| 6/1 |
Woke up at 6:00am, went to work. The outside is
sunny again. Waiting for my car getting picked up for transportation to
Wichita, then noon came, I drove to Jack in the box for lunch. Drove back to
the office, stayed until 5:00pm. My car got picked up finally. My coworker
came to pick me up later in the evening and started heading south to Corpus
Christi. We arrived there around 10:00pm, ate dinner at Denny's around
10:00pm. We checked in the hotel and hit the bed right after that.
 Gave my
car to friends. It served me well for the last seven years. No major
accident, or repairs. |
| 6/2 |
Woke up around 5:30am, worked out at gym for a
while and had breakfast. Drove to meet with the customer, and spent time in
and out of the office. The temperature is warming up, maybe to 90s. Stayed
until 5:30pm. Drove to downtown Corpus Christi, walking around, check out
Executive Surf Club and museum, drinking (I
was a designated driver) and had sushi for dinner. Got a message that my car
arrived to Wichita safe. Drove back to the hotel, checked in, worked on
assignment so I went to bed around midnight. Strong storm started around
11:00pm and lasted for a while. I could hear the rain because I was in the
highest floor of the hotel. We even had a tornado warning issued... |
| 6/3 |
Woke up at 6:00am, must have been a quite stormy
over the night but all gone by the morning. I did not get a chance to
stretch myself since I was having hard time pulling myself together. Drove to customer's place,
spent morning working on the company assignments. Met with customers again
in the morning, had lunch with at a nearby steak house. Then headed out to
San Antonio. Actually I had to drive to Austin since the plan changed. When
we checked in, we found that the travel agent got the date wrong when tried
to change the reservation, things happens sometimes, at least we got our
rooms. Had dinner with customers (again), came back to the hotel around
11:00pm then I worked on my project until midnight. I will be back in
Houston tomorrow. |
| 6/4 |
Woke up at 6:00am, 65F outside so it is very
cool for me. I guess it will be very warm in Houston... Stretched myself,
took shower and had breakfast. Today is a Friday Checked out from the hotel
around 8:45am then headed to the airport in San Antonio from Austin. I
checked in at 10:30am, and waited at the airport. Had sandwich for the
lunch. The plane was delayed so I was sitting in the lounge. While waiting,
a live video from Falcon 9 rocket launch was broadcasted, I hope hoping the
success, but they shut it down. The plane started to board and left at
2:00pm, flew only for 1 hour then landed. I got a rental car and drove to
the office. I arrived around 5:00pm then stayed until 7:15pm. Had dinner
with coworker and finished around 9:30pm. Came back to home and went to bed
around 10:00pm. No thunderstorm tonight. |
| 6/5 |
Woke up at 6:00am, it's nice to be back home.
Did not feel like I want to swim but I have to anyway, so I drove out of the
apartment, spent 40 minutes at FedEx office to use internet, swam until
11:00am. Drove to Toy R Us for gift, then to Home Depot, followed by at Souper Salad for lunch then Sears, I had to buy travel bag then stopped at
Kroger's for groceries before coming back to apartment. Packing until 3:00pm,
the outside is getting cloudy so we might get some rain again. Took boxes to
storage unit, then drove to Target for last batch of groceries. As I was
walking toward the exit, I saw a lady fell on the ground, I tried to help
her get up but she seems dislocated her arm so I could only alert store
employees. Nothing I can do. I drove back home, cooked dinner, and cleaned
some. Packing for the trip to Japan, then talked with my dad a bit in the
evening. Went to bed around 11:00pm. I guess no storm today. |
| 6/6 |
[News reporting of severe weather in Michigan
and Ohio]
Woke up at 6:00am, stretched my body, took down the bed, packed the stuffs
and the first load left at 10:00am, dropped off my bed, and headed to LTF
for workout. Noon, had curry and start cleaning the kitchen and bathroom,
packed again and left for the second load at 2:00pm. The outside is getting
warmer so I had to use an A/C to keep me from sweating while I am in the
room. I am just about to finish packing and I checked the weather on the
net. It shows storm nearby so I decided to make another run before the storm
starts in the area. Packed my car at 4:00pm and headed to the storage unit.
