| 11/1 |
[Daylight Saving Time ends tonight, Nintendo
start selling its DSi, a newer version of Nintendo DS in Japan]
Woke up at 6:00am, went to swim for about half
hour. My body was not fully recovered yet, so I felt dizzy as I was working
out. Drove home but stopped by at a Japanese grocery store. Spend afternoon
to evening at office to do catch up work. Stayed until 7:30pm. Come home,
had dinner, wrap up writing journal from last weekend. Called home in the
evening. Went to bed around 1:00am. |
| 11/2 |
Woke up at 6:00am, went to swim again. Stopped
by at a grocery store and shopping mall before coming back to the apartment.
Rained a bit over the afternoon and expected for more over night. Wrote some
emails in the evening, called my brother. Went to bed around 10:00pm since I
feel sleepy already... |
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| 11/3 |
Woke up at 6:00am, raining outside with the
temperature of 40s. Expected to reach almost 70F today. There seems to be
many accidents around the town. Went to work with
two meals, one for lunch, and the other for dinner. Since meeting was
cancelled, I came home around 9:00pm. Maybe I should have brought stuffs for
workout. Worked on my webpage for a while. Went to bed around 11:00pm. |
| 11/4 |
[U.S. Presidential Election Day, Barack Obama
from Democratic Party won the race]
Woke up at 6:00am, sunny and pretty warm. Drove to work then needed to head
to Troy, MI to pick up a good for work so I drove out again. It was very warm
and made me sleepy on the way and also when I stuck in traffic jam. Spent
afternoon easy, or just does not feel too well. Left office around 9:00pm,
headed to LTF for short workout. I was watching all the stations
broadcasting the outcome of presidential election. Pretty much over by
11:00pm
 Sunny and
Bright... |
| 11/5 |
Woke up at 6:00am, went to work and stayed until
9:15pm. During the noon, I drove to Southfield, MI. In the evening, I had to
go buy my dinner at Jimmy John's. Stopped by at LTF for workout and come
home. Went to bed around midnight. Another warm and sunny day. |
| 11/6 |
Woke up once at 6:00am but stayed in the bed
until 7:00am since I am not feeling too well. Still warm, and expected to be
sunny then rainy overnight with high of 70F. Stayed until 8:30pm. I did not
have to drive out today but stopped by at chiropractic around 6:00pm, picked
up my dinner at Boston Market on the way back to the office. Drove to LTF
for workout, then come home, Went to bed around midnight but no rain yet. |
| 11/7 |
Woke up in the middle of the night about 3:00am,
raining pretty hard but when I woke up again around 6:00am, it was just
cloudy. Temperature in the 50s. Went to work but took freeway since
electrical poles fell on Beck Rd still need time to be removed. Went to a
Japanese restaurant for lunch with coworkers. Stayed at office until 8:30pm,
stopped by at LTF for workout. Come home, had dinner, relaxed, then went to
bed around 11:30pm |
| 11/8 |
Woke up at 6:00am, tried to go out and run but
rain started right before that. So I gave and took a shower, only to find
out that the rain is over. What a nice way to start the weekend with... Went
to get hair cut then headed to the office and stayed until 5:00pm. Dropped
by at gym for a short workout, then grocery shopping at a Japanese store and
Meijer. The gas price finally came down to $2.00 a barrel. It's been a while
seeing that kind of price. I guess it is raining most of the time I am
driving today. Come home, had dinner, assembled a CD rack I just bought.
Called my home in the evening, went to bed after midnight. |
| 11/9 |
Woke up at 7:00am, 39F outside and expected be
rainy and snowy today. Wrote a couple of emails, headed to grocery store to
recycle cans and bought a newspaper before going to LTF for workout in the
morning. I was hoping to eat at a Mexican food restaurant but it was closed.
