U.S. Tour 09

The END (The Final Day @ Tokyo)

2009-06-29T09:19:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

Last Friday night, we came back home safely. Thank God for your support, help, advise and prayer.

It was amazing and wonderful to experience that no matter we're in Japan or U.S.A, we're one family in Jesus Christ. If we have opportunities to visit again, we really want to stay longer and have a good fellowship in God.

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:18-20

God bless you all,
Keiya Kanno

The End Is The New Beginning

2009-06-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

On friday, last week, we came back to Tokyo from the trip in the States for a month. Thank the Lord for all the things that He have done for us through out the trip. And I want to thank all of you, both the people in the States and my family, my friends in Japan. This trip reminded me the "one-ness" in Christ in many ways. I'm so looking forward to see you guys again someday :D Praise the Lord!

Internet and moving to Seattle (Day 15 @ Oviedo)

2009-06-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Today is the 15th day in U.S. It means that half of our trip is over. It was the longest 15 days I ever experienced. In those days, I was filled with joy and thanks to God especially in christian fellowship. It is just wonderful. Though, I'm little bit sad that I couldn't meet people in Japan for two Sundays!

We spent most of the time at Reformed Theological Seminary's library today because they had Wireless internet :D It was a quiet and good place. Oh, we met Jonathan again and had Mexican food together. It was my third time to eat burijto in U.S. and I like them.

In the afternoon, we moved to the airport and came to Seattle. We first flew to Denver and had a transition there. It was my first time to change airplane so I was little bit nervous. Though, our flight was delayed about two hours so we had a plenty of time...

We are so excited to stay in Seattle!

God bless you all,
Keiya Kanno

Canoe at Wekaiwa River (Day 11 @ Sanford)

2009-06-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I'm sorry that I wasn't write my BLOG for about a week.
We are doing fine and having a lot of fun. I know that I have to share our joy so I'll catch up little by little.

Today, We went to "Wekaiwa River" and had a canoe ride with canoe master, Mac. It was really beautiful and we saw some wild alligator there! It was my first time to be on a canoe so it wasn't that easy but the good master was with us so I think we got little bit better :D

After canoe riding, we went to the barn again. This time we were planning to ride horses but we couldn't make it because it was thunder storming outside. We are planning to go riding tomorrow's morning.

We made "Shrimp Creole" for the dinner and it was very good! We also had "Hammond's pound cake" too. It's a real pound cake and was very heavy. I think I'm eating 120% everyday ;)

God bless you all,
Keiya Kanno

Random Stuff

2009-06-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

Airport

I've spent few days in Chicago with Kous. It was my second time meeting Josh and Chris. I knew Tim and Matt but it was my first meeting them face to face, because the last time when they came to Japan, I was only 4 years old, so I didn't remember them.

From U.S. Tour 09

So when we arrived at the airport, Tim and Josh came to pick us up at the airport. The flight got delayed so it was very late at night but they were so kind to come all the way from their house to the airport. Thanks so much Tim and Josh:)

When we got home at around 3:00 or something, or was it 2:00 in the morning? I noticed about the time difference, ya I know I was so stupid forgetting (or shall I tell the truth? that I didn't really know about that they have different time zones in the states:-P) about the time zone. I think I had a lil bit of jet lug that day, so I fell a sleep sometime around 5:00am. But I was pretty excited experiencing the jet lug for the first time in my entire life:-P

Chicago Downtown

On the next day, Chris, Tim, Matt and Josh took us to the very downtown of Chicago with some of their friends(and they were so awesome:) ). And guess what we all had our cameras with us and we kept taking pictures the whole time.

From U.S. Tour 09

And I was able to go on all kinds of transportation in downtown. 2 kinds of train and a bus. So it was pretty much fun.

From U.S. Tour 09

The Churches

It's so interesting to see whole bunch of Churches in downtown. Cuz it's something that I've never experienced before in Tokyo. And it is so sad to know that a lot them are "just a building".

From U.S. Tour 09

Nan took us to the church in Stanford University and it was such a wonderful place!! I guess it was my first time in my life visiting such a big and "real" cathedral. So I was pretty much stunned by the whole atmosphere.

