Bruce Lee

June 25, 2006 / Sunday / 8:50 a.m.

First, the good news.

The bag that I left on the train on June 3 arrived home yesterday. The digital camera that I thought was lost forever finally came back.

Japan is widely known for her honest citizens, and we have experienced it firsthand. On the day that our bag was lost, somebody actually brought it to the police station in Fuchu, which is around an hour and half from Tokyo station. This was recorded in the database of the Japan Railway Co., so when we called a week later to make a follow up, we found out that there was still hope.

On June 17 (Saturday), we went to Fuchu to recover the bag, only to find out that the office was closed. We were able to obtain the contact numbers of the office, however. Mommy D called the following Monday and they sent us some documents (in English) to fill up. We sent back the accomplished documents by mail on Wednesday, and by Saturday morning, our lost bag was on our doorstep. If that isn't honesty and efficiency, then I don't know what is. The camera that could have been lost is a Nikon Coolpix 5400 with a 512 MB CF card and 3 lithium batteries.

No culture is perfect; each has its own weak and strong points. One thing certain, however, is that Japan's strength lies not only in her people's honesty but also on their clockwork efficiency. A few years back I joined a national essay writing contest on my own personal views of Japanese culture, sponsored by the Kyoto International Culture Association (KICA). (If you do read the essay, please note that my job when I wrote that essay is different now.) In this essay, I highlighted Japan's cultural strengths, and I am glad that until now, I can reaffirm what I had written.

Now, the bad news.

Theo has a slight fever as I am writing this. We were supposed to go to Sunday mass this morning but decided to cancel after noting that his temperature has reached 38.1 degrees C. It's probably not too high, but certainly high enough to keep us from leaving home. We went to the park yesterday and he spent much time running around and climbing small hills. Since it's already early summer (and it was warm and sunny yesterday), he easily worked up a sweat. It was his first time, though, to really run around for such a long time.

Last week, Mommy D brought Theo to the dentist because his teeth started to show some decay. Good thing we brought him early and literally had some of his teeth patched up. The dentist strongly encouraged us to brush his teeth even if he finds this very uncomfortable. It has become a struggle to do this but sometimes we need to be “cruel” to be kind, otherwise, many of his teeth would fall off by the time he turns 3.

For this week, I have uploaded a few more of Theo's photos, some of which were taken last week. The next two photos were taken recently in the park.





Theo's favorite Disney character is Mickey Mouse. Oh, it's unbelievable how much he has become attached to Mickey. He just goes wild whenever he sees a photo or stuffed replica of him. He also likes Winnie the Pooh, and in the two photos below, he's wearing a Pooh outfit from his Aunt Tippi.





This photo was taken on June 2 using the Nikon Coolpix 5400, which I left on the train the next day. If the camera did not return to us, this shot could have been lost forever.