2010 Japan Cup Cycle Road Race in Utsunomiya

The Japan Cup, a road cycling event which has been held every October since 1992, was held in Utsunomiya city on October 23 this year.
My wife and I went to downtown Utsunomiya to watch the 35 kilometer long Criterium race for the first time.

I go to my office by bicycle everyday. It takes me about half an hour in the morning and another half an hour at night. I think I know “riding a bike” better than anyone around me in my office. But the road race was quite different from what I had thought before.

I’ve never seen such men who run that fast in front of me. It was very exciting event. They ran so fast that I missed chances of perfect photo shots many times.

I’ll take better shots next year!

Baby Alpaca in ‘Bell Mall’ Becomes Bigger.

The other day, Rina and I went shopping for Rina’s new shoes at ‘Bell Mall,’ the largest shopping mall in Utsunomiya city.
'Bell Mall' staff keep alpacas near the entrance of the shopping mall. The alpaca couple living there gave birth to a baby girl in the end of June this year.

The five-day-old baby alpaca had looked frail and was walking clumsily in June. But, we found her become bigger, cuter and walking with steady steps this time.

I think watching the new born alpaca must be a fun to most of the visitors to 'Bell Mall.'

Chic Cafe In Kanuma City

I took a day off from work and went to Kanuma city with my wife a couple weeks ago. Kanuma city is located west of Utsunomiya. It took us about forty minutes by car.

It was a beautiful raining autumn day.
We visited a cool coffee shop named “Kyo-Cha-An.”

They served us delicious light meal and excellent flavor coffee with yummy dessert.
The shop was decorated with old Japanese displays and furniture, so it seemed like a little antique shop.

I think the shop is one of must-visit shops in Kanuma city.

Nobi Left An Empty Rabbit Hutch.

Our pet rabbit Nobi passed away peacefully on last Thursday.

She was six years old, lived with us almost five years. She has left us an empty house of her own and plenty of wonderful memories.

We knew a live animal should die soon or later as well as other pets we had taken care of such as turtles, flogs, fish, ants and beetles.
But we never thought of it for Nobi, no, no we didn’t want to think of it.

The day suddenly fell on us and it became reality on Oct. 7th.
To perform a funeral, my two daughters and I went to a forest near Utsunomiya Museum of Art: we call it a rabbit museum because of its well-known rabbit statue in our city. It was raining on Saturday.

Business Trip To Tokyo

I made a business trip to CANON headquarters in Tokyo to attend the seminar of software development technology last week.

The seminar was fruitful for my daily work, but not interesting enough to post an article about it on my blog.

On my way to the headquarters, I made a short visit to Ebisu which was one of my most favorite towns in Tokyo. There were a lot of beautiful flowers and high rise buildings.
I took pictures for a couple of hours there.

If you like taking pictures and have a chance to visit Ebisu, never miss to visit Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. You can enjoy watching a bunch of pictures.