Surfing YouTube as a Family

As I mentioned earlier, the lack of HD content on iTunes for the Apple TV has been disappointing. We have enjoyed some HD podcasts, but there are no TV shows or movies in HD.

It turns out that the Apple TV is fabulous for surfing YouTube as a family. On the weekends especially, Maki and CJ take turns watching YouTube videos that interest them. It goes something like this. Maki will watch a video on glass blowing or how to make speakers. Then CJ will ask for a Thomas video. Maki will then search for videos on Stonehenge or soldering. Then CJ will ask for a Thomas video. It's hilarious. Best of all, we get to watch these crazy videos in our TV room, on our comfy purple couch, on the big screen. Some of the videos look better than others on the big screen, but it almost doesn't matter.

The Apple TV Arrived!

Our Apple TV arrived tonight. Apple TV is a small appliance that lets you watch content from your iTunes on your TV. You can stream or sync music, podcasts, tv shows and movies.

So Maki set it up as soon as we got home. It was easy to set-up, get hooked up to my Mac, and register the device.

We viewed a couple of trailers, but were disappointed that they weren't in HD. Apple TV supports HD, and I was looking forward to purchasing HD shows from iTunes and watching them on our big screen TV.

I guess we're being early adopters once again because it turns out there is still very little HD content available through iTunes. The first HD content became available back in April and we were sure more HD content would be available by now. Alas, most of the HD shows are podcasts, not TV shoes or movies.

We were able to subscribe to several HD podcasts and they were free to boot. We are now subscribed to Feng Shui Living, Beautiful Places and At Large in Asia. Those of you know who me won't be surprised that I subscribed to a Feng Shui show. :-) The HD shows are pretty terrific and it was easy to download them from iTunes and watch on TV since the Apple TV automatically syncs the unwatched content.

It's also fun to surf YouTube and watch the videos (even though they are fuzzy) on the TV. This way, the whole family can watch the Rubik's cube how-to-video or the crazy Christmas satire.

I'm waiting for Heroes to become available on iTunes in HD.

Live vs. Fake Trees

Last Sunday, our Christmas tree went up. We have a fake tree, courtesy of Target, from four years ago and each year, Maki and I have a discussion about the merits of real vs. fake trees.

We got our artificial tree several years ago as an emergency decorating measure, because we were throwing a dinner for friends who had just gotten engaged. The house looked so plain, so I made a trip to Target and made an impulse buy.

My sisters are hard-core real tree believers. They love the scent of pine, and picking a tree is party of their holiday traditions.

But Maki and I think it's better for the environment to have an artificial tree (we're not sure of this in the short-run, but in the long run, we are convinced of it), and, let's face it, it's super easy to pull the tree out of the garage and have it up in matter of minutes. Our tree even comes with built-in lights. We also have a cat, and I used to worry about poisoning the poor creature. Finally, a real tree is so much work; you have to keep it watered and sweep up the pine needles every few days.

I grew up with a fake, silver, aluminum tree and if they were available at Target at the time of my purchase, we would have an aluminum tree today. There is something so retro and so obvioiusly fake about aluminum trees; I love them!

How about you? Are you a real or artificial person?

Photos in the Blog

I did it! I figured out how to upload photos and insert them into my posts! I knew it was possible, but just hadn't taken the time to figure it out.

So, I've gone back and added some small images to previous posts. Take a peek. I especially like the photos from our visit to Kyoto, and the images of US celebs hawking Japanese products.

http://jpmkadventures.blogspot.com/2007/11/kyoto-and-ieyasu-tokugawa.html

http://jpmkadventures.blogspot.com/2007/12/big-in-japan.html

Hope you like the additions to the blog!

Big in Japan

When we arrived at Narita Airport and went to the SoftBank counter to pick up our rental cell phone, we were greeted by a big advertisement for SoftBank, featuring Brad Pitt. During our last visit to Japan (in 2004), I remember seeing Brad Pitt on vending machines; back then, he was pitching soda or beer.

We saw other US movie stars on vending machines and advertising signs. We saw Meg Ryan pitching coffee, Cameron Diaz pitching SoftBank, Tommy Lee Jones pitching beer, and Orlando Bloom something I could not determine.

It seems that US movie stars who never endorse products in advertising here in the US, routinely help market products in Japan.

This practice is evidently so widespread that there is even a Wikipedia posting about "foreign celebrity advertising."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_celebrity_advertising

My guess is that Brad Pitt gets a lot of money for his ads, but he doesn't tarnish his superstar image in the US by being seeing as hawking a common product (or at least that's what his agent says).

Slippers

If you come to my house in VA, you have to take off your shoes at the front door landing before coming into the rest of the house. Why? It's an Asian thing and you'll find the practice common in Japan, Korea and the Philippines (probably other parts of Asia, as well).

In Japan, there is always is always a little landing right inside the front door of homes, where family and visitors leave their shoes and put on slippers. Traditional restaurants, especially those with tatami rooms, ask patrons to remove their shoes and put on slippers (or stay in socks) before entering a tatami room.

In traditional Japanese restaurants and hotels (ryokan), you may also find that a different pair of slippers is worn to use the bathroom.

Finally, when trying on clothes at a Japanese boutique, I was asked to remove my shoes before stepping into the dressing room.

