Smiles and Tongues

My nephew and me, smiling for the camera.

My nephew and me, sticking our tongues at each other.

The Parcel

It was fitting that the parcel came just before I left for the airport.

I had about an hour before the cab came, so I opened the parcel and went through its contents. There was a novel and a photo of a couple smiling contentedly. What I was more interested in was the letter.

"Dear Taku,

I heard from Sosuke that you are leaving. I don't think that I can be there at the airport to send you off. I am sorry that I took so long to reply you and return you your stuff. I have been running away from reality since that day we broke up.

I do appreciate your emails, your letters, and your parcels. They really helped to cheer me up when I was struggling to adapt to life in a foreign country. However, I was not strong enough to return your love. I was too young then to understand the reason you initiated our breakup. Now I understand, but it is too late, isn't it? You wanted the best for me, you wanted me to go overseas without having any emotional baggage; that is why you broke up with me. I should have realized that you did it because you loved me, but I just succumbed to loneliness, and I sought solace in Sosuke, who is now my husband. I know it must have been hard on you, because you lost not only your girlfriend but also your best friend.

Once again, I am sorry. Here is your novel and the photo that we took on my birthday, my most memorable birthday. I will never forgot the times we shared, because you were the one who taught me how to love.

Goodbye, and all the best for your new life over there.

Akari"

I reread the letter before folding it and inserting it into a glass bottle. As for the photo, I kept it sandwiched between the pages of the novel, "Of Love and other demons".

~~~
@My apartment

My mobile phone rang. I answered the call. The taxi had arrived. After taking a final look at the place I had called home for the past few years, I locked the door of my apartment and went down to where the cab was waiting. Before boarding the taxi, I placed the novel in the mailbox.

"To the airport, sir?"

"Yes, but before that, there is a place I want to go."

~~~
@Narita Airport

At the airport, I had checked in my luggage and was going through the customs check area.

"Sir, you can put on your shoes now."

I shook off the sand from my shoes before wearing them again.

~~~
@The beach in Enoshima

A little girl running barefoot on the sandy beach saw something sparkle near the sandcastle which she had built with the assistance of her mother. The rising tide had eroded away the seaward side of the sandcastle, but it was still standing tall, for now at least.

"Mummy, look at what I found!" her excited exclamation awokened her mother, who got up from her deck chair and strolled languidly towards her precious daughter.

"Mika, that is only a glass bottle."

"But there is something inside. I think it is a treasure map!" Mika was quite a tomboy who like things that boys her age fancied.

Her mother unstoppered the bottle and extracted the 'treasure map'. As she unfolded it, her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Mummy, did sand get into your eyes? I'll blow away the sand for you." Mika said it in a matter-of-fact tone that only kids could.

"It's ok, Mummy's fine. " Her mother was looking intently at the piece of paper taken out from the bottle.

"Dear Akari,

You don't have to say sorry, because I was the one who chose to love you. I have no regrets. The only regret is that I cannot see our daughter, but I am sure Sosuke will be a good father to her.

Goodbye.

PS: This is the second and last time that I am sending you a message via bottle. Hope it will not take too long to reach you.

Taku"

~~~

Time will pass, but some things never change. True love for example.

Keep it simple

Too bad we are human, otherwise things would be much simpler. We have to contend with not only the head but also the heart; we think with our heads and feel with our hearts.

Things are not in black and white. If you loved her, why did you let her go? If you know he is the guy of your dreams, then why are you here with me?

You know what you want; it is a matter of how to get it, if you ever decide to overcome the inertia and take action.

The best team won

Too bad it was not us. Where did our hunger go? Where did our desire go? We started the match brightly, but after Vidic allowed Eto to get the better of him, we were a goal down, and it seemed that we were shellshocked, so much so that we forgot that we still had 80minutes to play.

I always felt that this would be the best year to win the Champions League, because van der Sar, Giggs, Scholes are not young anymore, while Tevez and Ronaldo might not be here next season. If we had won this year, we would have made history as the first team to successfully defend the Champions League, and we would have maintained our perfect record of winning every Champions League final we reached. Alas, we deserved to lose, because we did not do our best. Did we even try? Letting in goals is one thing; not being able to score against a makeshift Barca defence is another. Indeed, we can even consider it a sin. In the second half, we even had all our Fab Four on the pitch, but still we were unable to breach the Barca defence.

