The Kasdan Family Blog

Thinking of Our Friends in Japan...

2011-03-30T02:32:00.001+09:00

Back to the Island. Japan, that is.

2010-05-05T12:20:00.001+09:00

"We have to go back!"

Well, it looks like we're getting our chance!

It's so wonderful to be back amongst friends back in Japan...

Biking NYC - The Five Borough Bike Ride

2010-05-03T08:49:00.004+09:00

42 miles through the five boroughs of New York. Great ride. Great day. Nothing more fun than to ride through the closed off to traffic streets, highways, and bridges of NYC with 32,000 of your closest friends!!

Here are some pictures from the event. We'll be back next year (with kids?), and are signing up for the NYC Century Ride in the Fall!

Baseball, Soccer, and Basketball - Oh My.

2010-04-29T13:17:00.000+09:00

Sports are upon us in full force for both kids.

Well, Lauren plays soccer. Completely adorable. She can run with the best of them, is a great teammate, and bounces around the entire time.

Jacob is playing soccer, basketball, and baseball. A young Bo Jackson, or something. It sure makes for busy Saturdays (and the rest of the days too!), but we are all having so much fun with it. Its a terrific social outlet for the kids and for us, and it is incredible how much Jacob has improved in all three sports. He is a total sports junkie (wonder where he get's that from) and is a joy to watch.

In soccer, he and his buddy Samson are a dominating pair . . . Really amazing to watch for a pair of eight year olds.

In Little League, Jacob tried out for and made the 9 year old "Minors" team. Mike "played up" with him as an assistant coach for the team. Nothing more all-American than little league baseball. Life lessons. Sports. Great kids. All rolled into one. Mike and Jacob are just loving it. Jacob has done some pitching too, which he loves. He is very calm and collected on the mound and very loose and relaxed at the plate. He is also a seriously good and sweet team-mate.

Finally, hoops. When this league started, it was painful to watch. Kids traveling all over the place. No shooters, bad passes, bad dribbling. Makes you realize how many moving parts there are in playing basketball. These kids have come so far so fast. The coaches who run the league are terrific - patient and firm and knowledgeable. Jacob plays center. He has developed a pretty nice shot, is a great passer and defender and again, a great team-mate. He always wears the white head-band. Nice.

Disney - Hollywood Studios (But We're Still Gonna Call it MGM)

2010-04-26T12:20:00.001+09:00

Our last day was spent in Hollywood Studios, fka MGM Studios. GREAT time. Fun rides, and we are total suckers for awesome cartoon animation. The highlights follow:

Our day started off with a character breakfast - Lilo and Stitch at the Polynesian Hotel.

Really? You own this shirt AND you wear it to Walt Disney World??

The Lights, Motors, Action Stunt-Show is a must see. Awesome.

Power Rangers!

Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Always a classic. Almost impossible to get the kids to leave here:

American Idol show - with audience participation:

Star Tours! (Mike came home with a nice plush Yoda doll. Cool Yoda is.)

Next year. Kasdan's are dressing up as the Incredibles for Halloween. There, I said it. Love these guys!

Classic and modern animation and cartoonage- just can't get enough!

Happy kids - just before passing out!

Disney - Animal Kingdom

2010-04-25T12:19:00.000+09:00

Animal Kingdom was a super-pleasant surprise. We had low expectations (at least lower than the know commodities, Magic Kingdom and Epcot), but it was really terrific. Another big perk is that the people working at Animal Kingdom don't say "Have a magical day!" and are in fact the friendliest of all the park employees!

We had a great time on the Safari, got to see a team of veterans operating on a lion (!), all went on Everest (a forwards and backwards loop de loop roller coaster), got drenched (twice) on the Kali River Rafting Ride, saw an awesome Lion King show, took in a great (Lion King on Broadway themed) parade, and enjoyed exploring the many animals and birds.

It was also nice to leave a park at a decent hour, not carrying dead-weight children!

Some observations:

Disney Dining Plan - totally worth it; good healthy choices; great sit-down dinners
It's so nice to meet people from all over the US and all over the world
Jacob and 3D movies don't mix. We learned this after trying out the Honey I Shrunk the Audience Movie in Epcot and the 3D Bug's Life Movie in Animal Kingdom. He is scarred for life.
We acquired a "golden ticket" Fast Pass for seven of us, as a gift for supposedly sub-par service at a restaurant. (It really wasn't too bad!) The ticket was supposed you get all of us to the front of the line of one ride. We used it on the Safari, but they forgot to collect it. So we used it again on Everest. Between that, and our own Fast Passes, we zipped to the front of many a line.

Disney - Epcot

2010-04-24T12:19:00.000+09:00

We began our second morning in a more leisurely fashion - no 6 AM wake-up call this time. We stayed at Disney's All-Star Movies Resort, and began the day by taking a walk around to check out the 101 Dalmations, Toy Story, Fantasia, and Herbie the Love Bug decor.

We then headed over to Epcot Center. Epcot was having some sort of garden-topiary type exhibit, with bush versions of many disney characters. Pretty amazing stuff:

Disney Parks all now employ a system called Fast Pass for the most popular attractions, which completely changes the way you see an amusement park. At Epcot, we headed straight for The Land and got Fast Pass tickets for Soarin'. This was easily one of the best rides in Disney; a very realistic feeling hang-gilder simulation over California. They even pipe in local smells, like pine and citrus as you fly over forests and groves. Big wow factor.

We also checked out the nearby Nemo Ride and Aquarium, as well as an excellent Lion King movie with a strong environmental message. Very well done.

Before heading to the World Showcase, we hit Mike's longtime favorite Imagination ride, with Figment! Among the countries, we hit took a boat ride in Mexico, tried on Viking-wear in Norway, lunched at and took in the great 360 degree movie in China, before boating it over to Japan and then heading to Morocco for dinner and music. (Lauren also tried on some stuff at the bazaar!)

After walking back through France, the UK, and Canada, we headed over to Test Track, another of the highlight attractions. Jacob had a fear melt-down in line, but after doing it, he was dying to do it again!

Some observations from our day at Epcot:

There are no bathrooms in Mexico. You have to go to Norway. Really.
Why is there no Spain, but a Morocco. If I were Spanish, I'd be pissed.
Little girls that walk around all day after getting made up and dressed up like Disney Princesses. Well, it looks kind of ridiculous
We love our fully loaded Ford Flex rental car. Mike and Ilena went out afterwards (to a GREAT Irish Pub on Pleasure Island), and on the way - for the first time in our life - someone pulled up next to us and said "Hey - what kind of car is that."

Disney - Magic Kingdom

2010-04-23T12:08:00.014+09:00

As we previously mentioned, we were lucky enough to be able to view a shuttle launch (at 6:21 AM from our hotel parking lot in Orlando). Very very cool. The gaseous residue trail illuminated by the rising sun is shown below.

Aside from being a heckuva way to start your day, our early rise also ensured that we were one of the first to enter the Magic Kingdom. (We got a parking spot right next to the monorail, and were on the first monorail in at 7 AM!).

All that early bird gets the worm stuff has some merit. Given that we were (a) in Disney World; and (b) it was a school vacation week, our expectation level for actually getting on more than a handful of rides was pretty low.

With our early start, however, we had done pretty much every ride in Tomorrowland by 9:30 AM! Lauren braved Space Mountain (not for Jacob!). We did the Speedway, the timeless Carousel of Progress, the Buzz Lightyear shoot-em-up ride, Stitches Great Escape, and the hilarious Monster's Inc. improv, Laugh Floor.

Afterwards, we headed over to Adventureland, where we climbed through the classic Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, took in the (revamped) electronic bird singing show in the Tiki Room, the corny-joke electronic-animal filled Jungle Cruise, and (of course) Pirates of the Carribean. Pirates has been redone to include aspects of the Movie, which was based on the ride. So now the ride is based on the movie, which was based on the ride. But its all good.

We then hopped over to Frontierland, where we explored Tom Sawyer's Island and watched the Country Bear Jamboree show. That seriously took me back to my first trip to Disney! Another fave was the Hall of Presidents. Totally all-American and insprirational. Mike did this one with Jacob, while Lauren and Ilena did the Haunted House (Jacob wanted no part of that one!)

Along the way, we hit the 10, 12, and 3 PM parades, which were pretty rocking.

Later in the afternoon, we did the still-amazingly-great Small World, the Carousel, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Cup ride in Fantasyland, before popping back over to Frontierland for Splash Mountain (best ride in Magic Kingdom) and Big Thunder Railroad.

In that time period before dinner, the kids totally glazed over, but got a second wind after a really nice Italian meal. We decided that 15 hours in the park on the first day seemed about right, so we hung around for the night Spectro Magic Parade. While waiting, the kids hula hooped and played hop scotch on Main Street USA.

It was a truly magical first day. The kids were soooo good. And we all enjoyed so many different things. These Disney folks are in the magic business, and they sure are good at it!

Early Spring Happenings

2010-04-16T11:12:00.005+09:00

Early April - and the fits and false starts of Spring - has brought some excitement to the Kasdan family.

First, we had an amazing family trip to Florida, which included a terrific visit with Ilena's parents, catching an early morning shuttle launch, and four amazing days at Disney World.

The Walt Disney World Trip will definitely be the subject of some future posts...

Second, baseball is back. And not just pro baseball, but Little League baseball. Jacob played up into the nine year old "Minors" and Mike rode his coat-tails up as an assistant coach. We will be living and breathing baseball over the next months and into summer - and it is incredible - a world unto itself.

Finally, we are excited that we will be back in Japan for a visit in May!!!!! Mike is going for work, and Ilena and the kids will be heading over at the same time. We are so excited to get back and visit our friends!!

When Kids Steal the Video Camera...

2010-03-25T22:13:00.002+09:00

Presenting...Lauren. "The best dancer in the world."

(And while we're at it, this is also an oldie but a goodie of Lauren singing my sister Lisa's original music!)

The Solo Daddying Bloglet

2010-03-08T05:33:00.008+09:00

As adapted from Mike's rambling Facebook postings over a five day Ilena-less period, where she went on a girl's weekend to Florida that ran from a Wednesday morning to a Monday night. Quite the weekend, eh?

Day One of solo daddying (with help from Aunt Heather and Uncle Dave). Kids down. Check. Lunches made. Check.

Day Two of solo daddying (with help from after school playdate friends). Dressed in themed school shirt. Remembered lunches. (With icepacks). Kids to school. Me to work.

Day three of solo daddying...feeling pretty outnumbered by all the moms at drop-off and around town...

Comment 1: Are they flirting with you? LOL

MK Response: For goodness sake, are you trying to get in trouble? I am just trying to get through this so I can safely bank my "boys weekend getaway" to Vegas...Let's all keep that in mind, alrightee? :)

Comment 2: Just wear a pair of Uggs with your jeans/sweats/pants tucked in and you'll fit right in. Don't worry.

MK Response: Thanks for the tip. Do I need special "Lucky" brand jeans or can I just wear my Levis? (This is kind of fun. If I had more than five days of solo daddying, I might bring back the KasdanFamily Blog to chronicle it all...)

Comment 2 Response: Sorry. Levis won't work. You have to try to look like you're 18.

MK Response: I don't know what to do. I totally missed the boat on Ed Hardy fashion, can't find a pair of jeans that *really* fit me, and I have no Uggs. Guess I'll be going back for pickup in the same ratty Penn sweatshirt that I wore for drop-off. I'm so ashamed.

Comment 2 Response: Hang your head in shame. There is hope. Short Hills Mall shopping spree followed buy Iced Quad Venti with Whip Skinny Caramel Macchiato @ Starbucks, a chit chat and mani & pedi.

Day four of solo daddying...off to the Statue of Liberty this morning (I've never been and the kids are so excited!)...See - I am perfectly capable of having good, fun ideas. Sometimes.

And on the fifth day of solo daddying the Lord said "Thy shalt send thy children to Hebrew school between the hours of 9:15 and 11:45 and thy shalt rest." And I did. And it was good. (Shopped, Cleaned, Laundried, read the paper, and welcomed the spring-time weather by going on the first bike ride of the season in the Reservation.) And from what I understand, Ilena is still sleeping :) Later, turned out to be my proudest sports related day as a daddy; Jacob raked at little league try-outs trying to play-up into the 9 year old league, and then at his basketball game played his best game yet - 5 buckets, hustle, defense, rebounding, and being a great team-mate. (Beaming!)

On on the sixth day, Ilena returned. And on the seventh, rest?

Well. It HAS been a while hasn't it?

2010-03-07T13:14:00.031+09:00

Hello loyal readers. Sorry for leaving this blog completely abandoned for the past 8 months. We feel bad, really we do. It was so abrupt. So unexpected.

At the very least, we owe you guys (and ourselves) a wrap-up entry, a finale, a last episode of Cheers! if you will....Something...

As it turned out, transitioning back to life at home was a heckuva lot harder than transitioning to life in Japan. Which is strange. And which was completely unexpected. I mean, how hard could it be? We were the same people, returning to our same town, our same house, and our same jobs. Or so we thought.

How to explain? It wasn't hard due to any real cultural transition. Its not that we missed rice or noodles or really extraordinary sushi to such a degree that it made us sad. No it wasn't that.

As best as we can figure it out, it was more of a coming down off of a high, of being different, of everything being so intoxicatingly new. Think about it. In Japan, being able to make a dinner reservation on the phone was something that absolutely made your day. Here. Well. Not so much.

There was also a bit of feeling disconnected from our local community at first; it was like starting over again to a degree with local friendships and school connections. And juxtapose that next to missing our many friends that we made while in Japan.

But the proverbial Stella has got her groove back. Or something like that. We are back in business, happy and re-energized. It just took a little while. The fact is, with good friends and a sense of humor and interest in living life to the fullest, life can be an adventure wherever you are. Even if you are in New Jersey! (check out that link!!)

(Hopefully, this spewing forth of thoughts will help out other recovering ex-pats!)

And now, without further ado, or depressing ramblings on, here is the BIG (drum roll please...) catch-up summary of the past months:

Yankees games at the new Yankee Stadium

Cooking back in our old kitchen - oh how we missed you!

Relaxing back at the Lake House

Visiting New York (and hanging with Japanese tourists)

Back to School!

Bike Rides

Bronx Zoo

Enjoying Maplewood

Town Soccer League

Shabbat Shabu Dinners with Family

Sailing with Our Cousins

Halloween, Jacob's Mohawk

Homecoming at Penn

Lion King on Broadway

Jacob's Sleepover Birthday Party

Friends Visit from Japan - Idyllic Wintertime Maplewood

Winter Snow Fun

New Year's Family Vacation to Puerto Rico

Mike and Lauren Hit MoMa

Vermont Winterfest Weekend

Superbowl Party

Town Basketball League

Man. That was a good exercise. We did a ton of great stuff!

Annnnnd....We're Back

2009-07-27T22:14:00.037+09:00

Well, actually we have been back (in NJ) since July 15th. (Isn't that a nice "welcome home" sign greeting by Mike's brother Dave, huh!? That felt good!) But with a house to move back into and re-setup, friends to reconnect with, family visiting, and work starting up again (for Mike), we have been a little slow in finishing up the Hawaii blogging and getting to this one.

