海遊館 Osaka Aquarium!!

wow, I haven't written this for a long time... more than a month. it's already March!? I can't believe it... I've been busy working, meeting friends & planning for my last 1 month vacation before I start working in April.

Anyways, last week I went to this aquarium in Osaka called Kaiyukan. It was quite big.
I haven't been to an aquarium in a long time but it was very nice! There's this special atmosphere when you're in the aquarium. Fish swimming elegantly in a huge tank made me feel like I was swimming with them in the ocean like a marmaid! I felt the time stop. I felt relaxed and comfortable.

Enjoy the pictures I took!!

久しぶりにﾌﾞﾛｸﾞを書くわ～最近はバイトや人と会ったり、3月の旅行計画などで忙しかったかな。

先週、久しぶりに水族館に行った。大阪の海遊館へ。ほんと久しぶりに水族館に行ったけど、水族館っていい！魚たちが優雅に泳いでいるのを見て、私も一緒に海の中を泳いでいるような気がしてすごく落ちつく。ぼぉ～っといつまででも見ておける感じ。



my favorite, Jelly fish / Mambo!! it was huge...

OMG

I got a parking ticket... right across the street from my grandma's house.
No more Gold Card for me...:( it was my first ticket (well, actually I had one in the U.S.) and it cost me 15000 yen!! which is about $130. and plus what makes me sad is that the police came in 4:05 pm and I came back 4:30 pm. if I was a little earlier...
well, I'm more upset about having a record and not be able to get Gold Card anymore than the money. Oh, I went to the police office but they were very nice. I was surprised. Nice & polite.

駐禁取られた・・・。しかもおばあちゃん家の前で。 初違反です（アメリカでは一度スピード違反したけど・・）。あ～ぁ、これでゴールドカード無理になっちゃった。だいぶショックだなぁ。しかも1万5千円でした。高いなぁ。これで何かが買えると思うとショック。まぁ仕方ない。
大きな警察署に行かされてんけど、警官みなさんすごくいいひとだった。警察って態度悪い人多いけどほんと親切だったよ。

お父さん。 My Dad

東京に来るといつもお父さんのところに泊まる。アメリカから帰国してからお父さんはずっと東京暮らし。かれこれもう10年以上単身赴任してるかな。海外に住んでる時から父はいつも忙しくて帰りが遅かったため、あまり一緒に過ごした記憶がないかなぁ。たまに週末一緒に過ごしたり、ごはん食べたりするくらいで。
I always stay at my dad's place when I come to Tokyo. Since we came back from the U.S., he's been living in Tokyo. It's been more than 10 years that we've been living separately. (my parents are not divorsed, btw. he comes back to Kobe every 2 weeks) That's quite common in Japan, that their dad lives in a different place because of their job. Even when we lived together (mostly overseas), he came home late all the time so I really don't have a memory that we spent time together. Maybe few times a week over dinner or sometimes on weekends.

それが、私が就職活動で東京にくるようになってから父と過ごす時間が多くなった。就活が終わってからもよく東京に遊びにくるけど、その度に父のところに泊まる。そして2日に1度の割合で一緒にご飯食べたり飲みにいったりする。いつものパターンは、私はもうごはん食べたのに、夜11頃お父さんから電話がかかってきて、「お父さんごはんまだ食べてないから一緒に付き合って～。1人で食べるんさみしい」とか、週末だったらお互い別々にごはん食べて帰ってきてから「一杯飲みに行こうか？」と誘ってくる。近所によく行くバーがあって、夜12時過ぎてたら必ずそこ。マスターはわがままな父のリクエストに合わせて料理してくれたり、話相手になってくれる。これが男前な若いマスターなのだ。もうあと何件かよく行くレストランがあって、どこも父がお世話になってるみたい。私の父はいろいろうるさいから迷惑してるんだろうなぁ・・・。
But because I was doing job hunting last year, I came to Tokyo often. Even after I got my job, I came to Tokyo often just to visit. I always stay at my dad's and we go and have dinner or drinking a lot. Maybe every other day. Usually he calls me around 11 pm saying "I haven't had dinner yet so will you come with me? I don't wanna eat alone. It's too lonely." Or if it's on the weekend and we both came home after having dinner separately, he'll say "let's go and have a drink." There's this one bar very close to our house and if it's past 12 am, we always go there. The bartender kindly makes my dad's food as he requested and listen to his story. He's handsome and young guy.

