Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Spanish Lladro's year ball 2014 - bought on Monday.
Now part of the collection.





Since the marriage - 2009, the collection of the year balls is on-going.
Now collection of 6 balls, already, up to 2014.

Without my notice, this has been part of our family's tradition. Hahaha.

One question still remaining… why Japanese people do buy thing for 2014 now?
I do not think that it is a problem to buy the year ball for 2014 at the same time around next year.
Hmmm, not sure why.

Any clue?

Hi folks!
First better report to you…

My weight is now 72.7kg.
It was 74.5kg about two weeks ago.
Not bad? Yet not enough.

I will keep this diet go for a bit more.
Hope I can make 70kg in November.
Slowly but certainly, right?

Another one is just here…
Tomorrow will go to Munich, Germany once again.
Since August.

This is going to be last business trip in 2013 for sure.
Will see how this will go.
Hope no surprise and good outcome can be observed.

Wish me luck!
Bye bye now.

Says -

"gastritis”
and
"calyceal diverticulum" + "kidney stone"

My God!

Still hot summer goes on here in Japan.
Dog "Love" cannot stand this heat just like me!!!
Poor thing.





SMILE!



So cool down is quite necessary.
Frozen yogurt is quite irresistible. Don't you agree?
This was a great one!!! Mango source was great, too.



And quite shopping.



Then quite driving!

Audi A7 was fast enough and passed me like a wind!
I wish I could drive that fast and own that fancy car!!!



My shopping was of this pair of shoes!
This is for rain use.
Yes, really.

Okay, long weekend is done!
Need to face the realty… let's get back to work!

Amazing enough, it was quite early bird.
I was up at 5:45am. Way too early!
Well, it was for one particular purpose.



Car wash!
Precious car deserves hand wash! So I did!

In the late afternoon, went to a theatre for checking this out:



White House Down - preview appeared to be pretty good!
This is opening day. Rare for me to do so promptly. Hahaha.

Was it good?
Story were like the first Die Hard movie.
Not bad.

Though, the story did have some flaw. NOT making sense to let the President alive for all the times.
Well, that doesn't matter… much.



Dinner started with sparkling!!!
My choice - Freuxenet.
Cheap bottle! (indeed)

Turned out home BBQ like.





Very good beef!!!
Made a wonderful choice for tonight.
Very full.

Day off today again!
Well, it is my summer time off. Not bad, huh.
Though, I have interesting plan.

I somehow made an appointment for annual health check-up.
This is mandatory - meaning that I am not really taking day off today?
Good question - never thought about it.



New employer of mine - means new clinic for check-up.
This is first place for me to go through the process.
Appointment was at 10am.

Finished at 11:25am or so.
Though at the reception, I was told by a nurse that I needed to come back at 1:20pm for doctor's appointment.
I had a bad idea… anything wrong with me?

Had a free lunch since the clinic gave me a free coupon at the Chinese restaurant downstairs.
Not enough to kill time until then.
Went to a coffee shop nearby while waiting.

1:10pm… went in and saw a doctor who was quite apologetic to me somehow.
It was simply because there was nothing wrong EXCEPT one thing - my waist is over the average. Hahaha.
He said, sorry but this is per guideline. That is true.

Good thing is that all figures from check-up were good.



Then late afternoon, I hit the road.



DROVE across the ocean! Cool huh!!!
It was a wonderful drive… and I partially went over the speed limit by a little!
Yes, I will be careful.

After the supper, I came to see a GREAT DEAL.



My father sent me some hometown's sweets!!!



This is available only in the summer time. Very precious!
Of course, I was quite happy with these!!! Great taste for sure.



Great drive… Great run!!!
I will drive more during this weekend.

Now one watch is back to me after overhaul.







Yes, this is now back!
My precious watch!
Rubber belt is perfect for this extremely hot summer which is already here.

Good.



To kick off the extended weekend from tomorrow, just celebrated that with beer ALONE.
Yes, went to local tavern by myself and had some drinks with food. Not bad, huh.

