New Year's Eve

Merry Christmas!

May all the best to you!!!
Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas time

Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto

Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto

http://www.tofukuji.jp/index2.html

Christmas Tree in Kobe

Thursday, November 8, 2007
47 Days Until Christmas

Lunch Meeting

A University

A Cafe in Kobe

A port at night

Halloween

Museum

Osaka

Sweets

Sky

Kobe

grocery shop

I went to Motomachi in Kobe and dropped by a grocery shop at Motomachi shopping center.
I found a ice cream by chance and bought it.
I don't eat ice cream so often but it is new for me and My friend recommended the mango ice which is from Australia. It is rally yummy!
The shop staff gave me a little piece of the ice in front of the shop and I tasted it.
There are many kinds of food from many countries in a shop.

summer

I found some Japanese stuff for summer.
These are some fans which are very pretty and also hand towels.
Some people use a mosquito coil(katori-senkou) out of doors.
We put a mosquito coil in a pig ceramics incense holder.

Kamogawa

I went to Kyoto to see my friend last month.
She draw a Japanese-style paint and she put on a solo exhibition.
I also met some of my friends in the place by chance.
The paintings are really colourful. She used many colours for them and I like to see them. But she doesn't have her exhibition every year.
It was the last day of the exhibition, so after the exhibition we packed her beautiful paintings into some boxes together.

Stars

I went to Hawaii with my family and came back last week.
We were very busy there and we had just for 3 days! for free time.
I was always with my parents.
We went to the beach and some shops.
My mum and I have allergenic for sun,
plus we were not interested in shopping in a souvenir shop,
so it was not good condition for us....a little bored.

The beach is clean and nice scenery and we climbed Diamond Head.
It took for 40 mins. to the top.We met many tourists there.
It also has a nice view from Diamond Head.
We could see the beautiful blue sea and Honolulu town.

There were a Japanese Festival* at the last night
at Honolulu we were there.
Many Japanese visited and dancing Hula, singing Japanese songs,
and performing drums or some...It was fun but it was just like Japanese summer festival in Japan!!!
I went to Ukulele shop by myself.There are many Ukulele in a shop.

But most interesting thing was watching stars.
We visited Hawaii island too.It is more natural and I like there.
I could see a lot of stars at night.It was really really dark.
There was no light in a street, and we parked a car near there.
The stars were so beautiful!!!There are some observatory on a mountain.I'd like to go to the observatory next time.
My friend recommended to go there,she went to see the stars.
You can watch more stars there.
This is my trip to Hawai'i.

*The 28th Annual Celebration
Matsuri in Hawaii(Pan-Pacific Festival)
with the King Kamehameha Celebration
Date:2007.6.8(Fri)-6.10(Sun)/Place:Waikiki, Ala Moana Center
Japan Grand Sumo Hawaii Tournament at Neal Blaisdell Center(6/9,6/10)
Matsuri in Hawaii began in 1980 as a cultural exchange between Japan and Hawaii.
(http://www.pan-pacific-festival.com/B_history.aspx)

hydrangea

Hawaiian Festival

Aloha Summer Festival in Osaka 2007
You can enjoy Hula & Hawaiian Music!
Many Hula dancing groups are coming and have some live music too.
Please come and enjoy Hula dance and nice music!!!
Time:May 25th(Fri)16:00-21:00
26th(Sat)11:00-21:00
27th(Sun)11:00-21:00
Place:Umeda Sky building
Fee:Free

Kobe

Kobe Nankinmachi

Kobe Nankinmachi

kobe nankinmachi

C.All blacks

The Classic All Blacks team will play the first match on Wednesday the 9th of May.
Date:May 9th/19:30
Place:Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium
Kirwan has made arrangements for a Japan XV to take on a Classic All-Blacks team, featuring the likes of Jonah Lomu, Carlos Spencer,and play the second Match on Saturday the 12th of May, kicking off at 14:00 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium.
Classic All Blacks:
1 Joe McDonnell,2Matt Sexton,3 Gordon Slater,4Royce Willis,
5Simon Maling, 6Scott Robertson,7Sam Harding,8 Ron Cribb,
9Justin Marshall, 10Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu,
12Tony Brown,13Scott McLeod,14 Jeff Wilson,15 Carlos Spencer,
16Lance Po Ching,17Kup Vanisi,18Charles Riechelmann,19Paul Thomoson,20Jamie Joseph, 21Mark Robinson,22Eric Rush,23Mark Ranby,24Pita Alatini

