I came back to Tokyo yesterday, to find that the weather was not as bad as I had expected. It was breezy last night, which helped. Today was quite stormy as it began with rain in the morning. Then the rain stopped and at one point, it was very gusty to make it like a mini storm with the heavy rain.
When I arrived in Whistler, BC, three weeks ago with the nice weather after miserable and rainy June there, my friends often said that I brought the summer to Whistler! Indeed, we have had clear and beautiful days for three weeks while I was there. (Now people there are concerned about the forest fire, as it has been too dry!)
I also had heard about the brutal weather in Tokyo in the past two weeks or so. It was close to 100 degrees F and very high humidity. As I escaped from it all at least for two days, I may be lucky to have reasonable weather while I am in Tokyo. It appears that we find extreme weather this summer throughout the world with flood, draught and unusally hot and humid weather. Probably we should go back to the issue of climate change, now that we are occupied with the possibility of double dip recession.
July 27 and 28 mark the day of the game No. 2 of the Shogi Oi sen title match. Akihito Hirose (6 dan) is challenging the defending Oi Koichi Fukaura. Hirose for whom this is the first title match won the first game. It will be intense and exciting 2-day series.
In the meantime, final tournament series to decide the challenger for Ryuo title match has been underway with many leading Shogi pros.
I understand that July and August have many Shogi events at different places in Japan. It will be a great opportunity to get to know this game of Shogi.
July 28th,2010
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Asia Innovation Forum is scheduled to be held on September 28 and 29 at Nikkei Hall, Tokyo. This is an interesting and significant initiative to promote innovation by multiplying various factors. This year’s concept is Japan and Asia’s New Co-Creation Strategy “Beyond Survival (The XYZ Strategy) to ‘Creation(The ABC Strategy)’
The first two Forum was held in Fukuoka and last year it was held in Tokyo. In the past I have heard a lot about the Forum, but never had an opportunity to participate. (In fact, ICS was one of the main organizers!)
I was excited when I received the invitation to participate from Quantum Leap Mr. Nobuyuki Idei heads. As I reviewed their official website, I am even more excited to be a part of the Forum.
I will participate in the panel scheduled in the late afternoon (4:15 p.m.) on the second day, September 29. The panel is on Human resource, together with Doris Ho, President & CEO, Magsaysay Group of Companies, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Professor, GRIPS. The moderator is Fujiyo Ishiguro, President & CEO, Netyear Group Corporation. The Forum will be done in English and in Japanese (our panel may be in English). I am also very interested in the activities of the Group 20.
There are many interesting topics and speakers, and I trust that the Forum would offer value that fits the fee! For details and registration, please go to their website.
Several scenes from Whistler on Sunday, July 25. I went to the Sports Center to do some cardio and weight at 7:00 a.m. It was very quiet at that time of the day and found only few people. (Who would go to the gym at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday! I ran into one of the instructors of the Circuit Training class who was doing the weights etc. himself.)
Next on agenda is to go to church where I see many families. At around 11:00 a.m., you start seeing many people (mainly families) walking around in colorful T shirts etc. It is warm but dry and pleasant. Farmers market is as always very crowded. (I picked up rasberries, blueberries and a bag of arugula.)
As I come to Whistler every summer, I take it for granted to see many colorful flower pots and beautiful Christmas tree-like trees with snow-capped mountains. The scene is so beautiful and peaceful that you forget about many things that may have bothered you.
In the afternoon, I usually write, sitting on the balance ball (to build CORE and not to hurt my elbow which tends to get sore from golf! Photo on the left), while listening to the classical music. I struggle through, but in the nice environment.
I am so used to having PCs, iPad, and iPhone on wireless which allows me to use many at the same time. I feel it give a lot of freedom. (Photo on the right) I wonder how I feel when I go back home to get tied down with cable!
The other day at the parking lot of the grocery store, I found yellow convertible with the stuffed dog(I thought). It turned out that the dog is real and I could not resist taking a photo. (From the back, thus rather hard to see.) The dog in the yellow convertible was the scene of the day!
July 26th,2010
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Yesterday (July 24), I participated in one of the parallel panels at the 15th International Conference for Women in Business in Tokyo. As I am in British Columbia, I participated via Twitter. The topic of the panel was indeed “Lifestyle change with Twitter”.
