Adventures in Isahaya

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes" - Winnie the Pooh

自分の写真
名前:
場所: Burnt Hills, New York, United States

I'm a SAHM to a little girl born October 2003, a little boy born August 2006 and another little boy born January 2012.

水曜日, 11月 30, 2005

For all my complaining

about having to learn to use a squatter, I must confess that I no longer get the public restroom heebie jeebies.

Oh, and I have amazing thigh strength and calf flexibility. You squat practically to the ground with your heels flat and then stand up with nothing to hold on to...amazing stuff.

Now, if I could just remember to take my stupid hand towel into the bathroom so I can dry my hands after washing them without leaving the telltale prints on the front of my jeans...

Reflections on a year ago

We interrupt your stroll through our Tokyo trip for some random diatribe on how far I think we've come. Yeah...back patting ahead.

When we were in Haneda last weekend, I couldn't help but think of being stranded there all day in October 2004.

We were miserable. We didn't know enough to order things so we were making do with what we could buy in a box. This stuff is not enough to sustain you. I kept smelling curry, but didn't have the confidence to go in and try to order it, much less get it to go since I had to sit and wait for flight information that might show up at any minute.

We got to Isahaya late at night. They didn't have our car reservation. We had no idea where our hotel was. We could barely communicate. It was not a step in the right direction.

Now, we order pretty fearlessly. We have favorites. We (Chrys and I) can read some of the menus and find enough that we like. We know enough to usually get what we want. We know enough to know what should be there to order. We know enough to find what it is the other wants.

We put the GPS screen down because it gets in the way of seeing when the car is warmed up enough to turn on the heater. It's more of a nuisance than a navigational necessity. We have short cuts to things. We have favored back routes that are barely wide enough for one car, but we pass people on them anyway.

We're comfortable in our environment. It didn't happen overnight, but we've come a long way. We venture out to new things without worrying that we can't speak much (still) of the language. We can speak enough to communicate essentials and we will be a force to reckon with at Charades or Pictionary for everything else!

It's all (mostly) good. Figures that it's just about time for us to go.

Japanese hotels

Japanese hotels are awesome. Heck, traveling in Japan is an experience in and of itself.

First of all, most Japanese do not take their luggage with them. They take a small bag with necessities (if that) and ship their luggage (Kuro Neko) so that it's waiting for them when they arrive at the hotel. This allows for easy, and fast, transport from the airport to the hotel, even on a crowded train. Taking luggage means that you should probably use the buses since they can store your luggage below.

At the hotel, you only needed to to bring your comb (often, not even this), your deodorant and any non-normal toiletries (for me, this is my contact stuff). Everything else - toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap (liquid and bar) - is provided for you. Most Japanese hotels have a communal set up for the liquids so they limit waste. More western hotels have small containers that get thrown away when you go.

Every room has slippers in it for wandering your room and the hotel without shoes. They also provide yukata robes or Japanese style pajamas for nighttime wear. Those things are comfy, too.

There is usually a water pot in the room for boiling water. There are cups and green tea near the pot - sometimes it's not free so you do need to be careful. The gift shops usually have soba/ramen, etc, that you could also prepare in your room with the pot.

We've usually chosen western rooms, but that's because we use futons at home and want the beds when we're out. Sometimes, I'm not sure this has been the best choice, as the beds weren't that great, but it's what we've done.

Rates are per person, regardless of the number of people. At around $100 per person, this adds up pretty quickly. Of course, this usually means that if you are a single person, you get a single room that barely holds it's one bed. Doubles get two small (not quite full, but a bit bigger than a twin) beds. Our triples have had three beds - which usually means they cram an extra bed into a double room and it gets a bit hard to walk around. Nevertheless, they are consistent.

月曜日, 11月 28, 2005

Tokyo Day 2 (Ghibli)

We started this morning with the best breakfast buffet we've had in Japan. It had a great balance of Japanese and Western foods, but far more variety than we've seen so far. There was enough to satisfy us for the 3 mornings and not make us wonder what we were missing upstairs in the other restaurant.