From U.S. Tour 09

On Sunday, I went to one of the CREC churches in Chicago. The very first CREC church in that area that has been started pretty recently.

They sang about 10 songs in their service which made me so so so happy and joyful. And guess what, they had three instruments!!! 1 piano with 2 violins! And they helped me so much with singing all the songs that I didn't know. And the fact that their order of service is very similar to ours made me feel like I'm home. I was so joyful to see how the young people the "next generation" were taking part in the service and how they were involved in the whole thing.

Costco + Wal*Mart + BJ's

One thing that I'm so totally enjoying in the states is visiting Costco and Wal*Mart(today i had my very first Wal*Mart experience in my entire life. And I was so excited!!!!!).

U.S. Tour 09 - Slideshow

2009-06-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Google I/O second day (Day 3 @ San Francisco)

2009-05-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

It was the second day at Google I/O and had a great time.

I slept little bit over but went to Google I/O on the time. Vic Gondotra, Google's vice president for engineering said that they have another very big surprise so I was wondering and waiting for the keynote in the line. It was "Google Wave". They announced it in the keynote, and it looks very good. It combined email, IM, wiki, SNS all in one and looks very interesting. I'm excited to get an early developer account.

We had other sessions and ran back to the Devine's house to eat BBQ and meet christian friends. It was very good and had a great time with Tim, Marilyn, Lee and Kris (I hope that I'm not making mistakes). It's good to meet many people who is happy and has passions for the mission of God.

Please write a comment if you can, so that I can stay motivated to write these things ;-)

God bless you all,
Keiya Kanno

San Francisco - Day 2

2009-05-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

my first day in the states was so awesome. and guess what, second day was also soooo great, i had an amazing time at Google conference sorta thing. i was able to hear some interesting sessions. and also i met some cool new people there(and oh yes, many people were kinda surprised with the fact that my t-shirt says that i'm a christian.). ya know meeting people is one of the big point of attending all those tech events. so ya, that's one of the reason why i like to attend tech events like hack-a-thon and stuff when i'm in tokyo.

and yes. yah i totally gotta mention 'bout the phone Google gave out to all the attendees. We all got a brand new Android phone for free from Google with unlimited call and 3G for 30 days!! guess what, i was planning to get a prepaid cell phone for my stay in the states for a month, and so i was about to get one in San Francisco, than this happened. now i got one of the coolest smart phone(except for iPhone:P) in the states for free and not only that but they gave us free call and stuff for 30 days. it's perfect cuz ya know I'll be staying in the states for about 31 days and it was my second day, 2/31 = 30 days left = 30 day free trial. can't believe it. now i can check my email everywhere, i can use google maps perfectly on the phone, so i will not have to bring all the maps everywhere i go etc. yah I'm way uber excited:) i'm so thankful to God for his perfect plan. i wasn't expecting this at all.

google had a cool party organized for the attendees after all the sessions, so i came home around 11:00ish and i had to wake up at 6:00 in the morning next day, so i immediately took a shower, than imported all the pics from my camera than i went to bed. somehow it took me around 10 or 15 mins till i fell i sleep. maybe that's cuz i was too excited about my new gadget.

the funny thing is that, since i have been here in San Francisco spending my first few days in the states never made me feel like i'm in the foreign country that i'm a complete stranger from other country which is 9 hours flight away from here. i don't know why but i feel like i'm just few hours away from where I live. i don't feel like i'm a total stranger or a tourist.

maybe that's cuz i feel like a complete stranger when I'm in Tokyo walking around with my camera and my maps and all that. and guess what, when i'm in Tokyo, most of the people(yes literally "most of the people") think that i'm a tourist. so they often ask me like "may i help you?" or "are you lost?", "sightseeing?" and all that. they just think that i'm a foreigner. i have been taking pictures of buildings in the very downtown of tokyo recently as part of my work, i always have my camera, maps, and my big mountaineering bag pack full of my camera gears when i go take pictures of the buildings so maybe that's why, and not much ladies in japan use back pack(they carry around those tiny purse-ish thing that doesn't fit anything:P), but here, everyone got one so i guess i look less-tourist-ish than when i'm in tokyo:P

so i guess i'll be posting some pics tonight if i have time.

please keep praying for my stay in the states.

