Autumn in Japan

Beautiful Japanese garden at Koumyou Zen Ji, a Bhuddist temple in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Japan.











My mom and dad.













Me.

I'm in heaven

Hello from Fukuoka, Japan. I left DC in the morning of 23rd, and after 14 hours of flight, arrived in Narita Airport of Tokyo on 24th. Then I took a connection flight from there to Fukuoka, my hometown. The flight from DC to Tokyo was OK....the airplane was new and not crowded. There were many Vietnamese Americans going to visit their relatives in Saigon around my seat....they just kept talking loudly....it was a little annoying. Well, very annoying. In-flight movie line-up was not very good. I saw "The Break-up" and "Nacho Libre." The first one was a waste of time, the second was just OK. Oh, I saw Pirates of Carribian: Dead Man's Chest. The movie reminded me how much I loved Johnny Depp. On the way back to DC, there will be "The Devil Wears Prada." I look forward to it.

I've been doing absolutely nothing here at home. Wake up, eat, chat with my parents, play with my nieces, eat, watch TV, drink, eat, take bath, and go to bed. It's great. I'm sure I will gain weight. I eat two bowls of rice with miso-soup and Japanese pickles for breakfast every morning. I just can't stop eating! My mom's cooking is so great, and rice taste so good. Last night we had a small birthday party for my niece, Namiho. She will be 9 on 28th. We got great carry-out sushi for a dinner. $60 for 7 people! I'm so amazed how inexpensive everything is here in Japan compared to DC. Believe me, Japan is not expensive. You can buy almost everything at 100-yen ($1) shop....T-shirts, watch, even DVDs. You can have very tasty lunch for $5, and you don't need to pay tips. A dinner with all-you-can-drink option can be $20.

Well, but I'm not sure if I can live in Japan again....I'll write about it later. My mom said dinner is ready. Today's menu seems to be Tonkatsu, deep fried breaded pork. Yummy.

My obsession is not only alcohol

Just a quick note. There are some movies I want to see. First of all, "Volver." I can't miss Pedro Almodovar's movies. Penelope Cruz is back to Pedro's movie. Good. I like her only in Pedro's movies. And "Babel." I like the director ("Amores Peros" and "21 grams"), and love Koji Yakusho, a Japanese actor (he was in original "Shall we dance?" and "Warm Water Under a Red Bridge") . Believe or not, I may want to see "Casino Royal." Well, most likely, I will wait for DVD for this. I haven't seen "Little Miss Sunshine." I want to see it. Maybe "Running With Scissors"? I'd rather read the book...Oh, and I want to see "Borat"!

Tomorrow, I'll go to see "Nightmare Before Christmas" 3-D version with Steven and Mike and maybe some others. I'm not sure if I'm eager to see the movie itself, but I'm interested in 3-D. And it's always fun to see a movie with friends.

Ok, now I need to go back to work....yeah, it's Saturday...but.....sigh.