8月31日：今日は。。。

交通組織（こうつうそしき）のパリで紙のチケットを廃止（はいし）することを発表（はっぴょう）しました。7月11日にパリの交通組織は２０１９からNavigoカードを使わないといけない。

三つの理由（りゆう）をあげました。まず、そのチケットは無くしやすいです。（なくしややすい）次に時々じきストライプは問題（もんだい）があります。最後にある人々はどこでも適当にチケットを捨てる（すてる）ので、パリの通りは汚い（きたない）です。

IDFMという交通組織によると紙のチケットは時間と労力（ろうりょく）のムダだと言いました。

紙のチケットは１１６年前に使われ始めました。

この決断（けつだん）は地球（ちきゅう）にいいです。東京は同じことをするのだろうかと思います。

Afternoon tea in Tokyo series: Aman Tokyo

The mission to try the different afternoon tea places in Tokyo continues. This time, headed to Aman Tokyo. Grateful that Lionel was in town so the whole experience was more memorable. I made the reservations a few days earlier. Thankfully, I was able to get a window seat. It was rainy that day but the panoramic view of the Imperial Palace Gardens from the 33rd floor was still relaxing.

Grateful for visiting friends...

The heavens have been really kind to me lately.

Probably aware of the fact that I've been missing my friends and aware of the challenge of finding real friends in the city, the gods have been very kind to make sure that friends from Manila, Singapore, and elsewhere come to Tokyo either for vacation or a business trip recently. Yay!

A few weeks ago, the ex's best friend was in town. Last week, Makii and Paul were in town. This week, Lionel is in town.

Really grateful for friends who come to Tokyo whether it's for vacation or for business.

6月8日：今日は。。。

Today's writing practice:

鯨の死去はおなかの中から８０枚のプラスチックのゴミが原因でした。

タイのニュース、タイの南の海岸（かいがん）で鯨　（くじら）が見つかりました。その鯨は雄（おす）です。

海岸の近くに住んでいる人たちは、その鯨を助けようとしましたが、（たす蹴ようとしました）鯨は死にました。（しにました）

鯨を調べるとおなかの中から８０枚（まい）以上（いじょう）のプラスチックのゴミが見つかりました。

その記事（きじ）はひほうです。海にはたくさんのプラスチックのゴミがあるので魚が死んでいるのです。みんなで大自然（だいしぜん）をた

もつのをいしょうにきょうりょくしなければなりませんと思います。

6月1日：今日は。。。

Today's writing practice:

宮内ちは天皇陛下と皇后さまを描いた絵ができたとはっぴょうしました。絵はたてとよこが２mの油絵です。

天皇陛下と皇后さまを描いた絵がなかったため、宮内庁は２０１３年に画家のノダヒロシさんにかいてほしいとお願いました。

ノダさんにとって点横柄kたと皇后さまの絵を描くのは光栄　（こうえい）だと思います。天皇陛下と皇后さまの絵を描く人は少しです。どんな絵だろう。見たいです。

５月２4日：今日は。。。

鎌倉市に有名なお寺があります。

大仏園というお寺です。そのお寺は８００年ぐらい前に作られました。最近、さびができたり汚れてきました。

おととし掃除をしました。専門家によると近くの海から吹く風や鳥のふんなどが原因です。お寺はさびなどができないようにする方法を考えたいと言っています。

大仏園は日本の国宝だと思います。だから大仏園を保つのは大切です。みんなは国宝を保つのを支えなければなりません。

Hiking in Japan: First visit to Takaosan...

In a recent post, I mentioned something about starting two new hobbies.

I started the second hobby yesterday - hiking!

In Singapore, I was able to do a lot of easy hikes thanks to my good friend Kok Kuan. Yup, there are hiking places in Singapore. Maybe they’re not hardcore hiking spots but they’re still a good escape from the city.

Yesterday, I finally got to do my first hike in Japan.

Mt. Takao is one of the most popular hiking places near Tokyo. It’s about an hour away from my place. It’s very accessible.

Prior to the trip, I bought a pair of hiking shoes and other hiking stuff (pants, backpack, shirt, and so on). Though Takao is a relatively easy hike, I still wanted to look the part of a hiking fan. Lol! I think I succeeded in that aspect.

Anyway, I got up at 6 on Sunday. There were some hits and misses with the train. Lol! I had to change trains twice. The first train was a local train. I knew I was on the right train when I saw many other hikers with their gear and all. Haha!

The great thing about Takao is that there are six trails (and a few other difficult trails). I wanted to take the less popular trails but I decided to stick with Trail 1 when I started panting after the first 2 kilometers of the ascent. Lol!

You see, you can actually “cheat” the climb. To shorten the climb, you can take a cable car and that cuts your hiking time by more than an hour I suppose. I decided to ditch the cable car and went for the 3.8 km hike up to the Takao Information Center. I decided that since it was my first visit, I should do Trail 1 and check out the popular places along the way such as the Yakuoin Temple.