I could see the sky is pretty dark in the direction where the storm is.
Finished putting my stuffs to the storage unit and started to head to the hotel to check in.
Just as I was driving away, rain started to fall pretty good. The severe
storm began around 4:50pm, and the road is flooded everywhere. I could still
pass under the I-10. Checked in the hotel around 5:30pm, I was soaking wet
for being outside for only 10 seconds. The hallway of the hotel smelled like
a dorm where I used to live. Relaxed in the room for a while until the rain
becomes die down. It took about another 30 minutes. I come back to the
apartment with some difficulty since some streets were flooded. Cooked
frozen meal for dinner. This is it. Finished packing for the last time,
grabbed orange juice and poptarts for tomorrow's breakfast. Turned off the
power, locked the door and left around 8:00pm to storage and locked the
place up. I took shower at the hotel then came back to the apartment to run
a load of laundry. After coming back to the hotel, at 11:00pm. I went to
bed. |
| |
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| 6/7 |
[iPhone 4 revealed]
Woke up at 6:00am, stretched my body then headed
to LTF for workout. I spent 30 minutes in the water then came back to the
hotel. Checked out around 8:40am then drove to chiropractics for the
appointment, I had to drive to the apartment to carry out a few more items,
then walked into the office at 10:00am for the move out. They did not see
any issues so I don't have to pay any extras. Finally drove to the office
around 10:30am, I called insurance companies to cancel my apartment and auto
plans, as well as AT&T to make changes on the contract to be ready for trip
to Japan. The outside looked stormy around 11:00am and I could hear thunder.
The weather information is telling me that it will be gone by 1:00pm. I left
the office to go to USPS to ship boxes out, then to bank to transfer money,
finally got a lunch at Taco Bell, raining a bit. Stopped at Storage and
finished the moving. Came back to the office around 3:00pm then stayed until
7:00pm. Had dinner at Panera bread, around 8:00pm. Checked in the hotel at
9:00pm went to bed at 10:30pm. I need to get some rest.
 A summer
like weather, but so long Houston, for now... |
| 6/8-13 |
Going to Japan
Night time in Tokyo. Looking north from Shinagawa |
| |
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| 6/14 |
[Hayabusa, an asteroid observing satellite
returned to earth]
Woke up around 4:30am, stretch my body, had
breakfast and took shower. I read instructions on the washing machine and
set it done in 9 hours. I hope the laundry will be done on time. The news in
the morning says that our region of Japan has entered in rainy reason "tsuyu". Left
home at 7:05am, and bought a train ticket with 230 Yen to Higashi-Kakogawa,
the train left at 7:24am and arrived at the destination at 7:45am. The
concern over missing the bus to the training center disappeared as seeing a
signed marked clearly. I bought a newspaper for 160 Yen and read some before
getting on a bus, which was as big as a tour bus. About twenty other people
got on, and added more as it makes stops at dormitories and other company
related facility. Arrived at training center at 8:40am and spent whole day training. The lunch
they served was much better than I expected. In the afternoon, the sky got
cleared and look pretty nice. I felt sleepy in the afternoon but saved
myself from taking nap. Left the classroom at 5:30pm, get on a bus back to
the station. I got off at the train station at 6:05pm, get on a local train at
6:13pm and took a ride back to Nishi-Akashi. I walked around the station and
found a dollar store, where I bought some cups, and a LAN cable (Now I can
use internet at home!). After coming home, I found out the washer did not
work because a valve on the water pipe was not opened. I decided to redo
tomorrow since I had no time left today. Quite busy after dinner, went to bed around 11:00pm.
 A
typical breakfast for the first couple of week, later I trimmed it down to
one bread and a pack of milk. |
| 6/15 |
[Japan won the first game in Soccer World Cup
2010 against Cameroon]
Woke up around 4:30am again. Still cloudy but will be rainy by the noon and
might get almost 150mm of rain by tomorrow morning, according to news on TV. Left home around 7:00am,
walked for 8 minutes to the station. Get on a
train leaving at 7:12am. This train is one earlier than yesterday's.