お酒を飲むようになって圧倒的にお父さんとの会話が多くなった。父の仕事の話や世の中の話、これから社会人になる上でどうしたらいいかなどいろんなアドバイスをしてくれる。父というより、尊敬するビジネスマンという感じ。前は「仕事ばっかりして」って思ってたけど、この父のおかげで今の私があり、留学やその他のやりたいことを全て実現させてもらっているのだ。世の中には留学したくても出来ない人、必要最低限の生活が出来ない人が山ほどいるのであり、私は本当に幸せだと思う。しかも父は自分の仕事に誇りを持っており、好きみたい。これを聞いてすごくうれしかった。嫌いなのにそんなに遅くまで毎日働いてたら人生何が楽しいんだろうと思うけど、好きなことをしてお金を稼いでたらしんどくてもそれを上回るものがあるだろうから。
Since I started to drink alchohol, the conversation between me and my dad increased. About my dad's work, business, what's happening in the world, what should I do before start working etc. He's more like my repectful business person rather than my dad. When I was young, I used to think "oh, work again..." but now I appreciate him for working hard. Thanks to my dad, I was able to study abroad and do what I want. There are many people who can't go abroad even though they want to or can't have the standard of living. I am healthy and happy now. Plus, my dad said he enjoys his job. I was very happy to hear that. Why would you work so hard till late at night everday the job you hate? Even though it's hard work, if you love your job then I'm sure there's more you can gain from it.

そして今日も父と飲みにいった。私は昼間の買い物で疲れて、家出だらだらしてたら10時ごろ電話がかかてきて「ごはんつきあって～」と。頭が痛くてしんどかったけど、仕方なく「いいよ～すぐ行くわ。」といって近くの料理屋へ出て行った。父と飲むときはいつも梅酒。お父さんは一杯目はビールでその次は日本酒かウィスキー。食べてる時に「今日めっちゃ頭が痛いの。マッサージしたいわ」ってふと言ったら「おっ、じゃあマッサージいこうか？お父さんもしたいわ。近くにあるよ。」その時夜12時前。「えっ、今から！？」
And we went for a drink again today. I was so tired from shopping in Shibuya and Shinjyuku (too many people, soooo crowded. this made me a headache...) so was chilling at home. Then my dad called me around 10 pm saying "let's go dinner. please be my company." I was tired but I said "okay, i'll go a.s.a.p." and went to the resturant. I always have plum alchohol (Japanese liquer) on the rock and my dad, beer for the first drink and after that either sake or whiskey. While having dinner I said "I have a terrible headache. I need a massage..." then my dad goes "oh, then you wanna go massaging? There's one near here. I wanna have massage too." "what!? from now?" At that time, it was almost midnight.

夜中でも開いてるらしく、食べ終わった後マッサージに寄ってみたら本当に開いてた。父と二人でマッサージ。不思議な感じがした。でもふと幸せな感じがした。二人で出かけてるとよく「親子でいいですねぇ～」と言われる。父は「そんなことないよ～」と言うものの、すごくうれしそう。今まであまり一緒にいなかった分、東京にいるときはなるべく父と過ごせる時間は一緒にいようと思う。それがせめてもの私からの感謝の気持ち。私の周りには留学経験者が多いのだが、みんな同じ気持ちなんじゃないかな？離れて初めて家族の大切さ、有難さが分かるよね。働きだすともっと家族との時間が少なくなるだろうから、家族、もっと大切にしよう。
After dinner, we really went to the massage store and yes, it was open. That's Tokyo. Everything's open anytime. Father and his daughter having massage together. I felt a little happy for this moment. When we go out together, people often say to my dad "oh, how nice to go out with your daughter. You must be happy:)" Even though he says "oh, it's nothing" he looks quite happy. Not many girls go out with their dad in Japan. So now, I try to spend time with my dad as much as I can because we couldn't when I was little. and also that's at least I can do to show my appreciation. I have many friends who have experienced studying abroad and I'm sure they feel the same way. People realize the importance of their family after separating from them. I'll probably have less and less time that I can spend with my family from now on so I'll try to be with them as much as I can and will appreciate them a lot.

Have a great life.

