MS Kanto Plain Band Festival

On Thursday, May 21st, I was able to chaperone the Christian Academy in Japan's (CAJ) MS band to the MS Kanto Plain Band Festival in Yokosuka at the Naval Base there. According to directions it says it's about 70 kilometers from school to Yokosuka.

I don't know if this is the actual route we took, but it's one that was shown on the map.

We gathered at CAJ by 6:00 am to make sure we would leave by 6:15 am or so.  We did manage to drive off before 6:30 am.  We were taking over 60 students and four different vehicles, two busses and 2 vans. 

Naoko Sawada was driving the bus I was in.

Looking back in the bus.

All was going well until we arrived at this spot.  It took us about 30+ minutes to get onto the expressway, needing to move only about 100 meters.

We were able to see Mt. Fuji clearly along the way.

Waiting at the entrance to the base.

All tolled, the trip took us four hours!  Some of that was also due to waiting at the Yokosuka Naval base entrance.  We had rented a bus and were unable to take the bus on base, which caused some of the delay.  The band missed their performance time, but they were able to give their performance later on.

Eating lunch

Mrs. Sawada and Mrs. Kim taking pictures.

Lunch was at the park right beside the food court.  I was a beautiful day and a beautiful place to have lunch.   Mrs. Kim treated us to a Cinnabon, which made lunch even better.  :)  

 

Between band performances

CAJ MS Band

Another Kanto Plain MS band

We were able to leave by about 15:00.  The trip back was considerably shorter, probably about two and a half hours.  The scenery was very beautiful.  

Entering the express way.

Entering the tunnel

Going through the tunnel

So much vegetation!

Lush green country side.

We went through multiple tunnels.

Isn't this just a cute little green truck?  Look at those wheels, so tiny!

Beautiful sun on the way to setting.

It was a long day, but enjoyable as well.  The students did fairly well and received some positive comments from the judges as well as some suggestions on how to improve.  We are blessed at CAJ to be able to provide so many opportunities for students to develop their skills.  

O Canada!

I had the privilege of going to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo today.  I finally gathered all my documents and pictures together, so I can get my passport renewed.  I have not been at the Canadian Embassy here in Tokyo, so I was excited to see what this Embassy looked like.  The building did have a certain Canadian flavor.  Here are some pictures I took while I was there. 

An interesting arc

The Embassy is on a fairly major thoroughfare.  As I walked from the Aoyama-Itchome station, you walk past this arc beside the sidewalk. 
In order to get into the building you have to go up this escalator. 

Looking down the escalator

The entrance

Provincial flags

After I went down, yes down to the 3rd floor, to drop off my application, payment, pictures and passport, to exit, you have to go back up to the entrance to exit the building.  Just outside of the entrance door, they have a large space with some art.  I took some pictures. 

Looks something like an Inukshuk

From the one end.

From the other end.

WAVE by Kantaroff Maryon

 I enjoyed my visit to the Canadian Embassy.  I love the art they have there.  There is a small gallery there as well.  I know each month I get an email with various exhibits.  I haven't gone to see any yet, but maybe I'll do that sometime soon. 
Afterwards, it was lunchtime, so I hopped on the train for one stop, and went to Wendy's for a burger. 

 By the way, Wendy's moved to a new location and they have made some changes to their menu.  One of the new things they offer are flavoured fries!  It was an interesting taste.  I can't remember, but I think I had butter and baked potato flavour. 

After lunch, I had a Kanto Plain Middle School Principal meeting.  It was a good meeting, lots of learning, gleaning ideas that maybe we can implement at CAJ. 

I came home still tired, even after doing what seemed to be less work, but it was still a productive day.  I am grateful that we have weekends at the end of a week. 

MS Track and Field Finals

Saturday May 2nd was the MS Track and Field Finals.  It was at Oi Futo Track, which is out near Haneda Airport.  It is about 40 kilometers one way to get from Higashi Kurume to Oi Futo track.  Bette has done this trip by bicycle before so I decided to go with her.  We started out at 5 am.

Just before Bette showed up. 

The sun had barely risen, but it was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day.  We were able to get to the field much quicker than we thought, taking us about 3 hours instead of 4 hours.  

CAJ settling in on the bleachers.

Running the 100 meter hurdles.

Students sitting down on track waiting for awards.

Students sitting down on track waiting for awards.

Giving out awards.

CAJ did a fine job in their events.  After the track meet, we rode back to Higashi Kurume. 
I was challenged to bicycle over the Ejima bridge near Matsue City, but that bridge is 758 km (471 miles) away.  I did ride on a bridge.  

Crossing some water.

It took us a bit longer going back, part of the reason is there is more traffic at that time of the day.  We also made a stop for dinner.  Bette and I noticed a little hole in the wall place on our way down to the track meet, called Baha Homemade Tacos.  You don't find too many places that sell authentic Mexican food.  We thought we'd try this little place, if we could find it back.  We did, although there were some doubts. 

It looked like a house in the middle of two tall buildings.  Half was this taco place the other half was a cleaners.

They even had a couple of seats inside.  We sat on a bench on the sidewalk.

I had a chicken burrito and it was delicious!  We also had a soft ice cream cone for dessert.  It's pretty authentic.  Now to remember where it is! 
Along the way, I noticed that the azalea's were coming out.  They were quite pretty. 

Azaleas

Here are a few more pictures as we were heading back.  I have to admit that these pictures were taken with my iPhone.  It isn't as easy taking photos as you're bicycling with an iPhone as with a camera. 

Someone must love aliens!

Bicycling past a bus station.

It was a long day, but the weather was very nice, maybe got a little too much sun, but a great day.  You would have thought with all those natural vitamins I acquired being outside all day, I would have been able to combat this cold. :)  I am thankful for the opportunity I had to bicycle to another place in the Tokyo area.

Personal Day

Today was supposed to be the day that I go down to the Canadian Embassy to hand in my passport so I can get a new one.  Sometimes the best laid plans fall flat.  So, what can you do?  Make the best of a personal day...

Dishes drying in the trays.

I have been meaning to do my dishes the last couple of days, but time just seemed to pass me by, so this morning, one of the first things I did was my huge pile of dishes. 
Another thing I did was take a walk with Woman's and Man's best friend, Hana along the river. 

Women's and Man's best friend, Hana!

Walking along the Yanesegawa.

I always find the walk along the river such a great opportunity to see God's handiwork, the beauty in creation.

Dogwood tree, British Columbia official flower.

Dandelions!  Weeds or flowers?  :)

Beautiful canopy.

The duck just woke up!

Another great reason to walk along the river, is it allows both Hana and I to wade into the water.  We have this one spot where we usually go to wade.  I wore the correct shoes today and was able to wade in with Hana. 

Doesn't she look happy?

After my walk with Hana, I went home to have some lunch and met up with a friend who has access to Yokota Air Force Base.  We went out to Yokota and just hung out and had some Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

For dinner we went to Chili's where I had some tacos, yum!  I am home now and getting my head around my school day tomorrow.  I am thankful for this day! 

Spring Cleaning

Yesterday they started putting up the scaffolding around Matsukawa Place.  They are scheduled to clean up the outside of Matsukawa Place.  What really is quite amazing is the way they have put all this scaffolding up in the last two days.  It's like a puzzle they have put together, all around the building.  They will be hanging the blue tarp from the top all the way down to the ground.  Once that is up, my view will definitely be affected. 

Looking to the right off of my balcony.

Looking to the left off of my balcony.

See the blue tarp?  This is looking up on the left.

Right in front of my balcony.

Looking down to the left. 

Once this cleaning is completed, I'm pretty sure Matsukawa Place will look pretty nice!