Soon after arriving at home, we rattled off Costco, Whole Foods, Target, The Sports Authority, Vitamin Shoppe shopping excursion. (With the different way of shopping and living in Japan, we weren't exactly hitting these kinds of stores and loading up the mini-van!). It is terrific to be eating salads and have huge Costco-sized tubs of fruit like blueberries and strawberries again! (It is also wonderful to have the AC at levels that actually keep you cool.) Cruising around town, we discovered some nice new local stores, including the excellent Eden Gourmet and Rita's Water Ice in South Orange and a new bookstore called Words in Maplewood.

Right off the bat, we had a really nice little family gathering and backyard BBQ to celebrate Lauren's 5th birthday (!) last weekend. It was nice to see so much family and to be back in our house and yard. (Bonus perk - our house now feels HUGE and we are enjoying being out in the yard. Even though the yard is small, its all relative. In other words . . . we we are happy to have a yard to be out in! However, unpacking and re-moving back in, also made us realize that we have altogether too much STUFF and how little you actually need to live comfortably.)

Mike is back in NYC everyday, and feels like he fits in walking the streets again. (Not that feeling like he stuck out in Japan was a problem; actually, we got kind of used to that!) New York still has that amazing energy to it. And millions of rude people. So, no big change there.

Let's see. What else? The new Yankee Stadium is awesome. And NYC now has all these closed-to-traffic areas (like parts of Time Square), which is a trend in the right direction. Other noticeable changes include the Canadian take-over of the donut scene -- many Dunkin Donuts one day were replaced by Tim Hortons (?) Also, based on a new local law, which we think will really impact the way people eat, or at least cause people to think more about the way they eat, all chain restaurants in New York must display the calories of items on their menus next to the price. This does, however, make going to Yankee Stadium a bit less fun!

On the downside . . . NJ Transit (still) completely sucks. Sure, they have these nice double-decker trains, but they are still damned unreliable. Especially relative to the smooth-operating timely quiet trains in Japan. (2 decent length delays in 1 week here compared to 2 delays in a year and a half in Japan!) Mobs of mean sweaty New Yorkers crowded into Penn Station, waiting for the train to arrive, with an information board that says nothing but "Stand By" for the last half hours worth of train, well, let's just leave it at "not fun times." Also on the downside points, when that sushi craving hits, instead of this. our options now look more like this:

(Actually, the craving did hit last weekend, and we had a very nice sushi dinner at Samurai Sushi
in Maplewood. Not the same, but certainly passable. . . )

Hawaii - The Big Island (More)

2009-07-22T12:00:00.028+09:00

Friday - Monday

We were sad to leave our cozy little cottage in Volcano Guest House, but excited to get to the Kona side for some total relaxation time.

Part III of our trip was on the West Coast of Hawaii – the Kona coast – at the mega-resort Hilton Waikoloa. To get there we took an incredible drive up the East Coast of Hawaii and then across the island from East to West. What a great scenic drive – the change in climates and landscape all within a two hour drive was incredible. We went from Rain Forests with towering plants and lush greens to vast pastures of green rolling fields with cattle and sheep grazing to dusty brown cowboy country to black lava fields to sandy beach resort.

Along the way we passed through this tiny town near Akaka Falls that had a rain forest gulch and my favorite canopy banyan tree ever. Check out the size of this thing!

Akaka Falls, in a tropical rain forest, was another beautiful stop along the way. (Lest you think its all happiness and light for the Kasdan family, we will share the kids were acting so badly in the car and at this stop - they were unimpressed with the rain forrest and waterfall, as it interfered with a movie they were watching on the portable DVD player in the care - that we almost left them there. Well, at least that was the end of in-car movie-time! Its scary when the gang up on you! At any rate, Mike and Ilena enjoyed it!)

Later on the trip, we also drove through Honakaa – a little old former sugar cane town with a very Wild West Main Street. And as we crossed Hawaii, we drove through Waimea, home of numerous cowboy ranches, green pastures, and rolling hill.

Later in the day, we arrived at the Hilton, which was a pretty over-the-top resort. It sits on a bay with black rocks and has a salt-water lagoon with boating and sea turtles, large pools with huge water slides, rope walkways, tropical birds in the lobby, and walkways that are lined with sculptures, cultural museum pieces, and art from Polynesia and Asia. A boat and monorail take you around the sprawling grounds.

Basically, we chilled and relaxed for our last three days at the different slide pools, boated and snorkeled with fish and sea turtles in the lagoon on paddle-boats and paddle surfboards. . We actually spent a lot of time hanging out with our new friends from Oahu that we met in the airport on the way to the Big Island. They have a girl that is Jacob's age and a boy that is Lauren's age, so it worked out pretty nicely! Their younger boy referred to Lauren as his "puppy love” and Jacob trailed his new friend around like a puppy dog.

These pictures, pretty much tell the tale of our time at the Hilton:

So that was Hawaii. A terrific terrific family vacation; a great stop-over from Japan on our way back to home. And reality. . . .

Hawaii - The Big Island (Hilo & Volcano)

2009-07-22T11:57:00.032+09:00

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we took an island-hopper flight over to Hawaii Island, flying into Hilo, on the east coast. The plan was to spend a couple of days checking out Hilo and Volcano National Park, and then drive across Hawaii to the west coast (Kona side) to finish off the trip beaching it on a resort. We really enjoyed the Big Island. It is incredible that the whole island is made of five volcanos at varying stages of their "lives." The volcanoes and Volcano National Park were even better than we expected, and the Hilton Waikoloa Resort was an over-the-top and terrific way to finish.

First of all, Hilo is a great place. Set on a bay with terrificly lush forrests in view, but also at the feet of the volcanos. Very green. Very sleepy. Hilo, in fact, is the rainiest city in the U.S., but the kind of soft sweet misty rain that you really don’t mind. And with its continuous pattern of rain-sun-rain-sun (we didn't think it was possible for weather patterns to change this quickly and often!), its great for rainbows.

We started our afternoon in Hilo at the famous Farmer's Market and wandering around town and checking out the wares. We scored some delicious honey samples, and ended up buying some some lemonade, three varieties of salsa and a bag of chips, which served as our picnic lunch in Liliokalani Park.

The park had a Japanese garden (not our main area of focus; we had seen plenty of those!), great views of Hilo Bay, and some amazingly old Banyan Trees, with massive canopies and meandering roots and vines. (The kids main focus was on a group of teenage kids who were taking leaping dives and flips off of a nearby bridge and into the water.) Just a great spot to eat chips and salsa.

On our way from Hilo to the town of Volcano, we made two nice little stops. First we hit the Big Island Candy Company, serving up free samples (which Jacob fittingly refers to as "tasters") and packaged omiyage delights, which seemed specifically designed for our Japanese tourist friends. Afterward, we stopped at the Mauna Loa Plantation, where they harvest and make those tasty macadamia nuts. (Free samples - er, tasters - too.) We bought some delicious macadamia nut-filled Hersey Kisses, which are apparently only available in Hawaii.

As we made the 40 minute or so drive to Volcano, we entered into a rain forest. Soon afterward, we entered into the Volcanoes National Park and drove to the visitor center and a bit further in to check it out. The weather was flip-flopping between sunshine and rain. We saw some of the endless black lava fields (incredible), active steam vents, and a large crater with smoke billowing out. It was truly an amazing sight to see in real life, and pictures just do it no justice.

On our way out we saw a full end-to-end rainbow arching over the crater. What an incredible incredible place, unlike any we’ve ever been before. (We must have had low expectations, because we were both just blown away by how cool it is!)

Afterward, we checked into our temporary residence for the next couple of days, the Volcano Guest House. What a terrific find! (We actually high-fived after check-in! We might have to become professional vacationers…). We have our own two-floor cottage in the rain forest far off the beaten path, but within minutes drive of the National Park. It includes our own kitchen, a small living room, a hot tub, electric bed warmers, a TV and DVD player with kids books and movies. Next door is a breakfast/snack house. Wow. And the rain is so good for sleeping . . . .

Thursday

Thursday was our main day to explore Volcanoes National Park. To do this, we had planned a guided mountain biking tour (with the kids on trailer bikes) of the National Park. It started with an awesome lecture at the Visitor Center where were learned all about the five volcanoes (all at different phases of life and two of which are overdue for eruption!) that make up Hawaii and one more that is on the way. We also learned that Mona Loa is the biggest mountain and volcano in the world – at 56,000 feet to its bottom. We learned about the two types of lava rock, the smoother pahoehoe and jaggy ahah. (Geology tends to be a lot more interesting when you are surrounded by volcanoes.)

The 14 mile guided bike ride through the park was an awesome way to see the park. It took us from steam vents to pit craters to lava tubes to tuft cones to endless lava flow fields. It was raining on and off – in that Hilo misty-ness, but that was no problem. The tour ended at a beach at the end of a huge lava field, where we ate our lunch. We are thrilled that we saw the National Park this way.

Here we are near the entrance to a lava tube:

Exploring lava that had wrapped around trees:

Lava and lava fields:

That evening, we drove outside the park and down to the coast, where lava has been flowing into the sea since 1984. We got there at sunset and hiked over black lava badlands to get to the viewing point. Amazingly, there are houses on these lava fields - people actually live there! Again we saw an end-to-end rainbow arching its way across the sky. And the huge steam plumes of the lava flow were visible from quite a distance away. As the sun set, you could make out the black lava shooting up in the steam and as darkness came, it was red explosions of lava. Quite a majestic and amazing sight! Later, we (and hundreds of others) hiked back over the lava fields in the dark by flashlight.

Hawaii - PCC

2009-07-22T11:54:00.015+09:00

On Tuesday, our last day in Oahu, after a morning swim and family sand castle making session at low tide, we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The PCC was highly recommended to us by many people. The advice we got was consistent across the board: you need a whole day to do it, and its pricey, but its worth it. We can say that the advice was dead-on.

Before entering the PCC, which is up closer to the North Shore area, we grabbed lunch at hole-in-the-wall restaurant called (we think) Hukelua Restaurant. Perfect spot to have our first hamburger in a long time - and it was all Hawaii'ed up with a fried egg and a slice of teriyaki beef. Yum!

And this is some guy waxing his surf board right outside the entrance to the restaurant; a real local joint.

As it turns out, the PCC is quite the institution. Consider that they have the website polynesia.com and when you type "polyn" into Google, they are the first result to pop up. It is basically a relaxed cultural amusement park devoted to the music, history, crafts, games, and culture of triangle of island known as Polynesia - Hawaii, Tonga, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji, and New Zealand. It really was a great and memorable day. There were lots of fun and hands-on activities, like fishing, learning to play the ukelele, spear throwing, drumming exhibitions, tree-scaling/cocunut cracking/fire making exhibitions, and learning to do some hip shaking dances.

All of the staff and performers had terrific warm personalities and senses of humor. Our favorite was this amazing Samoan guy with hilarious shtick in teaching how to crack and make fire from a coconut husk. (As it turned out, he was also the star of the show later that night, twirling and catching flaming spears).

Later that evening we joined in the luau and an incredible show of dancing, costumery, and acrobatic fire-twirling and actual dancing on fire. It was quite the show! (We have some amazing videos of this, but didn't yet get around to uploading them . . . )

Perhaps the most "interesting" thing about the PCC is its business model. And we only came to appreciate this after a completely weird and awkward proselytizing tour of the nearby Church of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church) that we took in between the end of the luau and the beginning of the show. (There really isn't anything else to do during this dead time, and we didn't quite realize what we were getting into as we hopped onto the shuttle, staffed by several "Sisters.") See, right next to the PCC is the Hawaii campus of BYU. (Which got us wondering why U Penn didn't have a Hawaii campus!!). Anyway, BYU basically runs and sponsors the PCC. It recruits students to come to the school from the various Polynesian islands. In order to pay for their scholarships and education, many of these students work at the PCC.

Hawaii - Dole Planation, North Shore, Pearl Harbor

2009-07-18T22:27:00.004+09:00

Sunday - Dole Plantation and the North Shore

As befits a vacation Sunday, we slept in a bit. In the late morning we drove up to the Dole Plantation, where we saw how pineapples grow, took little train ride, ate some Dole Whip Pineapple soft serve ice cream, and did the famous outdoor maze. (It took us a little over an hour to collect stencils from the eight hidden stations within. We think a respectable time.) Fun spot.

Afterwards, we explored the cute North Shore town of Hailewa. We walked along the main street, hit some art galleries, grabbed lunch at a cute little road-side shop with the menu written on a surf-board, and hit Aoki’s (next to the possibly more famous Morimotos, but it seemed darned good to us) for shave ice.

Back in Waikiki, we took runs along the canal, and then all went to beach spot in front of our hotel. Protected from the surf by a long wall, it was like a huge swimming pool. While the busy Waikiki beaches are not as nice as the other beaches we had been to, it was perfectly nice and a fun time with the kids, a Frisbee, and a large green floatie - $3 at ABC Mart! We strolled by the torch-lit beach of Waikiki at night, grabbed some dinner, and saw some street performers. The kids, in vacation mode, were up and happy until 10 PM. A totally contented and relaxed day.

Monday - Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was definitely an amazing place to visit. We visited the USS Missouri Battleship first. The Missouri has an amazing history, serving in battle arenas from WWII to the Persian Gulf (it was the first boat to launch a Tomohawk Cruise Missile in 1991). Its imposing monster 16-inch gun turrets (with a range of something like 150 miles) are a sight to see up close and personal, and the whole ship is really accessible. We also picked up some cool history from the veteran tour guides about WWII surrender ceremony in Tokyo Harbor, which took place aboard the USS Missouri. MacArthur was quite the bad-ass.

We also visited the USS Arizona Memorial, which begins with an extremely well done short movie that includes real footage of the day and time leading up to the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor bombing and the aftermath. Then a boat takes you across the harbor out to memorial, which sits over the top of the eerie sunk boat. Seeing the fallen USS Arizona directly below you and extending out hundreds of feet either way gives you a real appreciation of the size of it and the horrible explosions that destroyed this ship. (In terms of comparison to the feeling of being in Hiroshima or Nagasaki though, it is a very different feeling. Both are great tragedies of war at opposite sides. But the over-arching sadness we felt at the destruction and civilian devastation of a nuclear bomb and the Peace Parks leaves a very different impression than Pearl Harbor.)

Later that afternoon, we had planned to rent bikes and explore Oahu on bike. But the lone bike that had the child seat on it was never returned and another bike had a flat tire. So, in our lone vacation disappointment, the bike ride was not to be. Instead the kids continued making friends at the pool and at the beach. We did some more strolling along the beach at sunset and night in Waikiki, and enjoyed a really nice outdoor dinner with live hula music. Late at night, we listened to live guitar music from Tiki’s - Hotel California, Jack Johnson, Bon Jovi- off our balcony (sorry, lanai!).

Hawaii - Oahu Through July 4th

2009-07-16T05:40:00.015+09:00

Well. Thursday, July 2^nd was the day. In fact, due to the weird time difference between Japan and Hawaii, we actually had two July 2nds. The first was a sad one – it was sad to leave our good friends on Rokko Island. We hung out locally with friends, trying to soak up the time and make it last as long as possible before catching our airport bus. We were lucky enough to have a party of friends walk us to the bus and wave us off, but that also led to some tears for Jacob and Ilena.

