fast forward to yesterday

birthday flowers from an old friend


Tony, Niji, Tori, Kobukuro birthday cookies and . . . that laughing cow. (birthday cake is in the box)


it is a slow start to a rainy cool April First. looking back at my blog from last April 1st, i went for a walk with Noriko`s Father. and Noriko and i went to see the wonderful movie Okuribito. two years ago, i went to see the cherry blossoms at Osaka-jo (castle).
here are some photos from yesterday. oh, はずかしい(shy) Noriko has asked me not to put her photo is my blog but i will send you one if you want to see the birthday girl at lunch, dinner, with her birthday cake and a couple of birthday presents including the . . . laughing cow.


Noriko also wondered what i was taking a photo of. hopefully you will able to see what i was saw in the photo at the bottom.


fallen but not forgotten


Minoo (Minoh, Mino) manhole


yesterday`s model

birthday sakura

birthday lunch at Kamizona in Minoo

birthday dinner at home

birthday ikebana. if you remember, the first photo of Noriko`s ikebana had no lilies in bloom.

yesterday on her birthday the second (top) one fully opened.

can you see what i saw?

happy birthday to . . .

. . . my dear Friend.
love,
kevin and tony


百合4貴子

once in orange moon

it is always nice with Noriko`s Mother`s relatives from Nara come for a visit. it takes them about 2 hours by bus and train to get here and of course another two hours to return. they recently returned from visiting their son and his wife and baby in Thailand. i am sure they were tired after that journey which makes it especially thoughtful that they come all this way today.

i was able to sneak away for a few hours to hear some live music at Senri-chuo. good music as always but it was very cold sitting for a little over two hours outside as the afternoon became the evening. when i returned i was greeted by the full moon over the front garden.


an orangish blue moon (no filter used, no color added)

tonite`s musicians/singer/songwriters at Senri-chuo "PAL Street live"

sunshine and blue sky, flowers and music

there was just a hint of snow on the roof this morning. now at noon the sky is blue and the sun is shining but not on . . . Osaka Toin at Koshien. here is a photo from a little walk i took this morning before o-rusuban-ing. tonite i will go to Senri-chuo for some "street live" music. and maybe takoyaki.

two weeks today, two weeks tomorrow

can you guess where i went today?

it is two weeks today that i arrived here in my second hometown of Minoo. and two weeks tomorrow that Noriko`s Father returned from the hospital. not much has changed for him but he is home. speaking of changes, today we had a very cool cloudy morning followed by some blue sky and sunshine. and then around 2pm a little hail. yes, hail. i went to Umeda (Osaka) today for a little more birthday shopping . . . for Noriko not for me. i did check out the camera section at Yodobashi Camera but with the yen to dollar rate not being so good, i think i will wait until i return home . . . and then probably wait some more trying to find the right new camera for me. here are some photos from my day. oh, and the last meterological change for today . . . it snowed.

i liked the yellow shadow

tasogare (twilight) sakura

sakura on blue and red

tony and the cherry blossoms as the sun was setting in Bonoshima Koen (park). hard to believe within 15 minutes of this photo . . . it started snowing.

yuki da! (it`s snow)

take me back to Takarazuka

the only plan when i left home around noon was to go for a little walk and see what the day brings. somehow i ended up taking the train to Takarazuka. and i am glad i did. here a few sakura photos from the Hana Michi. i heard some nice "live music" there also. and saw, photographed many dogs and one lazy cat. more later including a photo of . . . Tiger and tony.

later is now and now is just about midnite. and it has been a long but nice sunday. it started with my making pumpkin pancakes. and then my walk and train to Takarazuka. and then the singers, the cherry blossoms, and Tiger and Akemi and more dogs at Dog Run-Do. after returning home around 6pm and helping Noriko with her Father we finally left for dinner around 730p. tonite`s

dinner was at Ichiban Curry. very good. from there it was a short walk to Carrefour (Aeon) for a few groceries. and then home by 9pm. it was Noriko`s Father time again. i think i took my ofuro (bath) after 11pm. now it is time for bed. here is the two cute singers whose names i can`t remember but i think videotaped a few minutes of them so they might have said there name.

also, as promised early . . . Tiger the Chow. and tony and (not "the") Tiger.

Tiger he belongs to a nice woman named Akemi i met walking along the Hana Michi. she was walking with a friend from Shikoku who was returning home by train and highway bus to Kagawa. the 3 (5 if you count Tiger and tony) of us walked back to the Hankyu Takarazuka Station together.

tony and Tiger

Texas burger, a family reunion and Hana-Uta

i didn`t get to see them during my short February visit but finally we got to have a reunion today. Akemi and her husband Tsutomu and two cute kids Daigo (5) and Misa (3) and Akemi`s Mother (Noriko`s aunt. she is Noriko`s Father`s younger sister) drove from Suma (Kobe) this afternoon. it was also the first time for them to see Noriko`s Father since last November. he seemed very happy to see everyone. of course i took many photos and video of this family reunion in Minoo but it is late so i am only adding this one. more tomorrow. i am not going to mention why we finished dinner last night around 10pm but i will say tonite went much smoother. i am watching the Hana-Uta music special on NHK and getting ready for bed. oh, before the family reunion Noriko and i ran a few errands and then stopped my Makudo (McDonald`s) for a quick lunch. she had the Happy Set-o and i had the new Texas burger. it was pretty good but i really wanted the new Zenmai Zamurai omocha (toy).

Daigo and Misa

ok, a few more . . .

the newest in Misa fashion

Daigo and i went for an osanpo (walk).

neko neko. Daigo and i saw these cats in a window on our walk. he thought the black one looked a little kowai not kawaii (scary not cute).

tokidoki/sometimes

Pooh-san, Piglet-chan and me

sometimes things look differently when you look at them differently

i almost forgot about all the wonderful manhole covers in and around Japan.

Udon-nodu

from Sean and Aya Jones` English school called "Go 2 English". i met Matthew, a new part-time teacher there this morning. and in the afternoon i met Tiffany again. i think i first met her in February but today i learned she is from . . . San Antonio. small world, ne. two people from San Antonio meeting in Minoo.

i bought some pan for tomorrow`s breakfast here at Cookhouse in Esaka.

cat-napping in a small hammock

shielding the sun from her son. yasashii Okasan.

they are very tasty and Belgium. not there is anything wrong with them being Belgium.

waiting on the next bus.

3 different view of a barber shop with three barber shop poles in Esaka

changes and highlights

our plans changed today and probably for the better. Noriko`s Father had a doctor`s appointment but due to the hisame (cold rain), it was decided he should stay home. i think the rain did not stop until around 4pm. tomorrow will be another busy day and probably a few changes along the way. one of today`s highlights was Noriko buying my ticket for Humbert Humbert. the concert is at Club Quattro on April 10th (9 days before my birthday). another highlight was getting to my Rits again. we met at Starbucks at Visola and she treated me to some hot chocolate, i mean "white" chocolate as they were sold out of hot chocolate...but it tasted like hot chocolate. it was nice seeing and talking with her again. and by chance, Sakurayama-san came in for some coffee about 10 minutes after we sat down. at first he didn`t see me and i was for sure if it was the same guy i met last friday in front of Hashimototei (100 or so year old house-turned into a cafe and art space) on the waterfall trail. but, then he saw me and came and talked to us for a few minutes. i knew dinner would be waiting at home so i said goodbye around 630p and walked home.
today`s photos start at home and end at Starbucks