We walked down to Shinjuku again. This time, we got to the other side of the station and walked around the more crowded area. Our hotel was in the skyscraper zone - it was like being in NYC, but less crowded. The other side of the station was definitely more Japanese in feel - neon lights, lots of noisy displays, lots of electronics. I realize you can get the latter in NYC, but it's not as ... sensory overload as it is here. We wandered a few more displays and stores and then decided to try to find the Toy Museum in another area (that was on the way to Mitaka, our 2p destination).

Well, turns out the Toy Museum is closed on Fridays. Nevertheless, we found a burger joint (Freshness Burger) that had cute Roo sized burgers - she downed two of 'em, but they were easier for her to hold. It was the best burger I've had in Japan.

After that, we headed back to the Broadway mall at the end of the arcade. We were searching for a store called Mandarake. Once we found one piece, it was like a snowball. There are about 12 stores scattered throughout the rundown mall. Each store has a theme - there are manga, dolls, art, action figs, other toys, etc. I found a couple of Christmas gifts in the art store and it was suddenly time to head to Ghibli.

The Ghibli Museum is ... amazing. I'm not a die hard fan. I've seen only a handful of his movies. That didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the museum.

You enter through the park, but it's right by the street. They allow pictures only outside and on the roof of the buildings (yeah, it's techically outside, but they clarify). Once inside, they hand you a 'ticket' that has a strip of film in it - 3 cells. They date stamp it at the movie theater if you choose to go there; otherwise, it's just for posterity.

The first room is animation styles. There are cases with spinning drawings on wheels that spin to animate them. There are actually a couple of different types: one vertical and one horizontal. There's a case of models that spin with a strobe light to animate. There's a case with just the models so you can really get a good look at them. There are panorama boxes. There's a reel of film with multiple vantage points so you can see different parts of the loop at different times. Highly educational.

Upstairs, there's a room designed to look like Miyazaki's study. There are drawings covering the walls, a set up of his desk, sketch and photo books to flip through, boxes of used pencils in every color imaginable. There's a room with paints, the dry powders that get mixed to pain the cels. There's even a camera that moves up and down over a cel to show how it's shot and zoomed, etc. I'm sure if I were a true Ghibli geek, I would have gotten more out of these rooms. They were spectacular, to be sure, but Roo and I stayed in the center of the room to bypass the lines and missed much of the detail stuff - poring over books of drawings, etc.

The temporary exhibit is on Heidi (30th anniversary, maybe). They had cow bells that Roo loved to play with. There was an amazing diorama of the house on the hill with a little train going through the village down below. There were some fake goats in the middle of the room. At this point, Roo was getting bored so a lot of this was a blur.

The shop is cool. I could have spent a ton of time in there, battling crowds, just to see the obscure merchadise that they sold. Suffice it to say that I got enough and we took off. At the book store, we scored a book with pictures of the inside of the museum. It'll be available for anyone wanting to live vicariously.

We let Roo run off some energy on the huge Neko bus. She collected tons of soot sprites into the holes outside. She didn't climb it, despite watching the other kids. She loved bouncing inside. Did I mention that the soot sprites were inside and they were supposed to throw them out? Yeah, she loved being inside and getting those out. She talked about the neko bus for the rest of our visit. Yes, we brought home a stuffed one.

On the roof is the robot from Castle in the Sky (if I got the movie wrong, sue me). Roo was in love. We eventually did make it down from the roof. I consider this a miracle.

Back inside, we made our final stop at the movie theater. It was a 15 minute original about the Kitten (koneko) bus. If Roo didn't love the Neko bus before, this sealed it. I think she got more out of it than just about anyone. She worried about the kitten bus when it was scared and got crazy excited when it flew - yeah, that means yelling out in the movie theater just a bit, but she was mostly quiet and this show was mostly kids. The coolest things for me were the Neko trains and the Neko cruise ship. It was amazing to see the concept taken to the next level.

We got back to the hotel and crashed. It was quite a day. Tons of fun and a very worthwhile stop if you can get tickets.

Tokyo Day 1 (Thanksgiving)

We got up early and caught our flight. There wasn't anything too strange, except for the fact that they couldn't get Owl's frequent flyer number to match up with his ticket. They worked it out eventually and he should get his credit. (Mental note that they only use the first half of his last name.)

