From now on …

Very creative interior design at Bloomingdale's, Ala Moana Shopping Center, Honolulu. Celebrating the lunar or Chinese New Year of the monkey. iPhone 5 photo. Posted 6 February 2016.

The newly extended Ala Moana Shopping Center. Beginning to look like Waikiki. Hard to believe that it was formerly Sears and a lot of parking. Enjoyed our first visit to the area. iPhone 5 photo. Posted 6 February 2016.

Lunch at Kaimana Farm Cafe in Kapahulu, Hawaii. Delicious and excellent value. Once this restaurant is known to Japanese travel guide books, there will be long lines. Invited to lunch with Jin, who adopted us to mentor her. iPhone 5 photos. Posted 5 February 2016.

Class is over for this semester. ICT For Learning. Both graduate and undergrads worked together and they worked hard. Even when we connected from Hawaii. Learned a lot myself. Kansai University, Faculty of Informatics. Fall 2015 semester. iPhone 5 photos. Posted 22 January 2016.

Sign of the times. Global warming? Light snowfall, first time this winter, that is the latest that we recall for past 13 years. Last year it snowed on New Year's Day. First snowfall was typically in early or mid December. Our neighbor says that it used to accumulate 10 cm. or more. Rokko Toll Road, Route 95, Kobe, Japan. iPhone 5 photos. 20 January 2016.

New Years Holiday in Japan : Hatsumode, first shrine visit. Shimogamo Jinja, Kyoto. Hundreds of thousand visitors. Crowded, but not as much as on New Year's Day. iPhone 5 photo. 3 January 2016.

Happy New Year 2016! Year of the monkey. May good fortune and luck find you in the coming year. iPhone 5 photo. 31 December 2015.

New Years Day in Japan. Osechi ryori. Enjoying the feast. Thanks to convenience of supermarkets. iPhone 5 photo. 1 January 2016.

January 1, 2016.

Spent a day at Daitokuji, a large temple complex in north Kyoto and the head temple of the Daitokuji school of Japanese Zen Buddhism Rinzai sect. Fortunately, three subtemples, Obai-in, Zuiho-in and Souken-in, normally closed to the public, were open to visitors. As a result, we viewed a variety of karesansui (dry) zen gardens built by famous Japanese garden designers. iPhone 5 photos. 27 November 2015. More info: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3910.html

More info: http://damien.douxchamps.net/photo/japan/kansai/kyoto/north/daitokuji/koto-in/

Kitanotenmangu, momiji (maple) viewing. Not as impressive as previous years. iPhone 5 photos. Kyoto, Japan. 27 November 2015.

More info: http://www.japan-toy-museum.org/english/eindex.htm

In mom’s memory. She liked the morning glory as Asako was her name. I now understand why having seen Japanese cultivars of this delicate flower (middle photo). iPhone 5 photos. 11 May 2015.

More info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ujigami_Shrine

Byodo-in, Uji city, Kyoto, Japan. Centuries-old wisteria (ふじ) in full bloom. Best to visit during weekdays and in the morning. iPhone 5 photos. 30 April 2015.

Local flora, variegated ivy and azalea. Nada-ku, Kobe, Japan. iPhone 5 photos. 29 April 2015.