My shopping experience at Costco

As you know, Costco is a membership warehouse club. I went to there for the first time. My first impression of costco was big anyway. I mean, they have big store, big shopping cart and  big or bulk products.

I tried to buy some items. When I was shopping at the store, I was careful about eatable amounts. And then I came home and looked these items. I noticed to buy too much.

By the way, Costco food court was reasonable. I took a hot-dog and drink (including refills).

Cup Noodles

source: NISSIN FOOD PRODICTS

Gundam, a popular Japanese manga character was the star in a TV commercial for the Cup Noodle. The robot holds a big kettle in his hand.

I saw the kettle in Yokohama city. It was a campaign for the Cup Noodle and people were able to try sample of the cup noodle. I'd like to try it but I didn't have enough time then.

Anyway, the kettle was very big.

Kiva

source: kiva.org

I grant three loans today. I am hoping for their success. The borrowers came from Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, and Ecuador. Do you know where are these located? If you don't know, please check it out at google map.

Flood in Thailand

source: msnbc.com

Flooding in Thailand has spread from Ayutthaya to Bangkok.

I read some articles and saw photos about the flooding in Thailand. Factories and temples were inundated by flood water in Ayutthaya. I've been to a temple in Ayutthaya a few times and the temple is flooded now.
Moreover, there are a lot of Japanese companies in Ayutthaya and most of these have stopped their operation since last week. Because these factories have not resumed their operations they also can not estimate the damage caused by the flooding.

Anyway, safety is priority #1. I hope that people in Thailand are safe.

Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji

I had a trip to Kawasaki City and I made a little side trip to Kawasaki Daishi, a famous shrine for Kobo Daishi (弘法大師) aka Kukai(空海). A lot of people visit the shrine during New Year.

Red Buoyant II, Mary Ann E. Mears

Red Buoyant II, Mary Ann E. Mears

Kawasaki, Japan

This artwork designed by Mary Ann Mears was gifted to Kawasaki, Kanagawa by Baltimore, Maryland for their friendship in 1979.
An artwork named Red Buoyant is also placed on Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland.

You can see more of her artworks on the following site.
http://www.maryannmears.com/

情報守護神, Tiger TATEISHI

情報守護神, Tiger TATEISHI(立石 大河亞)

Yokohama Triennare 2011

This artwork was attracted me because of the picture of two big toads. I closely examined the drawing and I was drawn to Nazca Lines and Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca city. It's very impressive and it intrigued me.

By looking at the picture you cannot tell the size of the artwork but that picture was painted in a very big canvass. I was not able to take a whole view picture.

あなたの肖像, Tetsumi Kudo

Your portrait(あなたの肖像), Tetsumi Kudo(工藤 哲巳)

Yokohama Triennare 2011

It was a little scary because of face and hands in a bird cage. The artwork was made in 1974. I guess at that time it was very modern.

Kiva

source: Kiva.org

I made a loan for El Zapotito Group at Undisclosed, Mexico. When I selected the group, the blue wall caught my attention. I am hoping for their success.

Polar Bear, Dewar & Gicquel

Polar Bear, Dewar & Gicquel

Yokohama Triennare 2011

"Polar Bear" is a title of the artwork. The bear is on a very small peace of ice. I think that  Arctic Ice is decreasing little by little every year so they made small ice.

Steve Jobs

 source: apple.com

I'm very sad to hear the news about Steve Jobs.
I remembered when I got an Apple  product for the first time, I was very impressed not only by the product but also by its package and it was by far the best device I've bought. Moreover I also was affected by his speech of the commencement address of Stanford University.

Goldfinger, Motohiro Tomii

Goldfinger, Motohiro Tomii

Yokohama Triennare 2011

What is the artwork made of? I wouldn't know until I went to see the artwork closely. It was made of push pins!!! These push pins was pinned into the wall in a line. How long did designer made it?

You can see more his works bellow link.
http://tomiimotohiro.com/

Andere, Tobias REHBERGER

Andere, Tobias REHBERGER

Yokohama Triennare 2011

These blue bulbs are linked to the lights of each of Yokohama city's child's room via the internet. So when a child turns the light on at his or her room, one of the bulbs are turned off. In this time, most bulbs are on, so most of the rooms have their lights turned off.

One Sentence ,YIN Xiuzhen

One Sentence ,YIN Xiuzhen

Yokohama Triennare 2011

The artwork "One sentence" is made by Yin Xiuzhen, a Chinese artist. We can appreciate the artworks while walking on spiral way. However, I prefer to watch the artwork as a whole. The picture was taken on the second floor.

Photo Reading

Do you know photo reading? It's one of the way of speed reading.
I read a book about photo reading because even though I am slow at reading, I enjoy looking for a lot of books.

The book said that there are 5 steps on how to do photo reading.

1. Prepare: Think main purpose for reading and stay focus on yourself.
2. Preview: Browse a book and check the value of contents for you. Then decide if you will read or not.
3. Photo Read: Do affirmation and read with photo focus.
4. Post review: Explore key terms in a book and create questions.
5. Activate: Take enough rest hours. Read the book with dip read and skitter over the book. Lastly, make a mind map.

I tried to read above 5 steps and I made the mind map above. It took me 2 hours to do it. It is too long for a photo reading. I'll try to read another book with photo reading again.

moonrise. east. March, Ugo RONDINONE

moonrise. east. March, Ugo Rondinone

Yokohama Triennare 2011

This artworks which were made by Ugo Rondinone are located in front of Yokohama museum and these greeted passersby with funny faces.

This artwork is one of my favorite artworks in the exhibition.

Yokohama Triennare 2011

Yokohama Triennare 2011, Japan's leading international exhibition of contemporary art, now held at Yokohama city since August. Actually, this exhibition has found two homes - Yokohama Museum of Art and NYK Waterfront Warehouse. And then two other exhibitions, BankART Life 3 and Koganecho Bazaar 2011, are also held near the area and we can go around all exhibition by free bus.

These museums allow people to take a photo although without any flash so I have a lot of photos.

• Yokohama Triennare 2011
• BankART Life 3 - Shin Minatomura -
• Koganecho Bazaar 2011