Take it Easy.......

Walking about the neighbourhood, Scooter here has the right idea, takin' it easy.

 

Ya, like spending a Friday afternoon at a Vancouver Canadians baseball game.

She's always in the right place at the right time, lol. This time some hang time with Bob Brown Bear and Wasabi.

.....and as always, it seems, Wasabi won the mascot race, but Soy Sauce was right there as well, photo finish!

All and all, a great afternoon.

There she is again, this time at the finish line of the BMO Vancouver marathon. We decided to volunteer at the last minute, and were quite surprised they put us in a very strategic position......

.......no, not at the finish line. Somewhere way more important. We, and 6 others, were entrusted with pedestrian traffic control at the corners of Bute St. and West Pender St., the finish straight away. Ritsue was in charge of the holding coral in the middle of Pender. We had to steer the runners to the north side or the south side, and then let the people and their pets cross.

.....and there were a lot of runners! (over 25,000) Our 5 hour shift went by very quickly. 

It was a lot of fun cheering all the participants on and mingling with the crowd.

Omg! Pat picked me out of the crowd. I haven't seen this guy in years. He was actually working for the marathon, which I have also done in the past. We became good friends when we worked on the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay and the 2012 25th anniversary Rick Hansen relay.

The last challenge was to navigate through this crowd to get to the sky-train.

.....the days after that, just taking it easy, walking, exploring......

Sidebar, you know you're getting old when you have to screenshot the floss container then zoom in so you can read what's on it, pic.

Tried Sushi On on Edmonds for the first time. Tasted like it looks! We'll be back!

Taking it easy watching the Stanley Cup play-offs, look at that fan donning the Stanley Cup colors!

The, hey there's some beautiful blossoms, I'll (and many others) take a pic, then realized they look better to the naked eye, pic.

This is where taking it easy come to an end, lol. My handyman hat doesn't fit very well, sigh.

Filler.....(well, not really)

Back home in the Lower Mainland. Spent one day going out to White Rock and Crescent Beach, on our side of the Pacific Ocean.

 

........but first I had to get back home. Got to terminal 1 at Narita just after 11 a.m. Flight was at 18:30, lot's of time to explore.....

.....actually, too much time to explore. More than once I had to go outside and get some fresh air.

I spy with my little eye, is that a WestJet plane??Mine???

Arriving early at least got me first in line to check my bags. (That was at 14:30, still 4 hours to go.)

Made it to my boarding gate 16, yikes, still a little early.

Finally on the plane. I was in premium economy, and I'll take that view any day.

A tasty, albeit blurry dinner was served.....

....and much to my surprise they served breakfast at was like noon Alberta time and around 4 a.m. Narita time.

....getting close to Calgary for the first time in, hmnnn, I don't remember the last time.

Had 1 1/2 hours in Calgary, then a short flight to Vancouver. This was a cloudy, best I'm going to get view of the Canadian Rockies.

Coming into Vancouver, the mighty Fraser River.

April 1st, no joke, finally back in Vancouver.

The only casualty of the trip. The cup I loved to have a drink out of in Fukuoka...... well the cup says it all, sigh.

....back to the bean mornings, yay!

.... back walking the hood, the no-one on the sidewalk, old man is happy, pic.

Parked the rig outside of the Elections Canada office in South Vancouver 4 times for training and meetings. Why? I was hired to work for the recent federal election at a polling place I am so familiar with, the Nikkei Japanese Cultural Centre, so close to our place.

Well, Ritsue's birthday was upon us and I thought, what to do for dinner. If your not a meat lover, sorry. (Yes that was $62.88 for a couple of steaks.)

......but c'mon! 4 weeks later and my mouth is still watering.

Here we go.....no pressure.....

Perfection! A shout-out to Kea's Meats and Deli, they know their meats. (Bought some elk burger as well, and that was quite a treat as well.)

.......full circle to White Rock. It was time to head out to the Everall family plot and tidy things up.

....and we did.

.....too bad we don't live closer.....

Another shout-out, this time to B & D Authentic Viet Cuisine, close to our place. Always so good. (This was the lemongrass chicken on rice, just sayin.)

All I can show of my 05:00 to 23:00 shift as polling place supervisor for the Nikkei Centre voting place in the federal riding of Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby. It was honestly one of the most tiring, challenging, mind-numbing, but yet so rewarding days of employment I have ever experienced. A shout-out to my team, I could not of done it without them. I had a lot of youth (younger to me, like anyone under 30, lol. I have renewed faith in young people, so refreshing.)

(This pic was taken before the polls opened.)

.......and here we are, Mother's Day. Sis made a trip to the family plot in Penticton. The lilacs she brought were Mom's favourite. Miss you mom. Also, a miss you to sis Gail, who was, well what the markers say.

Wind up/wind down.....

Hiroshima Carp vs. Hanshin Tigers, here we go, zoom-zoom! A nice way to wind up the trip.

 

.....but first a quiet day in our Hiroshima neighbourhood. (winding down)

Only a couple of days left to enjoy here.....

....would you need a view?.........

...wow, that is some pretty thick bamboo. (apparently not natural to the hood)

....love those cherry blossoms....

....we'll be back!

They think of everything at the 7-11 in Japan!

Like this nigori sake, the future is a little cloudy, but having a shot helped me wind down.

Wait a minute, I recognize that baseball jersey, now I'm wound up!

Last time we came here a couple of years ago the game was rained out.

Hotdogs are synonymous with baseball, doesn't matter where you go to a game!

It was a chilly March day, but still a full house.

This Hanshin fan came up to me and asked if I once played for the Carp. (I think he was pulling my leg though. He had had more than one cup of cheer, lol.)

The commute home wind up.

Winding down with one more trip around the neighbourhood. (The mirror, mirror on the uhhh post? pic.)

A moment to soak it all in.

Even in Hiroshima you can see the Los Angeles Dodgers game. (At least as long as Shohei Ohtani is on the team.)

Time's up! Checking in at the Hiroshima airport.

Spring Airlines, this will be a first. Actually, the flight to Narita was a lot cheaper than taking the bullet train.

Ahhhhh, economy. Good thing it was a short flight.

Looking down to the highway I was just on. The trip is winding up.

Very interesting runways at the Narita airport.

A little overwhelming trying to find my way to the shuttle bus to the hotel.

31-B, phew, made it with plenty of time to spare.

A short comfortable ride......

A little concerned that my room for the evening faced the runways.

A long day makes a fellow a little dry. It was time to wind down with a cool wet beverage.

The hotel room was very sound proof. It was actually my evening entertainment watching the planes land and taxi to the terminals.

Whoa, that's what I will be on in another 24 hours.

I had to leave the hotel at 10 a.m. I got to the airport around 11 a.m. Oh boy that's a long wait until my flight heads to Calgary.