We got to Tokyo just before lunch and stopped for the YUMMY panini sandwiches in the airport. Those have got to be the greatest reason to go to Haneda. Even with the evil switching to Narita for international flights...you still have time to buy a sandwich at the Live Cafe.

I braved the machine for the bus tickets and managed to get one straight to our hotel. OK, it wasn't that big a challenge since there is an English button on it.

At the hotel, we got upgraded to the business floors - hooray for lots of Hilton stays this year. The guy registering me asked for my checkout time which caught me off guard. I guess I should get used to that until my VIP expires.

After we settled in, we wandered over to Shinjuku station. We browsed the Bic Camera store and Roo had a great time taking pictures with the plastic faux cameras. It was a big game to look at one and then search to trade and it kept her occupied while Chrys and I drooled - LOVE the Cybershot digicam with the flipping screen to make self-portraits easier. We wandered a few other shops, but nothing exciting, really. We just tried to get a lay of the land - walking time, sites between, etc.

On the way back to the hotel, Roo spotted a bookstore and we ended up with an "Anman" (Anpanman) book - how she figured out who he is, I don't know - and a couple of new music books to learn more Japanese songs. That kept her occupied at the hotel.

Craving something approximating a real turkey dinner and not wanting to sacrifice ourselves to KFC for the second year in a row, we headed for the "Thankgiving Dinner" at the hotel restaurant. It was a really nice buffet. They did have some sort of roast turkey brick and some brussel sprouts. They had stuffing (that smelled like pate, but somehow tasted pretty decent) that Roo couldn't get enough of. We picked and snacked. It wasn't the same as home, but it was a good sight better than fast food. The desserts were excellent - chocolate mousse, fruit tarts - and they even had a pecan tart that almost satisfied my pie craving.

After gorging ourselves, we enjoyed the tree in the lobby for a bit and headed back to just unwind and relax. It was a happy day.

月曜日, 11月 21, 2005

Mikan

Supposedly these are just mandarin oranges. Maybe I've never had a mandarin orange that wasn't canned (and subsequently added to orange jello by my father) because I've never tasted anything like them.

First of all, they are insanely easy to peel. The rind strips off like brittle paper. Most of the time, it comes off in small chunks about the size of my finger tip. Since they're small, they peel quickly. It takes no more than a quick nip of my finger nail to penetrate the skin, either. Furthermore, the rind leaves little to no residue on the fruit. It always frustrates me when I have to drag out a paring knife to nick an orange, only to have to keep peeling forever to get all of the little chunks off of the fruit. Really kills the experience.

They're seedless. Yeah, you can get seedless oranges pretty easily these days.

They're incredibly sweet. Not the so sweet they make your mouth pucker, either. They are sweet enough to satisfy my "jonesin' for some sugar" moments, though.

They're small so they're a great snack size. If you're hungry, you grab a couple. Otherwise, you won't spoil a meal by munching on one.

I need to figure out how to get a branch home to graft onto a tree in Chrys' dad's back yard. Yeah...that's the ticket.

Saga Balloon Fiesta

On 11/3, Roo, Owl and I ventured out for the Saga International Balloon Fiesta. I had never been to a balloon festival and this one only being an hour or so away by train seemed like a great place to start.

We took the express train and that turned out to be the best idea. We missed traffic and expressway closings and actually got to the festival with plenty of time to wander the "Carnival" balloons. These were the fun shapes that aren't competitive. They let us down on the field and we got to walk up and talk to the operators. There were a couple of American teams, even. They were giving out stickers and cards for the balloons and Roo collected a few. We got to see a couple be inflated - they lay them down and blow air into them with a fan, then they fire to heat it and it just rises up very quickly - it's an amazing process. They were land bound, but had to keep firing periodically to keep the balloons aloft. This was deemed "hot" and "scewy" so we tried to stay away when they were firing. Nevertheless, Roo still talks about the "fi-ah" and grabs the little commemorative booklet to flip through. Her favorites were the Honda robot balloon (Asimo was peeking out one side with his feet on the other), the "el-pant", and the "oc-puss".

