Lee's departure

Dear friends,

I regret to inform you that Lee completed his 14 years life peacefully on last Monday evening and has gone for his next voyage. I proud of him, he was cute and a good boy till he said goodbye to us.

He taught me the joy of walking, taking photos and blogging, as well as the joy of being loved by him/ loving him.  In my PC, some photos taken with him still remain,,, so let me continue this blog for a while.

Thank you guys who are interested in him. He was a lucky boy having got many smiles from you all.


.... sorry for letting you read such a mawkish article. I will come back to the "normal position" on the next posting.

bye

BR
Shige

Rose of Kyu Furukawa Teien / Night view

Every Spring and Autumn's rose seasons, Kyu Furukawa Teien open a "Rose Festival".  Several years ago, I visited there to see "Autumn Rose Festival" and posted an article on this blog. (2006 Autumn Rose Festival http://leepapa05.blogspot.jp/2006_10_01_archive.html)

They have held "2014 Spring Rose Festival" right now, and I found that they opened the garden till night during this event. So, I visited there after work last Friday evening.

I already have written the history and overview of this garden on the previous post (2006 Autumn Rose Festival http://leepapa05.blogspot.jp/2006_10_01_archive.html), so I won't rewrite them here. Let me just introduce you the photos which I took. 

I couldn't get into the mansion, but all of the room lights were on, 

And also the roses surrounded the mansion were lighted-up.

Below the mansion, there was a western style rose garden.

Illuminated roses are also beautiful, are they?

There were many people coming here, but thanks of darkness, I didn't feel so crowded, could just enjoy the night view.

Below the rose garden, you can find the Japanese style garden. They also illuminated there. 

  Illuminated green leaves and calm atmosphere made me feel relaxed.

"2014 Spring Rose Festival" will be held until June 9th, but the nighttime open would be till this evening (May 25th). Sorry, I couldn't introduce this information earlier. If you have any interest, please try on next chance. It might be held in October.

Kyu Furukawa Teien HP(English / Japanese)
You can go there from Nishigahara sta. of the Tokyo Metro Nanboku-line, or Komagome sta. of the JR Yamanote-line.

Please click to see the map of Kyu Furukawa Teien (Goodle Map)

Azalea Festival 2014 at Nezu Shrine

  Lee has already become 12 years old, as in human age he is in his 60's. Actually, he has some physical trouble related to aging, but fortunately, his legs back and bones are still perfect. Thanks Lee's father, Levin and mother, Noa, they had a strong bone structure. Thanks to you we can enjoy walking even now.

  Last Sunday, Lee and I took a long distance walking to Nezu Shrine, where the Azalea Festival has been held.

  So many people came to see Azalea from all around Tokyo. The old couple who asked me how to get to here was from Saitama prefecture.

  It was a warm and sunny day, the best day for walking.

... but Lee seemed to get tired a bit.

  Several years ago, it had taken about 45 min to get here, but this time it took over 1 hour with putting some short breaks.

  There's no hurry. You can walk at your pace. I love walking with you.

  The Azalea Festival will be held until 6th May, the last day of the "Golden week", Japanese holiday season.

  The other posting of Nezu Shrine's Azalea festival are here (2007, 2011).
  The other season's scenery of Nezu Shrine are here. (February, December, 300 anniversary )

  Please click to see the map of Nezu Shrine (Google Map)

Sakura, Cherry blossoms in Nihonbashi

Here in Tokyo, Sakura has been fully in bloom since last week. I found "new species" in Nihonbashi area, so let me share with you.  

The wall of Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi is colored  with cherry pink.

And also Sakura petals are floating on the wall of Mitsui Building and Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower (Mandarin Oriental). I'm sorry I can't show this as a movie.

Of course, you can enjoy real Sakura trees here.

This illumination event will be held by 6th April. Don't miss it. The Mitsukoshi-mae stop of Tokyo Metro Ginza-line will be most convenient for you.

The map of this area is here (Google Map).

Long time no see!

Dear Friends,

Hi, how’ve you been? Long time no see.

I haven’t touch this page for a long time(1.5ys!), so some friends kindly mailed me if we are OK. Thank you very much and I am sorry for having caused you so much worry. We, my wife, daughter K, Lee and me, are all fine. Lee has become 11 and a half years old, over 60 in human age. Several years ago, we often enjoyed a long distance walk for weekend, but with considering an excessive burden for his joints of feet, currently we are limiting the walking time within 60 min and walking slowly. He’s already in retirement age,,, but even now, he is still cutie boy who loves meal time, morning walking and acting cozy with us.

