A N N U A L U P D A T E

I made it to October

somehow. It was not easy. I get to move into a new

room on the second floor.

It’s an all female floor with

less people. Good for areas

like the kitchen and bathroom.

The mail box accepts letter

sized envelopes. The box is

shared by everyone on the

floor. My is now on the bottom row all the way to

the right. It is based on the

honor system.

It’s been a busy month

MAIL BOXES IN THE CAR PAY PARKING AREA BY THE ELEVATOR

SKIING IN WHISTLER ELSIE’S BIRTHDAY CAMPING IN OREGON

TOKYO UPDATE #7

Here’s the room. It is larger than the first room. It has a real chair and desk.

The bed is more comfortable.

There is a place to hang up my clothes now. I have a TV to watch. They have CSI-New York & Miami on during the day 12:30pm Monday and Tuesday..... Cold Case and Lie to Me come on at 3am Saturday. Learning to read the TV guide.

Internet is a LAN line. 6th floor has wireless and a faster connection. LAN line is slower and observed.......

The view outside my window. I’m next to the yellow and green sign now.

I have a 17 inch TV to watch.

You see the rabbit ears. Problem with antenna connection in the wall. Promises to be fixed later.

I was using my laptop too much for TV entertainment. So to save my MAC’s life I bought a portable TV/DVD player. Of course it’s set for region 2 DVDs. So, I’m not able to watch the DVDs I brought along. I had to go to Bic Camera and buy some movies to watch---- cheap movies to watch

see the enormous 7 inch screen.

See the credit card offer. Tokyo store Seyu is actually the Walmart

Yes I live close to the Walmart. Basement level is a grocery store. First floor is expensive boutique stores and jewelry counter. Third floor to sixth floor is Walmart. The Seventh floor is a bookstore and musical instruments. The third floor through to sixth floor is a shared space with a movie theater.

This Walmart requires you to buy items before leaving the floor. No walking with items thinking about if you want it.

This theater is more like an American theater. You buy the ticket, sneak in your own food and drink (expected--people are surprised when you buy something---) and pick a seat anywhere you like. Different from the TOHO theaters where you buy the ticket and pick a seat that no one else selected yet......

Mitaka Studio Ghibli Museum

First take the JR Chuo train to Mitaka

Then find bus stop number #9buy a roundtrip ticket to the studio at this machine.

Then get in line and wait for the bus

The bus is yellow and easy to spot.

That’s it for studio Ghibli. No photos allowed inside. It is interesting. I got to see an original short film made for the museum and will never be released on DVD. But the places is mainly geared for selling items. Not too much to do, but worth a visit.

Here’s the main street in Mitaka

Close to the JR station. The travel from Nihonbashi was over an hour.

Since I had an appointment time to enter the museum I left early just in case the trains were delayed or I got lost.

I got there fine and was able to look around the park and eat breakfast.

Everything is close and convenient.

The museum is simple to get to. You could walk, but it’s better to take the bus. Bus is about 5 minutes long.

Next to the studio is Inokashira Park and Zoo

So a nice place to walk around and wait until your appointed time to enter the studio. Yes, you buy a ticket and select an appointment time to enter. The studio is that busy. See what you can cause you must leave in two hours.

Got a Birthday cake in the Walmart basement. A chocolate cake from TOPS.

A popular bakery for sweets. In the basement, but not a part of Walmart. It’s a speciality store renting space.

They pack your cake like a present. They put it in a really nice bag. I got a free Chocolate plate on top saying Happy Birthday

They also put a piece of dry ice on top so the icing didn’t melt before I got home.

It tasted really good........ but not sweet. Japan seems to be against sugar.

I got the McDonald’s Big Mac set for take out... very tiring day

The.... Birthday in Japan

In Kyoto, Japan, Ono Hiroyuki leads a vibrant group of researchers. At the 2005 BFI conference he spoke about Chaplin’s influence on Japanese Kabuki theater – in August, 1931, just six months after its world premiere, City Lights was adapted in Japan as a Kabuki performance titled Komori no Yasusan. Ono, a film and theater critic as well as musical-theater director, playwright, and composer, is the author of Charles Chaplin in Japan (Chaplin Society in Japan, 2006), The Whole Story of Chaplin Out-takes (NHK, 2007), The Plot to Assassinate Chaplin (Media Factory, 2007), and (with David Robinson) Chaplin and War (Chaplin Society in Japan, 2007). At the Zanesville meeting, he will talk about Chaplin’s Japanese butler and right-hand man from 1916 to 1934, Kono.

Incidentally, the plot to assassinate Chaplin that inspired Ono’s 2007 book came during his last visit to the country, in 1932. On May 15, six Japanese naval officers broke into Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai’s residence, and murdered him, intent on fomenting a revolution that would usher back into power an emperor-led government. Court-martial testimony, which turned out to be testimony to the esteem that Chaplin commanded in Japan, revealed that the deluded plotters had also intended to kill the actor, imagining that that would induce the United States into war with Japan.

Plot to kill Charlie Chaplin to incite a world war with the United States by Japanese Naval Officers. They were huge fans of the actor and thought Chaplin was a God in the world and everyone would want to battle. Trivia ......Came up in the news.

Shrine in Meguro

Photos of Meguro area since I was there to work. I walked around during my break to explore.

One of the few areas with a Christian/ Catholic church community.

Ebisu Beer Garden is getting ready for the holidays. They will light a huge chandelier for Christmas.

I don’t understand why it’s not a tree, but it’s the garden’s tradition and understanding of Christmas lighting.....

Update you more later about how it’s going or when I’m going but so far so good.

Catching a cold from the weather changing.

Remember to cross out the old room number and write #205. As far as I know there are no plans to more me from this location.

Sorry for the late update.... names and identities had to be removed to protect the innocent---- ME.

Bye for nowReyna