Luckily, our Happiness Transition Plan was in full effect as we touched down in beautiful Hawaii in the morning. So...our second July 2^nd, the start of our family Hawaii vacation was a happy one. Our plan was to spend the first six nights in Oahu in Waikiki and then five nights on Hawaii Island (the Big Island) splitting between Volcanoes National Park on the East side and the Hilton Waikoloa Resort on the West side.

Coming from Japan, there were certainly some things that we immediately took notice of. First off, being back in the U.S. there were lots of BIG people. (Also of note was the shockingly inefficient filling of elevators!! What groaning as we piled into an elevator with plenty of room!) We also began to appreciate how nice it had been not understanding (and thus tuning out as background noise) many everyday conversations. There is no escaping the loud annoying public conversations anymore. But it sure is nice to again effortlessly have those short little friendly everyday conversations with random people.

On our first day we eased into it, with the kids (and us) pretty jetlagged and falling asleep on and off. We checked into the Waikiki Beach Hotel, at the quieter end of Waikiki Beach near the zoo. We watched the surfers along the beach, played some frisbee near the banyan trees next to our hotel, drove by Diamond Head (and through some nice local neighborhoods), took a swim at the pool, and walked along canal and watched the crew outrigger canoe teams practicing. Ilena had a killer Lava Flow cocktail at the Hotel Tiki Bar at lunch. It did not take long to decide that it would NOT get old living here.

That evening we had a super delicious dinner at a terrific local hole-in-the-wall called Ono’s, serving famous down-home Hawaiian food. (Kudos to our Lonely Planet guidebook for this one!) The waiter ordered for us and the meal did not disappoint. It included slow cooked meats and veggies like kalua pig (like pulled pork), lau lau (a slow cooked brisket wrapped in collared greens), chicken long rice soup (chicken soup with clear long noodles), and a coconut pudding shaped like jello squares. Yum!

Waikiki reminds us a bit of Puerta Vallarta, with its nice walking promenade lined with statues along the bay and flaming gas torches lining the road.

Friday - Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head, Ala Moana Beach Park

On Friday, the day before July 4^th, we had a terrific day. We started off with a picnic breakfast at Hanauma Bay. In a nice touch, our hotel breakfast included little to-go “Breakfast on the Beach” bags that you could pack up and take with each day. Hanauma Bay, a protected bay formed from a volcanic crater over which a coral reef developed, is a truly incredible place.

Crystal clear blue water. And snorkeling just under the surface of the water feels like being on the ocean floor, as you pass inches from the coral and can follow and chase amazing big multi-colored fish of all kinds. The snorkeling was not such a big hit with the kids, especially Jacob who decided that he was scared of eels. (No, we didn’t see any eels). But the kids had fun playing in the sand nearby while we snorkeled.

After we had our fill, we drove to Diamond Head Park, which is inside a volcano crater. Perhaps we didn’t plan this part out perfectly, since we got there at high noon (and it was hot and dusty!). We set out to see how far we could hike up the craggy trail, up through an old military fort. Lauren did respectably, getting about halfway up. Mike and Jacob made it to the top, over dusty switchbacks, steep staircases, and through tunnels, to the top, where there is a nice view of the coastline and a lighthouse.

Midway through, Jacob actually got a burst of energy and practically sprinted up and down. It might be that he was motivated by the promise of a shave ice after the hike. Indeed, the shaved ice truck at the bottom served up some excellent rainbow shave ice and smoothies, which were the perfect post-hike treat to cool us down.

That afternoon, we met up with Jacob’s friend and former classmate from Japan, Yujin, and his mom at Ala Moana Beach Park. They spend their summers in Hawaii. Nice, huh? Ala Moana is a very peaceful and beautiful bay. And it was fun for the kids to play and for the grown-ups to hang out and watch them play.

That evening, we got a short preview of fireworks at the Aloha Tower Market. Jacob was really into it! And we were really feeling how nice it was to be in the U.S. for the 4^th of July festivities.

(As far as transition notes, we had an appallingly crappy American service experience at Hooters complete with attitude by the host (In response to our question of how long we would be waiting for a table – with our 3 little kids - after they told us a few minutes, we got a snide “We’ll call you when its ready”), a looong wait for simple order, crappy food, and charging us adult prices for kids drinks because THEY were out of kids cups! So that was fun.)

Saturday – July 4th Parade in Kailua and Kailua Beach

For July 4^th (!!), we decided to go with Jacob’s friend Yujin and family to a local 4^th of July Parade in Kailua, a short drive from Waikiki.

In short, it was THE perfect small-town parade, complete with marching bands, floats with local politicians, army vehicles, and performers. There are not many things better, in our view, than a small-town parade. It was nice to get out of Waikiki and into local-ville. And it felt so nice to be celebrating Independence Day here in USA, complete with the boisterous proud loud American-ness of it. This was personified by a girl across the street from where we watched who screamed “You rock” or “You are awesome” to all the passing parade participants.

After a hit-the-spot pizza lunch, we spent the afternoon at Kailua Beach, another absolutely stunning beach. Maybe our favorite one. The best part about Kailua was that it had a canal to the ocean separated by a sand bar. The kids enjoyed body-boarding on the ocean side and more quiet play and crab hunting with other kids on the sand bar side. Locals had set up a veritable city of serious tents and grills, and 4^th of July BBQs were all around. Good times!

An afternoon Jamba Juice (oh how we missed you Jamba Juice!), spruced us up for the drive back to Waikiki. Our driving today was just gorgeous. On our way to Kailua, we drove through a rain forest, with views of volcanic craggy but green rugged mountain peaks (think LOST) and the bluest of blue water. On the way back, we drove along the coast, past beach after beach, around bare black volcanic rock mountainsides with views to the water crashing below.

It’s also been nice driving a car and listening to the radio, both of which we hadn’t done in quite some time. Perhaps we indulged too much in the hip hop dance music station. We screened our music selection a bit more carefully after Lauren called out from the back seat – with total deadpan innocence - “Daddy Mommy – can you put on the Birthday Sex Song?” Ahhh!!!

Back in Waikiki, we hit Leonard’s Bakery, home of the famous Malasada (translation: fresh hot cream-filled donutty goodness). And they were super good! At the same time we arrived there, two Japanese woman tourists, who had cabbed it there arrived. Dressed in very Japanese outfits and killer high heels, and speaking very little English. We felt such kinship!

After some downtime at the hotel, we watched the evening fireworks on Waikiki Beach. This turned out to be a perfect location - great views of the fireworks across the bay, but no loud noises. There were plenty of fire crackers and sparklers and lots of people out on the beach to enjoy the long excellent display.

Vacationing in Hawaii -- Stay Tuned!

2009-07-08T19:11:00.002+09:00

Updating the blog is not at the top of the list during our Hawaii vacation, but we had a great time in Oahu and are leaving for The Big Island tomorrow morning.

We will catch up after we are home (in the U.S.) in mid-July...In the meantime, Hang Loose, Mahalo, and all that...

Away We Go Redux - Leaving Japan

2009-06-24T16:22:00.014+09:00

Well we kicked off this blog over a year and half ago with this pithy post. It has been QUITE the journey for all of us since then.

We are now down to our last week in Japan. Ilena and the kids are running around visiting with friends and saying goodbyes. We've been keeping it local lately, as we ease to the finish. With the kids off from school, it has been days at the River Mall and day trips to Suma Rikyu Koen, Reso Water Park, the Oji Zoo, a local bowling alley and Maiko Beach.

Mike is winding down work. And over the past weeks there have been some nice going out farewell "drinking parties" with work colleagues and dinners out with good friends (though not blogged about to protect the innocent!). We have been enjoying our wind down.

But with all the upcoming mundanities (is that a word?) - closing of bank accounts, paying of final bills, movers, packers, etc., this may be our last entry made from Japan.

We suppose we are about to find out what this repatriation thing is all about. (Though we are taking it easy on ourselves by stopping over in Hawaii on the way home. You know, in order to ease the transition.)

The future of The Kasdan Family Blog remains unclear. (Thus far it knows no subject other than our Japan experience!). We are still hopeful that we will continue to update it; though probably not as often as we have while being abroad. OK - yeah - there will probably be some Hawaii posts in the near future!! At any rate, thanks for reading to those of you out there reading along! Now we just need figure out how to turn this thing into book form, so we can use it to look back at our year and a half adventure in Japan . . .

You Know You've Been In Japan Too Long When...

2009-06-17T16:39:00.014+09:00

You crave rice. With furikake.

Eating sushi rolls for lunch from the equivalent of a 7-11 convenience store doesn't seem strange or problematic in any way.

You bow ever-so-slightly when greeting people.

You find yourself constantly interjecting confirmatory gutturals like "un," "umn," "eh," or "so-so-so" into conversations.

You prefer using hashi (chopsticks) to any other eating utensil, even for western food.

You call chopsticks o-hashi.

It doesn't make you beam with pride to be able to read and understand simple katakanized English like "ハリパタ," which is "HA-RI PA-TA" (or "Harry Potter").

You tend to naturally "work the elevator" by pressing the door close and door open buttons on every floor.

Using your number 3 hitter to bunt a guy over from first base in order to get him into scoring position with less than two outs seems like good strategy. . . in the 2nd inning of a scoreless game.

(The above is all in the spirit of humor, and there must be so many more. This is just what popped into mind right now.)

Sayonaras - Reflecting on Friends

2009-06-16T23:08:00.000+09:00

With our remaining time in Japan down to about two weeks, we have been thinking a lot lately about how lucky and grateful we are for the many tight friendships we have made while in Japan. In fact, this may well have been the most unexpected part of our Japan experience.

There are few times, especially in grown-up life, when you come into a new world, have the opportunity to meet a lot of people who know nothing about you very quickly, and by virtue of personalities and the opportunity presented by the circumstances, you form very quick and very tight bonds. That social experience is one of the reasons that the college experience is so great. (Ha. Rokko Island is like the Freshman year of College, except everyone has two kids!!)

Despite our new friends being spread all 'round the world, we know we will stay in touch with people and sincerely look forward to visitors to NJ/NY!

O-Sushi Kudasai Mr. Roboto

2009-06-16T21:35:00.000+09:00

Ah, the International Food Machinery and Technology Exhibition (FOOMA?! Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) is currently going on in Tokyo.

Check out this robot, which can cook and serve okonomiyaki.

And of course, what kitchen would be complete without this sushi-making robot ? (with eerily too-life-like hand!)

Speechless . . .

The Kids

2009-06-11T18:59:00.005+09:00

With the school-year almost in the books, our time in Japan winding down, and the Sayonara books and lunches piling in, we wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on Jacob and Lauren.

This was just an incredible year of growth for both of them.

Both kids learned to read this year. Jacob (more into the Math/Science stuff it seems) made huge progress, and (although he still fights it sometimes), he can curl up with a nice chapter book in his room in the evenings. Lauren is right behind him, and brought home and completed nearly 50 little readers. She is such a diligent detail oriented little learner; we can hardly believe the things that she grasps.

Jacob (he of the most genuine accent in the family, by far) loved Japanese. We even found him teaching Lauren some Hiragana one day!

Lauren became an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated gardener and lover of nature. She loves to plant, and her classes lovingly tended garden of beans, tomatoes, radishes, and sun-flowers was a beautiful thing to behold. Fearless about animals and interested in all the little things around her that most of us don't even notice, we often find Lauren stopping to smell a flower, pick up a "roly poly" bug, or collect an interesting looking leaf. She loves to sing and has great dancing rhythm, and is absolutely calming to watch play. She is just so confident and comfortable with herself. And today, on the last day of school, she surprised us all by finally learning to ride a bike without training wheels!

Jacob, the ultimate gym rat, became a beast of a soccer player, looking forward to and talking smack about the daily First Graders vs. Second Graders recess soccer game. (According to Jacob (!?) the First Graders won this game each time by some ridiculous score. Yup he can lie to your face and (often) make you believe it, like his Uncle Dave. Like the time he told us that the winner of the First Grade Spelling Bee would get a celebratory bucket of Gatorade dumped on them!).

Both kids were blessed to have many tight friendships. And both of their classes at school were amazing - great teachers and great kids, with warm friendly and involved parents.

One of the best things about CA has been the Primary Years Program (PYP) "Learner Profile" attributes that both students have endeavored to follow day-to-day in school and in life: (i) Caring; (ii) Principled; (iii) Knowledgeable; (iv) Thinker; (v) Balanced; (vi) Communicator; (vii) Inquirer; (viii) Open-Minder; (ix) Risk-Taker; and (x) Reflective. What is incredible to us, is that these are not just words to our kids, but they actually have impacted the way that they think and act. (On more than one occasion, Jacob has tried a new thing in order to "be a risk-taker.")

We are thrilled that living abroad has made the world a bigger place for our kids. And we are so proud of our kids for the little people they are and the big people that they are becoming.

Signs Signs Everywhere the Signs...

2009-06-11T10:48:00.016+09:00

We have seen lots of hilarious signs over here in Japan. (Although the Japanese "Engrish" has become less funny to us as we have learned Hiragana and Katakana, some of these still crack us up.)

Some examples:

But this next one has got to be up there as one of our favorites. Toilets are kind of a funny thing in Japan. On the one hand, as you may know, they have some pretty fancy toilet seats over here - warm your butt, spray, and may do all sorts of other fancy things. But there is also a dark- low-tech side to the Japanese toilet experience. Namely, the squatters (or "squatty potties," as some may call them). You often find these in more rural areas. Last weekend, when we were hiking in Inari, we came across this instructional sign on proper toilet use in the bathroom.

We shudder to think what must have happened to cause them to think - "Alright, I guess we better put this sign in there"!!

Ichiro - Hawking Beer

2009-06-10T21:00:00.000+09:00

New Ichiro Suzuki Kirin Beer ads around Kobe.

Ichiro is just cool. And he pours a nice beer.

Fushimi Inari Shrine - O Torii Everywhere!

2009-06-08T18:22:00.001+09:00

On Saturday we (the Kasdan's and our friends from Tokyo, Bob and Maho) went to a terrific mountain-side shrine called Fushimi Inari. Although this is not one of the places you read about in guidebooks to Kyoto, it most definitely is one of the best shrines we have been to. It is located at the base of Mount Inari in the small town of the same name, just a couple of stops south of Kyoto Station (on the Nara Line). The best part are the great hiking trails through the mountains, with some nice look-outs.

We got the kids these bamboo walking sticks mid-way through the hike at a small shop for 200 yen. (We then walked not seven steps around the corner and there was another shop selling the walking sticks for 190 yen. Competition is fierce on Inari-san.) They actually used them as walking sticks and not weapons for most of the time. Which was good.

The shrine is unique for a couple of reasons.

The first is the foxes (kitsune). Thought to be the messengers of the Shinto God of Rice (whom the shrine is dedicated to), there are lots and lots of fox statues.

The second is the 0-torii gates. There are said to be over 10,000 of them here. (We didn't count, but it seems in the ballpark!) They line the hiking paths like a corridor, which is fun to walk through and very picturesque. So, here are our pictures from the day:

Next to the o-torii corridors, there are many little shrines adorned with foxes and 0-torii of all sizes. There are some small lakes along the way too. What is particularly amazing are the houses up on the mountain-side next to the hiking trail; it is a solid hike up there and there is no real "town" to speak of. Apparently, though, people live there. A slow peaceful life, to be sure. On the way down, we walked next to this bamboo forrest, which is always a nice treat.