Drove already 500 kilo meters!!!



Sushi for supper!

My Bluetooth ear phone is now dead… after use of 5 years or possibly longer!



One-side… left side has no sounds coming through anymore.

Time to replace this...

Hi folks.
It was quite warm today... actually hot!
Well, I was wise enough not to go out at all during the day.
I stayed and worked pretty late in the office.

Yeah, I worked to avoid the heat! Hahaha. Just kidding.

Agenda for the day shifted quite bit from the beginning.
I was supposed to conduct some research.
Though, single email from my boss changed the entire view for the day.

I was requested to brush up some presentation along with some research for validation.
Totally different topic. In fact, totally unfamiliar discussion.
It was of corporate taxes.

I hate tax stuff and in fact not familiar with it at all.
Hard to deal with tax terminology in English on top of everything.
No wonder that I couldn't go lunch at all.

My lunch bag from convenience store came around 3pm. Oh boy...

Anyway, the day is over. I can do my own agenda tomorrow... even though postponed from today.

For coming weekend, I found that things are not along with my preference.
MoonFlower seems to go on her own.
She needs to see her mother and goes to school for her usual learning.

It means that I will be entirely FREE!
Is that good news?
Well, I have two boxes of plastic model (of figures!) to assemble.

Perfect to my time to spend for such hobby? Sure thing.

Wait. When MF is going to leave? Friday or Saturday?
That makes a big difference. Hehehe.
Another question is of course about when she'll be back.

I would say, this weekend is just last one before going into tight schedule.
Thus, I should enjoy myself as much and do things that I need to do.
That should include hair-cut and possibly perm.

Wow, I would get quite busy then.
I'd better plan it well.
Planning carefully... Hehehe.

At least we cannot go to any auto dealer during this weekend.
I originally thought that we would go to Mercedes Benz.
Maybe another weekend.



Photo just arrived. From my mother received flowers that I sent for Mother's Day.
Pretty nice!
I never knew of that beforehand because placed an order online. Hehehe.

Original plan was totally different.
MoonFlower wanted to go to Ginza for (window) shopping.
Because of some special sales in some department store.

After her (intense?) consideration, we no longer needed to go.

Thus, we went out by car. To where? Dealership.
In fact, visited 3 different dealers within today. Fast, huh.
First, it was Audi.

Audi dealer shares the parking lot with some restaurant.
The guide in the parking lot thought that we were for food.
Hahaha. MoonFlower and I did not look like one going to Audi.

Maybe because too luxury brand for someone like us. Hehehe.

Checked out A1 and A3. Even test drive with A3. NOT BAD AT ALL.
Actually, everything was cool and nice. Very smooth.
May be too good... to feel anything while driving.

The showroom was notably luxurious and spacey. Nice.

Stopped by 2nd place, Alfa Romeo. Yes, Giulietta.
It was first touch for MF - Italian car.
She definitely loved the exterior. Very stylish.

Test drive... very fun to drive. COOL. I liked it.

Then last not least... BMW. Went there around 5pm.
Many luxury cars were placed within limited space!
Sales man was very proud of what he was selling.

BMW is great car with lots of neat technology!

No wonder that so many friends around me did buy such car.

I liked 3 Series so much. Though, MF cannot drive a big car.
Thus, we shifted toward 1 Series.
Unfortunately, no 1 Series for test drive available today.

So your big question must be like "Are we seriously going to buy a new car?"
Well, I do not know.
Today, it was nothing but just educational.

Understanding what kind of car is in the market for how much value.

Maybe we ought to try MB. yeah, Mercedes-Benz, next time. Hahaha.
Wait. Have I ever thought about the budget?
As far as I know, I have never ever estimated or came up with any particular figures.

Nothing in my mind... BAD, huh. My fault.
Well, will see how this our interest in buying a new car develops hereof.





For supper, we went into an Italian restaurant nearby.
Got a couple of glasses of wine over dried food and pasta.
Good and easy dine-out tonight.

All right. That is all for this weekend.

