Restaurant of Steam-Baked Dumplings Is on Fire

More than ten firetrucks arrived nearby streets and firefighters battled against the blaze.

No one was reported injured by the fire.
But,  the site is still off limit and police are investigating the cause of the fire.

I Go to a Cafe 'Tough Door' for Dinner

I went to a cafe 'Tough Door' with my wife the other day in the evening.

We ordered minestrone soup, egg soup, sweet-and-sour pork, salad and rice with sesame.

Every dish was delicious and the atmosphere in the cafe was perfect.

My Two Daughters Love Foods

Elder Daughter Emi at a Meat Festival                         Younger Daughter Rina at a Noodle Shop

I haven't thought that my two daughters look similar.
But recently, when I visit their web sites, I found that they have similar smiles before foods.
Don't you think so?

In the Middle of Golden Week

I don't know the name of this white flower.

It's in the middle of Golden Week now.

Golden Week is the period from April 29th to May 6th when there are four national holidays in Japan.

I haven't gone on a trip this year's Golden Week.

When I went to tennis courts by car, I caught a glimpse of milk vetch flower fields yesterday.

I stopped my car and took some snap shots.

a milk vetch flower field

After coming back home, my wife and I went out for lunch.

'Asian Bistro Gift 239' is the name of a cafe which opened in front of my home several weeks ago.

It was our first visit there yesterday. 

Foods were nice and the owner of the shop was very friendly; we enjoyed talking about foods.

Golden Week national holidays are followings.
　
　Day of Showa; anniversary of the late Emperor Showa,
　Constitution Memorial Day,
　Greenery Day,
　and Children's Day

I Go to a Cafe 'Kitchen Kaneya.'

Kitchen Kaneya is the name of a restaurant at Orion-Shopping-Mall near my home. 

I heard that the Orion-Shopping-Mall used to be bustling with hundreds of shoppers decades ago. 

But, recently, one fifth of the shops are vacant for new tenants. 

Though the restaurant had about thirty seats, there were only my wife and I who were having lunch from twelve noon till one o'clock. 

Sooner or later, the restaurant may change owners or be vacant for a new tenant.

Late Spring Winds Blow Cherry Blossoms' Petals Off

A late spring has pushed cherry blossoms away and brought in roadside daffodils.

UP        :This is a cherry tree at near tennis courts I usually use on weekends.
DOWN   :This is a lane I go to and come back from my office weekdays.

Cherry Blossoms Along the Kamagawa River

Weeping cherry trees are planted along both banks of Kamagawa river.

The river is not big, just a few meters wide and less than 10 km long.

Municipal government asks a local constructor to build a hastily-built floor over a part of the river for people are able to dine under cherry blossoms during the top season of the flower.




They bring feasts under flowering cherry trees and have parties even until late at night.

It's too cold for my wife and I, so we went to a nearby Japanese restaurant called KAI.

Cherry Blossoms at Night

Cherry blossoms or sakura at Futarasan shrine are in full bloom these days.
I had a short walk to the shrine and took some pictures last night.

It's common that Japanese people bring feasts under flowering sakura trees and have parties even until late at night.

There were several people seeing or taking snap shots of sakura but nobody eating nor drinking under the trees.

I Go to the Flower Blooming Castle Park

I went to Utsunomiya Castle Park and Utsunomiya Central Park to see flowers.
Contrary to today's rainy bad weather, it was a warm sunny day yesterday. Cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

I See My Friend Again For the First Time in 15 Yerars

I went to an Irish Pub, a Japanese style Izakaya-pub, an Italian bar and a Japanese noodle soup shop with my friend yesterday.

I enjoyed the reunion and spent wonderful time with him.

Mr. Sano, used to be my colleague, is living a quite adventurous life.

I worked with him for only two to three years at my company around 1998.

He got married in his young age, divorced after several years, changed occupations many times, once lived in the U.S..

He runs a company, works as an owner of three houses and also works as a software engineer now.

Listening to stories from a guy who is walking a completely different life comparing to mine stimulates my idea.

I Take Part in a Doubles Tennis Tournament with My Colleague Today

Tochigi Corporate Tennis Association held doubles tennis tournaments today.

Men's tournaments were divided two classes, A-class and B-class.

Participants could decide A or B judging from their skills by themselves.

My company's colleague Mr. Ida and I competed in a B-class tournament .

What's the result?

 …

We took enough chances to win the final match, but the title fell in the opponent's hands by a hair. Sigh.

Anyway, we enjoyed the tournament and a comfortable gentle spring day, for sure.

Mr. Ida right and I both hold the certificate of runner-up.
I also hold the prize of a pair of socks.

Hibiscus Flower Blooms

It becomes warmer day by day in my city Utsunomiya.

One bud of hibiscus flower at home beautifully bloomed today.

The size of cactus has become almost twice as large as it was two months ago; it also added three new branches.

I'm happy to have spring days in my town.

Italian Bar Baritone

After heavy snow-falling days in a raw, we had a sunny weekend.

My wife and I went to a Italian bar called Baritone for lunch.

The bar keeps hundreds of wine, opens as a bar at night and it does as a cafe afternoon.

It's a sunny warm day, so snowmen standing here and there began melting.

The snowman, on the left with a red cap, is melting by the sunlight.

Mt. Fuji and Airplane Contrail

I took lots of pictures when I went to Fuji Five Lakes area in December 2013.

Among them, I love these pictures taken at the time of sunset.

Cafe NORA

One of my tennis friends is the owner of a cafe called NORA. He opened it two years ago, after having renovated a part of his farm houses.

Even I often play tennis with him, it was my first visit to the restaurant.

 He is not only the owner of the cafe but also is still a farmer. He produces rice and vegetables by himself; he uses his own agricultural crops for dishes at his restaurant.

We had lunch there, talked with the owner about this and that, on and on, for hours.

It was a wonderful afternoon.