2016.11.30

The last day of November. There is only one month left.
How was your November?
I enjoyed "the fall of art" visiting many exhibitions and "the fall of appetite" visiting many delicious restaurants,

It was fine but cold today.

It was a long day, but very interesting to see many people.

Eight of us went out for lunch at a Shabu shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ) restaurant nearby. Shabu shabu is one of my favorite winter dishes. You dip the sliced meat and vegetables into the boiling water and eat with different sauce. I usually use the sauce made of soy sauce with citrus juice or sesami taste. However there were four tastes to choose today and I tried tomato and soy milk which I have never tasted before. You can choose either beef or pork and rice or noodle called kishimen (きしめん). I chose beef and noodle. Beef lunch costs yen 1250 and Pork lunch costs yen 980. I liked the restaurant because each one of us could use self pot.
We all liked the restaurant so I am sure we will visit there again.

2016.11.29

It was cloudy.

This morning I happened to see one of my students from club actvity. It's been so long since we met last, so she was very surprised that I recognized her.

I went to MLIT to have a meeting in the morning, and had lunch there. It was an Italian restaurant. I have been to MLIT many times but I did not know the restaurant. To our lucky on Tuesday and Thursday there is a salad bar and a cup of soup for those who order the today's special. And on Friday they serve dessert. Today's menu was grilled chicken, omlett, spaghetti and rice which cost yen 790.  I think it was reaonable.

I bought cosmetics and got many presents.

Today is a new moon. It is a good timing to write wishes. What are your wishes?

2016.11.28

It was cloudy.

My PC was not shut down last night, so I ordered my favorite goods from Cyber Monday. Usually they charge shipping fee but only today it is free. When I saw the website at night, they were already sold out. So I felt lucky.

After work I went out for dinner at a mediterranean foods restaurant in Shirokane, where I happened to find by coupon site. The course dinner plus one drink usually costs more than yen 6,000 but using the special coupon it cost less than yen 2,500. They were delicious.
There was no dessert included so we changed to the second place and enjoyed cake and tea.

Today I got emails from Expo 92 related friends and Florida related friends. I am really glad to have been to many countries and made friends with many people.

It was a nice day.

2016.11.27

It was cloudy and became rainy.  It was very cold too.

There was no appointment today, so I could do anything.  I was going to see four movies, but since I got up late, I decided not to go.  Instead I went grocery shopping. 

In the evening someone from NHK came to collect the subscription fee because I closed my father's bank account last month and they could not withdraw the fee from his account.  I chose to pay by credit card. There are three types of paying period, once in two months or once in six months or once in a year.  It costs yen 2,060 for two months.  There is a deduction of 5 % for six months and 7% of one year, so I chose once in a year payment. 

2016.11.26

It was fine and very beautiful.

In the morning I went to massage after a month or so. Then we went out for lunch at the place where I wanted to visit for a long time. Its name is Ichinokura (一ノ蔵), which is the famous sake brand name, so I did not know they are open at lunch time. Their lunch menu was very reasonable.

In the afternoon I went to Kimono Style Miya to have my hair done, got dressed and taken pictures. At first I was going to wear just two kimono, but there was the one I liked very much at the first sight. So in between I asked to get dressed one more kimono. It was so beautiful and gorgeous.

In the evening I went to Tsudanuma where my friend from Expo 92 had his first art exhibition of dragon pictures. His birthday is the same as mine though the year is different. It was held at a restaurant called Genshichi (源七). From the name I expected the same kind of place I went for lunch, but it was a western style cafe restaurant.
The pictures were very nice and I got a special post card.  

If you have a chance, please visit there to see the exhibition which will last until December 4.

2016.11.25

It was fine and very cold. It is getting harder to get out of bed in the morning.

Mt. Fuji looked so beautiful covered with snow.

Leaves of the cherry trees at the campus are yellow and red and beautuiful.

Sky was blue with white clouds.

Air is cold but clean and refreshing. 

I took some pictures.

I attended a lecture about "University Communication," how to write polite and formal in English. It was useful.

After work I went to see the movie "Inferno" with my colleague at the TOHO cinemas Roppongi where is about 10 minutes walk from my office. There was a Christmas tree, and we could see the Tokyo Tower from there too. We enjoyed the movie. But the foods were disappointing compared to the price.

2016.11.24

It snowed! They say it's been 54 years since we had the first snow in November. First snow is hatsu yuki (初雪) in Japanese. Usually we have first snow in Kanto area in January.

It is very cold today.

In the morning trains delayed about 30 minutes because of earthquakes and snow. In the evening they also delayed for 15 minutes or so.

We had once a month luncheon among the same department staff. We bring our own lunch to the meeting room. Usually the director makes a presentation about something, but today a used to be librarian talked about how official documents  were prepared at the end of Meiji period. In spite of passing more than 136 years, the necessary items were almost the same.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2016.11.23

It is a national holiday called kinro kansha no hi (勤労感謝の日), Labour Thanksgiving Day in Japan.

