Truly blue...

It was peaceful today, but a story written by a rival agency dropped me into the bottomless pit... It wasn't a bad day till the report came in, but maybe because I was a loafer today, it was a punishment from Heaven... I had to spend the rest of the day feeling truly blue.

In Japan, I was true blue to my horse betting some money via internet, but sadly he finished 10th... He's already 7 years old and maybe he's in the verge of retiring...

Me too... I want to retire...


Photos of today...
In the afternoon, I went out with my wife to check out...

a handicraft shop...

and into another small shopping center...

with a shop with so many handicraft goods...

It was hot outside so...

we finished off with some cold drinks!


betting on my horsey... but...

PS
It was a nice birthday to hear Vodka had won her 6th Grade 1 race taking the Yasuda Kinen race in a wild finish where she was still behind the runner-up 100 meters before the goal. I was so excited to see her run through the goal first with such a defecit! I'm under great pressure and in an unfavorable situation, but like her, I wish I can run through the goal line first!

Heaven to hell...

It was a cloudy day...

the Burj Dubai behind the fog...

But I was so happy... being able to eat sushi for the first time in such a long time... and also being able to go see my favorite horse so far away from home...

the sushi lunch I had... grrrrreat!

But it was really tough for my wife to accompany me especially with the sun gleaming on us in the beginning, and then rain falling on us... Since we had portable umbrellas, it was better that it wasn't too hot anymore, but as the nighttime came, it was getting cold...

We went to the race course at around 2:30PM, but the first race was to start at 5PM. We had tickets that enabled us to get into the "party" section, but not the seats at the grandstand. Many people were picnicking in the area, and though it rained slightly from time to time, we had lunch sitting on the lawn.


many people dressed up!

enjoying the beer on the lawn...

handing in our Pick 7!

After the races started we watched at the front near the 400 meter sign.

watching near the 400 meter sign...

not bad when the race is on the dirt course!

There were quite some time between the races, which all were Grade I races after the third one!

people were concentrating on partying rather than watching the race!

we had a modest dinner... sandwiches and nachos!

the fireworks opening the event started after the fourth race!

At 7:55PM, it was finally the time to watch the one I wanted!
Vodka was running at the second spot, and there was only one horse to run past... but she never did... and finished 7th... What a disaster...

Vodka! come on!


The other two Japanese horses did not do well either... it was exciting for me to see them, but sadly it was not the outcome I anticipated...

We rushed to the airport. We had luckily asked the taxi driver who took us to the racecourse to come back at 10PM, and it was the right thing to do as you had to get a cab to get out of the course, which would have been hours of lining up... all right... we were lucky!

No troubles...

Since I had hired two helping hands today, I should have prayed for something to happen to make good use of them, but I really didn't want any trouble... Fortunately, there wasn't anything developing today and we called it a day at 4PM, an hour and a half later than usual.

Before saying good-bye, I had my regular staff get a nice cake to enjoy together!


a nice one with strawberries and mango!

I hope they enjoyed their temporary stay here, because I'd need their help from now on too!


oh you too! well, next time you can help too!

PS
In the nighttime, I tried to find a satellite channel that broadcasted the race in Dubai where my favorite horse was competing...
Sadly I couldn't find any and I had to give up watching the race simultaneously, but could manage to enjoy it after about 30 minutes of its real race time.


at the site of the Dubai Racing Club...


sadly my favorite did not win...


Vodka finished fifth... but she still has a chance to win the real take!

Historical!

It was supposed to be an precious day for me to finish some important research for the coming up historical election in the other side of the world.

But when I saw the website I took a peak at on lunch time to see an event that should have finished about couple of hours ago...

How can you go back to work with composure after you see this! It was so historical, and I'm not talking about the historical event that would take place on the 4th of November at the other continent...


Vodka, my favorite horse right now having another horse I adore as her father, just won by "2cm", as JRA announced! (pic handed out by JRA)

With the low speed internet, I could only see the low quality video of JRA's website and it was completely impossible to see which filly won... I saw Vodka had more speed, but the spirit of her rival seemed to be stronger with the pride she internally bears...

But as I cautiously went to the page that showed the results, I clenched my fists quietly on my desk... Daiwa Scarlet was second by less than an inch and she ran the race for the first time in about 7 months... how fast and powerful can she be!? But having her and a young three year old Derby winner in between the two rivals surely made this race a historical one cutting the record time of the 2000 meters of Tokyo RC by 0.8 seconds which is just historical as the dramatic finish.

I'm a little jealous for the people at the race course, as I'm sure I would have been there if I had been in Tokyo!


way to go Vodka!

ref: the race from YouTube... I just couldn't stop watching it over and over and time flew by today that I couldn't finish any of the work I had to!! How can you concentrate after you see this!

One twelfth? One eighth?

It's exactly three months after I left my native country. If it's going to be a full three years sentence, have I finished 1/12? Or if it's only going to be two years, is it 1/8!? I hope it's not 1/16!

