NY Midtown Walk やっぱりここはいつでもNYだ♪

Because I wanted to send a pretty card to my friend who sent me a very beautiful heart warming letter last month.  I knew about a nice greeting card shop in the Grand Central Station, so I walked there enjoying the NY midtown streets :-)  The station was only 5 blocks away from my hotel, but I saw a lot of famous spots of NY city, like Times Square, 5th avenue, the NY public library, Jewish jewelers... and more.  Every sight was like very New York that we all imagin! lol
年始に素敵なお手紙を届けてくれた友達にNYからカードを送りたくて、ガイドブックで見たグリーティングカードのお店に行きたくてグランドセントラル駅まで「ミッドタウンエリア」の散歩をしました。ホテルから５ブロック程度の距離だけど、ここに間に色んなものがある。タイムズスクエア、五番街、ニューヨーク図書館、宝石商の集まる通り、などなど。なに見てもまさにNY！

The center of Grand Central Station,,, the very famous shot! lol  This station has some shops and delis around here.

グランドセントラル駅。あまりに有名な駅のホール。建物の中、この周辺にいろいろショップが入ってます。デリとかちょっとしたブランドショップとか。

Enlarged... Everybody was walking pass,,, just wonder where they were going :-)

みんな足早。どこに行くんでしょうね～♪

Shops are now with Valentine's Day atmosphere♪ In a showcase of a deli, there were pretty and very vivid red+pink decorated cupcakes.

そうそう、バレンタインムードで、それはもう真赤や真ピンクのケーキがいっぱい♪アメリカっぽい！

Times Square, north side.

Taking pictures is not very easy anywhere if you think about safety reason.  But here at Times Square, you can take out your camera from your bag and take pics as much as you want, because... everybody is doing the same!  We are the tourists from evrywhare!

タイムズスクエアの北サイド。

一人旅の安全面を思うと、写真を撮りづらいこともしばしば。でもここは違うよ、好きなだけ撮れる。だってみんながカメラを構えた観光客だから！みんな同じ地球各地からの「おのぼりさん」なのよ！

South side.

同じく南サイド。

See...  This is "sight seeing"

観光中です。

Here's another famous man.  I guess you have seen this guy who holds the guitar with his ten gallon hat + boots on... without his clothes on.

この人もいた♪パンイチ×テンガロン×ギターの人。NY暖かくてよかったねぇ。。。

Before going back to my hotel, I remembered I was starving! lol  Well, I was too excited to feel my hunger ;-)  I decided to have something quick from a street vendor♪  I dropped by one at the corner of 7th Ave. and 47th St.  I chose chicken gyro.  Because I told him, the person at the stand, that I hadn't had gyro before, he recommended me to mix spicy sauce and white sauce so my gyro would be mild and good.  I bought 1 gyro with mildly spicy sauce. ;-)  It was $5.

テンションあがってて腹ペコを忘れてた！ささっと買ってホテルで食べられるスタンド（屋台）メシにしました。ホテルのそば７番街と47丁目の角。はじめての「チキンギロ」にトライ！「私、はじめてギロ食べるんだぁ」って話してたら、店の人が辛いソースとクリームのソースをミックスしておいしく食べやすくしよう♪って教えてくれた。「じゃあそれで♪」っと５ドルのギロを持ち帰り。ついでに写真　lol

In an elevator at the hotel, going upstairs...  Even these elevator buttons seems very different from Japanese one to me.  lol  It makes me feel like... "I'm away from Japan now♪"  haha!

上へ参ります。エレベーターのボタンにさえ外国を感じる lol  ここ日本じゃないんだぁ♪って。（笑）

This is the chicken gyro I bought.  It was huge!  But I could finish soon!  I was very hungry + it was really good!  The man at the stand was right... Mildly spicy sauce was perfect to me♪

部屋でチキンギロをあけてみる、、、でかい！でも一気に食べた！あまりに腹ヘリだったのとあまりにおいしかったのとで、あっという間に。おすすめのマイルドスパイシー、当りです♪

This is the card for my friend.  Cute, isn't it?  I chose one thinking about her image :-)  I'm gonna write the card tonight... it's around 10pm here... and mail it tomorrow :-)  I'm not gonna go out tonight.  I will sleep well tonight so I can enjoy tomorrow more!

かわいいの♪彼女のイメージで選んだ友達へのカードはこれ。いまから書いて明日投函しよ♪今日はもうこれでおしまい、でかけない。いっぱい寝て明日もっと楽しむぜぃ！ 

One more...  I bought a Metro Card.  Unlimited for 7 days.  $29.00  I got $1 change.  It's rare to have hold $1 coin, not a bill.

オマケ： ７日バスも地下鉄も乗り放題のカードを購入。これで動き回りやすい♪１ドルコインって珍しいよね、１ドル札じゃなくて。おつりで出てきた :-)

I'm in NYC! ニューヨークにいます

I just got to New York City!  It's been exactly 12 years since I was here last time.  I'm so glad to be back!  I still feel... kinda wired... because I can't believe I'm in NYC yet.  lol 
I know some people, I mean my friends and families, are reading my post so they can check how I'm doing here in NYC.  I'll try to write in both English and Japanese for a while :-)
ニューヨークに着いた！あれからかれこれ１２年、、、また来れて嬉しい！でもまだ着いたばかりで実感わかなくて変なかんじです。私の動向をチェックしてくれてる人たちがいるので、これからしばらく英語と日本語でアップしてみます :-)

Flight from Hiroshima to Narita.  Actually, I like to be on this small airplane and sit on the windor side.  It was clear in Kanto area this morning, I could enjoy the nice view.

じつは大好き、広島－成田便。窓側席をとって、景色を楽しみたいので！

今朝の関東地方は天気良く、すてきな眺めでした。

Like "kinaishoku.com"  I flew by ANA this time. 

