Japanese medical care

I had another appointment today. The fracture is gone. I still have to take it easy for another month (no kicking, specifically), but the doctor was twisting my toe all around so I know it's pretty safe to use it. I can bend it now, but it's a little stiff.

I was talking to the new American mom that just moved here (more on them later, I'm sure). She broke her toe a few years ago and says they looked at it, declared it broken and sent her on her way. Hers will require surgery to really fix it someday. It made me really reflect on how excellently I've been treated for this *relatively* simple problem.

I had 3 visits in a month. At each of them, they saw me, took an x-ray and I spoke (if only briefly) to the doctor. At the first one, I was given anti-inflammatory bandages to wrap around the toe 2x per day. The next one was just in and out. The third was in, twisting the toe, and out. The x-rays were doubles - top and side - of my toe. All of that...and I shelled out about $150, total. I'm pretty sure there's no way you could get that kind of care if you were uninsured in the states.

I caught a Yukata

Not that it's difficult since you can buy them at just about any store right now. Plus, they're on sale since it's time for the winter ones to roll out and it's after 7/25 (some festival that I didn't catch the name of, but lots of girls were wandering around town in their kimonos).

Roo loves her new "dwess". My tutor helped me get her all dressed up for the camera. I now know how to tie the belt, and to make sure I put right over left when wrapping it. I picked up a purse for her (Hello Kitty) when I got my Yukata.

Roo's is bright and colorful and the sleeves are pretty long, as is customary for a "single" girl. I got mine a few days later and it's black and white with a red obi. I hope the colors are muted enough to be suitable for a married woman. I have no idea where we'll wear them - here or at home. Hopefully we'll get some fun use out of them, though.

No change

I'm a little confused as to how that and "ii desu (it's good)" go together in the same prognosis when discussing a broken bone. Of course, that is the big problem with a language barrier.

Toe's still broken. I have another check in two weeks. Offically told not to do anymore karate...sigh...No belt test for me.

Tokyo Disney Resort

We had SO.MUCH.FUN. Honestly, I love Disney so you could have put me in any park and I would have loved it. Nevertheless, it was truly a blast. Roo loved the rides. We loved the different park (Tokyo Disney Sea). The classics were...classic.

Flights were nothing special. Roo got really excited about going on an "ehpain" and that and the "buckle" kept her occupied for most of the trip up there. We had to focus on the buckle light and waiting for it to turn off for the last taxi, but she did great.

At the airport, we confirmed that the last bus directly to TDL left at 7pm. It was after 8pm. Chrys talked to the information folks and got wonderful directions that didn't involve tons of trains and connections. We took a bus to Urayasu Brighton Hotel, walked across the street to the Shinurayasu Station, caught the train to Mai Hama (thank goodness the lady wrote down the kanji for that one) and that left us at the TDL gateway. Quick monorail ride to our hotel and we were set. We got to introduce Chrys to the trains, didn't have to fret over which route. It was excellent. I got to wow Chrys with my train station maneuvering skills (not an easy task when the price guide is all kanji...see above note about the nice lady). It was a bit more expensive than the direct bus, but fun to do anyway. Oh, and they charge for the monorail access...hmph.

The next morning, we did our included buffet breakfast. Lots of Japanese foods...couldn't do it. They had dried apricots - haven't had those in FOREVER - Yum! Roo enjoyed the animal shaped breakfast rolls (elephant, bear, dog - elephant lost his nose first, the other two lost ears and the top of the head, respectively).

We wandered over to get tickets and opted for the 2 day pass. Quick debate and we picked Disney Sea first day and then Disney Land the next. I didn't see anything that would have let us swap back and forth, but this worked out great.

Disney Sea was not, as I expected, any kind of water park. It was basically another DisneyLand. We had lunch at the New York Deli - Reuben wasn't bad...small, but tasty. Roo didn't get to do many rides, but we collected her stickers for the scavenger hunt type thing and I got her award and medal while she watched the night water show. She liked the "neckuhs" she got. Chrys and Owl did a couple of things in the Island part (Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) while Roo slept on my shoulder (after wasting 2 hours trying unsuccessfully to get her to sleep at the hotel). It sprinkled, then rained. We have very nice Disney umbrellas now. At night, one of the dopey rides (Aqua something) looked fun and it turned out to be a pretty cool control system that felt semi-random (yes, we're geeks). Roo met Dale (as in Chip and Dale) and talked about him all day. He got kisses and she loved hugging him. We had Indian curry for dinner and that was tasty. Roo even seemed to like the spice. We pretty much closed the park down (10pm) and crashed at the hotel.

DisneyLand was...DisneyLand. I don't remember anything that was really specific to Tokyo. I did find it amusing that Cinderella, Belle, Alice, etc were (ahem) imports to get the right skin color. Roo loved FantasyLand and ToonTown. She rode most of the rides in FantasyLand and we got lots of "oooooo pwetty"s. We had to ride the "hohseys" twice (plus the one at Disney Sea). She really liked Dale's house at ToonTown, but was disappointed that she couldn't open the little doors in the tree. We stopped at almost every car setup "voom voom" so she could sit and pretend drive. She didn't freak out at the Haunted House or the Pirates of the Caribbean. In fact, she laughed out loud and danced at "Grim Grinning Ghosts". Chrys took her on Buzz Lightyear's ride and says she liked playing with the joystick to spin the car. Seemed a general trend - Alice's Tea Party, the Roger Rabbit ride - the more she spun, the happier she was. While they went to Buzz, I got some nice shopping time and got most of our souvenirs and omiyage in a 30 minute power shopping spree.

