Weekend is coming to an end… for now.
Good weather with the cold temperature…

Showed up to an annual conference held for apartment tenants.
There were 6 items that had to be approved by a half of tenants.
It all went very smoothly… although there were some questions raised.

Yeah, I did ask some questions as well.
At least I supported to make it all "official" by raising questions / active participation.
Hahaha.

After all happy end of the conference, I decided to drop by optician.
I was wearing these pair of glasses by Kei Sugimoto.



I bought this frame back in 2017.
Still this pair is one of my favorite eyewear!

Now placed an order for new subscripted lenses for my current visions.
Near and far sighted with some astigmatisms…
Sounds like an old man, right?



Clear blue sky over Tokyo today!!!
I had to give a ride to MoonFlower to a tea shop.
It was short but fun drive under such weather.

MF bought some tea gifts for friends coming up next weekend.
She is going to have heavy event-base weekend then.
That means, I have full of free time and I should plan entire weekend for fun!!!

Will see what to do then…



"Ichikei no Karasu" - that is movie title. I hardly can translate it into English.



This is TV drama-base movie and movie story was carried over from the tv episodes.

This is 7th movie to see in this year and 7 movies watched in January so far.
Last year - watched 5 movies in January… ending up 43 movies for entire year.
Better start this year and wonder how many movies that I am going to see this year.

Maybe 45? Even 50?!
Will see.

Movie day - I saw "The Legend & Butterfly."
This is 6th movie to watch in theatre in 2023 so far.



It was Japanese samurai movie… love story.



Starring Takuya Kimura and Haruka Ayase.



Small gift came upon the entry…
Three small envelop for cash gift has some sweet drawings related to the movie.
Fancy!

Family dinner took place at pizzeria.



"ORANGE COVO"









Chaykin (watch) shows smile on great food! Hahaha.

20230128 オランジェ コーヴォ #ピザ #新日本橋 #レストランインテリア #ブロガー #食べ歩きグルメ #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

MoonFlower and I became full instantly after completing two small pizzas.
I used to be able to eat up much and much more…
Am sure of that! Hahaha.

Time for hitting the sacks.
Night night.

Weekend is finally here…
Leaving all job tasks incomplete, I rushed into Tateishi Station.
That is where tons of old-styled Japanese taverns concentrated.



Surely, 1st time in such a long time. Say 10 years or even longer.

Friend Tetsu and I got together for drinks tonight.
It was postponed from past Tuesday when he urgently had to go to Nagoya for work.
I guess, this rescheduling was rather perfect.



After trying to go in at two different places where taverns were packed and full,
we ended up at Mitsuwa for 1st stop.
This is one of "usual places" for Tetsu and he led me to order what to eat, etc.



It was cheap grilled-meats place and they were all good!!!

After "Mitsuwa," we went in to the oden place.
Oden is vegetables, fish dumplings and various other articles of food stewed in a thin soy soup, and served hot.



Very authentic Japanese tavern. Yeah quite typical.

20230127 おでん二毛作 #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Another Tetsu's usual place and he knew what to order for me again.



Oden!!!



Oyster bowl



Tetsu and me… definitely drunk already. Hahaha.

What to talk about? Various. Work, fashion, watch, money, family, health, etc.
Usual stuff, right?

We worked together such a long time ago.
Worked together over several years in Tokyo…
Back in 2000-2003… still felt like yesterday.

Very cold tonight!
It is below-zero degree Celsius.
Tomorrow it could be worse?

Working from home all day today.

Worked on some proposal and estimate for entire mooning.
Deadline was met and all required submitted. Will see how this would go.
For belated lunch, I showed up to a restaurant specialized in Tonkatsu or deep fried pork.



Deep fried pork with rice and miso soup
Turned out to be a big lunch and surely made me full.

I wasn't that productive in the afternoon not because was full…



but because PC was so slow!
Ended up with BIOS update.
Took me a while to come to this phase.

Once updated, thing got back to normal.
So I caught it all up thereafter.

It would have been a nightmare if PC didn't even get back to normal condition to operate.