Sunday at Koshien - Our Last Tiger's Game (For a While, At Least)

2009-06-07T22:30:00.012+09:00

On Sunday, our friends the Atchisons, got us all tickets to the Hanshin Tigers. (Sending out a big thank you!) So, after a leisurely Sunday morning of brunch, wandering through the Rokko Island flea market, scootering, and tossing the baseball around, the six of us (the Kasdan's plus Bob and Maho, our friends visiting from Tokyo)headed to Koshien Stadium. After a cloudy morning, the sky broke and it turned into a fine day. The kind of great baseball weather day about which Ernie Banks would have said "Lets play two."

As usual, one of the best parts of going to the Tigers games are the rabid (and loving) Tigers fans:

With time a-winding down, we are thinking this will probably be our last chance to get to Koshien before we head out. We arrived early enough at the park to see batting practice and team stretching, which was neat.

As for the game action, we actually had to leave the game a little early this time, and when we left the Tigers were trailing 3-2. (Which had Jacob apoplectic and miserable: "They are so weak! Its no fair." Yeesh). Luckily we got home in time to see the Tigers stage a 9th inning comeback, loading the bases with one out before everyone's favorite Tiger, Kanemoto, bounced a two RBI single down the first base line. Sayonara win!!!!! Kanemoto was hero of the game. We got to watch our friend Scott Atchison pitch a scoreless inning of relief in the 7th, and fellow Rokko Islander Jeff Williams picked up the win with a scoreless ninth.

Go Tigers!!!

O-o-o-o Hanshin Taigasu
Fure-fure-fure-fure

We will keep rooting from afar!

Ishiyaki Osusume in Sannomiya - Some Solid Local Advice

2009-06-07T22:29:00.011+09:00

On Saturday night, we went out in Sannomiya with our friends Bob and Maho. Although we have done a (we think) respectable job wandering through the many restaurants on Saturday nights, it is always nice to have native Japanese speakers with you. It opens up the world of the more non-descript kanji-menu only places. And, we learned, it allows you to get awesome local advice on where to eat.

We started off at a hole-in-the-wall tachi-nomi (standing-up bar) that also served appetizers and excellent kushiage, which, along with yakitori, is pretty much the perfect accompaniment to a cold beer. The place had maybe 8 spots along the counter, and aside from us, there were a couple of regulars, who had been drinking there for a while. They were friendly, and engaged in some standard Kansai vs. Tokyo banter with Bob and Maho. When we asked for a next place recommendation, he thought for a while, before recommending a place called Isshian. He tried to give us directions there, but then thought the better of it, and decided he would walk us to the place (a few blocks away) by himself. We all were pretty certain that he was going to atually join us for dinner, but he didn't. He did have some words for the waiter there when he ordered up our table, telling them to take good care of us since he had recommended the place!

Issian is an ishi-yaki (hot-stone cooking) restaurant. This was a new type of restaurant for us. Ishi-yaki is an ancient cooking method and is traditionally done with seafood, but now includes meat too. The menu included all sorts of fresh seafood, chicken, meat, and vegetables that you cook on a large hot flat volcanic rock set in the middle of the table. And the food was awesome. One of the great things about many Japanese foods is the simplicity. Its just about the fresh ingredients - in this case nice fat scallops, chicken, and fresh fish, cooked very simply and served with sauces like soy, or with salt, or with a miso or garlic paste.

Hmmm. I think we might need one of these stones for back home. We could cut a hole in our kitchen island and just plop it right in there . . . .

They also had terrific rice. Each bowl is made to order; each cooked in a stoneware bowl in a hot oven and finished by steaming in a wood-covered bowl in the table for the final two minutes (They place a sand-timer on the table for the final countdown).

So thank you, random drunk Japanese guy, for leading us (literally) to this incredible meal. We never even caught your name!

Holy Asian Horned Beetle!

2009-06-06T18:22:00.010+09:00

Yup, we cover it all here at the Kasdan Family Blog.

We live on the 9th floor and the elevator access, strangely and annoyingly, in only to the 8th and 10th floors. So we have to walk up or down. Usually, as you might expect, we walk down from the 9th floor to the 8th floor when we leave the apartment. But, lately that all changed. That was because of this guy, who settled onto the staircase between the 8th and 9th floor and didn't seem to be moving anywhere for 4-5 days.

Finally, Mike was tasked with capturing him, and, killing two birds with one stone, we put him in our (very Japanese) plastic bug catcher box and Lauren brought him to school. They are doing a unit on bugs, and got a note to bring in (non-squished) bugs to examine under the microscope. I don't think they were expecting our gigantic live asian long-horned beetle! (That's what he is.)

As a side-note, there certainly are some amazing and different bugs out here. And kids love collecting them. They sell these gigantic black beetles at Toys R Us!

(Anyway, for those of you squeemish non-bug people, sorry for including our little domestic adventure. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. . . )

Rainbow

2009-06-05T22:57:00.005+09:00

Friday was a strange weather day. Rain. Sun Showers. And then bright sunshine. On the way home on Friday, Mike was lucky enough to see a complete end-to-end rainbow. One end was visible from the Rokko Liner, where the below low-res (sorry- camera-phone only) pictures were taken, and from Rokko Island, you could see the other end, and almost all of the connecting arch. Nice way to start the weekend!

Hong Kong - Goldfish, Flower, and Bird Markets

2009-06-01T23:44:00.016+09:00

We reserved Sunday for wandering around some of the markets of Mong Kok area of Kowloon. Exploring Mong Kok felt like we were getting into the dirtier, seemier, seedier parts of Hong Kong...But in contrast to the previous night's experience at Temple Street, the markets we saw on Sunday were unusual and fun for everyone.

Goldfish Street

First, we walked down Goldfish Street, a few blocks that are lined with really over the top fish stores. Giant goldfish. Beautiful live coral. Tropical neon fish of all colors. Turtles. Crabs. So fun to explore!

Flower Market

Next, a few blocks down, we strolled down the Flower Market, a street lined with flower stores. Amazing cheap bouquets! (None of which we could buy!! If we lived in Hong Kong, we would have a giant aquarium and stunning flowers everywhere by now!). Lauren was smelling everything in sight.

Bird Market
Finally, we ended our market adventures in the best of them all, the Bird Market. Not only do they sell hundreds and hundreds of different song birds, but they also sell the (creepy crawly) bird food, the cages, and all acoutrements. Birds are chirping and flying every which way all over the place. What a neat place! (Click on the below picture for a very chirpy high speed flying video)

From Hong Kong Trip

One Last Dim Sum Meal!

For our last meal in Hong Kong, we decided we had to go back to the dim sum well. We tried Chao Inn, which was right across the street from our hotel on 10th floor overlooking Victoria Harbour. Though they didn't have the carts - you order from a picture menu and check off what you want on a paper slip - their dim sum was excellent and super-cheap. Favorites again where the har gau and egg-creme filled buns. And the noodles we ordered were also incredible. The smile says it all!

And that was Hong Kong! We came. We saw. We partied. And we ate! As Lauren said on our way to the airport; "Goodbye Hong Kong. I love your food!"

It was a stellar weekend, and we are so happy to have squeezed this trip in!

Hong Kong - The Peak, Lantau Island, TST Promenade, Temple Street Market

2009-06-01T23:28:00.029+09:00

Day Two of Our Hong Kong Trip

On Saturday, we ferried, we trammed, we cable carred, we hiked, and we partied like rock stars. Sort of. Well, it was a packed fun day!

The Peak

After a morning swim and quick breakfast, we kicked off our second day by taking the Star Ferry over to Central and then heading to the Peak Tram. The Peak Tram is a funnicular that zooms you up an insanely steep angled hill up to The Peak, a look-out area with hiking and walking paths that overlooks Victoria Bay. It was a sunny morning, and there were lots of people out walking dogs, running, and hiking around. The Peak also had some shops, including our (apparently) new favorite bookstore Dymocks, from which we again bought some English books for the kids (and some for us!).

We took a little hike out to the look-out point. It was had a relatively clear day, and the views from the top were pretty grand.

Wan Chai - Lunch and Markets

After bussing it down, we hit the neighborhood called Wan Chai for lunch. It was aninteresting neighborhood to walk around; much different from the glass-skyscrapered high-end-stores of Central. We saw this guy carving up various cuts of hanging meat, stopped to smell the (jasmine) flowers, and wandered through some back-alley street markets. We also window-shopped past some incredible wood-carved furniture stores.

Lunch was at Pizza Express, a recommended pizza joint that was super fresh and tasty. Either we haven't head real pizza in a very long time, or Pizza Express makes damned good pizza. Hard to say. But we all really enjoyed it. (We also gave Jacob and Lauren pizza for lunch in exchange for them being happy to accompany us for peking duck for dinner. Yeah, we know its not a democracy, but a little negotiation and give-and-take seems to keep things running more smoothly...)

Lantau Island - Ngong Ping 360 & Giant Buddha

After lunch we took the MTR (LOVE the MTR!) to Lantau Island, which is due west of the main Hong Kong island. Lantau is actually the biggest of the islands that make up Hong Kong land-wise, but is very sparsely populated due to the mountainous terrain. (Although we hear that there is a pretty big ex-pat community in Tung Chung, where we arrived).

From Tung Chung (fun to say, isn't it?), you can take the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Ride, a twenty-five minute cable car over rugged mountains and the water out to the Giant Buddha, which is apparently the largest outdoor seated Buddha statue around.

The cable car ride was pretty amazing. But if we were without the kids, it would have been an even more amazing experience to hike it from Tung Chung. From the cable car, we could see the path below, through the mountains and forrests, past waterfalls. It looked like a terrific hike.

Between Nara and Kamakura, we have seen our share of big Buddha statues. This Buddha (built in 1993) certainly doesn't have the history of those others, but the surroundings of this particular place really made it special. You can see the Buddha from the cable car and from almost all points in the town below. You get to climb 200+ steps to get to it.

From the top, there are mountain views and vibrant (look how perky they are!) pine trees all around. And you can peak down at the Po Lin Monastery in the valley below. And to top it off, they had excellent and refreshing rainbow ice pops at the top. (It's really the little things, huh?)

Peking Duck Dinner and Light Show on the Promenade

That evening, after making it back to TST, we enjoyed a great Chinese dinner of whole Peking Duck (meat and fat separated, served with pancakes, sauce, and cucumbers and scallions), chinese vegetables, and out-of-this-world fried-rice at Peking Garden. The kids weren't so into the duck, so between the two of us, we had plenty!

After dinner, we skedaddled down to the Promenade to catch the Symphony of Lights and the night view of the skyline across Victoria Harbor. The Symphony of Lights is a nightly 8 PM choreographed light and laser show, set to music, involving the skyscrapers across the harbor. Completely cheesy, but totally fun to watch.

Afterward, we took a quick peak at Avenue of the Stars, mainly to find the Bruce Lee statue. Which we did. Bruce Lee. What a bad-ass.

Temple Street Night Market

Although it was already getting late, we wanted to see Temple Street Night Market, which we heard was the best of the night markets of Hong Kong. We explained to Jacob and Lauren that it was Saturday night -- party night for grown-ups and that they were going to get to stay up late.

As for the night market, it was a pretty standard chaotic Asian market, similar to ones we had seen in Thailand and Bali. We've come to the conclusion that these markets are pretty over-whelming, while at the same time being under-whelming. Fun in an overload the senses kind of way. Some interesting things. Lots of crap. Goes on forever. (But, truth be told, probably a lot more fun to do without half- and whole-sleeping children!)

Lauren ended up falling asleep on Mike, who carried her (dead-weight) on the way back down Nathan Road for as long as possible before we had to jump in a cab. (Taxis, incidentally, are super-cheap in HK; you can really get anywhere you want to go for $3-5. The buses are even cheaper, require exact change, and don't seem to care how much money you put in.).

Jacob, on the other hand, took the Saturday night party theme to heart. Even as we returned to our hotel at 10:30 PM, he kept saying "But, I want to party!" When we probed as to what this meant to him, Lauren awoke out of a dead-slumber to inform us "He means eat cake." Oh. Well that makes sense. Luckily, they both settled for watching the lobby piano-bar singer for a while and then heading up to the room, where Mike and Jacob stayed up late flipping between soccer and NBA basketball replays on TV.

Hong Kong - Central, Stanley, SoHo, and Lan Kwai Fong

2009-06-01T22:40:00.061+09:00

In case you couldn't tell from the above skyline, we took a three-day weekend trip to Hong Kong last weekend. Since we are leaving Japan to head back to the US in a month, this was our last explore-outside-of-Japan traveling for us. We picked Hong Kong, because its a city we have always wanted to see and came highly recommended by a bunch of different friends. And for the food. (Oh, the dim sum!) And because its relatively close (3 hours-ish flight). And because we couldn't make it to (real) China and this is as close as we could get! And we scored really cheap airfare.

So...we arrived on Thursday night, and effortlessly took the Airport Express Train to a shuttle bus to our Hotel. The ease, speed and efficiency of this experience dazzled; yet again, we were forced to think about how badly we do these type of things in America and all those poor shlubs who come into JFK Airport and have to get from there to NYC.

We stayed at the Langham Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui ("TST," if you are cool or have a hard time saying Tsim Sha Tsui fast...its not easy!), which is on the Kowloon side (the peninsula-side) across the bay from Hong Kong Island. Our quick evening walk-about revealed us to be blocks from the Star Ferry, in the midst of super-high-end-fashion-boutique-shopping land of Gucci, Coach, Ferragamo, Mui Mui (?), and near Kowloon Park.

Couldn't be happier with the hotel in the end; great location, stellar service, and a really nice room. And . . . a really nice rooftop pool and hot tub, which we all enjoyed. (Mom always said to bring a bathing suit wherever you go, and we did!).

We feel like we really did Hong Kong justice in our three-day trip. We ate great food. We ferried, we trammed, we double-decker bused, we mid-level-escalatored, we skylined, we cable-carred, we buddha-ed, and we marketed. This post and the next couple will give the blow-by-blow.

Our First Day In Hong Kong

Striking Out Mightily At Dim Sum

We awoke quite early (thanks to the one-hour difference from Japan + 2 kids in a hotel room) to find a steady rain, which invaded our AM roof-top pool swimming experience. Hmmm. Cold. Fittingly, this dreary starting day began with a somewhat ill-advised (hilarious in retrospect) search for Dim Sum "Breakfast." This did not go smoothly. In fact, it was very un-smooth indeed.

Heck, we thought that kicking off our Hong Kong trip with a killer dim sum breakfast would be the way to go. So we got a recommendation from our concierge for a nearby place in the Silvercord Building on Canton Road. We arrived before 8 AM to beat the crowds. And the whole building was empty. Eventually, we figured out that the place (which looked good from the outside) didn't open until 11 AM. Back to the hotel. New recommendation secured. (On the way there, Jacob: "But what if this one isn't open either." Mike: "It will be. He just told us it was." Jacob: "But what if he is wrong." Mike: "Then we go back and beat the concierge with this umbrella.") Across the street to the 10th floor of One Peking, across the street from our hotel. Strolled past the Starbuck-sy coffee shop in the lobby and hit 10 on the elevator - OUT OF SERVICE. Huh? We were then informed that the 10th floor restaurants didn't open until 10 AM. Argh! We lose. With the kids getting hungry, its a breakfast of muffins and coffee at the coffee shop for us. Mike ate nothing, holding out for dim sum to be found later. (We were discovering that we definitely got up before Hong Kong did; it is more of a night town for sure! And no, we didn't do bodily harm to our the concierge. . . .)