God bless you all.

Google I/O first day (Day 2 @ San Francisco and Menlo Park)

2009-05-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

Hi,

It was a great great day!

We went to Google I/O and had many sessions, and met friends who are using Google App Engine. The session was good but not so deep. I met and talked little bit with Guido van Rossum who made a scripting language "Python". I also talked with the speakers of the sessions and gave our business cards. I'm looking forward to attend tomorrow again.

Oh, we had a big surprise today. We got an "HTC Magic (the newest Android phone)" for FREE! It also has 30 days unlimited connection. It's just perfect for us. I want to touch it all night but should sleep for tomorrow...

God bless you all,
Keiya Kanno

Finally at U.S. (Day 1 @ San Francisco and Menlo Park)

2009-05-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hey,

It's been a while for writing on this BLOG.

We were preparing stuffs that we bring, and have done things before coming.
The flight was about 4 p.m. from Tokyo and arrived at 9 a.m. to San Francisco so we gained a day. We had a great day with Mr. and Mrs. Devine eating and talking. It was just amazing and wonderful that we can have christian fellowship far away from our home and church. It's just the God's grace. We felt like we knew each other for a long time.
We also rid to down town, Golden Gate Bridge and saw The Rock. It was great!
Devine's house is also beautiful and lovely. It's in the beautiful street and has a garden. I can't wait to have BBQs.

Woops, I want to write more but should sleep now so that I can get up tomorrow ;)

God bless you all,
Keiya Kanno

San Francisco - Day 1

2009-05-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

so. i'm now here in San Francisco enjoying my first visit to the States.

anyway, It's my first day in the States and I feel like I have been living here for 1 month. lol.

the flight was actually so good. the airplane meal was so uber good both dinner and breakfast. i had beef with potatoes salad and some bread for the dinner. i had three cans of coke which made me pretty happy. ya know i love coke(and of course i always have the diet coke:P).

i had about three hours of sleep on the airplane. so i hope that i'll have no jet lug. cuz i just don't wanna waste time being sleepy and feeling sick and all that.

and than i met Doug and Nan at the airport. it was my first time meeting them. and they were just so nice and they took us on a sight seeing around San Francisco, we've been to Golden Gate Bridge and stuff. Doug also took us to the very downtown of SF and showed us where the station is to make sure that we won't get lost on the way to the Moscone Center tomorrow.

I had "real" hamburgers and some awesome shakes for lunch at the nice mall sorta place.

Doug and Nan's house is so beautiful and nice. It's so huge with so many rooms but still very cozy and stuff. And I even got my own room here!! For the first time in my life I guess. LOL. And guess what Doug built the whole thing!

Oh yeah and I met Doug and Nan's neibour who has been to Japan quite few times for the business. And he knew so much things about Japan and so that was pretty interesting and fun. I'm sure he knows a lot more about Tokyo than I do. He even knew that the chuo-line is now silver and orange. rofl.

Nancy took us to the grocery store called Trader's Joe. One of the thing that I really wanted to do when I come visit the states was to go to the "very normal grocery store". So i was so excited to see the whole "normal american grocery store" sorta thing. That was so much fun. After that Nancy took us to Walgreens, cuz I wanted to get some gums and than I found tootise rolls there which I sooooo love but can't have very much in tokyo cuz it's way too expensive if you get them in Japan.

anyway, I'm having so much fun and a wonderful time with Doug and Nancy talking about various things. and guess what their house has a wi-fi connection!! woot! it's perfect.

it's 11:15 and i have work tomorrow. so i guess i'll just go get some sleep cuz i gotta get up at 6:00 tomorrow. man! that's about 1.5 hours before i usually get up:P

please keep praying for us. thanks.

God bless y'll.

U.S. Tour 09

2009-04-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

So yes. Finally it's here. The website of our U.S. Tour 09. I have been working on this website for a while now and it's finally here and I'm so 'uber happy about it. To visit the website, go to http://duoplus.jp/ustour09 . I've designed and organised the whole thing. Ain't it cool? Maybe I should add something like "things i wanna do when i'm in the states" and "places i wanna go" kinda list.