I woke up in the morning to be ready for some calls from Tokyo which somehow I has some presentiments I'd receive some. I did get some phone calls in the afternoon while I was fighting with the computer which crashed a few days ago. Sadly I couldn't get the call I wanted to and the day flew by without any improvements.

The world economy is really in disaster and I'm sad all the money I have in the bank I changed from the yen to the dollar has dropped its value significantly. I hope it would return to the 100 yen level before I return to Japan (two or three years later! or will the bank collapse before that!?), and on the other hand since some of my salary is now sent by the dollar I really don't need the yen to drop back so fast. It surely can take its time!

Taking hours to fight my way with the computer...

the crashed one on the left...


oh it seems helpless! it's completely my mistake I didn't make a rescue disk!


the pile of junk mail... I found out that almost all of the junk mails are sent with a name that starts with A!


thinking about the Kikkasho scheduled for Sunday... will it be another big payback race like last week's Shukasho!?


my dinner... curry rice! my favorite! I haven't had this recipe for more than three months!

No progress?

The development for the long term, I mean for years, was evident today, if, and only if, the administration remains the way it is. Nothing is for granted here and I might even not know if there is a hidden flaw along the path I'm walking right at this moment. But I can't be afraid of things I wouldn't know and I have to secure my innocence to continue on this path. I admit these few days were very fruitful for me, but it's up to me if I can really get something out of the experience!

I was together talking with my senior eating a late dinner starting at 11:30PM... It's always better late than never to accompany an elder who I would like to show my gratitude in anyway I can!

a traditional meal for lunch offered by my staff

yesterday... the favorite mare won the race! I did manage to win some money with a quinella ticket but only a tiny bit as the second favorite finished as the runner up making the payback a minimal...

My last visit for years...

It will be my last visit to my favorite place.

watching these horseys!


hello there!

It wasn't raining so hard as predicted and it made it easy for me to decide to head to Nigawa.
I didn't have the winning ticket at the Takarazuka Kinen (GI) as my favorite Admire Fuji finished 6th, but I was happy enough there was something to shout at. I don't think it will be easy to watch horse racing at either Dubai or Paris, but I might try at least once in the next three years!


stopping by the Osaka terminal before leaving to catch one last view of the city...

and having some tonkatsu!

Back again to the countryside!

Packing up till 2AM, it was quite hard for me to wake up, but sleeping till the last moment, I had enough time to take a breath at the airport...

Of course the lesser traffic and lesser fliers around were a great help.

saying bye-bye to New Delhi...

using Kingfisher once again!

After landing in Bangalore, we rode off to the rural area where I visited on the 7th, riding a long 4 hours with the filming crew.

in the countryside...

Arriving at the hotel... we tried to eat some dinner, but there was no one around and we had to wait in vain... we gave up and went out to get some food.

having beer and some Chinese kind of food!

It wasn't that relaxing at the hotel... of course it's not a five star lodge!
But at least it has air-conditioning... but without internets in the room!? Oh, this is a big lifeline trouble!

I was accompanied by a creature though!

We stepped by a small supermarket nearby...

just a regular supermarket... but impressive to find one in a rural city like this!

wow... Cup Noodles!

this looks familiar!

and these too!

and these are what I bought!

(P.S. I saw the results of the Victoria Mile(GI) on the computer which Japanese was not readable or writable on May 19th. I also saw the video replay on JRA's website on the 20th when I got to Bangalore. It's really sad to see Vodka could not wrap up her first victory in almost a year... she was the fastest runner in the last 3 furlongs, but that was not enough... and now everybody is saying she is not a superfilly, but a normal GI level filly... oh, they'll see that's not true someday!)

Slow start and slow night...

Eating soba at lunch was the first thing I did today, having a slow start.
I did go to my office after watching the Emperor's Cup (Spring) which was not exciting at all for me, as none of the horses I cheered for came on the top three...


Admire Jupiter wins his first GI race and the former champ Meisho Samson finished just shy of becoming a threepeat winner... the 4 year old colts, Asakusa Kings and Hokuto Sultan followed the first two 5 year olds... (pic from JRA HP)

I worked slowly at work as I also decided to do some data backup of my work PC. The night went on slowly, but surely reducing my time left before I leave Japan...

Troubled...

Taking my weekend off was not permitted... no, not with all the work piling up in just about 48 houra.

Yeah, I needed some time off...
Watching all these news about Flocke and Wilbaer it's time I get to see some from our country.
http://www.wilhelma.de/de/aktuelles-zu-wilbaer.html
http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/polarbear/


he's having fun... in JAPAN!

Before going to India, I had a head start...

watching these guys!

In the Satsuki Sho... another disaster for me... I had none of the top three colts in my ticket...


Captain Thule by Agnes Tachyon and Air Thule, a quite famous dam wins the first Classic race. Take Mikazuchi by Gold Allure, and the most favorite Meiner Charles finishes third... Rainbow Pegasus, Smile Black Shell, Smile Jack, Subject, Flotation that I had finished 4th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th respectively... not even close...

At night, I was at my office doing work, work, work! I know it's my fault, but I took the risk! ah...