Personally, I find the practice rather civilized. I'm sure it keeps homes and restaurants cleaner; in fact, when my son was born, one of my parents' magazines recommended a "no shoes" policy in the house to keep the floor cleaner (what with the little one crawling around and putting everything in his mouth). I also find that the cat and CJ are less likely to get stepped on as they run around underfoot, and if they do, it's not with a hard shoe or boot.

So, if you ever travel to Japan, be sure to wear nice socks you don't mind showing off. ;-)

How Do the Japanese Stay So Skinny?

Every day in the US, there is something on the radio, TV or paper about how obese Americans area. Let me tell you, the Japanese are not obese and after two weeks in Japan, I think I know why.

First of all, everyone bikes or takes the subway. Which means you are biking or walking all the time. To get everywhere. The subway is fabulous (see previous post about the vast subway system - http://jpmkadventures.blogspot.com/2007/11/getting-around-tokyo.html), and goes everywhere, so cars aren't really necessary. But it also means you are walking and climbing everywhere.

Second, escalators are a rare thing in the subway system, and elevators are tucked away so that you have to really look to find them. While wandering around Tokyo and Kyoto, we walked and climbed and walked and climbed. To get on the Ginza line from Shibuya station, we had to go down and up and up and down several flights of stairs, just to reach the correct platform.

Third, there is virtually no dairy in the Japanese diet. For breakfast, we would have rice, miso soup, fish, fruit, salad. If we opted for a Western breakfast, we might have cereal with milk or yogurt. For lunch and dinner, we would have rice, sushi, fish, dumplings, vegetables - you get the picture. Everywhere we went, there was no butter on the table, and all sauces were soy-based. Yes, Japan is the land of fabulous sweets and pastries, but they are expensive and viewed as treats for the rare occasion or to give away as presents. I was craving cheese by the time we got home.

Fourth, portions in restaurants (the rest of the world, actually) are reasonable, not small, not large. And even when we were doing multi-course meals, many of the courses were fish, rice or soup.

I actually lost weight during our Japan trip, which just amazed me because I felt like we were eating non-stop. I had a huge breakfast and lunch every day, I had a rice ball with umeboshi (salty plum) or salmon every afternoon around 4pm, and we definitely treated ourselves to snacks and sweets when we were in the depato basement food courts.

So I guess Dr. Phil was right when he said that to lose weight, you need "eat less and exercise more."

Tips for Traveling with a Toddler

At 3, CJ is already quite the traveler, having been to California several times, Japan twice, Mexico, Vancouver and Alaska. So how do we survive the long flights? Here are some of my top tips, in no particular order:

• Bring nutritious food and snacks he likes, since he may not like the airline food, but will certainly eat the chips and pretzels (and that's no good for long travel).
• Bring a sippy cup and then ask the flight attendant to put his juice or milk into it. This prevents spills and he gets to drink out of his favorite Thomas cup, which makes him drink more anyway. I always dilute his juice with water since I don't like him to drink juice straight up AND I don't want him to get too wired on the plane.
• Encourage him to drink a lot of fluid so he doesn't get too dehydrated from the plane ride, and it will keep him comfortable.
  
• Bring an extra set of clothes.
• Bring two small books, and some small toys. I like to bring a couple of small tubs of play doh, a couple of crayons, and a small train. This way, I have enough variety, but I don't have to lug a toy chest on the plane with me.
• Bring one new toy or activity book. We bought CJ a Thomas mystery coloring book (the kind that works with a magic pen) and it kept him busy for hours.
  
• Even if your child is toilet-trained, bring wipes because wipes are just useful for cleaning up all kinds of messes.
• Even though CJ is pretty much toilet-trained, I put him in pull-ups since a bathroom may not be available when he needs to go, the seat belt sign is on when he wants to go, etc., and I don't want him to have an accident.
• Bring a portable DVD player and pack 3-4 of his favorite movies. In our case, we bring our PSP (Playstation Portable), where we have loaded a few episodes of Thomas and Little Einsteins. Don't worry about your child being bored with the same movie; you will get bored to tears, but toddlers seem to like repetition.
  
• On international flights, ask to be seated in the rows with power. During the flight back from Tokyo, CJ was able to watch movies on my laptop, which I kept plugged in. Of course, we had invested ahead of time in plane-friendly power adaptors.
• Get up and walk around a lot. Go to the bathroom frequently, walk up and down the aisles, and visit people you know in other sections of the plane (if appropriate, obviously). Walking around kills time and keeps your circulation moving.
  
• Dress him in layers that you can easily remove or add on, as the temperature in the plane shifts regularly.
• Bring medicine with you. I brought a big bottle of Tylenol on board and didn't have trouble with the TSA agents (I told them about it and pulled it out of my bag), who saw I was traveling with a toddler. Just in case your child suddenly gets a headachet, fever or sniffles, having the medicine with you will be key.
• Be prepared to tell lots of stories.
• Nap when your child naps.
• I asked the CJ's pediatrician ahead of time if I could give CJ Benadryl to help him sleep. The doctor said that some kids fall asleep with Benadryl, with others get really wired, so he asked me to do a test ahead of time. I never go to do the test, so I didn't bring Benadryl, but it it might be worth trying in the future.
  

