I am hungry!

But I am not sure what I am in the mood for tonight for dinner... The raw fish below sure does look delicious! It looks so delicious that my mouth is watering! In case you didn`t know, I love raw fish, and sushi. My favorite food is a toss-up between sushi and steak...If I had to make a choice for my last supper, it`d be a tough choice! Concerning sushi, my favorite is yellow tail, but I will tell ya, fatty salmon and white tune(toro) ain`t so bad either! Basically though, I like it all...mackerel, eel, sea urchin, salmon roe, sea bream, scallops, shrimp...bascially, you name it, and i like (will eat)...Ok, it`s decided! Tonight is sushi!! Or on second thought...
(I`ll let ya know what I finally decided on next week...) Hope you all have a good weekend!

Strawberries!!

What is your favorite fruit? Personally, I don`t have a favorite. I like so many that I just can`t choose a favorite one. Also, fruit depends on the season. Just after a fruit is picked, fresh, is the best I think. Recently I think I want to go strawberry picking, or some-other-fruit picking. It seems fun! Have you ever been fruit picking?

Sydney, Australia-What a place!?

When I was much younger, in University, I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia. Actually, I did an internship, and worked in a yacht club. It was a dream job!

I lived in Sydney for about 4 months, then back-packed around some of Australia, Tazamania, Adelaide, Ayers Rock, Cairnes and down the Gold coast...It was my first trip to a foreign country, and boy was it an amazing experience. Australia was really different than America in many waves. Also, I will never forget scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef! There are no words to describe how beautiful it is!!

Two students will soon go to Sydney to study for about 6 months to a year. Sydney is a really cool city, with beaches, old parts of town, modern parts of town, the weather is generally really nice and sunny, the people are friendly (but speak with a little bit of a strange accent) and laid-back(they finish work after lunch on Fridays and never do any overtime...), and if you like beer, well, then you`ll be in heaven because Australians drink A LOT of beer!! A LOT!!!

The students are going at about the same time, but on different programs. I think they are both really lucky...actually I am quite jealous.............
Hope you all have a good weekend!

Roses!

One of my friends actually took my advice and went to Ustubo park to check out the roses. From the looks of the the beautiful pictures below, I don`t think he regretted his decision!

Here`s another must see! (?) Soon, maybe tomorrow or sometime this week, A BIG Women`s Beach Volleyball tournament will begin in Nakanoshima! NO, Nakanoshima is not an Island (shima=island in japanese)!! It is a business district just around the corner from here. I think the organizers of the tourney and the city officials decided on Nakanoshima because of it`s location...they thought it would be easy for many people to come and watch the games. Maybe they are right, because the beaches in the kansai area are all a little inconvenient, especially if you want to go on a weekday. Some of the games are being held on the weekdays, so I guess that many business men and woman, especially salesmen/women who can manage their own schedule and leave the office whenever they want to, or Presidents for that matter, will play hookie for work (skip work) for a few hours in the afternoon and check out the games ,or the women playing the games. Some of these women have become quite popluar as of late, like idols in some circles.

But it must have been difficult to ship in all that sand!! I wonder how many tons of sand they had to ship in?!

I like volleyball, so if I have a little time I plan to check it out!

p.s. Just a side note: In Japan, children and adults play volleyball in school, and in clubs, and it is actually quite popular. But in American, at least where I am from, we only play it in gym class for about a month every year. My image of AMERICAN Olympic volleyball athletes is the follwing: basketball players who weren`t good enough to go pro, or play ball in college, so they were recruited by the volleyball coach.

Okinawa

Last Friday, May 15th, marked the anniversary of OKinawa's return to Japan, after nearly 30 years of being under U.S. governoment control. Actually, I learned this fact for the first time when I visited Okinawa last year. I never knew that Okinawa had once been under U.S. control...I was very surprised....to be honest shocked!!!
I am very interested in Okinawa so I found the below Q&A about Okinawa very informative.
Read it if you like:http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20090512i1.html

Mascots

This is the mascot of the Hanshin Tigers. (FYI=for your information, they are really hot right now!) It`s name is "Tracky." It`s a cute little thing. My hometown baseball team, the Philadelphia Phillies, has one of the most popular/famous mascots in American sports. It`s name is the "Philly Phanatic". Philly is short for Philadelphia. Phanatic=Fanatic=to be crazy about something, or someone who is crazy about something. The Philly Phanatic is difficult to describe, but if you look it up on the net I am sure there is a picture somewhere!! Basically, it is a big green furry thing with a big nose. If you have time, why don`t you google it. "Philly Phanatic". Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

These pictures remind me...

The photos are from a while ago during the cherry blossom season, from Ms. K. It was her birthday day this week!! Happy Birthday!!!
She told me that she went out to dinner with some friends to celebrate! And, she said that she got a lot of presents! Maybe she will get one more! ;)

The cherry blossoms have already fallen off the trees, but the photos reminded me. I went to Utsubo park today for a quick breather. And, boy, was I delightfully surprised...In the center of the park, there are TONS OF roses of ALL COLORS. It is like a ROSE Paradise!! If you haven`t been to Ustubo park to see the roses, you are really missing out on something!! It is a must see, you gotta go!

