Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everybody had a good day with friends and family. I was blessed to have Thanksgiving dinner with two families here on the compound. And now I am enjoying the extended blessings of the holiday - nibbling away at leftovers and eating pie for lunch.

I took Friday off work so that I could have the long weekend. Pretty much the only productive thing I did was to wrap up and box up most of the Christmas gifts so that I can put them in the mail next week. 

PSA for the day: If you have a loved one at an APO/DPO address, you need to get the gifts in the mail next week (the first week of December) if you want them to arrive before Christmas. I suspect this year will be particularly important to be on time, as the Postal Service shut down several of their APO/DPO handling facilities.

PSA#2 for the day: Be careful what tv shows you choose to binge watch. I'd already learned that it’s not a good idea to watch too much Doctor Who at one time. After one day when I watched a whole bunch of Doctor Who, I was pretty much useless for work the next day, thinking only of Daleks and Cybermen and oh-my-gosh-why-would-they-get-rid-of-Rose. Regardless of that experience, I watched 4 episodes of Doctor Who on Thanksgiving Day. I thought it would be okay, since I took a four-hour break in the middle. And it pretty much was okay, except for the really odd dreams. Of course, then I topped it off by discovering Once Upon a Time yesterday and watching 7 episodes of that show. So yes, I’ve been watching too much tv. And yes, I’ve had some strange dreams the last few nights. 

As long as we’re talking about fantasy… Have you seen the buggies that look like they’re for babies, but they’re actually for dogs? Japanese love their pets – cats and (small) dogs especially! They dress them up in outfits, take them out in buggies, carry them while hiking in the mountains. You can see some great pics here. Sadly, I don’t think my cat would tolerate me putting her in outfits. I’m tempted to try though. But I do love having a pet, and it’s nice to be in a country that loves pets. In so many places, when people learn that I don’t have children, it seems like they can’t think of a thing to talk to me about. But here, I’ve been known to say, “no, I have a cat” – and besides eliciting a bit of a laugh, it can also lead to conversation. Yes, I know cats aren’t the same as children, but she does have some qualities that remind me of some of the kids in my life.

- She loves to cuddle, but will only do it according to her own timing.

- She occasionally bumps against my leg before walking off, just to show she cares.

- She can handle small variations to the schedule, but too much variation will result in either racing around the house like a maniac or planting her feet and yelling at me.

- If she doesn’t like the video/music I’m playing while she hangs out on the back of the chair, she’ll whack the top of my head repeatedly.

- She’s not too interested in the food on her own plate, but she’s very interested in mine - particularly if it’s something in the dairy family.

But really, it’s just nice to have a little living being that cares about whether or not I’m home and that runs to greet me at the door. Of course, I’m about to cause drama in her life, because it’s now time to decorate for Christmas! But she will appreciate having the big tree to sit under and the low hanging ornaments to bat at. It's going to be a really busy week next week, so I'm kind of resting up, but maybe while I'm out tomorrow, I'll go see some of the light displays around town.

However you are spending your holidays - whether it’s watching tons of tv, braving the malls, or whatever - I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you will have a blessed holiday season!

My first look at Hakone

Hakone has been on my list of places to see for some time now. I've been hearing about how beautiful it is and about the great onsens. There's a touristy pirate ship that you can take across the lake and a ropeway up to a volcanic crater where you can eat an egg that's supposed to add six years to your life. 

Outside the Hakone-Yumoto train station

Although I think it will require an overnight trip eventually, last weekend I made a day trip with a friend to Hakone shrine to get a first look at the area. Two different weather sources told me that it would be in the mid- to high-60s and partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain. That sounded like pretty good odds, so off we went.  

First, we took a train to Hakone-Yumoto. There was a light rain when we got there, but it was quite lovely nestled in a valley.  

Then we took a bus up the mountain to Moto-Hakone, where the shrine is located. When we arrived, both weather apps told me that it was 70 degrees and partly cloudy. And I looked out at the lake only about 30 yards away… and couldn't see any of it for the fog. With the wind as strong as it was, it most certainly wasn't 70 degrees. And then there was the constant changing between mist, light rain, heavier rain and back again. Of course, having grown up in western Washington state, a little fog/mist/rain wasn't going to stop me from enjoying my trip! But I apologize if any of the pictures are a little blurry. I didn't want to get my nice camera wet, so all the pictures were taken with my phone while juggling an umbrella.

