Fall is just around the corner.
Morning and night… the temperature is lower...



In the morning, I was FORCED to walk the dog.
Though, found fancy flower… like that.
Cool. I appreciate the beauty of nature for sure.

Big shopping day for my family.
Though, nothing was for me. In fact, I didn't pick any for myself.
Why not?

Hmm. Just not in such mood to spend any money today.
Maybe just not my turn then.

Had a good cake, though.



Went in to "Afternoon Tea Cafe" and picked this cake.
Doesn't look too fancy… but tasty for sure. It really was. Recommended.
I should try others in the menu next time. Hehehe.

Somehow(?) went in to a Luxus dealership in the afternoon.
Yes, Friday afternoon indeed.
What about work? What about it??? Hahaha.



Look at this.
Lexus dealership serves coffee like that. Far better than ordinary coffee shop, I guess!
No wonder it was such a luxury brand.

For what purpose of my visit? Good question.
Test drive.
I wanted to drive IS series.

Only 300h was available at that time. Yeah, hybrid car.
Thus, I tried that.
Drove like 25 minutes or so. Including highway.

Not bad.
Good power, good acceleration, and very quiet inside while driving.
Though, not so much fun to drive.

Why?
Everything seemed very plain… quite boring! Hahaha.
True, though. It were for elders to drive.

NOT for me YET.

On the way home (?), decided to drop by for another thing.
MOVIE! Hehehe.



The Wolverine movie opened tonight. So I picked.
Well, I am not big fan of X-men. Though, I have seen the movie series.
If not seen other movies of the series, you do not want to see this because not making sense… much.

Story was about one Japanese solder's long time wish.
Turned out to be very evil.
Scenes were from different places in Japan. Many Japanese "characters."

However, not many famous Japanese actors in it. Most of them were either "not famous" or "non-Japanese."
Too bad!!!

Well, at the end roll credit, there was a message that story will continue. Cool.

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.

New place we checked out…
Cafe not too far from where I live.
Just a matter of 10 minutes drive or so.



This sweets place was featured in TV, recently.
Very small place it was, though.



Selected small cake for myself.
400 yen? I think something like that.
It was pretty good… I should go back and check some others more.

Am sure to do so very soon.



New car, already?
Fiat Panda - this is sub for a couple of days since my Giulietta is for 1st month inspection.
Am sure that it has no problem… so far running so good.

Good to ask car salesman to give me a gift upon getting a new car.
Model car - same as our new car.
A bit different specification and body color.

Though, that is okay!







This is add-on to our interior!

Not Germany as a country - today it is Village.
Like a theme part located in Chiba - called Tokyo German Village.
Not precisely Tokyo… but it is okay. We're so used to it.

Like Tokyo Disneyland… which is on land of Chiba, not Tokyo. Really.



Phlox subulata is something we went to see.





Peak is already gone… blossoms are limited today.
No wonder that no many photographers at sight.
Though, it was totally okay. We enjoyed ourselves.



Traffic control pod is like German flag. Pretty neat.



Tons of families were enjoying the sun light by playing some sports, etc.
Good family place for sure.



Carpet of tenderstem broccoli!!! Very beautiful.





MoonFlower insisted to get a ride on to Ferris wheel.
300 yen for one person older than 4 years old.
Not 40 years old, okay!



Still German three colors. Neat!
And I have no objection… followed MF for a ride.
Ride lasted about 10 minutes or so. Not bad at all.



More flowers.



Not many roses… yet some.





No more ride like boat. Hahaha.

Then we went on to outlet shopping mall after the Village.
Shopped some.
Let you know of them later.

Stopped by unique shop for coffee.



The shop sells ceramics and coffee beans.
Those ceramics come from different parts of Japan… very expensive. Surprisingly.
While waiting on two kinds of coffee in our purchase to be grounded, we got free coffee.



Hadn't had any coffee in Japanese ceramics like that for a long time.
Cannot even remember of last time. Interesting experience for sure. Nice!

Really enjoyed 1st half of Japan's Golden Week.
Safe drive back home at late night, too.
See you tomorrow.

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.

Cherry blossoms...
This year, it is a bit early... but here it comes.
Of course, MoonFlower and I didn't want to miss them.

Went out to Ueno Park to see them.
It is a large park and tons of people were already there.

Great view everywhere...

Walked all over the place...

Not only Japanese but also lots of foreigners there.

So obvious to distinguish the foreigners because of:

1. easily entering into restricted area for photo taking
2. talking very loud voice

Hahaha. You got me right?
Hehehe.

Funny thing is that Ueno is yet center of Tokyo...
Though due to a number of foreigners among Japanese,
I could feel like it were foreign place.

True, though. Really.

Japan is of course part of border-less world for sure. 

This sign says…

"When you cross this road and get hit (by a car),
You may not entitled to receive insurance money."

This is not the only sign I saw…
Same message board was there… on the same street. Several spots.

This road must be really dangerous.

February is now ending…
Already 20% of time in 2013 is passing by. Fast, huh!
What have I accomplished?

NOT quite… YET! Please be aware that I added "YET."

Hahaha!

What a day!!!
Here in Tokyo, rare to see snow… yeah, snow flurries.
Today, totally exception.

You see TONS OF SNOW fallen!!!



This was the scene around 11am.
After that, snow lasted all day.
Lots of snow. Accumulated 10cm or 5 inches. NO KIDDING!



Thank God, it was National Holiday - Adult Day celebrating those who turn 20 years old.
Thus, no major traffic nightmare. I bet there were some…
Of course, I decided to stay warm home! Good idea.



Kept watching video from lots of special TV programs during the New Year.
Took MoonFlower and me a while to finish watching.
While doing so, idea came up… opening a bottle of wine. Hehehe.



MoonFlower started preparation of Japanese dish called ODEN since this morning.
Tons of good stuff from ODEN made the dinner table very nice!
And I easily get drunk out of that. Hahaha.



Not only ODEN dishes… but also…



DESSERT! Made by MoonFlower. I am big fan of her home-made sweets.
Cannot resist. Hehehe.

Big snow day turned out to be "comfortable day" at home for sure.
Of course, thanks to MoonFlower. Yeah, I should be really thankful.
Especially, I forgot to help her to clean up… and went to bed straight.

Middle day of three-day extended weekend… decided to go out today…
Didn't have any particular purpose. Though, MoonFlower and I ended up in Nakano.
Nakano is located the other side of Tokyo. Took us about whole hour to get there.



On the way to Nakano Broadway - shopping mall complex.
Tons of people walking by in the arcade. Typical Nakano.



"Maid Cafe" ad found… not rare in this area.
Lots of interesting place like restaurants and shops.
You can find so many "unusual" stuff on the showcase. Hehehe.



This is TV drama script for sale. What kind of people would come out to buy those??? Hahaha.
It was fun "window shopping" for sure.
I do come out like once every half year or so. Fun to watch and check things out.

Sure, it was another fun day today.
Then, we both went down to usual restaurant for supper.
Place called Aida.





Very Japanese dish with Sake tonight!









YAKITORI!!!





Too much good stuff for us. Over eating. Hahaha.
I know, New Year is over! Will get back to normal pace of our usual life soon.