The final scoreline was Man U 0, Barca 2. The 0 signifies the crux of our problems - an inability to score, especially against top-calibre opponents. How can you not score when you are playing 4-2-4, and expect to win? At least Sir Alex Ferguson had the decency to admit the superiority of Barca, but I wonder whether he could have done better. Because our game plan did work, albeit only for the first 10 minutes.

In the end, we lost to a superior foe, who deserved to be champions, simply because they showed us how champions played. They showed the pedigree of champions, with the hunger, the desire, the ability, and the flair.

Staying up to watch this game was worth it, because I got to see the brilliance of Barca. On the other hand, staying up to watch Man U self-destruct with poor defending, misplaced passes and inept finishing was very painful and disappointing.

In the end, everyone got what they deserved. Barca got their unprecedented Treble, Man U got their wake-up call.

Respect the Rank (and File)

Some things about respect that I feel like sharing.

Respect the rank, but more importantly, respect the person.
If the person is your boss, show him or her the respect that should be accorded, even if you do not agree with some of his or her views. More than the rank, respect the fact that each person is entitled to his or her opinions.

Respect the rank and file.
Even if you are a superior, you must be able to look at things from your subordinate's perspective. That is how you win respect. If you only give orders from a top-down perspective without considering things from a bottom-up one, then you are probably living in an ivory tower. The men under you will follow you to the depths of Hell if you show them the proper respect.

Respect is earned, not given.
While we should accord people the respect their rank deserves, it would be hard for us to respect them wholeheartedly if they behave in a way that demeans their rank. Imagine your superior being caught cheating. Would you still be able to respect him as before?

Fight

Fight.
Fight for her, that little angel whose wings are broken.
Fight for them, the homeless orphans who do not know where they belong.
Fight for me, your eternal supporter who will always be by your side.
Fight for us, and our yet-to-be-born future.
Fight for yourself, you who are the shining beacon of hope in this dark, dark world of despair.

As my grandfather finished reading this message written by my grandmother, he told me with watery eyes, "Gin, you must remember that there will always be hope, even if the sky is so overcast that there seems to be no silver lining in sight. Therefore, you must never give up, and fight for what you want. Fight for what you want, because no one else will fight for you. "

My parents would have wanted a more conventional name like Taku or Ichiro for their only son, but my beloved grandfather insisted that I should be called Gin, which meant silver in Japanese.

Perhaps he wanted me to be like that silver lining.

OFFStyle, ONStyle, WINDStyle

In most fashion magazines, especially those catering to Japanese men who are endeavoring to be trendsetters, there will be a section on hairstyles for men, and every hairstyle has a "off" look and an "on" look. Basically, the former is for casual occasions and can be achieved with minimal effort while the latter is for more formal occasions, i.e. work and requires some time and hard work, usually with hard wax or hair spray.

If I had to choose between these two, I would prefer "off" to "on", because I don't believe in putting too much effort into styling one's hair. This does not mean that I am an unkempt person who does not bother about my appearance. On the contrary, I feel that one should be confident enough to appear before others in one's "off" look, in other words, OFFStyle.

Of course, all of us could do with a little help, and this is where WINDStyle comes in. In terms of hair, WINDStyle refers to the aid of the wind in obtaining the desired hairstyle naturally. There is a term Kamikaze in Japanese, and this translates to the Wind of the God(s) literally. To me, the wind is like an embodiment of a Higher Power, and therefore, my ideal style would be WINDStyle, which is achieved with divine assistance.

WINDStyle can be applied not only to hairstyles, it can also be extended and expanded for use in other aspects of life. That I leave to the creativity of my dear readers.

PS: The photo above shows me and my hairstylist in Tokyo. b(^-^)d

A sliver of silver

Just some food for thought here.

What does black have that silver tends to lack? Impurity of spirit, I suppose.

Is that why silver turns black when it tarnishes? Does the change in color reflect the degradation of the spirit?

