Cherry-Blossom Viewing

On Sunday, we went out for a walk (9km - 5.5miles) to see the cherry blossoms.



They were already in full bloom!!!

I have been really busy lately, so I didn't realize that this season has arrived already.

However, we have blustery winds and heavy rains in Spring almost every year, so we can enjoy the blossoms only for a few days... X(

I think this weekend was the best time to view cherry blossoms in Tokyo area, although it was pretty cloudy all day long.

How was your weekend?!

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Incipio MacBook Pro 15in Feather Ultralight Hard Shell Case

I was looking for a case for my MacBook Pro lately and found a cute pink (magenta) one by Incipio!



This pink color is just the pink I love, so I bought it without question. It was pretty pricey, so I hope I get what I want.

Actually, I was in between the transparent Protective Sleeve for MacBook (by ELECOM) which is much cheaper, but I went for the pink one since the color raises my spirits while working.



BTW, I have many pink stuffs on my desk just because of that reason.



What keeps your spirits up at your desk?!

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My Decision

After the quake, my mind is made up.

I worked at my current workplace for about 7 years, but now I am leaving there to start what I believe is good for me and possibly for Japan.

I gave the notice last month, so I am officially leaving in the end of May.

It's not my April Fool's joke, btw. LoL

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Our New Favorite Places

As you might know, my darling and I (actually I...) love to have a steady routine because I don't get bored of doing the same things :P Of course, I add some new things but not necessarily frequent. LoL

What we found near our new home is a jog spot! It's a 10 minutes run to get there. My dream to run along the river on the weekends came true :D



Near the station, we found many bento shops. One day, we tried okowa (sticky rice with vegetables or beans) bento, which you can select 3 different okowa from many!



Also, we found a sushi restaurant called Magurobito near station! Yay!!! As there are always long lines of people in front of the restaurant, their sushi was pretty good!!! We've already been there twice ;)



What we couldn't find is a cafe (my recipe thinking workplace LoL)... maybe I should better use our new dining table at home instead, which will hopefully arrive in April. Anyways, most cafes and restaurants are freezing cold due to the power saving (since the earthquake), so better to stay at home at the present day :(

Do you have any favorite place?
How often do you go there?



We are still having down-jacket weather in Tokyo...
I hope spring comes soon!!!

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竹生島神社 (Chikubushima Shrine)

竹生島神社 (Chikubushima Shrine) is one of the shrines located in 竹生島 (Chikubushima Island) on 琵琶湖 (Lake Biwa). Four gods are enshrined: 市杵島比売命 (ichikisimahimenomikoto) - god for traffic safety and good luck, 宇賀福神 (ugafukujin) - god for prosperous business and good harvest, 浅井比売命 (asaihinuminokoto), and 龍神 (ryujin). Those names are hard to read out for native Japanese, too...

Since no one lives on the island, it is believed to be a power spot where gods live!

My hula dancing buddy has just been there and gave me a cute charm against bad luck: 厄除身代り御守 (七色人形). I don't usually take a photo of my charms, but this was a souvenir kind (not that official), so I will show you how it looks :)

The seven primary colors used are said to protect us from evil and bring us good luck!

As I wrote before, 2011 is my grand climacteric year (大厄年).

I believe I already had many changes... but for more to come from now... thanks a lot!!!

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Japan Quake Map

Japan Quake Map is pretty scary.



If you select "Friday 11/03/11" and wait till after 14PM, you will see how severe the 9.0 magnitude 2011 Tōhoku earthquake was and how frequently we have aftershocks...

Since 3/11, we had 738 quakes in Japan!!!

I heard on the news that the aftershocks may continue at least for a year... Many people are now getting "quakesick", which you feel like shaking all the time, and so do I...

Hope we all get well soon!!!

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What "We" or "I" Can Do Now...

What we can do now is to save on electricity (because we lack electricity due to the nuclear power plant disaster) or stop stocking up on foods and supplies (many people do this on fears of the next disaster so the things come up short when someone is in need). Needless to say, we Japanese are working even harder to restore everything sooner.

Meanwhile, as Jon quotes the BBC News, the recent 9.0 earthquake in Miyagi may have slightly increased the chances for a large earthquake in the Tokyo area which is right in the middle of the plates that now believed to play a significant role in shaping seismic activity. How scary... I hope it may not happen anytime soon...



Facing the reality, many people may now think "time is money".

If I am not too late, I am ready to start what I can do now.

I pray for Japan, of course.

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2 Days After the Miyagi Quake

The Miyagi quake was the most severe earthquake in Japanese history, a magnitude of 9! Still 20,000 people are missing...