There were a couple that just had the air blowing into them on the ground so you could walk inside to see them, but the lines were too long so we settled for running our hands along the outside.

We wandered through the rest of the festival, enjoying the matsuri foods (fresh yakisoba - YUM). Roo got to play in the jumping area for a bit. She did the ball pit and the simple bouncer. She loved jumping all around, and falling...adored the falling. I think we'll spend some time in the inflated area at the mall when we get home.

At 3pm, the day's competition started. This one was a self-paced launch, travel 3-6km and then touch down at your predetermined location. The self-paced launch was spectacular. The field went from bare to covered in people to covered in inflating balloons, to individual balloons picking up, to bare again in the space of 45 minutes. They must have launched close to a hundred balloons in that time. From the ones we watched that morning and afternoon, it takes about 15 minutes from the truck pulling up at the site to the balloon ready to be airborne. The launch and flight was just indescribable. I could get terribly addicted to watching them. They were beautiful. Roo loved waving at the ones that flew overhead and ooohing at the colors as they lifted off. Truly spectacular - I went through the entire camera card, which Chrys still teases me about.

After that, it was time to grab the train home. We took an earlier one from the balloon festival than we'd planned and it was packed so we were very happy to have not put it off. We missed only the night flights that only occur on weekends, but, hey, we have to have something to make us go to another one someday, right?

日曜日, 11月 20, 2005

Chinese consulate?

Why on earth was I there, you ask? Ohhh...it's because I'm going to China and I needed a tourist visa to get there. They were very friendly, despite my poor performance in any language they spoke. They didn't even charge me any extra for rushing it so I could get it before we leave for Tokyo - woohoo!

I've had several encounters with the travel agent at this point. This last one was solo (no tutor to help translate), but it resulted in me going to China (with the other American family and their toddler). I'll be leaving Chrys here (since he has no interest in going) to watch Roo (so I don't have to try to travel alone and keep her occupied).

I'll be in transit two days (going and coming) and there two days. The first day is booked up with a tour that visits Tienamen Square, a museum (I wish I could figure out which one), the Great Wall and ends with Peking Duck dinner. My second day, I plan to see the Forgotten City, do some silk shopping, and if there's time, visit the pandas at the zoo. The pandas may get a higher priority if we don't get to see them in Tokyo.

I am CRAZY excited. I have my visa. I'll have my tickets next Monday. I have the city guide and the Mandarin phrase book (just in case of emergency). I have 4 days to myself?!

Peace Park

After we were done at the Chinese Consulate today, RC and I drove to the Peace Park. It sits on the grounds of the former Urakami prison that was devastated by the atomic bomb. There are some remnants of walls that they've preserved, but mostly it's been transformed.

It was a beautiful area to walk around. There are many, many statues there, donated by various countries in support of peace. We saw the one donated by Nagasaki's sister city in the US - St. Paul, MN - and quite a few others. Most of them are mother and child sculptures.

The highlight of the park is the Peace Statue at the end. He's 10m high and just breathtaking to view up close. Honestly, though, the view I loved was from the peace fountains with the water on either side and him in the middle. You don't get as much feel for his size, but it's an amazing picture.

We also walked over to Urakami Cathedral. It's also been rebuilt, though they do have some original walls, the belfry and a small statue garden that remain from the original. They were cleaning the inside so we could only peek through windows, but the stained glass was amazing to behold. I would love to get back and wander around inside a bit.

51 weeks later

We finally found 99 (ish) islands. We've apparently been quite close on a couple of occasions, but never been headed the right direction to see the signs guiding us the last bit. Better late than never...

Apparently 99 is the number used in Japanese culture to mean "a lot". There are actually 208 islands in the bay around Sasebo. Kujukushima is no less beautiful for the discrepancy, though.