Luckily the rain stopped, and we were able to stick to the original plan of exploring the Hong Kong side. We hopped on the Star Ferry - 4 of us for a total of less than 1 USD - which took us across Victoria Harbour to the Hong Kong side. It was cloudy and cool, and this was our first real good look at the Hong Kong skyline and the boat activity in the harbour.

When we got to the other side, we decided to walk over to City Hall, a famous dim sum place Mike had read about; and one of the last dim sum places in Hong Kong that use the carts that you can point and pick off of. And . . . of course, it wasn't yet open!!! At this point, we were actually kind of expecting that. Mike vowed that we would return at 11 AM. (But have no fear intrepid readers; our dream of dim sum would later be fulfilled. Read on!)

Central, The Mid-Levels and SoHo

We explored the Central area, watching the trams - skinny and decked out like advertising billboards - go by (Mike's favorite was the Yao Ming tram; Jacob's was the Guess Girl tram), ogling the famous skyscrapers (like the Bank of China Building and HSBC Main Building), and checking out some of the old British buildings and parks.

We then headed over to take a ride up the Central Mid-Level Escalators (the longest escalators in the world) up through SoHo to the very end. SoHo is chock full of cute little pubs, cafes, and shops. Nearby, Lan Kwai Fong, is another neat entertainment district set on a sloping set of hills, and crammed with restaurants and bars. Hong Kong is such an amazingly western city (especially coming from Japan!). English is dominant. Foreignors of all types abound.

The Quest For Dim Sum - Fulfilled At City Hall

We cabbed it from the top of the hills back to City Hall, hoping our dim sum tale would have a happy ending. When we arrived back at the restaurant a little after 11 AM, it was deserted. We were ushered to our table in the HUGE room on the 3rd floor of the City Hall Building overlooking Victoria Bay. Inside of a half-hour, every table was taken and a waiting line had formed. We were in business. We snagged baskets of vegetable dumplings, shrimp dumplings (har gau), pork buns, and other delicacies off of the carts that were wheeled next to our table. The food was stellar. Our faves included the sesame balls filled with egg custard, the mango custard pudding, and the dumplings. We had quite the meal! Worth the wait . . .

Stanley Market & Repulse Bay

Feeling happily full, we hopped on a double-decker bus, which took us to Stanley Market. It was quite the high-speed, windy, and steep ride over the mountains and past the beaches of Repulse Bay. By the way, being on the upper level of a double-decker bus on a windy road totally skews your perspective. (Funny side-note - On the bus Jacob made some Japanese tourists do a triple-take when he dropped a very hearty and unexpected "arigato" in a perfect Japanese accent in response to them picking up something he dropped. Pretty hilarious.)

Our first stop at Stanley was the market itself. There were some really nice pieces of art-work there, as well as tons of different little shops that will calligraphy your name in chinese pictorial characters. So we picked up some souvenirs.

There also seemed to be good deals on clothes and other items like backpacks and walking sticks. But browsing through the alleys of the market proved difficult when we got to the toys and chatchkis parts and Jacob's desire was unleashed. We had to move through pretty quickly.

Luckily when we popped out of the market area, we were able to rest and relax on some big sand-colored rocks overlooking the bay, where we could watch boats of all sizes scooting around. We also walked down a pubby main street that felt like it was pulled from some British harbor-town, where cafes and pubs, like the black wood-adorned Pickled Penguin, rowed the street.

We also happened upon a terrific dumming exhibition, held in honor of the famous Hong Kong Dragon Boat Races. (Unfortunately, we missed the races themselves by one day!)

Chater Garden Breaktime

When we returned from Stanley, we had some time to kill before heading to dinner, at a place recommended to us in Lan Kwai Fong. We took the opportunity to hit a great English bookstore, buy some books for the kids, and to have some downtime in Chater Garden. The kids were excited to get books, and we had some nice reading time. And also a little family jumping competition.

Lan Kwai Fong & Dinner at Beirut

As night arrived, we headed back to Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong's night-life district. All lit up and buzzing with people, it was quite a different vibe then during the day. And Jacob and Lauren were literally the only kids that we saw there at all.

We ate dinner at a quiet Lebanese place called Beirut, on the second level overlooking the streets from behind a sound-proofed balcony. The restaurant was dimly lit and peaceful; and with our 6:30 reservation (definitely early for this night-owl town), we were the only people dining there. Our foodie friend who had recommended this place to us (and to be honest our first thought was, "Why would we got out for Middle Eastern good in Hong Kong?"), did not steer us wrong. The food was stellar -- seriously great hummus, falafel, Lebanese salad, and mixed meats of lamb, beef, and chicken with warm pita and tzatziki sauce. Yum! And certainly not the kind of food you can really get in Japan. We had a wonderful family dinner there, as we told the story of our day and talked about our favorite things (one of which was this dinner!).

This is the view peering into the window of the famous Yung Kee, a famous peking duck restaurant that was near our restaurant.

On the Star Ferry ride home and from the TST Promenade back on the Kowloon side, we were able to enjoy this night-skyline view. Lauren passed out quickly, and Jacob took a night swim. And that was day one in Hong Kong.

Off to Hong Kong

2009-05-28T13:32:00.003+09:00

We are off for a weekend trip to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (AKA Hong Kong).

We are looking forward to exploring this high energy East-meets-West city, taking in the killer skyline, riding the Star Ferry, exploring the markets, and (last but certainly not least) eating the food - dim sum and roasted meats!!

Tigers Update

2009-05-26T16:52:00.003+09:00

Difficult to explain this season so far for the Hanshin Tigers.

Last year, the Tigers came out on fire and ran away and hid from the rest of the division. It seemed they had built an insurmountable lead by early in the season. Then, the Olympics. The Arai back injury. The losing streak. And somehow (sadly) it all fell apart down the stretch. They lost the division race (after which they had led by 13 games) on the last day of the season, and then were ousted in the playoffs.

Ashamed, the their skipper, Okada resigned, and a new manager, Mayumi, was hired. Other than the coaching staff, not much has changed between last season and this one. Yet, currently the Tigers are languishing in 5th Place. Hopefully, they can turn things around . . .

Shiraishi Get Away Weekend

2009-05-25T22:49:00.009+09:00

We had a truly terrific time over the weekend on Shiraishi Island with our friends. Shiraishi is truly a gem. Quiet. Rural. Incredibly slow pace. It is an island of fishing and tending to gardens. A perfect get-away from the Japan of our everyday lives. Especially with good friends. (The throw-back nature of Shiraishi Island is perfectly captured in this article. Shout out to our friends the Carrothers for digging up that article.)
I mean what more can you ask for?

A wrap-around porch with this view:
Great hiking trails. We went on two excellent hikes while we were there. Our kids led the way, while the other younger set traveled in kid-carrier backpacks.
. . . With a rewarding view of the Seto Inland Sea from the top:
Mike, Ilena, and Jacob also took the three mama-san bikes (read: old single gear grocery carrying-type bikes) that were provided by the Villa on a trip around the perimeter of the island.
A small beach (which we had entirely to ourselves) to throw around the football, frisbee, search for crabs and starfish, and play in the sand.

We also cooked up a storm - and really enjoyed our meals together through the magical idea of the kids eating in a first shift and then going off to play and then to sleep, followed by a later adult dinner shift.

The communal aspect of the living space and kitchen was great. We shared our feasts with a German couple the first night and an American couple and quiet wandering Norwegian the second night. (It was the least we could do after subjecting these poor souls to all of our early rising children!)

By night we gamed - Sequence, Jenga, and especially Euchre. (Speaking of Euchre, we have surely met more U.S. mid-westerners living in Japan than we have living in the East Coast of the U.S. So, yes, we have learned how to play Euchre.)

When our gaijin posse packed up and headed back to the Ferry, we think the population of Shiraishi took a big hit.

Jacob - Gaptoothed!

2009-05-21T20:53:00.001+09:00

Sayonara to baby tooth number two . . . Tooth fairy will be a visiting

Heading to Shiraishi Island for the Weekend

2009-05-21T11:19:00.005+09:00

Enough with this swine flu stuff already, right?! Feh. Blech. On to better things. . .

This weekend, we are getting away with two other families to Shiraishi Island , a small island on the Seto Inland Sea in Okayama Prefecture. We are all staying at one of the Okayama Prefecture's International Villa's, small "lodges" located in some of the more rural parts of the prefecture.

The six International Villas (each of a different architecture and in different surroundings) were formed in 1988, in order "to attract foreign tourists to the beauty of rural Japan" by providing affordable accommodations in the more rural areas of Okayama Prefecture. (Apparently, these were the brain-child of a former Mayor or Governor type who spent some time travelling abroad and wanted to give-back and create a hostelly type place in Japan, while at the same time increasing tourism.) The Villas (each with a handful of rooms, and a shared common-area and kitchen) have been an institution amongst gaijin as a great get-away location for 20 years. Sadly, due to recent financial struggles, only two remain open.

This will be our second time to Shiraishishima. We visited the Villa at Shiraishi last Fall and had a terrific time. We are looking forward to getting back there in the nice Spring weather. It's very small, quiet, and rural (population of 700ish?) with a nice beach and nice hiking trails.

Really looking forward to this weekend's gaijin get-away (gaijin-palooza? Well. We'll keep working on what we're gonna call it...)

H1N1 (aka Swine Flu) Flu Panic Hits Kansai

2009-05-18T15:01:00.004+09:00

Argh.

We just found out that Kobe has its first case of H1N1 flu, and it is a teenager who has not traveled outside of Japan. The local reaction has been to close all public schools in the Kobe/Osaka area. Private schools have also been asked to be closed. Jacob and Lauren's school will be closed for the week. We also hear that Kobe Matsuri, a huge parade event in Kobe to take place on Sunday, has been canceled.

It all certainly seems like a bit much (and the local press, we hear, has been in a state of panicked hysteria), but in this ultra-careful, mask-wearing, quarantining culture, it is an unsurprising measure. (How closing schools is really going to help anything is a mystery to us, since people will still be interacting, going shopping, going to work, etc.)

Certainly, with less than five reported cases in all of Japan, we are not freaking out (certainly it seems a heck of a lot "safer" being here than being in the U.S.!). And as far as we understand, this flu (at least in its current form) is actually less virulent than the normal seasonal flu. But we shall see how it all plays out. (But it certainly doesn't ease the mind nor is it fun to see read the news reports, see trains and streets desserted, and have everyone around you wearing those surgical masks, which, to a Westerner, have always seemed a bit off-putting.)

Late Sunday Update

Latest news here....Wishing we had stock in whatever company makes these surgical masks that are selling like hotcakes...We hear that the stores are crowded in anticipation of a battoning down of the hatches. (Think pre-hurricane stock-piling, but with more masks.)

Monday Update

News reports now that there are 42 confirmed cases in the Osaka/Kobe area and the freaking out escalates. Looked like about 75% (!!) of commuters were wearing masks this morning.

Tuesday Update

Latest news reports that there are around 160 cases. (Not a big surprise.) 4000 schools in the area have been closed. Our kids vacation/quarantine continues. Meanwhile, from the news back home, we hear that they are recommending not to close schools and that this flu strain is actually more mild than the normal seasonal flu. Out here, we couldn't even buy a mask if we wanted to - the stores are sold out! At least "Prime Minister Taro Aso said the government will not ban people from leaving home and asked people to respond calmly." So we won't be sentenced to stay in our homes. That's a relief...

Wednesday Update

Kids are still home from school. This epidemic has certainly taken its biggest toll on stay-at-home moms (and dads), who have had the kids home all week! Things on Rokko Island have been pretty quiet out there, and it seems that us gaijin are the only ones out there hanging out together instead of staying at home inside alone (while inviting a fair share of disdain for doing so, it seems).

Mike was given a mask by a co-worker at work to use on the train. So now he is wearing a mask on the trains too. (Not so much because we think the mask prevents anything, but out of respect for others who may disagree -- unfortunately, it seems a bit disrespectful and feels weird to be the only one on the train not in a mask). Ugh.

News reports indicate that now that the flu is within Japan, efforts to catch it at the border via scanning arriving flights from North America and quarantining will be curtailed as the focus will go towards slowing the domestic spread. (This is a big relief for us, since we have plans for a weekend trip to Hong Kong in a few weekends, and were getting worried!).

It is also reported that the pace of spread in Kansai is slowing and many who are infected are recovering. Of course, this whole scare is having an impact on education (kids home from school) and business (everyone staying home), unless, of course, you happen to be in the business of selling Purell or surgical masks.

Anyway, this blog was more fun when we weren't writing about swine flu! So we're going to stop this running post here. Hopefully things return to normal around here very soon.

Number One Tigers Fan!

2009-05-12T22:17:00.003+09:00

She even sleeps with her pink "Tiger Ears." (We walked into Lauren's room and were caught completely by surprise by this....we were cracking up!)

P.S. Note to Lauren if you should happen to see this when you are older. Sorry. We couldn't help it. You were just too darned cute not to share this one!

Saturday at Rokko San Pasture

2009-05-09T18:42:00.008+09:00

On Saturday (after mountain-biking), we spent the rest of this gorgeous day (clear, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky), with a co-worker friend of Mike's and his family up on Mount Rokko at Rokko san Pasture, a huge rolling green expanse of mountain-top land that is basically an open-air farm. With greens, white picket fences, and tons of roaming sheep the place looks like what one would imagine Ireland or Scotland to look like, but is just a short distance from downtown Kobe. (One interesting side-note - on this sunny hot day (it was in the 80s) we were the only -- I do mean only -- people there in shorts. When Mike asked his friend about this strange fact, he told us that (i) it was too early for shorts (i.e., a seasonal-calendar based fashion fauxpaux on the order of wearing white before Memorial Day!?); and (ii) many Japanese people are very concerned about sun exposure.)

Ilena and the kids had been here before, but it was Mike's first time. We picniced (using our large green o-hanami plastic tarp!), and...well...froliced about. It was definitely a nice spot to spend the day.

Back to Saturday Morning Mountain Biking - Mount Rokko

2009-05-09T18:39:00.015+09:00

For all the traveling we have done around and outside of Japan, some of the best times can just be the small local adventures. We are lucky enough to live very close to the Mount Rokko mountain range. If you follow the Sumiyoshi-gawa river up up and up into the mountains, you find a wonderful set of hiking trails from which you can hike all over the Kobe area. It is a truly beautiful area, with cedar and pine forests, mountain views, and some pretty (though man-made) waterfalls. Mike has spent some good times just exploring local Kobe neighborhoods by bike in recent weekends. Last year, he hit the hiking trails, by bike, but hasn't been since.

Now that Spring is back and the weather is beautiful, the mountain biking is again beckoning. This past Saturday (early) morning, Mike went with a group of more-serious-than-he mountain bikers, back up to Mount Rokko. (This is the same group and a similar route to last year's, but it had been quite a while!)

Saturday was a picture perfect day, and it felt terrific to be back out there. Unfortunately, I am not yet a very good mountain biker (to say the least) and do not have a very good bike (to say the least). This can be a difficult combination! Although much more practice is required, it was amazing to be out on the trails in the wooded mountains that are so close to where we live.