I guess Detroit economy was taking tolls. Flurries started around 3:00pm, at
the same time, my internet connection went down... Cooked few dishes for the
upcoming week. Finished everything by 7:00pm, stepped outside to dispose
garbage, and it was snowing but not accumulating yet. Hope to get a view
with snow tomorrow morning. |
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| 11/10 |
[First snowfall in Detroit this year,
electronics retailer Circuit City to file chapter 11 bankruptcy protection]
Woke up at 6:00am, reset the DSL modem since the
internet connection was still out, and it recovered. Slight snow accumulated
overnight and it was a pretty site (but 31F...). I had to remove about a
half inches of snow accumulated. Drove to work but took twice more than
usual. I arrived there around 9:00am. Stayed until 10:15pm. Since I had
dinner at work, I just had some snacks at home. Went to bed around midnight.
Expecting to be around 25F.
 Snow fell
in Detroit |
| 11/11 |
Woke up at 6:00am, 26F outside, expected more
rain/show in the evening. Still some snow left from yesterday. Went to work
with no trouble driving on the road, stayed until 9:30pm. Stopped by at LTF
for a short workout. Come home, went to bed around midnight. |
| 11/12 |
Woke up at 6:00am, 36F outside. When I got up, I
saw my living room is bright, finding out that I forgot to turn off my PC
last night. I should be careful. Expected to be rainy for next couple of
days. Went to work, stayed until 9:30pm. I brought my lunch but no time to
cook for dinner so I drove to Jimmy John's and bought a sub sandwich. I felt
tired and sleepy when I was at meeting so I decided to drive home instead of
working out. It was raining when I stepped outside. Drove home, went to bed
around 11:30pm. Raining... |
| 11/13 |
Woke up at 6:00am, 48F, much warmer than usual
and still raining. I think it was raining all night. Went to work under
rain. Stayed until 9:30pm as usual. I was able to cook lunch but not dinner
so I went out again, this time to Burger King... Stopped by at LTF for
workout in the evening. Come home, went to bed around midnight, |
| 11/14 |
[Toyota reporting reduction of production at
Tahara factory where they make Lexus vehicles and Land Cruisers...]
Woke up at 6:00am, another warm morning of 52F.
Cloudy and expected to be rainy. It maybe turning to snow by tomorrow
afternoon. I finally found a book stamps I was looking for a last couple of
days. I can mail cards now. Went to chiropractics in the morning. Stopped by
at a Honda dealer to get wiper blade refills. Mine's working terrible right
now and scary driving in the night under rain. Stayed at office for the rest
of the day except for going out with coworkers. One of them suggested to eat
at nearby Chinese buffet, others wanted to go to Japanese restaurant. So we
headed to Japanese restaurant and it was packed, we tried another Japanese
restaurant, again packed. We ended up eating at Arby's. Oh, man... I talked
with my dad in the evening to see if he wants me to be at home over the
Thanksgiving break since my mom's coming home from the hospital for a
while... Stayed
until 8:30pm, drove to LTF under rain, worked out and come home. Bought
tickets to go to Japan again. I was able to use credit from unused ticket
back in July. That saved some money. Going to bed around midnight. |
| 11/15 |
Woke up at 7:30am, around 40F. It's a bit
chilly. It's raining hard and breezy. Went to LTF to swim. I was able to go
for one hour today since the surrounds are very quiet. Drove to office but
also stopped by at banks, Japanese grocery store, and Jimmy John's. Flurries
just started as I arrived there. Spent whole afternoon at office to do catch
up jobs, stayed until 7:00pm. Drove home, cooked dinner and relaxed. Pretty
gusty, but no snow in the evening. |
| 11/16 |
Woke up at 7:00am, went to swim at LTF. Stopped
by at One World Mart, Twelve Oaks Mall, and Meijer before coming home so it
was around 1:15pm and snowing outside like crazy. It was almost whiteout for
a moment.
 Snow
begins to fall in Detroit...
Left home at 3:00pm under
snowy weather to airport, the road was not too bad so I was able to get
there by 3:40pm, the visibility on the freeway suddenly got limited after passing 6miles exit on
I-275. I have seen a car wrecks. Once I got to the airport, I
was surprised to see that the parking fee for Blue Deck has increased to
$16/day. It was only $10 last time when I used it. I am going to need to use
the private parking lot outside soon. When I get to the airport, I just
realized that since I was in hurry, I forgot to bring my jacket out when I came out from
the apartment. Oh my...