We took the Pearl Queen cruise through the islands after a quick, Italian lunch. The boat itself was quite something to behold. It had two enclosed decks with wooden floors and tables on the perimeter to allow for easy viewing. Having lost our place thanks to my bladder, we ended up on the upper of 2 open decks. Honestly, I liked our place as we got to see more of the island and not just the sides. (At one point, Roo got cold and the best place to stand was on the first deck by a window - horrible viewpoint, but thankfully only 10 minutes from the end so we didn't miss anything.)

The islands are pretty spread out. There appeared to be a few types of rock making up each. Some were mostly bare, others were dense with foliage. Various shapes and sizes - one that looked like a sleeping lion. The 50 minute ride took us through the major ones and even into an inlet on one of the larger ones. The view was spectacular.

On some of the islands, we spotted a few fisherman - it's supposed to be great. We frequently saw large structures of pipe and net that are used to catch the oysters for eating. We also saw large black globes that we think supported nets below the water that we came to find out were used for harvesting pearl oysters. We got to watch some men harvesting in one of the pearl oyster areas (not that that helped me find any loose pearls - this may prove fruitless).

Once back on land, we saw the grill set ups similar to what I saw in Hasami. Here, you could buy a kilo (they estimated 15) of oysters for 600 yen and then grill them yourself. It's all about location, baby.

We didn't stop in on the aquarium, IMAX movie about Australia or nearby zoo and botanical gardens, though. Roo was getting impatient and we decided to head out.

Hasami Matsuri (and the rest of that day)

Chrys gave me a day off (11/13) to go wander on my own. With the lack of break in my day for her nap, I've been burning out a bit quicker. It was much needed and greatly appreciated.

I stopped first at the Isahaya flea market that was near the library. I didn't see anything overwhelming. There were some beautiful obi in one bin, lots of toys and stuffed animals and more clothing than you could shake a stick at. I almost got a couple of pairs of pants for RC, but decided she would live without them. The flea markets amuse me - food and tons of tarps with every variety of thing on them. It's a Japanese garage sale and there is rarely any rhyme or reason to what's out. Bargaining is anticipated and everyone is out to get you to look at their stuff. For me, their gimmick was showing off their Engrish skills - always a great treat, guaranteed to make me smile.

After leaving, I headed up to Hasami. I got there a bit late for lunch and seem to have missed the bulk of the purpose. At noon, their "restaurant" opened. It seems that you go up and get food that comes on porcelain plates. Whatever plate or set you get is yours to take home. There didn't seem to be much opportunity for careful selection, either, so it was kind of a random guess to see which you'd end up with. They had a few sinks set up on the perimeter so you could wash to take home. It was a really neat concept, but I'm not sorry I missed the random porcelain draw. I could have still gotten a coffee cup under the same system, but I wasn't that cold, yet, despite the damp day.

They also had oysters (kaki). It's oyster season here. Apparenly the waters of Omura Bay produce excellent ones in the winter months. At this festival, you could pick up a plate of raw for 1000円. Then you got to head over to the grills that were set up in the middle of the field and cook them yourself (with the provided gloves). It was quite popular.

Once I left there, I headed to my favorite shop in Arita. I had seen "the" plate there a couple of days prior and didn't want it to escape again. She still had it and I bought it. She pointed out the name on the back so I think it's signed by the designer, which is neat. It's also decorated on the back (just a few scattered sakura blossoms) which I didn't know about. I think it's a bit smaller than the one I saw at the festival, but it's no less gorgeous. She chided me about the size of my smile, but I didn't care. I am very excited about finding it a home on my wall in Austin.

Oura Cathedral

The next morning, we set out to find a Catholic mass. We stopped first at Oura Cathedral, not knowing a better place to start. (Given that I'm Catholic, and it was a Catholic Cathedral, this post gets a little ...preachy... because of what I felt as I visited. Consider yourself warned.)

Outside the cathedral is a small garden. It's very serene and peaceful. It had a plaque that gave us chills to read. It really drove home for me the dedication of the Japanese Christians. To have silently believed and hoped for so many years and so many generations that someone would come back and help them rebuild their community. To maintain faith when all around them were tortured, or worse, for believing. To not give up hope and dedication when they lost their support infrastructure. Any of us that believe in anything should be so dedicated to our cause.