That`s it for my advice for this week. Simply, if you haven`t gone to Utsubo Park to see the cherry blossoms yet, JUST GO! You won`t regret it, I promise!

Happy Birthday!

This cute girl just became 4 years old! She was lucky because her parents did a good job and took her to USJ last Saturday to celebrate! It was her second time to USJ, but she is only just 4 years old! I am 33, and I have only been to USJ once...Of course USJ, as always, was packed, and also last saturday it rained all day, but this little girl didn`t care!! You couldn`t have removed her smile from her face if you tried! She had a permanent smile on her face! And this will be her last birtday without a sibling. From now she will have to share all of her birthdays with another sibling or two, because her parents are expecting to have another child later this summer...

I think that it her father, holding the umbrella and the newspaper, in the background, but I can`t tell. She looks cute in the little red rain coat!
We could have a future artist on her hands! (She could become an artist in the future.) She drew this picture. Guess who it is? It is a picture of her father!! I was surprised at her talent! It looks exactly like him!! He has short black hair, and sometimes (when he isn`t working, which has been about half of her life because he has retired already two or three times) he has a shaggy beard too!
The below is my favorite picture. He sent it to my cell phone over the weekend, and it really made me happy! Just simply, really cute!! Thanks!!

Now, let`s talk about some other things. First, I have to apologize because the home page and blog were down for a while. Sorry for the inconveneince. Basically, there was some techinical trouble, but it was nothing for my computer technicians to tackle!! It is all better now!

On another note, there was a terrible earthquake in China recently...Now living in an area which has been affected by an earthquake in the past, I am always attentive to news alerts on tv about earthquakes (BEEP, Beep, beep...) as well as earthquake news all over the world. Let`s pray for those who have been devastated by this tragedy...

Police Barricades

Last weekend was a busy and dreary, rainy, weekend for Osaka. On Saturday and Sunday, the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, visited Osaka and the Kansai area. I don`t know the exact number, but there was a huge police presence everywhere. (See the the police in white raincoats/ponchos below setting up the barricades.) Also, for additional security measures, the subway lines around the area were stopped temporarily. And I am sure traffic was a nightmare.

Welcome Back!

Hi! I just wanted to say "Welcome back" to everybody. I received many email from people sayign they had a good and relaxing vacation. I was happy to hear that. But one person also said "I don`t want to go back to work tomorroww!! I want to escape from reality!" Maybe many people feel this way. To that person and ALL, it`s as short week this week so HANG IN THERE!

My vacation was all about R & R! =REST AND RELAXATION! I went hiking, had a BBQ, and basically just took it easy!

Below, are the rest of the pics from the Ms. M`s China trip.

Happy Times at the BBQ again!

Hope you all had a good vacation, day off, yesterday!! I sure did!!! :)

BBQ, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches again! BUT!! Also, I thought that a little variety never killed anyone, so I decided to try to make some news dishes this year, like fried soba, fried ramen noodles, some grilled beef/chicken/fish/vegetables,and...I am still thinking. Do you have any ideas for great food for the BBQ? But maybe the traditional American Style BBQ is the best I think.

In addition to the great food and weather, when you throw in badminton, soccer, baseball catches, playing other games in the sun, reading a book under a tree, sitting on the ledge nextto the river, you can`t beat it! It`s a great formula for A GREAT TIME! and I can`t wait to do it again over Golden Week!

BBQ

Yesterday I did my first BBQ of the year! Outside at the park next to the river near my place. The menu on the grill was hot dogs, and cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches. Side dishes included my favorite macaroni salad and potato salad. And red wine. The weather was really nice with a little chilly breeze, but not too cold. BBQ season is great because I can spend a lit of time outside. As I noticed last night, time goes by slower andis more relaxing when spent outside.

Do you like to spend your free time indoors or outdoors? Speaking of free time, Golden Week vacation is coming up. I assume everyone has some time off, so how do you plan to spend your GW vacation? ME? Thanks for asking! I will spend most of it at the river doing a BBQ.

Puddles and desert water

Today is a lousy day. Rain, rain and more rain...When I went jogging this morning my sneakers got soaked because I stepped in so many puddles. It will take about 2 days for my sneaks to dry out I think. In total I ran about 6 kilometers, very slow running in the rain. It was nice and the air was cool so it was easy to run. In a few months I will be drenched in sweat, but today was just drenched in rain.

Isn`t it amazing that in the middle of a desert, sometime you can find some water. When I went hiking in America in the desert, there was a little waterfall and a little stream right smack in the middle of the desert! Like a miracle! Truly unbelievable! I put my hands in the water and splashed some on my face. It felt really good and refreshing.

Today is a beautiful day. The weather forecast for tomorrow is rain...

