10nineteen

おめでとう！

Saturday, March 25th, 2017family, postadaySlice of LifeLeave a Comment

こんばんは。

"Graduating Class" Austin, 2017 — Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
“Graduating Class” Austin, 2017

Today, my 15-year-old son (second from the left in the photo above) graduated from Japanese school here in Austin. I can’t believe he has been going for 11 years! I’m so proud of him for sticking with it and completing his studies. And of course, it’s been a long 11 years for Mariko too, who put in a lot of effort to help with schoolwork and also helping with school duties. Since my Japanese language abilities are so low, the most I could do to help was to support Mariko in whatever she needed.

Today at the graduation ceremony, the graduating class of 7 students gave a speech and presented a slideshow of photos for the rest of the school and parents. Seeing the pictures of the kids as they grew up together was really touching. It was also a bit sad to know that this part of his life is complete. Understandably, there were many tears shed by the parents in the audience. 😭

I hope Bay keeps up with his Japanese skills! I’m sure it will be a big help to him in his life.

またね～

バロン

Black Algae?

Saturday, March 25th, 2017Saturday, March 25th, 2017algae, aquarium, petsMisc.Leave a Comment

I’m not sure what this is, but my best guess is that it is a kind of black algae. For the past half-year or so, this has started appearing on the aquarium plants’ leaves, the rocks, and other surfaces. Our Siamese algae eaters and Malaysian trumpet snails have not been able to get rid of it, but I think I have a solution.

I’ve been adding the recommended dosage of API Leaf Zone to the water for a month now, and the black algae has been going away. The plants are growing more and shedding any leaves that have the black algae on them. And as a bonus, the Malaysian trumpet snail population is booming! 😀

So, if your aquarium is suffering from black algae, give API Leaf Zone a try. It might just do the trick!

Dinner Snapshot

Friday, March 24th, 2017Saturday, March 25th, 2017food, postadayFood, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment

"Salmon Donburi" Cedar Park, 2017 — Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
“Salmon Donburi” Cedar Park, 2017

Hi all!

Just a quick photo this evening. It’s late and my brain is tired… Anyways, tonight’s dinner was a marinated salmon and avocado donburi (rice bowl) with miso soup. Simple but delicious!

I hope you had a nice Friday!

おやすみなさい！

– B

Comfort Food

Thursday, March 23rd, 2017family, food, postadayFood, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment

"Hawaiian Dinner" Cedar Park, 2017 — Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO640
“Hawaiian Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going? Have a nice Thursday? Mine was non-stop busy at work. It’s good work, though, and I really enjoy what I do. Every day is a challenge but I’m satisfied with the project that I get to take part in. I’m grateful for that!

Lau lau

Tonight’s photo is of a Hawaiian dinner that we enjoyed at home. Packed away in our freezer was a package of lau lau that my parents had brought back from Maui on one of their trips back to the islands. 🌴 It’s pork and chicken 🐷🐔 wrapped in taro leaves, although sometimes spinach is substituted. I think this was the real deal though.

When I was growing up, my grandparents would visit us twice a year from Maui, and packed in their huge boxes were the fixings for a huge Hawaiian feast. So, I’ve been eating lau lau for most of my life… it’s really a comfort food! As a kid, I didn’t really like lau lau I admit… but now I love it! Lau lau and rice is so good. 😄🍴

Concert night

This evening, Koa had a concert at the nearby high school. 🎼 His middle school band is pretty amazing! Koa’s a percussionist and tonight he played the marimba using 4 mallets at a time. It was so cool, and I am so proud of him! He works very hard at percussion and it pays off big time. In the photo below, Koa is on the far right.