another beautiful day in the south bay

one of the few photos i took today.

since i will probably be leaving for the east coast tomorrow and because i stayed up way too late the last two nights and got up way too early and needed to catch up from my month in Japan, i did not stray too far from the Carioca Gardens.  i did get a few things accomplised like listening to some music, watching the new Kobukuro dvd (birthday present from Noriko), paying a few bills, writing a few emails and that is always a good thing but no walk to the beach, no swim in the ocean, no workout at the gym ... maybe tomorrow before catching the bus to the airport for my afternoon flight.  and i think i only took a couple of photos today.  here are a  few beautiful sunny day images from one of my last days in Japan.

koinobori no sora

koinobori no kage

did i mention there was a lot of soccer fans last sunday?  oh did i say "soccer", i meant sakura (cherry blossoms).  this is the pathway that passes in front of the Zohekyoku (Mint Bureau).  they open up their gates for about a week for the hundreds of thousands of cherry blossom fans.  we are actually moving very slowly along a pathway in between many many different kinds of cherry blossoms.  there are "keibi" (security guards) with megaphones telling us to walk slowly and  . . . please refrain from taking photos.  for a dear friend of mine, it was her first  (and last) visit  there.

my wonderful birthday eve

a few images from my birthday eve day

pizza toast, my favorite

new ikebana in the genkan

Shakudo (Yamamoto-san) trying to help me with my new (one month old) camera.

koinobori and sun-star at Senri-chuo

hmmm, what kind of sakura are these?

"no thanks, i will sit back here and will walk later", said the Shiba-chan.

can you see the school of fish?

Sanisai performing my favorite song Kyoto Bojo.  this is the first song i heard them sing 5 years ago while staying in Kyoto during autumn.  i heard their singing live on Alpha Station 89.3 on the radio/tape player that Noriko let my borrow.  if you remember back then, i was very sick and feeling pretty miserable in my small room, with the cold November nights, alone with no tv.  i think i felt better one day and went to visit Noriko and her Parents .  she and her Mother drove me back to Kyoto and she let me borrow her radio/cassette player.  and the next morning i heard this song on the radio being sung by a group called Sunny Side Up. coincidently after telling Noriko about them, they were giving a free concert the next week at a shopping mall (MyCal) in Ibaraki city. we went, listened to both sets,  and instantly became fans.  they even took a photo with Tony (1). since then we have seen them so many times in so many different venues.  about 3 or 4 years ago they changed their name to Sanisai.  and that is some of the rest of the story.  at the above concert at Hoop in Tennoji we stopped by to say "hello". Wakako-chan said "Kevin, ohisashiburi" (long time, no see).  she got married about a year ago and is about 5 months pregnant.  Noriko told me that Ryuhei-kun (guitarist, vocals, harmonica)(and also her brother) said that he has her sonogram photo on his keitai (cell phone).  i love their music, her voice, their harmony.  i think she soon will stop performing in May and rest.   i like how she would sometimes hold her stomach/akachan (baby) while singing.

Wakako Yamada    vocals

Ryuhei Yamada     guitar, harmonica and vocals

Murai Shingo    keyboard, vocals and the leader of the band

what do these words have in common . . . Noriko, Otosan, Okasan, Wiki-Wiki Hawaii, FM802 Amusic Island, pizza toast, yogurt, fresh mikan, new genkan ikebana, bus sky, sunshine, Shakudo, Bus #19, Happy Seto, koinobori, Midosuji-sen, Chuo-sen, Tanimachi-sen, Temmabashi, Zohekyoku, sakura, thousands and thousands of people, takoyaki, shiba-chan, fish school, Sakuranomiya, Tennoji, Hoop, Sanisai (formely Sunny Side Up), Starbucks` Dark Mocha & Berry (inside my sakura tumbler from Akemi for my birthday) HMV, Oda Kazumasa, Nakayama Uri, Senri-chuo, Pietro, carbonara, ice cream with expresso, Tony-chan Tori-chan, Niji-chan, Colonel Saunders in battle gear, Bus #20, Kobukuro, Nyoidani, Shimura`s Zoo with Pan-kun and James, and Lucky Cider? they were all a part of my birthday eve morning, day and/or evening. and a few photos which i will later or early on my birthday morning. tomorrow i will have two birthday mornings as i will be here in Minoo for my first birthday morning. and then i will be taking the bus to Kansai International Airport (KIX) for my birthday after noon flight thru my birthday night to Los Angeles (LAX). and if all goes as planned i will arrive in time for my second birthday morning and afternoon and evening on the same day . . . two birthdays in one year.  that is definitely a first for me.  i am not sure which is the first birthday i remember but i have had many memorable ones in some memorable places over the years . . . Iquazu Falls in Argentina, Victoria Island in British Columbia, Paris (France not Texas), San Antonio, Victoria and Austin (Texas for those cities), Tokyo and Osaka (more specifically Fussa and Minoo respectively in Japan).  and of course many here in Los Angeles (at the beach, Curry House, in a California poppy field near Lancaster).  where will i be next year?  i guess i could also simply ask,

"will i be?"