After arriving at Higashi-Kakogawa, I bought a newspaper again to read. Took a bus
to the training center. Rain on and off for the entire day. Get off from the
class at 5:30pm, took a bus back to
the station, which was another long ride so I arrived to the station at 6:30pm. Came home after buying a couple of stuffs
at grocery store, turned on TV to check on the
weather. I think the rain should be over by tomorrow morning. In the evening, I went to a laundry to get my shirts dried. Took only 20
minutes, and I walked back under cloudy weather. The Postal Service delivered the packages I sent from the U.S. Everything
seems to be in tact. Finally relaxed for the evening. Sorted all the trashes
I generated since last Saturday. The rules in Akashi-city is quite simple,
either for recycle, or non-recyclables. I think I can take trash out this
Friday. Went to bed at 10:30pm.
 My change
of clothes and other items arrived. |
| 6/16 |
Woke up at 5:00am, so I stretched my body, had
breakfast, relaxed until 7:00am. I walked to the station and bought a
ICOCA, which is a prepaid IC fare card. I paid 2,000 Yen, and now I just need to
flash the card at gates, as long as I have some credit left on it. I could
use to buy stuffs at convenience stores at stations. Took a bus to training
center again. Since today is a sunny day, it was nice day. Left the training
center at 5:35pm and arrived at the station at 6:08pm. I get on a train back
to Nishi-Akashi. I walked to the north of the station to check out 100 Yen
shop. I bought another set of hangers, as well as chopsticks, folk, knife
and spoon so I don't have to get those disposable ones which is not good for
environment. Come home, had dinner, fell sleep as I was watching video on PC
so I went to bed for real around 11:30pm. |
| 6/17 |
Woke up at 5:30am. Stretched my body, and get
ready for the new day. Another sunny morning and this looks like the another
good day during the rainy season. Walked to the station and took a train
and a bus to the training center. Spent whole morning on circuit board,
which I got behind of schedule due to messed up on drawing. I was sweating to
fix the issue while the instructor going ahead with the rest of the class. I
finally get it done before becoming too late. In the afternoon was another topic on
the training. Got done finally at 5:15pm, get changed and took a ride back
to the station. Today is somewhat busy on the streets so I arrived at the
station at 6:05pm, took a train arriving to Higashi-Kakogawa at 6:13pm. Come
back to Nishi-Akashi, and shopped at a convenience store for my dinner and
breakfast. Walked back and watched news on TV from 6:45pm to 7:20pm. I took
out laundry to get it dried. Come home, typed up some emails and also blog.
I still have a lot to catch up. Went to bed around 11:00pm. We might see
some rain tomorrow. |
| 6/18 |
Good to know today is Friday. I woke up around
5:00am, left home early so I can drop off trash on the way to work. Get on
the same train as usual, bought a newspaper and was reading it while waiting
for the bus. Arrived at the training center and spent whole day. We get
served with curry for the lunch. I was feeling some rain drops from the
morning and finally started to rain hard after 3:00pm. Get on the bus to be
back to the station at 5:30pm but took a lot longer to get there. So I was
using the train leaving at 6:28pm, arriving at Nishi-Akashi at 6:41pm. The
rain was getting harder. Bought my dinner and tomorrow's breakfast before
heading to home. I had to come back to the station but the rain was pouring.
I should have taken an umbrella. Spent evening relaxing at home, eventually
the rain stopped for a moment around 9:00pm and outside gets quiet. Went to
bed around 11:00pm. |
| 6/19 |
Woke up at 5:30am, did a two loads of washing
and went to a laundry to get them all dried. The day started from somewhat
humid and hot day. I was sweating as I walked around. After taking care of
house stuffs, I went to a train station and had lunch at Lotteria. Bought a
round trip ticket to Nagoya for 15,120Yen and get on a Hikari 472? leaving at 12:15pm. I did call a
couple of friends in Nagoya while waiting for the train. Arrived at Nagoya station at 1:30pm, stopped by
at my grandma's place until 3:00pm. I took a train back to Nagoya and get on
a bus to home at 4:20pm. On the way home, the pavement outside was wet so it must be rained.