MoonFlower gave me a green light to turn AC on tonight. I mean heat is on.
Yeah, rare to do so…but too cold tonight.
Though, temperature setting was for 21.5 degrees Celsius.

It is about 70.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Seems too low However, it is not quite so. Rather, it is okay and comfortable somehow.

Hope we can survive through coming several days with cold by turning heat on.

Everyone, keep yourself warm!!!

According to the weather forecast, Japan is facing severe weather ahead.
Up to Wednesday or so, big and rough winter storm is coming.
There are lots of warnings throughout the media.



If Tokyo get snowed and even accumulated, that would be a mess. Big mess for sure.
From tomorrow afternoon, the temperature is expected to drop, dramatically.
Will see how it would be around here.

Funny thing - our home has no heat.
Well, we do. We do equip air conditioner and flor heating system built-in.
Though, rare to use them.

Over new year days, MoonFlower and I agreed to turn floor heating system on.
That was it.
Otherwise, we rather put as many clothes on to protect coldness.

Tonight, we both felt chilly even inside… but yet didn't turn anything on. Hahaha.
Will see whether we have to turn system on to survive or not.



I guess, that is a bad news… among no major (good) news.

Oh, it is due tomorrow for me to submit another proposal for new project.
I have to deal with it by deadline.
Yeah, good news is expected for sure.

Will stay home for work tomorrow. Better spend time wisely. Tons of things to do still.
Oh boy… no relaxation coming handy. Hahaha.

Yeah, I am hungry for any kind of good news for work or even personal.
Are you?

Showed up in Edogawa in early morning today.



LARGE HALL - where?
More than a thousand people were there?
Hall capacity was about 1500… full capacity!



Popular "Yoshimoto" Comedy Show





My seat was quite close to the stage. 6th row from the stage!!!

20230122 江戸川区総合文化センター よしもとお笑いライブ #江戸川区総合文化センター #よしもと #吉本興業 #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Theta 360-degree photo - you can see how the hall looks like.

It was all stand-up comedy show and it was full of laughs for sure.
2 hours of smiles and fun went away very quickly.

Then, got together with MoonFlower for lunch.
Went to new place recently open and became popular among youngsters called "Bakery Bank."





Very fancy place and tons of customers keep coming in and out.

20230122 Bank Bakery #nihombashicafe #cafehopping #カフェ巡り #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

We decided to take a quick lunch and I picked favorite bread - CROISSANT for lunch.
Quality of breads seems outstanding… MF seems satisfactory.
We definitely will come back more often.

This weekend seemed much shorter than usual one… with full of activities.
Somehow enjoyed myself as much.
Now I'd better face the reality that this week is another hard one…

Made it early - it is Saturday.
Had to go to see this movie first.
Korean movie it is.

"Perfect Driver"



This is 5th movie to watch in this year. Quite high pace at this point.



No so common for me to see Korean movie.
Though, it was pretty good preview that I saw over several times.
Actress was from "Parasite."

Driving scene was not as good as ones from Hollywood, I guess.
Though, it was quite Korean story.
However, the end was rather clam. Not a surprise at the end at all. Hahaha.



Dan dan noodles became my lunch after disappointment that restaurant where I went to was closed today.
Well, turned out to be quite good alternative.

Stopped by coffee shop for after-lunch chilling.



"Unison Taylor Ningyocho" - 1st visit in this year



I thought that drink come out with mug… but did come along with paper cup.
Was my order for to-go?

I even got a massage for an hour, taking care of my stiff body!
Particularly, stiff neck which was my pain!
Pain seems to be gone after massage and would last for a while? Hope so.



Supper was a small drink dining with MoonFlower.



Yaki Tori (chicken) and Yaki Ton (pork) !!!

Over 20 year of service subscription, I have closed my account at Earthlink.
It provided me a web host services for running my website with ogaki.net domain.
Since that domain expired recently, I decided to take everything back to Japan.



Earthlink is a mega Internet service provider in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thus, entire website data of Ogaki jin for ogaki.net was in US.

