I worked 12 hours today, and I didn’t spend time on reading blogs. So I am truly sincerely thankful that the public transportation in my town is so great. My trains came in no time and took me home straight away. My colleagues vacationed in different places, and they all came back with their “subway” experiences. I am sorry for French people, but the metro in Paris was voted as #1 for “the worst subway experience ever.” (Although I do love to look at it in movies, such as “Paris, je t’aime”, the metro episode is my favorite.) A while ago, there was a documentary on TV, featuring those people in Tokyo Metro companies who maintain subway time-tables/diagrams. There are professional people who passionately…
knitting and slow life in Kyoto
Posts from the “**ENGLISH**” Category
Honestly, I am not in a thankful mode today. A normal person would reward oneself with a booze or a piece of tartlet, or even a good long bath, but I am doing neither to go to bed early (need to get up early tomorrow). Today I am disappointed by lack of direction and will from my superiors. I am disappointed that some indispensable colleagues left our company (some time ago, I only found out today). Just realized today that, I am caught up in a situation where several issues have to be solved all at once in order to make sense. It’s impossible, of course. Which means, perhaps, our approach has been wrong all along. Moreover, I am disappointed in myself, for, while…
I am thankful that, on a gorgeous day like today, I had a reason to stay outside all day, enjoying nice breeze and fun big crowd. As announced a few days ago (in Japanese), a group of young Igo (Go) players in Tokyo, called Igo Amigo, hosted an annual festival at the Roppongi Hills arena. The group was started by a professional Igo players and amateur Igo freaks several years ago, in the purpose of enlightening young generation with the world of Igo. Today, I participated as a volunteer. A professional Igo player teaching a quick introductory workshop Approx. 4,000 people came to play / watch Igo is a board game invented in China 4K years ago, but became more popular in Japan afterwards.…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
Today I am thankful for my neighborhood, which is full of inspiration. I found so many cute knits – poncho, dress, jacket – in this year’s style. I wanted to record everything I saw, especially how they were knitted, but I was too shy. I love this cape in below picture!
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
Japanese follows. 日本語は下に。 Here comes a yarn picture (knew it would come at least once this month, for photographing yarn is the primary usage of my beloved camera). Today I am thankful and honored that veera (link works for Ravelry member only), my knitter friend from Ravelry, asked me to become her test knitter for her new design, and sent me the pattern. I am so so very happy!!!!!!!!!!! Not only I love the design of this particular sweater, I love everything she knits and design. So above yarn is a candidate for this project. I have another yarn in a different color, and I haven’t decided yet. (I also went to Adam Lambert concert here in Tokyo tonight, but that will be on another…
Today I am grateful about the beautiful weather we had in Tokyo. I wanted to take a photo outside, but I had been pretty busy and had no chance during the day. It’s a kind of weather when, long time ago when I was still in highschool, my sister and I took a “voluntary” day-off from school and went on a picnic in a park. I can’t remember what we told the school about our absence … It was a beautiful day, and we had so much fun. It’s a little sad that I can no longer do that with my sister. But still, I am truly grateful that it’s October and it’s so beautiful. 最近日本語で書くのをサボっていてごめんなさい。海外の人が多く読んでくれているので、なんとなく英語になってしまいます。１０月のひと月、毎日ひとつずつ、写真に添えて自分が感謝していることを書く、というチャレンジを他の方のブログで見つけました。６日遅れでしたが、昨日から始めることに。 今日の私は１０月の素晴らしい天候に感謝します。 昼間外で写真を撮りたかったのですが、今日に限って忙しく、先日ニューハンプシャーで撮ってきた写真を載せました。 こんな天気で思い出すのは、まだ高校の頃、妹と二人で学校をサボって公園にピクニックに行ったこと。少し肌寒く空は明るく、妙な高揚感があって本当に楽しかった！（学校になんて言ったかは覚えていません。。。）もうそんなことも出来ないのか、と思うと寂しい。 １０月が来たことに、そしてそれが暑い夏のあと、ひときわ美しいことに感謝します。
Inspired by new friends, Retta and Shelly, I decided to join this challenge and, each day, post a photo plus comments about a thing I am grateful for.It was supposed to start from the beginning of October, but “it’s better late than never”, right? Today I am actually grateful for 3 things: First of all, I am grateful about a cafe/deli in the neighborhood of my office. It’s a Japanese style deli, and my most favorite lunch place now. If you order a lunch with pasta, you will get a bowl of matcha green tea (or coffee).Second of all, I am grateful about finding this iPhone camera application. It’s so great and so addicting! I kept taking photos all day today.Third of all, I am…
From the moment signing up for Squam Art Workshops until actually arriving there, I had no idea what I was doing nor where I was going. I knew nobody except for a person I was sharing a ride from the airport. I did not know where I would be staying, nor how many people would be there. But I expected that I was going to experience something great. Everyone came with some expectation. And every single person I met at the camp had an experience beyond their imagination. The 5 days were that wonderful. People, energy, creativity, crisp cold air, reflections of sunlight on the lake, food, fireplace in the evening, smell of smoke and pine needles, endless chatters, tears, laughter. Above all, amazing…
My distant uncle picked some veggies from their field last week, and this pumpkin is one of them. I don’t like American pumpkin, very watery, fiberly, and taste strange (no offense!). This Asian/Japanese pumpkin is less watery, taste almost like chestnut or sweet potato. Usually, I simply cook it with deluded milk and some spices until the milk is almost gone. Most common way to cook pumpkin in Japan is to cook it in a salty/sweet soup (made with dashi, soysauce, suger, and a bit of saki). Unfortunately, I don’t like it that much… the mixture of sweet and salty does not appeal to me. Chestnut is also my favorite snack in this season. We used to get a lot from my mom’s relatives…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
While strolling around my mother’s home town in Kyushu, I went down to an area called “Mameda” district, where in recent years people are making efforts to revive an old shopping strip into a historic tourist spot. It often astounded me during this trip how everything looks old and rustic in remote areas, including mid-sized cities like Nagasaki. In Tokyo, especially where I live, there are some old-looking things, but they are usually made to look old. In my mom’s hometown, things are really actually old.
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
Sparkles*United 