My last tip involves taking a bath or shower when you get home, before you hit the bed. Just think about all the germs circulating in the plane's HVAC system and all of those people with coughs, colds and god knows what else. No matter how tired I am, I take a shower and clear my sinuses with nasal saline. Ever since I started doing this, I have not gotten sick from a plane ride (knock on wood). Now I make Maki and CJ do the same.

Good luck!

Home

Every adventure has to end, so on Saturday afternoon, November 24, we got on the Narita Express, then boarded planes for the US. CJ wasn't feeling well the night before and I was worried about the long flight, but his breathing was clear and he was a trooper during the 23-hour journey.

No kidding, no matter how we fly, through what airport, non-stop or direct, it takes nearly 24 hours to get to and from Japan. Maybe it's because Tokyo is so far from Narita airport, or international travel always means getting to the airport so much earlier, or the transfers are just getting more miserable, I don't know. All I know is that it took 22 hours to get to our hotel in Shibuya, and 23 hours to get back to our house.

CJ and Maki were sick on Sunday and Monday, but by early Tuesday morning, both were hungry and feeling better. I made it to work on Monday, but the jetlag has been hard on me. My normal routine to overcome jetlag is to get a lot of sunshine, but it's been grey and rainy in Northern VA, so no sun for me. I'm exhausted by 10:00pm, but wide awake by 3:00am, then groggy when I finally stumble out of bed around 9:00am. If past experience is a guide, CJ will bounce back by mid-week, while Maki and I will continue to be jetlagged for another week.

Our long, fabulous trips always make cherish the comforts of home. I like lounging on our couches, it feels good to be in my own bed, and I love having coffee in my kitchen in the mornings. Yep, I've got mountains of e-mail to plow through and tons of deadlines, but oh well, I'm rejuvenated and ready to tackle proposals and projects at work.

I'll continue to post about our Japan trip as inspiration hits, and I'll have to figure out how to add photos and slide shows to this blog. Stay tuned.

Land of Individually Wrapped Things

For a country so strapped for natural resources, Japan sure wastes a lot of paper and plastic. I mean, really, this is the land of individually wrapped food and products!

In the depato, the finest fruits and vegetables are wrapped and sold individually. We're talking about apples, pears, Asian pears, persimmons. After a lunch of prepared food from the depato one day, we were shocked by the amount of paper and plastic we had to throw away.

Cookies and candies are wrapped individually, then encased in a large plastic bag; when purchased, they are put into a larger plastic bag. When I bought charms at a local drugstore, the saleslady put all the charms in a paper bag, then gave me individual paper bags to put the charms in, then put the whole thing in a plastic bag.

At the bookstore, we bought some paperbacks to read on the train (I bought a book of short stories by Haruki Murakami, great stuff, yes, in English), the clerk carefully put a paper cover on each book.

Speaking of wrapping, it's a treat to buy a present for someone at the depato. The saleslady will always ask if the items being purchased are presents. If yes, she will carefully wrap the items individually, ask you to label the items, then put all the items into a large bag. Oh yeah, when we bought cream puffs one day, the puffs were carefully arranged in a box with a mini-ice pack. Really, the care with which items are wrapped and packaged is amazing.

Thanksgiving in Tokyo

Thanksgiving Day had us taking the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo. After a half day of travel, the boys were ready for a drink and the girls a massage, so Sue, Tree and I headed to the reflexology salon next to our hotel in Tokyo and signed up for foot massages. $29 and 30 minutes later, we felt renewed.

For Thanksgiving dinner, we went to a shabu-shabu restaurant in Shibuya. Shabu-shabu is a fancy hot pot meal where huge pots of broth are set out on the table, with a burner. Customers cook their own vegetables, noodles and thinly-cut slices of the best beef. You've heard about Kobe beef? The beef we had that night was of even better quality and practically melted in your mouth. Even the non-red meat eaters in the group had to try some beef. In addition to amazing beef, we also enjoyed the best bonito tuna we've ever tasted. The restaurant specializes in bonito and prepared it several different ways. Our favorite recipe called for the bonito to be lightly seasoned in garlic and soy sauce - unbelievable!

After dinner, Sue proclaimed that it wouldn't be Thanksgiving dinner without dessert. So we ordered green tea and black sesame ice cream. The ice cream was terrific but Sue said she still needed pastry, so the group headed to Shibuya station for cream puffs and chocolate cheesecake. Okay, now Sue was satisfied (and so were the rest of us).

Geisha and Maids

What do geisha and maids have in common? In Japan, they are sought after, stared at, and much photographed.

In Akihabara (Electric Town) in Tokyo, or the electronics district, there is a maid phenomenon going on where cafes, restaurants and casinos have women who dress up as maids and call customers "master." We chanced upon a maid casino and saw many maids handing out flyers on the street to restaurants and god know what else. Akihabara is known to cater to those with fetishes and the maids are just the latest way that the otaku (nerds) are indulged. I asked one maid if I could take a picture of her and she emphatically gave me an "X" with her fingers, so I declined to snap a photo.