Talk Show at FORTYFIVE
Date:May 8th 19:00(open)/19:30~21:00
Place:「FORTYFIVE」Kobe(078-241-3000) MC:Kouichi Murakami
Guest:Andrew Mehrtens/Royce Wills
Fee:1000 yen(with1 Drink)

Namba

I went to Namba in Osaka. I had a hamburger at KUA'AINA.
Osaka Baseball Stadium had closed and opened a new shopping place in Namba.It's "Namba Parks".
It's near Namba station and they also have an office building, Parks Tower and shopping mall, many kinds of restaurants and Parks Cinema.
http://www.nambaparks.com/cinema
http://www.kua-aina.com/

Salsa House Osaka

Grand Opening Party!!!
Each day will feature special shows! All major top Latin dancers in Kansai will gather this party!
Date:May 18th,19th,20th
Place:Salsa House Osaka
Fee:1DAY PASS 3,000yen （with 1DRINK).
2DAYS PASS 4,000yen （with 2DRINK） *1DRINK/per day.
3DAYS PASS 5,000yen （with 3DRINK） *1DRINK/per day.
http://salsahouse.jp/

sweet food

When I was a student, I and my friends or family sometimes used to go to a spaghetti restaurant in Okamoto, in Kobe. There were many kinds of Spaghetti dishes there. We often couldn't decided one of them. Every dishes looked yummy. Tuna and corn, bacon and spinach etc. and Cream sauce and Tomato sauce...plus they also serve us Japanese sauce for Japanese, like soy sauce taste. The shop had opened at least 25 years, and it suddenly closed the end of last year. I heard the owner was too old for running the restaurant. It was not real Italian restaurant but I like the taste and the taste took me old days...do you have something sweet memories about food?

Merrie Monarch Festival

The 44th annual Merrie Monarch Festival will feature some of the finest dancers from around the Hawaiian Islands and some from the mainland.(on April 12-14,2007)
Ten young women will vie for the title of Miss Aloha Hula 2007 on Thursday, April 12. Watch as the performers show off their talents in the kahiko (ancient) and auana (modern) dance.
On Friday night, April 13, watch kane (men) and wahine (women) halau (groups) dance the kahiko, traditional dance.
The event wraps up Saturday night,April 14, with the kane and wahine halau performing their auana. It ends that night with the awards ceremony.
TKITV 4 Island Television will provide live TV coverage of the time-honored event. TheHawaiiChannel.com will also provide live streaming video of the event online. Viewers have watched the event live from as far away as Europe, the Middle East, Japan and Mexico.
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/merriemonarch/index.html

Yoga in English

Yoga in English（4/10-6/26）
At Shinsaibashi(Osaka) ,Cafe "C Flat"
Yoga teacher is Peruvian,Rudy.Let's study Yoga in English.
Date：April-class.4/10 (19:45～20:45)　
（6 class：4/10,4/24,5/15,5/29,6/12,6/26 on Tuesday）Same course of January-class
Place：at Cafe "C Flat"no admission（1 class 1,800yen)/(3 months(6-class)9,000yenWhen you miss a class,no repayment,give you a note nexttime,thanks)
①4/10YOGA : Breathing, Relaxation Basic Concepts:Tibetan Yoga(12 different poses)
②4/24:Power Yoga Mantra: Science of Sounds (sounds making has positive effects on the body) Stress, Chakra, Body Balance
③5/15: Dream Yoga (This yoga has specific results on the mind and nerves system. ) Relaxation, rest, meditation.
④5/29:Mind Yoga　(Improves relationships,understanding of oneself...and more. )
⑤6/12: Karma yoga (understanding your life how to change karma, how karma works.)
⑥6/26: Samadhi Yoga ( deep meditation the steps to and how to meditate, what to meditate on.)
We start the class on April 10th.Join us and have a good time!
（18:30～19:30 Spanish class 1,500yen）
HP : http://www.freespacecflat.com/
Mail: freespace_cflat@yahoo.co.jp

Sakura&Zoo

I went to Oji Zoo.They opened on April 4th-6th at night.(free)
We could walk in the park and see Cherry blossomes.
We couldn't see the animals,but Giant Pandas live there!

