Other fun stuff I saw in the UK

Catching up on old posts. Here are some more lovely things I saw in the UK:
A great around-town pick-up drop-off shuttle. The drivers are lovely!

A fabulous statue of a female basketball player--put up for the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.

  I had a stunning walk along the river...

And saw locks for the first time!

Amazing water management system...

I wonder how old these are...

At home, sick... 病休

Woke up with a sore throat today so am hanging at home drinking lemon juice with honey and ginger...夕べからのどがちょっと痛かった。今日、病休を取った。レモン・ジュース、蜂蜜や生姜をよく飲んでいます。早く治ってほしい！

7 thoughts to live by....生きるための価値観

日本語に翻訳できるかな。。。間違えだらけかもしれない。。。
直してくれ！

１．過去の自分を許して、自分の人生を生きていきなさい。
２．人の評価を気にしない
３．時がすべて癒す（いやす）。
４．自分の幸せは自分が原因。幸せは自分が担当。
５．他の人生と比べないで。他の人生の旅は理解できない。
６．考えすぎないように！答えが分からなくても大丈夫。
７．笑顔を出して！世界の問題は君が担当じゃない！

Port Moody ポートムーディで外食

OK, so this post is a couple of weeks late. When I got the new job, we celebrated by having dinner out by the water in Port Moody. A strawberry daiquiri...この投稿は2週間遅れている。新しい仕事が決まった日に外食した写真です。飲み物美味しかったーー！イチゴがたっぷり入っていた！

...some great food...食べ物も美味しかった。。。

...some MORE great food...たくさんあったも!

...and a beautiful sunset...夕焼け。。。最高!

...a perfect evening! (now I need to get down to work!)　完璧な一夜！さーーー、仕事しなきゃ！

Future self...未来の自分のため。。。

I love this (thanks, mom!)　今日、母にもらった言葉。。。「未来の自分のために、今日何かいいことしてよー」って。（かな？）

I did something today that my tomorrow self will probably hate, but longer-term-future-self will love: I biked to work! I hope my muscles are not too sore tomorrow because I am doing it again!　じゃ、今日は自転車で出勤した！明日の私はこのことあまり好きじゃないけど。。。筋肉のせいで！　でも、未来の私は多分体がいいので喜んでいいる。どうだろう。

I even washed the bike yesterday...and then rode it in the rain today...sigh　昨日、ちゃんと自転車を洗った。今日は雨。。。ちょっと残念！

Luckily I have rain gear (currently drying out in my office for the ride home tonight...)　　いいのは雨着（あまぎ）を持って、今日ちゃんと着ました。帰りも使いますね！

Friday night flamenco 金曜日にフラメンコ

Friday night was full of flamenco and fun...we had some great food...　金曜日にフラメンコを見に行った。まずはいいものを食べて。。。

。。。それで会場に行って。。。then headed to the venue...

。。。それでマンデラさんへの賛辞（さんじ）のイベントだった。It was a flamenco tribute to Nelson Mandela--absolutely amazing...

I couldn't take pictures in the performance but these are some from a media report on the show. The costumes were colorful and the dancing really intense. A great evening! 演技中はやっぱり撮影禁止けど、新聞の写真を借りている。とても印象的だった！

Evening in Vancouver バンクーバーの一夜

今夜はとても美味しい日本料理をバンクーバーで食べた。お刺身のサラダと揚げだし豆腐。 I had a great evening in Vancouver with a friend. We had fabulous Japanese food--I had agedashi tofu and a sashimi salad.

 友達はラーメンを注文。　She had sesame base ramen.

 氷っていたぶどうもおまけで出た。　We even got frozen grapes with the bill.

それですごいお散歩した。美味しいジェラートを並んでからいただいた。抹茶とゴマ味。美味しかった！And after a long walk around the city, we queued up for world-class gelato. Piggy had green tea and black sesame. Good thing I hit the gym today!

このベラー・ジェラテリアというところは有名だって。知らなかったけど味でなんとなく分かる。 Apparently this place has won all sorts of international awards--I will have to try other flavours next time!

A happy day....ハッピーだ！

Happy Birthday to two of my favourite people...sending you smiles and birthday hugs across the miles...and wishing you CAKE (lots of cake!) 　今日はすばらしい二人の誕生日です！おめでとう！

Sheep！ 羊！

A bit of a cute smile for the day: I saw these in a gourmet food store the other day. I desperately wanted to bring them all home!　最近、この可愛いものを見つけた。すべて持って帰りたかったけど我慢した！

Average Italian...夕飯はまあまあ。。。

We went out for Italian food tonight. The place came highly recommended so we had high hopes. Unfortunately it was unremarkable. Too bad...we won't be back...今夜はイタリア料理の外食。Lの友達のお勧めなので期待していた。残念ながらまあまあだった。

見た目はいいけど味はちょっと。。。It looked good, but it really wasn't...

