a view of sea

Today, I rode my bike along a sea coast. The tempertature was not comfortable, but the sea looked very beautiful and I enjoyed a good view of it. This picture shows a view of the sea at the most nothern part of Kyushu.

New York Ⅱ

The second day(Dec.22nd)

We woke up early morning (about 6am) and went to a bagel shop named "Pick a Bagel" that locates near the Carnegie Hall. We ate bagels and drunk small-size coffees, and shared a fruits cocktail. My bagel was one with cream cheese and vegetables, my wife's was one with cream cheese and salmon. These were very good, but I felt that this breakfast was a little bit expensive because the total cost was over 27 dollars.

When we came back our room, my wife began a preparation for "Jazzercize". So, she had a plan to take part in its class in NYC. She loves Jazzercize and had strongly wanted to exercise with folks in NYC. The class was to start at 9:30am at a studio of "Roy Arias Studios & Theaters" that is near the Times Square. On our way to the studio, I took several photos of the Times Square.

When we arrived at the studio, there were two women. One was that day's instructor named "Pam"and another was a participant. The instructor looked having good health, cheerful and positive. We greeted them with poor English.

The class started on time, but, surprisingly, the class were only four persons including my wife. The reason was why, we thought, it was close to the Christmas day. They all were female. During the class, I took several their photos. The exercise ended, we said good-by to them with a lot of thanks and went back the Hilton Hotel.

My wife changed her clothing, and we left our hotel. Our next destination was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We used the subway and got off at the 79st station.

When climbing up from undergrouned, we felt an appetite, so entered an Indian cuisine to have a lunch. A waiter said "I am from Nepal". At the restaurant, we took a set-menu for lunch and ate a basamil rice for the first time. The dishes were very good. But I dropped a glass by putting a table cloth, and broke it. I would give more chip, but the waiter rejected it. We went out the restaurant without paying more chip, but I have still regretted that we did not pay it.

After the lunch, we walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Central Park. We found a squirrel in the park.

At the museum, we saw several paintings by Gogh, Gogan, Picasso, Monet, Manet and so on. But the museum was too huge, especially for us who did not have any special purpose to see works. We were very tired and sat on a round chair in the center of the exhibition room, sleeping for a few minutes.

We would visit the Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum after the Metropolitan on our first plan. But, we did not have enough time to go the Guggenheim, we gave it up. We left for the Theater district to see a musical named "Hairspray".

We arrived at the Neil Simon theater that where "Hairspray" was staged at 8pm. The songs and performances by the actors were very good, but, unfortunately, we could not understand its story. We should study it before seeing it.

I brought a binocular to see actors more closely, and found a little bit surprising fact. All actors attached very small microphones on their forehead! This was the biggest discovery on this day.

We went out the theater and found the another theater where "Jersey Boys" was staged. It won 2007 tony award and had still been very popular. After that, we took late supper at a deli, but it was not good.

New York　Ⅱ

New York Ⅰ

I visited New York city on Dec.21-25 with my wife for sightseeing. The city is wellknown as the center of world-economics, so I had wanted to go there for a long time.

At first, I have to express thanks to many things that include my good health, good relation with my wife, my family's good health, my earnings, my parents, my wife's parents and so on.

The first day

We arrived at the JFK airport on Dec.21 after 12hours fright. The economy, cramped seats made us very tired. We expected that immigration inspection was very severe so it would take a lot of time. But it was easier than we thought. A JTB guide took us to the Hilton New York Hotel. On our way, we first saw the tall buildings of Manhattan on the Queensboro Bridge. We arrived at the hotel at about 1pm.

After a short rest in the hotel's room, we walked around nearby area. First, we ate Turkey pizzas sold on a pedestrian because we had a little appetite. It costed five dollars each, and was not bad.

We went to the Rockefeller center and saw a famous Christmas tree and ice rink. This area was very crowded with a lot of people who came from many countries. The skating rink was smaller than I thought. And there was the "Penny Harvest". But I could not understand the usage of the paper bags that was placed near the harvest.

We climbed the Rockefeller center's view point, named "the Top of Rock". We could see the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Central Park. I felt that I was in a dream.

After that, we went to the fifth avenue where a lot of brand-shops locate. But, we did not buy anything there. In the Tiffany shop, an American crew talked to me in good Japanese, so we were a little bit surprised. And, we entered St. Patrick Cathedral and saw some people praying. But any event was not held there.

We went to the Rockefeller center again, and back to our hotel.

After taking a short rest, we took a dinner at an Italian restaurant, "Bice Ristorante" that locates on 54st. between the fifth ave. and the Madison ave. We asked a waiter to divide one dish into two because we were afraid that the amount of each dish was very much. He willingly accepted our orders. The antipasto was Mozzarella cheese on sliced tomato, and the first dish was pasta of farfalle with cram-chowder,and the second was chicken cooked like Milan-style with potato and spinach. Every dishes were good, but, in spite of divided dishes, the amount was too much, so my wife left a part of the second dish. "Mottai-nai!"

New York Ⅰ

"Nenga-jyou"

As you might have known, there is a custom that people send new year cards（年賀状） between acquaintances in Japan. This picture is what I sent to my friends.
In this time, I show four cards that was sent to me on January first.

Most people use a mouse character because this year's Eto is a mouse. The last year's was a wild boar, the next year's is a cow(cattle). The mouse year will come 12 years later again.

The January first（元旦(gan-tan)） is the most important holiday for Japanese people. People visit their families and spend time together, like Thanks Giving day or Christmas in the USA.

This year, we including my wife and children went to my parent's house and spent time with them and my brother's family on January first. And yesterday, we spent time with my wife's family member. My parents and my wife's parents live in neighbourhood.