2017.8.31

It was a rainy day and rather cold at night.

The end of August. That means two thirds of 2017 have already finished.
How fast time flies!
How was it?
Mine was good to have traveled around USA, Europe, and USA again for private, Nagano, Hokkaido and Tohoku for business trips, and to Kyushu by invitation trip and so on. I attended many seminars to learn many things and became a Reiki teacher. I met many old friends by 25th anniversary events of Expo '92 and have made some new friends.

One of the colleagues left the office today. Since I could not attend her welcome luncheon nor farewell luncheon, we will have dinner tomorrow.

I have had delicious foods here and there.

I hope the rest of one third will be good too.

2017.8.30

It was fiine and hot in the morning but it rained heavily in the afternoon.
When I left the office in the evening, it was slightly raining but not so bad in  Tokyo.
However according to the news, it seemed to have really heavily rained in the Kanto area.

They say the prices of vegetables would be increasing because of lack of sunshine.

At night I talked with my friend after a long time over the phone and asked all the questions, which was good.

2017.8.29

It was fine, hot and humid.

I left the office a little bit earlier than usual to go to get Llymphatic massage at Takeshiba. Since this is the first time for me to see the massager, she was waiting for me at the Hamamatsucho station where is connected to Daimon station where I always transfer.

First I signed the paper, then washed my face.
After that I have many before-massage-pictures taken to compare after-massage-pictures.

First she moved my left legs and compared to my right legs. To my interesting just a few minutes movements changed the length of my legs. Then she moved my right legs to be equal.

Next she massaged around left collarbone, shoulder, neck, and cheek for a while and took pictures.
Then she massaged around right collarbone, shoulder, neck, and cheek for a while and took pictures.

Then I layed on the special mat for a while to rest.

My right shoulder was stiffer than left shoulder.

I am not sure how I changed, but when left side of the face was done,  my left faceline seemed to be sharper than right side.

This is a course of 6 times practices by November. I am very looking forward to changing my body better.

After that we went out for dinner at the Cjhinese restaurant on the top floor where has a nice view of the Rainbow bridge.

We enjoyed talking about many things.

I am looking forward to the next time.

2017.8.28

In the morning when I got to the station, I found I did not bring the commuter ticket  because I used the different bag yesterday. I went back home to get it. In addition I decided to wear a cardigan which was good because it was very cold in the trains.

These days I used Helo to check my physical condition and have been worried about my blood pressure data. They were rather higher than usual.  Therefore I went to the health control room at work and measured by the regular blood pressure machine. The data was normal as I have known and felt relieved.
I talked with a nurse and she explained about the possibility of the reasons. I felt relieved.

2017.8.27

It was cloudy in the morning but became fine and hot.

In the morning I went to Kimono-style Miya to get hair set and dressed. Today's kimono is Kyokinsai (京金彩) homongi (訪問着), formal wear.
One of the reasons was to listen to the kodan (講談), Japanese traditional story telling in Tokyo. My Reiki teacher was supposed to present around 2 pm. So I arrived there before 2 pm. However when I got there, he was at the entrance taking pictures with friends. I did not understand what was going on. To my shock, programs went smoothly and his turn came earlier than sch, and he said he has just finished. I was so discouraged.
Most of his pupils seemed to have left after his presentation, but I enjoyed listening to some people's presentations.
This is the first experience for me to hear  the live kodan, so I did not know about it at all, and the differences between rakugo (落語) and kodan(講談).
There were many stories, some are old, others are new. Some were stereo-typed, others were original.
I enjoyed the true stories based on their experiences.

I had another appointment at night, so I could not listen to the last person, but I was there for more than four hours.

Then I moved to a restaurant at the Ritz Carlton Hotel,Tokyo in Roppongi. It is located on the 45th floor and the night view was so nice. In addition we could see the fireworks at the Jingu baseball stadium (神宮球場: jingu kyujo).
The course dinner was very beautiful to see and very delicious to eat.
I had a very nice dinner.
I am looking forward to seeing Mt.Fuji from the restaurant next time st daytime.

2017.8.26

It was fine and hot.

I went to Shimbashi to attend a study meeting of WGN in the afternoon. I have  started using Helo since last month but there were many things I wanted to know how to handle and every question was answered today. So I am glad to have attended today.

After that I went to Omotesando to visit the gallery opening for my friend's 20th anniversary exhibition which started at 3 pm.  Since the study meeting lasted until 3 pm, I arrived at the venue around 3:30 pm and she was just making a speech. There were many people there. I could talk with her and take some pictures. Her pictures are very beautiful and they are used for healing.

Then I went to Shinjuku to attend a seminar about creating the wealth. I expected to see Mr. Robert Allen but he did not come this time. It lasted longer than schedule.

