| 7/30-8/7 |
Japan Trip #2 for this year
 Arima
Onsen street |
| 8/8 |
[Mu host family in Kansas coming to Detroit ~
8/15]
Woke up at 5:00am, the outside was still a bit
dark but I think I had enough sleep for now. Stretched my body, then called
my friends coming to Detroit today. It looks like it's going to rain a lot
today. Drove to LTF for working out for 30 minutes, then come home. Had
lunch then drove to the airport under hard rain. I grabbed water bottles,
foldable cooler box, My car could not get good tractions if I drive faster
than 60mph so it took a while. Used a short term parking, and waited for my
friends to come out from the terminal. I got so sleepy so I had to buy a
bottle of iced tea.
Their plane came to Detroit on time, took them to shuttle bus for the rental
car. I drove home and relaxed for a while. Called home in the evening to
talk with my dad before have dinner with friends at a Japanese restaurant
called Sushi Den. They liked the meals (and I liked the price). Come home
around 10:00pm. Went to bed around 10:30pm.
 In
the morning, before heavy rain starts |
| 8/9 |
Woke up around 2:30am once, then around 4:00am,
this time due to a thunderstorm passing nearby. Another wave of storm came
after 7:30am. I guess it's going to be like this whole morning.
Went for a run in the morning a bit then drive back home. It was already hot
so I sweat a lot. Took a quick
shower and headed to meet my friends. We headed to a Detroit Tigers game at
Comerica Park in down town. They won the game and we all left happy. I get
dropped off at the hotel my friends are staying, came home around 5:00pm, drive to the office to do catch up work, and stayed
until 9:30pm. The outside was raining, drove to Meijer for groceries, and
drive back home around 10:00pm. Went to bed around 11:30pm. It was such a
hot day, daily high of 92F was a tie with the record.
Tiger statue at Comerica Park |
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| 8/10 |
[M6.5 earthquake hit Shizuoka area of Japan,
cutting a part of Tomei Highway during Japanese holiday period]
Woke up around 4:00am once, and tried to go back
to sleep and gave up around 5:00am since storm start to come, and they are
very much gone by 6:30am. Left to work on time and stayed until 6:30pm.
Drove home straight since I felt really sleepy. Had dinner and brushed my
teeth. Then I don't remember a thing until 11:00pm when I got up. I must
have fallen sleep. I went to bed after that. |
| 8/11 |
Woke up at 5:00am but fell back sleep and woke
up again at 6:00am when alarm goes off. I called my dad in the morning to
make sure everything is okay after earthquake and typhoon. He told me he
felt the jolt, but nothing serious, and did not rain much. Went to work and
stayed until 7:00pm, of course I played softball after 5:30pm as scheduled.
Drive home, and cooked meal before going to bed around midnight. There were
some storms around the town in the afternoon to evening.
 Stormy
clouds seen far way. |
| 8/12 |
Woke up at 6:00am, and stayed in bed for another
30 minutes. Drove to work, still trying to figure out if the speed limit
increased from 40mph to 45mph for the most of the way on Beck road. Stayed
until 7:15pm and drove to LTF for a short workout. Drive back home and
washed dishes and did other errands. Went to bed around 11:30pm. I tried to
get more sleep since I was quite sleepy while I was at a meeting today... |
| 8/13 |
[Les Paul, who is famous for his contributions
on electric guitars, died at age 94]
Woke up at 6:00am, still need another 30 minutes
to get up. Drove to work under sunny weather. Stayed at office until 6:30pm.
Drove to LTF and come home. I was quite sleepy again so I decided to go bed
early but since I started to read books, I ended up going to bed around
midnight. |
| 8/14 |
[A 90 years old Kenyan elementary school student
(Guinness's oldest student) has died, 2 more years left before graduation.
Kenya is offering free education since 2003....]
Woke up at 6:30am, had to stop by at a bank in
the morning before going to work. Went to eat ramen noodle at a Japanese
restaurant. My friends came to the office earlier so I left work a few
minutes before the end of the shift. Drove to a restaurant to order food for
dinner, and met up at a hotel after they checked in. We went to Kensington
Park together and had dinner by the lake, it was quiet and nice. I did not
see much people around either. I got some practices on softball. Because
they used to coach for little league, I got the basics done. I wonder if my
dad taught me about those when I was young. Anyway, dropped them off at the
hotel, and I drove back home. I wanted to go bed early because I still plan
to meet them at the airport tomorrow, but once I start to read a book...
