Just small token from my trip to Hokkaido island last week.
Taken at: Furano Lavender field, Bie, by Nikon D50.

Have a nice weekend.

Airport and lines are best friend. In Narita airport, as Japanese are the travel nation, airport always crowded just like train station. Once I was in line for check-in for about 80 minutes in the peak of preferred departure time of late morning (Japanese hates night flights). Once I was stuck in the immigration line to go out of the country (where check was not as intense as the get in) for almost an hour. In airports in the US, most of my "in line" time was spent in the security check. Once in Raleigh, the machine sniffed something in my boots after the 25 min in line, that require me to stand another line for special chemical residue check for my shoes ( I swear to God I change my socks regularly : )).
But lines are lines, you got to do the time. Check-in, security check, immigration, equal to queues and travel routine.

I was in Chitose airport last weekend. Check-in, I stood in line for a handsome three minutes only. Security check, though the no liquid, no sharp object, no spray (and the list goes on) rule apply, there were barely no line. I was out in less than one minute. Enough security gate and efficient officer, bravo.
But, I was standing in a line for almost an hour for something else, which importance, for me was far bellow the reason to line-up .

Jyagapokkuru is the responsible one for my standing together with some one hundred people behind me. Since the day I landed in Hokkaido, people keep on talking about this special souvenir snack of Hokkaido which reach its popularity level-one nowadays. It is a crispy dried potato stick kind of snack. With colleagues, we went to some of the souvenir shop, albeit all sold out.
So people already plant their spirit for Jyagapokkuru hunting in the airport before fly back to Tokyo. For me, I didn’t take it seriously. I bought many other yummy Hokkaido’s best like dairy products, cookies, caramel, seafood, etc. Will not put effort on this one.

At the airport, I saw the board saying that Jyagapokkuru sale will start in 60 minutes, each customer may only buy two boxes max and some explanation about the snack. As it was written in kanji, it took a while for me to read all the detail. When I was done, I was surprised to found out more than twenty people lined up behind me. I called my friend’s cell phone, he was around at different shops, he instructed me: "Do not move, you are at the head of the line to get the most wanted potato snack in Japan!".
The line grew longer by the minutes and I was there amused to myself, what the hell am I doing here? But I just stood… I think it was for the curiosity, and the ego not to give away the front line.
After ten minutes, an old man behind me pat my shoulder and said, "Excuse me, what is this line for?" he didn’t know what the lines for, what it for was number two, jump in the line was number one.

In Japan, people don’t mind to be in lines for some popular food. When people see the long line, they will come to join the line with the believe of the quality they will get. If they have to choose among the restaurant with no line or with the line, most of them prefer the second one.
The Krispy Kreme in Shinjuku still have the 90 minutes line at weekends, a Japanese traditional sweet shop at Ryogoku got over sixty minutes lines. Many of the restaurant get over 120 minutes line. Once I was in line for Chef Mickey restaurant at Ambassador hotel for almost 180 minutes, but as it is children friendly restaurant, they let us wait out of the line for 120 min.

Fifty minutes later, I walked out the store with two boxes of Jyagapokkuru and a feeling of "Man, I became more Japanese!"
By the way, the snack was indeed delicious though I have to say, it doesn’t deserves 60 minutes of my time.

Photo credit: Rakuten

" She must be so tanned by now ?" asked my beauty conscious sister when I told her that her niece, my girl, has been in and out of the pool countless time during the summer, which actually just has been started. Raisa indeed is crazy about swimming lately. From beginning of June, when it was still cool days, her school started the swimming lesson. The pool was outdoor, located at the roof of her elementary school building. Three times in a week, when sun located just the straight line on top of your head, children lines up at the edge of the pool learn how to jump properly.
In addition to that, when Raisa came back early from her after-school class, first thing she did when reached home was changed the clothes to swimming suit again and jump-in the padding pool at our apartment building, until the pool closed at six.
By now, though she still struggles with the proper breast-stroke and free-style, floating and moving inside the water were no longer an issue. Not bad for a starter. She’s been into swimming so much, that she practices how to swim in her bed before sleep every night.
If not swimming, she and Ken will ask me and hubby to bring them to the park. Hot and humid days seem no issue for them to enjoy the outdoor (but really issue for their Mom -it is sauna hot out there nowadays!).
So the answer of my sister’s question is, " Yes. She is three tone darker than she was in Springs. She has layer of sun mark on her skin, following the shape of the swimming suit".
But I don’t mind. Her colour will naturally lighter in the cold winter days, but what is skin color anyway, I rather my kids to enjoy and in love with outdoor and physical game instead of being potato couch, hypnotized by the TV or video game.