We stopped at a restaurant for some tonkatsu and then walked along the lake to the entrance to the shrine. While the fog totally disrupted our view of the lake, Mt. Fuji or any of the surrounding countryside, it did make everything look sort of mystical and lovely. According to the tour guide I had read online, the shrine is particularly beautiful in the mist. The fog gave us a chance to confirm that!

After walking around the shrine, we walked down to one of the torii that leads to the shrine - the Peace Torii - which is actually situated in the lake.

Then we walked back along the lake, appreciating how some colors - like the orangey-red of the shrine or the blue of my umbrella - pops out in the fog. 

We finished the day by looking at a few shops and then took a bus back to a train station. All in all, it was a very nice day. I will certainly need to go back for an overnight trip so that I can appreciate the onsens. Maybe I'll even see the lake next time!

September Travels and Furlough Adventures

It’s been an unusual month and a half. I was away for most of September, and October has been full of government shutdown. Not business as usual.

Hamamatsu

My first trip in September was an overnight work trip to Hamamatsu, during which I learned all about eels and gerbera daisies. For some reason, people haven’t figured out how to breed eels in captivity to any great extent, so baby eels have to be caught out in the ocean and then raised. For various reasons, the eel population has been declining, so it’s a big issue of concern. Is it necessary to say that I was much more interested in the pretty gerbera daisies than the squirmy eels?

That was followed by a brief but fun trip back to the States, including my first trip to historical Williamsburg and Jamestown. We went on the archeological tour at Jamestown. It’s fascinating all of the things they have just started discovering in the last 20 years and are still discovering now! Also fun was taking advantage of the opportunity to get some shopping done in a place where it is accepted that not everybody has a long torso. 

The month ended with a quick trip up to Hokkaido, where I saw some dairy operations and went to a Holstein show. (I know you are all jealous!) And not to be forgotten during all of these travels – I saw both the Hello Kitty plane AND the Pokemon plane!

I was back in the office for a day and a half when I got furloughed due to the government shutdown. I wouldn’t normally say anything, but since I’m not currently getting paid by the federal government, I’ll just note that: a) I’m pretty much irritated with everybody involved in this mess, b) this shutdown is costing us millions of dollars in fees/penalties for delayed payments, and c) I thought this Washington Post editorial was pretty good.

So while I’ve been furloughed, I’ve made it a point to do something every day that gets me out of the apartment. My furlough adventures have included some lunches and shopping excursions with friends (to Akasaka, Azabu-juban, and a neighborhood whose name I can’t remember), a trip to the commissary at Yokota (so much more sane when it's not Saturday!), daytime karaoke (it’s really cheap during a weekday!), two days as an excepted employee (when we learned that we could rotate the excepted employee status of the Head of Post among the Americans) and a daytrip to Yokohama.

Yokohama, which is only about an hour out of Tokyo, has been on my list of places to see for a long time. Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan and was one of the first ports to be opened when Japan reopened to foreign trade in 1859. I need to go back some time to see the garden and the waterfront. On this trip, I went to Motomachi, which is a cute little shopping area. 

But the primary purpose of the trip was to see Chinatown and eat some yummy Chinese food. Yokohama’s Chinatown is the largest in Japan and one of the largest in the world. There are nine gates in and around Chinatown, plus the temple Kanteibyo. 

In addition, what really stood out to me were the huge number of pandas and restaurants. There were pandas and restaurants everywhere!

Tomorrow's furlough adventure will be going to the 100-yen store in Harajuku. Wednesday is my day in the rotation to be in the office. And then we'll see. At least I've got a lot of options to choose from!

Nikko

A lot has happened since my last blog post in August, including some travel for work, vacation, and now the government shutdown. But now that I'm back in Tokyo and furloughed, I have plenty of time to tell you about my day trip to Nikko in August!  

Pagoda outside Toshogu Shrine

Nikko is about 2 hours outside of Tokyo. It's lovely there, and it would be great to go back and stay the night so that I can better appreciate some of the hiking and such nearby. But in August I went with a friend on a day trip to see the most famous sites: the Toshogu Shrine and the Shinkyo Bridge.

