End or beginning?

It's the last day of the fiscal year, but for the broadcasting business it's the beginning of a new year.

For me it was just another day at overnight duty. Sadly, I didn't have any energy left from work throughout the weekend and I slept all day. I sensed it was quite cold outside and it was better for me to be wrapped up in my blankets and rest.
At the last moment, I rose and rushed to my office. Walking through the freezing night, and walking by those beautiful cherry blossoms.

It's always a beginning for me. Let's enjoy it!

the rain and wind will blow these flowers away... then it will be another start for the trees too...

Kiseki!

I woke up and listened to the Dubai radio station to enjoy the races. Vodka the filly finished fourth in the Dubai Duty Free (GI), and Vermillion was dead last in the Dubai World Cup (GI). But one thing I had in my mind was a Japanese Sire Fuji Kiseki had a winner, a filly named Sun Classique in the race in between, the Dubai Sheema Classic (GI).


I listened to the radio live then minutes later I can enjoy the video on the official site...
Vodka was only lengths away from victory...

In Chukyo Race Course the second JRA Grade One race was going to be run, and I chose two Fuji Kiseki colts as winners for the quinella ticket.

You wouldn’t believe it, but...

the only two Fuji Kiseki colts finished first and second in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (GI)! Fine Grain the winner and Kinshasa no Kiseki the runner up!
I won quite a prize today! “Kiseki” means a “miracle” in Japanese and I think there was something that connected the two miracles in the Middle East and the Far East!
(PS: it was too bad Fusaichi Richard had to finish his career as he injured his leg in this race and was announced his retirement... he finished a close 7th in the race)

It was starting to rain when I headed to the night shift… Like yesterday, I felt a little sorry for those folks trying to enjoy the beautiful flowers!

some elders were enjoying the trees by the river...

beautiful ones near the Kumano Shrine in Shinjuku Central Park...
I only had a minute to enjoy these cherry blossoms today!

A cold weekend?

I don’t know if I’m lucky but I felt sorry for those people who wanted to enjoy their weekend with the full bloom cherry blossoms. Assigned to the daytime shift I had no choice but to go to work so I had no worries I’ll miss them this year. I also hear that tomorrow will be another cold day, but who cares… I have the night shift!

I was watching the second ballgame of the season for my favorite team and they won a close game. I was a little shocked I’d forgotten that the season started yesterday and I missed to watch a great game, but that was all blown away when I saw today’s.


hurray ANIKI!

Yes I regret it!

It was already 20 minutes past 12 when I woke up. I remember looking at my watch at the bar and it was around 4:45AM. I had a real headache and obviously it was because of the alcohol still flowing in my body.

I called my office right away and reported that I will take the day off. After working like crazy the last 6 weeks I think I will not be cursed just because I take another day off! But still... I regret it!

It was starting to rain when I woke up and took my bicycle to ride to the Shinjuku Central Library. In the cold weather there were some adventurers going out to have drinks under the cherry blossoms. Maybe the alcohol is making them nuts. I don’t blame them. I hope they’re having a good time!

it's beautiful at night too!

My next target...

Incredible India!

And my favorite dinner!

can't eat these in India!

Back to exhaustion

Thanks God it was a peaceful night and right after my duty was over I returned quickly home. And after a brief nap, I woke up my car and rode off to a dealer that will take care of my biennial inspection. Half asleep I made it to the dealer and left my buddy to the mechanic’s hand.

hey birdie! were you waiting for me to enjoy the cherry blossoms together!?
too bad.. I gotta sleep!!

Once back at my home I crashed onto my bed to be ready for the night...

When I woke up it was 8PM! I rushed to the drinking party set for my elder colleagues back from abroad. I felt a little tired but that won’t stop me from getting drunk! Let the regrets come later!

Modifications...

It took about 6 hours to update my diary as I had to revise and paste the photos I carefully picked not to raise any security concerns about our crew in Baghdad.

I went to bed at around 5:30AM and slept until 11:30AM. I hurried to my workplace to eat lunch with my elder colleague temporarily returning to Japan from abroad. I quickly went back to sleep at around 3:30PM after returning home and slept till 7:30PM. That's about a net 10 hours of sleep, so I think I can make it through overnight duty!

I realized there's so many changes in the streets...

these median barriers popped up from no where!

I bet a bunch of drivers will break their headlights and have dents in their car bodies hitting these rails!

and I couldn't pass through the usual path to my office...
boo to constructions...

Dumplings than flowers!

Another slow start... you guessed right! Starting from around 2PM, my car landed on a parking lot in Inokashira Park, where you can rarely park on weekends.


the cherry blossoms were about half bloomed...