never mind... I went to bed after midnight. |
| 8/15 |
Woke up around 6:30am, went to workout at LTF in
the morning before heading to the airport to meet up with my friends. Made
sure they checked in okay and passed the security, then I drove to a music
store to grab a note, and also stopped by at a Honda dealer to test drive a
2010 Insight. It was almost like my car right now, but a little swifter.
Maybe because of the narrower tires, or the lighter body. It was not bad at
all, I did not mind the split rear window or the poor power. It was
something I should consider buying. Spent afternoon at the office, reading
newspapers, practice my sax, then headed home in the evening. I had to
update my blog so bad so I spent very much entire evening for that. I called
my grandma and dad in the evening, then went to bed, but again, I was
reading a book so I fell sleep after 1:00am. |
| 8/16 |
Woke up at 6:00am but stayed in the bed until
7:30am. Stretched my body and headed to a park to run. It's been a while
since the last time I was having a little hard time keeping the pace, but I
caught up in the later section. It started as a dead wind day so I was
feeling the heat but concessionary breeze gave me some break. Drove back
home, had a lunch and tried to take a nap. I felt a bit funny but did not
know until the sky gets dark, then a short storm came around 1:30pm. After a
nap, I cleaned my room then again another storm popped up and gave a good 20
minutes rain. It was all over by 4:00pm. I drove out to go buy groceries,
and I was hit by a rain for a bit but only sprinkles. Stopped by at One
World Market, Best Buy and Meijer before coming back home. Cooked spaghetti
for the dinner. Evening was a little bit cooler but still makes me sweat if
I move around. Went to bed by 11:00pm. |
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| 8/17 |
It was a bit hot over the night so I woke up
once around 3:00am, then at 6:00am. Expecting some heavy rains over today
and tomorrow. Drove to work, and waited for rain but did not get much.
signed up for lunch with departing teammate tomorrow, and very much stayed
until 9:00pm. Just few drops as I drive home, relaxed and went to bed after
11:30pm. I was talking with my coworkers, and finally can believe yesterday
was really hot. It was 92F, the record was 94F so I guess so...? |
| 8/18 |
[S. Korea's Kim Dae-jung who conducted Sunshine
Policy against N. Korea has died]
Woke up 5 minutes before 6:00am, the outside
looks dark, maybe because of the cloudy weather. Drove to the office and
stayed. Stepped out from the office for lunch. One of our coworkers is
moving to different office so it was a kind of farewell party. Stayed until
8:40pm and drove off to LTF. Surprised to see the locker rooms were
switched, so I was about go in to the women's... Come home, relaxed a bit
then went to bed around 11:00pm. |
| 8/19 |
Clear sky and much cooler morning. I stayed in
bed until 7:30am... Went to work and stayed until 9:30pm. I brought my lunch
but did not bring my dinner so I drove to Jimmy John's for the dinner. Drove
home and it was just about to get some rain. There were a couple of police
cars on the way home. I had to check my laptop PC for an issue, so I had to
stay up until midnight to finish scanning... |
| 8/20 |
Woke up at 6:00am, the outside was dark due to
cloudy sky. I have been told it's going to get rainy for the last couple of
days but I have not seen much. The PC was done with scanning over the night
but did not fix the issue... Drove to work and stayed until ?pm. I checked
the FedEx and I can see my new PC is about to be delivered, but since I was
not at home, the package was returned to the facility... I guess I have to
pick it up tomorrow after work. Left office at 8:15pm after talking with
Japan office and drove to LTF for workout. Drove home and had dinner.
Ordered a couple of items for the new PC on newegg.com. Went to bed around
11:00pm. |
| 8/21 |
Woke up 5 minutes before 6:00am. The sunrise
these days is after 6:30am so it is getting harder to wake up. Saw a family
of swans feeding themselves in the pond by the apartment. Drove to work,
and stepped outside for lunch with coworkers. It's a
sunny and breezy day. Had to go back home once to get my laptop PC. Left
office at 5:30pm and drove to a coworker's house for a BBQ party. It was
rained for a bit but not much. It was gone within half hour. Stayed until
12:30am, then drove back home. Went to bed around 1:00am. It was a fun one,
I get to know all the good times of coworkers back in Japan. |
| 8/22 |
Woke up at 7:00am, I am glad I turned the alarm
clock off to get extra sleep. I was able to go run until noon for 12 miles.
The weather was very much cloudy and the wind was a bit chilly as I was
running at Kensington Park. Drove to One World Market around 3:00pm to buy
some Japanese snacks, then drive to the office to work on extra stuffs so I
don't have to carry over to the next week. Left office around 6:00pma and
come home, had dinner and spent evening watching movies. Went to bed at
midnight after talking with my dad on the phone.