One interesting thing is that they didn't seem to have a generic Tokyo Disney t-shirt. They had Mickey Mouse and generic character shirts with no identification that you got them at TDL. The park shirts were by land. The DL ones had land specific collages (I guess) on the fronts. The DS ones had Mickey drawn in some style that symbolized the land (they were actually pretty darn cool). Each have a bunch of writing on the back talking about the stuff in that land. I guess you buy the one for the land you liked best or collect the set (not a cheap option). I got Roo FantasyLand because it was pink and girlie and she spent the most time on rides in there. It's a little big, but should fit when we go home - bragging rights, and all.

Our hotel, Hilton Tokyo Bay, was delightful. They had Lego tables in the lobby and a big play area with Duplo tubs that kept Roo entertained while we checked in, etc. The food was good. The service was excellent. They even had a little Disney stuff shop that opened early enough for us to stop by on our last morning and pick up a few items I forgot. (Now, if they'll just credit the right number of nights to my HHonors account, I'll be all happy.)

Rainy season

People have been telling us for weeks that rainy season was going to start any day now. Well, it finally hit last week, I guess. It's rained every day since. Usually it's just the morning or afternoon and the rest of the day is just cloudy and pretty cool.

Honestly, I'm pretty happy to finally have the rain. The days leading up to it were filled with 'it's 71 degrees out and the dew point is 73' yucky grade weather.

On the other hand, rainy days make for stir crazy toddlers. I'll also be pretty happy to be able to retreat to the pool or park. Although, we don't go to the pool every day like I'd thought. It's 350円 per day, or I can buy a pack of 11 for 3500円. Now, those aren't good on the weekends, when it's 510円. That gets pricey fast. *sigh* It will be nice to get back to $20 for the whole summer.

Eel

Yoshihara-san (my tutor) too Fyoire and I out for an Isahaya specialty, eel. Apparently, this restaurant has been open for over 100 years. They serve only eel. It's about $25 a head.

We sat on a raised tatami platform. There were pillows for kneeling on and a low table. It was certainly the most Japanese atmosphere I've experienced so far.

On a far wall, there were rows of little bins. It was explained that those were for storing shoes when diners went to the upstairs section. We actually got to watch some businessmen go up there toward the end of our meal.

The eel was cooked in a pretty sweet sauce. It might have been grilled. The flavor was excellent. Again, it was the texture that got me. I am not accustomed to having bones in my fish, even the tiniest ones. I couldn't really share the food with Roo because I'm certain they wouldn't have agreed with her. Of course, Yoshihara-san put some of the sauce on Roo's rice and it made Roo gag so I didn't even bother trying to find a non-bony piece of the eel. The first and last pieces that were bone free were delicious. The rice, the vegetables - all very worthwhile. The bones...oh man, I can't take much of that. I hope that knowing what's coming makes it easier to take, but being caught off guard made the meal a little awkward. Fyoire and I both got our food down, though. (Lucky for us, Yoshihara-san took us for cake and coffee afterward and that helped settle the bones.)

Of course, the ultimate question is...will I take others there. Since it's traditional Japanese fare and an Isahaya specialty, no less, I guess the answer is yes, with a caveat. I will warn them that the eel is good, but bony. If they think they can take the bones, I'll stomach another meal. Maybe I'll get used to it if I keep trying it.

Sushi delivered

Fyoire wanted to try sushi while she was here. I had been looking for someone to try out a conveyor belt place. The biggest problem was that I had no idea where one was. I had heard them called 100¥ places so I kept my eye out for signs. As we drove past one with Yoshihara-san, I asked if that was a sushi place...then I realized that I could read the sign すし 100円 皿 (literally, Sushi 100 yen plate)

We ended up going there. Sure enough, they had a large conveyor belt that went around two chefs in the middle. Well, it only went around one of them and the other half was empty and controlled by little corner gates that allowed the stuff he made to get onto the other belt when there was a space.

I knew most of what I ate: maguro (tuna), salmon, ebi (baby shrimp), pineapple, cucumber roll. Some of it, I knew after I ate it: natto (fermented soybean paste - like peanut butter, only thicker and not sweet - almost gagged). Some of it I still haven't identified: a translucent milky white...bit chewy, but good. Owl had some tempura shrimp rolls and some chicken wings. Fyoire mostly ate cucumber. Roo didn't want much to do with any of it. Green tea bags were on the table and the mounted spigot dispensed hot water for brewing.

You pay by the number of plates you eat. Each plate is a different color and each color is a certain price. When we were done, they came and counted empty plates to get our total. The total wasn't bad, especially considering it was all very fresh and the atmosphere was fun! I can't wait to go back again.

Bio Park

The Nagasaki Bio Park is probably the coolest zoo I've ever been to. To be honest, though, it's not so much a zoo as an animal habitat. The animals are each in a well tended environment. They appear very well cared for. For the most part, they seem uncontained. There were very few cages or rooms. Most of them were in large open spaces and some had free roam of the park.

We went with some friends. We started the trip on the train; our first ride. Roo wasn't terribly interested in having to stay out of the way and sit still, but was infinitely happier than when strapped into the back seat of the car. Then there was a bus ride from Huis Ten Bosch to the Bio Park.

Roo loved the llamas, but there was SO much more to the park.

One of the most interesting aspects of the park is feeding the animals. Each area has food that is suitable for the animals nearby. The capsules are 100¥ each. We fed all of them, some repeatedly.

Roo enjoyed feeding anything she could be some distance from without being too far like the giraffe and hippo. She liked getting right up to the lemurs, kangaroos and kapybara and having them eat out of her hand; they were very gentle. She wasn't terribly fond of the squirrel monkeys that would swoop in and grab the food right from her hands. She also wasn't particularly interested in the animals that she could only throw food to...maybe that's because she can't throw very far.

Owl and I really liked the lemurs. They were like friendly cats with hands. They were very gentle, and would crawl on your shoulders and take food from your hands to eat. It was an amazing experience.