Rolee Trip - Day 4 - Ikaho Adventure

First on the list of activities was to go to Ikaho in Gunma. It was actually an adventure for me since I haven't been to Ikaho by public transport. The first time I went there was with a friend and we used his car to drive around Ikaho and Mt. Haruna. So this will be a challenge for me, for my Japanese speaking abilities and my sense of direction. Nevertheless, it is quite thrilling for an adventure. The idea was to visit Ikaho hotsprings and then see the Trick Art Museum. But again, we run out of time so we weren't able to go to the museum. Maybe next time.

Rolee Trip - Day 3

Actually, this is supposed to be Day 4 already since I went back home to get some things back at my place and to get that needed sleep and rest. I met Rolee and his friends at Ueno as they will be staying at my place before we head for Kyoto and Osaka. Unfortunately or fortunately though, I met them a bit quite late than expected so I end up walking around Tokyo. I guess it is also a nice opportunity to walk around.

Rolee Trip - Day 2 Part 3

Outside VenusFront is a permanent car show. I forgot the name of the place but they definitely have nice cars. For this time I didn't took much pictures as I am running low on bat. But last December, I was able to take some pictures around the area.

Rolee Trip - Day 2 Part 2

After numerous shots the group finally decided to head for Odaiba. We planned to take the train headed for Shimbashi, but since the subway station is near Shinjuku Gyoen, we went for a little while to look around. Spring has begun during this time and so you'd see people mingling around Sakura trees.

My legs are starting to worn out and I can feel that I can't take another more step. But the tour must go on. After all, one who likes to travel shouldn't be getting tired of walking. Since we are almost running out of time as it would be dark soon, we better be going to Odaiba if we would like to see as many sites in Odaiba as possible.

One of the most interesting place at Odaiba is VenusFort. Once inside, it is like you are walking along an old street in Europe. I know the concept is not really original here as I know I've seen a picture of one before taken somewhere else.

Rolee Trip - Day 2

The previous night was very tiring after that long walk around Roppongi. Nevertheless it's a bit fun knowing that it will be quite sometime (or never) before I could experience something like this again. . Anyways, today we went to Odaiba but before that we passed by Shinjuku and TMG Grounds.

What I liked about TMG grounds are the numerous sculpture depicting the female form. I remember that back in schooldays, I used to draw female figures, nude at that. Sometimes depecting woman from the tribes.

This one sculpture is really amazing. The first time I saw this back in July last year, I remember right away the UP Oblation. I guess you could call this the UP Oblation "female version".

Rolee Trip - Day 1

Just came from a very very tiring week, but FUN at that! I've got some friends working in Singapore who flew in to Japan for a one week's stay. They arrived last March 10 and stayed until March 18. It was actually fun being around them and doing all those trips.

First day upon their arrival we are already scouring the city. First stop was the ever crowded Shibuya. It was a Saturday night and so as expected much more people are in the streets.

<-- THE SHOT

Around 15mins ride by train and we are in the ever famous, brightly litted Tokyo Tower. The orangey color of the tower looks magnificent in a clear night. Though the scenery in the morning is also spectacular by just admiring the towering height of Tokyo Tower. One must have a picture of the tower in the morning and at night to appreciate more the beauty of this man-made structure. Too bad there are some rumors that they plan to dismantle this and build a much bigger tower.

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS If one is in Roppongi already, try visiting Roppongi Hills with all the magnificent buildings around. This one has the view of the tower in the background. Warning though, you must be wearing a very tough pair of shoes for the walking.

なんと週か! (What a week!)

Finally, "my" spring break is here! After two weeks of seating for that intensive class and doing those brain wrecking problems I can now say that I have survived "Advanced Programming". Whew! It is actually fun rather than a torture for me (I just don't know how the others sees it) but then again I just feel like my stomach is turning upside down and me becoming nauseous at times if I can't make the program work. But everything paved off, I'm just glad I am done with it.

Five lessons learned from the Five People You meet in Heaven

Getting back to school as a fulltime student gave me a chance to get hold of that precious time to start reading again. With all the busy schedules one has to endure just to keep at pace with work, I can't even bother to lift a book not related to the things I am teaching. The last time I finished some readings was way back in college and that was so long ago. And now I finally got the chance.

For this month I was able to finished two books (have to stop for about a week or two to finish some reports for school), though I have read each book in one sitting. Both were written by Mitch Albom, "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People you meet in Heaven". I have wanted to read Tuesdays with Morrie but as I have said, I was tied up to work.

For now I would like to share some lessons learned from the second book that I have read - The Five People you meet in Heaven. The story was about life, death and more importantly about relationships. But it was not just about relationships, quoting one of the texts "No life is a waste. The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone."

Lesson one - We are all connected

It's been said a hundred times that "No man is an Island". We may not know everyone but there is something that binds us all together. The things we do affects others directly or indirectly. I quote "the human spirits knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed."

What we must do is to learn to connect with people. Appreciate people we don't know as much as the ones we do know. "Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know."

Lesson two - Sacrifice

Sacrifice I think is one of the hardest things to do. It is the one thing that usually engulfs us with fear, anxiety and regret. But "sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to."

Being able to sacrifice for the good of others is the greatest gift you could give even if it means losing your life to save another. "When you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."

Lesson three - Learn to forgive

People always think that forgiving is an act of cowardliness that's why a lot of us have a hard time forgiving, including me. But learning to forgive is one courageous act. It is the anger that makes us not forgive. But "no one is born with anger. And when we die, the soul is freed of it." "Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside." It haunts you till your last breath. "Hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves." It is we that are affected by our anger, our hatred.

But if we learn to forgive and let go of those anger and hatred, we are not only at peace to the people we hated before but most specially to ourselves.

Lesson four - Remembering love

With love we can do anything and everything. Anyone that is in love will say that it is the happiest moment of their lives. But as one goes and leaves one behind, love mustn’t go as well. "Life has to end. Love doesn't." People left behind must continue to love and much more nourish love, for it is the one thing that could make us remember the people who have touched our hearts and our lives. "Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, that's all."

Lesson five - Acceptance

The last lesson I believe is vague and is for us to comprehend, but for me I think it is "acceptance". One must accept one's capabilities and limitations, the realities of life. For by learning to accept, one will not have feelings of envy, anger, or hatred. One will be at peace.

"I was sad because I didn't do anything with my life. I was nothing. I accomplished nothing. I was lost. I felt like I wasn't supposed to be there."

Looking back at the things you failed to do and not learning to accept that we no longer have the capacity to do or undo so will leave us in conflict with our selves. Getting angry at the thoughts will imprison us in that moment. Denying us the capacity to move on and do well.

NOTE: Text in Italics are quoted from "The Five People You meet in Heaven".

FREEZING Cold!

Yup it is. Freezing cold out here but still, there are no SNOOWWW!

Chocolate dance

Talk about ones ingenuity specially during Christmas parties where one is supposed to present something for everyone. We did a dance performance and it turned out to be a success though we only did rehearse the choreography an hour before the party. See and watch and yes you can dance along too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUGdZ8ldIok