never forget

Thinking of the people of Tohoku and the surrounding areas especially today.

Sending virtual hugs

ps thankful the wildfires in Iwate are finally out

virtual hugs

Sending good thoughts to the people of Ishikawa prefecture.

Not only did they endure a huge earthquake at the beginning of the year, but over the weekend, they had heavy rains and flooding from Typhoon 14 (Pulasan)

So heartbreaking to see all the damage and hear all the updates

virtual hugs

Thinking of the people of Tohoku, especially today.

tragic

Interrupting Hawaii posts to address what is happening on Maui.

Truly sad seeing the damage from the fires there.

How truly fragile life is.

Thankful that Maui friends confirmed they are safe.

Hoping the fires will be put out soon and everyone will be able to return to their daily activities.

Please stay safe,  be well.

10 years

Some might say that what happened on this day feels like yesterday while others may say it feels like a very long time ago.

Sending our prayers and thoughts to the people of Tohoku and the surrounding areas especially today.

we are fine

It was scary.

We were about to go to bed.

Luckily we had no damage.

Glad friends in Sendai are okay.

The experts are saying this is an aftershock from “the big one” 10 years ago.

Thank you to everyone who reached out to us.

Stay safe everyone.

preparing

Japan is nearing the date (June 19th) when they will allow people to travel to other prefectures.

Of course this doesn't mean we can go back to our normal ways, we still need to social distance and wear a mask.

The experts advise that when we eat out, we sit side-by-side and not talk to each other while eating.

Also places like karaoke and izakaya (bars) have come up with innovative ways to prevent virus clusters.

Since most of Japan has started their rainy season, I am impressed that the local governments are thinking ahead and have started to prepare for natural disasters.

Any natural disasters that happen this year will be treated differently because of COVID-19.

In the past, most shelters were packed with people, but this year, they are thinking of different ways to prevent virus clusters from forming.

Hopefully there will not be any natural disasters in Japan this year, but if by chance there is, at least everyone is trying to prepare in advance.

Satoshi is working from home this week, so I don't need to make him bento and get to sleep an hour longer...whoo!

virtual hugs

Thinking of the people of Tohoku especially today.

Be kind to one another.

sending virtual hugs

Sending virtual hugs to Paris...so so sad seeing Notre Dame Cathedral in flames yesterday morning on the news.

These were some photos of the cathedral from our Paris trip in 2011.

I know it will take time, but I hope they will be able to restore the damaged areas.

pray for japan

Sadly another natural disaster occurred early Thursday morning...a huge earthquake in Hokkaido.

They said it was 7 magnitude.

Many homes were covered by landslides, so there are many missing.

Right now there is no electricity in Hokkaido...the airport is closed and Shinkansen is stopped so people are trying to get to and from Honshu on ferries.

Pray for Japan.

I hope we will all be able to get back to our daily routines soon.

Take care and be well everyone.

update

Lots of areas in Kansai were hit with tons of rain and wild winds.

Rooftops flew off, metal crushed easily like aluminum cans, tons of mud and flooding...even a wind power windmill fell over...pretty krazy news footage.

Luckily in Tokyo, we had some rain and winds but nothing really major...well, the heat and humidity were krazy!

Areas in Northern Japan hit 40C (104F) because of the typhoons...eep!

If I am not mistaken our typhoon season started in July and runs to November.

Can you believe we've had 6 in the past week?

Japan numbers their typhoons instead of giving them names and we are on 20 already!

Number 19 and 20 are heading for Hokkaido...together!

Because the humidity was unbearable, dinner last night was super simple, I just picked up some sliced maguro, topped it with some yamagata dashi and used the stove for 7 minutes to cook dadacha mame (which are similar to edamame).

With all these krazy natural disasters around the world, I'm pretty sure Mother Nature is upset with all of us...

Stay safe Hawaii, have a nice weekend everyone.

oh em gee

You may have heard that a huge earthquake hit Osaka and the surrounding areas.

Apparently it was a 6, strong enough that you probably wouldn't be able to stand...eep!

The area where we used to live, Minoo, was in that 6 range as well as Takatsuki where we lived pre-blog.

My friend, Hiromi who lives in Ikeda, said that it was so scary.

I can't imagine what it was like.

Luckily, MIL was okay and everyone I messaged said they were okay too.

So many volcanoes on the "Ring of Fire" erupting and shaking these days.

