to thailand to see our grand daughter -3-

If  I didn't stay such a nice hotel in Thailand, I wouldn't have tried to eat Thai foods.
There are many kinds of fruits in Thailand, I know. But I was always afraid if they were all right for my stomach. So staying such a hotel brought me a wonderful experience.  For breakfast buffet, I could eat lots of fruits and fruits juice little by little.
If I stayed in this hotel for more than a week ( not two weeks), I wouldn't tired of breakfast buffet.



While M and Ah-chan were seeing a doctor, we went to a big mall to get some souvenir.
As a result it was the only chance to spend much time selecting them.
If M were fine, we would have gone to some famous spots. I prefer shopping time at a supermarket to sight seeing for this short trip.

Then M and Ah-chan came to our hotel. And went out to have lunch.
On the day, we had a driver.  Our son Youichi in-law usually commute by a company's car and he has an exclusive chauffeur. His name is Mr. Dung. He was a driver.
Well, in Thailand (or probably Asian countries) Japanese businessmen commute in such way. Yuki said that usually Japanese businessmen were prohibited to drive a car by themselves. How Youichi went to his office on the day? By train and "long" walk.

We had Japanese noodle for our lunch.
It is also well known that Japanese food is very delicious. So we tried. This Japanese noodle shop was recommended by Yuki's friends who often to Thailand on business trip.
--- well, well, M doesn't like soba noodle very much, so she had never been there, even though Youici had wanted. When we told him about this shop, he was really surprised and disappointed. This restaurant was very famous, and it was one of restaurants he wanted to go.



Then we went to another big mall. It was famous for a good place to take photos.
We wanted to take good pictures with Ah-chan.
However she got really grown-up. When we tried to take photos, she made a strange face. Damn!
Then we went back to M's house.

I'm thinking about "chauffeur".
I think here in Japan we don't have differences among individuals, and probably not so big rich-poor gap. (or I don't notice such things.)
However here in Thailand, M found naturally them or were told them. So M try to communicate with a chauffeur, or security guards of their condominium, not to be too much friendly, not to be too much arrogant. Ah-cahn probably learnt them naturally.

To Thailand to see our granddaughter -2-

About 3PM, we arrived in Thailand.
A tour staff picked us up at the airport, so we went to our hotel directly.
There welcome drink was served.




In conclusion, staying hotel was a good choice.
And the hotel we stayed was very good.

Unfortunately our daughter M caught the flu, not staying with them was good for everyone.
For me, it was really difficult to accept local Thai meals, but at the hotel they serve some popular Thai meal for breakfast at buffet style. So I really enjoyed Thai meals.
And "we" also enjoyed the hotel life without looking for anyone and anything.

Well, let's go back to the first day activity.
As soon as we arrived in the hotel, we headed to M's house.
We didn't know when Ah-chan would catch the flu. If she caught the flu, we wouldn't have spent together the next day. (I hope this sentence makes sense. What I wanted to say is that on the day she was still fine, but  we didn't know what would happen to her the next day.)
And we wanted to give presents we bought.
M said that they could call a taxi at the hotel. So we went there by taxi. It cost 100 baht.

Though ah-chan was coughing, they were fine.
M served coffee.
It was very good. I knew that Thai coffee was very famous.
Did you know it? I bought Doi Tung coffee beans.

's

I thought that Thai products would be inexpensive or cheap. It was wrong. There are many  products with good quality, and with the same price as Japanese ones. Fortunately they are not so expensive.
This bag of coffee costs about 700 yen.


Well, after a short visit, we had to go back to our hotel.

How?
M caught "Sh-low". I searched this word in English. But I didn't find it.
It is not tuk-tuk. Tuk-tuk has three tires, but "sh-low" has four tires and it is a truck.
"sh-low" runs in residential areas, and doesn't go so far. Usually local people especially foreign wives whos husbands work in Bang Kong like M 's family.
It seems to be  a little bit difficult to "hail" one on the street, and of course they are caught only on the street.


Where am I?

According to M, the price is different depends on the area. Around this area, it costs 20 baht to the nearest station, so total it cost 40 baht.  it took 10 minute.We don't need to pay any tips.

We were really surprised to M's behavior. She got very strong, and seemed to get used to Thai local lives. We were very proud of her. On the other hand "I" was little sad that she was independent from "me".

We took BTS (train) to the nearest station to our hotel. It cost 26 bath. it took 10 minutes.
On the way to the hotel, we had dinner --- at a Mexican restaurant along the street.
Because. it is said in the restaurant where there are Western foreigners,  you never get the runs.
And also said  it is of course all right to eat anything in Japanese restaurants.
We found this Japanese noodle shop. Yuki likes this one, But I don't like this type even we are in Japan.

When we got to our room, we took a bath.
There were shower and bath sink. In both of them there are two tubes.
One is usual tube, and the one is ???? Probably it is for bauble water. Is it right?

