karyn and steve take on japan: part 1

So now that my parents, the famous Karyn and Steve, have been gone for a few days and Jeff and I (and our apartment) have recovered from hosting duties, I guess it's about time to recap the visit.

We got off to a great start their first night here with my mom unpacking a suitcase full of American goodies.

The first day was a bit chilly but we ventured out to Shinjuku gyoen (park) anyways since we heard it was a great place to view the sakura.  My dad brought his camera and snapped a few pictures while we were there, including this sneak attack on Jeff and me. 

My mom thought the location was perfect and wanted to get in on the action.  

I'm pretty sure she stole that move from me. 

My dad also got some nice pictures of the blooms (though I'm sure there is a comment coming my way about this not being color-corrected in photoshop yet).

 He also captured Jeff "holding" my bag. Typical.

After the park, we headed over to Harajuku, but the only picture worth sharing is this gem clearly directed to the tourists who make up the majority of people walking around Harajuku on any given day.  

Our best guess is "tout" should read "touch," but we can't be certain. 





The next morning we were up and at 'em bright and early (thanks in part to the fact that my parents were still on east coast time) and headed out to enjoy a beautiful spring day in Tokyo.   We took the train with the commuters (an experience in itself) to the Imperial Palace gardens to get a view of the sakura in bloom.

In the palace grounds there are ponds filled with very well-fed koi, which my mother found quite amusing.  She might have taken a picture of each and every one had we not intervened.










My mom found a small waterfall which she insisted on getting as close as possible to, traversing a rock path through a stream while we all held our breaths waiting for her to fall in.  Much to my father's relief, she made it so I joined her for a photo op. 

I will spare you the zillions of self-portraits Jeff took of us and subject you to just one (today).

That's all for now.  I do owe my readers (all two of them, Karyn and Steve) the rest of the update, so there will be more. Eventually.

Mata ne,
Melissa

Guest post by Karyn: Japan on 10,000 yen a day

Greetings all of Melissa’s blog followers.  If you have noticed that she has been remiss in posting for the last week, I take full responsibility as she and Jeff have been very busy entertaining us, her parents.  So, to make up for her absence, I offer this guest blog on just a few of my observations:

Non-conformity

Aaron is right: Tokyo is like many other large American cities – just filled with Japanese people.  However, the cultural homogeneity and conformity that we Americans have been led to believe in isn’t at all what I have observed.  There is clear evidence of the genetic influence of Caucasian, African, and other-Asian on the faces I’ve seen on whichever form of mass transit we are riding that day.  And the dress ranges from traditional kimonos (most often observed in sites of historical, spiritual or cultural importance) to some wild get-ups that would impress Lady Gaga and make heads turn in even the most liberal enclaves of San Francisco or Greenwich Village.

 Non-standard Precautions

In health care [Karyn is a nurse] we refer to the routine level of personal protection devices (masks, gloves, etc) as Standard Precautions.  For you non-medical persons, basically this amounts to washing your hands between patients and wearing gloves if you may touch something “yucky.” But the CDC recommendations on the practice of wearing masks in public includes those for whom going out in public would represent a danger to themselves or others; and even then only when staying home (the preferred course of action) is not an option.  That means persons who are very compromised (i.e. on chemotherapy) or are incredibly contagious (i.e. have tuberculosis).  I am very amused by the number of people wearing masks as they go about their daily business.  Even more amusing is that only rarely is the mask employed in the recommended manner.  Covering only the mouth?  Using it as a beard warmer? Having it loosely draped across the face?  In other words, useless.  

Engrish

Let me start by saying that like most Americans, I only speak one language.  I do know a fair amount of medical Spanish – more like Spanglish – that I successfully use when communicating simple things to my Spanish speaking patients.   Even so, I am quite amused with the Engrish that I read on everything from signs to clothing.  I have been photographing my favorites to include in my scrapbooking such as these found in Melissa & Jeff’s neighborhood:  a clothing store named “Nincompoop Capacity” and a barber shop called “Bad Nice”.  When buying bottled water your choices include “Calpis” and “Pocari Sweat”.  My all time favorite (which I was unable to photograph) was the toddler wearing a baseball cap that said “Suicidal 

Tendencies”.  As Dave Berry would say – that would make a great name for a rock band.

