Pretzels

Pretzels!!! Do you like pretzels? I love pretzels! I used to eat them when I was a child, in high school, university, even now! There are many types of pretzels, ard and soft, big and small...Sometimes I eat them with mustard too!! If you have never tried a pretzel, I recommend that you try one ASAP!! ;) Hope everyone has a good weekend!

p.s. Thank you Ms. N for this CUTE photo!

Midosuji Street Art

Last night I went to the Hanshin Tigers and Tokyo Giants game at Koshien Stadium. It was the first time I have been to koshien in a while. It was a rainy night, drizzling off and on for practically the whole game. But it wasn`t cold, so it was OK. The game was a blow out! The Giants won 10-3 I think. Many people began leaving in the 7th inning, so at that time I got a seat in the first row on the third base side. It was great and interesting to watch the game from so close, the same level as the field. As always, the koshien atmosphere and Tiger fans were awesome too!


What do you think about this art? It is on Midosuji street. Mr. YU took theses photos and made some comments about them too. Check out the "comments" for his thoughts on these sculptures!

Steak Dinner!

During my vacation in America, I had a couple of steak dinners, in my parent`s house and also in some restaurants. All of them were great, but of course the home-cooked one is my favorite! Ms. C made a steak dinner for her boyfriend`s birthday lst month. She sent me this picture of all the goodies! She made everything from scratch, by herself! It all looks really delicious!

To chnage the subject, yesterday there was a lot of depressing news in Japan and America, with the random shooting in Virginia and the Mayor in Nagasaki being shot and killed. This news is really terrible and shocking...I hope today is a safe day for everybody!

Naoshima Part 2

These are Mr. Y`s photos! He told me all about the island the other day. He said the diameter of the island is about 16km and there are 2 big museums and also about 14 artistic objects/structures scattered all over the island. Also, he said he saw many foreigners, especially French people. I like walking and I am interested in art so I think I want to go there some day.
Today it is raining...a rainy start to the week. yesterday while I was teaching, there was an earthquake. My student, a junior high school kid, Mr. J, and I were really surprised. In Osaka even the magnitude was about 2 or 3, we could feel it. It lasted about 15 seconds I think...Some of my friends in Osaka also said that they felt it, but some people said they didn`t feel it. I hope everyone has a safe week!

Art Island: Naoshima (Part 1)

Two of my friends, Ms. E and Mr. Y went to Naoshima the other day. They didn`t go together, but it was a coincidence that both of them send me some photos around the same day. These are Ms. E`s photos! I first heard about this island on t.v. a few months ago. Also, after that, I read about it in the newspaper! Many foreigners supposively go there. The island is designed to be like one big art museum. Ms. E and Mr. Y both said that they had a good time and enjoyed it. I hope to go there one day.

I Like the above photo a lot!

This one is really cool too! It looks like a lady-bug pumpkin! But it`s on the beach!?!

Today was round one of Ichiro-Matsuzaka!! Did you watch it on t.v. this morning? Matzuzaka won that battle, but lost the game! And the other (forgotten) Japanese player in the game, Jojima, hit two doubles off of Matzuzaka...he almost hit a home-run too, but it was just foul...I can`t wait til the next match-up!

Waterfalls...

I really like waterfalls! These photos are from a while ago. I went for a light-hike for about 2 hours. All long the hiking path, there were waterfalls and a little river. It was in the winter so there wasn`t so much water, but I am sure that in the summer there is a lot of water and also I bet the GREEN of the trees and grass is beautiful! Do you like waterfalls? Are there any waterfalls which you are your favorite?
Me taking a break on the rocks...
Tranquility...I like the sound of waterfalls. The sound from waterfalls is sometimes very loud, but sometimes I feel it is also silent.

In las Vegas, which I just visited 2 weeks ago, I went to a great restaurant at The Wynn Hotel. I forget the name of the restaurant, but there was a huge man-made waterfall with a light and music show. I think the show was every 15 minutes. It was fantastic! I recommend to go there for dinner if you ever go to Las Vegas!

Jet Lag and Cherry Blossoms!

I got back to Japan late on Tuesday night. I slept about 4 hours that night, which is pretty good considering the long trip. But yesterday jet lag hit me...i didn`t take a nap and made it through the day, but at around 10pm I was konked out...Last night I slept about 6 or 7 hours...I woke up about every hour but quickly fell asleep each time. Today I feel good and it is a chilly but sunny day so I plan to go outside to breath some fresh air and be bathed in the warm sunlight. With the help of nature, hopefully jet lag will not bother me today!

I want to thank Ms. S and Ms. E for the beautiful Cherry blossom pictures!

Have a good day!

I`m back...

I went to America and Mexico for about 2 weeks. The weather was perfect everywhere, so I was lucky I think! First I went to Las vegas, then Mexico, then back to Vegas, and then Philadelphia, my home town. It was my first time there in about 2 years. A few things changed there, but basically everything was the same. In Mexico and Vegas I just relaxed and took it easy! I also ate a lot of good food (but the portions are really big so I also got bigger maybe ;) I will put up many pics from my trip over the next few weeks! Please look forward to them.

What happened in Osaka while I was gone? Tell me what`s up and everything that happened!!

I want to thank Ms. Y and Ms. N for sending me the below cherry blossom photos! They are great and I heard the the cherry blossoms are in full bloom now so I hope to go cherry blossom viewing and have a cherry blossom party or two soon.

The above are from Ms. N. I think she took these photos near her house.
The below two photos are from Ms. Y. She took these in Nara! She loves Nara (so do I)!!