Yokota Air Force Bace

I visited Yokota Air Force base near Tokyo today. It was my first time going into the base.
You need to have someone sponcer you (from the military) so not anyone can go in. You also need to show your ID and take picture at the entrance.
My impression was, "wow, it really is little America inside Japan". I felt like I was back in the U.S.!! Used cars driving, stores just like "Sear's", Taco bell, huge hambergers and fries, big roads, and many Americans (of course). Oh, and money is all in dollars! You can use Yen in some places but not all. and the price is same as the U.S. so it's cheaper I think. Beer for 3 bucks (usually about 6 bucks in Japan) Oh, one difference is, you drive on the left side (Jp way).
The base was huge. There's shopping mall, movie theater, bowling alley, driving range, huge fitness club, swimming pool, school for kids, small club and bar. Most people have cars to go around the base. There was some exercises going on today pretending like "war" happened.

Anyways, it was interesting. You can go to the U.S. without that terrible 10 hours flight! I should've taken a pictures to show you guys...

ゴルフレッスン Golf Lesson!

最近週に一回ゴルフレッスンを受けている。始めたのは11月半ば。知り合いにゴルフのコーチがいて、Freeでレッスンに参加させてくれるというから興味本位で始めてみた（それ以外の関係はないよ！念のため）。これが私、以外に上手いの！コーチにセンスある、もっと早く始めとけばすごく上手くなってたよって褒められるし。お世辞なのかな・・・？でも、全くの初心者で、ちゃんと球に当たるし、ちゃんと飛ぶし、コーチの言う通りしにしたら上手に打てるのだ。私も最初はコーチがただやさしくしてくれてるだけと思ってたけど、もう1人の初心者の女性は全然球に当たらないし、飛ばないしで下手っぴだからやっぱセンスあるかも！？(^-^)
体力ないし、スポーツも水泳以外全くできないけど、こんな私にもできるスポーツ見つけたかも！
と思ってたら、昨日のレッスンで初スランプ・・。今までやってたことと全く違うことをコーチが言い出して、（っていうか、私のやり方が間違ってた）その通りにしようとしたら球に当たらなくなった。。何度やっても上手く飛ばないのだ。自分が上手くできないことにむかついてきて、シュンとなってしまった。その日はこれ以上やっても無駄だと思い、あきらめて帰ることにした。誰でも上手くなろうとおもったら壁にぶち当たるもの。このスランプを克服しなきゃ上達しないからね。めげずにがんばります！！

I'm taking golf lesson once a week. I started in mid Nov. last year. I know someone who's a golf coach and he said he can give me a free lesson so I thought "why not?". (no relationship between us, for those of you who wondered!) It's very expensive to play golf in Japan, probably 3 times higher compared to the U.S. Lucky me!
Anyways, I might be good at golf! For those of you who know me, you know I'm not a sports type of person (I hate to run). but guess what, I can play golf! My coach said I have a good sense of playing golf and if I had started playing it earlier, I would've been much better. First, I though he's just being nice but there's another girl who takes lesson and let me tell you, she sucks! I mean, she can't even hit the ball. I can't hit it very far but I never miss the ball from my very first time and I can control:) I thought "yes! I finally found a sport that I can play".

But... yesterday's lesson, I was in a slump:( Coach told me the opposite thing I was doing all this time and when I followed his new advise, I couldn't hit the ball! I was so upset... I practiced but I just couldn't hit it well. I was terrible and frustrated of myself so I went home. Everyone has to overcome difficulties if they wanna get better, right? I guess I'll keep practicing and overcome my first slump!!

Paris, paris, PARIS!!!

I was in Paris visiting my friend during Christmas season.
Was there for 10 days but that wasn't enough. I wanted to see lots of museums but didn't have time... I wanted to take the advantage of visiting a friend who live there so I skipped most of the museums and enjoyed the life in Paris. Discovering the city, going to my friend's favorite resturants, meeting her friends, buy fresh food, wine and cheeze at the marche and cook... I love drinking wine while cooking. make me feel good♪



My impression of Paris; romantic and delicious!!! My most often said words are "oishii" (meaning delicious in jp), "kirei" (beautiful), "shiawase" (happy) and "samui" (cold).



