The Highlights

Here's what we managed to squeeze in Mom and Dad's visit.

Thursday: Oedo Onsen Spa and a dinner out at Beacon.

Friday: The Museum of Maritime Science, Sumida River Cruise and a rickshaw ride around Asakusa.

Saturday: Trip down to the Odawara fish cake festival to see the castle and taiko drummers, walk to the ocean, sample some delicious fish cakes.

Sunday: Sakura (cherry blossom) Brunch at the Tokyo American Club, a visit to the Meiji Shrine, Harajuku.

Monday: Trip up to the Metropolitan Government Building observatory in the morning to try to see Fuji, then in the evening, a walk around Tokyo Mid-Town, Dinner at La Colina (serenaded by a great mariachi band) and then Tokyo City View at night.

Tuesday: Visited the Shinjuku Gyoen Park to see the sakura. It was gorgeous. Then onto the airport!

Odawara Fish Cake Festival

Taiko Drummers warming up before a performance.





Mom and Dad posing with the Samurai.




More sights at Odawara.

Oedo Onsen Spa

Today we rocked Grannie and Grandaddy's world. We took them to a place where they had to take off their shoes, take off their clothes and don a yukata. We spent the better part of the day at the Oedo Onsen Spa. The very best part of the day was when we visited Dr. Fish. We put our feet in a warm pool filled with little hungry fish who feed on the dead skin of people. It was a sqeally creepy affair at first, but after I got used to it, it was just tingly. My feet, after a 15 minute soak, were as soft as flower petals. (Thanks, Dr. Fish!) Then we walked and soaked our feet in hotter water through the outdoor foot bath foot path. Lunch was tempura and soba and beer, followed by some fresh fruit. Robin tried the onsen for the first time, (loved it!) and then we all enjoyed a 40 minute foot massage together. These foot-massaging folks are trained in reflexology and I actually felt different parts of my body respond to the pressure on the bottoms of my feet. Either that or I'm looney.
It was a great way to introduce Mom and Dad to a unique Japan experience. I think they had fun in spite of themselves!

Dr. Fish

This my friend, Beth. This is my friend Beth's "AAACCK! There are fish nibbling on my feet!" face.



She really had trouble getting used to the idea.




Mom asked, "I wonder how they keep these fish alive?"




Robin replied, "People pay to come and feed them. They are well fed!"

Wiener Pope

Sometimes when I read the news and I get my knickers all in a bunch, (like I did this week several times) I click on Google and type in something like, "why the #$!! does anyone listen to the pope?" or "Dick Cheney is a poop head," or some such worse thing. Mostly just to vent and read something that bolsters my righteous indignation.

Well this evening I read an article about the pope claiming that distributing condoms won't do anything to stop the spread of HIV in Africa. The only way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, according to the pope is total abstinence. Well. We all know how well THAT works. Just ask all the victims of pedophile priests...Which begs the question, "Why on earth would anyone listen to what the pope has to say?!" Since when has the pope become an HIV expert? Or an expert on any real human health issues?? Don't even get me started about the pope and women's issues. Anyway, I digress. So I type in some negative thing about the pope and up pops a surprising find.

I find myself looking at a blogspot page called Wonderful World of Wieners.
On this page, there are pictures of wiener dogs in a roughly made pope hat. I was so amused by this, that it took all the wind out of my sails, lowered my blood pressure and made me smile. So now I think I have the cure for these stressful times. Concerned about the environment? Plant a tree, look at kittens. Worried about the economy? Look at pictures of cute little babies. It may not help your financial situation, but it will be a calming distraction. Mad at the pope for opening his misguided mouth? Go to Wonderful World of Wieners, look at cute little wiener dog sporting ridiculous paper pope hats and enjoy!
Oh yeah- and never lose sight of the ridiculous in every situation.

http://wonderfulworldofweiners.blogspot.com/2009/02/pope-hat-anyone.html

Sakura

Cherry blossom time is almost here. There is a mania for blossom viewing that begins with simple anticipation of the spectacular yearly event. Posters in the metro, on the street and on magazines all now show pictures of the lovely pink blooms. The seasonal pictures in Narita airport are all about the pink now. On the evening news, there are predictions about when the blossoms will reach certain areas- much like the Fall Color Peak in New England. Well, the good news is that the predicted date for Sakura in Tokyo is March 24. Mom and Dad arrive on the 25th. Perfect timing. Expect to see lots of pictures. This will probably be the last time I get to see this wonder of springtime in Japan.

A Certain Level of Trust

This is not a picture of a car pulling out of a driveway. It is parked. I kid you not. It's parked right at the corner about two blocks below our house. So essentially you are looking down my street from near my house on a cloudy afternoon. But that's not the interesting part to me. Dude, this guy parks his car with the rear in the driveway, and the front sticking easily 5 feet out (probably more) into the street. Not just the street, but the intersection!! Can you imagine what would happen to this car in Metropolitan NY? My Gawwd, but it would be keyed, ticketed, probably smashed by rage-filled taxi drivers and then towed to the pound somewhere near lovely Bayonne, NJ.

Not so in my neighborhood in Tokyo. The way this pristine Jetta Wagon is parked represents a degree of trust that I'm not sure I could ever muster. I also suspect that a Gaijin couldn't pull this off. Maybe this guy is the local policeman, but I doubt it. Every time I walk by this scene, on my way to and from the station or the store, I am amazed, I am confounded and I want to giggle.

I've Decided

I've decided the older I get, the shorter and spikier my hair is going to get. I am not going to take growing older passively. I am going to face it, be outrageous, dye my hair purple when I turn 80 and go on some long hiking adventure. Who wants to join me??

I got a haircut today, the sun is shining, I'm listening to Earth Wind and Fire (Who were playing at the White House recently BTW) and am jazzed on Starbucks. So life is good.

My Taiko Class Performs for Tokyo Here and Now

The best recruitment program ever! The TAC Taiko Classes came together to perform for the new comers to Tokyo. The message: get involved, try something new, think outside the box. Taiko has been the highlight of my stay here.



We played at the start of Wednesday's session. I was careful to watch the faces of the THN participants. Some were a little shocked by the early morning loudness, others were amused, still others were really into it.



We really played well, thanks to the leadership of our sensei Moko and her assistant, Nobuko.



I need to find a generous benefactor to fund Taiko for Trumansburg. My plan is to bring this drumming back to Upstate NY. It is so perfectly suited for all ages, all skill levels and especially the middle school music program. How about an adult community ed program?

The coolest book club ever!

It's plum blossom season in Japan!


When you live in a foreign country(ies) for a while, you make friends from all over. Sometimes they stay and and sometimes they leave. I talked to a woman this morning who told me she had been in the same book club for 8 years. They just had a meeting last Friday night. The interesting bit about this book club is that the women who are in it no longer live in the same city. Skype allowed them to meet on line from Boston, Connecticut, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Australia. She said that on Friday they had one of the best book discussions ever. That is utterly cool.