Shibazakura festival in Mt Fuji(富士芝桜）

上星期六我们参加了HIS旅行社组织的箱根・富士芝桜一日游. 早上坐车从新宿出发, 由于正赶上黄金周的高峰期, 高速公路交通堵塞非常严重. 本来开车到箱根不需要很多时间, 那一天开了将近三个半小时. 随同的导游非常的无奈和尴尬. 对我们游客再三表示道歉. 其实这跟她本人有什么关系呢. 看来日本人真是喜欢说"对不起". :-)

车子终于开到了箱根的芦之湖, 我们的第一个旅游项目是坐海賊船, 来日本十几年我还是第一次体验坐这种中世紀帆船造型的海賊船. 那天风和日丽, 呼吸着新鲜的空气,从海賊船上遥望秀丽雄姿的富士山真是感觉心灵都被洗净了. 本来一大早出发, 我和LG都没有睡够觉, 在来箱根的路上一直是迷迷糊糊~半夢半醒之間. 但是到了箱根, 坐上海賊船, 呼吸着高质量的空气, 我们一下清醒了.

下了船, 导游带我们去宾馆吃午饭. 由于路上时间的耽搁, 那顿午饭我们是下午三点半才吃完. 匆匆忙忙我们就赶往富士山脚去看芝桜.

还算比较幸运, 离关门时间还有三十分钟, 我们的车终于开到了富士山脚. 本来计划是要在公园里呆一个半小时的. 导游抱歉得说我们只能在公园里呆半小时. 大家都非常吃惊. 赶紧拿上相机奔向园内. 我们的愿望终于得到了实现. 在 24000 平方公尺的栽植面積里, 大约有七十万株的粉红色芝桜, 将一大片的粉红色美景, 深刻地映入到我们的眼里！

在这里, 粉红春色、新綠的蒼林与蓝天为背景的富士山, 成为鲜明而又和谐的对比. 美不胜收, 让我们忘记了時間的流逝. 真是好美丽的春色! 我们还有大家都陶醉在花的海洋之中. 只能欣赏三十分中真是太短太短了!!

一口气拍了很多照片, 有人物照, 还有风景照. 感谢天空做美, 让我们拍到这么多富士山的绝景!!

回到新宿, LG带我去吃了晚饭. 回到家已经将近十点. 这一天过得很充实. 收获很大. :-)

One day trip to Niigata (新潟一日游)

周末我们参加了HIS组织的国内一日游 - 去新潟吃螃蟹和洗露天温泉! 从东京坐车到新潟要三个多小时. 虽然来去时间比较长但是因为是第一次去新潟感觉还是挺兴奋的. 因为时间有限我们能去的景点不多. 先去了农家品尝新潟的大米, 午饭吃螃蟹. 之后就去関興寺参拝. 最后就是泡露天温泉. 最满意的还是洗露天温泉! :-)

Ueno Hanami (上野恩賜公園赏樱)

To celebrate my birthday yesterday, I went to Ueno park for Hanami with my hubby. I clearly remember the last time we had Hanami at Ueno park was 3 yrs ago - wow, time flies so quickly.

We went to a Kaiten-Sushi restaurant (also called 'Sushi bar') for lunch before we visited the park. There are lots of Kaiten-Sushi restaurants at Ueno and the Sushi tastes really good. Both my hubby and me are addicted to Sushi and we normally have Sushi once or twice a week. ;-)

Getting really full after lunch, we walked to the Ueno park and very suprised to see people here and there. it doesn't look like a weekday at all!

Japanese people enjoy Hanami party very much. They get together under the Sakura trees drinking, singing and dancing - very traditonal Japanese culture.

We did have a good time at Ueno park and Sakura looks really beautiful. I miss the times when i was in Kyoto and the Kyoto sakura is much more beautiful. :-)

昨天是我的生日, LG陪我到上野公园看樱花. 记得我们上一次的上野赏樱是三年前的时候. 搬了家以后离上野远了就很少去了.

去公园之前, 我们先到了上野一家以前经常去的回转寿司店饱尝了一顿新鲜的寿司. 我和LG太喜欢寿司了. 如果一个星期不吃上寿司就非常难过.

昨天是平日, 我们还以为人会比较少可是出乎意料人山人海. 上野的樱花已经有八分开了. 每年的三月底到四月初是日本人赏樱的高峰时期. 日本的上班族一定会在櫻花树下举行露天賞花大会. 他们把赏樱叫做花見 (Hanami). 我们到上野公園的时候, 公园中大部分的赏樱地点已经被占了. 上野公园是东京著名的赏樱景点之一, 所以没有事先的plan一般很难找到理想的赏樱地点. 可见日本人对櫻花是如此钟爱.

满开的櫻花真的很美丽. 远处看，它们就像是一抹飘逸的云彩，从近处观赏又能体会到独朵樱花的纤细之美. 樱花和一些建筑，如寺庙, 神社组合在一起更有一种独特之美. 我在京都留学生活了两年, 对京都的櫻花更是留恋.

