Wow.... all I can say is wow. I can`t believe what has happened in the past 48 hours. I am in Nagoya and luckily not in center of the area that was hit hard. But still we got a few really good jolts and I really got my attention. I was supposed to be in Ibaraki that day but decided not to go the last minute. I am glad I stayed here in Nagoya.

My heart goes out to Japan and especially those in the North East. I have some family up North and a lot of friends up there in the Sendai / Fukushima area. So I have spent the last couple of days contacting everyone I know. I also have family near there and have been able to confirm they are all ok. But getting through is tough.

Thanks everyone around the world for checking in on me. I am fine and just watching now with great interest how things unfold now. I just pray for those who have lost ones and have lost everything. I hope they get some comfort soon. Japan will have a lot of support around the globe to help them get through this challenge. Its going to be a long time before anything gets back to what would seem even a little normal.

Thanks everyone and cheers.

The Superbowl is over. A great game and I was glad Greenbay was able to win. My Broncos had a bad season so maybe next year. Anyway the game was good and a few of the commercials were good too. Every year the biggest commercials on American TV are shown during the Superbowl. Some people get more excited about the commercials than the actual game.

This year I thought the commercials were just so-so. But below are a couple of my favorites from this year. My favorite was this one from Volkswagen. This little kid was pretty cute.



Another one that was kind of funny from Doritos.



Also I liked this one with Eminem for Chrysler. I thought it was a pretty power add for not only the company but the whole city of Detroit that has been to hell and back a few times. I was really impressed with this and I think a lot of Americans felt a little proud about it. I thought it was a good message to say Detroit is coming back. (Whether or not thats true I don`t know. But for the auto industry and the American people we should all hope so).

Nabana no Sato:

I went to Nabana no Sato and enjoyed seeing the illuminated lights. It is the place to go in Nagoya to enjoy the winter atmosphere with the lights. Below are some pics. I was impressed. After seeing the lights I went to the onsen (hot springs) that are there at night. A really nice onsen. Maybe ranks in my top 10 of onsens I have been in Japan. Just really nice and the perfect way to warm up after walking in the cold for hours to see the lights. Pictures taken with Canon 50D, Tokina fish eye, 10-17mm, F3.5-4.5.

Wow its been a really busy couple of weeks since I got back from Hokkaido. Business trips and long hours... starting a New Year is sometimes no fun. But at least tonight I can relax on a Sunday night and get ready for the new week ahead.

Nagoya has been a little cold. My heater broke and I have been a few days without one. But finally had a new one installed yesterday. My house is much much better.

Andy gave me these pics from the New Years I thought I would share.





Andy was able to go down to Obihiro for a few days and visit his grandmother and grandfather. Of coarse any visit requires a game of tennis. Here he is with his grandmother he hasn`t met in a while.



Here is a good picture he took while we were skiing. The view was beautiful and the skiing was excellent. We went skiing I think about 5 or 6 times while we were in Hokkaido. The other days we played some tennis in Sapporo.



Coming home a nice pic of Mt. Fuji....

ohhhh back from the snow paradise...

I was in Hokkaido for the winter holidays. I got back and I am dead tired. But had a great time. Went skiing / snowboarding 5 times and played tennis 5 times. So it was a very active holiday for me. I was able to relieve a lot of stress. But my body is sore... its been a long time since I was so active everyday. Basically in the day was hard play and at night was good food and movies. A great holiday and I was able to meet some friends and have some great conversation. Just loved it!! I will post some pics.

So while I was there I watched the american music awards one night. Wow I must say Pink was awesome. She is really good and I really liked her performance. I have found it on youtube and attached below. Its really good.



She rocks!!! Here she is at the Grammys... (Not the best quality but you can see... I think the best performance at the Grammys in a long long time...)




So I would say there was a lot of great music in 2010.. loved Eminem and Train too! But fell in love with Pink again...... She always kills me...

Enjoyed a ton of good food in Hokkaido. It was funny as I arrived at Chitosei I was getting my luggage and 2 police officers came and grabbed me. They took me over to a corner and started asking all kinds of questions. Where I am from, and why I am in Hokkaido, and asked for my passport. Well I got upset at them and told them I live in Nagoya but also live in Hokkaido at times and I went to University in Hokkaido and have family there. They were really embarrassed. They thought I was someone else and I guess they were looking for a gaijin from AU. I must have looked like him a little. They had a picture. So they thought I was him and I guess bringing drugs or something in the country. Anyway they really apologized to me and I told them to take care and don`t catch a cold because Hokkaido needs good healthy cops. It was kind of funny. At first I was upset but then I cooled down... they were young cops anyway. Nice guys and I asked to see their badges again and told them they looked good. They seemed proud of their badges and told me that Hokkaido copied the same shape of badges as the New York police department. I thought that was funny... I guess its something to be proud of...

So anyway I guess thats my 2010. Great year for many things and a tough year for other things. I completely lost some loved ones this past year and thats always tough. But hopefully 2011 will be at least as good as 2010 and even better.

Hokkaido Baby!!!

I finally can start my winter vacation. I got to Hokkaido today and its cold!!! But feels so good to be here. Christmas eve and looking forward to spending the night tonight with some friends. I will be here for a couple of weeks and plan to do a lot of skiing and eating!! Its good to be away from work for a while and its good to be away from Nagoya. Nagoya is a nice place but my heart has always been in Hokkaido. So I will stay here at my place just playing games and playing. I am ready to start this holiday!!

ok so its 3 days before Christmas. I am sitting here on a train riding across Tokyo to a meeting. I have the most stupid song stuck in my head. Now here in Japan there is a song that is pretty popular just in time for the holidays. Its called "A winter fairy is melting a snowman". No lie this is the name and this is the chorus of the song. Its a little crazy and gets stuck in your head.

So I am sitting here now with this song and I am thinking.... "what the hell does this song mean??" "A winter fairy is melting the snowman"?? What is that?? So is the winter fairy a bad fairy. She is melting the snowman so is she killing a snowman? Is the fairy a witch?? Its interesting to hear some of these songs when they throw in English. I mean its Japanese English but still makes no sense....hehe. Anyway, if you have a chance check out the song... its likely it will get stuck in your head too... then you will think "what does this mean??"