The Honeymooners

Melissa and Jeff are very happy, and seem very much at home here in their teeny apartment in this big city.  Yes, Melissa, you are right – I could fit two of your apartments in my family room – with room to spare!  And while I fully expected Jeff, the scholar, to speak fluent Japanese, I am wholly amazed at the amount that Melissa is able to read and speak comfortably in just six months.  And for a person who has never lived in a large metropolitan area, I am astonished at the ease at which she navigates the maze of a subway system – in another language!  Finally, while I always knew that Jeff and Melissa both enjoy eating well – it has been amusing eating our way thru Tokyo and Kyoto - except the fish eyeballs. Usually Jeff and Melissa are planning their next meal before they have finished the one in front of them.  And I have no idea how the Japanese remain so thin on such a carb heavy diet (Melissa and Jeff work out every day so that is obviously their secret) – and I am scared to weigh myself when I get back home. 

Well I could go on about the impressive range of toilet facilities, the cold rainy weather we have had these last couple days, and the unbelievable beauty and antiquity of the sites we have seen – but I have to save something for Melissa to write about….

Karyn

parents arrive!

My parents have safely arrived in Tokyo!   After lugging 10 pounds of peanut butter, 5 pounds of magazines, 5 pounds of wine from the vineyard where we were married, and some of their own stuff across the city, we made it to our apartment where, in spite of my assertions that it was, in fact, really tiny, my mom was stunned at how small it was. 

We took them out for some ramen and, with the time difference catching up with them, set up the pull-out couch so they could get some much needed horizontal sleep.

We've got a fairly open day tomorrow of exploring Shinjuku, one of our favorite parts of Tokyo, and doing some sakura viewing while there are still some petals on the trees.  It was a gorgeous day today so here's hoping tomorrow is good to us as well!

Mata ne,
Melissa

lunaversary number seven!

Tuesday we celebrated our seven month lunaversary and as is the custom in this family (established precisely seven months ago) we celebrated in style.

We spent much of the day walking around enjoying a beautiful Tokyo day.  The sakura are in full bloom and we were able to take in some hanami (flower viewing) in the Imperial Palace gardens.  Of course, on a beautiful day the garden, which is only open at select times of the year, was packed with both Japanese and foreign tourists.  It was worth fighting the crowds though!

 In the evening we went out for a nice dinner at a small restaurant right in our neighborhood that I've been wanting to check out for some time.  We're sure glad we did!  The servers were very attentive, the food was amazing and very reasonably priced, and the sake pouring, as you can see, was quite generous!

Not only is the good sized cup overflowing, but the dish under it is completely filled to the brim!  Let's just say I only had one.

It was a great find.  I wish I could share with all the world the name of the place, but unfortunately, I have no idea what it was.  I'm fairly certain that it doesn't have one.  At least not one advertised on the outisde of the building.  It is instead distinguished by two large dried fish that grace the front of the facade.  We will be going again.  Very shortly in fact!

We spent the whole cold and rainy day Wednesday cleaning our whole entire apartment from top to bottom and doing every piece of laundry we could find in preparation from our next set of visitors....

Mata ne,
Melissa

Editor's note: Jeff claims it does have a name.  I'll check this out tomorrow.

philosopher's walk

On our recent trip to Kyoto we thinkers enjoyed a contemplative stroll along this path. 

The Tetsugaku-no-michi, also known as the Philosopher's Walk, is found in northern Kyoto, just outside the Ginkaku-ji (sliver temple).  It's about 2 km long and a pleasant path for an afternoon stroll, particularly in sakura (cherry blossom) season.  Unless it's a particularly overcast, dark and dreary day.  And it starts raining on you while you're walking it.  The picture doesn't do it justice. 

We plan to give this one another shot in a few days with my parents.

Mata ne,
Melissa