Here are a couple of maid photos from the Web:
http://www.hdrjapan.com/akihabara-maid-picture/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drguid/2018997380/
http://japanwindow.com/index.php?showimage=341

In the geisha district, geisha sightings are what people live for. Whenever a geisha would pop out of an alley, there would be much twittering and snapping of pictures. I felt sorry for the poor women who were swarmed by paparazzi as they simply tried to get to work. I snapped a couple of photos, then decided it was rude to pop my camera flash right in their faces. Besides, between me, Jonathan, Tree and Kevin, we had enough photos of these beautiful women. So CJ and I just waited at the side of the road as two geisha walked by. I murmured "komnbawa" (good evening) and asked CJ to do the same. The normally harried and passive geisha actually smiled and waved at CJ. It was a nice moment.

Food, Glorious Food

We are eating our hearts out in Japan and enjoying every minute. Yesterday, we enjoyed Kyoto style ramen noodles which consisted of egg noodles in a thick miso broth, with vegetables and roasted pork. The broth was very different from the broth in the ramen noodles we had in Tokyo.

Tonight, we ate at Tankumakita, the Kyoto style restaurant at the Righa Royal hotel where we are staying for a few days. Most of us ordered the six- or seven-course meals that included miso soup, tempura, roasted vegetables, sashimi, tofu, crab, roe, and pickles. CJ asked (yes, he asked) for tempura and tuna, so that's what he had (no kidding, his dinner was more than twice more expensive than my dinner). Kevin ordered saba (mackerel) sushi and tuna sashimi. The tuna sashimi we've had over the past couple of days has been most excellent. We were too tired to leave the hotel and the restaurant turned out to be a good choice. We had a private, tatami room and the sake and beer were excellent.

BTW, we were told that the best sake is always enjoyed cold, never hot, that the less expensive sake is heated up to make up for lack of flavor. After hearing that advice at a bar in Tokyo, we've been ordering only cold sake.

At the flea market this morning, we got some yakisoba (Japanese noodles), okono-miyaki (omelette with vegetables) and various red bean paste sweets. The flea market was amazing. There were hundreds of vendors selling everything from used kimono to antique scrolls, roasted mochi, dried chrysanthemums (for eating), chestnuts, ceramics, designer clothing, bags and other accessories. We were in luck to be in town on the one day a month (the 21st) that the flea market is open.

Nearly every day, I have o nigiri, or rice ball. It's not actually a rice ball, but a triangle-shaped rice thingie made with the finest rice, wrapped in seaweed and often including salmon, spicy roe or pickled plum. I love these things and pack one with me everywhere we go.

Kyoto and Ieyasu Tokugawa

We've only been in Kyoto for 2 1/2 days and already we feel like we're a world apart from Tokyo. Kyoto is a modern city, but it is steeped in tradition and culture. There are 1600 temples in Kyoto - 1600! How is that even possible?

On our first, full day in Kyoto, Monday, we spent the morning visiting the Path of Philosophy and Ginkaku-ji. The Path of Philosophy was previously a stroll path that let up the hill to the famous Ginkaku template (ji means temple), but it's now a path of tourist shops and food stalls. The path is still pleasant, as the views are great and I enjoyed my mochi cakes and green tea smoothie. Ginkaku-ji (or Silver Temple) is set in the hills and boy were we rewarded when we got there. The colors are at their peak of changing color, so we got to enjoy views of the temple and gardens set in a riot of greens, yellows and reds. I especially enjoyed the raked Zen garden and the view of the temple from the top of the hillside.

Next stop, the Imperial Palace, which is where the emperor lived for nearly a thousand years while the (official) capital was in Kyoto. Kevin said he's used to the castles and palaces of Europe, which are lavishly furnished and decorated, while the palace in Kyoto is made of beautiful, wooden structures that are sparsely furnished with tatami mats and beautiful screens, but no furniture.

On Tuesday, we visited the Nijo Castle, which was the home of the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa. Ieyasu was really the ruler of Japan, making his home in Edo, and visiting Kyoto only several times during his tenure. Nijo is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it's magnificent. In fact, Ieyasu specifically made his castle and grounds more lavish than the emperor's palace to show who was boss. There are actually many, many buildings in the castle complex, including a moat and several gardens. I LOVED the nightingale floors in the main castle building. The floors squeak and sing like nightingales when you walk on them; this was done to prevent intruders from entering without warning. We also appreciated the little anterooms off the main rooms, where the shogun's bodyguards would hide and emerge from, in the event of an attack against the shogun. Finally, the main garden is unbelievable. Rocks are placed beautifully, there are several waterfalls, and the views are spectacular and ever-changing as you walk around this garden of rocks, bushes and low trees.

Here's a link to Wikipedia's entry on Nijo Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijo_Castle

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Ieyasu Tokugawa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieyasu_Tokugawa

On a separate but related note, I found out from Maki that CJ is named after Ieyasu Tokugawa. CJ's Japanese name is Yasuhiko; Yasu is from Ieyasu and hiko is a male suffix common in Japan. How this bit of information escaped me all these years, I'm not quite sure. All I know is that when we were coming up with names, Maki and his dad were in charge of CJ's Japanese name and I remember that they wanted the health character to be in his name. I like the idea of my son being named after the shogun who united Japan and was the most powerful shogun in history. :-)

Old School, New School

Whenever we take CJ to the potty, he asks if the bathroom is old school or new school, referring to the squat toilet and Western toilets in the public bathrooms. The toilets are an example of how Japan seems to blend old and new seamlessly into everyday life.

