Last week @G-try, I got to make my own wappen! How cool is that?! I had to choose one among so many from a catalogue. It took me a while but I finally chose the “Lei”, as it reminds me a lot of the polynesian culture. Once I’ve made up my mind, I could also personalized it! I could decide which color I want to put for each flower! Then Tako-san and I sent the order of 100 wappen to the factory. Can’t wait to see the final product! My wappen will be unique!  🙂

Yatsuhashi is a japanese sweet, it’s actually Kyoto’s specialty. I tasted for the first time: おいしい!!!! (^.^) These ones were green tea and cinnamon flavored with a red bean paste inside!

I assisted for the first time at an “undōkai”, which is a sports day of a japanese school.  These were all junior high school students. Nakamura-san and I arrived just at time for the relay race and the” kumi-taiso” (group stretches including human pyramids and all kinds of gymnastic figures! I really enjoyed  watching and cheering them up because it really demonstrated team work, and the necessity to have a good communication between one and another.

Went to Tokyo Dome today. Even if it was raining, it didn’t stop people from having fun! I took a picture of a pair of shoes that caught my attention. What’s really trending right now are the Vans type of shoes with original motifs on it, but this one is special, it’s a high platform Vans!. I thought there were cute,  but not sure if I’d dare to put them on!  There are so many original  things in Japan, I love it!

It has been raining non-stop for three days and the weather forecast announces more rain, knowing that a few days ago we have reached 30°C, now we are back at 18°C ! I think we officially entered the rainy season.

I like a little rain, it feels good and reminds me of Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii where I studied for two years and where it’s raining most of the year!

I went to the bank today and I found two odd things!

When I first entered into the building, there was an umbrella locker near the main door entrance! Something very unusual for me to see!  People would lock  their wet umbrella, and keep the key before entering. It could be strange to think about it for a foreigner, but this way it avoids bringing wet umbrellas in the building in order to keep the floor clean and not slippery. Eventhough no one would steal an umbrella in Japan, it is a good idea to lock your own so that no one can take it accidentally (especially if it’s an expensive one or your favorite one!) .

The second thing that caught my attention was a rather unusual baseball ball. It was orange and it looked just like one, but only it wasn’t a baseball ball, but in Japan it’s called an anti-crime color ball! It is a plastic sphere filled with brightly colored liquid pigment. The idea is to trow it after a robber and mark him to improve the chance of arresting him. They can be found in banks and stores. Anti-crime color balls are parts of crime-prevention efforts.

At first these two things appeared strange to me, but they quickly made sense! Japanese are so clever!!! 🙂

On Tuesday I also visited another embroidery factory. What impressed  me the most was all the different kinds of sewing machines there were! I had no idea there were so many. Each one would be used for a specific case. Automatic sewing machines also impressed me, as they enable to save time, produce a lot at a regular pace. I liked the combination of modern and traditional method of embroidery.

Today I assisted to a one of a kind morning meeting of a company known for it, called “Kodato”. Morning meetings are very common in companies  in Japan. But this one was particular.

First of all, every morning begins by saying good morning to the president with a loud energetic voice along with a big smiling face. Then shaking hands of each and every co-workers. Three times a week, employees go to work a little earlier than the other days, at around 8:15 am everyone get ready to clean up the streets around their building (picking up trash and recycling them properly) .

Then at around 9 o’clock,  the morning meeting can begin. Today there was about 60 or so workers, usually there are more! We played a game, did a “happy dance”…everything is made to put everyone in a good mood, positive way of thinking, and just to make them feel good about themselves. It works!

It was a really great experience! I never seen such a thing!  It was just incredible! 

Last night’s dinner with all the staff was “all you can eat monjayaki and okonomiyaki!!!!!! First time for me, it tasted good but I am not used to it. I prefered the okonomiyaki, especially the “mochi” one rather than the monjayaki.  Orders kept coming one after the other, so at the end I definitely ate more than I should have!

Perfect lunch for a hot day!! Cold soba + tempura! <3