HO' IKE

♪＜Hula Halau Kahula O Hawai'i＞♪
Kyoko Kubokawa

Oaska class
Date:Friday ,May 11th 2007
Time:open 18:00 , start 19:00 (3.000 yen)
Place:Archaic Hall Oct (Amagasaki City,Osaka)
http://www.kahulaohawaii.com/
TEL:5795-2873(Tokyo)

Simple Life

I'm talking about Simple Life.
Now some lucky people can choose many things and get things they want and need to select or refuse them.I want to try many things when I 'm intrested in and I did.Sometimes I couldn't do and it is Never ending.I wanted to looking for my special favorite...
I saw the word " Simple is the best".I think what is Simple?
If the people do same thing all of their life,is that their simple life?
if the people has a quick decision, they might spend simple life?
What do you think?

Kobe

Cookies

I have one more favorite cookies. It is from Hawai'i. My friend gave it to me today. It's so yummy!(www.bigislandcandies.com)
She also showed me some beautiful pictures while we had a lunch. She had taken them in Hawai'i.
It was nice time. I never been to Hawai'i, but some of my friends show me Hawai'ian photos.I always feel good.
Most of the pictures I saw today are flowers. She really likes to take a pictures of flowers and she is a good photographer.
I thought she has to make a post card by her photo. It must be good.

I like "Shortbread Cookies" Big Island Candies, delicious chocolates and cookies.

the water!

I like to drink hot tea and coffee and so I really like to look for a nice cup for drinking tea.In Japan we have some good pottery and I went to Arita in Kyushu last year.I bought my cup there.It is white and blue.I like the colour.
I don't drink cold water.I used to drink cold tap water since I was a child,but now I don't drink it.When I want to drink cold water,I bought a bottle of water or I boiled water and drink.We can drink tap water,but taste is not good in a city.If you go to mountain side ,you can drink nice water.It is really good.Japanese water is mild.Where the water you drink come from?

Hawaiian Music!

I like to listen to the music. Music makes me happy. I haven't been to Hawaii, but I have some friends who learn hula dance. They invited me a show last year and I saw many people danced hula and I knew many Japanese liked to dance hula. I was not interested in Hawaii, but the Hawaiian music made me relax and the dancer always dance with nice smile, I could go to Keali'i Reichel concert in summer. I was so lucky!
In winter my friends practice very hard and waiting for the next show in spring and summer! and I'm looking forward seeing them! We are going have a big Hawaiian event in May in Osaka.

sun flowers!

In Japan there are four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter.I watched TV and knew that a sun flower has bloomed and other flowers don't recognize that we are in winter now.Some trees still change colour and hold red leaves like autumn.I think it is just a little part of problems and it is visible.I can't see other problems right now.There are 365days in a year,and 90days should be winter.If we can't feel four seasons, what does happen next?

Luck in!

I throw soybeans in each of our room at home and throw to outdoor from the windows and doors.
It is "Setsubun" today.We do"Mamemaki" .We threw soybeans on 3rd of Feb. We says "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" in Japanese while we threw soybeans .It means "Demons out! and Luck coming in!" and it is the Lunar New Year's Eve, and spring has come.
Tomorrow new season will begin.

It's winter!

Today we can see the full moon .It is really cold in Japan.According to the weather report, today is the coldest day in this season but we have not cold winter in this year.Stop global warming.

Global climate change is "very likely" to have a human cause, an influential group of scientists has concluded.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said temperatures were probably going to increase by 1.8-4C (3.2-7.2F) by the end of the century.
It also projected that sea levels were most likely to rise by 28-43cm, and global warming was likely to influence the intensity of tropical storms.(by BBC 2007.2.2)

I joined MySpace.com!

I just joined MySpace.com today. I'm interested in this site and I changed some part of my pages and wrote some about myself.I like to do it.I couldn't put a music player on my page, so I'll try it again later.

If I Knew It

I found this on my friend's diary. Please read this.

"If I Knew It Would Be the Last Time"
by Norma Cornett Marek

If I knew it would be the last time
that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.


If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything right.

There will always be another day
to say our "I love you's",
And certainly there's another chance
to say our "Anything I can do's?"

But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget,

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
that you love them very much and
you'll always hold them dear.

Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"Please forgive me," "thank you," or "it's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.

Have some coffee?

These are my special coffee. Here you are!

Start

I thought the sun was really beautiful this morning.
I've just started "2007".

Seven-herb rice porridge

Japanese eat Seven-herb rice porridge on 7th of January.
My family had some this morning.
Do you want to know how you cook it?

I will show you the herb. They all different kinds of herbs.


The photos by Tiger Rice Cooker.