A Party with My Colleagues

I had a party for welcoming a new comer to our department in my office last Friday. The restaurant just one minute from JR Utsunomiya station is famous for serving chicken dishes from Miyazaki prefecture. We had the party there. Miyazaki is now getting attentions for its bird flu infected chickens. The farmers there are unwillingly killing tens of thousands of chickens to prevent from spreading the disease across Japan, according to news reports.

The first dish they served was raw chicken meet. The colleagues seemed to enjoy eating the food, but I did not.
The guy who planed the party told me that he had decided the restaurant before the news of the bird flue were reported.
I thought he could have ample chances to change the place after hearing the news.

I didn’t enjoy the food but had a nice time talking and drinking with my colleagues.

A New Pair of Sneakers

I bought Rina a new pair of sneakers a couple weeks ago. She was very delighted to have them. I’ve always bought her new shoes for jogging when her old ones had worn out. I thought jogging shoes were the best choice for her. Because she is a member of an athletic club in her high school and likes running very much.

But, recently, the idea seemed not always true to her. She said that she sometimes wanted to wear cute casual shoes like her classmates were wearing at school.

I realized she has become matured a bit.
The shoes she is holding are the ones she really wanted to wear.

Snow Covered Utsunomiya

It had snowed in my town last night. Even on Saturday, I worked till midnight yesterday and barely came back home by bicycle in the snow.

On the contrary, it’s sunny day today.

The town is covered with a one-inch-thick snow blanket and is shimmering in the morning sunshine.
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Mt. Fuji Viewed from My Balcony

On sunny days, especially in the morning or in the evening, I can enjoy viewing Mt. Fuji from my new condo. Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan.

Although it’s located about 200 km away from Utsunomiya, I can take full size pictures of Mt. Fuji using a camera with x20 lens.

Before moving in current condo, even I’ve been living in the same city for almost 15 years, I can’t remember I’ve ever seen Mt. Fuji.

Viewing Mt. Fuji has become one of my favorite pleasures at home.
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I Wish You Have a Wonderful Happy New Year.

We moved in here on December 26th last year.
I was so busy preparing to move that I even couldn’t find a minute to do my weekly blog update on last Sunday.
Finally, a super hectic week for putting tons of chaotic cardboard-boxes in order has almost ended
I’m planning to be relaxed and enjoy new year holidays from tomorrow till my office starts an operation on January 5th.

I wish all visitors to my blog enjoy new year holidays and have a wonderful happy new year.
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Moving to a New Condo

We are going to move to a new condominium in Utsunomiya next week. It’s located just twenty minutes from here on foot. We have been living in our current condominium since March in 1996 when we moved in from Tokyo.

Since several new higher buildings were constructed in front of our residence, the daytime when we can get sunlight in our rooms decreased a lot and the view from its balcony became far worse than before.

Those triggered me to buy a new one.
Empty rooms get a lot of sunshine and the view from the rooms is excellent.
We can’t wait for the day of moving.

A view from the balcony of the new condo.

Emi And Her Close Friend At Their High School

My wife Kiyono, my daughter Emi and her close friend went to Emi’s high school to feed fish which were kept at her high school.
I didn’t go with them, but Kiyono took a video for me so I could see the scene of their feeding.
I trimmed a few pictures out of the video.

Emi is recently very busy studying for her college entrance exams scheduled in the coming January. So, it’s hard for her to find an ample fun time with her friends. Nor can she find a fun time at home.

Since I rarely see Emi’s big laughing recently at home, somehow I was relieved by seeing such a loud laughing and the scene they enjoyed feeding fish.
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The Site Of A Traffic Accident

I happened to come across the site of a traffic accident on my way to Futara-yama shrine yesterday. When I passed-by there, several firefighters and police were checking the car and asking people involved in the accident.
Apparently, the car had caught fire and firefighters had put it out before I saw them.

After coming back home, I checked the web site of a local news paper about the accident. It said that luckily nobody were seriously injured.

I firmly decided I would never do speeding, though this feeling would disappear in several weeks. lol

The Season For Autumn Leaves

I played tennis today with Rina and some of my friends in Kiyohara Industrial Park.

The leaves there were at their peak color.
I enjoyed the changing colors of autumn leaves and, of course, playing tennis.

To tell you the truth, I've had a shoulder pain since early September this year.
I usually play tennis three to four times a week, but now I do only once a week.

I'm happy to think that even only once a week to play tennis is far far better than never.

Hot Air Balloon Competition in Utsunomiya

When I played tennis at Shirasawa Green Park today, I happened to see many hot air balloons in the sky. They were flying so far away that I could barely see them like dots in the sky.

I remembered “Tochigi Hot Air Balloon International Championship” held in my city three years ago. That had been a wonderful experience to me.

I upload two pictures I took today and a video I made three years ago.

The Town I lived For 10 Years

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

I went to Omori, Tokyo at the end of October. Omori is the place I had lived for ten years before I got married. There are a lot of memories at the town.

Picture #1
Sanno elementary school has buildings and a hard surface athletics track field. An athletic meeting was held on the day.

Picture #2
The tree at the flower shop grew faaaaar bigger than before. I think they could not cut the tree down, instead they caved their shop wall. lol.

Picture #3
There were quite a few public bath houses in Tokyo long ago. The bath house I visited several times was still standing there.
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Preparing For Entrance Exams.

I took a lot of pictures of Emi, one of my daughters, the other day.
When I take a picture of a person, I usually say “Smile, please.” But it was different last time.
I said “Be Smart.”
 Why?

The pictures are to be used as ID photos for college application forms. Most of Japanese colleges, I guess, don’t accept an ID picture with a smile.

Entrance exams are scheduled in January and February next year.
Emi is very busy studying these days.

I really hope that Emi will pass her most favorite college’s exam, knock on wood.

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.

Hospitality / Barry Flanagan

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.

What Do You Do In The Morning Everyday?

The first thing I do in the morning in summer is to pick up a newspaper at the mail box, then go out to the balcony to count the number of flowers blooming everyday.

I read the newspaper and take a glance at morning-glory flowers once in a while before my wife gets up. I like doing that.

I feel the summer is passing when the number of flowers decreases.

Recently, the number of flowers has decreased very much and the size of flowers has also become smaller than that in the top season.

Yes, autumn is coming in my town Utsunomiya.

Track And Field 800-Meter Race

Rina won the women’s track and field 800-meter race the day before yesterday.
Congratulations Rina!
But, she told me that some skilled athletes did not come to the race and that’s the reason why she was able to win the race.

Judging from the time record, it seems true in certain way. She earned the time record of 2 minutes 33 seconds this time, but she ran at the record of 2 minutes 27 seconds one year ago.

She has become taller, bigger and heavier these days. As many female teenage-athletes feel, I guess, Rina feels it hard to beat her own time record at her younger age.

By the way, the third Monday of September is a national holiday ‘ Respect-for-the-Aged Day’ in Japan. We should honor and show respect to the aged today.

But, forgetting everything about the respect-for-the-aged day, I played tennis with my friends in northern resort area of Tochigi prefecture today.

I was happy to be able to play tennis in such a beautiful mountain resort and refresh myself.
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Making Red Beet Salad

I ate red beet salad the other day. It’s very delicious. So, I tell you how to make red beet salad today.

1. Sow seeds in rainy season in a plant pot on the 4th floor of your condo.
2. Forget everything about sowing the seeds and wait just for one month.
3. Remember that you sowed seeds a month ago.
4. Watch the grass carefully everyday till the roots become red and bigger enough to eat.
5. Prepare black sesame dressing for the red beet.
6. Eat them with smile. That’s all.