Happy Birthday to...

today is my dear friend Noriko`s birthday. don`t ask. she won`t tell. we had a fun day which included a walk along the waterfall trail to the Philosopher`s Library (or at least that is what i call it). we were happily surprised to see a giant cherry blossom tree in bloom near the entrance to the library. unfortunately i didn`t notice Takeichi-san walking by with his three dogs. he was singing something but by the time i noticed he was gone. next time i will be watching for him. today is also Orchesta Day and there was a special concert at 3pm of the Osaka Century Orchestra. it was wonderful. i will explain why it is Orchestra another time. but i won`t say how i made a mistake (again) in recording the concert. i did manage to tape the encore, The Wedding of Figaro which was excellent. i recorded some of with my little digital camera. another highlight of Noriko`s birthday was a delicious obento dinner which means no cooking or washing dishes for her and her Mother. for desert we had some very tasty purin (pudding) from . . . Kobukuro. they were delivered today on her birthday as was a beautiful flower arrangement. i will add some photos another time. oh, and we stopped by a long-time friend of Noriko`s named Masayo. Noriko and Masayo visited Steve and i when we were living in Pittsburgh in 1988. Masayo gave me a little gift which reminds me, i need to open it. more tomorrow.

another nonbiri day

a few photos from today`s walk.

manzoku shimashita

on my way to exit 28 in Honmachi i came across a dog show/parade at Senri-Chuo.

today was a special "treat". thank you to my new friend, Nozomi-san.

Koshien and Umeda

a nice sunny and almost warm day but still quite cool in the wind. today i went to Koshien to see the spring high school baseball tournament. one of the teams was representing Osaka. both games i saw were good. the first one went into extra innings. and in the second game, PL Gakuen from Osaka lost 2-1. it was 0-0 going into the 9th inning. after taking the Hanshin train line back to Umeda (central train station in Osaka for subways, JR trains, Hankyu trains and Hanshin trains as well as buses and shopping and restuarants and people, more people and, more and more people). i always get lost underground but eventually i found my way to the pedestrian overpass where "street musicians" try to play before the police shut them down. today there was a band i had seen last year but the police told them to stop during the first song. they go thru this every day. of course a delicious dinner was waiting at home.

here are some images from today.

fresh strawberries for breakfast

a tired fan

PL Gakuen vs. Nan`yo

PL Gakuen cheerleaders, band, fans and oendan

can you see find the ball? guess what happens . . .

ballpark kiss

the happy winners

Tony at Koshien (this is where The Hanshin Tigers play)

two strikes no bull

underground Umeda

"street live" at Umeda

my bus... Nyoidani desu...hashimasu, go-chui kudasai

a hard day but an easy walk

Chirashi zushi for dinner . . . itadakimasu

it is still quite cool. i just got in from a walk and it is almost time for dinner. i am not sure what we are having but i am sure it will be good. it was a hard day for Noriko and her Mother but as the song says "ashita ga aru":

here are a few photos from my little walk.

a few brave sakura


Minoo manhole


Tony`s new friend . . . actually they were too sure about each other.


one today and one for tomorrow and a few in a couple of days


Choko-chan did not want to go inside.

Bososhima Park and more "street live"

today i took Noriko`s Father for a walk to a nearby park. there were a few cherry blossoms in bloom. i think it was too cold for him so we continued on to Carrefour to wait for Noriko. he and i waited for her to do some grocery shopping. he was tired. we drove to the top of a nearby hill and had sushi-bento in the car. we could see downtown Osaka.

and then around 321pm (exactly 321pm) i took the bus to Senri-chuo for the thursday afternoon/night "street live". it was very cold sitting outside for three hours but all the musicians were wonderful. i talked with one of the women named Yumi-san (actually two are named Yumi-san and one is Emi-san) whom i met last week. she and her friends are big fans of Ozaka Range (Sakamoto Keisuke and Ryo). Yumi-san comes from Yao to see/hear the music. Yao is on the other side (the south side) of Osaka.

Ozaka Range

Qu-e

Maiko-san and more

a little cloudy today but no rain yet. soon i will be going somewhere and doing something. this photo is from last saturday in Kyoto. this was a real Maiko-san in Kyoto. a maiko is an apprentice geiko. and i a geiko is the word i think that is more used in Kyoto for geisha. there were two Maiko-san on stage as a part of the Hanatoro Festival in the Higashiyama area of Kyoto. they performed two dances and were accompanied by a shamisen player.


Maiko-san.

today is almost over. here are a few images from my today`s walk from Nishinomiya Gardens to Shukugawa.

these are some skylights in the ceiling at Nishinomiya Gardens

a manhole in Nishinomiya

a yellow Mini Cooper ( or part of one).

Tony taking a break in a cherry blossom tree along the Shukugawa (river).

one fallen blossom

tonite`s dinner, delicious as always