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2 years back when Karin was in kindergarden, she was in 2nd place while practicing. We promised her if she got 1st place on actual day, she would get her bicycle. On that day, she just ran the 1st place out of the blue. We say, she would go for anything pricy. :)

All starts with warm up exercise. Healthy sports :)

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iPhone says Hi!

This is the photo taken in the flight from Narita to Hong Kong. Shion was completely absorbed in it. I had uploaded all the photos on flickr.com, somehow didn't have time to put the captions and explaining the photos. Lazy is the objective.

My 7-year-old Erin had her first summer homework for her first year primary school; drawing her summer event. At first she couldn't decide what to draw, and in fact she said she couldn't recall what she did. Education is a tough job for parents. My wife taught her how to paint, and it was a pain in the ass!

My wife showed her the picture taken at a beach in Sendai, and she drew as what she saw, not what she experienced (this is a hard expression, but read my lips). Here is the original for your information.

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Kids were playing at the park. Shion was trying to cross the water lane. Unsuccessfully, he couldn't step on the stones, instead he stepped into the water. Looked at me, he then stepped back, and tried again. His sister Karin saw it, came to help. Shion tried to hold her hands and cross it by stepping on the stone this time. Siblings ties are soft and yet so strong.

The decoration at the entrance for the apartment we lived in was completed 2 weeks ago. It looked really nice and I took the kids there at night to take a few picutres. Snap, snap, and smiles. Did they look natural?? Let the picture speaks itself. Every year end seemed so busy, but this year it's kind of quiet. Perhaps it's because I am not that keen in participate for all kinds of gatherings, else I will be out almost every night for alcohols. Feel the aging thing in me when come to groups. By next mid January it will turn one year with the current company that I am working now. It has changed a lot after I joined, in a good way. I like it, and the people that I work with, they are nice. No bad guys, though sometimes some moments people tend to act odd. It happens everywhere, so it's no big deal. . . . You see, I really have nothing to write about! And Why the reason I am typing such? Merry Christmas for those who celebrate it, and happy holidays to everyone! Will be getting the stuff to make fruitcakes today.

I took a week off for summer vacations and went to Sendai, my wife's hometown, with my family. My last trip to Sendai was 2 years ago, when my boy was born. It's really been a while. Things of course had changed a lot; it looked more development had taken place around Sendai station, more houses had been built after then in my in-laws neighbourhood, restaurants and megamalls were taking all chances to attract the young ones to spend their money, like anywhere else in the world. It's lively overall. But, though only for 5 days I was there, I recalled something I thought about before and it double confirmed my doubt; I cannot ever live there. It's kind of funny to say so since I have never really lived there for long to know. Previously I did spend about a month there, from Malaysia, I thought I liked it then. As the say goes, being a guest and being the neighbour are two different things. This trip, I confirmed that I can never feel I belong there. That's for sure. But, what kind of place that can make me feel "at home" I wonder. To be honest, I have been looking for such a place.

I am not sure if I am thinking too much, looks like the time to spend with my family will not more be any long one from now on has got shorter and shorter. Feel like to have such moment together with the kids more, though I am spending my weekends with them all the time. I thought it's only a year or two that I don't have much time with them — on weekdays — , later once I am settled down with my job, I might be able to have more time. Somehow, it doesn't seem the way. I mean vacations like kids summer holidays. Kids will be busy when schools start. There will be more things for them to get occupied with extra curicullums. Perhaps it is more important to think about the time to spend with my wife, the one who I will spend the rest of my life with. Time with kids is only when they are still small.