Finally I attended the web seminar on Kirei Design on my way back in a train.

It was a busy day.

2017.8.25

It was fine and hot.

I had a chance to attend an English summer program of 1200 History of Walking 1200 km 88 Temples in Shikoku. It's been already more than two years since I visited those 88 temples called Shikoku hachijyuhakkasho (四国八十八ヶ所). It was one of the "once in a life" experiences. This program reminded me of my wonderful experiences.

After work I went out for dinner with my ex-colleague in Ginza. The name of the restaurant is Meikyu no kuni no Alice (迷宮の国のアリス) , Alice in a labyrinth.
This was the third time for me to visit the  Alice restaurant. Every place has a different concept and everywhere was picuresque. Not only I got a free drink, but also an original Alice picture plate which will be sent later to my house.  They say this campaign is so popular that they are producing additional plates and that it will take time to ship.
In addition I uploaded the Alice fair drink by Instagram, therfore I got free chocolate herve tea.
We enjoyed eating & talking and decided to visit other restautant near future.

It was a nice premium Friday.

2017.8.24

It was fine and still very hot. However the daytime seems becoming shorter.

There were many things to do at office and I could finish many things which is nice.

I got a call from unknown number after my lunch time. I listened to the voice message on my way back. In Japan it is prohibited to call inside the train, therefore I called after coming home. She was not available and after a while I got a reply call saying that she was on her way back and call me later again. After all we could talk very late and decide the date to meet each other. I heard very interesting story and am now very looking forward to seeing her next week.
I knew her from someone I met at the dinner invited early this month.
I happened to sit next to her and we have many things in common and  enjoyed talking very much.

Life is wonderful if you accept the chances appeared to you, isn't it?

2017.8.23

It was fine and very hot around 33 degrees centigrade.

Last night I could not sleep maybe because of jet lag. Therefore I decided to get up and go to work early to come home earlier to receive the re-delivered suitcase and other goods.
I am glad to receive them finally. The goods were LTO of Te Mana cosmetics from Morinda which looked very gorgeous.

There was the final game of high school baseball game. I knew about it from last night's news. For both high school it would be the first time to be the top of all the teams in Japan.  Last night I saw the news about the hitter Nakamura (中村) of Koryo (広陵) high school from Hiroshima  prefecture who made the great record of 6 hoomeruns after 32 years of Kiyohara (清原) of PL school made.
Today Hanasaki Tokuharu (花咲徳栄) high school from Saitama prefecture won by 14 to 4 at the 99th meeting.
Congratulations!!

2018.8 .22

It was fine.

It was the total solar eclipse in the USA after 99 years.
I was very lucky to have been able to watch the live show by Mr.James Skinner from Oregon in the early morning (1 am to 2:25 am).

When I was in the USA last week I heard people were so excited about it, and they issued the special stamps.
Fortunately I bought them. They are changed the color by temperature. It is so cool.

Today it is the new moon when we can wish.

Nature is wonderful, isn't it?

2017.8.21

It was fine.

To my lucky my next seat was vacant.
There were snack & drink service, dinner, water, pizza & ice cream, and breakfast during the flight from Minneapolis to Haneda which took more than 11 hours.

I watched about four movies.

After arriving at Haneda. I went to the monthly massage. My body was so stiff, especially on my left head.

Then I went to a kimono shop.

It was a nice summer vacation.

2017.8.20

I got up early and came to the airport by taxi which cost $40 including the tips.
At airport I ate breakfast.

I leave here at 8:15 am and arrive at Haneda 13:45 tomorrow. It is 16 hours and a half.
When I bought the tickets I knew I have time in New York but I thought it would be the direct flight to Japan.
But it was not.

First I flew to Mineapolis which took about three hours.
There was one hour time difference there.

I left there at 11:20 am.

Now I am onboard.
I will arrive at Haneda after 11 hours and 20 minutes or so.

2018.8.19

It was fine.

After lunch we left Delray Beach and headed for the West Palm Beach Airport. To my shock I could not check-in the buggage all the way to Haneda, Japan because my flight from New York to Haneda is tomorrow.
I wanted to travel light in New York but had to bring everything together.

In New York I visited friends to see their first baby. Just one year ago we had a good time in Tokyo.
Time flies!
The flight arrived 40  minutes earlier than schedule.
I took a bus and subway to Brooklyn which cost $2.75 for more than one hour travel.
I enjoyed visiting them and walking around.

2017.8.18

It was fine.

We came back to Miami in the morning

We ate breakfast and got out of the ship before 10 am.

We came back to Delray Beach around 11am.

I went to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens to say hello to my EX-colleagues.
I had lunch with my third host family.