Yurting...ユルトの週末

We spent a wonderfully relaxing weekend in Washington sleeping in a yurt and playing on the beach. We should have taken more photos, but we were having too much fun just relaxing and enjoying being out in nature. 週末はワシントン州にあるユルトに泊まっていた。ユルトはモンゴルのもので、テントとキャビンの間のものです。とても丈夫なテントみたい。海岸で結構遊んだけど写真あまり撮らなかった。

My Friday song!! 金曜日の歌

How fun is this song???　この歌、すごくない？


And the English version is great, too...英語も！

Cleaned the office...オフィスがきれいになった

I guess I am having trouble getting to work in the new position. I did a whole lot of little stuff today. Hopefully it got my mind in the right place. My biggest achievement--tidying all my paperwork and sorting out my office. What do you think? Oh right...no windows...I guess less distractions are better anyway!　新しい仕事がまだ把握できない。今日はオフィスをきれいにした。明日から仕事をメインにします！

New job!! 仕事決まった！

I applied for a new position within the same organization and same team that I currently work for. And I got the job! It is quite a lot of change in terms of daily work, but at least I already know the people and the project, so that helps! Onward and upward!　　新しい仕事、今日決まった！同じ団体で、同じプロジェクトだけど、新しい仕事。どうなるかな。。。がんばります！

Homemade pizza...手作りピザー

We had homemade pizza on the weekend...very cool...we split it into three and put different toppings on each section...週末に手作りピザーを作った。三つに分けて、違うトッピングを三つにかけた。。。

And I even had the leftovers for lunch today...大きかったので残り物はランチにした。

My song of the week...今週の歌

Because I seem to travel so much, this song really resonates...よくあっちこっちに行って来ているのでこの歌が気に入っている。飛行機に乗っているときによく聞く。


"Transcendental Reunion"

  From 20,000 feet

I saw the lights below me
Twinkling just like Christmas
We descended slowly

And the curve of the world passed
With all of that flying
Above the mighty ocean
And now we all are arriving

Grab the carry on baggage
Join the herd for the mad run
Take a place in the long line
Where does every one come from?

As we shuffle on forward
As we wait for inspection
Don’t be holding that line up
At the end lies redemption
Oh Oh, Hey Hey, Ah Ah

Now I’m stamped and I’m waved through
I take up my position
At the mouth of the cannon
Saying prayers of contrition

Please deliver my suitcase
From all mischief and peril
Now the sight of it circling
Is a hymn to the faithful

Forgive me for my staring, for my unconcealed envy
In the Hall of Arrivals where the great river empties

It’s hand carts and porters
All the people it carries
To be greeted with flowers
Grandfathers and babies
Oh Oh, Hey Hey, Ah Ah

There is no one to meet me
Yet I’m all but surrounded
By the tears and embracing
By the joy unbounded

The friends and relations
Leaping over hemispheres
Transcendental reunion
All borders vanish here

We are travelers traveling
We are gypsies together
We’re philosophers gathering
We are business or pleasure

We are going or coming
We’re just finding our way
To the next destination
And from night into day
Oh Oh, Hey Hey, Ah Ah,
Oh Oh, Hey Hey, Ah Ah

In a giant bird’s belly
I flew over the ocean
From 20,000 feet high
How those lights were glowing

母の日 Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day in South Africa, Japan, and North America, but NOT in the UK. My mom gets two days a year (actually, she deserves 365 special days a year...)  Love you, mom! 今日は母の日です。イギリスの母の日は3月にあるけどママには二回の母の日はいいかも（2日間でも足りないかも）。

L made a delightful brunch today...the starters were fruit and salad...Lは今日、ブランチを作ってくれた！最初はフルーツとサラダ。

Then we had eggs benedict...　次はエッグ・ベネディクト

 And finally, fruit and chocolate brownies and whipped cream (with coffee on the side)! Yum! 最後はフルーツ、クリームとブラウニー。カロリーは怖いけど美味しかった！

Chickens! 鶏！

In Oregon this week there were chickens...not just a couple...　先週、オレゴン州の泊まっていたうちに、鶏がいた。

There are actually four...鶏になれていない私はこの四羽にすごい興味あった。

And one of the highlights of chickens is this...fresh eggs every day...毎日卵をとりに行くのは私の責任になって、うれしかった！

Thanks, chickens!  洗ってから、いただきまーーーす！