It was a nice hotel, but anyway we were in Thailand.
So though it is all right, usually we don't dispose  the  toilet paper.





Additionally, M said "be careful of having pet bottles."




Did you find the difference between Japanese one and Thai one?
The lid is thin. So water might spill from the bottle, if we put carelessly in the bag (it means the bottle lies)

To Thailand to see our granddaughter -1-

During our New Year's vacation, we decided that we should go to Thailand while Yuki was working (it means we enough income.)
In February it is the cheapest season to travel abroad in Japan.
And we can still afford to pay for the travel.
Coincidentally  Yuki found  a reasonable tour package.
Yuki and I are not used to traveling abroad by ourselves. So we booked a tour including a stay in a nice hotel but with no plans. You might think why we don't stay with our daughters' family.
If we stay there for more than one or two weeks, we will stay with them, but our plan was two-day and four-night trip, so we didn't want  bother them. ( I know they haven't organize a guest room yet, it means guest room is still  full of stuff which they brought from Japan in October, though there are two big beds.)

Well it was a short trip, but we had to take lots of things, Yuki thought we could go there with our own carry-on bags. No Way! We didn't need to take two big suitcases, but  at least one was necessary.

We needed a lot of cloths. Ah-chan's toy, and Ah-chan's Japanese stationery.
While we were waiting for the day, we prepared for our travel well, actually it took many days for preparing for it.

As I told you, I'm not used to traveling abroad.
So the day was approaching I got nervous. I had a toothache. So I went to see a dentist. I had a trouble on my fingers. So I went to see an osteopath.
Yuki was very busy to schedule his two days-off to travel.
Anyway the day was coming by.
And --- two days before our departure day, our younger daughter M caught the flu.
(I knew, Ah-chan had fever 4 days before our departure day, but it was not the flu. )
Now, or always (M says) , some people catch the flu in Bangkok. ( Later we really understood the situation, because the outside is very hot, but the inside is very cold by the perfect air conditioner so it is like Japanese winter.)

Here in Japan the flu is going around. We manage not to catch it by avoiding to talk with such people. Ironically we are going into the flu world all the way.Luckily we are going to stay in a hotel.

Our departure day comes.
We wake up at 3:50 and left here at 4:15. And got to Narita airport at 7:30. ( we parked our car in a private parking lot)
Our departure time was 9:35.

One year ago

I also write my diary in Japanese.
It has a feature to recall us our memory showing posted blogs.
This picture was taken one year ago.

Hiroko-san ( my mother ) and I went to a restaurant. We met at a station. It means that at that time she could come to the station alone  by bus.
Now she is really afraid to take a bus alone because of wobbling seriously.
So nowadays I usually go to her house and take her somewhere with me.

For only one year, she is getting older quickly than we expect.

Thanks to my elder daughter who has her own car, these days she often takes Hiroko-san to a big supermarket. So Hiroko-san enjoys shopping outside constantly and additionally my elder daughter saves money because, as you guess, Hiroko-san buys things she herself needs, and also buys what my elder daughter needs.

However, anyway it is sure that she is getting old. This photo makes me convinced. I'm sad, and I have to face to this true.

Happy Valentine's Day!

When a seasonal event comes, I always thank to my students. Thank to them we enjoy such an seasonal events.  Preparing for them is fun and troublesome.

We made cards.

 I bought some chocolate including ours, and shared them.

We enjoyed our breakfast with the chocolate this morning.

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a friendly cafe "karaku is!

Yesterday, it was the day of Karaku, it means I performed with my friend there.  We enjoyed early Valentine's Day with audience.

I started the concert with "my funny Valentine "
My dread recited some poems with my piano.
I played some love songs on the  piano.

And we presented some sweet while playing amazing  grace.

Then, some regular audience gave us sweet. So we shared them with all audience though we were in the cafe. What a friendly cafe it is!

Of course my friend and I enjoyed Karaku' sweet set as usual.

I had a really good time. 

A always thank to get such a chance. I!ve played here for about 25 years. 

I always play my foolish heart on the piano in this month.

Waking about 7000 stepsI

 Yesterday it was a holiday, but for us it was a usual weekday. Yuki went to work as usual. I had some lessons as usual. A different thing was the gym was closed. So I decided to do waking while doing some errands.
First I walked to a beautysalson my friends runs and of course had a hair cart while lots of talking.
Next I went to a confectionary store to buy chocorate for Valentine's Day. (Giving some chorale  for men is a Japanese costume.)  On the way I saw a friend, saw a neigor man who was 88. Both of them were doing walking.

I bought some chocorate there. I will take one to Karaku cafe to present it to the master.
(Today it is the day for me to perform at Karaku)

On the way home, I saw a neighbor manhwo runs a ramen restaurant. And I also saw a dentist who Yuki and I go to regurally.
Well, I thought I was going to drop by a convenience store and have coffee. However I missed the chance because constantly I saw someone. How many people do walking!
Anyway I walked more than 7000 steps.