Left home for mother-in-law's place at 8:30am.
Usually 1 hour drive or so.
Today… different just because of Golden Week.



Heavy traffic! Too heavy.
Made the destination at 10 after noon.
Longer than 3 hours. Too bad.

Before doing things planned, lunch became 1st priority.



Soba or Japanese soba noodles was the selection.
Pretty good!
Plus, some tempura. Excellent!

This food made us do things as planned very smoothly. Hahaha.
Went to cemetery… yes, visited to a grave.
Shopping for in-law. Too many stuff, hahaha.

I went on to walk the dog with MoonFlower.
Good exercise for sure.
Diet? Helped? Hope so.

Day before my birthday, really.
Meaning, Birthday Eve?
Not sure we call like that? Hahaha.

Work was flat. Under control.
Though, some event took place over dinner.
It was working dinner.

Everything was in English… and some German.
It is because some German guy was present.
Yeah, fancy international business!



Table is located in fancy place in the restaurant. Great over view.
You can see neat garden just before you.
Helping a good appetite. Don't you think?

Had a glass of bear and ate plate of veal.
Though, I spoke more than ate.
On the way back home, I felt like questioning to myself…

Have I just finished dinner, right?

I must have eaten light. Small portion of foods for sure.
Plus, I consumed lots of energy speaking! Hehehe.
Was good working dinner for sure.

Yes, still wearing Jawbone UP everyday… every moment.
Except the time while taking shower for sure, though.
I can share some result. Sleeping order.



Slept for 5 hours and 18 minutes. Long? Short?
Deep sleep was 3 hours and 8 minutes. More than half of entire sleep.
NOT sure that this is ideal result or not. Need to learn of sleep.

UP alarm was off at 6:12am.
According to this data, I was already awake. Huh, interesting.
I was probably half asleep in bed. Hahaha.

Hi folks.
Quite busy today… because I had to prepare some presentation slides for Friday.
It isn't for my meeting. Though, important.

I took full responsibility to prepare the document which is finally ready today.

Probably minor adjustment after this.
Meaning, big relief for me. Hehehe.
Yes, it was quite pain for a while since the moment of the assignment.

Tomorrow, I expect to get busy for another stuff…
Oh one after another… positive cycle!



Today's reading (of course, after work!) - "Understand the Call Center and Help Desk"
It was good reading…
Help Desk stuff isn't something that I didn't know. (double negative, huh)

However, I wanted to know more about the Call Center. This really caught my attention.

Random reading is part of what I do because I borrow books from local library…
Good idea, don't you think?
Photo composition book that I introduced yesterday - I finished reading, already.

Too bad that it didn't cover the topic how to shoot the foods in good composition.

One last thing - please watch this Youtube. This is quite fascinating.
If you're ever Evernote user, worth to consider purchase.
I should check the item out… really.

Even you're not gadget lover, you can easily imagine many scenes of use in ordinary daily life.
If you're student, it can be really good buy!
The way you take notes is no longer the same manner. Totally different practice with this pen.

Interesting, huh.

Anyway, please watch. You'll be astonished if never seen it before:

How's it going, folks? MoonFlower and I slept in and missed the delivery in the early morning.
We woke up around 9:30am. Hahaha.
Anyway, made a quick call to delivery person and he came back in hour or so.

Thanking him for making two trips! Yes, we know, it is all out fault.



Delivered wine bottles from Enoteca.
I made online order completed late afternoon. Yeah, it was Saturday afternoon.
Very fast delivery - next day without any extra cost. Good deal.

In the afternoon, we had periodical fire alarm inspection home.
Nothing went wrong and alarms in every room proved working properly.
Good.

Late afternoon… around 4:30pm, we went out to Chiba.
Dinner and music live tonight at friend's restaurant. Cool, huh!



Supper dish prior to music. Two free drinks included.
Beer first and another drinks.
MoonFlower went for another one and I joined. Chose and drank red wine. Good enough for me!



Live music - Indian music instrument (drum) called Tabla and Japanese guitar - Shamisen.
Interesting combination and unique music!
Those players were just before me within 1 yard or so. Indeed!