Tokyo Part II - Meiji Jingu, Yoyogi, Kamakura, Shiodome

2009-05-07T23:57:00.042+09:00

Sunday - Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, and Yoyogi Park

Our Sunday plans were set long ago. After being there last year on a Sunday afternoon, we knew we wanted to be in Yoyogi Park, where sports nuts, dancers, performers of all sorts, and picnickers fritter away the day. Not to mention the dancing rockabilly boys and Harajuku girls.

Unrivaled people-watching. Even though the crowds near the station on the way out were such that we basically had to crowd-surf through Harajuku and then cab it out of there, the sights made it well worth it!

Since it is right next door, and known as one of the only places in downtown Tokyo where (due to the thick forrest) you can't see or even hear the city, we decided to first check out Meiji Jingu Shrine, which neighbors the park. It is calm and cool inside the large unpainted wood torii gates.

We were lucky enough to be given pieces of mochi shaped like doves and also to catch a formal holiday musical performance (these kimono-clad women were playing harp-like instruments) in front of the main shrine on the way in . . . though there was lots of build-up (read "waiting"), and the kids (with our baseball mitts, jump-rope, and frisbee in the backpack) didn't last long.
We also caught an entertaining puppet show on the way out, which included getting a "behind-the-curtain" peak at how the puppeteers use their arms and feet to operate the puppets. All went well until the characters starting tossing out what we assume to be good-luck charms into the crowd. They were 5 yen pieces, some of which had a red and white ribbon tied through the hole in the middle, wrapped in paper. We assume these to be powerful good-luck charms, because the crowd was pretty aggressive in pursuing them as they were thrown out. It actually got to be a little too intense, so we had to skedaddle out of there!

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Yoyogi, jump-roping, throwing the baseball around (Jacob is starting to use the back-hand snag), and playing frisbee golf. There was lots of great action to watch too. But the highlight of the afternoon was our reunion with the hula-hooping lady from last year (!) Jacob was a bit rusty on the hula-hoop, but he still has that natural knack and he still got five hoops going at the same time.

Monday - Kamakura

Kamakura, the ancient (12th century) ruling seat of the Kamakura Shogunate is a terrific day trip, less than an hour of Tokyo. The history is fascinating. It has lots of well-preserved temples and shrines, including the famous Great Buddha, and is an easy walking city to explore by foot (much more so than Kyoto). It has nice little back-alley streets, lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. The local specialty is large sembei rice crackers, sold with a big piece of nori as a handle. It also has nice access to nature; Kamakura is a natural fortress, with mountains to three sides, and the bay (with a beach) on the other side. Because of the beach, it also has a bit of a sleepy beachy feel to it, which is nice.

After tanking up (read - more ice cream) along the main shopping street (Komachi-Dori), we walked to the most well known shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. This was a nice place, set against the mountains, and we caught another cool wedding ceremony (see the very serious bride and groom below), but our favorite places in Kamakura, were our next stops - The Great Buddha and Hase-Dera Temple.

Set against the mountains in the open air (it used to be housed inside before a 15th century Tsunami destroyed the building that housed it), the Great Buddha is truly an awesome site. Everyone was taking goofy pictures (like this one), so here you go!

After the Great Buddha, we enjoyed a back-alley picnic of fruit and sembei, before heading onward to Hase-Dera. There is a very cool story about the famous 10 meter 11-headed Kannon Statue that is held inside. Apparently, two were made by a monk out of a giant camphor tree in Nara. One was placed in Nara, and the other was set out to sea. Fifteen years later, it washed ashore at not far from Kamakura, and Hase-Dera Temple was constructed to honor it. Hase-Dera has terrific gardens, great views of the sea, and thousands of big, small, and medium sized jizo statues in rows (sadly, there to comfort the souls of unborn children).

After Hase-Dera, we strolled down the beach, watched the kite-flying and surfers, and dipped our feet in before winding out way back to the station and heading back to Tokyo.

Tuesday - Shiodome

We spent our last morning in Tokyo staying local in the Shiodome area. There was a local carnival of sorts going on, and the kids hit the bouncy castle and the local Anpanman Store.

There was also a pretty crazy looking giant copper clock (it has talons and all sorts of interesting little figurines on it), that did its thing. . . . And were lucky enough to catch one of those crazy choreographed, insane costumed extravaganzas that are Kids Dance Competitions. We have seen our fair share of these in Japan, and some of these kids are actually super-talented.

This was good for quite a bit of morning entertainment, before heading to catch our Shinkansen.

Tokyo Part I - Ginza, Tsukiji, Roppongi

2009-05-06T21:05:00.039+09:00

Here is our Tokyo trip in two parts.

On Friday we headed off to Tokyo for a family Golden Week trip. It was a pretty clear day, and we got a really nice view of Mount Fuji (Fuji-san) as we zipped by it on the Shinkansen.

We took a family trip to Tokyo during part of Golden Week last year too. Last year, we got to spend time with some close friends (who are away in the US right now), but we still thought it would a good time to head back. With the exception of a couple of areas (e.g., Harajuku on Sunday!!), we find Tokyo to be not-so-busy during Golden Week in the same sense as NYC in the summer - people try to get out of the city. Traveling with Mike's Aunt Joyce, we got to show her and re-experience some of our favorite spots, and we also got to explore new spots.

Friday - Ginza
We stayed at the same hotel we stayed at last year, Villa Fontaine Shiodome, in the modern glass skyscraper/raised walkway haven of Shiodome Shiosite area near Shimbashi Station. It is very centrally located, just a short walk away from Tsukji (wholesale fish market and sushi Mecca) and Ginza (Tokyo's 5th Avenue), and the wide above-the-street walkways and escalators give the kids ample room to roam.

We spent our first afternoon strolling around Ginza. Our first stop was Hakuhinkan Toy Park; this was a great stop for the kiddies. We had to tear Jacob away from the remote controlled Shinkansen and Lauren away from some of the interactive coloring toys that she attached herself to.

The other highlight was the Sony Building, which has a very cool display of the latest Sony gadgets - you can play with the cameras and stereo equipment, check out new video games and gawk at the television displays. The coolest were these amazing sounding headphones that inserted into your ears (hard to explain, but amazingly crisp sound). Strangest gadget was an as-yet-to-be-released robot/musical companion that rolls around and plays music.

We finished off our day of wandering with some great Chinese food/dim sum at a little second floor joint near Yurakucho Station. (Getting warmed up for Hong Kong!). It is our continued experience that it is damned near impossible to go out for dinner in Japan and have a bad meal.

Saturday - Tsukiji, Hamarikyu Garden, Asakasa, Ueno Park, Roppongi & Nishi Azabu

Saturday was pretty much The Perfect Day. For Mike it began early, with a trip with Joyce to Tsukiji Fish Market at 6:30 AM. This was Mike's second time there; it is an amazing frenetic place. The sheer size of it, the action of hundreds of workers zipping about, carving up fish left and right, is a sight to behold.

We did not go to Sushi Dei this time (the line was just insane), but we found another little sushi joint with a short wait, and breakfast was stellar.

After breakfast, we met up with Ilena and the kids and walked to nearby Hamarikyu Gardens, and then took the boat from there to Asakasa. This was a repeat of last year, but this is one of our favorite garden spots in Tokyo, with a serene pond and teahouse, a 300 year old black pine, all set against the glass skyscraper background of Shiodome. And the boat-ride, under thirteen bridges is a pleasant way to get up to Asakasa.

Once there, we browsed through the stall-shops that line the path to Sensoji Temple. The kids checked out the mini-Ninja costumes. This was Mike's favorite item (Astro Boy is just the coolest):

After our first (of many) Baskin Robbins lunches of the trip -- there was a special Golden Week 2 scoop special!! -- we headed to Ueno Park. (Tokyo has really great parks and gardens.) For Joyce, it was the National Museum. For us, it was people-watching, the playground, the Ueno Zoo (very playful Black Bears and Sea Lions were the highlight; unfortunately the famed Panda passed away last year), and watching kids baseball games.

In the evening, Joyce (bless her heart) volunteered to take the kids out for Pizza and to watch them so that Mike and Ilena could go out. We headed to Roppongi fully intending to have some Western-type meal, but ended up in a basement tempura joint run by an elderly hushand and wife. We sat at the wooden counter and had the place to ourselves. The husband doted over us and cooked for us. It was wonderful.

From there, we did a little pub crawl, after meeting up with a Japanese friend of ours who lives in Tokyo. The evening took us from the swanky open-air alley bar Tiptop, to a great little tachibana (standing up bar) in Nishi Azabu called Joe. We finished the evening at Ganpachi, the inspiration for the Kill Bill scene in which Uma Thurman flashes her dazzling sword-play. They also make a terrific sake mojito, not to mention our delicious post-1 AM snack of rice-bowls, topped with egg and chicken (OK, while it's not the Philadelphia cheesesteak, the midnight snack of our college years, it did hit the spot).

Back from Tokyo...

2009-05-05T23:39:00.003+09:00

We just got back from a Friday - Tuesday family trip to Tokyo (for the Golden Week holidays). We had a blast, and will catch up with a Tokyo post or two over the next couple of days.

Our First Tigers Game of the Season - A Sayanara Win

2009-05-01T00:09:00.011+09:00

We had the good fortune to get amazing tickets to tonight's Hanshin Tigers game from our friends the Williams. (Jeff is a relief pitcher with the Tigers). As many of you know, we have become quite big Tigers fans over the past one and half years, and games at Koshien are always great fun, from the high energy die-hard fans to the 7th inning jetto fusen.

This was our first Tigers game of the season, against the Yokohama Baystars. The Tigers are off to somewhat of a slow start this year, but tonight was great in many ways.

First, as usual the fans were amazing. The cheering and singing is so much fun. But this time there was more than just a lively crowd. People kept buying things for our children! A man in a Fujikawa Team Japan WBC Jersey sitting nearby bought Lauren a set of pink "Tiger Ears" and Jacob a Tigers Wristband. Two ladies sitting behind us bought the kids ice cream!

Second, Mike caught a baseball!

Third, it was an amazing come-back win. The Tigers were down 2-0, since the fifth inning. Jeff Williams and Scott Atchison, both of whom we know from the local Rokko Island community, each pitched a sharp inning of relief in the 8 and 9th to keep it close. After the Tigers made 2 quick outs in the bottom of the ninth against the Baystars closer, they then scored 3 runs to win it. Toritani tied it up when he reached on an error after hustling down the line to first. And then Kanemoto (who is to the Tigers what Paul O'Neill was to the Yankees in his day) tied it with a sayonara (walk-off) hit, and was named Hero of the Game.

Whipped up into a frenzy (chanting rashaii rashaii every time runners were in scoring position), the place finally went nuts celebrating the winning hit:

Kyoto - Nijo-jo, Philosophers Walk, Gion, and Ponto-cho

2009-04-29T23:01:00.031+09:00

On Wednesday, Mike, Ilena, and Joyce spent a terrific day in Kyoto. While we have been to Kyoto many many times, we are still finding new and interesting places and things to see to do. And on a beautiful spring day like this, it is easy to enjoy especially the quieter areas of Kyoto. This time, we also had some more freedom and time, since the kids had school (Mike was off from work), and we secured a babysitter to watch them afterward.

This day was a really special one. We explored Nijo castle, wandered through the cool mossy mountainside gardens of Ginka-Kuji, strolled down the peaceful Philosophers Walk from end-to-end, browsed the shops and people-watched in the heart of Gion as dusk settled, and then got to stay into the evening, and had a lovely dinner on the ancient lantern-lit alley streets of Ponto-cho near the Kamo River.

After arriving at Kyoto Station, we first went to Niji-Jo (Nijo Castle) in central Kyoto, a place we had not been to before. Nijo was built in the early 1600s as the Kyoto residence of Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa Shoguns. There are beautiful wooden carved reliefs over the entrance gates. The outer castle of Nijo, Ninomaru Paralce, has an exquisite array of ancient gold painted sliding tatami room doors, with scenes of cranes, and oceans, and cherry blossoms. As you walk down the hallways, the floors squeak and sound like nightengale's chirping (a special design made to alert of intruders). It was cute to see little kids put their ears to the ground to try and hear the "birds."

We wandered through the back garden, a small but classic Japanese garden, and onto the bridge leading to the inner castle, before we moved on.

We then hopped the bus over to the Eastern side of Kyoto to see Ginka-kuji , the Silver Pavilion, a 15th century zen temple. The best part are the zen sand garden (representing waves and Mount Fuji) and the mossy meandering garden built into the mountainside.

Just outside, down a hill lined with a yummy group of street food-sellers, begins the Philosopher's Walk, a peaceful path that winds along a canal. Since it was a holiday, and a gorgeous day, there were many women out strolling wearing their kimono. We stopped in some neat stores, including this amazing store that sold mobiles made of delicate orbs. There were tea-houses and artists on the street, and some amazing houses and gardens that we would have loved to call our own, and nice views of the rooftops of Eastern Kyoto. Roads off the path lead off to many different temples and shrines, some of which we briefly checked out.

Later in the afternoon, we headed to the heart of Gion, and popped into some wonderful shops, including a fabric store that sold beautiful blue handmade obi fabrics and fans. It is really a charming area. The stores and restaurants are of an old dark wood, with curtains, and lanterns, and slippered feet peaking out from within.

As we picked our way through Gion (stopping to sample the tsukemono shops and mochi confectioners), we happened upon this random shrine, adorned with paper cranes, down one of the tiny alleys.

As evening approached, we crossed the Kamo river and went exploring for a restaurant down ponto-cho. This is another fabulous, full-of-character alley. We found a cozy tatami-matted place called Mimasuya, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner of sashimi, fresh tofu, fried pumpkin, and steak.

All-in-all, a truly magical day in Kyoto.

A Worthwhile Trip Back To Himeji Castle

2009-04-27T14:37:00.014+09:00

We have only been to Himeji Castle once. It was last year, during Cherry Blossom Season for 0-hanami. (We picniced. There was a huge festival. Sakura were blooming everywhere. It was beautiful and fun, but we were also joined by thousands upon thousands of our closest Japanese revelers - meaning... it was crowded!). With rumors of long-term renovations starting soon (now, pushed back to starting this Fall), we have been wanting to go back - it is such a nice town and we wanted to get a more relaxed and closer look at the castle, which is up there as Japan's most authentic and striking classic castle. On Sunday we did.

We got off to a bit of a slow start. After all, it was Sunday morning. But that worked out perfectly. Before leaving, we popped in on a small matsuri taking place on Rokko Island (food, farmers market, and music).

On the Rokkoliner and JR train, Jacob and Lauren were in rare form, making friends with and exchanging stickers with different groups of Japanese teenage girls. Although the kawaii squeels that they elicit just by being little white blond children can sometimes (understandably) overwhelm the kids, its fun and funny when they just roll with it. This time, Jacob kept proudly repeating "Very Cute-O," after being so dubbed.

When we arrived in Himeji, the sun was breaking through the to-that-point-gloomy clouds. We happened to catch a very interesting dance routine in front of the castle, before we headed in. We saw some of the peonies garden, and stopped to say hello to the cats that seemed to live there. (Since Japanese dogs are often so small, many of these cats were scaring the dogs!)