City of Paris was very beautiful and romantic. Every corner of the city can be a picture. The Seine River, Notre-Dame, streets, museums, shops, Effiel Tower, people etc... I took many many pics. probably more than 350. wow, I can't believe my self either. I liked taking pics before but after I met one person in Paris, I was more inspired to take the best shot I can. http://spaces.msn.com/members/mayumayu1222/ click here for more pics!


Food was soooo delicious:) Wine, cheeze, fois gras, baguette, sweets etc... I had wine everyday! It was so cheep compared to Japan. and cheeze, WOW！ I was surprised how many different kinds there are. I love wine and cheeze.　want to learned more about them!



One interesting thing I noticed; French women are mean to women (especially to asian girls). People are nice to the opposite sex. Men, of course but women, more obvious. I guess you can say this to most European countries like Italy and Spain. I was watching this one woman at the information desk in Opera house while waiting in line. One mid 40 yld woman was asking a question to this woman but wow, I couldn't believe how rude she was. First I thought she was like that to everyone. Next person was mid 50-ish man. Then, her attitude changed! She was answering nicely and friendly like she should be! It was our turn now. My friend (jp) asked a question in fluent French. The woman at the desk was very rude and looked like we were annoying her!I thought "what the hell is wrong with her!? Isn't this information center where people ask questions?" I won't say this is for all women but this happened in most situations. But let me tell you, men are extremely nice to women:) My french friend told me that french women are mean to asian girls cause they envy us. French guys are interested in Asian girls but because of the language barrier, they don't have a courage to to talk to them. Haha! I doubt if that's ture but another friend told me the same thing so I'll believe that:) Maybe I should move to Paris!?

I did meet a few french guys but the problem was... I can't speak French!! I did study a little in college but that didn't help. I was surprised many people can't speak English as much as I thought! Only young people or ppl who work in tourism industry can speak but other than that... probably the same level of Japan. It is so difficult to live without being able to speak French in Paris. My friend was very good in French, progressed a lot so I was impressed with that. She is intelligent and better in English then me too!


Anyway, I do have lots of stories I wanna share with you but will end for now. I had a wonderful and fabulious time in Paris and will definately visit again. Thank you for everything Haruko!

パリは本当によかったよ～！パリの印象は”おいしい、綺麗、寒い”かな。町並みはどこもポストカードに出てきそうな感じだし、なんといってもワインとチーズ、バゲットがおいしかった♪ワインは毎日飲んでました（^-^）前までは白ワイン派だったんけど、この旅でだんぜん赤派になりました。大人になったってことかな！？

そうそう、この旅で発見したこと、それはフランス人の女は女には冷たいということ（特にアジア人には）。しかもすごくあからさまに。同じ人でも相手が男性か女性かによって態度が違う。インフォメーションセンターの人に質問した時も、男性が聞いたときはフレンドリーだったのに、私たちが聞いたら冷めたかった。友達が言ってたんだけど、ヨーロッパはMen(男性)、Women(女性)ではなくてMale（オス）、Female（メス）みたいって言ってた(苦笑）。すごく的を得てるけどね。他国も含めて、ヨーロッパは年齢関係なく異性をすごく意識する人たちだなぁと思った。
でもこれは悪いことではないよね。いつまでも自分が「女」「男」であることを意識しているし、それってすごく大事だと思う。日本はどっちかっていうと、結婚したらもう体型とか身なりとか気にしなくなる人が多い気がするから。ただ、度がひどいとちょっとね・・・。そんなことが多々あったから、フランス人って冷たいなぁってちょっと感じた。でももちろんいい人もいっぱいいっぱいいるよ！それだけは誤解のないように。

Kimono Pics~!

I wore kimono the other day! It's a tradition to wear kimonos in New Year in Japan. or I would say it used to be. Not many people wear kimono these days but I love wearing kimono and since I have some, I try to wear them as much as I can. Many people say it is so tight and too tiring to wear kimonos but I don't mind at all.




My sister and I wore kimono together and we went to visit our grand parent's place. We were a little embarresed on the way cause many people looked at us in kimono. My dad looked pretty happy this day. I was happy too:) My mom was tired putting kimonos on us and my sis looked exhausted wearing the kimono. She wanted to take it off as soon as possible.

Happy New Year 2006!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!
wow, it's already 2006... time flies soooo fast.
but that's good cause that means you're enjoying your life. If you're bored, time flies so slow, right? I can't believe it's almost 1 year since I came back to Japan from Seattle.