"On Feb 10, 1865, the French Missioner Fr. Berivard Petitiean (later first Bishop of Nagasaki) dedicated the Oura Cathedral a month later on March 17, about 14 residents of Urakami visited the church and approached Fr. Petitiean, one whispered, "Our heart is one with yours. Where is the statue of Santa-Maria?"
Thus did these people reveal the faith that they had treasured and transmitted through 300 years of fierce persecution, this declaration of faith by the Japanese Christians, unexampled in all of history, has now the acclaim of the entire world.
The profoundly moving moment of Discovery has been recreated by a Christian artist of Nagasaki on this relief, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the event.
March 17, 1965"

Then, we continued up to the Cathedral. It's a smaller church, like any of its time. The stained glass is very detailed and pervasive. The altar was golden and ornately decorated and carved. We weren't comfortable taking pictures inside and much of it was blocked off so we could only wander through the pews and take a moment to reflect.

Obviously, with so much blocked off, they weren't holding mass. When we left, though, we found the newly built Oura Catholic Church across the road. It was comforting to be there. Even though we didn't understand the words, the ceremony was the same. That sameness and comfort - I guess that's what brings me back to the Catholic Church despite having issues with so many of the beliefs they preach. The priest knew the English to offer us the host and smiled when he said it. It was just a nice experience given how long we've been away.

Glover Garden

Chrys booked a night for us at the ANA hotel in Glover Hill for our anniversary. It was just he, Roo and I for the night. It was beautiful.

We got there mid-day on Saturday and went straight to Glover Gardens. Roo was fascinated early on by the moving sidewalks and escalators used to make access to the gardens a bit better. It sits on some pretty steep hills and would be quite a walk.

One of our first stops was a huge koi pond. I spotted a bin with food bags that you could buy so we did. It was a ton of food, especially when someone feeds it one chunk at a time. It kept her there watching various fish for quite a while. The koi looked very healthy and there were a couple that had to have been more than 24" long. Those were just beautiful. A few solid colors, but mostly the easier to find orange and white mottled.

From the top of the hills near the koi ponds, you could see the Nagasaki skyline. It was breathtaking. There were a few flowers in bloom, a few ready to pop open very soon and a few that were on the way to their winter dormant states. I'm sure the gardens are beautiful in the spring, but I didn't think on that too long and just enjoyed them as we saw them.

The homes were all very European in design, but stood out with their Japanese tiled rooves. It made for an interesting mix of designs that was quite stunning. The interiors were entirely European, though - carpeted floors, ornate wooden chairs, full dining suites and beds (not futons).

There was much use of water - water falls, ponds, water sculptures, fountains. They were each unique and had some symbolism hidden in them. One had hidden signs of Christianity - put in during the times of persecution. One was a tribute to Puccini for his opera - Madame Butterfly - that was set in Nagasaki's Glover Gardens.

Glover started many companies that still thrive (under different names) in Japan today. Many of his industries were acquired by Mitsubishi. His brewing company still exists today, as Kirin. He was quite the icon in Nagasaki - very successful, very wealthy, very generous.

Once through the gardens, we walked through a display of floats from the Kunchi festival that had just been held in Nagasaki. It's held in one of the shrines in the center of town. The boats are huge and have at least a dozen men manning them. (Roo and I watched a bit of it on television since we didn't have tickets to get close enough to view them at the shrine.) They have to walk them up (and eventually down) the stairs to the shrine and then dance them around in the center for the judges. The boats are loaded with musicians or dancers. It was amazing to watch and see the exertion on their faces as they rolled this boat back and forth, around in circles - very quickly. There are other floats (for lack of a better word) that are carried by a single man that we also got to see on display.

日曜日, 11月 13, 2005

Arita shrine festival

During the week after our anniversary, Roo and I ventured up to Arita to paint a mug for Chrys. (We've already given it to him so I can spill the beans.) We happened to be in for quite a treat as it was festival day.

