Would you like to live in Tokyo and have a view like this everyday?

A friend of mine is putting his 200m² apartment up for sale. ¥80m.

Any takers?

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

- W. H. Murray, from The Scottish Himalayan Expedition (1951)

I cheated. I didn’t read the entire book. I had it read to me. Spent many commutes listening to the audiobook (which I bought on iTunes). I own the book too. It served as a good reference when I wanted to look up certain paragraphs from the audiobook.

I think it’s a good read and like to believe he achieved his goal of building a lasting company in Apple.

Staying true to my new year’s resolution, I wanted some creative stimuli. So, I started another model. This time, another ship. Another because I built the Yamato almost 4 years back. That brought back alot of memories.

Anyway, this time I thought of building an American ship. Also from the waterline series. The Big E. The older Big E. This is one ship with history. I’ve always thought of building the current Enterprise (CVN-65), but the model kit is of a larger scale and I didn’t have room for it. Well, maybe after this one I can reconsider.

I lost a search lamp when putting it together. The pieces are tiny!

A few more steps left to complete the model; painting the planes she carries is going to be an eye squinting experience!

The first book I’ve finished reading this year. An old classic. But nevertheless, it was a good read. I’m quite impressed with myself. ^^. I spent my commute on reading the book on my iPad mini. Those are two great feats of accomplishment.

1) Time during commute was spent reading. Not taking a nap, surfing the net, following up with friends on facebook etc.
2) I read it on my iPad mini! I didn’t spend the time playing games. ^^

Slowly working towards my new year’s resolution. Let’s see how long I’ll take to finish my next book!

This is my fifth hatsuhinode in a row. It’s been a little tradition of mine to watch the first sunrise of the year.

This year we waited for the sunrise at the Yokohama Symbol Tower. We came across the location when we were looking for places with a good view of the sunrise. Although it was a little cloudy, we had quite a good view of the sunrise.

Have you had a chance to reflect back on events that changed you in some way last year?

There are a few things I want to strive for this year. My new year resolutions if you will.

I would like to read more. I haven’t been reading as much as I would have liked in the past year. Resolution number 1, an hour of uninterrupted reading. Reading articles on the Internet doesn’t count. ^^. I’ll keep track of how many books I manage to read this year.

I received my shodan (first black belt) in iaido last year. I want to get my nidan (second black belt) this year.

I would like to be more creative. This might be hard to measure… Could be anything in the form of apps, DIY projects, hobbies etc. Maybe put more effort into blogging again!

There’s this book I’ve been reading, “From Good to Great”. One of the things I took away from it and would like to apply to myself this year is to be more rigorous. I would like to develop a laserlike focus. Know distractions and have the discipline to cut them off. I would also like to put more effort into listening to what people have to say. Really listen. Focus on listening not simply just hearing.

Another area I need to control is my TV time. It’s too easy to come home after work and plant my behind on the sofa and switch off to the sight and sounds of the TV. No more watching the whole season of Leverage in one Hulu sitting. Or any season of any TV series for that matter.

Maybe I can spend a little more time in the kitchen. Learn to cook again.

Hmmm… I’m going to stop here. That’s quite a lot to accomplish in less than 12 months! Maybe just one more. I would like to go on more road trips within Japan this year. Last year I drive from Tokyo to Osaka and from Beppu to Kagoshima; car and I took an overnight ferry from Osaka to Beppu. It was quite fun. I drove on the winding country roads of yamanami highway, through the twenty something tunnels on the way from Kumamoto to Kagoshima and even dipped in the onsen in Beppu.

It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post. Feels a little awkward, like riding a bike after not having rode one for a long time. I’m sure it’ll come back after a few posts.

So what about you? Anything you would like to strive for this year?

Arrows in the wrong direction.

No, it isn’t a metaphor. There are literally monkeys on the road. Yakushima Macaques to be exact. Driving through the forests on Yakushima while making a round, I chanced upon some deers and monkeys.

I found it simply amazing that a small island in the pacific has indigenous wildlife!

Inakahama beach is a quiet beach in the northwest quadrant of Yakushima. It’s said that Yakushima gets 35 days of rain a month! Sunny days like this are rare occurrences.

You can’t miss this beach. Just take a drive around and you’ll eventually pass Inakahama beach. A complete drive round the island takes about 4-5 hours.

There’s a nice little rest area if you’re just driving pass and need a break.

Sea turtles come to lay their eggs in the summer. So the beach is off limits during the nights of May 1st till the 31st of August.

Just more photos of the beach.

The sand is not powder fine, but it’s a pretty nice beach.

The water looked so inviting I went in to cool my feet. ^^.