After coming back I went to the post office to buy the special stamps of the total eclipse happens next Monday. The color changes according to the temperature.

Then we went to play golf

We went shopping and had a nice dinner.

It was a nice day.

2017.8.17

It was fine.

Today is my father's second death anniversary.

We arrived at Key West around 10:30 am or so. There was an immigration process before landing.

This is the third time for me to be there, first in 1996 by Greyhound bus and second in 2007 by car.

We visited where I wanted to, 0 mile point, lighthouse, the southernmost point and some shops.

We came back around 3 pm and had late lunch.

We took a nap and ate dinner soon.

At 8 pm there was the Farewell International Parade of Flags and crew members were introduced. The phillippines are the largest in number followed by Indian.
There was showtime "Stage to Screen" tonight.

Outside I saw the thunder lights in the faraway.

We ate a lot and enjoyed many things gor the past four days.

2017.8.16

It is fine and hot outside but it is very cold inside. Therefore I got a cold.

We arrived at Nassau, the Bahama in the morning.
We started breakfast around 9:30 so one of the dining rooms was already closed.

We landed at the port this time. First we went to some jewry shops to get presents. We happened to find the Ministry of Tourism and asked where to visit.  According to the advice, we visited the major touristic places.

We came back to the ship around 2 pm and ate lunch at the ship.
We took a nap, and there was the assembly meeting of Dream Trips from 5 pm. They say there are 92 Dream Trippers this time but only a third got together. There was a family who traveled free. Someday I hope to do so.

After dinner we enjoyed the juggling show at night.

2017.8.15

We arrived at Coco Cay, the Bahama where is a private island around 8 am. Since there is no port, we were sent by tender boat to the island beach. There are nearly 3000 passengers, it takes time for all the people to land. So we waited taking breakfast.After all we arrived at beach nearly 11am, and walked around the straw shops, and enjoyed swimming. It is a shallow beach and I could walk to 100 meters or so. I saw some fish including a shark.
After eating lunch we rested and came back to the ship.To my interesting there was a security check on our way back.

When we got back to the room, we found the gift from our travel agency.
We had a formal dinner tonight, so I wore Japanese summer kimono called Yukata (浴衣).
The sunset was very beautiful.
We watched the movie music show for an hour.

2017.8.14

It was fine.

We left around10:45 and headed for Miami.
At the port there were some cruise ships.
Our Enchantment of the Sea was docked at the Pier G where was the furtherest from the parking.

After checking in, we ate lunch first and there was a Guest Assembly Drill later.

We left Miami at 4 pm.

There was a sail away party at 4:15pm.

We had dinner at 6 pm. We watched the show. They say participants were from more than 30 countries. There were some honeymoon couples. There was a couple who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.  The secret of long relationship the wife said was  compromise, and the husband's was always agree.

We enjoyed casino for $5 free play and watching stars at the deck.

Inside the ship it is very cold, outside it is very hot and humid.

It was a nice day.

2017.8.13

I arrived at West Palm Beach after midnight.

My best friend came to pick me up and we went to see the Perseid Meteor Shower directly to the west. We saw about 10 shooting stars, 6 of them were so nice staying longer in the sky, but still too short for us to make a wish.

it was about 3 am when we got home. I slept until noon.

We went to play golf.  It took about 3 hours.

I am now in vacation.
How nice it is!

2017.8.12

It was rainy in Japan.

Today is the first day of my trip to Florida and the Caribbean cruise for summer vacation.

I left home before 11am and arrived at the Narita Airport before 2 pm.

I picked up the suitcase and checked in.

At the terminal there was a time-limited event of Kabuki Experience Gallery & Shop. There is Kabuki Face Photo Booth, and you can make seals of your picture for free.

The plane left at 15:55 and arrived at Detroit after 11 hours and 14 minutes. It was still 14:20 of Aug.12.
I watched three movies.

I have waited for four hours for the next flight to Atlanta.
It took two hours from Detroit to Atlanta.
Since I got the window side seat, I enjoyed the beautiful sceneries including rainbows.

I am now onboard for West Palm Beach where I will arrive at after midnight.

2017.8.11

Today is a national holiday called Yama no hi (山の日), Mountain Day which was introduced last year.
For most of people it is a beginning of three day weekend. For me it is a start of 11 days summer vacation.
I wanted to leave Japan today but the flight tickets were too expensive to buy. I will leave Japan tomorrow.
So i went to the beauty salon and other places to shop. I asked the delivery companies to pick up my suitcase and to deliver the goods.

It was a rainy day but I had a good holiday.