ほな、さいなら

さよならが苦手なほうなので、『ほな、さいなら』よりは『ほな、またな』。

では、皆様お元気で。

最後に、DewのThank Youという曲の歌詞が気に入ったので、ここで載せとく。

You'll be in my heart
No matter how far you are
今君に贈りたい

振り返れば夢のように消えてしまうから
いつもと変わらない話をしていよう
そんな風に君が笑えば
同じ明日がまた待ってる気がして
少しほっとするんだ

枝の先で目覚めを待つ桜の蕾の下
旅立つその前に言っておきたいことがある
ありったけのありがとう　今君に贈りたい
春の風よ　届けて欲しい
さよならでは君に手を振れないから

君と見た夢の数は数え切れないよ
今解き放とう　遠い遠い明日へ
くじけそうになるとしても　ひとりじゃない気がする
信じてゆけばいい　その言葉を忘れない

ありったけのありがとう　今君に贈りたい
胸をはって今なら言える
君と会えて良かったと　心から

ずっと覚えているよ　このときめき
翼(はね)を広げ飛び立つ時　ずっと待っていたんだ

ありったけのありがとう　今君に贈りたい
春の風よ　届けて欲しい
さよならじゃ手を振れない

You'll be in my heart
No matter how far you are
いつまでも忘れないよ
胸をはって今なら言える
君と会えて良かったと　心から
心から

Mind Games

I woke up early to watch Man U play Inter in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. It was an even match, although I feel that we deserved to win as we had the better chances. Still, it was good that we managed not to concede despite our make-shift defence that was missing Vidic and Neville/Rafael. Once again, van der Sar did a great job. I think van der Sar only needs to play when Vidic is not around. lol

Well the defence and goalkeeping was good in general, the same cannot be said for the players at the other end. You can applaud van der Sar's counterpart, Julio Cesar, for his brilliance in keeping a clean sheet, but this stalemate can be attributed to a lack of desire and a lack of fire on our side. Park Ji Sung was full of running but was always an inch too short or a second too late. Ronaldo is still not back to his phenomenal form of last season, while Berbatov was a little too languid. He was caught offside more than once. Giggs had a decent game, but his shot was saved and his corners were not as dangerous as they usually are. Perhaps if Vidic was around, then things might have been different?

One thing I was not happy about was the substitution of Park for Rooney. Why did Sir Alex not bring on Rooney earlier? He scored in his previous two games, and he showed again how much influence he has on our game despite only having about ten minutes of gametime. Bringing him on maybe around the hour mark would have been better, as it would give him time to settle and also add pace and invention to our attack without diminishing the running back to tackle and defend that was a characteristic of Park.

In the end, it was a case of too little, too late as Inter held on for a precious clean sheet and we did not leave with the priceless away goal that we coveted. Sir Alex said that he was okay with the result, but was he really okay, or was it another of his mind games? In contrast, Mourinho said that a draw was a good result and it was 50-50 now for both Inter and Man U. Again, another mind game by the Special One?

Mind games are part and parcel of football; if you are not strong enough to withstand them, then you do not deserve to be on the Champions League stage. While the final verdict is still undecided, I believe that we have a great chance of progressing since we play in a fortnight at the fortress that is Old Trafford. Hopefully, Rafael and Neville will be back, and hopefully, Vidic will score with a header. We have so many other potential scorers that I don't think it matters who scores the winner for us. Personally though, I would root for Giggs, although Rooney, Berbatov, Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes, Tevez(if he starts), are all good bets too.

As for the other three games, Arsenal have the advantage over Roma after winning 1-0 at home, Barcelona have one foot in the doorway to the next stage after coming back from a goal down away at Lyon, and Porto scored two precious away goals that will make them undoubtedly leave Atletico fans in a rage at their team's inability to defend a lead twice.

Still, I believe in the resilience of English and Spanish teams and so I pick the 4 teams to go through as follows:
Man U, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid.

As for tomorrow, I pick Real Madrid(home), Juventus(away), Villareal(home) and Bayern Munich(away) to win the first leg. The reasons are simple : Gerrard is not fully fit, Chelsea play better away, Villareal are regaining their form after a horrific slump, and Bayern Munich are stronger in Europe than they are in the Bundesliga.

Dead to the world

Writer's block, or just plain laziness to conjure up enough effort to put my thoughts into words?

I leave that to the reader's discretion. In any case, yours truly was dead to the world for a few hours today. A case of much needed rest, I suppose. You would have thought that I would have been free after the rigors of the thesis and thesis defense not so long ago, but no, I still had to do this and that, and I found myself apparently busier after submitting my thesis, because of various administrative and routine tasks. It did not help that I have travel arrangements to make, not only for my upcoming Europe trip, but also for my conference trip after I come back from Europe, and the various travels with my family who will be coming to attend my graduation ceremony on 23rd March. Then I also have to prepare to return home in April.

