Thousand Leaves 2.0

Yesterday while turned on the TV, I happened to know about this poem. In Japanese, it kept appeared thousand winds, so I thought that was the title, somehow came out that it was the Japanese title but not the original.

About a month ago, the Japanese version composed by Man Arai was on-aired, and that’s why it became popular. I didn’t know it till yesterday.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
Words by Mary Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am in a thousand winds that blow
I am the softly falling snow
I am the gentle showers of rain
I am the fields of ripening grain
I am in the morning hush
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight
I am the starshine of the night
I am in the flowers that bloom
I am in a quiet room
I am in the birds that sing
I am in the each lovely thing
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there I do not die

My second girl seems to show her good talent in drawing. I asked her to draw herself, and very quickly within a few seconds, she gave me her own portrait.

When asked how about mummy, wickedly she drew something as shown. Can you imagine? It’s totally out of my imagination. I really wonder where she learned to draw such things from.

I couldn’t stop laughing. I told her I will tell mummy what you drew, quickly she changed the name from okaasan (mum) to her little brother. She knows what I mean.

With this, you can’t blame me that I have been thinking if I should send her to drawing class. You know, you just can’t miss any chances for the kids to grow up as genius. After talked to my wife, she told me some helpful story.

One of the kinder parents thought their girl was talented in music. So, they bought her a piano. This is only recently. Now, the kinder girl found no interests in piano anymore! But, invested so much in the kid and found disappointed with the huge shopping sitting there, the mother decided to cultivate her music sense by picking up piano now. Mottainai (wasteful!), she said.

So, I decided to only encourage her to draw, but keep my fingers crossed.

It’s already 2 years, or still 2 years?

Bought the grinder in Shinjuku long time ago, used it for a while, but later became troublesome and it’s been kept in the cabinet for a while. It “came out” once in a while when people gave us coffee beans brought from like Hawaii or overseas, or some specialty coffee occasion.

A couple of weeks ago, it happens to be useful again. Took it out, and so took a few photos of it.

I just finished reading a book written by Kota Matsuda, the founder of Tully’s Coffee, Japan. Apparently, Tully’s Japan is purely Japan’s own originality. All the while I thought all this coffee boom were from the States — basically they are though — and never knew that Tully’s Japan was started by Kota Matsuda himself. Tully’s Coffee Japan was listed on Nasdaq Japan (now Hercules) on July 2001, whereas Starbucks listed only in October the same year.

Later, I found myself couldn’t afford to have such luxuries anymore. It didn’t make me rich, or I didn’t have earn enough to enjoy those coffee for everyday. Things needed some changes, or a lot.

I used to like Tully’s a lot more than Starbucks. I don’t know, I seem to hate to follow the trend of majority, accept once that I found Starbucks sells sausage egg muffin.

My addition to sausage egg muffin initially came from McDonald’s morning set, I think. With that and a cup of coffee, that’s how my day started. . . Lots of remembrance related to the one cup of coffee.

After moved into the new apartment, we decided not to use landline phone anymore. Instead but skype in/out. Basically our phone at home seldom rings.

So, after a few search online, we decided to get and IPphone handset. Somehow, Japan doesn’t have varieties, and basically we don’t want some headset which looks like an operator.

With my niece’s help, we got this cute little thingy from US. As they wouldn’t send it overseas, so my niece ordered it over in that States, and sent it over.

I have been calling my friends and family with it. It’s neat. The thing is, when people call us, we hardly realise the ring tone. I am not sure, it might have something to do with the speaker. As we don’t use it much, so we mainly use to call out.

Oh, the boy at the back is Shion. Well, as clear as it looks.