2017.8.10

Have you ever ridden on the first class on the airplane?
It is usually very expensive so that I only rid once by chance.
To travel light and to travel by first class is one of my dreams. Therefore I went to experience it tonight.
It is a restaurant located in Ikebukuro.  There were some destinations, and I chose to go to Paris. The departure time was 17:50 and arriving time was 19:30.
There are only 12 seats, 8 for first class and 4 for business class. As the campaign price it cost yen 5980. We can experience virtual reality using head lens.
Foods were delicious.

I think it is fun to try once.

2017.8.9

It was another hot day. The hottest day in this summer in many places.

After midnight I saw the beautiful full moon.

I went to see the fireworks festival at Miurakaigan tonight. It was very nice. I saw the red moon there. The shape was changed a lot. It was a very interesting experience.

2017.8.8

There was supposed to be a fireworks festival at Miurakaigan beach, but it was postponed tomorrow due to the typhoon No. 5.

It was a full moon today so that I wanted to see it with fireworks but I could not.

They say it is called Lion´s gate today and
the stars in the universe make a line and the gate between this world and that world opens snd the energy from the universe falls  on the earth.

I do not know about the detail but it is said with the full moon the power is stronger.

2017.8.7

Zansho omimai moshiagemasu (残暑お見舞い申し上げます)

This is the way to greet at this hot season.
Until yesterday it was "Shochu omimai moshiagemasu.(暑中お見舞い申し上げます)." The difference is "shochu" which means the middle of hot season and "zansho" which means "the late summer heat" though the heat itself is almost the same.
The reason of difference is today is risshu (立秋), the start of the fall on the calendar.
It is one of nijyushisekki (二十四節気), the 24 solar terms. The last one was taisho(大暑) on July 23, and the next one is shosho(処暑) on August 23.

The typhoon No.5 is gradually approaching. It rained at night but stopped. I hope it will pass without any problem.

2017.8.6

It was fine.

I went to Shinagawa to learn Reiki third degree again. There were 24 people today, and they were divided into three groups. There were three new students and two second time learners, one teacher, and two supporters in my group.
At lunch time I heard goose bumps stories.

After the seminar we heard koudan (講談), traditional story-telling about the founder of Reiki.

After that I went to the aquarium because my one-year passport expires today. I enjoyed watching jellyfish as usual and the dolphine show of fireworks.

It was a nice day.

2017.8.5

It was fine.

I had a very busy day,

In the morning a refrigerator repair serviceman finally came and replaced the PCB.  Fortunately it started working again.

In the afternoon there was the third year memorial service for my father who passed away on Aug. 17, 2015. It's been two years since his death, but we count it as three years and call it "sankaiki(三回忌)."
After the ceremony we went to the grave.
Then we had lunch. This was the first time for  me to go there.

We came home to change and headed for Shinagawa.

I was invited to the live concert of Ms.Hiroko Moriguchi(森口博子) and to the dinner.

I made friends with some ladies who likes kimono very much.

It was a nice day.

2017.8.4

It was rainy in the morning.

I was rather busy so that I overworked.

Tomorrow we have the third year memorial service of my father who passed away on August 17, 2015.
It's been about two years but we count as three years. After one year frrom the death the memorial service is called isshuki (一周忌), after two years it is called sankaiki (三回忌). We hold  the service at the graveyard. Then we have dinner.
I often think the death is the last present for the rest who meet at the funreral. Budddhist family usually have memorial services for several times after the death  so that we get together.

2017.8.3

It was cloudy and rather cool again.

After work I went to Shibuya to see somebody.

I thought of two restaurants in Shibuya and went to one of them. To my surprise they were so close. I have been one of them so many times but I did not notice the other at all in spite of passing in front.
It was a sister restaurant of Alice in magical land in Shinjuku where I went last month. It was Alicei n a dancing land.
It is located in the B1 floor and looks like a n amusement park and very attractive.
We enjoyed talking, eating, drinking, and being in the space. There were many birthday people again.I used the coupon I got the other day and got one drink.

If there is someone who is interested in going, let's go to another one in Ginza or Ikebukuro.

2017.8.2

It was cloudy and rainy and rather cooler than usual.

After work I went to Fuji Film Square. There were new exhibitions since last time. I liked the water pictures.
If you like Disney, I recommend you to visit there while they are having pictures of them.

2017.8.1

A new month has started. August is hachigatsu (八月), the eighth month or hazuki (葉月), leaf month.

Every first day of the month I make it a rule to visit shrines which is called o tsuitachi mairi (お朔日参り). I visited three shrines this morning, one near the house, two near the office.  I have known both of them but have never been to one of them in spite of passing in front so many times.

There are manners to obey at the shrines. Some are common for all the shrines, others are peculiarfrom to each shrine.

On my way back home trains were delayed due to heavy rain.