So today let`s just enjoy the blue sky, the fresh air, and the beautiful cherry blossom photos...that`s it for the blog today.

Dog food

No! Not dog food for your pet dog, dog food for people! Dog meat! Have you ever eaten dog meat? In China and Korea, it is a delicacy! When people go to China for business, their Chinese partners/clients often treat them to a fine dinner of DOG! I wonder if dog is expensive or cheap? Either way, do you want to try it?

In Japan, people also eat some unusual food. For example, turtle! Turtle is also not a cheap dish!! It takes quite a chunk out of your wallet! There are also some others, like whale, deer, and wild boar...

In France or Spain, I heard they eat rabbit!

What strange foods have you eaten? Do you recommend any?

Ms. M live In China

Ms. M makes great albums of every trip she goes on. Her pcitures, and poses in the pictures, and captions about each picture are always interesting, and at times also amusing. Check out the background of the picture below! What are all of the brides and grooms doing on the rocks?! That`s a helluva a scene!

Speaking of brides and grooms, I went to my first Japanese wedding yesterday. The bride looked beautiful and the groom looked stunning. The basic style of a wedding is different in Japan and America, but there are too many differences to get into now. In person, I`d like to talk about the differences one day though...

Today is really a beautiful day. Hope the week is good for everyone!

Tsingtao Beer

I like beer. I like beer A LOT! But recently I am on a diet. So, I cut beer out of my diet! I know, you don`t believe me, but it`s true! Except for when I go out, I don`t drink beer at all.

The above photo is ok Tsingtao beer. This beer is from China, made in China. it`s good. Recently when Ms. M visited China, she went to the city of Tsingtao. I didn`t know that Tsingtao was the name of the city.

The below picture looks like there is a lot of haze in this City. In the newspaper recently, there are many articles about the air pollution in China because of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. One world-class runner actually announced he would not run in the marathin race in the Olympics because of concerns about the dirty air.

Also, there are articles about the "yellow sand" from China. Sometimes this sand also reaches Japan.

What do you think about the Beijing Olympics, yellow sand, air pollution...?

From the airplane window...

When you fly what do you like to do? Personally, I don`t like flying. I always get sweaty palms and feel anxious. But unless I swim or take a boat, it is the only way for me to visit my home town Philadelphia, so I have no choice.

But once I get on the plane and the plane takes off, I do my best to enjoy the trip as much as possible. I go to the restroom often, so I prefer to sit in an aisle seat. Really the window is ideal, because I can look at the exquisite view, but it is annoying to climb over two other passengers to go to the restroom every time. The middle seat is an absolute pass, too many elbows!!!

If there is a personal tv at the seat, I would watch movies the whole time. From take off til we land. But if no personal tv, then I like to read a book or newspaper. After that, I usually sleep. The more I can sleep, the better. When I was a child, I also played cards on the plane.

Also, I always order a vegetarian meal. I recommend to do this! I am NOT a vegetarian, but the vegatrian meai is light and healthy, and usually airplane food is NOT so good, plus the vegetarian meal comes before all the other meals so you can eat it first. Also, there is no risk, no HIT or MISS like the regular meals, for example, "Ah, I am sorry. We are out of chicken. We only have the fish..." No thanks!!

If it is a long flight, I try to walk around and strecth too as much as possible. And one last side note, on an international flight, I have flown first class once, my first trip to Japan. ON JAL. from New York to Tokyo. It was UNBELIEVABLE!!!

The weather forecast guaranteed it ain`t gonna rain today, so hope ya`ll can enjoy the sunny day today!

I like to ride my bicycle...in China

Ms. M visited China last month. She made a great internet album and I would like to put up a few photos from her trip over the next few days. This blog will be about bicycles.

Recently there are sometimes articles in the newspaper about a law which prohibits riding with two children on one bike, or which prohibits riding with a child seat in both the front and the back of the bicycle. The reason is that it is dangerous! If found by the police doing this, there is a fine of about 20,000 yen as well as an order to attend a "bicycle/traffic education" class.

When the police tried to enforce this law, many mothers went ballistic and were furious. They said "How do you expect us to take our children to and from school?" "Why are you picking on us, why don`t you spend more time catching murderers and thiefs!"

I understand both points of view. What do you think?

I have heard there are A LOT of bicycles in China. One day I would like to go there and see for myself.

For all you Cherry Blossom lovers, these are from Kyoto! Check `em out!

Yesterday I couldn`t watch any Tiger`s highlights when I got home, because on Monday there are no Tiger`s (Central League) games. What about the Pacific league...To be honest, I don`t know=I can`t remember. If you know, please tell me.

But fortunately tonight, I am gonna plop my behind under the Kotatsu (soon the Kotatsu will be gone because I am gonna put it away in the closet for the spring and summer), get myself a cocktail, and watch those Tiger`s highlights.
Recently, like Matsui of the Yankees and Fukudome of the Cubs, the Togers are hot!
Good night to all...