I'm happy I made it to see these beautiful flowers to develop themselves to their full bloom state... but as the Japanese proverb says "dumplings than flowers" ("pudding than praise" in English), my eyes are on treats!

some pancake variety!

and... sushi!

I enjoyed my two days off though I saw only a little of sunlight. I regret that I did not work hard to shift my circadian clock, but who cares... my work starts with the overnight shift tomorrow!

Two days off!

Before returning to the shift work, I earned some days off... just two...

I was mostly dead throughout the day as some parts of my body were hurting probably because of the long journey back on the plane. I finally woke up at around 2PM which is around 8AM in Baghdad and I rushed to my office after doing some laundry work.

Doing minimal work, I escaped from my workplace out to the city...

ah... the familiar Shinjuku area... large buildings with endless brightness from the lights... it's almost an impossibility to see the lights out in this city...

Back in Tokyo!

After leaving with a delay of about 30 minutes, the 8 hour flight to Osaka was quite pleasant as I was able to sleep about 3 hours and watch "No Country For Old Men" and "Juno" till our landing at around 5PM.

I was able to meet my parents at the airport and of course I was happy to let them know I'm in good shape. I had some udon I just couldn't resist to get my hand on.

I flew out of Osaka at around 9PM and landed on Tokyo after 10PM.

Looking at the tall buildings and the Tokyo Tower, I finally realized I'm back to the city where I live...

a blurry pic... but it's Tokyo Tower!
it's blurry not because my eyes are wet, but because I took this picture from a speeding taxi!

I stopped by my office... it's just the same... everything's normal... not like it was in Baghdad!

Leaving the Middle East

Leaving Amman

Spending a pleasant morning in Amman... yes... sleeping in the hotel. That's it!
But that's the best treat for my exhausted body and along with a gorgeous breakfast, I think I've recovered quite a bit. I was still sleepy at the lounge at the airport but the flight was just less than three hours to Dubai.


my gorgeous breakfast!

a gorgeous view from the hotel...

and the pool...
but I only had around 30 minutes to enjoy the view!
oh, maybe next time!

In Dubai!

And here I am in Dubai writing this diary waiting for my flight which is scheduled for 2:50AM. I took about an hour just to tour the duty free shops which I only could briefly do four years ago when after I stayed a night in the city to renew my visa for Kuwait (I had a multiple visa but the longest stay with each entry was one month and I had to get to another country to renew the entry and I chose UAE for the renewal) As I look at my passport I can see the stamp of Feb. 10th and 11th of 2004. I remember running around the city looking for a place to drink alcohol and I remember I was refreshed when I had a Japanese meal at the hotel with a young cameraman. Next time I'd like to be here for fun and not for a short stay or a transit like today!


the strict internet access code... they won't even let me access the horse racing pages of Sankei Sports!

the 24 hour Duty Free Shopping Zone... what should I buy for a souvenir!?

Good-bye Baghdad!

Baghdad Day 44

Good-bye Baghdad!
I woke up at around 6AM and started packing up for good.
Nothing fancy with no ceremonies before leaving but I surely was happy to leave.
We left the city in the morning though our flight was departing at 4PM becaue of security reasons, so we waited in the airport for about 7 hours. I wanted to take some pictures, so I posed to take one near the security, but he just ran to me and questioned me if I was trying to film. Oh well I only can take pictures where no security guys are around...
Baghdad Internationaal Airport, the former Saddam Hussein Airport is a sytlish airport inside, but it really makes me disgusted when I feel it's filled with crazy guys. There was some American black guy who didn't like us lined up together before him challenging us with his rule of lining up. The Iraqi woman taking airport tax money at the counter asks for $2 though the receipt says 1000 dinars (one dollar is about 1200 dinars). This janitor in the toilet asks for $1 which I happily dismissed without even stopping. And there's a bunch of people lined up waiting for the plane with obvious faces of discontent. I did enjoy the birds flying around inside as you wouldn't see an international airport where you hear tweets all over the floor!

We were back in Amman in less than two hours after flying out around 5PM. It was ridiculous that we were stripped of our carry-on luggage before riding the plane, but I managed to get my binder filled with dollars into the plane. Just before riding the plane you get your security check for the third time and then you get another one right after you leave the plane. You can imagine how insecure Iraq is by just going through all these body checks just to ride the plane.

Photos from today...

saying good-bye to the bottles of water I had enjoyed!


and the Lipton Yellow Label


saying good-bye to the Tigris...


our last destination: Baghdad International Airport


terminals without seats... birds flying over our heads...


Royal Jordanian plane waiting for our security checks!

Back in Amman...