Dramatic sounds for several hours! Fascinating!

It were like jazz session. They never played together before today.
Though, managed perfect music in harmony. Wonderful session it was. Really was.
Ver unique, huh!

Wearing the Jawbone UP all day now you can see what data gathering...



110% of sleep - target 6 hours and actual 6 hours and 37 minutes.
138% of walk - target 8,000 steps and actual 11,098 steps.
15 items eaten for 1,557 kilo calories.

Interesting enough? This is only on dashboard and you can see more in details.

In the music session, I found another audience wearing black UP. Already that popular?
Hehehe.
Will see how else around me has such cool gadget like that!



Home-made cake by MoonFlower.
This is my birthday cake according to her!
Really? A bit early… Hmm.

All right. That is it for today.
See you tomorrow!

After a month with friend's place - my (another) fountain pen is back!!!
Yes, it is being "perfectly customized just for me."
Friend runs his own nib-customization shop which brought a big fortune.

Nib can be anyway you like it.
This is 2nd request to him after Delta Dolce-Vita pen.



This time, not new pen. One from my collection.
It is Cartier pen. Yes, expensive stuff for me. And the favorite.
Nib was medium - and requested to make it fine but italic.



After received in mail, I refilled the ink right away!
Tried to write some words as experiment.
OH MY GOSH!!!

This is not longer merely pen. This is LUXURIOUS WRITING INSTRUMENT!!!
More than I previously imagined. Way too cool!!!
I cannot thank my friend Michael enough.

Due to this fashionable result of my pen customization, it is necessary to celebrate!
Hahaha.
No direct relation to dining event for our household… but just opened a bottle.



Selection was of Italian Chianti.
MooonFlower is busy over the kitchen. Hard and lots of work!
(Yes, I am definitely quite thankful for that.)









This is fish… cannot see, huh.



Ate too much in addition to drank to much. Hahaha.
Good Saturday night spending peaceful time with wifie.
Weather is not much cooperating… but need to find out way to have fun.

New convenience store opened near the office.
And saw a big character idol was waving just outside of the store.



Called "PONTA." Cutie mascot of some card point service available at that convenience store.
Sorry, I do not have a membership.
I use Edy - a competition. Hahaha.



Lunch was Thai food.
Good memory… no longer part of my life / career / entertainment? Hmmm.



Dinner took place in a restaurant.
MoonFlower worked over time and we met in the train station.
Decided to eat out for supper. Light chore day for her.



My "chore" type thing is to refill the ink to fountain pens of my collection. Hahaha.
Only three tonight.

Dragons lost a big game with Giants. Too bad.
Swept with 4-6. Seemed close game. Not exactly.
Giants hit so many while few by Dragons.





Starter Ohno didn't have good control of his pitches over the base.





Rookie Sugano performed excellently. Came to grab his 1st career win today.









Dragons still in progress how to compete in this season.. needs to figure it out.
Today's result was not good… but still early stage in this season yet.

Chasing after AWESOME French toast today!



Cafe in Shinjuku… a place where MoonFlower has ever been to.
NOT me. It was my 1st visit… absolutely.



LOOK!
They were FANTASTIC ones for me. Made me full quite easily.
Apple sauce was perfect match.



World's Fountain Pen Show in Nihonbashi.
NO purchase made, though.



What we picked from shopping was this coaster.
Pretty cool.



This wine… was VERY SWEET. Made me feel like drinking sweet wine.
However, interesting enough… this came along with Japanese food as supper tonight.





Then pasta.



Sweet is home made by MoonFlower. WONDERFUL stuff.
Made me totally full… all day long. Hahaha.

Some of my collection pens - fountain pens suffer from inconsistent ink flow.
Just like this -



Ink stays above the air within the converter.
That is not right.
Ink becomes the wall to prevent the air intake. Ink does not flow at all.

I hate this symptom.

Some of my pens… happened to be 2 Visconti fountain pen face that issue.
Today, I cleaned the inside of converter.
After the cleaning, I refilled ink again to see if the same symptom still occurs.

