-year-old mother, my brothers, my sister-in-law and relatives.
My mother living with my brother and sister-in-law has a garden next to her house. My mother loves growing flowers and vegetables in the garden.

When I was living in Shimane, I did not care much about living creatures in the garden.
But now, I live in the 4th flour of a condominium, when I go back to Shimane, looking at those living creatures is always great fun to me.

Track and Field Race and Summer Festival

My younger daughter Rina took part in the Utsunomiya Citizens’ Track and Field Race today. She won both 200m and 800m races. Congratulations Rina!

Rina holds four certificates. She got lower two certificates in the 1500m race and the 800m race in May. Upper two certificates were, 200m and 8000m, given to her today.
She is a member of track and field club of her junior high school. She usually attends a junior-high 800m race or a 1500m race , or both.
She said that today’s race was for amateur athletes, so some of stronger runners would not attend today’s race.
That ment there would be an ample chance for her to win even the 200m race.
It was the first time for Rina to compete the 200m race, but she won the race.

She had finished the races in the morning and came back home to go to Miya Matsuri.
Miya Matsuri is a summer festival in Utsunomiya city.
Many people wear Yukata or summer version kimono to enjoy the festival.

She changed her clothes from her running uniform to Yukata, but still kept wearing her running shoes on, and ran to the Tobu department store to meet her athletic club friends.