We bought this in preparation for tomorrow’s delivery. Can’t wait!! π
Monthly Archives: December 2011
the Thursday and Friday that was
We had our bounenkai till late last night; this time, it’s our project team’s year end party cum farewell party to those who are going back to Philippines after their Yokohama assignment and for a colleague who is resigning to go back to her hometown in Okinawa. With Hubs’ permission, I also went to the second party. It’s a Japanese tradition to have second parties, and sometimes 3rd and 4th parties(!) after the main party. Hence, I wasn’t able to blog, even the shortest bit. I’m trying to make up through this short blogpost; after all, there’s lots to be thankful for.
Thursday. Thankful for the gift of voice that was given to me. And I do hope I continue to make people happy and relaxed simply by singing. If truth be told, I tremendously miss singing! And yes, one other great thing. It warms me every time our officemates and also Hubs’ peers and elders tell me how Atsushi is such a kind person. Of course I know this for a fact. But it still gives me much warmth when somebody reiterates it. π
Friday. It has been a terribly busy week (and an emotional one at that!), with new deliverables suddenly popping up and with tight deadlines to boot. And of course since our bounenkai was almost like a required attendance, I have to do as much as I can within 8 hours. This week’s main deliverables, the Safety Narrative and Flare Report (with Cold Depressuring yet to be done) almost seemed like an impossible feat (and I had to add a new PSV at that, this late in the project phase!). Back when it was still Monday, I looked at my to-do list and the objective part of me told me it sure is impossible to meet. But I have no other choice but to work hard and finish it, and hope. And hope. The hoping bore fruit though. My boss was very surprised. I smiled, because he doesn’t know I have a bigger BOSS up there who helped me along the way. π
Gotta hit the sack! Tomorrow’s gonna be hectic! Hope we’ll see more of the sun tomorrow.
what is bounenkai, really?
In one of my recent posts, I mentioned how the bounenkai (εΏεΉ΄δΌ) is the Japanese equivalent of thanksgiving party to celebrate the year that was.
I may be a bit wrong on this however. The last kanji, δΌ (read as “kai”), means party. The second kanji, εΉ΄ (read as “nen”, means year. The first kanji, εΏ (read as “bou”) means forget. Hence, translation of bounenkai is really to have a party to forget the year that was.
And it comes off a bit negative, doesn’t it? Why indeed focus on the negative and forget? Why not on the positive and remember? My boss and I were talking about the nuance of bounenkai earlier, just before we ourselves were about to attend our department’s bounenkai. He said that it’s just part of the Japanese culture. And probably he meant that it’s just part of the Japanese culture to focus on the negative stuff that happened in the year and specifically make a point or an event – a party in this case – to forget about it. Sort of like officially get rid of it. After going through an anger-provoking meeting earlier in the day, I thought that if the goal of bounenkai is as we supposed, then it was just so timely.
But as I realise now, we may be wrong. The bounenkai can really be literally that: to forget the year that was. Full stop. Not just the negative but the whole year, positive or otherwise. Forget the year that was and start anew with the coming new year. If the old year has been a bad one for you, forget about it and exert tremendous effort to make the new year a great one. If the old year has been a great one for you forget about it, lest you enter the new year full of pride and be less attentive and so eventually rob yourself from the chance of working hard to make the new year another great one. And I’d say, I’d stick with this one. Yes of course we should remember and celebrate the blessings given us with the year that was. But it is imperative that we be mindful as well not to be too confident and hence let down our guard and not make good effort anymore in the coming year.
Your thoughts? π
chahan
Thankful for the really delicious chahan (fried rice) that Hubs cooked for breakfast this morning. It was the kind that would really make you eat it slowly so as to savor the taste.
Although actually, the underlying blessing here is that I have a husband who is very understanding with my morning quirks and one who thinks of ways so that we will get to office on time.
Thank you Atsushi. π
autumn sunset
Being able to see this beauty every working day, when the weather is fine, is absolutely one great blessing to be thankful for.
I’m afraid my phone camera didn’t give the place justice though.
I actually turn speechless when I get up from my seat and look up and see everything bathed in gold and surrounded by the blue sea. Absolutely beautiful.
to friendship and nature
Spent the day with one of my bestfriends, Maj. The friendship, the laughter, the good talk over good food and good scenery leaves much to be thankful for (not to mention the really beautiful, glittering gift!! – thank you Maj!). I’m really happy that even when we only get to see each other every other month or so, the deep friendship and respect is always there. Thankful. π
Thankful for hubs as well to have prodded me to go shopping since I’m in Tokyo anyways. Mottainai daw. And thankful for Maj to oblige and accompany me even when she’s not really into shopping. π
After good food (will feature it later in goodfoodhunt.wordpress.com), before heading to Harajuku for some shopping, we dropped by Maj’s favorite koen (garden). So glad that she shared this scenic place, Koishikawa koen (ε°η³ε·γγγ).
Our only regret though was that we both forgot to bring our cameras with us. Hence, we had to make do with our iPhones. I’m quite satisfied with some, but then again, I don’t claim to be a photography enthusiast/expert. π Still, I’m sharing some here, unedited.
Autumn colors on water.
And of course, there’s nothing like koyou with the perfectly blue sky as the backdrop.
As with most sizable Japanese gardens, Koishikawa also sells the traditional green tea and wagashi (εθε). Wagashi is the traditional red beans sweets which is usually paired with green tea and comes in ΓΌber pretty designs. Agree? This one even have a dash of gold on the sakura leaf.
We ended the day shopping in Harajuku. And Harajuku being Harajuku, there were lots of people on cosplay. To quote Maj, this shot was just perfect to cap a great day.
Thanks Maj! Till next bonding time! π
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Was about to go to sleep but I just had to share this. Today’s reading is about waiting for God’s perfect timing. It brought a smile on my face as thankfully I muttered, “God’s perfect timing is sleeping right here beside me”. π