It was cloudy in the daytime and rained at night.

I had a very busy fruitful day today.

In the morning, I went to see a documentary movie titled "Kamisama tono yakusoku (かみさまとのやくそく)" Promise with God: You were born by choosing your parents.
It dealt with intraulterine memory and past life.
I have been interested in this movie for a long time,  especially after meeting Dr. Ikegawa this summer. The theater is in Tabata and it was a very small one with 20 seats or so.  The staff was very  kind.
I was so surprised to hear children's story before they were born. We often say we can't choose our parents, but according to them it is different. We choose our parents.

Then I went to the art exhibition to see my friend's work in Ueno.

I had volumy lunch at a Chinese restaurant with my old friend.

After that I went to Kimono Style Miya in Yokohama to get dressed and hair done. Today I wore my favorite new kimono and obi.

We had a dinner party at a Japanese style cuisine restaurant in Kamioooka . To my surprise I became a champion by scissors, stone, and paper, and got the first prize of the Christmas presents. How lucky I am!

After coming back to Kimono Style Miya, I changed and went to visit Kotohira Otori Jinja (金刀比羅大鷲神社) for Ni no Tori (二の酉) the second Cock Fairs.
It was raining but there were still lots of people there.

It was a really nice day.

2016.11.22

It was cloudy, and became fine.

In the morning at 5:59, there were rather big earthquakes. There was no damage to my place, but the commuting trains delayed for 20 minutes or so.
I was wondering if I would arrive at the office by 10 am, but I did.

There was twice a month regular meeting at the office which usually starts at 13:30 but it started at 15:30 today. I wanted to leave the office earlier to attend another meeting, but after all I Ieft there nearly 17:00. 

At night I attended another once a month meeting. It's been about 10 days since I met them last.  On that day I went to the beauty salon after seeing them. So this was the first day for them to see my new hair style.The praised my new hair style and I was very pleased.

There I saw a very interesting toothpick holder.

2016.11.21

It was cloudy in the morning but rained heavily in the afternoon.  Fortunately I did not have to use an umbrella when I left the office because it stopped raining in the evening.

Today I had an online stress test.  There were nearly 60 questions to answer by rating 4 levels, totally agree, somehow agree, somehow disagree, and totally disagree.  Questions were about the difficulties of job assignment, human relationship in the office, and health condition.
Totally considered I was judged having no stress.  Very good.

I had a chance to listen to the lecture about Community Design in the late afternoon. Since the lecturer talked according to the reaction of audience, there was no resume. I believe the simultaneous interpreters must be very tired.
The lecture was interesting because there were examples and he was trying to make us laugh every five minutes.

2016.11.20

It was fine today.

I went to Ginza first to see the art exhibition which my two artist friends recommended. I did not know his name, but I have seen his works before.  They are related to Japanese Gods and very beautiful. Since today was the last day of the exhibition, I am glad to visit there.

In the afternoon I went to a meeting of the travel lovers.  I went the venue for the first time, but it was the house of my instructor of ISD, so I was so surprised because I wanted to visit there, and I will visit there for the year end party for ISD next month.

There were 26 people in the first part which was from 1 pm to 5 pm.  I knew some of them but I met others for the first time.  Some joined all the way from Okinawa, Osaka, and Nagoya.

The second part was dinner party of vegetarian foods though I am not a vegetarian. They were more delicious than I thought, and the fake meat made from soy beans really taste like meat.  They say the chef has started learning vegetarian cooking since this year which was amazing.
I enjoyed eating and talking.

I felt like traveling soon.

It was a nice day.

2016.11.19

The weather forecast was right. Unfortunately it was a rainy day.
I wished it would be fine because I wanted to wear the new kimono today to go to see Kabuki (歌舞伎) because to see Kabuki wearing kimono is one of my dreams related kimono.  But it rained, I decided not to wear the new one but to wear old one with raincoat to make my dream come true. I bought these when I went to lessons to wear kimono in my late 20s. The good things about kimono is we can wear it for decades.

Today I participated the tour which includes delicious Japanese lunch at a famous restaurant in Ginza, shopping at the famous jewelry shop, and kabuki. I attended with my friend whom I met at the Golden Life Program two years ago, and happened to see each other again this spring at our mutual friend's photo exhibition. We have many things in common.
The seat of Kabuki was on the third floor and cost yen 6,000 but the tour fee was yen 6,800 included very nice lunch.
We really enjoyed today's program.

This was the third time for me to attend this kind of tour, and I liked all.

There were four parts at the Kabuki, and three breaks. During the break we ate special taiyaki (鯛焼き) which contains white and red rice cakes in the red bean paste and it is very special there. Only 50 of them were sold and we were the last three people. How lucky we were!

Today's Kabuki has the announcement of succession of the names. Father and three sons succeeded the names at the same time which is very rare. The second part was the greeting speeches which was interesting.

I was moved by their stage setting. 

It was a nice day.