It did. Made no difference. No improvement. What a shock!
Better get some drinks! Hahaha.



Dinner with some drinks as per MoonFlower's recommendation.
Interesting shape of ice in my glass!

Polar bear ice it was!!! Cute, isn't it?
MF is so proud of this.
Good choice!



Curry over rice - today's supper.



Home-made cake followed.
This was very nice! MF learned how to make this today.
Good job!

Another box came home…
Ready for production? Not quite yet.
But the theme for this time is of pink Gundam.



called "Infinite Justice Gundam."



Just opened the box… will see how complex it is going to be…

Maybe this weekend?

Received an envelop which was international airmail.



It was a card like that!
From ex-client when I was consultant at previous company. Nice! Thank you!

"Me? Missed You?" on the surface,
"Only all the times." inside.
Funny. Liked it.

Haven't received any card like that for a long time.
In Japan, sending and receiving cards are not common practice… much.

In fact, it was a substitute new year greeting card.

Ex-client put her handwriting saying like
"Any chance coming over (to California where she lives for work)?"
"Love to see you and I like you to bring something from Japan for me"

Even more funnier. Hahaha.





Dinner was ready!
It was healthy udon bowl with salad.
Somehow MoonFlower didn't like salad dressing that was on the top.

She has more sensitive tongue than do I. Hahaha. True, though.

Not big supper… quite ordinary today.
Though, I came to find a pleasure since facing the small dish stuff that I love!
Actually, I asked MoonFlower to pick it up if she finds in the supar market.



This is called…. I do not know. Hahaha.
Let me put it in this way… Japanese horse raddish.
Yeah, some kind of spicy stuff - perfect company to rice! (at least to me)

In Japanese, called "wasabi zuke."



main dish for supper is this. Another Japanese dish.
Daikon & Ganmodoki.
Important point is no meat. Hehehe.

Yeah, I really have to watch what to eat.
Now I am quite keen to the calories intaking about every food putting in my mouse at any given meal.

Seriously.



One paper AD caught my eye tonight.
Came from Yodobashi Camera - my "usual" electronic super store.
Now, Canon EOS 6D is on sale at reduced price!!!

Already! Yeah… just came out at the end of last November.
In this trend, I can see farther discount in next several months?
I would love to see that happens!!! Then, I can give myself (MoonFlower can give me?) a green light.

This is certainly good news. Cannot wait.

So another weekend is ahead!!!

Long drinking night has come!!!
New Year's Party… sort of. Hahaha.
Yes, it really was.

A party among two friends of mine and I… three in total.



Never ever tried "Murphy's" beer.
Was pretty okay.
Still I prefer Guiness to this brand. Hahaha.



There was "happy hour" lasting until 7pm.
Ordered this side dish for snack.
Actually, it was good enough for my supper.

Though, I had to eat and drink even more afterwards.
Meaning, fattening!

At 8:30pm, we went in to the second place.



Japanese modern? Nice interior.



Hoegaarden!!!
Since Bangkok era… first time to drink this!



They had ODEN menu.
Of course, I passed. Hehehe.
Yeah, just ate those a couple days ago! At home!



Huge beer server.
Were like one at Thunderbird Pub! Hehehe.

Anyhow, it quickly reached midnight. Rushed into train to go home.
Indeed fun time really flies. It just did.

What to talk about?
Totally confidential! Hahaha.
Of course, work-related… sort of.

Surely was precious time with friends spending time over dinner.
I should come to such opportunity more often. As often as I can.
Thank you, friends!

I tried an interesting trial today:



Here are the writings of the collection - my fountain pens!!!
One on the top is with new Delta pen recently purchased.
Pretty darn cool, huh!

Italic style with sky blue ink. LOVE IT.

All words in Japanese - different color by different pen - say "Website Ogakijin."

So awkward to write same words / phrase repeatedly…
and turned out they looked similar, not absolutely same. Hahaha. What a mess!
Yes, written by me for sure.