We also made some more friends out in front of the castle, who asked us to take their somewhat kooky-posed picture in front of the castle. (We took one of them for ourselves - and for you! - too:)

The castle was completely uncrowded, and we could really take our time to tour the castle building. The kids were super-interested in the castle; it is a true battle fortress, and were running around peeking through the various look-out slits and checking out the hanging weaponry. There was also some striking art on display.

We enjoyed climbing the narrow steep staircases (more like ladders) up to the sixth floor, while carrying our shoes in white plastic bags there were handed out at the entrance.

It was a far more relaxing and extremely enjoyable trip to Himeji. We are really glad that we went back!

Umeda and Namba with Joyce

2009-04-27T14:09:00.000+09:00

The Kasdan Family Bed and Breakfast (Nihon) continues to be open for business. (We always dreamed we could have a bed and breakfast, but we pictured it in Vermont, not Japan!). Mike's Dad has left, and our final family visitor is now with us in Japan. Mike's Aunt Joyce (one of the few family members who posts comments in this very space!) arrived on Thursday night and is staying with us through early May.

Friday was an adjust-and-get-a-feel-for-Kobe day, which included (at least for Ilena and Joyce) checking out the Ikuta Shrine, wandering through Sannomiya, a yummy sushi lunch, drooling their way through the delicacies in the basement of the Sogo Department Store, and then all sharing a great family meal at our favorite yakitori place, Masaya in Ashiya. (Yes, we take all our visitors here!)

On Saturday, a dreary rainy day, we wanted to stay inside and under cover as much as possible. We figured we could do that, while exploring the two main downtown areas of Osaka, Namba and Umeda. We have explored Kobe far more than Osaka, so we were happy to spend the day in Osaka. We started in Namba and then worked our way to Umeda later in the day. We had a warming ramen lunch, did lots of people-watching (there is serious fashion on display), and browsed and souvenir shopped through the underground shopping malls (Namba City and Namba Parks) and browsed through the ceramic-ware, knives, and knick-nacks on Doguyasuji (aka "Kitchen Street").

Here we are in the ramen-ya:

Some sights of Kitchen Street. Joyce in front of a wall of knives...

The wall of plastic sushi...

And last, but certainly not least, some of that serious fashion we were talking about. (Jacob fell madly in love with this woman.)

Afterward, back in Umeda, we let the kids play some video games at Joypolis in the HEP5 building in Umeda, one of those monster high-energy hustle-bustle mega-shopping, food, and entertainment complexes. Most importantly (to Jacob), there is a Sega Joypolis in there.

Saturday night we had our babysitter to watch the kids, and hit Sannomiya and went to a great yaki-niku place called Fufutei. Mike had been there before with co-workers, or we never would have found it. It is on the 3rd floor of a building of Ikuta Road - you take the tiny elevator up - and it opens to this great huge restaurant. Highly recommended!

Ichiro Ichiban

2009-04-26T00:21:00.005+09:00

The Ichiro Suzuki ad campaign for Kirin Ichiban that is all over Osaka and Kobe these days:

Kirin is our favorite of the Japanese beers. And Ichiro is just plain cool.

Lauren's KA Concert

2009-04-25T09:40:00.002+09:00

Here is one of the songs from Lauren's class concert:

From The Odd Gadgets Department - O Hashi!

2009-04-23T10:25:00.002+09:00

This gadget that can be used to convert chopsticks (hashi) into a fork is just too ridiculous not to share. Just plain silly.

(Although we do confess to carrying around these little plastic hinges for the kids to use when eating out. (It seems, this simple device is actually patented!))

Another funny thing about this whole chopsticks thing is those occasional people who see a gaijin eating with hashi and comment in (feigned?) amazement about how "expert" we are.

Yes. We can do it too!

Bopping Around Kobe and Lauren's Ice Cream Face

2009-04-20T21:20:00.006+09:00

This weekend the weather was sunny and fabulous. Mike's Dad was in visiting, and he stayed with us. On Saturday, we took the kids (with their scooters) down through Chinatown and to Meriken Park, by the Bay in Kobe. We hung out in the park, watched some street performers (including an extremely talented monkey), and took a short cruise around the bay.

There was also a very cool kite/koi noburi display in the park.

Here are the faces of Lauren enjoying her ice cream:

Food and Fun Fair at CA

2009-04-16T13:06:00.002+09:00

So...last weekend was the 2009 Food and Fun Fair at Canadian Academy. This is a great event that celebrates the diversity of the international community here, with great food and performances.

Being an active part of the kids' school community has been one of the best experiences of our year in Japan. Ilena and a friend of her's were co-organizers of this PTA fundraiser event.

(She won't toot her own horn, so I (Mike) will: They busted their butts, and did an absolutely phenomenal job. And their hard work paid off. It ran smoothly and was lots of fun.)

The FFF kicked off with the parade of nations . . . . Lauren was a very smiley USA sign-bearer for the USA contingent.

There were food booths from the USA (hot dogs, hamburgers, candies...thanks to Costco!), Canada (featuring poutine, aka cheesy gravy fries), Korea (kimchi, BBQ meats), Taiwan (bubble tea!), Philippines (meats and sweets), India (naan, curry), Japan, China, Thailand, and Switzerland. Ah food. We love you so!

Entertainment throughout the day included two dance performances that Lauren participated in (one with her ballet class and one with her school class), and a great taiko drumming finale.

Now that it is all over, Ilena has no idea what to do with all of her (reclaimed) spare time. But she should manage OK . . .

Passover Seder

2009-04-15T21:35:00.002+09:00

Have no fear -- it isn't all Creme Eggs and Peeps out here. We remain in touch with our roots!

Although we were late, as had become our tradition with all of the Jewish holidays, we did celebrate the Passover Holiday with the one other Jewish family that we know out here. We made Matzah Meal Pancakes, Charoset, and had a great Seder on Sunday at their house.

Creme Eggs Over Peeps By A Nose

2009-04-15T21:24:00.003+09:00

In the omiyage tradition (but sans the travel), Mike brought in some Easter candy to work this week to share with co-workers. Last year, Mike introduced them to the sugary marshmallowy goodness that is Peeps. This year, it was Cadbury Creme Eggs. (Thanks Mom for sending those in the package! They satisfied a serious craving.)

Leave it to the Jewish gaijin to bring in Easter Candy during Passover. Oh well.

At any rate, the verdict - in a close call - Creme Eggs!

Sakura Season Is Over

2009-04-13T13:07:00.003+09:00

Sadly, it seems that sakura season is already over. Over the weekend, millions and millions of fragile cherry blossom petals fell from the trees and onto the ground. It's amazing how short a time it lasts. (Life is fragile. Beauty is fleeting. And all that!) Oh well. On with Spring!

Local Fun - Kids Dance Concert at RINK

2009-04-12T13:06:00.000+09:00

Catching up on the past few weekends, last weekend, while Jacob was away on his soccer overnight, we took Lauren to check out the 2009 Kids Dance Championship, which took place in the lobby of a local mall on Rokko Island. Last year, we randomly caught the end of this crazy fun event. This year, we planned on attending, knowing it would be right up Lauren's alley. And it was.

It's one part ESPN Cheerleading Competition, one part So You Think You Can Dance. It's impressive dancing, plus unintentional comedy. It's cute Japanese kids, dressed to the nines, with hair teased out, dancing to hard-core rap like Public Enemy and Black Sheep. Ah...

Jacob Returns - A Succesful Soccer Trip

2009-04-06T23:52:00.004+09:00

Jacob was all smiles after his overnight trip with his Japanese soccer club. He said he made lots of friends, and told us all about his weekend away. We're so proud of him!

As for the games, he told us that they played 8 games and, of course, they won all by monster scores. (He has a habit of, shall we say, embellishing the on-the-field action and game results. To hear him tell it, he has never lost a game or scored less than 3 goals.).

He was even thoughtful enough to bring us all back little souvenirs - a box of mochi for us, a little back-pack charm for Lauren, and a Samurai sword key-chain for himself!

If any of our readers have any great ideas for gifts that we could get his soccer coaches from the U.S., we are all ears. They are such great guys, and have been such a big part of Jacob's life out here.

Hanami at Oji Zoo

2009-04-03T22:58:00.003+09:00

On Friday evening we joined a bunch of gaijin friends to see the cherry blossoms at Oji Zoo. With Jacob on his overnight, we were a family of three.

Oji Zoo has tons of sakura (cherry blossom trees) and they are fully blooming now. During this time, they open the zoo late, backlight all the trees, and let people browse though. Quite beautiful.

We did it in style. Ilena actually bought one of those plastic tarps that are so popular around here for laying out under the trees to picnic upon for hanami. We had food and drink, and had a great time hanging out.

Last, but not least, we leave you with our favorite classic picture during hanami time. The very "Japan" picture of people taking pictures of the sakura with their camera phones (there was a lot of this going on!)

Jacob's Soccer Overnight

2009-04-02T20:42:00.007+09:00

It's very quiet around here on Friday night. Jacob is on his first ever overnight -- and its a biggie. An overnight trip to Okayama prefecture with 30 other first to fifth graders from his Japanese soccer club. Combining the first away-from-home experience with going away for two days with a group of kids who mostly don't speak English ensures quite the experience. But there is one coach who speaks excellent English and always helps Jacob out with understanding. And he does play soccer with these kids twice a week. He was VERY excited to go. As parents, we miss him and are excited for him in equal parts. And can't wait to see him when they return on Saturday night!

Spring Is In The (Cold) Air

2009-04-02T20:42:00.006+09:00

It is still a bit unseasonably cold here in Japan. However, due to some warm weather a couple weeks back, the cherry blossoms (sakura) are a-blooming and this weekend looks to be prime time hanami time. Mike saw the non-working hordes descending on Osaka Jo Park (near the Osaka Castle, which has some great cherry blossoms), armed with large picnic mats, box lunches, and plenty of drinks. Tomorrow evening, we will be heading to the Oji Zoo in Kobe, which is supposed to be another good local sakura spot, and if the weather holds up will plan on another family excursion on Sunday.

Some say hanami is just an excuse to drink. And there might be something to that. But in Japan, despite the uber-industrial concrete jungle of cities, people also do seem very in touch with nature and enjoying the outdoors. For whatever reason, we think its cool that the fleeting blossoming of these pink flowers that add a touch of beauty to the otherwise gray is so wildly celebrated.

In that other sure-fire sign of Spring, Opening Day of the baseball season begins in Japan tomorrow. Go Tigers! It will be nice to get back out to the ballpark this year...

(Aside - Japan has already had a successful start to baseball, since it ended up winning the WBC (again), first beating the U.S. team and then the Koreans in the final. We followed some of the action while on vacation. Some say it served a message to the rest of the world about the level of play in Asian baseball. Others say they were just a glorified exhibition games. Seems to us, it is somewhere in between. Japan is certainly thrilled with the result. By the way, we (of course!) rooted for the U.S., but there is something a little out of place about Jacob and Lauren cheering "ganbarre USA!").

And here's to it getting warmer.

Bali Vacation - Nusa Dua

2009-03-31T17:05:00.001+09:00

We spent the last three days of our Bali trip relaxing and resorting in Nusa Dua. Jacob busied himself with ping pong and pool basketball and some of the kids club activities. We all enjoyed the very calm white sand beach, the shaded pools, and the great flowers that were everywhere. It was terrific togetherness time.

Thursday was Nyepi. According the the information given out by the hotel, "Nyepi is a day of total silence and meditation in Bali. Hindues are expected to stay at home and abstain from turning on lights, cooking fires, working, or travelling." While life as usual goes in in the resort, you cannot leave or swim in the ocean. So we were kind of prisoners in the hotel (You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave . . .) No problem at all (except the hotel restaurants were really crowded!).

At kids club, they had some special activities where Lauren got to dress up as a Balinese dancer. (She was taught to form the "dancing hands" by one of the hotel workers). Jacob opted out. He spent the whole week in a bathing suit and that swimming shirt (which he refers to as his "topping.")

We did venture out of our resort and into the village on two of the nights, getting to enjoy some of the great local food and exceedingly cheap drinks.

On our last night, Friday night, we found ourselves in the middle of a huge village-wide celebration complete with banging clanging bell music (all Balinese music seems to have banging clanging bells), costumed dancers, and dragons. The whole town was there. And us. Its always so much fun to randomly run into local events like these.

This last shot is from back at the hotel, where we returned after the festival to kill time until our very late-at-night flight home. The hotel had its own dinner and dancing extravaganza. (We felt like we got the more authentic version down in the village!). It is a picture from behind the stage of a Balinese dancer.

And that about does it for our week in Bali. Great family trip.

Bali Vacation - Ubud

2009-03-30T17:05:00.000+09:00

On Tuesday, our check-out day from the Hard Rock, we chartered a car, with a driver and tour-guide to take us on a tour of Ubud, and then on to our hotel in Nusa Dua. (You can do this really cheaply in Bali.) We really packed it in -- this day of touring felt like two days (but in a good way).

Our guide was a very sweet local Balinese woman who, despite never having left the island of Bali, spoke excellent English. She had a very sweet way of answering our questions by gently saying "It is true." Driving around Bali gave us an appreciation of the number of temples. Each family compound has a temple, ornately carved from stone and decorated in bright yellows. Flower and incense offerings are placed pretty much everywhere.

We also saw many of the women of the town walking to temple carrying various (very large) offerings on their heads. Quite the balancing act.

And what would a drive through Asia be without the obligatory guy-on-motorbike-carrying-dead-chicken?

Ubud is known as an artist colony, and is absolutely brimming with stone carving, wood carving, silver, batik, and other art. The streets, lined with artist studios and little cafes and restaurants, were very lively. Ubud has a really interesting feel - a blend of artsy, hip, and traditional Balinese. Our first stop was at a batik artist studio, where artisans were making batik clothing, which are made by layering wax (klowong) over designs and then dyeing it.

They also had a beautiful display of batik art; we loved the uber-vibrant colors. Mike is always a sucker for the bright orange; we came really close to buying this piece.

Stop number two was at a wood-carving studio. There were a whole bunch of artisans outside, sitting in a circle working on carving and polishing the various pieces. While we browsed, Jacob and Lauren held court with the workers, and soon were put to work. They felt very comfortable there, and made fast friends.

The surrounding rice fields are lush and beautiful. One of the best sights of the day were the Tegallalang Rice Terraces. This super-green large terraced rice-field is quite the spectacle. We actually learned a lot about growing and harvesting rice and wheat from our guide. (You would think that living in Japan, we would know something about it by now!)

Here is another drive-by shot of some of the rice fields:

After the rice fields and a nearby scenic waterfall, we hit the highlight destination for the kids - the Sacred Monkey Forest. This was a really cool place. Very docile monkeys roaming all about - including onto you, if they think you have food- amazing banyan trees, and some ancient temples. Great combination.

Afterward, we hit the very crazy, crowded, multi-lingual, colorful, and overwhelming central market in Ubud. These places are fun, but a bit overwhelming if you spend too much time there!

After the market, we drove on to see a dance exhibition of three traditional Balinese dances in an outdoor stage. The first dance, Kecak, tells the famous Hindu story of Rama, Sita, and the golden deer, that includes a chanting a-capalla type male chorus.

