Category: News (Page 28 of 29)

Tuesday was the second day of adventure with Michelle. I tried out her Japanese Calligraphy class. It began with the trek….remember that the temperature in Tokyo this week has been in the 90’s with high humidity…I got to Michelle’s and we walked to a station about 20 minutes from her house so we would be on the right line. Then we went to the end of the line and as we were exiting Michelle….

Yikes!!!! Earthquake alert!!!! Just as I am writing this we had the second earthquake of the day the first woke me at just after 4 am!!!! Yikes!!!! I really don’t like them!!!

Anyway, Michelle said now for the hard part. We had to walk straight up a hill to get to the studio and there was no shade. She told me that the teacher serves tea, but that she never drinks it. We stopped at a market at the top to buy some water and stood in the air conditioning for a minute. The sensei is not Japanese but Israeli, figure that one out. He brought us iced tea immediately and I wasn’t planning to drink it until he told me it was moogi-cha (wheat tea) One of the missionaries serving in our ward told me that it’s the only kind of tea they are allowed to drink, so I drank it. He was so pleased that I got a second glass. It would have been better with a little sugar and lemon.

He is very good and speaks Japanese a lot during the lesson. I am awful at this style of calligraphy with a big brush and ink. It is very challenging to contol the pressure and the amount of ink. I used to do the western style with a pen and ink. I think I am going to try this Japanese style for awhile and see if I can get better at it. Michelle is very good.

After the lesson we ate at my least favorite place McDonalds. Michelle’s sister was with us and she was tired of Japanese food. Wow!!! That was twice at McDonalds this month and the first time in several years. I left them at that point and came home to do some grocery shopping before 3pm so it would be delivered. The heat and humidity sucked the life out of me and by the time I got home I got a 1.5 liter bottle of water out of the fridge and spent 30 minutes recovering in Rick’s recliner.

So today was the trip to the hundred yen store. It is in Funabashi and is the largest and most comprehensive one I have been in in Tokyo. The concept is the same as a dollar store in the USA or a pound shop in the UK, but not really. A hundred yen shop is filled with tons of neat and incredible stuff and 99% of it costs 105 yen including tax. There are a few items that are more, but are still really good deals. So here is a list of my random finds today:

1 large basket for magazines
4 packs of really long birthday candles
1 of those little things that shave sweaters
2 plastic boxes to hold all the random cds for my computer
2 plastic storage containers for the kitchen
2 Japanese fans (one is really quite ugly, but you can’t see tthem before you buy them)
8 red magnets to hold things up on white boards
1 Hello Kitty bandaid holder
1 bread basket
2 packs of cupcake papers
1 backscrubbing brush
5 blue and white batik placemats
1 package elastic
4 coasters
2 minature bags of charcoal (someone told me it would take the odor out of an antique chest I have)

And now as I look at all this stuff I wonder if I really need it. Okay, some of it is important, but really I could have lived without most of it. The trip always sounds fun and we always have a good time talking on the way there. The train ride is about an hour and we talk and laugh. It is fun to look at all the “stuff” when you get there and we always go to the same Tempura shop after to eat. However, by the time I get back on the hot crowded train I am just ready to be home. The ride seems to take forever and no one feels much like talking and I always wonder why I go again. For me it’s a day out and being with friends and it’s definitely not the shopping. I hate shopping!!!!

I arrived back in Tokyo from the US yesterday afternoon to a mushi atsui (humid and hot) day. Heat and humidity are definitely not my favorite things, but it is always good to be home. The flight was one of the better ones on Continental and as I say that I am asking myself why??? I think it was the fact that I got a window seat on the bulkhead (extra legroom) and no one was in the middle seat. That has to be the reason, because the food in Continental economy class is awful and the same on every flight no matter which direction you are traveling, the video choice is awful and yesterday they ran out of water on the plane, you couldn’t even wash your hands. How does that happen???? They must have forgotten to tank up in Houston or had a leak somewhere because the flight wasn’t even full.