When we stopped in for lunch - the Chinese place was actually open that day - the parade started right outside the door. Most of the acts were school kids and drums. Roo was captivated for all of 10-15 minutes before she was ready to go. It was really neat to watch these itty bitty kids playing these huge drums. We caught the beginning of some adults doing it, too. These drums are as big as Roo and they require the whole body to play. The wooden sticks are about 2" in diameter and about 12" long. It takes the whole upper body, abs, arms, back to swing with enough force to make the drum really reverberate. It's really impressive to watch the men do it. They work up quite a sweat and you can see every muscle twinge as they play.

When Roo was bored there, we drove to the other area of town. Here there were dancers with small ceramic plates (dipping dish size for those familiar with Japanese place settings, 3-4" for everyone else) that they hit together in time to music. Roo adored these! We could walk alongside them and they were doting on her and showing her how they played. One woman let Roo hold her dishes, but Roo almost dropped them so it didn't last long. The men and women had different dances and there were even subtle differences in the dances of the different groups, but that may have just been artistic interpretation. The music was piped over speakers that lined the streets.

The shop owners would periodically give one of the dancers an envelope which earned that shop a special dance and a piece of paper to display in the window. I can only assume it was money to be given at the shrine. Some shop owners would invite the dancers inside for a quick bite to eat, sake and beer. They would run in, eat amazingly quickly, and be back outside often in time to dance the next round of music on the speakers - it was playing in a loop with maybe 30s between loops.

All of the dancers wore kimonos. The women only groups wore the full dress kimonos. The men wore the shorter kimonos and often the women in those groups did as well. Footwear were the two-toed socks with rubber soles that would withstand the pavement. The colors and varieties of garb, alone, made the trip worthwhile.

In another area, there were some floats being carried by teams of 2-10 men. We just drove past these so I didn't get a good chance to really check them out, but they were quite ornate and eye-catching. They reminded me of the decorations we saw at Glover Gardens (not the boats, but the smaller ones). I imagine they are all to honor Budda at the shrine so some similarties in design across towns makes sense.

火曜日, 11月 01, 2005

African Safari


Yeah...I should title this one "Things They'd Never Do in the US in a Million Years" or "My Day with the Lion Cub". I mean, we did other things, but did I mention that I got to hold a 2 month old lion cub named Momo-kun? No, well, I'll get to that...repeatedly.

This was another park where we showed up at 9am for the opening and were the third group there. I must say, though, that it's awesome to get someplace early and really have it pay off.

We began by opting for the bus tour through the safari area. 1) They give you food to feed the animals. 2) They give you tongs for holding the food. 3) The insurance on the rental car is pretty good, but I really don't feel like explaining HUGE claw marks.

We fed lions and tigers and bears - oh my! And elephants and giraffes and elk and more that I am certain I'm forgetting. We were actually mere inches from the teeth of big cats and dropping hunks of raw meat into their mouths. Now, we were pretty safely behind metal bars in the jungle bus (omg, the jungle bus...so cute. It's actually shaped like an animal and you get to ride around in it.) Nevertheless, I got to hear lions roar 10 feet away and hear a tiger meow (yeah...it's bigger than a meow, but you get the point) as it walked up and took the food. I even heard it purr - I mean, I'd heard that tigers were the only big cats that could purr, but WHOA! they purr. We saw cheetahs (and a zebra in the same section...hmmm...I'm pretty sure I've seen that on the Discovery Channel and it's not family friendly.), but didn't get to feed them. They wouldn't come up to the bus, even. Each animal type was in it's own section of the park. Each section was double fenced and had an armed guard in a little hut between the fences. There were also jeeps near any animals on the road so the buses and cars knew to look out for them (and to bail out any cars that might get in trouble).

Once the bus tour was over (about an hour), we went to the main park. I got to hold a lion cub. Seriously, that was first on my list. See that idiotic grin on my face? I walked around all day just giddy that I got to hold a lion. I have this overwhelming fascination with white tigers. They are beautiful and graceful and if I could be Siegfried and Roy, baby, I'm there. Now, they weren't offering the chance to hold white tigers, but a big cat is a big cat. They had 2 - one 7 months old and one 2 months. They were doing pictures with the 2 month old. The shots are totally posed. While cute, artificially nursed and incredibly soft, these are still wild animals. They have no attention span. The trainer held him until we were settled. She then coached me on how to prop him up and put him in my lap. There was no reaching to take him. He liked to look up at my face (no, stop that, he was NOT eyeing my jugular. I looked right at him. Well, yeah, that hid my jugular. I'm not *that* stupid.) between shots. He mewed. He was just adorable. Roo got to pet him. Owl held him (incorrectly) and he got upset. They took him away, but not until he'd nipped the trainer a bit too hard. Still...I got to hold a lion cub. So cool!

