Well not that blue. . . I had a good birthday despite sleeping much of the day fighting a summer cold.
It always helps to have Sora the Cat’s devotion, eh? She knows I’ve been ill and has been giving me extra cuddles.
A delicious Yumi-made fruit cup with ice cream, Studio Ghibli 40th Anniversary T, and Samurai Cat T! Woot woot! 
A back-of-a-desk-drawer find tonight.
I do not recall doing a marathon in Guam.
I do remember running an event there, but it was more likely a 10K.
I also remember two other things while I was there:
1) I bought a nice Hawaiian-style shirt. The saleswoman in the hotel shop quided me to a more subdued one than my initial choice. I remember she said “you don’t want to go back to Japan looking like a Yakuza!”
2) I badly sunburned the tops of my feet while relaxing for a day or two after the race — the only area I forgot to slather with sunscreen. . .
We’re sad that TV Japan will no longer be available via cable. We’ve had a subscription here in Canada for many years at around C$18/month.
It’s the channel we watch together the most (my partner is Japanese), and it likely takes up the most PVR recordings.
It’s got amazingly photographed documentaries and nature shows.
Heart-warming family shows like Kazoku ni Kampai with Tsurube, and travel/history/geography/geology fave Tamori.
Morning talk show Asaichi that explores interesting places in Japan, good food, and social and health issues.
The quirky Instruction Manual Theatre.
Natural Grandeur of the East with its mind-blowing nature videos.
Somewhere Street that travels the world to document cities and their historical sites and local food. . .
Kokoro no Tabi in which we follow a crusty old dude who cycles around Japan to visit sites suggested by letters from viewers for sentimental reasons. . .
“My late mother loved walking a path to a beach near . . . .”
“The best years of my life were in elementary school in . . . where we’d climb a hill . . . ”
They are moving to an online streaming service — at US$25/month, or nearly C$40/month. Sigh. That’s over double. . .
A visit to Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC in Vancouver, BC, the other day. We try to get out there at least once a year.
After our morning walk on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, we walked up the hill to the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre to take in the Nikkei Garden Farmer’s Market.
We scored a delicious Okanagan Apple Sunflower loaf from A Bread Affair.
Blast from the past. . .
My (younger) mug on the cover of the Tokyo PC User’s Group monthly newsletter that I helped edit and publish for a few years back in the mid-to-late 1990s.
I was an active member for about 14 years.
We’d build and mod PCs, have guest speakers on “new” developments like the Internet .
As I recall, this cover was, to my surprise, a recognition of my modest contributions to the club. This was just before I was leaving Japan
back to Canada.
Don’t remember if I’ve posted this before, just took a look through a pile of old AJs in the garage. . .
P.S. The club is long gone, ASFIK, but I’m still in touch with a few members from back in the day.
Wow, came across this print today while looking for some family photos.
Moi, at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo circa 1985 or 1986, shooting a Yabusame demonstration (Japanese archery from horseback.)
If I recall, that would be a Nikon F2 and a Nikkormat FT2 draped around my neck.
I still have both of those 35mm cameras though I haven’t used either in decades, since digital took over.
We took in the Mini Matsuri (festival) at Nikkei Place in Burnaby, BC, today. It was scaled down due to Covid, but it was still a lot of fun. Great food, displays, and entertainment.
Let’s move on to the food!
An example of my sartorial style — ties not so much .