It turned out to be a very exciting experience for me after all, but it was a struggle to get there. This conference organized by Ms. Kaori Sasaki has been a major undertaking over the past decade. I participated as special speaker for lunch several years ago and also panelists several times. When invited by Sasaki san, I asked whether I could participate via Twitter this year, as I am out of the country on the day of the Conference.
My idea was to use Twitter for the panel on Twitter. I had no idea whether it would be possible and what kind of technical arrangement would be needed. But I proposed the idea to Kaori san who agreed to let me participate.
I was getting quite worried these past few days as the day of the Conference came near, but I was not sure how it could work. I found out my knowledge of use and business application of Twitter (the main topic of the panel) was quite limited. I struggled through by asking questions to my friends etc. right before. I also tried to study articles etc. on the business use of Twitter, in addition to the talk and seminars I recall I had attended on business use of Twitter and other Social media.
It seemed to work, after all! I was in British Columbia, listening to the panel via Skype on iPad, revising and posting some of the Tweets I had prepared in advance and had saved (I now know how to do it!) and adding new Tweets, trying to keep up with the flow of discussion. As it was getting to be close to midnight BC time (afternoon Tokyo time), it was quite challenging to have two PCs open, with iPad for listening in, and writing message in 140 letters of less.
I had a great time, after all, and learned a lot of new things, thanks to Kaori Sasaki san, Minako Kanbara san and Nao Sato san, my fellow panelists. (I had not met with Kanbara san and Sato san yet, in person, but I will.) I may become more hooked from now on Twitter. It is always a lot of fun to try new things, no matter how challenging it may be and how much you have to struggle in the process!
This is the fifth of the series, A day in Whistler. At the terrace of the unit I am renting, there are private Hot Tub, wooden couch and BBQ grill. I was excited when I found out that the unit has its own BBQ grill. (I love BBQ and often try to find the grill at the park, but it becomes a bit of a hassle to carry many things!)
BBQ is “what to do” in the summer in North America. When I visit my family and/or friends in the summer, typical scene is the BBQ with beer outside.
In British Columbia, we BBQ steak, marinated chicken and salmon! Salmon is great on the grill. (What else to expect in Canada?) I also BBQ vegetables such as red pepper, eggplant, onion, zucchini, etc. with rosemary, thyme, olive oil and garlic.
While I heat up the grill, I usually prepare salad etc. to go with it. While I do, I sip beer (sometimes non-alcohol kind). While steak, chicken or salmon with vegetables is being cooked, I relax, sipping beer and listening to music (I do listen to standard jazz etc., and not classical in the evening.) It starts getting a bit dark and cool.
When steak etc. is ready with vegetables, it is the time for wine. Very nice and relaxing way to finish the day.
Sometimes, I write more and/or respond to e-mail that is sent from Japan, as it is still the middle of the day there!
July 24th,2010
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As I get tired of writing all day, I try hitting golf balls in the afternoon. I bought the Twilight Pass (which allows me to play as much as I do after 3:00 p.m.) at the nearby Golf club (3-minute drive from my unit). I tried various timing to play AND to write! (I want to go for AND, rather than OR!)
In the first week or so, I tried to play around 3:30 p.m. I found out that playing at this time of the day will not give me long enough time to concentrate on writing to have some output, AND make it difficult for me to get back to writing after I play (as I am somewhat tired, walking , while pulling the cart myself.)
Several days ago, I happened to call the pro shop at the club to find out whether I can come to hit around 5:30 p.m. Though it was Saturday, they said that the course is wide open after 6:30, so I made it then. It was wonderful, as I managed to play 9 holes in less than two hours!
So now it is my daily (almost, not quite) routine that I write for 5-6 hours straight in the afternoon, and then play a few holes of golf. By the time I come back around 8:30 p.m. or so, it starts getting cool.
I come back with pain in my shoulder and elbow (I wonder why I continue to torture myself!) and sit in the Hot tub for 15 minutes, while reading. I then ice-pack my elbow, have light supper, sometimes write more and/or respond to e-mail notes until 11:00 p.m. or so. This is my approach to combining work(writing), communication(e-mailing) AND play(golf), rather than work OR play, as I argued in my book Strategic Shift from the OR choices to the AND paradigm.
After starting the day “right” with daily exercise and natural breakfast, I set out to work.