May I attend WWDC 2009?

2009-04-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Did you know that WWDC 2009 gonna be on June 9th to 13th?
I want to see "One more thing" if I have time and money :P

We should decide by April 29th to get $300 discount...

Photos + Videos

2009-04-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

I will be bringing my camera for sure. But I'm also planning to bring a video camera. Cuz I was editing some video clips for work and I sort of got into making videos. So I thought that it might be fun if I can make some videos about my trip to the States... let's see what I can do.

By the way, here is my recent video that I posted on Vimeo.

Kichijoji | Total Stranger from Miwaza Jemimah on Vimeo.

Scary Passport Pic

2009-03-31T08:43:00.001-07:00

i finally have my passport:D woot. i went to TMG, shinjuku again to get it. and oh yes i almost forgot to write that I look kinda scary in my passport picture:@) lol. it's ok. cuz i've heard that most of the people look scary in the passport pic.

Working on Website and Video

2009-03-26T03:04:00.001-07:00

This week, I have been working on a website where I'm going to post videos, photos and ofcourse blog during the trip in US. When it's ready I'm going to post URL on here:D By the way, I was making a really short video clip, ya know for figuring out how to use the new video editting app that I got for work. I think that this video turned out pretty cool. What doya think?

Kaz Ride from Miwaza Jemimah on Vimeo

Don't forget me...

2009-03-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Keiya.

Miwaza writes a lot but I didn't. I'm also excited to go to US and preparing for it so don't forget me ;P
Woops, I should go to Shinjuku to get my first passport now.

I'll write again later.

People at TMG

2009-03-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

so today i went to shinjuku to turn in the application for getting a passport. somehow i was imagining that the people at TMG are not very kind but i was completely wrong. there were some people like that but not everyone. so things were pretty simple than i was thinking. and guess what i didn't get lost even once on the way to shinjuku. lol. i think i will receive my passport sometime next week.

pizza and than passport

2009-03-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

i'm getting stuff ready little by little. but i have to keep tellin' myself everyday that i don't have much time left for all the preparation. anyway, today i went to kichijoji with my sibs, we had pizza for dinner. and on the way back i had a picture taken by the photobooth machine for the passport. ya know, i had to tell myself that i'm a photographer and not a model. so the only thing left for turning in the paper to get the passport is to get the paper signed by my dad. cuz i'm under 20.

Cheap Airfares in US

2009-03-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to buy cheap airfares for the flights in US. I want to go to WA from SF. And if it's possible and can get the cheap plane ticket on a budget, than I want to go to FL too. I ain't know nothing 'bout those stuff. So I might ask my friends for help about all those "plane ticket things".

Passport Pic

2009-03-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

After going to SF for Google I/O. I will be visiting my friends, but I haven't decided where to start yet. Main reason is that I haven't checked out how much I can spend and stuff. One thing that I'm sure is that I will be visiting WA. Btw, I really should fill out the paper for the passport tomorrow, which means I need a picture for it. I think I will be using a random photobooth machine I can find somewhere around the station.

United States, Here I Come.

2009-03-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone out there. This is Miwaza. I guess some of you already know this but me and my big bro Keiya will be attending Google I/O 2009 which is going to be held in San Francisco. We will be leaving Tokyo sometime around May 26th-ish. Google I/O 2009 is from May 27th to 28th. For only two days but my boss thinks that it's a wonderful opportunity to visit my friends in US, so he decided to give me a break for 1 whole month!!! Can you believe it? Such a kind and gracious boss aite?

It's my very first time going on an airplane. Woot! And which means it's my first time visiting other country(In Japan, people often thinks that I'm not from Japan though. LOL.). So first I need to get a passport and some other stuff. Wow. I still can't believe that I'm really going to the States. I have been wanting to visit US since I was small, like 12 or 13. I'm so thankful to God for giving me a chance to visit:) I'm praying that everything will go well. First thing first, I got lotta things to prepare:)