Anyone Need a Hug?

I was walking in the Hachiko area of Shibuya station where I spotted a trio of university-aged people offering free hugs.

In a country of people who don't really ever touch each other it is very interesting.

Unfortunately I did not indulge in a free hug. I can get plenty from Masa at home.

Facebook mania

I have just discovered facebook and have already spent way too much time searching for people that I don't really need to reconnect with. I am pleased that I have come into contact with a couple people that I have been thinking about recently. It's a pretty good setup. And I can connect with some friends that don't really do email very much. I've already added two photo albums and it's only been a couple of days! Me thinks I may be addicted. Oh well, the mixi fad only lasted a week with me. Let's see how long this lasts.

I'll leave you with a pic from near Maligne Lake in Jasper, Canada. It's been scanned if you were wondering about the poor quality. It was during a dust storm in the pre-digital camera days.

Good Hamburger in Tokyo

I felt like a good hamberger and since I was in Shinjuku, I headed off to Journal Standard near Takashimaya for a quick lunch. Pictured here is the aloha burger with pineapple and usually onion. I think it had spaghetti sauce on it. Anyway, it was really good.

When I got home, I purused a colleague's blog and found a fabulous pic of a towel. You can check out her pics here. Nice work Sarah.

We're married

Hello all,

We are all officially married. Married life is good.

We got a sneak preview of pics from our photographer.

I can't think of anything else to say at the moment.

Kirsten

Team building in Hakone

Last weekend I went to a team building event for work. There were about twenty-five of us and we did a high ropes course in Hakone. Some of the activities involved jumping off eight-meter platforms to catch a trapeze. It was a lot of fun. The pic is of me.














On the way up we stopped at a good Mt. Fuji viewpoint. The small, faint white peak in the background is Mt. Fuji. It was a beautiful clear day.














Another of our tasks was the spider web. We had to get everyone through the holes, one person per hole, without touching the ropes. It involved a lot of team work and communication. We didn't complete the task on time but we did complete it.














It was a wonderful experience all around. I got to get to know a lot of new people, breathe fresh air and get some good pics. I can't wait for the next one.

We have become an old married couple

While most people enjoyed buy clothes during the holiday sales, Masa and I went for a more practical approach. We bought a fridge. We are now officially an old married couple...

ほとんどの人はお正月のセールで洋服を買ったが私たちは冷蔵庫を買っちゃったんです。おじさんとおばさんのカップルみたいですよね。

On January 3rd we went to a gyoza party (gyoza are Japanese dumplings). Everyone worked together to make and eat the dumplings. They started preparing at about 9am and finished eating the last few at about midnight. We of course weren't there the whole time.

１月３日に餃子のパーティに行った。みんな一緒に作って食べました。朝9時から準備をして夜12時まで遊んでいました。もちろん私たちはそんなに長くいない。