Looking Back 2012

Wrapping up the year with some highlights…

January

Starting the dragon year with appropriately named “Gyokuryu”.

From Kyoto

A new Mac arrives just before going away.

In London for one night.

Cannes again.

February

In Nice for the first time ever!

The Baie des Anges, the Promenade des Anglais, and the Cours Saleya as seen from the Parc du Chateau.

A reunion with Arakawa-Sensei, our beloved Japanese language teacher from middle/high school.

March

A lunch visit to Tamahidé with cousin visiting from Ashiya.

Voilà!

In New Yo—rk♪ New Yo—rk♪ on business.

The view from the living room.

Out in the ‘burbs of New Jersey.

April

Cherry blossoms.

A visit to my alma mater for a reunion with Glee Club friends for the first time in a long time.

In the Netherlands for the first time.  Vacationing in Amsterdam, coinciding with the Queen’s Day.

May

A day trip to Keukenhof outside of Amsterdam.

June

A “truffle” party at my best friend’s.

Truffle slices. Mmmmm.

A first girls’ night out for the seven of us from the office at the Ivy Place in Daikanyama.

July

A visit to the Tokyo Disneyland.

Fuji Rock 2012

August

Vacationing in the Baltic countries.

Vilnius, Lithuania.

The Hill of Crosses, Lithuania.

Riga, Latvia.

The Baltic Sea in Pärnu, Estonia.

Tallinn, Estonia.

September

Tokyo Jazz, 2012

Inside @ Tokyo International Forum, Hall A

A small middle/high school class reunion to prepare for a bigger, end-of-year reunion.

This was a small reunion with three of my middle/high school classmates. This complimentary wine came from a gigantic bottle that was bigger than a magnum.

October

A day trip to Kawagoé with an old friend from work.

Visited Osaka and met up with an elementary school friend.

Osaka billboards and shop signs.

A trip to Sendai and Matsushima with my best friend to celebrate our respective October birthdays.

November

One more small class reunion before the big reunion in December.

Annual Beaujolais Nouveau night.

December

The 30th Anniversary Reunion!

Christmas.

And more Christmas.

Sad to see the dragon year 2012 go but happy 2013!

Music in the Month of December

Recapping my musical activities for the past month…

Procol Harum @ Billboard Live Tokyo.

Was taken to a soul music bar in Ebisu.

Yumi Matsutoya + Procol Harum “Back to the Beginning” Tour @ Hitomi Memorial Hall.

Kazuma Miura and Néstor Marconi @ Kioi Hall.

A Limited time bar “Bar Whiter Shade of Pale”.

The Heartbreaks @ Unit.

Professor Sakamoto & Assistant Sakurai @ Tokyo Culture Culture.

Kazuma Miura in-store event @ Tower Records Shibuya.

Jazz the Rocks release party @ JZ Brat.

Jin Oki in-store event @ Yamano Music Store Ginza.

The Stylistics @ Billboard Live Tokyo.

Yoko Hasegawa @ Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Recital Hall.

The Persuasions @ the Cotton Club.

The Final Sushi Night of the Year

My best friend and I make it a point to have one sushi dinner a month generally at this sushi bar I have been going to for more than three decades or sometimes at an alternate sushi bar.

We paid our final visit of the year a week before Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed the never-disappointing assortment of sashimi and sushi.

Now need to plan our first visit of 2013…

Kozasa

The End of Year Office Bash

This was a couple of weeks ago.  Oh, how we like to party.

　

　

　

　

Yippee!  Today is the final day of work for 2012.  (Christmas is not a holiday in Japan.)

Bob’s Ribs

Yoino Hibiki

Another Dinner in Hiroo

I like this neighborhood for nostalgic reasons so it was great that I had a chance earlier this month to entertain someone whose daughter also went to my alma mater in Hiroo and who was leaving to go back to the US for good after having lived here since the ’70s.

Great food and great sake as always…

 

 

 

CNN Travel’s review on Yamafuji