We see it everywhere. In the depato (department stores), consumers can purchase the latest fashions, high end cosmetics and perfumes, the best Japanese, American and European brands. But each depato that I've ever visited also has a floor devoted to Japanese kimono and arts and crafts. And, the age old tradition of greeting customers at the beginning and end of the business day continues to this day. It works like this: when the depato open for the day, the employees line up at the entrance in two rows and bow to the first customers of the day. The same custom is honored at the end of the day, as the employees say good-bye to the customers. It's incredible to see.

On Tuesday night, we visited the Gion district of Kyoto. Gion is famous as the geisa district and known for its teahouses, theaters and shops. Gion could be another tourist area in any major city in the world, until you reach the geisha quarter, where old, wooden buildings house restaurants, small hotels, and shops. Some of the buildings do not have English signage and we were told that many of the establishments where the geisha perform are not open to the non-Japanese without a special introduction from a valued customer. In the midst of the crowds, we saw beautifully made up and dressed geisha hurrying about, trying to be gracious to the crowds gawking at them and popping flashes in their faces.

Finally, you see old and new in the ryokan hotel where we stayed our first two nights in Kyoto. Ryokan are traditional Japanese guesthouses. During our visit to Edomura, we learned that the first ryokan were established during the early Tokugawa period for travelers; prior to the ryokan, travelers slept in open fields or barns. Ryokan hotels are modern structures, but they have traditional rooms with tatami mats, futon and low tables for enjoying a cup of tea. Traditional ryokans tend to be outside the city limits and are housed in older, traditional structures. Ryokan are famous for the public bath areas where men and women (separated) can enjoy a soak in a large, heated bath. Both mornings at the ryokan, I got up early to shower and soak in the women's bath. I had the place to myself and the steam, hot water and sound of water were a great way to start the day.

Taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto

On Sunday morning, Maki, CJ, mom, dad and I traveled back to Tokyo from Tsukuba. Mom and dad had a lunch to attend, so Maki, CJ and I met the rest of the group at Shinagawa station to catch the 12:20pm shinkansen to to Kyoto.

Maki, CJ and I got to Shinagawa station early, so we had a chance to explore the station a little bit. Japanese subway and train stations are a wonder. There are clean bathrooms everywhere and the signage to get to the bathrooms is very good. Most importantly, there are food stores and tiny restaurants everywhere. I got hungry just looking at the signs for ramen, udon and tempura. Yum! We even found a hot soba food stand right on the platform. Maki says hot soba on a cold day is just the best! We settled on a couple of bento boxes of futomaki, tofu pockets (enari), chicken and rice.

Our Kyoto adventure began when we got on the shinkansen. Boy, you can set your clock by the train schedule. Our train arrived right at 12:20. Maki says trains typically make a 90-second stop, so we had no time to spare getting on the train. We had purchased reserved seats, which were roomy and comfortable. There are Japanese and Western toilets on the train, and the refreshment cart comes by every half hour. You can get beer, soda, bento, candy and other snacks from the refreshment cart.

We got to Kyoto in under two hours, then caught two cabs to the ryokan (more on that later). The shinkansen ride was sort of anti-climactic since it was, after all is said and done, just a train ride, but it was definitely speedy and smooth.

I think about how I prefer to take the train to New York, as opposed to flying. And I wonder if I would opt to visit more places in the US if the trains got me there faster and less expensively.

Big Feet

On Saturday morning, Maki, CJ, mom, dad and I headed to Tsukuba to attend Maki's elementary school reunion. Jonathan, Tree, Kevin, Dave and Sue headed out to Ginza and then the Imperial Palace for the day.

We had a few hours to kill before our train to Tsukuba, so mom, dad and CJ went to a jidokan, or Children's playground in the neighborhood. Maki and I headed to Tokyu depato, since I was desperate for a new pair of walking shoes. It seems that my choice of loafers wasn't up to the job of walkin around Tokyo, with its miles of subways and stairs.

Good thing Maki decided to hang with me for a few minutes. I found a couple pairs of Ecco shoes that looked cute but practical. The saleslady asked me for my shoe size, but of course, I didn't know, since Japanese sizes are different from US sizes. Another saleslady arrived to measure my feet. After measuring my feet, the saleslady conferred with another saleslady, and then another. There was a lot of bowing and explaining to Maki, who then explained to me that the store did not carry my shoe size. Whoa. I wear a US women's 8 1/2 medium. I'm hardly a bigfoot, but I guess in Japan, I'm enormous. Come to think of it, I'm taller than most Japanese women and certainly a lot bigger.

Anyway, to make a short story long, we decided to try several pairs of the largest sizes they did have -- 24. I hit the jackpot with a cute pair that actually fit really well. Even though I now feel like a sasquatch, I'm happy with my new Eccos and my feet thank me for the new purchase.

The Rest of the Party Arrives

On Friday night, Dave and Sue arrived in Tokyo. They left the US on Thursday morning and arrived at Shibuya station happy to be in Japan, but bleary-eyed and dead on their feet, much like how we felt when we arrived on Sunday morning.

Maki, Jonathan and Kevin met them at Shibuya station, since, as I've mentioned before, Shibuya is a HUGE station and there was little chance of Dave and Sue getting to the hotel on their own. After checking in, the group opted for a soba and tempura restaurant not far from the hotel, recommended by the hotel staff. The restaurant turned out to be a good choice. We enjoyed cold and hot soba, soba with tempura, soba with slurply yam, and soba with meat and vegetables. It turns out that CJ is becoming a huge tempura fan.