It was time to rest in Amman. I had a "tori and gyuniku" meal in Benihana restaurant, as my elder colleague had his sushi. The last time I had dinner in a Benihana restaurant is at least more than two decades, but I was surprised I'd see one in Jordan.

Well I took a bath and went to bed at around 11PM. Oh, it's heaven compared with Baghdad...


BENIHANA! long time no see!


it looks Japanese... it tastes... somewhat Japanese...

The Fifth Anniversary of the War

Baghdad Day 43

The Fifth Anniversary of the War

Exactly five years since the Multi National Forces started their Freedom Iraq campaign. I was in a different position in a different division five years ago but I was able to be one of the coverage team of the JSDF dispatch to the Middle East four years ago and I feel the story of myself has developed a bit.
I had to give out a live coverage for our evening news and give a report out for the night news. I'm never satisfied with my work, but I think I did a fairly nice job.
The four of us had a feast at night after having dinner with some beer. I was so tired and worn out that I couldn't resist going to sleep just with a moderate amount of alcohol.
Oh well... I can sleep all I want... I can pack up tomorrow... I have no more work to do... my last mission: To get home safely!

P.S.
Enjoying our last night in Baghdad...

with wine and shochu with courtesy of our seniors who imported these in!

Just another day...

Baghdad Day 42

Just another day...

As we were editing till 4:30AM in the morning, with only about three hours of sleep it was time to roll. If this was Tokyo, maybe I would not have had any trouble, but here in Baghdad three hours of sleep is nothing.
Whatever happens, there's only one more day to go till the finish line and with many doubts and objections, but with no energy to fight back, I must walk through this thorny path.

P.S.

at least they're flying a bit higher today!

and what do you have to say!? well I won't be here if you weren't there!

A new cycle

Baghdad Day 41

A new cycle

Our coverage team is renewed today. Two of our comrades will take over as they arrived our office in the afternoon. We were supposed to leave today, but as we had to finish our work about the five years of war in this country, we are staying for an extra three days.
It's great we can spend time together here in Baghdad as we can be comrades in arms naturally sharing the tough experience of staying here with shackles on our feet.
The work load is getting heavier each day and I just hope I can get through without fainting!

P.S.

the flowers in the garden is starting to smile...
I hope you won't get attacked!

Winning the bet

Baghdad Day 40

Winning the bet

Today, we took a chance and asked our crew to cover IDPs in Baghdad for the morning report for Tuesday. It's really a gamble as we never nail a story in one day and if we don't get enough footage today, we will lose out and it will be an impossibility to recover.
I think I won the bet as we were able to make the report and the quality was not so bad. I'm happy I didn't give up. Four more days to go and I hope there isn't any more large obstacles on the way!

P.S.
It's quite tough to eat dinner on time...

another chicken dish... I think it's the best meat we can get in Iraq!


we could see the moon from daytime...
under the moon is the pilotless blimp checking
where mortars are being shot from...

Good experience in a bad environment

Baghdad Day 39

Good experience in a bad environment

It was a difficult day. My teeth still aches and my throat and stomach still are not feeling right. This will not let me say I will not give out the live coverage we had to do today. But whatever problem I have was not the real trouble today as we had a major defect in the procedure. We could not link the line to Tokyo until only 8 minutes before I had to speak. This all happened because of "human errors", and with this mishap, I was quite nervous and though I tried to calm myself as always, I muffed many of the lines and I thought it was quite disastrous.
Oh well... I just have to say to myself anything irregular can happen to live feeds and this will be good experience for me. I hope...

P.S.
My first Turkish coffee in Baghdad...

thick and black!
herbish and sweet!

BAD...

Baghdad Day 38

BAD...

Working till about 3AM, I was exhausted and before going to bed, I sensed I will be having troubles as my teeth started to ache. In the morning it got worse. Not only my teeth were killing me, my stomach and my throat were both aching.
I have to eat to keep my fuel tank filled so I tried so hard to eat my meals but this is really BAD...

I was drug dependent today as I took painkillers to help me concentrate on all the work I had to do. And luckily I was told I can sleep early tonight so I can get up early tomorrow to get ready for the live coverage. I humbly pray that when I wake up tomorrow, everything will be just fine!

It's just after 9PM... Good night!

P.S.
Last night, I finished using my toothpaste I bought in Islamabad...

thanks! and good-bye!

some Iraqi pie for snack! very oily!

Fish and Meat!

Baghdad Day 37

Fish and Meat!

One week till we leave Baghdad. I'm happy I can feel the goal line is just around the corner. But it's just like the last corner of a horse race that any carelessness can blow me up.

