As long as smiles exist

I got back from Ishinomaki-shi
earlier tonight.

I can’t write everything
that I am feeling now but
I am very very glad I went.

I don’t know what
I was able to do for the people there,
and whatever it was that I did,
I know it’s not as direct as
shoveling out mud from the houses or
building　a temporary shelters.

But, I did get to meet people directly and
was able to see people smiling
and heard people telling me to come back again
to see them again.

I heard people telling me that
they don’t know what to do
but I never ever heard people
saying

`I give up.`

***************************

So many people with warm heart.
So many people with great smile.
It may take a while but
I know you can do it.

We can do it.

If you are interested in
the volunteer activity I participated,
here is the link.

http://road-nf.typepad.jp/michi/

off I go…

From tomorrow until the 19th,

I will be in Ishinomaki-shi.

I’m going to go

to keep my promise.

The promise I made to myself

when that earthquake happened.

the wind tells

It’s been a week since the last time

I updated my blog,

I guess I have been quite busy?

I guess so.

I’ve been thinking about many things lately

but I am feeling pretty positive.

I feel like I can do it.

Do what?

I don’t know yet

but I just feel like I can do IT.

Happy mother’s day, mom.

Love you always.

For the mother’s day dinner,

of course we took her out to our

favorite restaurant, Capriccio.

Mmmmhmmm..

hamburger challenge

Here comes my favorite month of the year.

Here comes the day

I have been waiting for too….

***************************************

At 9:30 AM,

my sister Akiko and I left home

to walk to Shibuya,

which is about 2.5H walk.

(After the long long walk,

hawaiian hamburger awaits us!)

By the way, for some reasons,

when Akiko and I plan to do something,

the mother nature likes to test our strength,

so it seems.

(…like the blizzard in NY.)

Today, as we were walking,

we constantly had to fight against

ridiculous wind

but we managed to walk all the way to Shibuya

and then went to KUA AINA

and had a huge burger and fries.

It was rather embarrassing walking around Shibuya

with messy hair (from the wind),

parka and sweatpants

but oh well,

who cares.

Akiko had errands to run in the area

so she couldn’t walk back with me

but I decided to do it alone.

Did I give up half way?

No way.

I made it.

 About 12 miles walk and

now my legs are sore but I am satisfied.

Where should be our next destination?

A little closer

I’m wondering if it is good
to write this on my blog or not….

But since today was
kind of an important day for me in that
I actually took an action
rather than just writing my thoughts on this blog,
I think I will keep this post as my record.

*******************************

I went to a flea market today.

Not to shop
but
to have a booth there.

I had been planning on this
since that week of massive earthquakes.

I was looking for a way to help
but the situation was too much of a chaos
that the sites were not ready to
accept volunteers or goods.

Instead, what we were encouraged to do
was to donate money.
But then,
sadly and embarrassingly
I didn’t have much
I could donate.

I felt useless.

So I started to think of other ways to be a little help.

I remembered how much I used to enjoy
having a booth at a flea market
so I decided that I would raise money
by selling what I have.

That way, I could recycle and raise money at the same time.

Perfect!
*******************************

Thanks to my family
who has also donated things for me to sell,
thanks to Mr. and Mrs.Morita
who have given me a ride to the flea market…

I sold most of what I’d taken with me
and raised about

14245 yen (about 175 USD)

I will donate the money to

あしなが育英会

hoping that the lives of children
who’ve lost their parent(s)
will be brighter in the future.

As much as I wanted to help people
who were and are devastated,
much of the motivation came from
my own self-hatred as well.

I wanted to cleanse my mind and soul.

…I want to see how I would feel
after I actually send the money
to the donation fund.

See?
After all,
I’m such a *me, me* person!

Oh boy

….but

Oh well.

come here…

It already smelled like

the beginning of summer today.

Sunshine,

bicycle,

gelato,

cherry blossom petals in the air,

straw hat.

❤

Before saying goodnight…

I’m watching a movie that was filmed in the 70s
(『幸福の黄色いハンカチ』）

Watching this film makes me miss traveling
and it also makes me want
to have my hair in ponytail.

(2 items added to my to-do list)

Anyways, it’s a beautiful film.

Tonight’s goal:
Go to bed before midnight.

Tomorrow’s rule:
wake up at 7:00.
(Oh I know that isn’t that early…but it is for me.)

through a tunnel

It’s Monday

and it’s sunny,

I’ve completed all my work over the weekend (phew!)

and I have all the time for myself.

Happy happy.

Mom and I went on a

petite cycling trip in a park.

Ready to cycle through

a cherry blossom tunnel?

‘Everything will be alright’

cherry blossoms make me feel that way.

I love cherry blossoms

when they are a little bit past its

full bloom.

Spring is short.

I will try to inhale as much spring as possible.

Spring is everywhere!

Love.

powdery pink

A cloudy day.

You can barely tell

where the border of

the sky

and the blossoms is.

Tokyo Black (porter)

pretty good beer.

Maybe the thickest beer I’ve had

since I got back from the States.

I love swan boat…

It was a better exercise than I thought, though.

(…but I love it!)

When was the last time

I saw cherry blossoms in Japan?

****************

When the wind blows

and when the petals float in the air,

it makes me want to cry.

I’d forgotten that feeling.

Now, I remember it again.

**********************************

I’m very glad

I went out to witness

the beginning of spring.

I know I still have a lot of work to do…

But a little break is alright, right?

Yes.

plum trees

Sweet little things….