My goal of this year: to be a wonderful, cute, beautiful woman, and intelligent, active business woman. I will start working from April and I can't wait! Many of you might say being a student is better but I'm so tired of it. I want to see the different new world! Hope I can do what I want. Since it's a big company and I don't know where I will be placed at. My hope is to be in International Marketing or International Sales. I'm also interested in Invester's Relations (International).

Anyway, I just came back from Paris and also trip to Okinawa (the most southern part of Japan). I will write about them later on but let me tell you, Paris was great. Food is good and the city is so so romantic.

Happy New Year again and hope year 2006 will be a fabulous year for you all!!!!

明けましておめでとう！！！

ついに2006年明けました。2005年は本当に早かった。シアトル留学から帰ってきて、東京と関西を行ったり来たりして、就活し、晴れて内定もでてまた海外（シアトル）へ1ヶ月行き、帰ってきたら卒論に励み、終わったと同時にまた海外（パリ）へ飛び出し、大晦日、元旦は石垣島・・・というような1年でした。

2006年の目標はいい女・できる女・良い社会人です！新社会人としてどんな人生になるのか楽しみ♪ また、外側も内面も美しい女性になるよう努力します。

みなさまにとって2006年が素晴らしい年になりますように☆今年もよろしくお願いします！

Beautiful Kyoto

I went to visit Kyoto for sightseeing the other day. I used to live in Kyoto and been to most of the tourist places (parks, temples, downtown..) but I wasn't bored at all. Kyoto is the most traditional Japanese city where there's many temples, old houses, geisha so many forigners love it there, but it is also a place where Japanese want to visit once in a while just to feel the atmosphere and relax. Walking in the Japanese garden, seeing the temples and discovering the history... I don't know how to explain but just feels GOOD.
I took many pics and will share some of them so that you can get the image of Kyoto.


Banboo path to the temple / at night time



Arashiyama



saw a wedding held at / Seki-tei ; sand garden
the temple. Bride in white kimono.



Kabuki theatre / real Maiko (Geisha)



Huge Budha!!

Speaking of Geisha, I saw "Memories of Geisha" or in Japanese title "Sayuri". It was amazing!! Ziyi Zhang's dance in Kimono was so beautiful and gorgous. Took my breath when she was dancing on the stage in the snow. All the jp actress, acters were good especially Ken Watanabe (of course!). He was in a huge dept a while a go but now he's a hollywood star and got married recently. Must be happy.
In this movie, JP and English were mixed. Most conversations are done in English but sometimes they speak Japanese. I felt a little wired listening to that. I learned about Geisha too. They are not same as prostitute. "Geisha is a moving art."

神戸ルミナリエ開催♪Kobe Luminarie

ついに今年も神戸ルミナリエスタート！今年で11年目。阪神大震災の復興と被災者の希望を込めて1995年から始まった行事。毎年行ってたんだけど、去年は留学でいなくて行けなかったから今年は行かなきゃ☆本物を見るのが楽しみ。人が多くて嫌って言う人もいるけど、あれは絶対見る価値あるよ～平日にいけばまだましだし。神戸に住んでてよかった～って思う事の一つ。週末はもうギュウギュウ詰めで小さい子がいる人とかは絶対行かない方がいい。押しつぶされてみててかわいそうになる。そんでもって母親が無理やり引っ張ってるんよね。。ということで、来週行く予定です♪
Kobe "Luminarie" started☆☆ Those of you who don't know about this, this is a illimination festival held in Kobe to courage people who suffered from the Hanshin Big Earthquake happened in 1995. It is held every winter since this earthquake and this is the 11th year. (Every year they have a different design!) I used to go see this every year except last year(cause I was in Seattle) so I am soooo excited that I can see this year☆ The illuminations are lightened up along 1 big street and leads to the park. and in the park, you can get into the center of the wall made out of　millions of lights. 360°surrounded by illiminations!!! So beatiful and breathtaking. Some people say that it's too crowded so they don't wanna go but it's worth it. If you avoid going there on the weekends, it's not that bad. But DO NOT take little kids there in the weekends cause they'll be squashed n dead. I saw some moms taking their kids, dragging them around but they didn't seem to be pleased. Poor little kids... anyways, I'm planning to go see next week:)