Get off the bus but did not go home straight. I walked up to a nearby
haircut place to get my hair trimmed. Finally come home around 6:00pm then
left immediately to go see my brother's family. Stayed there until 8:30pm
and find out that it started to rain very hard just as I walked out.
Lightening flash and lit up the dark night sky. Come home, relaxed for a
while until 10:00pm then went to bed.
 Looks
like Nagoya just got some rain... |
| 6/20 |
[Japan lost a soccer game against Netherlands at World
Cup]
Father's day Sunday. I woke up around 5:00am and
stretched my body. Headed out for the morning and come back a few minute
before noon. We had bread for lunch and I stepped out again to buy some
items from nearby DIY store. I had to walk under rain since it started again
but not so bad. I helped my dad copying files from his IC recorder and his
cell phone. I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. It's time for me to
update my blog. Stepped out for the evening to eat at a Chinese restaurant.
Coming home, relaxed for the evening and went to bed at 11:00pm. |
| |
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| 6/21 |
Woke up at 5:00am but stayed in the bed until
5:30am. Had breakfast with my dad and took care of the dishes. I went
outside at 8:15am to go visit a ward office for getting insurance card. Since I
was out for many years, the process of reinstating took longer than usual,
but I received it at last. I finished with my errands here so I can
go home now. I took a subway back to Hoshigaoka. When I arrived back, the bank I
needed to go was already open so I ordered a new ATM card, because my old one is
like from 1994. Anyways, I took a bus back home after that. Came home under
slight shower, told my dad the story from the morning then packed my stuffs. It's time to go.
I took a bus to Hoshigaoka, then changed to a subway to Nagoya. I arrived at
the platform for Shinkansen at 11:33am. Nozomi 103 came in just in time.
Some free seats at non-reserved car were available so I got on. Departing Nagoya at 11:35am, and arrived at
Shin-Osaka at 12:43pm. I have to wait until 1:05pm to get on Hikari 467 and
it arrived
to Nishi-Akashi at 1:32pm. Walked back to the apartment then get a short
break. I bought another set of utensils at nearby 100Yen store.
In the evening, I went to Hyogo station, first bought a rice cooker and a
pan for cooking. Met with my former coworker for dinner. Came home taking a
train back to Nishi-Akashi around 10:00pm. Went to bed straight.
Hikari 467 arriving to Nishi-Akashi |
| 6/22 |
Woke up at 5:30am, stretched my body and had
breakfast. I stepped out around 7:40am to walk to the office which took me about 40 minutes.
It's my first day of work at this location and stayed until
6:00pm then headed back on the same route. Come home around 7:00pm then went to to grab
dinner, then took care of laundry in the evening. I went to bed around
10:00pm. |
| 6/23 |
Woke up at 5:30am, it looks like raining
outside. Giving up walking to work and went to the station to catch a train leaving at 7:36am and arrived at
work around 8:15am. Since today is on time go home day, I left the room at
5:05pm. Walked back to my apartment since it's sunny now. Arrived before 6:00pm
and I can see the sun still in the air behind clouds. Went to Max Value, a
grocery store, nearby for
the first time, bought dinner there. Took laundry to get them dried. Worked
on my schedule and went to
bed around 11:00pm. Still feeling a bit sick but okay by late evening. |
| 6/24 |
[Japan won World Cup game against Denmark. We
are advancing to the knockout stage]
Woke up at 5:30am. Today is a sunny day so I
should make most out of it. Left home around 7:30am, walking toward the
office. Today is cool and breezy also so commuting was okay. I felt good.
Stayed until 6:00pm, and came home around 6:30pm. Went to a train station
nearby to go buy bread and dinner. Come back to home by 7:00pm, went to bed
at 10:00pm. Tomorrow should be rainy again. |
| 6/25 |
Woke up again at 5:30am, not raining yet so I can walk to
work, but maybe raining by the time when I come home. Start working to the
office, spent whole day there until 6:00pm. I missed 500 yen lunch combo
because it was sold out. I guess it was due to the monthly payday for
Japanese employees... Had dinner with coworkers at a restaurant on the way
back to the station. It's raining hard. Came home, tried not to fall sleep
but failed around 9:30pm, I got up next time around at 11:00pm... Went back
to sleep again for sure.