赏樱 结束以后我们就乘电车回去了. 中途LG带我去吃了生日蛋糕. 我点的樱花cake really tasted yummy! 这一天过的很充实. 谢谢LG! :-)

Cherry blossom season to begin this week! (樱花开花)

The cherry blossoms(樱花) are coming this week in Tokyo! However the weather this week is likely not good- cold, cloudy and rainy according to the weather forecast...We went to Chiba Hakumari (千葉幕張) last weekend and saw some early cherry blossoms(photo attached). We are scheduling a trip outside Tokyo to enjoy cherry blossoms and I can't wait to go! Hopefully it is warm and sunny this weekend! :-)

Forecasts on world economic growth(2009&2010年世界经济增长预测)

Forecasts on World Economic Growth (Source: IMF).
-Japan is -5.0 this year and will be 0.0 next year! too bad......:-(

	2009	2010
Global Economy	-0.6	2.3
United States	-2.6	0.2
Euro Zone	-3.2	0.1
Japan	-5.0	0.0
UK	-3.8	-0.2
Canada	-2.0	1.2
G7	-3.2	0.2
Asia	3.6	5.8
Latin America	-0.6	2.3

Massage clinic in Japan (日本的整体按摩院)

Having stiff shoulders, i went to a massage clinic after yoga lesson today. I feel so relaxed after that. Massage clinic is everywhere in Japan especially in Tokyo and i can say that Japanese people can't live without it as Japan is such a deadline-driven and high-stress country. Compared with China, it is much more expensive to have massage in Japan. 10 minutes cost around 1050 JPY and 30 minutes cost around 3150 JPY. I don't go to massage very often in Japan unless I really feel sick. Having massage in China is just a piece of cake - cheap and the massage therapists are very professional! I go to massage almost everyday whenever I go back to China. We are planning a trip to China sometime next month and i can't wait to enjoy the Chinese massage! ;-)

Dow jumps 5.8%(道琼斯指数飙升近6%)

Seriously we have been worried and scared about the recent stock market - financial stocks keep falling and the Citi's stock fell below $1 per share last week. Billionaire Warren Buffett told people that the economy has 'fallen off a cliff' but it will be back to normal eventually - When and how, that is the question.. Very happily, Dow jumped 5.8% due to Citi profit news yesterday. All the banking stocks led the markets higher all day. We hope such rally can last for a while so that we can hedge the risk we are currently facing. Make the force be with us!

Spring is approaching!(春天到了!)

The chilly weather has last for a couple of weeks and finally it becomes sunny and warm - 15 degree today! I can feel that Spring is around the corner. Japanese people are now looking forward to cherry blossoms (桜花) and it is coming end of March in Kanto area. We are thinking of going somewhere to enjoy Hanami (cherry blossom viewing). To avoid the crowds, we may either go outside of Tokyo or just find a weekday to go to Ueno park or other spots-will decide later. :-)

Baozi (自家製饅頭)

最近我的厨艺是越来越高. 虽然有时厌烦老是做饭做菜, 但是为了家人的身体健康, 自己动手丰衣足食是又科学又正确的. 经济的大萧条让日本的普通老百姓不敢外出就餐. 如何吃的又健康又便宜成了日本主妇每天研究的课题. 我也是当中一员. 整天想如何解决一日三餐的问题. 最近喜欢研究各个国家的菜谱. 日本的电视台每天都有烹饪节目. 日本人不太挑嘴, 什么料理都吃. 吃来吃去我和老公还是最喜欢中华料理. 日本的蔬菜种类太少. 每天做不同的料理非常困难. 老公喜欢吃面食,我就经常做餃子.前年爸爸妈妈来日本的时候带来很多発酵粉, 给我们做了很多次包子. 太当时也没有想要去学. 最近心血来潮 - 我也来做做包子. 没想到我的水平也不低! 老公大夸我的手艺. 我心里美滋滋得. 看来饭菜做得香大家都开心. :-)

Mamma Mia!(电影-媽媽咪呀)

I watched the DVD Mamma Mia! last night. It's a 2008 stage-to-film adaptation. My favorite actor/actress Pierce Brosnan/Meryl Streep head the cast of the film. The songs in the film are borrowed from the successful pop group ABBA. ''Dancing Queen'' and ''Thank You for the Music'' are my most favorite songs in this film. If you haven't got the chance to watch it, don't miss it. Most of the filming was done on the small Greek island of Skopelos - wow, so beautiful island. I wish I could visit this island some day. :-)

Happy Chinese New Year! (2009新年快乐,身体健康,恭喜发财!)

To celebrate the Chinese New Year 2009, we had Gyoza (餃子) party last Sunday with friends. I'm a Gyoza addict. I make Gyoza very often at home but i normally buy the premade dough pieces which are available at the supermarket in order to save time and effort. This time we made the dough and filling by ourselves and the Gyoza tasted amazingly delicious! We made a lot of food and eat a lot, the party was full of fun and laugh. :-)

Chinese new year is not celebrated in Japan and you can't hear people wishing each other a happy new year with the Chinese greeting '恭喜发财' (Gong xi fa cai) and I miss it so much! I wish i could celebrate it in China this year!

Bouillabaisse (馬賽魚湯)

Today's main dish is Bouillabaisse! It is my first time cooking bouillabaisse at home. Bouillabaisse is popular in Japan and it is also my favorite food! I bought the source from JUSCO today. It didn't take me much time to cook this dish - only 30 mins! Looks delicious, doesn't it? ;-)

Restart of Yoga (练愈加)

Today I went back to Yoga class! It has been a long while since i took the class last time. The Yoga teacher has changed and the new teacher is a beautiful young lady . I like her posture and the way she teaches is friendly as well as professional. I felt so relaxed after the class. Yoga is doing me good especially it helps me to reduce stress and tension. I will continue the class, hopefully it can also help me cure eyestrain and stiff shoulders! :-)

Happy new year! (新年快乐!)

新年明けましておめでとうございます！Happy new year! we had a quiet new year in Japan - nothing special except eating and sleeping. we still haven't done the Hatsumode (a shrine/temple visit of the New Year in Japan) - should find a time this week to go. We went to Odaiba on January 1st and enjoyed the lion dance and omochi (small rice cakes). New year in Japan was over and Japanese people are back to work today. Chinese new year is coming soon and I can't wait to go back to China! :-)