Usually there are three different kinds of work to be done–one preparing short memo, materials, etc. and send them via e-mail, another reviewing reports written by others and make comments, and the other, writing draft of my own paper/book etc. The first two are relatively easy as I can estimate the time required to do the task, plan and do the work itself to make a deadline, and get it off the To do list. (I prepare a short To do list every morning now on iPad, to track my activities AND also record the time I spent for major activities.) The third is much more of a challenge.
For the third type of work, I first have to psyche myself up to get started. Once you start, you get momentum and get into the rhythm. Though I have detailed outline of the chapters, and many pages I drafted, I need to review the overall structure and usually make rather big revisions. (As I write and have more things to say, I start thinking about the hopefully better structure, thus, play with the different structure to make it flow more smoothly.)
Reviewing overall structure and making changes demands so much concentration and thinking that I cannot continue any longer than one hour or less. I take a break, go back and get at it again. After coming up with the structure I feel good about, I go over each chapter and do the same (i.e. checking the flow of each chapter). After that, I revise what I wrote for each chapter. I use screens of my PC and iPad to rewrite while referring to the new structure, as I cannot print out the revised outline at my unit.
This task takes much longer than I predict,(i.e. what I planned to do in my To do list!), in addition to the concentration. I get tired and discouraged. I have to be my own cheer leader to continue.
With late lunch in the afternoon and a few holes of golf in the evening(on some days), I continue this activity for about 5-6 hours a day. (I usually write few more late at night.)
Sometimes, I go to the library to print out pages. As I have done this over the past few summers, I know how to reserve the PC (there are 12 of them) and to print out. The only problem is that it takes LONG time to get them printed out (and need coins, as the machine only takes coins!) While I wait (usually takes 20 minutes or so to print out 20 pages!), I check Music CD, audio book etc. available at the library. (I listened to several audio books few summers ago — Barak Obama, Tom Friedman, Bill Clinton and Al Gore etc.-and got hooked.)
I believe this is the best routine (for now) for me to write something major like a book. If I try to write few hours a day, I will never be able to review the overall structure and end up wasting time. I wonder how people who write so much so productively do it.
After I finish my daily exercise class, I come back to my unit to take a shower to refresh myself. My routine continues (but with a bit of variety) with preparing Smoothie with protein and vitamin C powder. When in Tokyo, I mixed powders with orange juice only, but I decided to try Smoothie. My friend (who is called “mighty mouse” as she is so powerful in golf though she is quite small) told me that she had Smoothie before we played golf together the other day. I found the blender in the kitchen and decided to give it a try.
I mix two kinds of powder with orange juice, milk, banana and strawberries with ice. It tastes GREAT! and gives me the illusion of power! Then I go on to my regular breakfast of plain yogurt, pitted prunes soaked in apple juice, Kanten(something like jelatin Japanese style) and different kinds of berries. As blueberries, rasberries and strawberries are now in season locally, I mix them. (I mix local fruits wherever I am, thus pineapple and banana in Hawaii, and peach and others in the mainland U.S.)
I feel very healthy with locally grown fruits-filled breakfast with supplement and feel that I start the day “right”. (I do drink three to four mugs of coffee, which may not be that healthy. But I cannot help it! Now I am trying the kind with hazelnuts, the aroma is wonderful in the morning.)
July 21st,2010
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I plan to write my day in Whistler. This is the first of the series.
I get up between 5:30 to 6:00 a.m., only to find the beautiful morning sun. (So far I have been very lucky as there have been NO rainy days!) I do stretch and a bit of strength exercise, together with 15-minute breathing(Not sure this is the right expression). I learned about the daily breathing from the book of Aikido to keep my energy and health and began two years ago when I was in Whistler.
I then check e-mail and other things which I receive overnight. It helps to have time difference as I can check them in the morning. One of my daily routine is to send e-mail to my +80 year old parents in Japan. I bought them iPAD so that we can keep in touch. (They can read, though they are now learning to how to reply.) They see my blog entry so that they will know what I am doing.
I then go to the exercise class at the Sports Center. I go to the Circuit training class (harder) on M, W, Fridays, and the less strenuous ones on T, T and Saturdays. The class is 1 hour and 15 minutes and is excellent. It is quite hard with strength, cardio and stretch. I hang in there, as the instructors are great in encouraging with you with such comments as “awesome, excellent, you are doing GREAT.”
While I drive to the Sports Center, I listen to the podcast of Front Page of NY Times, Wall Street Journal this morning, Global News of BBC World and Economist, etc.