Stay safe and be well everyone.

ii fufu

(photo taken on Sunday in Osaka)

Today is Ii Fufu (good couple) day in Japan.

I've written about this before here.

Sadly, the Tohoku area had another big one (earthquake) this morning.

They were told to evacuate and are on tsunami watch.

Hoping there won't be too much damage this time.

Sending hugs to Tohoku and the surrounding areas.

sending hugs

It's been 2 months since the tragic Kumamoto Earthquake, and they are still having aftershocks!

Thousands are still in shelters and/or living out of their cars.

They haven't been able to clear much of the debris and the "red tape" part of getting things moving forward seems to be endless and frustrating.

I found a tiny shop nearby that sells fruits and veggies from Kumamoto.

Even if we cannot visit the area right now, I hope by purchasing their produce it will help Kumamoto start moving forward.

Sending hugs to Kumamoto.

kyushu

(photo taken at Daikanbo Observation Point, Kumamoto in 2006) Huge earthquake last night in Kumamoto and parts of Kyushu.

I think they said it was a 7?!

They are still trying to assess the damage, but it has been hard since the aftershocks have been almost non-stop for them.

Sending good thoughts and prayers to the affected areas.

Be well everyone.

earthquake drill

Growing up in Hawaii, we never had "earthquake" drills just fire drills.

So of course, living in Japan now, we have earthquakes, luckily the ones in our area have been small (knock on wood), and to this day, I don't really know what needs to be done if a big one should ever hit...

21 years have passed since the Kobe earthquake.

Sunday morning our city sounded a siren (the first time we ever heard it!) and then when we walked around the neighborhood, we noticed all these yellow towels on door knobs, hanging on gates and out of mailboxes.

After coming back, we looked in our city "manual" and it said that you put something yellow on your door to let the city officials know you are safe.

Good to know.

We have some items in our emergency bags, but I think we need to add a couple of yellow towels.

Do you have earthquake drills where you live?

virtual hugs

Remembering this day.

It's been 20 years since that horrific earthquake.

Sending virtual hugs to Kobe and their surrounding areas today.

thankful

The other day, I did something scary...

I intended to steam some broccoli.

So, I put the steamer basket into a pot, put the broccoli in and turned on the heat.

I put the timer on and started to put some dishes away.

The pot started to make a weird noise and when I looked at the flame it was green.

Emerald green.

I thought it was kinda weird because the flame is usually blue and whenever there is water on the pot, the flame turns orangey.

Then I realized I hadn't put any water into the pot.

I turned the heat off and put some water into the pot. Steam immediately rose up.

Did you know that the green flame is whenever copper is burning? I found out after.

I'm glad I didn't cause a fire. And thankful for whomever is watching over me. (Thank you!)

virtual hugs

On September 27, a horrific natural disaster occurred in Japan...Mount Ontake erupted.

To tell you the truth, until the story hit the news, I didn't know Mount Ontake existed.

The weekend was a beautiful one, the fall foliage beautiful, many were out and about on Mount Ontake to check it out.

Unfortunately, the mountain erupted without warning killing many that were at the top and many that were trying to escape.

It has been almost two weeks and many are still missing. The recent typhoon last week also hampered rescue/recovery efforts.

After the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, the scientists now say that the magma under Japan has shifted.

In recent years there has been talk of Mount Fuji erupting though they aren't exactly sure of when.

It got me thinking about my climb up Mount Fuji, many years ago.

We were lucky that time.

With Mount Fuji being designated a UNESCO site recently, the amount of people hiking up these days has increased significantly.

I don't mean to scare anyone with this post, just make people aware.

In the future, I hope there will be more safety procedures put in place on all hiking areas in Japan.

I hope all those missing will be returned to their families soon.

Sending you all a virtual hug.

oh em gee

So, the other day, I happened to check on the plants on the lanai...and noticed all the kale had holes in it...

I found one inchworm and threw it off the lanai. And then I found another and threw that one off the lanai too.

And when I looked closely, I could see all these guys...

And then after going through all the three pots of kale...I came up with all these guys...

I didn't kill these, I thought maybe some birds would come get them and left them in a planter dish.

Instead, they are back in the kale and roaming the lanai for something to eat.

I'm heading to Hawaii in a couple of weeks and usually while I'm away, the substitute farmer (Satoshi) kills everything...so I think I'll let these guys eat their fill so they can turn into moths or butterflies or whatever nature-ish things they need to do...

Hope better things are happening in your garden.