We are still experiencing the afterquake in Tokyo and the largest of 7-magnitude afterquake is predicted to come in 3 days. How scary...

Tomorrow, we are going to have blackout for about 3 hours in rotation in Kanto area to save on electricity because we lack the power nationwide at this moment...

We have foods at stores, but no rice or bread because shipping businesses are still blocked.

Nevertheless, people are working, shopping, eating out as usual around here in Tokyo. We care a lot about devastated areas but we cannot all stop our hands but work and consume as usual!!! I think we Japanese are steady workers!!!

Believe it or not, my darling and I are moving out this Wednesday... Now we live in wooden house but our new home is reinforced concrete building, so I hope it's much safer... Anyways, I am really scared X(

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LIVE NHK Broadcast of Earthquakes

For Japanese who live overseas.


Live TV : Ustream

It's still shaking!!!

At 7PM, most trains in Tokyo stopped the services. Foods are about to sold out. OMG!!!



It's better to spend a night at work. Luckily, I have my toothbrush ;)

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MORE Earthquakes!!!!!!!

I just ran out of the building and came back into the office again because our office is quakeproof and janitor told us to stay in...



But it's still shaking. Should I go out again?!

I heard it was 6-magnitude again in Miyagi... but was the center close to Kanto?!

OMG... our new home X(

I will simply stop writing and watch out because it's still shaking!!!!!

How scary.

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Our Current Home

Believe it or not, we will be living in a new home this time next week! Time flies!!!

In 2004, almost 7 years ago, we came back from NY and moved into the current home in Tokyo. These are the pics we took back then. We chose this flat because I loved the kitchen ;)



One thing I regret for our new home is that I cannot hang those flower curtains in the kitchen since I decided to build it open :P



Little by little, we packed and threw out our unnecessary stuff, but most packing will be done this weekend since we have to work as usual on weekdays X(

I don't like these open shelves in the living room, so we are not going to put those shelves in our new living room for sure!!! They look messy, you know...



I will try my best to make our home cozy :D

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Earthquake in Miyagi Prefecture

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Miyagi prefecture in Japan at around 11:45 AM yesterday (3/9/2011). Then again, 4-magnitude afterquake hit this morning at around 6:24 AM. Fortunately, no big damage is reported.

Tokyo was away from the earthquake center, so some people didn't feel the earthquake, and so did I... but thanks for those who cared!!!

Nonetheless, Tokyo is said to have 7-magnitude earthquake within 30 years (2007~2036), in a quite high rate of 70 percent! How scary...

If you remember my post in 2008, I keep my bousaizukin at work. LoL Bousaizukin is a hat that guards your head from fire and other dangerous things. I don't know whether this product is known overseas or not but we learn how to use it at schools. BTW, no one around me keeps it at work... kind of embarrassing but I don't care. haha

Needless to say, I am worried about our new home, but our life is very important! Be prepared and have no regrets ;)

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MacBook Pro Debut!!!

Believe it or not, on Saturday, while shopping the ceiling lights at an electronics retail store, I happened to find MacBook Pro 15" on sale, which was limited to 5 people and there were only 3 left.



Actually, those on sale were the previous model MC372J/A (Intel Core i5 (2.53GHz)/4GB/HDD 500GB). I read on some articles that the previous series are good enough, so I bought it without hesitation with AppleCare (3 Year Warranty)!

I think I made a right decision! They were all sold out on the next day ;)

I will use it after the removal (next week). I can't wait!!!

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Blue Screen of Death

Last night, the Blue Screen of Death (the image from Wikipedia) came out unexpectedly on our 6-year-old FMV-DESKPOWER. (This was the latest PC with a built-in TV back then.)
It really frightened me a lot and the very first question I came up was:

When did I last back up my data?!

I couldn't get a real night's sleep... however, this morning, it came back on without an error screen. Whew...

Of course, I baked up all the important files before I go to work!!! How long you think the life of HDD? My former HDD lived for about 6 years... so I was kind of afraid to see the BsoD.

What a day :'-(

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How to Pronounce "R" and "L" in English

As you might know, Japanese people can't pronounce "R" and "L" correctly...

My darling is studying English every day for about 25min using Skype and of course he has the same problem.

While at cafe, he showed me the Mouth Positions for R and L Sounds...



LOL XD

But it's not a laughing matter because I do have the same problem once in a while. But at least I know how weird I pronounce those, I believe I have a chance to improve them someday!

Maybe future video recording might help me improve it :D



Practice makes perfect!

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