We walked through the rest of the park. Roo got to feed caged squirrel monkeys and seemed to enjoy that much more than her last experience at the Bio Park. They tickled her hands and she laughed. There were some little ride on vehicles that she played with and a trained dog show that kept her attention for 10-15 minutes.

All in all, a very good time. I got to hold a lion cub. We got to feed big animals. Roo got a stuffed tiger that's as big as she is. She will have NO appreciation for how rare these animals are and no memory of what she's experienced here. Thank goodness for photos.

Harmonyland

We spent Roo's birthday at Harmonyland in Oita prefecture. It's owned by Sanrio and is basically a low-scale Disney-esque theme park. Their main draw is Hello Kitty which happens to be one of Roo's favorite things in the world right now.

We drove to Oita the night before. It was not quite three hours door to door. The drive was all expressway and quite pleasant. The hotel was right on the water and our room had a great view. It wasn't luxurious, but it did the job and then a bit. Dinner that night was included and it was a terrific coursed meal. It's been a long time since I had one of those. Everything was very good and they brought out a little origami kit and took Roo's pic for her birthday.

They also had a rock bottom hot spa in the basement, but I never managed to get down to use it. It's a shame, too, because Beppu is supposed to be home to some great spas. I will use one before I leave...somehow. I'm shooting for a shared family one that we can just experiment with without the "everybody get naked and bathe together" atmosphere that the Japanese have. I've never really been that modest, but that one gets me for some reason - sad. I'm also partly afraid of doing some piece of it incorrectly and offending someone in my ignorance. I need to just get over it.

The next morning, the park opened at 9am and we got there not long after that. We were maybe the 10th car in the lot. Once inside, they had not one, but two Kittys doing a meet and greet. I think the other character was USA*HA*NA. Roo was in love. She ran up and got her picture taken with all of them. They all got hugs and they loved playing with her curls. They are much more playful than Disney, or American Disney, at least. They walked up to me, Owl and Chrys to give us hugs and wave. Of course, this may have been because we were the only people left in that area after a minute or two.

We moved to Kitty's Castle, walking past a couple of cars to pose in (and stopping to take pictures because Roo loves to go "voom"). Once there, we bought the rose to give to Kitty for her birthday. The castle was cute - various Kitty shaped objects and tons of pink. Roo especially loved the video phone "w(r)inging hud(heard) it". At the end, she gave her rose to Kitty, got a purse and we all got our picture taken with the birthday plaque.

There were a few rides for kids her age. I think there were only one or two that she couldn't do. It was a very age-appropriate theme park. They seem to be divided that way here. If you want roller coasters, you go and get nothing but coasters. If you want theme and kiddy stuff, you'll get it.

We watched the parade - Noah's Ark - and they did lots of Happy Birthday singing in addition to bubbles, bicycles and floats. Have I mentioned that it was Kitty's birthday celebration weekend? Yeah...the birthday song was piped over all of the loud speakers. Roo knows the tune by heart and she loves the camera I got her that plays it.

After that, I figured out how to get Roo the badge declaring that it was her birthday. That made her eligible to get up on stage at the Birthday Party show. Off we went to the show, got her card to get on stage and on stage we went. They sang, gave her a little paper picture frame and she got to meet yet another kitty. Tons of "おめでとう" (omedetou, basically a birthday greeting, often preceded by tanjoubi) being yelled. She got a kick out of it.

After that, we went back to the hotel, to dinner at the BBQ place and a missed cake. The Japanese try so hard to be kid friendly, but you can still pick out those that don't have kids. Of course, I'm still trying to figure out how the hotel knew it was her birthday to celebrate all of this stuff.