今回は全日空。「機内食ドットコム」みたいなかんじの写真でしょ♪

After 12-hour flight, I got to JFK airport.  I took a bus to the center of Manhattan and finally arrived at my room... ahhhh, relaxing!  I know this is a small room, but... this hotel is located in midtown area, 1minute walk from Times Square and is only about $385 for 4 nights.  I can't complain!

飛ぶこと12時間。JFK空港よりマンハッタンのど真ん中へ移動。そしてやっと部屋へ到着！チェックイン前だったけど部屋ができててよかった♪小さい部屋だけどね、タイムズスクエアまで徒歩１分の立地で４泊31,000yenほどだもん、文句は言えん。

Simple bathroom,,, Can't complain.

バスルーム、、、文句は言えん。

Not a really nice view but,,,  "Can't complain!"

眺めはこんなだけど、、、やっぱり「文句は言えん」

I have only 4 days here,,, including today!  I don't wanna waist my time!  I'll take a quick shower and go out to feel that "Yes!  I'm in New York again!"  I will try to post pictures here.  I hope you can enjoy them ;-)

今日を入れて４日。時間が惜しいので、さっさとシャワーを済ませたら出かけます！「NYに来たぞ！」と実感＋満喫するために。写真がとれたらここで紹介します。またのぞいてください ;-)



Dentist, Movie, English class

Well,,, not many people try taking a picture of their dental floss like me,,, I guess. lol

My 2 days off has just started.  Good morning :-)

I'll go to the dentist this morning.  Taking care of my teeth is very important but it's true that checking and fixing all bad teeth sometimes require a long term treatment...  so, I deffered seeing my dentist for a while.  But I know I gotta do this before going to the states.

If I finish dentist early and smoothly (the dentist is popular and his clinic is always busy...) I want to go to a movie.  I'm thinking about watching an Italian movie called "Mine Vaganti"

Then I will join some English classes later in the evening.  

It is very cold but looks nice outside.  I hope I will enjoy the 1st day today♪  

What I write today has nothing to do with Indian pudding but,,,

Indian rice pudding for dessert♪ 

Last night, I went to an Indian restaurant.  ...I know I've been writing about food and drinking recently!  lol  I don't know why, but I have a lot of chance to go out with my friends this month.  Maybe my busy Christmas season is one of the reasons.  I didn't really feel like going out or seeing people in my free time last month because I was having busy days through a month.  So... finally I'm enjoying my party time, I guess. :-)  My winter vacation is coming up in February♪  I'll be on a trip, yeah!

What I often felt recently is... that I'm really lucky and happy to have a lot of cool friends!  I'm always with nice people.  My friends are very caring and supportive.  Even if we don't see each other for a long time, we keep caring and we enjoy reunion whenever we can.

Sometimes I feel... not really good because I'm too stressed or becoming less confident,,, or something.  But I think I'm lucky.  I'll be given, if I keep asking and trying :-)  People support me a lot.

Human relationship is complecated and very confusing sometimes.  But I can learn a lot from it at the same time.  I'm not smart enough to be good at everything, I'm often too pure to blieve anything lol! and sometimes I'm really easy to get hurt,,, but I can be strong enough to get over the tough situation!  For better or worse, this is a part of ME ;-)  I love it!  haha!

My personality, ability, friends, nice people I know and all the chance to get better,,, I appreciate everything I got♪ 

   







bagel for lunch

This wrap-wrap-wrap stuff is lunch! lol  Again, I don't like cooking♪  So, this is the best I can!
I made a bagel sandwich with ham, lettuce, paprika, pickles and double cheese ;-)  I just put everything I like♪  And... I cut an apple and packed in a container.  That's it!  Lunch is ready.
I've been trying to bring lunch to work recently.  We usually have a 1 hour lunch break at work.  Bringing lunch saves time!  I can finish eating quickly and spend more free time during the rest of my break.
Alright, it's time to get dressed :-)  I gotta go♪  Have a good day!

I'm in Nagoya

Good morning!  I'm in Nagoya this morning.  I took shinkansen train after work last night and came to Nagoya city to have dinner with my friends♪





My friends took me to a nice restaurant with relaxing atmosphere. ...Sorry, I forgot the name of the place...  After dinner, we moved to another night time area Sakae to have some more drink.  Because it was Sunday night,,, I know it was my bad time, my work schedule didn't match well,,, it took us for a while to find a good place in the middle of Sunday night.  But we finally got into a bar,,, an underground cigar bar.  One of my friends knew this place.  It was small but a very interesting place with the interesting owner and a friendly black cat... It was a place I haven't seen in Hiroshima.

These guys were people I spent time with in NYC 12 years ago.  Since we came back to Japan everybody started each work and got busier in each places, so I haven't seen them for more than 10 years...  10 years seems long, but actually we ourselves haven't changed at all. lol   We are still really cool friends! :-)  It was really great to see them again!  I appreciate the chance I got this time ;-)

    I woke up in a hotel room, turned on a TV and Oprah was on.  I'm gonna relax a little and get dressed later♪  I'm wondering what to do in Nagoya today.  I have a few hours before my train.  I'm thinking about walking and seeing around the center of the city.  I'll enjoy my Nagoya time :-)

I got a new pencase♪

WORLD VISION JAPAN

http://www.worldvision.jp/

It's been 5 years since I joined World Vision.  A child I write to was only 5 years old and now he became a 10 year-old boy :-)  I didn't notice 5 years have already passed until I received this hand made pencase from an area which World Vision supports in Laos.
Actually, I was thinking about buying a new pencase for me :-)  This pencase is very nice with simple material and natural color.  I like this♪  I'm gonne use this :-)