The Food Courts at Japanese Depato

We love Japanese department stores, or depato, as they are called in Japanese. Over the past couple of days, we visited the fancy Tokyu depato in Shibuya, and Keio and Halc in Shinjuku. Tree and I marveled at the enormous display of cosmetics and perfumes. But, most importantly, the basements of Japanese depato usually have grocery stores and vast food courts.

After visiting the observation deck on the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office (the most impressive city hall I have ever seen), we went to Keio depato for lunch. The food courts in depato are not ordinary food courts. Imagine the basement of Macy's in New York full of the prepared foods, fruit, vegetables, pastries and chocolate.

We wandered around the basement of Keio for 45 minutes looking at bento boxes filled with sushi, sashimi, Japanese vegetables and tofu pockets; meat and vegetable gyoza (Japanese dumplings); rice balls filled with eel, salmon, spicy roe, shiso, pickles, and pickled plum; futomaki (giant rolls of rice filled with vegetables and wrapped in seaweed); prepared chicken, beef and pork; green, meat and vegetable salads; individually wrapped pastries; cakes, custards and tarts; whole and cut up pineapple, persimmon, Asian pears, apples, grapes, and plums; all kinds of milk and dark chocolate; and more. We were in heaven and bought way too much to eat, but buying food at a depato is pretty inexpensive and the variety cannot be beat. The food was excellent, in case you are wondering about the quality.

After making our purchases at Keio, we wandered over to Halc depato to check out their selection and find seating. For drinks, Maki bought his favorite ion drink, Pocari Sweat (don't ask me what an ion drink is, that's what the label says and yes, that's the name), I got water and an iced chocolate, Jonathan got hard lemonade, Tree got hard mango juice (hard, as in having a little bit of liquor), and Kevin got a beer. CJ, by the way, spent the morning and part of the morning with Maki's parents, visiting great grandma Kato and having lunch.

When we take the train to Kyoto tomorrow, we plan to visit the basement of Tokyu and load up on bento boxes for the ride. Yum!

Fish, Glorious Fish

Yesterday morning, Jonathan, Tree and Kevin ventured out to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Tsukiji (pronounced tski-ji) is the wholesale fish market where something like 75% of the fish sold and consumed in Tokyo is sold by auction every day.

Tsukiji is quite the experience, I'm told. I have yet to make it to Tsukiji because the auctions start in the wee hours of the morning and end around 6:00am. Traveling with CJ, it's not practical to go out trekking out before dawn. The last time we were here three years ago, CJ was 4 1/2 months old and I was going nowhere that early with an infant!

Jonathan, Tree and Kevin left the hotel around 4:30pm, caught a cab to Tsujiki, then spent 15 minutes looking for the auction area since Tsukiji itself is blocks and blocks of restaurants, food equipment dealers, fish distribution houses, etc.

The auction area is technically closed to tourists, but they are tolerated if you stay out of the way. Imagine 400-500 tuna being auctioned off, in sections, to wholesalers who are distinguished by their blue hats. There's a lot of yelling and gesturing and then it's over. The bidding is intense and when each auction ends, another is starting nearby, while the enormous fish are hauled away for preparation. Jonathan has a video of a guy pulling what appears to be a 400-lb. piece of tuna. He motions to Tree to give it a try; she gives the fish a tug and it doesn't budget an inch.

In April 2007, Washingtonian Magazine published an article about why good tuna is so rare these days in the US. The reason? The good stuff is going to Japan. And no wonder. Japanese consumers are willing to pay top dollar for good tuna. We've had good tuna at several restaurants. But Jonathan, Tree and Kevin report superlative tuna at a sushi restaurant (yup, sushi for breakfast!) in Tsukiji. Here's a link to the Washingtonian article:
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/restaurants/3870.html

To learn more Tsukiji, go to
http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/tukiji_e.htm

Edo Wonderland

We left the hustle and bustle of Tokyo today and headed for Nikko to visit Edo Village, a theme park that recreates life in Old Edo (old Tokyo) during the Tokugawa period.

We took a two-hour train to Nikko, then a 15-minute bus to get to Edo Village, or Edomura, as Maki and his dad called it. It's not a very big place, but it was fun.

We walked around, enjoyed the beautiful bridges, enjoyed wonderful tempura and soba noodles, and took in some performances. Surprisingly, CJ was great during the Ninja play. The whole theater went pitch black several times (CJ would simply comment, "it's dark, I can't see anything"), and there was obviously a lot of fighting on stage. He seemed to enjoy the show and clapped with the rest of us at the end.

CJ was done with performances, however, when we tried to watch a Geisha play/dance. CJ announced that he wanted to be outside, so he and I left, while the rest of the group enjoyed what Maki said was a funny performance with some beautiful dancing. Instead, CJ wanted to feed the numerous carp in the little streams (some were blue!), walk up and down the bridges, and run around the wooden structures. We loved the ninja house, the ryokan (Japanese guesthouse), and the many temples. We even watched an extended ninja fight scene that took place on the plaza.

