KK flavour of the day

Just got home to my sweet pussy...

To discover her evil? Cleverness? Desperation?

Heater had been knocked over and the shelf with the rice cooker
actually pulled out as a step, so that she could rip open the zip-
locked bag of cat food.

You could call her pro-active, I suppose.

Try to guess

Why did I take a photo of this toilet?

Just something...

wrong about tulips in full bloom in January.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB!

The writer at Hallmark has obviously met my dad.
88 today! With many more ahead...

DOGGY SANITARY PAD

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JAMBALAYA

When I bought my light fixture, it was the display model and only came with two bulbs. I did my civic duty bought one of those energy-sating ones.

Since then, the remaining two have been replaced, but somehow they're all different... If they all last as long as they're supposed to, I am stuck with there mismatched three for the next 4 years.

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BE GONE, EVIL!

Headed to a Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine today to get rid of bad luck. Apparently, this year is a bad year for me - 33. That's the age I turn according to asian calendars.

Let's hope the 25 yen I threw into the box and the charms that were purchased are enough! Things were looking pretty good when I opened my omikuji (forecast) which said <luck>.

However, my journey home was delayed by 45 minutes due to an accident... Hmm, I'll try not to read too much into that.

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CULTURAL RELICS

Discovered at Nojiri, circa 1980-3?
Quality suggests handiwork of of my grandmother - my mom didn't pick up knitting until the late 80's, and it took 3 years to complete my sweater. And some parts of the sweater are different colour, because around the end I had grown and didn't fit into the original design, and the same yarn couldn't be found...

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BEFORE AND AFTER

Mysteriously, my bed is unmade every day when i get home from work.

I smell something feline in this conundrum...

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GOOD DEEDS

Decided to start off the new year with a good deed - blood donation.

I haven't been too impressed with the general needling techniques of Japanese nurses. When I was 16, I got poked SIX times before finally getting a good vein on the back of my right hand. In Canada, it never seemed to be a problem. Today, I complained about persisting pain 30 minutes after my platelet donation began, and the nurse said I was bleeding internally and stopped the procedure to bandage me. Then, they poked me on the other arm to return some of my blood, and gave me medicine for the next few days.

Let's hope this doesn't signify anything for the coming year!

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明けましておめでとう！

A belated happy new year to all from pear!

I spent a very Japanese new year watching special NY tv with my family and eating soba at midnight.

今年もどうぞよろしくお願いします！

新年快楽！

Pic of Tokyo Tower taken January 3.

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YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN HICKSVILLE WHEN...

1) There is nothing automated at the local station, including ticket booths and PA announcements.
2) Train doors are MANUAL. Very painful when you have heavy luggage (see pic).
3) No elevators or escalators to get to platforms.
4) No heated toilet seats. In fact, no seats whatsoever (crouching style) and no TP.
5) Zero desire or pressure to wear makeup in an otherwise very appearancd-conscious nation:D6) There isn't a coffee shop in town. Seriously. Well, there is, but it's only open from June through September.
7) Like, of course it's natural for every household to have a vehicle-style snow remover.

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真っ白！

My second attempt boarding! Thanks to the patient tutorage of my brother, I've managed both forward and back turns, and don't look like I'm constipated.

The slopes we hit: Suginohara at Mt Myoko, about 30 min from our cabin. Longest run: 8km. The snow just kept falling and falling, so I didn't have to worry about falling:) But I sure had some very flashy falls...