The Toshogu Shrine, which dates back to 1617, is the mausoleum for Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.   

The larger shrine complex, which was built in 1634 by Ieyasu's grandson, is "lavishly" decorated with A LOT of carvings and gold leaf and is really quite stunning. It has a number of famous carvings, such as:

The monkeys!  Hear no evil; Say no evil; See no evil.

The cat

The elephants on this warehouse

You can read a small description of the symbolism behind the cat here.  

There's also a famous "crying dragon" on the ceiling of a building. I couldn't take a picture inside, but you can see it here.

Pre-restoration wall (but still in good shape)

The shrine complex is in the middle of a big restoration, and the Yomeimon Gate will be covered with scaffolding for the coming 6 years. However, there's still *plenty* to see, and from what I can tell, the restoration will be well worth it.

Post-restoration wall.  Bright, dramatic colors!

The main shrine is really pretty, but no pictures are allowed. These are of the entry gate.

And this is right next to the tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

After walking around the shrine complex, we tried to find the Rinnoji Temple, but we followed the map, and I'm not sure that was the right thing to do. It led us to a big warehouse-looking building that had a temple painted on the side. Uhm, no. There was another little road that we didn't have time to walk down that may have the building that we would typically think of when going to see a temple. 

So then we walked down to see the famous bridge, which was built in 1636 and is considered to be one of the three best bridges in Japan.

It was a great day trip. Next time, I'll try to find that temple or hike to one of the famous waterfalls nearby.

As a parting gift, here is a picture of a snack food we found at the rest area on the way back to Tokyo - locusts!

Matsuri

It's matsuri (festival) season! A week ago, I went with some friends to a matsuri about an hour away. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the matsuri, or even where it was - except that it was somewhere out near the American school - so I'll never be able to find it again. But it was cool!

Basically, it was a parade of lantern-type floats. It started with the taiko drums and flutes.

 They were followed by these guys. I have no idea what they represented.

They were followed by the floats, which were huge and extremely elaborate, with all sorts of drama on one side and then peaceful on the other. They were pushed/pulled down the street and turned in a circle every so often so that everybody could get a good view of all the sides.

Unlike other festivals I've been to, there wasn't a lot of festival food or anything like that, but it was a fun and beautiful neighborhood festival. 

Ninja tea!

I have now been in Japan for a year! Hard to believe how fast time goes by. I still have so many things to see and do that I decided to make a list so that I don't get to the end of my tour and have regrets. As you may remember, one of the items on my list was to go to Ninja, the ninja-themed restaurant here in Tokyo.

This restaurant is sneaky! It hides, with a simple door in a black wall. To get to your table, you have to go through "ninja training", which is basically walking through a dark, low corridor that goes up and down and around, and then you have to call out the secret ninja password to lower a bridge and then go a bit further before entering the seating area, which looks like a Japanese fortress.  

A friend's drink

Cheesecake :)

The menu is on a scroll, and the dessert menu is SECRET - i.e. it's written on a little piece of paper that they burn up after you place your dessert order. Drinks can be fun, and the food was quite good. The whole thing is a bit pricey, but it's a really fun experience.

The waiters are all dressed as ninjas, and they do a little magic show right at your table. Everything is "ninja this" and "ninja that" - including "ninja tea" with my dessert.

And when we left, our ninja waiter jumped out with the following:

All told, a great evening!

View from the Shangri-la

The following weekend, I went out to afternoon tea at the Shangri-la with a group of ladies who are getting ready to leave Tokyo at the end of the month. The Shangri-la's afternoon tea was on a list of the Top 5 afternoon teas in Tokyo. I'd been to two of the five - the Ritz Carlton and the Peninsula hotel - and this was a nice opportunity to go to a third.

The tea was quite nice, with sandwiches made with good breads, scones with clotted cream and lemon curd, and lovely sweets. When you drank all of your tea, you could choose a different tea if you wanted. And it all ended with a little cookie and a chocolate.

After tea, two of us decided on the spur of the moment to try to go see the Tokyo fireworks. Japan loves fireworks. In the U.S., we're very happy with a 20 minute firework show. The Tokyo fireworks are 90 minutes. They set off more than 10,000 fireworks. It's HUGE. Because we decided to go spur of the moment, we had a series of obstructed views, but it was still fun to see!