Despite of the snow, the flight to Dallas was on time. I got on the plane
okay but the jet bridge was quite chilly. The plane had to go through
deciding process, which needed to be done at northeast corner of the
airport, a long taxi from the northwest corner... Took off in already dark sky, and
flew into cloud, so I did not get to see much on the way. The sky became
clear as approaching to Dallas Fort Worth airport. I could see all the
lights from the city, as well as some airplanes coming to and going from the
airport. The plane landed okay, and taxied a while before coming to the
gate. Once arrive to the airport, I had my dinner, which was a salad from TGI Friday's. The plane's boarding
began on time but I did not hear the
announcement, so if I had continued watching the football game, I could have
missed the flight. Got on board the plane, and it took off to the south. I
should have been able to see the lights but it was partly cloudy, so I did
not know where I was going. The plane landed okay to McAllen, TX. Once I got the airport, I
picked up my bags and called the hotel then a shuttle bus came very quick. There are a couple more
folks wanted a ride so we all got on and rode to the hotel. I only had a $5
bill so I asked the person at the front to change to $1 bills and asked him
to give $1 to the driver later. The hotel now equipped with a flat screen TV, but all the digital
channels was so hard to switch around. Anyways, I worked on the project on
the PC then went to bed around midnight. I need to wake up early to catch a
ride from tomorrow...
AA1173, DTW-DFW 5:20pm-7:30pm
AA1028 DFW-MFE 8:55pm-10:30pm |
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| 11/17 |
Woke up at 6:00am, it was sunny and chilly. I
got a ride to the factory and started to work on my assignments. Stayed
until 7:30pm. Ride back to the U.S. side, went to Osuka restaurant and had a
dinner with my coworker who is leaving the company soon. Come back to the
hotel around 10:30pm, worked on assignments until midnight. |
| 11/18 |
Woke up at 6:00am went to the factory as usual.
Stayed there until 8:00pm, got a ride back to the U.S. side and had dinner
at a Japanese restaurant alone. |
| 11/19 |
Woke up at 6:00am, went to work as usual, leaf
there around 8:00pm. Cancelled visa at Mexican immigration then went to
Ichiban Japanese Restaurant. They had many weird named sushi, We stayed until
10:00pm. come back to the hotel, and worked on assignment until midnight again.
I need to wake up early but... oh well, cannot be helped. I hope I won't
miss the flight so I set two alarm clocks. |
| 11/20 |
Woke up around 3:40am, the temperature outside
is around 60s but Detroit was below freezing. No surprise but okay as long
as I can survive the weather without a jacket... Left
hotel at 4:50am, arrived at the airport by 5:00am. Worked on assignment
while waiting for the flight. The boarding started at 6:20am, Depart at 6:30am
to west then heading north toward Dallas. 
Leaving McAllen, TX
 Arriving to
Dallas Ft. Worth, TX
The plane approached to the airport after
passing to the north on the east side of the airport then landing at 7:50am.
I worked on company assignments while waiting for the connecting flight. The
plane start to board at
9:45am, then took off to the north. Within 1 hour into flight, the cloud
started cover the surface so I did not know where we are flying. I already
been told that Detroit is under snow.
At 1:10pm, flew over Ft. Wayne, IN, and landed at Detroit at 1:30pm. While
the plane flying to the east toward Detroit, I could see the shadow of the
plane with a ring projected on to a cover of clouds.
 Seeing
the shadow of the plane on cloud
The plane arrived to the airport. Picked up my bags and walked toward the
parking. The outside was under flurries... I left there around
2:00pm and drove toward a local AAA office in Livonia to get International Driving Permit.
They issued me the permit pretty quick. Drove to my apartment to drop off my
bags and left to the office. Arrived to the office around 4:00pm, worked until 10:00pm and drove home
but stopped by at Meijer to buy a couple of bottles of wines and some snacks
for the trip from tomorrow. Come home, put the laundry in the drier and
repacked my stuffs. I checked the weather forecast in Nagoya, but it was not
so bad as my dad was saying so I picked cloth for warmer weather.
AA1887 MFE-DTW 6:35am-8:10am
AA616 DFW-DTW 10:10am-1:45pm |
| 11/21-12/1 |
Japan Trip 4
Central Japan International Airport |