It was awesome to see so many little girls and boys dressed as ninja and geisha. Yes, we took loads of pictures. Here's more information on Edomura:
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyotravel/tokyojapantravelarchive349/341/tokyojapantravelinc.htm

One last thing. I am so impressed with the precision of the Japanese trains and buses. When leaving Edomura, we took at 4:09pm bus back to the station, which dropped us off at the train station at 4:24pm -- as planned. Our train left the station at precisely 4:33pm, as noted on the ticket. I thought that the planning was a little tight, but Maki and his dad seemed completely calm and at ease, confident that the bus and train were going to be on time and we wouldn't miss our train. The were right, of course.

The Latest Fashions in Tokyo

We always have fun people watching during our trips. It's endlessly fascinating to check out people on the street, the subway, in restaurants, etc. Today, we were discussing what appear to be the latest fashion trends in Tokyo.

• The women seem to be wearing a lot of tweed, especially tweed shorts and short skirts.
• The shorts and minis are paired with knee high socks and knee high or ankle length boots.
• Hats seem to be big as well, especially fur hats.

We can't really discern any strong fashion trends among the men and Maki says that's not surprising. Growing up, he said it was very important to look like everyone else. Which explains why, on the subway and on the street, all you see is a sea of navy, grey, black and white, some khaki, some olive green -- on both the men AND women. Maki stood out in his purple fleece sweater, CJ is his bright green sweater, and me in my lavender jacket. I think I spotted a pink scarf today; otherwise, everyone on the subway was wearing navy or grey.

One thing that struck me is that the men seem to be shoe-challenged. While the women are wearing ballerina flats, cool boots, or sexy high heels with open toes, the men are mostly wearing nondescript loafers, scuffed boots, or pointy shoes. Very disappointing.

Why I Love Traveling with Friends

I love traveling with family and friends. Maki and I first discovered the joys of traveling with friends when we spent a long weekend in Charleston, SC with a few friends. We took over a bed and breakfast and enjoyed sightseeing, meals and hanging out.

Since then, nearly all of our trips have been with family and friends. We've been to Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Prague, Budapest, Cambodia, Vietnam and Alaska with nearly the same group of people and it's been a blast. Why do we do it?

First and foremost, it's a chance to spend a lot of time with our favorite people. Maki's parents live in Houston. When they visit us in VA, Maki and I are working, which means we see them at dinner time and on the weekends. During our week or two-week long trips, we get to spend good, quality time with mom and dad, and they get to see a lot of CJ. Same with my mom, who we see more often, but even then, it's nice to be able to enjoy sights and meals with mom. Our friends Jonathan and Tree live about 90 seconds away from us. But between work and the realities of living with a three-year old, we see them once a month, if we're lucky.

Second, traveling with friends means there is always someone to play with. Tonight, for example, CJ was exhausted and was down for the count by 4:30pm. I stayed with him since I was tired as well, while Maki hung out with others in the lobby and then went to dinner.

Third, we can use a divide and conquer strategy when it comes to tasks. At the airport, I changed money while Maki stayed with CJ and guarded the luggage. Then, while waiting for Jonathan and Tree, Maki and his dad went to get train tickets, while Maki's mom played with CJ, Kevin took a smoke break, and I stayed with the luggage.

We don't do everything together; Kevin often peels away from the group to take pictures. I am often breaking away with a girlfriend to shop. We establish general times to have breakfast, leave the hotel, and meet up at the end of the day. And since we all love food and are adventurous eaters, agreeing on a restaurant for lunch or dinner isn't complicated.

The Technology of Toilets

If you haven't been to Japan, you have not experienced in the ultimate toilet experience. Who would have thought that such technology could go into toilets?

Let me give you a few examples. In our hotel room, when you first sit down, the water starts to run and then stops. Next to the toilet seat, there is a set of controls that you can use to spray a stream of water to the front or the back of your seat. The sign warns you that if you press the button before the "Ready" sign is lit, you might get a stream of cold water.

In Grandma Kato's house, there is a remote control for the toilet. You can warm the seat, spray warm or cold water, and even blow warm air to the area of your choice.

At the Tokyu Hands department store, there was even a button you could press (and press CJ did!) to play a little audio file of rushing water. When we asked a Japanese friend what that was all about, she said that women don't want others to hear them using the toilet, so the sound of rushing water is meant to mask their tinkling. I thought that perhaps the sound of rush water was meant to be suggestive.

Some bathrooms even play music while you use the potty!

Of course, in many places, especially restaurants, you will find old fashioned squat toilets. I've traveled all over Asia, so these types of toilets do not flip me out, but boy, CJ did not like them. We had to find a store that had both traditional and modern toilets. Maki took him to one place and CJ walked out saying, "mama, they had old school and new school toilets." :-)

I found this forum online about Japanese toilets (unbelievable!)
http://www.gaijinpot.com/bb/showthread.php?t=27533

Here's a photo from Wikipedia of a toilet control
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Modern_japanese_toilet.jpg

I'm surprised that the French, with their love of bidets, have not discovered Japanese toilet technology. If Maki and I ever get a chance to redo a bathroom in our house, I'm getting a top of the line Japanese toilet with a heated seat!

Getting Around Tokyo

Walking and the subway are the preferred means for getting around Tokyo. The subway system is amazing. Grandma Kato's house is close to three stations, and there are subways stops every few blocks. The trains are clean and air conditioned, and so far, we've never had to wait more than five minutes for a train.

