It was on 5/17 last year that I was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and I started writing this Blog on 5/20. Even though it was a very bumpy and challenging year, it was one of the best years of my life. In addition that my treatments wo…

On 5/10, just as though he was waiting for my return from Japan, my surgeon’s assistant called me on the phone. “Hi, how are you? Has your weight increased a bit?” I answered that I lost all the weight I had gained in Japan because of the …

“Why am I sleeping?” I woke up at 12:30. Come to think of it, I went out for a walk at about 6:00, talked to Mark on the phone, and… I must have fallen asleep without eating dinner. I woke up yesterday at 5:00, and started my busy day. Dur…

Weather: sunny, thunderstorm, then sunny again. Had a contractor and a carpet shop come to give estimates in the afternoon. Fortunately the insulation inside the basement wall turned out to be dry, thanks to my son’s quick action after the…

The flowers and trees are utterly beautiful here in Holden. Not only the daffodils, cherries, pears, crab apples, whose flowers are showing off their colors, but also the small and humble flowers on the bushes are in full bloom. I am suffe…

Beautiful spring day, but I barely have time to enjoy it. I spent all day cleaning the moldy camping equipment (washing, scraping the rust off, and wiping) and deciding whether or not to keep the books that have swollen 3 times their origi…

Because of jetlag, I could not sleep and started cleaning at 5:00 a.m. While the professional flood cleaner came and cleaned, the basement still smells bad. Why? I opened the bottom of the file cabinets (I have four!) Oh, boy! There are fi…

Lunch: Soba noodle at airport restaurant (1/4) Snack and dinner at NW air (forgettable) Dinner in US: Okayu & fish cake that I packed in Tokyo Left Tokyo at 3:00 in the afternoon on 5/7, and arrived home at 10:00 PM on 5/7. Still nursing t…

Weather: Sunny and hot Breakfast: Sesami and bean paste sweet No lunch & DinnerHad a big dumping syndrome, but saw friends from high school at an "Izakaya" restaurant in Ikebukuro. Had a wonderful time.

Weather: Sunny (hot) No breakfast & lunch due to a light dumping sympton Dinner: Shabuhabu, Udon suki @Mimiu, Shinjuku, Tokyo Snack: Ice cream & rice craker

Weather: Sunny Lunch: Kaiseki-zen @ Yotei-an, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo-to Dinner: Temakizushi @ friend's house, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo-to We saw Mark's former advisor, a retired Japanese historian, at a beautiful Japanese restaurant that is surrou…

Weather: cloudy, then fine (hot like summer in the sun) Lunch: Lunch special at Ginza Ganko with our artist friend and his wife Afternoon tea@ Garden Lounge, Hotel New Otani with friends from Rotaly Foundation Scholarship days Dinner: Stor…

Weather: cloudy, rainy in the evening Breakfast & lunch@home, nothing particular Dinner:Kamonegi, Mori@Sobadokoro Nakamura(?), Ikebukuro I was awoken by a nightmare. In the dream my parents and relatives were busily preparing a table of fo…

Weather: Sunny Lunch: Lunch buffet @ Quilt show @ Akasaka Prince Hotel Dinner @ friend’s home: cheese & olive paste, marinated fish (carp, tuna, etc) with vegetable, Tofu-egg quiche with eel, Inari roll, cheese cake, chocolate cake Saw a f…

Weather: Sunny Dinner: Cooked fish, potato and leak soup, rolled cabbage, custard cream cake @ my brother’s house Took a train to Yokohama to visit my brother and his family. First we went to a studio to listen to a Sanshin band. His wife …

Weather: Cloudy , then stormy rain Lunch: Squid ink pasta @ Caprichoza Dinner: assortment of Gyoza, etc. Spent most of the day shopping. First we went into a ?100 shop. Different from US dollar shops, they sell amazing varieties of product…

Weather: Cloudy Lunch: Eel donburi Dinner: Sushi Tired from the trip to Kagoshima, and spent most of the time reading in the apartment. Went with Mark out to see the tablet computer at Big Camera.

Weather: Sunny and beautiful Lunch: Omurice @ airport Dinner@ Oedoya in Ikebukuro I left Kagoshima for Tokyo. My friend from high school kindly took me to the airport. It is amazing how Tokyo and Kagoshima have changed; the fashion, pace o…

Weather: Sunny, beautiful day Lunch with friends from high school days @ residential restaurant Dinner@ home Had lunch with some girl friends from my high school days at a restaurant quarter of a residence, where the wife serves lunch for …

Weather: Rainy I visited a nursing home and “daycare program for the elderly” in the neighborhood with my sister in law, just to see what is available for my parents going forward. In Japanese society, where the whole population is aging, …

Weather: Beautiful early summer day Lunch: restaurant @ a personal residence Dinner: no recollection I saw two college day friends at a restaurant that was run by a housewife at a personal residence. This arrangement seems to be popular in…

Weather: stomy rain from evening through night Lunch: Chinese buffet Dinner: Kaiseki cousine at Welview Hotel We saw our old friends, anther interracial couple like us. We used to hang out together 30 years ago. In the evening, we went to …

Weather: Sunny and hot During the morning we went to my family’s cemetery. In Japan, where ancestor worship is the center of the religion, it is the most critical event for my father. It was very warm and the sun was very strong. I could f…

Weather: Cloudy Lunch: Bento in the train Dineer: Bento No matter how long it may take, I love riding the smooth bullet train. The ride is so smooth that I even tried water coloring in the train this time. A big misunderstanding occurred b…

Weather: beautiful springy day with blue sky and mild temperature Lunch: id:okaki 's lunch box Dinner: porkchop (Mark), chawanmushi (Mayumi) Temples visited: Horyuji, Fujinoki-kofun, Jikoin (tea), Yakushiji The weather was perfect, and the…

Weather: Cloudy then rainy Lunch: Nabeyaki Udon noodle near Daitokuji temple Dinner @ Sweep with a friend from Kagoshima University days Temple visited: Ryugen-in, Daisen-in, Koryu-in, Kobai-in of Daitoku-ji temple Stayed @ Mitsui Garden H…

Weather: cloudy, chilly Dinner: Oden @ Shikiyu-jin, Ponto-cho, Kyoto Stayed @ Mitusi Garden Hotel, shijo Took the bullet train to Kyoto at 2:06, arriving at 4/26. Took a walk at night to Karasuma, then to Ponto-cho. We have been up since 3…

Weather: rainy Breakfast @ my brother's Lunch: Shumai @ Chinese restaurant in Ikebukuro Dinner: Hokke set dinner at a restaurant in Ikebukuro I attained one of my goals for my trip to Japan: I bought two pairs of jeans that fit me at a sto…

Weather: Warm and sunny Lunch & Dinner @ my brother's home in Yokohama We went to Yokohama to see my brother and his family. His wife is a great cook, and I make sure to visit them when I am in Japan. She cooked two different kinds of fish…

Weather: Sunny, summer like Lunch and dinner @ friend's home We went out to Oto City see our friends from Chicago days (1984) to; we met the couple when Mark and our friends were still struggling graduate students at the University of Chic…