Let me show you the current Lee’s photos, taken in the morning after the last heavy snow (Feb. 2014).

 

 

 

 

朋友们你好，好久不见了。我最近工作很忙所以不能重新这个博客，哎哟，一年半左右我放手不管了。 有个网友热情地担心我们好不好，给我发电子邮件问问。谢谢 & 让你们担心不好意思啊。我们（我妻子、我女儿、小李、和我）都很好。小李已经11.5岁，那相当人的60多岁了。几年前，我们每周末散步的时候，常常走得太远，不过为了它的骨关节保重，我最近不让它走60分钟以上。他已经成了大爷了。。。可是，他还是喜欢散步、爱吃饭、特别喜欢缠绕我们的可爱小李。

让我介绍最近的小李的情况。这些是上次在东京下大雪的时候拍的照片（今年2月）。

Kayaking on the Chuzenji-ko lake, Nikko, Tochigi prefecture

Hi! Long time no see. How have you been? All of my family, including Lee, are all OK.

It's already been mid September, but even now the highest temperature are over 30 degree Celsius here in Tokyo. Zee. Where is autumn?
喂，好久不见了。你好吗？我们一家，包含Lee，都很好。
已经九月中旬了，可是天气还闷热，在这儿东京最高温度还是30度以上啊。嘿, 秋天在哪里呀？

To escape from such hot weather, I went to Nikko Chuzenji-ko lake with my daughter and her friends on September 2nd, yeah, just like a teacher of a summer school. We joined a Kayaking school there.
为了逃避这些闷热的天气，9月2号我带我女儿和她朋友去日光中禅寺湖玩玩儿, 对了，好像暑期学校的领导老师。在那里我们参加了皮艇班。

We joined a beginner class. At first, we learned how to use a paddle.

The weather of Chuzenji-ko area was cool，but unfortunately, heavy rain, but it was no problem, we were going to get drenched to the skin on the lake anyway.

我们参加了初学者班。最先，我们学了怎么划艇。

那天在那里的天气比较凉快，但是很遗憾，下大雨了，可是没关系，反正这几分之后我们在湖上成了落汤鸡。

   

The beginner's kayak is very stable and easy to control. You can enjoy it from the beginning.

初学者用皮艇是非常安定，容易活动。你肯定从开始高兴地划艇。

It was calm and beautiful on the water, I was satisfied wonderful nature, felt relaxed,,,,

湖上又非常平静又很漂亮，我高兴地欣赏了大自然，觉得很放松，，，

,, then, suddenly, girls and kayaking staff started a water battle!
，，然后女儿们和导游突然开始打水仗了玩儿了！




You can join this kayaking course from the website below.
要是你们想参加这个皮艇班，从下面记的网页能预订。

Tochigi Kayak Center  (Sorry! Japanese only)

They provide a half day course for beginners, and a full day touring for experiencer. If you have any experience of riding kayak, you can join a full day touring.
他们提供“初学者班（半天）”，和“有经验者班（整天）”。你只要有只一次的划皮艇的经历，就可以参加有经验者班。

Well experienced and trained staffs support our activity safely. Oh, I almost forgot to add very important thing. They kindly take photos during the kayaking. All of the photos placed here are provided by them. Many thanks for all of your support, Tencho and Yukarin!
有多经验的、培训的导游安全地陪我们去到湖上玩儿。对了，我差一点忘记了很重要的事情。划艇之中他们给我们拍照。这儿的照片都是他们拍的。Tencho, Yukarin, 谢谢你们的帮助！

You can enjoy kayaking from the end of April to early November. Chuzenji-ko area is very famous for that beautiful autumn leaves. Enjoying the red and crimson colored mountains from the center of the calm lake, that must be gorgeous!
皮艇班的营业期间是从4月底起到11月上旬。中禅寺湖地方以那儿的红叶也很有名。从湖上欣赏漫山遍野的红叶，那一定让人陶醉了！

(Today, I tried to write this blog in English and Mandarin. I’d very appreciate it if you would point out my grammatical error or inappropriate word usage for both descriptions (English/Mandarin). Xiexie!)