The subway system can be a little challenging if you don't speak Japanese or understand the system. First of all, it turns out that there are several companies that manage the system and prepaid tickets don't work on all of them. Second, at most stations, there is only a partial map of the system, and that map is sometimes only in Japanese. The map is a work of art, rendered in about a dozen colors, but I thank goodness Maki is with us to navigate the system.

Here's a link to a Tokyo subway map:
http://www.bento.com/subtop5.html

Third, like most subway stations, there are several entrances/exits. Problem is this: these entrances can be blocks apart, which means exiting at the wrong place can put you blocks away from your destination. Every time we get off a train, we have to get our bearings, study the signs and exit numbers, study the map of the neighborhood, then get going.

We haven't seen a pusher yet; pushers are people whose job it is to "push" or pack people into the trains during rush hour. They are always in uniform and wear white gloves and they apparently push people into the trains, then block others from trying to rush in when the train is full. You got to love Japan!

The Scale of Things in Japan

One reads in the papers about how everything in the US is supersized. We can super-size our fries and burgers, homes are getting bigger, and and large SUVs rule the road.

Well, let me tell you, life is not supersized in Japan, at least not in Tokyo. Our hotel room is more than adequate with a queen sized bed, small couch, tiny desk and tiny bathroom. But the room is smaller than the cabin we had during our cruise to Alaska last year. The bathroom has a teeny, tiny trash can about the size of a 32 oz. drink from 7 Eleven. The ice bucket is about the quarter of a normal sized bucket. The couch is about 2/3 the size of the couch in my TV room. During a walk to the restaurant last night, we spotted a car that had to be no longer than a standard motorcycle.

We read in our guidebook about the legendary sleeping pods that are about the size of a bed, and tall enough for a person to sit up but not stand. These pods are used by traveling salarymen on a budget. We are hoping to visit a pod hotel during this trip; if we do, we'll definitely post pictures.

The First Food Adventures

We came to Japan for many reasons. First and foremost, we wanted to visit Maki's grandmother, CJ's great grandmother. We also came for the sights and sounds. Last, but not least, we came for the food.

On the plane, I had ample time (on a 13 1/2 hour flight, you have nothing but time) to read my Fodors guidebook and note the various foods and restaurants we want to sample. Yum, I'm looking forward to sushi, ramen (real ramen, not the 39 cent kind you buy at Giant), soba, udon, unagi, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, well, you get the drift.

Sunday night, after a long day of travel, we decided not to wander far and decided on a fast food soba restaurant right across the street from our hotel. Purchasing food at these places is an experience. Outside the hotel, there is a picture menu (forget descriptions; if you don't speak Japanese, rely on the picture) that shows the number of the item and the price. Next to the picture menu is a kind of vending machine. You put in your money, select the item you want, and get a ticket. Then you walk into the restaurant, hand the ticket to the man behind the counter and a few minutes later, you pick up your food. My meal of cold soba noodles in broth, with seaweed, sweet tofu, soft boiled egg and imitation crab was delicious. Maki and CJ shared a bowl of soba and a plate of curried rice. Everyone else enjoyed hot soba and curried rice.

Breakfast is included in our hotel stay, so around 8:00 this morning, CJ, Maki and I went down t the dining room. I love Asian breakfasts! Maki was in heaven eating his rice with natto (fermented soybeans ) and slurpy yam. CJ was happy as a clam eating his croissants, chocolate danish, rice with seaweed and miso soup. I had miso soup, sausage, cereal with yogurt and strawberry team. Yum!

Fodors listed a highly rated ramen restaurant in Shibuya, so we are going to try and check it out today. The jetlag is kicking my butt, so today could a light day. We"ll see. If I can figure out how resize and upload photos, I'll post photos of some our meals and the crazy vending machines that are everywhere.

Traveling to Japan

Vacationing in Japan seemed like a great idea when we made our travel plans months and months ago. But the night before our 9:00am flight out of DCA, after having finished packing well after midnight, I realized that we had about 20 hours of travel ahead of us. Yikes!

We flew to Newark on Saturday morning, rushed to our gate, met Maki's best friend, Kevin, and boarded the plane for 13 1/2 hours non-stop to Narita Airport in Tokyo. About halfway through the flight, after having watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix twice, CJ finally fell asleep and I was at least able to close my eyes. At least the food was decent, the flight attendants were attentive, and there was plenty of room on the 777 to walk around and stretch.

At Narita, we met the rest of our party: Jonathan, Tree, and Maki's parents. Immigration and customs at the airport wee very efficient, and we made it out to the terminal to pick up our reserved cell phones. Since we have 10 people in our party, we decided cell phones would help us stay connected. There is whole row of cell phone rental companies at the airport. In case you didn't know, Japan is cell phone crazy. EVERYONE carries a cell phone and people seemed to be forever on the phone, checking e-mail, sending SMS or playing games. As a result, cell phones are inexpensive and there are a multitude of phones and plans.

We took the Narita Express to Shibuya, then walked to our hotel. The Shibuya Tokyu Inn is in the heart of the youthful, hip Shibuya area (what are we doing here, you might ask, since I in particular, am neither youthful nor hip?) and is stylish and friendly. After a long day of travel and a quick meal of soba noodles, we stumbled into bed. Tomorrow, the Tokyo adventure truly begins.