The second dance, Sanghyang Dedari, is a "trance dance" that features two young girls who dance with their eyes closed, but in unison. The grand finale that blew us away was the Sanghyang Jaran Dance, another trance dance that involves a guy who dances barefoot on fire. This was insane:

We saw more dancing at dinner, this time Legong dance. The costumes for all of these dances were very beautiful. The movements seem very Indian-influenced.

All in all, it was quite a day. We arrived at our new hotel late in the evening, and Lauren quickly passed out on the lobby couch while we were checking in. The Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa is a beautiful resort. The lobby has reflecting pools with huge fish, stone-carved Balinese temple-architecture (backlit at night), and beautiful orchid displays. Our room has a great balcony that overlooks the pool and the beach. There was a clear starry sky. And it was pin-drop quiet. (Quite a contrast from the Hard Rock and Kuta). We went to bed excited about spending the next three days relaxing here.

Bali Vacation - Kuta

2009-03-29T16:58:00.038+09:00

Bali is one of those places we had heard terrific things about, and which really isn't so accessible from the East coast of the U.S. So we decided it would be our family get-away destination this year for Spring Break. We had a blast. The next couple of posts will be about our family vacation to Bali, Indonesia.

We chose two very different places to stay while in Bali, starting at the Hard Rock Hotel in frenetic shopping and surfing-crazed downtown Kuta, and ending the week at the relaxing Nusa Dua Hotel and Spa in secluded and luxurious Nusa Dua. (Both came recommended by friends; we couldn't decide between these two very different destinations, so we just split up our time and did both!) In between, we chartered a car for the day to check out some of the sights in the fascinating Ubud area of Bali.

Our journey started in Kuta. Very late at night. We arrived at the Hard Rock, located in front of Kuta Beach, at about 12:30 AM on Saturday night. From the sound of things, the party was just getting started. The music from the Centerstage Bar was pumping. All sorts of people (including a particularly large Australian contingent) were out milling about the streets. All the energy made us feel wide awake, so we took a little stroll around the hotel grounds and the pool before warding off Jacob's call for a second dinner and hitting the sack. We are so lucky that these kids are such great travelers! They are better than most grown-ups.

There was a disconcertingly detailed security sweep at the front gate (remnants from the bombings in Kuta in 2005) that gave us slight pause . . . . We saw that at both hotels, so it must be necessary. But other than that, we felt very safe. It was the first time we had stayed at a Hard Rock Hotel. It was a very fun family-friendly place.

We spent Sunday hanging by the pool, and then headed to the beach for a fabulous sunset. Jacob had a blast jumping waves. Serious waves at Kuta Beach. Surfing, lots of crowds, and lots of locals hawking their wares. One funny encounter was with a Balinese guy who spoke to us in accented English about whether we wanted a taxi. Lauren looked back at him and dead-panned - "We don't understand you. We only speak some Japanese!"

The vibe at Hard Rock was totally fun. Rock and Roll music plays non-stop. The pool is the largest in Kuta, and includes two perfect sized kiddie slides, as well as music that is broadcast through the water so you can hear it while swimming underwater. We got in some great restful pool time that made our three days in Kuta feel more like a week.

Here we are with the iconic Bali surfer dude. We encountered him on our way to Kuta Square, a shopping district in down-town Kuta. We had an extremely humorous encounter with a team of time-share-selling con-artists who tried to convince us that we had won a grand prize of $1000 and a free stay at a time-share, but it had to be claimed immediately at their resort 45 minutes to the south. ("Sir! I cannot believe it! Three stars. You are a winner! This is the first time for me!")

We ventured out onto the very busy streets of Kuta to go out for dinner and do some browsing. For dinner one night we hit local fave Warang Made, and discovered a delicious local vegetarian peanut-saucy specialty called Gado Gado. The spring rolls (lumpia) were also stellar. Jacob (re)discovered that timeless classic, pancakes for dinner. As for shopping, there are no prices and it is all in the haggling. We scored a new dress for Lauren, and a Barcelona soccer outfit that Jacob pretty much wore for the rest of the week. We did OK price-wise (we think), but can safely say that having a begging 7 year old by your side does not make for the best leverage in price negotiations. (Incidentally, the exchange rate is about 11,600 Indonesian Rupiah to $1, so you can blow through 100,000 RP like nobody's business.)

We spent all our evenings at the Hard Rock at the Centerstage Bar, watching live music while drinking cocktails and sharing dessert. We all loved hanging out and watching the action. Breakfasts were had overlooking the pool. We got to sample some interesting new fruits, like passion fruit and snake-skin fruit. Snake-skin fruit had the consistency of garlic, but a nice firm sweet taste.

We spent Monday at Kuta's fabulous Waterbom Water Park. Best water park we have been to, hands down. We rented a thatched little cabana hut near the kiddie area, where we could hang out in the shade. But we did not stick to the kiddie rides. They have a ton of different slides that you can ride, either on one or two person rafts, boogie slides, or on your back. There is also a great lazy river. Our very first ride was the tame-sounding "Macaroni." Lauren and Jacob went first in a two-person raft, and Mike and Ilena followed. This covered slide - fast as hell and completely in the dark - had us both sure that we would come down to find our kids scared out of their wits and in tears. They both LOVED it, especially Lauren who kept riding Macaroni all day! (One of our favorites was the Boomerang, which Mike and Ilena did together, while the kids watched. Here is someone else's video we found of it - no camera that day for us).

On our way back to the hotel, we encountered this very interesting ritual on the beach called Melasti, a beach-side purification ritual performed on the days leading up to the Hindu holiday of Nyepi. (Bali is the Hindu enclave of Indonesia - 90% of Balinese are Hindu)

Those curved bamboo poles are religious symbols called penjor. With the Nyepi holiday occuring on Thursday, the streets everywhere were lined with them.

Spring Break - Off To Bali

2009-03-20T13:51:00.003+09:00

Today was a Japanese Holiday in observance of the Spring Equinox. So Mike had the day of from work, which was really nice. The kids, on the international school calendar, still had school, so we got to enjoy this picture-perfect day outside together.

We fit in a morning run, and also spent some time hanging out at our local Rokko Island coffee shop/hangout Tully's Coffee, before seeing Dave and Heather off to Tokyo. After picking up the kids from school, we all rode our bikes headed down the Marine Park area of Rokko Island, threw the baseball around, and flew our kite. Unfortunately, Lauren's became "heart broken" when our kite flew away while she was flying it. It sailed over the water (before we could grab the last bit of string) and off past the horizon like a balloon that you let go of. We wonder how far it made it? There were much tears, but there will be other kites!

Tomorrow, we are leaving for our spring break trip to Kuta and Nusa Dua in Bali. Back with more posts after we return . . .

Lauren, Stylin'

2009-03-19T21:14:00.000+09:00

Lauren has been going with the (very trendy around here) knee-high sock look lately.

It's very Japanese school-girl.

WBC - Semi Finals

2009-03-19T17:22:00.004+09:00

Well, the WBC field has been narrowed to four semi-finalists: Team USA, Venezuela, Korea, and Japan. Japan ousted the Cubans (again) earlier today in convincing fashion to claim the final spot. Korea looks tough. Venezuela also looks tough, and beat an injury riddled USA Team to gain the higher seed. Should be an interesting conclusion . . . .

What's Cooking?

2009-03-19T12:45:00.000+09:00

One of the cooler things about living in another country is truly getting to experience its culinary delights. Sure, America is "the melting pot" and all, but being truly immersed in another culture, its foods, grocery stores, etc... has proven to be one of the the biggest pleasures for us while in Asia.

Among our friends are some very talented chefs. One of our Singaporean friends has been piquing our interest in the food of Singapore by providing us little containers of delicious dishes such as Malay Chicken Curry and Singapore Chili Rice (this includes chilis, peanuts, and cocunut rice - wow!). Since we've loved all the tastes, we decided to go a step further. Ilena has now had several "cooking lessons" with her friend and has successfully made (on her own) Malay curry and Chicken Rice.

We love the Asian flavours. We have integrated fish (the only cheaper item in grocery stores here comparison to back home), rice, soy sauce, ponzu, mirin into much of our everyday cooking. In addition to all the cooking, we have definitely adapted our tastes and are now quite used to many Asian "treats" like furikake (a rice topping that Jacob cannot get enough of), tsukemono (i.e., pickled things), rice crackers of all sorts, nori, green tea and eggs on just about everything. Ilena has also spent several sessions in local cooking classes. We posted previously about her Japanese Nabe class, where she learned such dishes as Chicken Meatball Nabe and Shabu Shabu.

Most recently, Ilena has taken up quite an interest in Thai cuisine. In two separate classes, she has been working on 8 separate Thai dishes, each more delicious than then last. We're working hard to try and find the necessary ingredients (around here the absolute best spots are some hole-in-wall shops in Motomachi, Kobe's China Town) to make the dishes and are optimistic that we'll be able to find the same ingredients back home in New Jersey (i.e. banana leaves, coconut powder, special Malaysian curry powder). Mitsuwa, or NY China Town, here we come!

Kyoto with Dave and Heather

2009-03-17T21:38:00.001+09:00

On Sunday, a truly beautiful day, we all went to Kyoto. Since you can literally spend weeks exploring Kyoto, we decided to focus this trip on a temple that we had never been to before, Kiyomizu-dera Temple in the eastern part of the city. The walk up to Kiyomizu is a steep hill, chock full of street food and little gift shops.

The grounds of Kiyomizu-dera, nestled at the base of the mountains to the east side of Kyoto, are tremendous. We were content to stroll around near the temple a bit, and check out some of the nearby buildings and the temple gate. We also happened upon a neat art exhibit housed in one of the temple buildings.

After Kiyomizu, we wandered through the Gion District for a bit, including alleys with the old-style black wood houses. We stopped down by the Kamo River for a bit of a rest, and happened upon these geishas out for a stroll.

Our final destination for the day was the Nishiki Market, known as Kyoto's Kitchen. This crowded covered alleyway spans 6-8 blocks and filled at both sides with sellers of all sorts of Japanese food products. Many have free samples, and it was quite the experience just to slowly wander and sample our way through. We also had THE BEST warm sesame covered onigiri in the world. There can be no better.

We were pretty spent after the two days of sightseeing. So, after we grabbed some dinner and rode the super-tall escalators in the ultra-modern Kyoto Station, we headed on home. A nice day in Kyoto!

(Dave and Heather's adventures continued on Monday and Tuesday, as we sent them off on their own to Hiroshima and Miyajima. They stayed over at a great ryokan on Miyajima that we had stayed on when we were there last year. Tuesday was the most beautiful day we have had this season, and Dave and Heather spent it hiking on Mount Misen on Miyajima. We think Miyajima was their favorite spot in Japan. And we can't argue with that!)

Catching Up On The Weekend - Back to Nara With Our Company

2009-03-17T21:34:00.000+09:00

On Saturday we went to the ancient capital of Nara. Nara is set in a big park, and has some of the oldest wooden temples around. The famous Todaiji temple houses a 15 meter tall Great Buddha of Nara, one of the largest Buddha statues in the world. It is also famous for its wandering deer. (The Nara mascot is a blend of Buddha and Deer. While it makes sense, its still kind of bizarre.)

It had been over a year since we had last been to Nara. And the last (and only) time we went to Nara, it was rainy and cold. And we thought it would be a good cultural/historical spot to show Dave and Heather. Of course, as morning broke it was pouring rain. (What is it with our trips to Nara and rain?!). It was still raining buckets when we got to Nara, bought umbrellas, and began a slow wet walk towards the temples. Fortunately, just as we arrived at the first temple, Kofoku-ji, the sun broke out, and blue skies (complete with puffy white clouds) emerged. Kokfuku-ji is famous for its 5-story pagoda.

We hung out with our first (but not last) deer of the day on the temple grounds.

On our way out of the temple grounds, we heard some taiko drumming, and happened upon a big parade/festival at the Government Office. It was a very cool find. People dressed in traditional outfits (although some were dressed as deer), music, and great drumming.

Afterwards, we made our way to Isuien Garden, a traditional Japanese garden near Todaiji. It was fun to wander through this extremely peaceful (even with our kids there!) place.

After the garden, we made our way on to Todaiji. Here are Dave and Heather, with Jacob and Lauren, in front of Todaiji, which houses the Big Buddha.

As we walked out near the main gates, Heather attracted a whole mess of deer (At the kids urging, she bought deer food - crackers). And these guys are pushy when they see food. To say the least. It is hugely entertaining to watch the deer take things out of peoples pockets, follow them around, and nip at their clothing looking for food. As long as its not you! (Mike learned his lesson from last time, and did not buy any of those deer crackers. Not a chance.)

On our way out, we walked by some of the scenic ponds and through more of Nara Park. Check out this deer on a sculpture down in one of the brooks:

Kimonos and Tea Ceremony

2009-03-16T21:27:00.000+09:00

On Friday, Ilena, Dave, and Heather went to a Kimono-dressing and Tea Ceremony Class (available through CHIC).

The first hour was spent getting dressed in and learning a little bit about wearing a kimono. One of the interesting tidbits they learned was that you can tell if a woman is single or married by how her obi is wrapped. A simple "backpack style" obi indicates a woman is married, while the more elaborate (and very difficult to tie) "bow or butterfly style" obi is saved for the single women, who are needing to look a little flashier when out in public. Ilena and Heather were dressed in full Kimonos with the help of a very sweet Japanese woman. (Note, Heather's obi is wrapped as a married person, and Ilena was volunteered to display the single woman's bow since every woman in the class was married). Dave sat this one out and was the designated photographer, though there are kimonos for men as well.

From what Ilena and Heather said, they gained a new appreciation for how Japanese women walk and are poised the way they are. Wearing a kimono for a few days in a row would do wonders for our posture! And the split toe socks were surprisingly comfortable. Sitting on your knees for an hour, however, proved to be excruciatingly difficult and quite painful. Guess the girls still need some practice in this department.

After donning their kimonos, the group proceeded to the tea ceremony room, a neatly constructed room located in the foreigner's building. While here, they were able to experience the Japanese Tea Ceremony. It was their first tea ceremony and it was quite remarkable. The got to enjoy traditional sweets (mochi) as well as frothy thin green tea. After enjoying the tea, they got a little lesson in the history and culture of the tea ceremony.

First, she really stressed that the ultimate purpose of tea ceremony is to put yourself into a place of complete relaxation, to free your mind of the burdens of daily life, and to breathe deeply. The tradition was started by men thousands of years ago, and while somewhat of a dying art now, is still practiced in many homes. Some women attend tea ceremony schools before marrying so that they will be able to conduct this practice in their own home. Many learn from their parents or grandparents - kimonos as well as tea ceremony accessories/tools are often handed down from generation to generation.

From how you hold the bowl that you are drinking from, to what order the guests are served, tea ceremony is a very "precise" albeit subdued and peaceful occasion.

The Japanese woman who ran the event made quite an impression. Her outlook and approach to life was just terrific. Here is her best nugget on the topic of the tea ceremony (and life):

There are four principles of knowledge about people:

1) There are things you know about yourself that everybody knows about you (name, address, your hair color).

2) There are things you know about yourself, that nobody else knows about you (personal opinions, internal beliefs).

3) There are things you don't know about yourself, that others know about you (like the sound of your footsteps); and

4) There are things that neither you nor others know about you (your future). Through quiet focus and reflection (like during tea ceremony), you can gain insight into this category of knowledge.