Finally we have snow.

  though it is a sunny morning , there is snow over the ground a little.  Since yesterday!s afternoon we had have snow.
Yesterday in the morning I attended an event. Luckily Yuki's tennis lesson was canceled, so he was my chauffeur. I was gong to go there by bus, lucky me!
From the afternoon, snow started.  On the way home we finished our growasary shopping, and shit (oh, sorry I mistook the spelling, and I didn't know the meaning either.) shut ourselves in our house or  kept to our house. (Does it make sense?)

We had an inside BBQ、Yuki started drinking even though it was daytime.

 I cooked pre-cooked dishes for this week, and put 10 things away as usual.

We have snow this morning.

We are not going to go outside. But it seems to be a sunny day, so we are going to clean the rooms, and prepare for our trip to Thailand. 

a sprained finger or chip fracture finger?

This fall I had a chip fracture on my middle finger.
Recently a friend of mine had one.

They happened, when we fell down and landed on our hands unnaturally.
When we were young, we suffered a sprained finger.
However our finger muscle gets hard when we get old. So instead of a sprained finger, we tend to have a chip fracture finger.

When I suffered it, I thought I had a sprained finger. So I applied a cold compress on my finger.
Coincidently one of my friend suggested to go to orthopedic clinic, because it might be a chip fracture finger. I went to see a doctor, and as you guess I had a chip fracture finger. In this case a cold compress didn't work. I had my finger fixed with tape in a "correct" way. I learnt how to tape my finger.
One months later I went to see the doctor again, and we confirmed the bones connected. And I started rehabilitation. 6 months have passed, but I have still a strange feeling on my finger.

On the top of this blog, I wrote "my friend had one".
This time I suggested her to go to an "orthopedic clinic", and same thing happened.

Two types of exercises

I know that exercise is important.
I knew there are two types of exercise, one is to strengthen the muscle, the other is to soften the muscle.
However I didn't know  doing the same exercise, whether using tools or not the effect is different.

For example, while we are sitting on the chair, we can do some exercises.
Sit on a chair, your back not touching the backrest, raise your hands above your head, and lean back, this exercise strengthens your back muscle.
On the other hand when you  lean on the back of the chair applying your upper back or the bottom of your shoulder blade to the backrest, and do the same pose, this exercise relaxes your back bone.

After this exercise, you should do a reverse pose.
Sit  on the chair, legs open wide,  put your head down between your legs, close to the floor and look at your background from under the chair. Your back muscle and thigh muscle are strengthened. On the other hand when you do this pose holding the legs of the chair, your back muscle is relaxed.

Many elderly people have troubles with their knees. So many people try to do squat exercise.
Without holding anything, this exercise strengthens the knee muscle, but it may put an extra load on your back muscle.
On the other hand holding the back of the chair while squatting, this exercise relaxes your back muscle.

I learnt these things from a physical therapist at a manipulative clinic.
I hope you understand my English.

Yuki said "EXHAUSTED"!

This Monday, he took a day-off.
For me it was very lucky. Because usually on Mondays I have to do lots of errands, like going to banks, supermarkets, etc.
So I got a really good "chauffeur".
After breakfast, quick cleaning and hanging out the laundry, we went out about 9:45.
First we went to a bank.
Then we went to a electric store, this is "his" errand. While he was browsing the store (in his word researching), I went out in the next-door supermarket.
Then we went to the library, and went to a discount liquid shop ( this is also his errand.)
It was already lunch time.
So we had a lunch at a bakery café I wanted to go. It was not so bad!

 

 
Then, we went to a little bit expensive supermarket to get herb leaves.
Then we went to a department store to get some aroma oil.
Then we went to a usual supermarket to get Yuki's shirts. (This is his errand)
Then we went to UNIKURO clothing store to buy "our" clothes. (I bought a jacket for our trip to Thailand in the end of February)

And we came back home around 3:00.
He said "I was exhausted".
It was OK, but I still had to do some errands like tiding up the things we bought, and do some paper work.

However he helped the house chores, like taking in the laundry and doing the dishes.
On the day I made Chinese cabbage gratin. I forgot to take the picture!

OKAGURA (Japanese dance) at FUTAARA shrine

Last Monday I went to FUTAARA shrine in downtown. There are some toll parking lots. I didn't use one. For my health I took the trouble to park my car at free parking lot which is a little bit far from the shrine. It was not so a cold day, so I had a good walking time.

The dance at shrine is called OKAGURA. It is little bit different from NOU or KABUKI dance.
OKAGURA is performed at shrines, and dance for Japanese Gods.

 

I found a famous site of OKAGURA.

The Okagura which I saw was a very miner, and domestic. It was performed on a weekday, so not so many people saw it.
However I had a good time.