It is my inclination to just become a hermit and stay in my house for the rest of the month, but my friend Michelle has other plans and I always have fun when I go anywhere with her. She has more energy than any woman I’ve ever known who is 7 months pregnant. (Yes, my friends are often much younger than I am). So barring incapacitating jet lag I am going to the 100 yen store at Funabashi with her tomorrow. On Tuesday I’ll try out the Japanese calligraphy class she goes to and on Wednesday we are going to Ikea and Costco. Thursday will be my day to rejuvenate with a trip to the hair salon and then on Friday Rick has tickets to a baseball game in the Tokyo Dome. Baseball is a huge sport in Japan and I often stop and watch a game for awhile at the field down the street. So, the week is full…

It has been such a long time since I have written anything new. James, Ruth and their children left Tokyo yesterday having spent 2 weeks with us. Rick had limited time to take off work so I became the tour guide. I was a little apprehensive at first because I am usually quite comfortable following him around. We only ended up in the wrong place once. I got us on the wrong platform at one station and we had to go back down all the stairs and then climb back up.

We went to many places that I have been to before and then some new ones. Last week, I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market for the first time. I was amazed at the quantity and variety of fish. The tuna are huge and frozen. To prepare it for purcahsers they use large axes to peel the skin off the frozen fish and then they cut it with table saws. It was quite interesting to watch. It is a very busy place with people everywhere and small vehicles whizzing around you as you walk.

It was so much fun having them here and I am missing them already. There never seems to enough time to do all the things that I want to with my family, the biggest disadvantage of living so far away!!!

It is trying to be spring in Tokyo. After many predictions that the cherry blossoms would be early this year because of the mild winter, it turned cold again. Today is dark and rainy. So I’m not sure when we’ll see the trees in full bloom. I have attached a photo that James took of an early bloomer we saw at Tokyo Disneyland.

I have had many opportunities to get out and see Tokyo this past week with friends and with Rick. Saturday Rick and I went to a museum that had a full size Japanese village that you could walk through. It was small but quite interesting. Afterwards, we walked over to the Tokyo Contemporary Art Museum. I really enjoyed it. Then we ate at a little Japanese restaurant on the way home. On the train back we saw guy who dressed and looked very much like Fonzie from the old Happy Days tv show. He had the hair, the jeans, black boots, white t-shirt and the black leather jacket. It was great!The population in Japan is declining and I think it is because they get dogs instead. There are dog shops everywhere that provide everything a little dog could want or need, from furniture to the complete wardrobe. We have seen dogs in jeans and rugby shirts, raincoats, frilly dresses, riding in special strollers etc etc. On our walk home from the station we saw a man with three dogs. i really don’t remember what clothes the three were wearing. All I can remember is that they were bright colors and coordinated with their sunglasses. Yes, that’s right all three dogs were wearing sunglasses!!!! I would like to have seen how he kept them on, but they were moving too fast. A photo would have been fun but they were gone in an instant. I will let you know if I see anything that tops that.

It seems like lately I have had a chance to see a few more of the sites in Tokyo. Now, I just need to remember to take my camera. I am in the mode of only carrying it when my children or grandchildren are around. Last Monday was a national holiday and so Rick was ready to be off sightseeing for the day. I always let him plan the day because he is so good at it but I am going to have to start planning at least some of the time so he doesn’t think I am totally incapable of it. Monday we began by taking the train to Shinjuku and walking to Shinjuku Gyoen. In Japanese the word for parks is Koen, so we were a bit confused by the word gyoen because it was a big really nice park. I asked my Japanese teacher about it and she told be that a gyoen is a park that was a gift from an emperor. Anyway, this was the best park that I have seen in Tokyo and decided that it was because we had to pay 200 yen ($2) to enter. Some of the fruit trees were starting to blossom and the Japanese love blossoms and flowers in general. There were many people with cameras and we constantly heard kirei and sagoi (pretty and wonderful). Be sure to see the attached photo. After our visit to the gyoen we walked to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building and took the elevator to the 45th floor to look at Tokyo. It was a bit hazy so I didn’t take any pictures. I have only seen Tokyo from the ground so I did not have a grasp on the vastness of this city of 12million. It was quite spectacular. We had lunch at a local ramen shop and got back on the train and headed to Kichijoji. Kichijoji was not a new place for me. Well at least not the train station. Yuzawaya is located in the shopping center connected to the train station. It’s a huge 6 level craft shop and I have been there a few times without Rick. However, I have never ventured out of the station. Rick was on a mission to find the Kichijoji church building. Jericho Road is performing there this month and he wanted to be able to give his young men directions if they wanted to attend. He had some directions from a friend and we started out after walking around for an hour we decided we must have headed down the wrong shopping street. As we headed back to the station Rick saw Sun Road and realized that the friend had mentioned that. So we were off again and did find the church quite easily. The wandering we did was not bad and I did find a cute shop called the Cotswold Store selling Cath Kidson so I may go back sometime. It was a fun day. On Saturday we walked around the government part of town and it was colder than expected. I did get one picture of the supreme court for James before my camera started acting up. Then we went by train to the Tokyo Dome area. There is a roller coaster there that is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The first drop is long and is a vertical as an object can get without coming off the track. It was incredible, Rick asked me if I wanted to ride and I must have been in Granny mode because I said, “No, I don’t do roller coasters anymore.” Now, I’m asking myself why??? Next time we are there I think I will ride.Yesterday was cold and rainy and I was inclined to stay at home. However, I decided at the last minute to go to Nihon Minkaen. (Nihon=Japan Minka=private house) It is an outdoor museum with a collection of different types of old Japanese houses. It was very interesting and we ate lunch at a Soba Noodle restaurant in one of the houses. I plan to go back on a warmer day and spend more time. It was fun to be out with some friends. So naturally, today is a beautiful day again but I have mundane things to accomplish like laundry and cleaning. I know I should leave them for a rainy day, but sometimes I just can’t bear the mess any longer.