 New
Laptop PC, Toshiba L300-EZ1523 |
| 8/23 |
Woke up at 6:00am, off to air show at 8:00am. I
stopped by at a grocery store, where they are just getting the Sunday paper.
I grabbed a copy and headed to Selfridge ANGB. A part of I-696 was closed to
I had to get off the freeway and took a detour. I was there by 10:00am. The
show started at 11:00am but due to low ceiling they could not perform much
of the show except flying very low. Rain started around noon, and I gave up
to stay at 1:00pm. It took me 1.5 hours to just get on the freeway back to
Detroit. Drove to LTF for a short workout, then arrive to the office with a
meal from Arby's in hand. I had to stay until 8:30pm, then drive home but
stopping by at a grocery store. Cooked meals until 11:00pm for the week, and
went to bed after midnight. I felt a bit chilly, is it already fall
approaching?
 An
F-18 used by NASA.(Click
here for more pictures) |
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| 8/24 |
Woke up at 6:00am, looks like the temperature
dropped to near 50F in the morning. Drove to work, saw a car wreck on Beck
Rd. I saw another one while I was driving on 8 Miles to the office.
I had to stay at office until 8:45pm. Drove home instead of going to LTF for
workout. Stayed up until midnight and went to bed. |
| 8/25 |
[S. Korea launched its first rocket KSLV-I into
space, partially successful the news reports.]
Woke up at 6:00am, it was in mid 50s in
the morning. Drove to work and stayed until 5:30pm then
stepped outside for a while to play softball. Drove back to work and stayed
until 8:45pm again. Worked out for 30 minutes at LTF then headed home. I
cooked a couple of dishes, and had dinner. Finally went to bed after
midnight. |
| 8/26 |
[U.S. senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy died
yesterday at age of 77]
Woke up at 6:00am but stayed in bed until
7:00am. Looks like it's been raining a while. Had to wash dishes and
left apartment for work. I brought two meals, and stayed
until 10:20pm at office due to meetings. Drove home and talked to a good
friend of mine from school. Stayed up until midnight. |
| 8/27 |
Woke up at 6:00am but same as yesterday, stayed
in bed until 7:00am. The sky had funny colored clouds due to morning sun, I
guess it's going to rain soon. Drove to work and stayed until 8:20pm. Left
to go to LTF for workout, and come home. Went to bed after midnight.
 In the
morning. Funny colored clouds. It's going to get rainy soon... |
| 8/28 |
[Space shuttle Discovery launched just before
midnight for ISS mission]
Woke up at 6:00am but stayed in bed again until
7:00am. Working too much, I guess. Went to work and stayed until 7:00pm.
Went to Aji Ten for lunch with coworkers. Drove to LTF after work, raining
when I come out, and drove under rain. It was still before 8:00pm so I
stopped by at One World Market to buy some groceries. Come home, watched a
movie and then went to bed around 11:00pm after confirming the plan for
tomorrow with my friend. I have to get up early. |
| 8/29 |
 Breezy
and cool day, just like fall has arrived.
Woke up at 5:00am, left home before 6:00am to
take my friends to the airport. I come home around 7:30am then headed to
Kensington Park for a jog. I ran 14 miles today. There are TNT folks in
purple wears gathering. They must have been working on theirs. Come home,
thought about just go to the office but decided to get haircut since my hair
is getting too long. Drove to the office after that, and drove home around
6:00pm. The east bound for I-96 was totally packed at Beck and car are
exiting from the lamp. It was windy and cloudy day. Spent evening relaxing
at home. Went to bed around 11:00pm. |
| 8/30 |
[Japanese upper house election resulted in the
switch of power from LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) to DPJ (Democratic
Party of Japan)]
Woke up at 6:00am, 53F, not below 50F as
expected on the news. Went out in the morning for workout, including
swimming. Spent afternoon at home, (finally) putting my new PC to the desk.
I still need to work on transferring the files. As usual, evening was my
cooking time, I did not make one dish right so I have to manage through the
week... Going to bed around 11:00pm.
asahi.com shows now DPJ (in blue) has more than 2/3 of the 480 seats |
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| 8/31 |
[Joined Facebook.com]
Woke up at 6:00am, kinda dark out these days
since the sunrise is around 7:00am. Saw the temperature dropped to 46F in
the morning. Went to work and stayed until 8:30pm. Drove to LTF for workout
and come home. I saw a couple of police cars along grand river so I just
drove nicely. Went to bed around 11:30pm. |