Actually, Trail 1 is not difficult at all. The first 2 km was a challenge because it was pretty steep. However, the path is generally paved so no problems there.

For my descent, I decided to take Trail 4 and that felt a real hike because it was in the middle of the forest.

You could also tell the seasoned hikers from the rest because they knew hiking etiquette. I lost count of the number of times I said “konnichiwa” on my way down. Lol!

Anyway, it was a really, really, really good hike. The best part was seeing Mt. Fuji.

At first, I didn’t see her because the clouds blocked the view. Suddenly, people started exclaiming “Sugoi! Sugoi!” I took a second look and there she was. Really, really pretty.

I also enjoyed my lunch - tororo soba and oden. Actually, I packed some onigiri which I planned to eat at the summit. However, I decided to go for soba and oden. They were gooood!

I’m defo going to go hiking again next month. As I enjoyed my lunch, I texted my best friend in Manila and said, “I’m genuinely genuinely feeling very happy right now.”

Don’t get me wrong. Tokyo is a great city and all but I really need to escape the city at times. Many people think I’m crazy for saying that. I stopped explaining myself. Lol. Anyway, this topic is for another post.

For now, I just want to write that I’m SO glad to have been able to do a hike. I will definitely make it into a monthly thing.

Next month, I’ll try to go to Nokogiriyama. Excited.

Happy Friday...

Japanese version follows below

Today was a bit humid.

I guess summer is here. Haha! Thankfully, Cool Biz dress code has started this week. Otherwise, I would be sweating like crazy.

Today was my fake day off. Fake because it's only half day. In the morning, I had three lessons. After my third lesson, I headed home, changed and went for a jog around the Palace.

After that I headed back home to take a shower, change and return again to the office for two lessons. Unfortunately, my 1PM didn't show up today. The student was probably busy at work.

Too bad but that also meant I got to go home early.

In the afternoon, I did a bit of housework. Then, I bought some stuff for my day trip on Sunday. A few posts ago, I mentioned starting two new hobbies this month.

The second hobby starts on Sunday... provided that the weather cooperates.

Looking forward to it. Hehe!

Happy weekend!

日本語のバージョン:

今日は蒸し暑いよ。

夏になりるそうです。笑。　神をおかげさまです、今週は仕事でCool Bizを始まったよ。

今日は僕のお休みよ。でも、半日だけだよ。朝は三つのレッスンがあったよ。０８：３０のレッスンの後で帰って、着替えて、皇居の周りにジョギングをしたよ。とても暑かったよ。

ジョギングの後は家に帰って、シャワーを浴びて、会社に戻りたよ。

午後に仕事の後では家に掃除した。後は銀座に行って、買い物をしたよ。

今週の日曜日にもう一つの新しい趣味をはじまるよ。いい天気があるといいね。

楽しみによ。笑。

週末が楽しんで。

Japanese skills put to a test...

Yesterday, I survived a date in Japanese. Haha!

The person does not speak English well (or maybe the person does but just doesn't want to. Lol!)

In any case, the whole time we were together we spoke in Japanese. Okay, maybe we used some English but only one or two sentences.

Before meeting up, I told the person to use simple Japanese words and to speak more slowly. Lol!

It turned out okay, I think.

Random Friday blah...

It was a busy week. Maybe because it's because after Golden Week. People are back at work. People are back in Tokyo. So yeah, Tokyo is crowded once again. Haha! It doesn't really bother me because I don't really like going to Shibuya or Shinjuku. If I do go to those areas, the places I go to are in the less crowded areas.

As for the trains, I haven't been taking the train so often. Given the nice weather, I've been walking to work and back home almost every day. Hehe. It's not much of an exercise because it only takes about 15 to 20 minutes but it still counts for something I guess.

I haven't had a chance to go for a run this week. I'm planning to go for a run this afternoon after my Japanese lessons.

Tonight, I'm having dinner with a visiting friend from Singapore. Like I said, God has been good enough to send my friends to Tokyo almost every month. Maybe he knows how I feel here. Haha!

Anyway, I had made another decision recently. I'll say I'm almost 90% decided. I chatted with Tey and with Tipz and I'm glad to get their support.

Long story short: as much as I enjoy hitting the drums, there's just something that's off. So I guess I should move on and try to find whatever it is somewhere else.

"I still haven't found what I'm looking for" is playing in my head.

I guess I'm kind of going to miss it. I wouldn't say I'm super good but I think I'm good. Lol.

Thinking about it now, I also decided to just go for one-to-one Japanese lessons instead of my usual small group lessons. I felt like the group lesson's not really working for me. I only feel bad about myself when I go for the lesson and I decided I'm not going to sit in another lesson for two hours feeling bad about myself. Lol.

Changes, changes....