Today was a great day. I slept in until 6:30 and then stayed in bed (to stay warm) and studied for my Sunday school lesson for tomorrow. A long hot shower was next followed by my favourite breakfast, oatmeal with dried cranberries. Rick and I attended a temple sealing for a couple in our ward from Africa, Ivory Coast or Angola, I cannot remember. Rick’s mission President, Watanabe-san was the sealer so it was a double blessing because we got to see him. We can home and listened to Kristina’s fabulous rendition of Happy Birthday!!!! It was wonderful. Then we talked to Andrew and Leigh. We walked to Roppongi Hills for lunch at a Katsu restaurant. Katsu is battered and fried pork fillets and it is served with rice, miso soup, pickles, and shredded cabbage. Rick had his served in an boiling broth with the same side dishes. Then we walked down to the fabulous new Tokyo Art Centre. They took an older building and renovated it and put a great modern, curvy, glass facade on it. The museum has no permanent collection but has a couple of exhibitions going on all the time. We chose to go to one that showed art from Paris 1900-2005. It was good and had some really interesting Picasso’s. I have only seen his works that are dark colours. There were two portraits of women that were very light, white backgrounds with bright pastels. Still the style was very much what you would expect from Picasso. The exhibit was from the Pompidou Centre in Paris. I am excited to have such a great museum so close to us. It’s a 20 minute walk. In April a Monet exhibit is coming from the Musee de Orsay. Now we are home and I am baking my birthday cake. Tonight we venture out on three different trains to get to the stake center for the worldwide leadership training. So it has been a good day……. (Me and Krissy)

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear Bammy/Mom/Vanalee
Happy Birthday to You . . .
And Many More on Channel 4
With Scooby Doo on Channel 2
You Don’t Smell Like a Monkey and
You Don’t Look Like One Too!!!

Love,
All of Us

It seems that I can’t get warm anywhere. Utah was colder than I remember it being in recent history, Texas was cold and so was London, it even snowed on day while I was there. London looks great in snow. So now I am back in Japan and still freezing. We don’t have central heating in our apartment, you know the kind where you turn a thermostat to a certain temperature and the whole house stays warm. Each room has an individual unit. It doesn’t seem to make sense to keep them all on when you can’t be in all the rooms at once. We turn the one on in the room we are in but the rest of the house is quite cold. It appears that there is absolutely no insulation in the walls either because once a unit is turned off the temperature drops very quickly. I am so thankful for down filled comforters. Actually some days it feels warmer outside than it is in the apartment. I am glad to be home. I have been fairly tired with jet lag but I clean and get a lot done between 1:00am and 8:00am when I run out of energy. Next trip I may need to try Tylenol PM or something.Our holidays were great!!! I love spending time with my family!!!! The daunting thing about returning to Tokyo is now that I am going to be here for a while I really need to decide what I am going to do with my time. The plight of an expat wife!

It seems I never get to stay home for very long. I have been here for only three weeks. While I was in Texas all the leaves here changed and it is beautiful in the park across the street. I will try to attach some pictures (Leaves changing, More pretty leaves)to this. I got to meet Dee Jones last week and we spent the morning visiting and browsing in the 100 Yen shop. Much more fun than a dollar store.I leave this week to spend Christmas in London, still my favourite city in the world. It’s especially fun since some of my favourite people live there. It will be the first Christmas we have spent with Maddie. We can’t wait. From there we go to Texas to bless David and then Rick returns here and I go on to Utah.