If you expect the portion of serving in this well-known seafood restaurant in NY as super huge as in most of the restaurant in the States, you will be disappointed. But not for me, I rather relieved that the quantity on the plate was just perfect for every dish served in the famous Oyster Bar, located at the basement of New York main station, Grand Central Terminal. As the name itself, as expected, clam choices in the menu was extensive, over twenty selection of Oyster from different part of US’ ocean. So we left it to the expertise of the friendly waiter for his recommendation of raw Oyster. Pair of Bluepoint and Moonstone was served. He also recommended the Halibut filet for the lunch, but I was into shrimp (crazy about it since free from the allergy this year) so I choose panroasted shrimp as the main. That, accompanied by mixed salad as the green side.
The raw Oysters was perfect. Sweet with the twist of lemon, freshly melt in the mouth. It hold the name and reputation of the over a hundred years of history of the restaurant, firmly.
Despite peak lunch time, we were seated quick and served just right, never been left too far, yet didn’t feel being bug too much by the friendly waiter. The restaurant divided into counter side (like bar style) and saloon (like restaurant table).
Both wrap in classical american deco.
Price wise, although it is not the cheapest selection for lunch (but if they use the same menu for dinner, it is cheap!), the amount on the bill was reasonable and I was still smiling to spare the 17% service tips.

Food             : ****
Place            : ***
Service         : ****
Money Value : ***

Oyster Bar Restaurant
Grand Central Station,E 42nd & Lexington Ave.
New York, 10017

(I never try, yet, but they have branch in Japan!)
Oyster Bar Tokyo
Atre Shinagawa, 4th Fl. 2-18-1
Konan, Minato-ku ,Tokyo

Is Japanese word means loose spirit and appetite due to the heat of summer. I think, it’s striking me now. I loose the appetite, not for food, but to write and kicking.
A lot of things happened, lined up in my brain. I just loose the words to make them into sentences.
So, until then. As my objective of blogging/journalizing is to put my thought in written so Raisa and Ken one day can read what was inside Mom, I should not be in long hiatus.
Listing down what’s going on:

• Rainy Season (Tsuyu) in full swing.
• First day to turn on the Air-Con this year is July 5. (I keep record every year, last year was June 26. Despite global warming it is cooler this time).
• Gas price increased (again!) 184 yen/liter now. I practically drive only in the weekend and once a week to work. Good friend of bike and bus now.
• G8 Summit was over. Instead of eight, 22 world leaders were there including SBY. Number of protester on the street is much less than number of police. No aggressive result as expected, sad as compare to the current issues occurring in this crazy world nowadays. Summit was in Hokkaido, but security super tight everywhere, even in our home station thousand miles away from the venue. Police everywhere…
• Due to write two personal reviews: Oyster Bar NYC and Hairspray Musical Broadway.
• Succeed to move Atlanta biztrip to later month in anticipation to make my long-waited first ever domestic flight to Hokkaido into reality! (been here for a while, I never try fly out of Haneda yet!)
• Big boss is coming from NYC to Tokyo. Meetings line-up. Tough schedule third week of July.
• Busy weekends: lunch with Okaasan, meet new friends, charity project, dinner at fancy house of the embassy officer, Swimming, Summer Sale grab, four fat load of laundry in single Saturday (I call this: achievement). Cleaning and messing projects.
• My first and successful bread baking: Kare-pan (Chicken Curry Bread); kids and neighbors were happy.
• Planning down Summer Holiday schedule for Raisa. She will have five weeks off school. With both of us working, it’s tough to ensure she will get great time in this over than a month, but not impossible.
• Suddenly I loose mood for summer outdoor, beach, camping, BBQ…. what’s wrong with me?
• Chaos in Pakistan; Islamabad, Karachi, everywhere. further instability, worry for family there.
• Japanese lessons at Berlitz approaching the end of the package.
• How to move this butt to hit the gym again? Been months of break.
• Pa & Ma’s giant project to move from Pekanbaru (after 30 years) to Yogyakarta.