 Omrice |
| 6/26 |
Woke up around 2:00am once but fell back to
sleep. Get up in the morning as usual. Still raining hard since last night
and projected to continue according to the news in the morning. Oh well,
relaxed until 10:30am then headed out to go buy a portable radio. I walked
to the station and got on a train at 10:48am, heading to Sannomiya and
arrived at 11:00am. I found one I like so I just bought that one for
21,000Yen. I could visit a couple more stores to compare the prices but did
not feel like it. I did not
have anything else to buy so I am not sure paying 900Yen for a round trip,
the rain still going to I had to ran back to the station.
Get on a special rapid at Sannomiya station at 12:07pm coming back to Nishi-Akashi
around 12:30pm. Some trains are late due to an accident near Osaka. I had to go buy a lunch
at a convenience store at the station, and took it home. For the afternoon,
I set up the radio,
also start setting up my rice cooker I bought this week.
Went out again around 4:00pm to buy few items at 100 Yen shop, and also get my
dinner and tomorrow's breakfast. I thought about going to buy a bag of rice
but the rain was strong and windy so I just gave up. Come home, spent
evening easy. Called my grandma and brother in the evening. I went to bed
around 9:00pm and fell sleep while I did not realize. I had to sleep again
at 11:00pm.
 Sanyo's
IC recorder (ICR-RS110MF), which can tune to AM/FM and also capable of timed
recording. |
| 6/27 |
Woke up at 5:30am, stretched my body. The rain
at outside seems to be over and we get sunshine from the morning. I did two
loads of laundry and took them to a nearby Laundromat for drying. It was
busy with people and I get the last of 6 driers today. I came back
home and walked to the station nearby. I took a local train leaving at
10:40am and arrived at Akashi station in 3 minutes. First I went to south to
check out the port to Akashi. I get to see Tako ferry for the first time.
The air is pretty hazy so I get to see only outlines of Awaji island, and
some part of the Akashi bridge was covered with clouds. I had lunch at a
restaurant nearby and walked to Akashi part, where used to be a castle in
the past. Getting on a train at 1:23pm to head back. After arriving to
Nishi-Akashi, I went to a bakery, and a super store to buy some groceries. I
spent afternoon typing up my blog, and also getting all the expense reports
done. Cooked rice for the first time at home for dinner. Went to bed around
10:00pm. I have to say, this was a pretty productive weekend.
.JPG)
Akashi port and Tako ferry |
| |
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| 6/28 |
Woke up at 5:30am. No rain yet and quite warm
outside, well actually beyond comfortable level. I walked to work at 7:30am,
and worked on a project before the business hour starts. The room is now
changed from 4th floor to 2nd floor. It's very closed to cafeteria so I
guess I won't miss my favorite meals. I stayed at work until 6:00pm then I
walked back home. I did not have to go buy any meals for the evening so I
was able to relax for the evening. Went to bed around 10:00pm. Hearing the
sound of rain while I am in bed. |
| 6/29 |
Woke up at 5:00am. Left for work around 7:30am
and tried to reach by 8:00am. Still sunny outside, and no sign of rain for
the day. I stayed until 6:00pm then walked back home. I dropped off my
staffs and walked to a bakery and a grocery store. I think I am good for
another couple of days. Good to know that no rain for the past couple of
days. I don't have to take train to work... Going to bed around 10:00pm. |
| 6/30 |
[Japan lost the world cup game against Paraguay
at 0-0 and after penalty kick shoot out.]
Last day of June. Woke up at 5:00am. I guess I went to bed too early. Still
no rain which is good, I can walk to work. Left home around 7:30am and
arrived at work around 8:00am. Stayed until 5:30pm then walked back home. The sky
condition changed from sunny, to cloudy throughout the day. I think we might
get some rain tomorrow but let's see. Took out two loads worth of laundry to
get them dried after dinner. Went to bed around 10:30pm.
 Rice farm
near my apartment |