Just like my bank account at Wells Fargo…

Now reserved new domain - ogakijin.com and reopened my site there.
Yeah, everything is now here in Japan. Easy access…
Plus, cheaper to run the site.

20 years ago, it was quite expensive to own domain and run the website in Japan.
Now, situation is quite different and cheaper in Japan.
Thus, this move is not only organizational but cost-saving. Hahaha.

Though, it was good and quality services provided by Earthlink.
Thank you!!!

Went in to the office in the morning for a meeting.
That meeting was set by someone else and I have no info in advance.
In fact, that meeting was with external party…



At least dressed like professional and welcomed guests. Two of them.
One Japanese and the other was Singaporean.
Meeting went by mixed languages. English and Japanese back and forth.

At least I survived through. Hahaha.

Going in to the office was just for the meeting.
Though, it came along with a surprise…
Bumped into a colleague. He recognized me from a far even though I was wearing mask.

Chatted… and popped single question that hinted from a rumor.
"Are you taking off, really?"
The answer was yes. He has already proceeded resignation process upon boss' consent.

People are always coming and going…
Though, the balance within my visibility over the team is not kept well.
More people are going to somewhere else. Team is shrinking!

Someday, down the road, team should be growing after hitting the bottom… I know.
This news give me another thought… actually.

1st business trip in 2023… to Osaka.
Took a Shinkansen bullet train at 9am.
More people travel now for with-Covid era, I guess. Tokyo Station was surely crowded.



I wasn't sure that it would be worth to travel for single meeting.
As per client, he has some certain aim… which I was not sure of the validity.
Anyhow, meeting took place at 1pm over 2 hours.

Met 5 managerial executives at the company including CEO.

Lots of discussion topics… I talked the most. Hahaha.

It was okay, I guess. Client seemed to be satisfied with such discussion.
It means that I would come to Osaka more often this year?
Hmmm, maybe so.

Client would keep pushing the deal to see consulting benefits to be realized.
Will see how it all would go.
Once the scope is being determined, I would go deep dive into that with strategic tactics.

Will be fun to do so? Maybe so… sure hope so.

Maybe because talked too much… I felt asleep on the way back to Tokyo.
Wait. I always get dozed off at anywhere anytime, right?
Hahaha.



Souvenir from Osaka for MoonFlower - snack box originated Osaka.
There were wide varieties of snack box in same category.
Well, I selected right one from the particular brand that MF liked. Made it!

Made it early today. Yeah, quite rare. But did happen.
Why?
Simply because MoonFlower wanted to have breakfast at some cafe.

Here it is.



Went in to the place called "Bouquet."
Located near Higashi Nihombashi Station.
Somewhat walking distance from home. So walked in.

Usually crowded and even a waiting line outside.
Today, timing was right and got seated upon arrival.



Big smile from Chaykin. My usual and favorite.



My aim was this strawberry French toast.
This menu is brand new starting from today!
Yet limited quantity… but had one for me.

Yep, yum yum. Loved it.
Definitely worth getting up so early! Hahaha.

During the day, it was calm and stay-home watching TV and doing other stuff.
Though, MoonFlower and I went out once again at evening.
It was for a family dinner.

Actually, Our household's 2022 year-end family dinner which came quite late!



French dining at "Ginza Escoffier"
Indeed our first visit.
Seems authentic French diner.



Definitely, Champagne!!!















Probably, no description needed, right?
It was quite fancy dinner as just wanted.
Cool.

Soon to come back for another dish?! Yeah!

It has been quite while… using the domain "ogaki.net"



Now, the site has been relocated under "ogakijin.com"

Finally decided to retain a new domain.
Some kind of refreshment / update. Hahaha.

In fact, ogaki.net domain registration has been expired and decided NOT to renew.
Wanting something new… you know what I mean.

Please update your bookmark now.

Finally, new year has come… a happy new year!!!



This year's greeting card looks like this.
Yeah, Year of Rabbit… hope things happens in hopping way!



New year food called OSECHI.





First wearing of the year - definitely Chaykin watch for me.

Hope lots of smiles to come as my wish…
For me, my family, all people…