Today our filming was not perfect but acceptable... Thank God...
We can now narrowly make our story with the least pictures but I surely believe we could have made a better one given another week. But since we're doing it on Sunday, the question is "Would we want to see this a week later?"
Maybe not... it might have been better if we've done it this weekend anyways. I know I'm thinking this way because we were able to sneak in our presentation at the last moment.

Still... there's tons of work to do and I'm really getting tired!

P.S.
Today's menu...

Iraqi fish dish called "masguf", grilled Tigris carp for lunch

finishing it up!


and roast beef for dinner!


you were sniffing at what we're enjoying, right!?


nah, you can't have any even if you try to be cute!

A week to go

Baghdad Day 36

A week to go

We've got only a week till the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the War, but I'm really getting cornered. Things are not working out the way I wanted to and though the reason for my agony is in some extent caused by the change in plans with the broadcast day of our special report about Iraqi people's everyday life. As we were told to advance the day of broadcast one week, things we thought we would have time to film are becoming serious problems for us with limited time. We know if we have time we can film our story because it's about Iraqi people but with limited time it's really hard to wrap up the story without the help from the people themselves, who would be taking risks to be filmed by a TV crew.

Oh... I should be happy that now I don't have to stay here longer as the broadcast has been advanced but it is really stressful when efforts are not turning into results because of our limited resources. I hope I'll be smiling when I ride that Royal Jordanian flight out of here next week!

P.S.

some rain again!?

there flying all over the area again!

In the red zone!

Baghdad Day 35

In the red zone!

I must admit it. I think I'm getting stressed up. With little things I'm getting angry and uneasy. I usually get disappointed only to myself when things turn to the bad side with limited time and ability, but this time there's so many things I can blame on and that makes my mind unbalanced.
I'm trying to think logically and to be calm, but how can I stop this uncertainty that I can make it when I have no idea how I can analyze our output power!? I can say yes and no when it's about me and I only have to work for extra hours or even overnight to finish the task, but as it's quite dangerous to work at night and we have limited time, I have no idea where we're going to end up a week from now!

P.S.
I had too much Coke...

so maybe I should switch to Diet Coke!

and the fan... it's their season to work!

Inshala!

Baghdad Day 34

Inshala!

We had some progress today, but we're running out of time. We need a real boost but it seems to be an impossibility. Everyday I'm saying "Inshala"!
Inshala we can get permission. Inshala we can get the pictures. Inshala I can make the story! Oh well, maybe I'm saying "Inshala" each hour.

Inshala I will make great progress and nail the story tomorrow!

Not regretful... I think...

Baghdad Day 33

Not regretful... I think...

After finishing up some of the urgent work last night, as we had a lively conversation with some help from some whisky, I finally went to bed at around 4:30AM.
Of course, I had a hangover, and was very sleepy. Things were worse when our crew could not get the pictures we wanted... AGAIN! I'm going to wring those guys neck someday! Yes, yes... I can't leave the building... How can I go and beat them up if I can't even talk to them directly...
I think this is where all the stress comes from and drinking alcohol becomes a habit which I try to avoid when I'm in Tokyo. Now it's a hard habit to break...

It's getting hotter!

Baghdad Day 32

It's getting hotter!

The sunlight is getting stronger each day but since we're sitting in the room all day, it's quite comfortable with no cold winds bothering me anymore.
Being disappointed yesterday, I was losing my enthusiasm to go on, but it is my job to finish off the things I was asked to do, so as a reporter earning money, I must go on.

I understand there are so many Iraqis who want to have a better future, but I just can't feel sympathetic to those people who just sit in there office for four hours. (they get to work at around 10AM and leave at 2PM and they also have lunch!) Now my memories of those days working in Kuwait is returning as I was yelled at when I went to a governmental office... "Are you crazy!? It's 2:30PM already and what kind of permission do you need to stop me from going home!?" I thought... "No wonder they were invaded by Iraq". But hey, maybe Iraq is heading the same way!?

P.S.

enjoying some Turkish souvenirs for snack!

Second thoughts...

Baghdad Day 31

Second thoughts...

Now I'm disappointed! We were supposed to cover a good story today, but everything was ruined when some young soldier stopped our crew to enter the area to cover. I getting tired of hearing these stories! We always get the permission to cover stories each time, but how can we get permission from the MOD when all the soldiers say we must get a permission to enter their area. How many areas do you think Baghdad has!? They're just crazy and I'm starting to be a little bit angry that I have to try to get stories out for these kind of people.
Yes, there doing their job, they say. But they searched enough to find no explosives and they can see the camera will not do any harm. Why do they interfere!?
I don't see any future in this country if this continues!

P.S.
As the city is warming up...

la Coca-Cola! is what we need!