Who says its not all roses!

Here in Tokyo my neighbor grows roses. This is great for me, as I don't have to do anything to enjoy or have a nice rose lined driveway. Great thing I tell you. He even cut a few down the other day and gave some to Kiyomi after she commented how great they looked!

One More Thing for Kodomo no Hi

One thing I didn't post yet... the koinobori. Set this up on top of the house... was up there only for a few days... will get it up for a couple of weeks next year.

Children's Day (Boys Day)

Well... the title of this post may get me into some trouble I guess. I know that the name of this holiday is really Children's day, but lets face it, in Japan it really is boys day. It seems that all the traditional things that you do, you only do if you have a boy! Koinobori? Helmet... yup... they really are only for boys. Luckily, Joji does fall into this category, and we have celebrated boy's day in style. 


Kiyomi's Parents found this Kabuto (helmet) in an antique shop in their neighborhood... lucky us as it was nicer and way cheaper than any of the crap that we have seen for sale in Itoyokodo, Seiyu, or Akachan honpo. That stuff was price... I mean hundreds of dollars for stuff that Liberaci would have found tacky! Anyhow this is the one we got, and I'm pretty happy with it. We'll have to pack it up tomorrow as you have to clean up the day after its done.

To celebrate the day we headed over to Kiyomi's folks to have a little celebratory lunch. Below is a picture of some of the traditional food we had for the day. The big fish is a Tai... which might (or might not...) be a red snapper. But not really sure.

Joji also got dressed up in a little Kimono for a little bit of the afternoon. He was a surprisingly cheerful little guy during the whole thing. Lucky us!

Ooi Futo

One of the places that I guess I write about from time to time is Ooi Futo. Its a great place to cycle, as I know I have described many times. In fact, did six loops today of the course we use. By the time I got home it was something like 65km or so. Not a bad amount for a sunny Sunday.This isn't just me, but also a couple of hundred other cyclists that like to use the same circuit as us. I would guess that on a busy weekend there are easily a couple of hundred cyclists. There is also some crazy cycling gear there too.


 From time to time, Kiyomi and I will also head out to another spot in Ooi Futo, called Jonan Jima. Its a small little beach park which you can walk around, play in the sand and generally use as a backyard (backyards are just not very common for us normal folk in Tokyo). People will lounge around have picnics and all in all just enjoy being outdoors. Also, its free.


Today, did something a little different... at least for me. I guess in a way it was a little tribute to Mr. Cole heading back to England, but, also had promised Kiyomi for a while. Today she made me keep my promise to go and walk around - despite the above mentioned 65km. I jest, as I wanted to go to. The weather was great and if I didn't get out and enjoy it I know that I would have felt that I just wasted it! We really have waited a long time for spring to finally arrive this year, and I for one, will take complete advantage of it!


Anyhow... here is a couple of Photos that I snapped in Ooi Bird Park:

Perhaps someone can let me know what I photographed here. Got out my 90-300mm zoom lens and snapped away. Lots to see. Therefore lots to photograph too. 


Got a guy in flight...

And of him landing...

Kiyom and I enjoyed our time there, I think Joji will more in the future too. Lots of stuff for kids to see and do and run around. I look forward to these days.

Faces of Joji

Joji can be pretty cute at times I have to say. Especially when his bath has completed. When he first got home and we were bathing him, we probably could have used ear plugs. But... he loves it now, and definitely gets into being in the water. Before and after, he is pretty chatty and giggling a lot. 

Joji also has a pretty good head of hair on him, so after washing and drying... he looks something like this:

But I have to say... that he also often looks like this:

Hanami!

Probably the best time of year to see Tokyo (and many places in Japan) is during the cherry blossom season. Its basically done now, as it only lasts a couple of  days at full strength. Some random photos of the season this year.


This is a store near my house.... they light it up at night, looks great. The tree actually goes through the second floor balcony.

This one is the same place during the day.

Didn't get out and drink under the blossoms this year... but hope to resume next year with Joji being a little bit older.

Some Random Photos Of Joji

Joji has been doing pretty well recently. He's not up and walking or anything yet Well he is only just over  two months old now so these things are a little bit far off.  He's a real joy though, even when screaming... still have to look at him with a sense of wonder.


Here is a photo of him being genki and happy sitting on the sofa. Well... not quite sitting, but propped up. He was pretty much all smiles and giggles at this point. Pretty sure that he was crying up a storm afterwards, but, at least we captured the best bit!

This is a quick snap of when my mom was over. Kiyomi too the shot, and Joji is with us. Little guy was good fun for the time that Mom was over here, and the extra set of hands and support was really welcomed.

Team Skillhouse

Big thanks to Paul for organizing Team Skillhouse. Look for us on Facebook, and track our progress. We're hoping to raise money for a Tokyo soup kitchen with people sponsoring us in the Honolulu Century ride. 

Some Personal Goals

Some Personal goals here for the year. Yeah... a little late for new years stuff, I know. But these are a few things that have grown out of a few different conversations that I have had with people. 


The first one is easy to define, but hard to do. Well committing the time and brain power to it are the things that I need to do. Goal number 1... get a CCENT (First level of cisco certification). Networking is the area that I really need to shore up both for my current role, and probably for anything in the future that comes my way. Got my books today (from amazon) and will let you all know how it goes. Hoping to get this by the early to mid summer.


The second goal is probably also fairly easy to define, and like Goal number 1, will be difficult to accomplish. Myself and a few friends are going to enter the Honolulu Century Ride. Looking forward to it, but it will be anything but easy. Basically for those of you who don't know, it means riding 100 miles in one day. Up and down the windward coast of Oahu. There will be a lot of training to be done in the next few months if I want to actually make it!  Paul, Joel, and Arch all look to be joining along too. If you're interested, drop me a line and ask for details.


I guess that technically I'll be doing the second one as a professional certification, but as my company will not be involved in it in anyway (training or materials) I'll take it as a personal one.

For the Olympics?

Check these out... Found them on sale at the local "Vie de France" bakery that is near my house (in Omori station. Not really sure if they were for anything special or just some kind of tribute treat for the Olympics happening. Have to say that they are pretty Canadian. Not sure how they taste, they are some kind of Maple Melon bun. Perhaps I'll get one in the next couple of days and report how they taste.

Anyhow I think Canada did pretty well at the Olympics... and all our athletes, win or lose, should be proud of their efforts.