So in a way, this few hours during which yours truly was dead to the world was a boon.

But it is time to wake up, because there are still many things waiting for me.

Good things are worth waiting for.

D-Day and V-Day Part I

D-Day : Friday the 13th

D is for Defense, and D-Day marked the end of my official research life as a Master student, as I finished my Master Thesis Defense on that day. (However, for some reason, I have been asked to submit a paper for JLT, which is apparently very difficult, and I also have to present at a local conference in Ehime in March) In a way, it proceeded the way I thought it would be, but the Q & A session did not go according to plan.

Superstitious people can blame it on the date being an unlucky one; I will just admit that I did not prepare adequately. Some of the questions were quite tricky, but they were not unanswerable. I knew the answers were in the papers that I had read before, but I could not recall them that day.

As for the part about guidelines and approaches, I guess it is a matter of perspectives. In the end, I passed, and I was filled with mixed emotions when my professor told me the words that should have been music to my ears - "You passed". Relief that I had made it, and disappointment that I did not do better during the Q & A.

At that moment, I truly realized what the phrase "a hollow victory" meant.

PS: Still, a win is worth 3 points, and at this point in time, that is all that matters.

Yes we can!!!

やりたいこと
やれること
やらなきゃいけないこと

基本的にこの三つのことを毎日繰り返している。三つとも一致している時、幸せ限りだ。

だが、人生はそんなに甘くない。実験結果とシミュレーションがうまく一致しないように、以上の見三つのこともなかなか一致しない。苦笑

やりたいことをやれない
やらなきゃいけないことをやりたくない
やれることをやりたくない

それでも私たちは頑張り続けている。それなりに、自分なりに。

今週で修論を出した。来週の審査を通れば、無事卒業できるはず。
『あともう少しで自由だ』と思いきや、JLTというものがいきなり

稲妻のように
雪花から作られた
七色の輝きを潜める
闇雲を容易く貫いて、
俺の前にやってきた。

しかもJLTはむずいらしい。 (>_<)
えっ？！俺？！まじで？！冗談でしょ？！みたいな。でも本気らしい。

最後だからええやないか。思わずプロポズ大作戦の台詞を思い出す。ダメモトって台詞ね。

『失敗しても当たり前、成功したら男前』　あれはカッコええかも。

たとえ最後は駄目だとしても、やれることをやって、やらなきゃいけないことをやって、そして何よりもやりたいことをやって。

やるよ、マイウェイでやらせてもらうよ。

PS:その前に、審査の準備をせんとアカン。

!Animo! !Porque yo puedo! Quizas?! !Claro!

Top

Yes, for the first time this season, we are top of the table, with a game in hand over most of our major rivals. Unexpected? Not really. To tell the truth, I thought it was only a matter of time. However, the way in which we claimed pole position has been a little astounding. 10 consecutive clean sheets despite missing Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, and Wes Brown, winning half of the games 1-0, beating Chelsea 3-0 (albeit at Old Trafford), and achieving all these in spite of the fact that we have not really hit full stride yet, yes this has been a surprise indeed.

How long will we stay top? Maybe not for long, if Everton does not manage to defeat Liverpool on Monday. However, the important thing is not how long at the top we stay, but whether we are there at the end of the season in May. The pass can be beautiful, the cross can be brilliant, the throughball can be perfect, the one-two can be exquisite, but if the shot richochets off the post and is then cleared to safety by an opposing defender, then it is all for naught.

Reality is not so sweet; goals are what win games. The more goals the better, but sometimes one goal is enough. Winning 1-0 may not be pretty, but I have never heard someone praise a team for losing 3-4 beautifully. I believe that offense is the best form of defense, but scoring goals alone cannot secure victory if the backline is as though a leaking pail.

That pretty much sums up what I want to say here : it is not difficult to get a goal, but it can be difficult to win the game without keeping a clean sheet.

守りに入らなくて済むと良いけど、守りきれなきゃ勝利は無い。

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Don't ask me how long this will last, because I am not God. Somehow, I think even God doesn't know for sure. All I can say is that I will do my best to enjoy each moment of ephemeral eternity happily, because worrying about the unknown future will not solve anything.

As the ancients said, "When you reach the river, you will find a way across". Whether you cross by boat or by bridge, or in more dire circumstances by swimming over, there will be a way.

Therefore, don't worry, be happy.