You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2009.
(not my photo (YET!) i stole it from here: monkeys! where credit wasn’t listed where I could find it)
There are three things that happen at most weddings: 1) well wishes 2) the question “how soon can I start planning on having grandchildren” and 3) Advice on everything.
Our wedding was no exception to this very rule and we were quite happy to share the day and thoughts of those we love but one specific piece of advice stands out beyond all others.
“Never look a monkey in the eye.”
For the life of me, I can’t recall how this topic came up with my Marine Biologist uncle but it did and that was his advice to us on our wedding day and we haven’t stopped laughing about it yet. Oddly enough though, it’s probably some of the most useful advice we’ve gotten.
Through trips to Thailand, Cambodia and even some Temples around Tokyo, we’ve come into contact with a few different types of Monkeys and have managed to survive without being nibbled on yet. You see, looking a monkey in the eye is a sign of aggression and will likely end poorly for your extremities.
Why am I sharing this random tidbit?
Well, because in a few weeks time we’re headed to the “Monkey Onsen” to the north of Nagano. It’s a snowy area up in the mountains where the snow monkeys hangout in the local hot springs all day doing things such as eating fleas, soaking and entertaining tourists by simply toasting themselves.
It’s my understanding that during the summer months this motley crew hangs out father up in the national park in which their little sauna exits but once they start getting cold they head to the hot tub. They’ve also been known to help themselves to the hot springs used by people.
Needless to say, I can’t wait!
While it’s fairly obvious to all that T and I have a pretty good sense of adventure, it seems that we’re running a little low on domestic ideas as of late.
With trips to Kathmandu (Nepal) and Lhasa (Tibet via train from Beijing) on the books we’re up and running on our new adventure plans for the year.
So what’s the problem? We’re low on ideas for things to do around Japan and want to make sure we make the most of it while we’re here.
What we’ve learned after our two (already?!!? finally!?!) years here is that quick get aways are key to having a great time and balancing the work with some play. This has been managed by quick, two or three day weekend trips to places like Kyoto, Hiroshima, Hakkone, Hong Kong, Seoul and on and on. Unfortunately, 2009 is a bad year for three day weekends in Japan and we prefer to use precious vacation days on longer escapes.
Thus, we need some good day or weekend trip ideas.
Here’s what we’ve done thus far:
Kyoto (twice)
Hiroshima/Miyajima
Nikko
Izu (scuba diving! hopefully will go again this summer)
Yuzawa (skiing! will go again!)
Kamakura
Tokyo and vicinity.
We have Okinawa, Nara and Hokkaido on the radar as well, what I’m hoping to find are other, perhaps less known options.
Any suggestions? Places to go? Things to do?
We are up for pretty much anything.
My Japan guidebook is starting to fail me. My usual haunts (tripadvisor.com, Japan guide, etc) also get a fail. Help!
If you are outside of Japan, feel free to offer other travel ideas – we’re always game.
Welcome to the year of the Ox!
The internet tells me the traditional greetings are as follows.
Cantonese:
Gung Hay Fat Choy! (may prosperity be with you)
Mandarin:
Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year)
The above could be something completely wrong but the good people of the internet would NEVER lie.
In our ongoing attempt to pretend we’re adults and save money for a permanent home in a location my mother would prefer was A LOT closer to Seattle, we’ve decided to try and find cheaper ways of entertaining ourselves between trips.
(By “cheaper” I really mean free)
This past weekend we decided that we’d troll around our own neigborhood in search of the 47 Ronin. While we knew it was nearby, like many things in Tokyo, it’s exact address was a bit of a mystery to us. You see, in Tokyo street names don’t exist and addresses do not follow logically as the postal service and the local governments had a spat years ago and decided to mess with each other.
But I digress.
With a gremlin on a leash and camera in hand we set off to see a few temples and find the final resting place of the 47 Ronin. Now, before you get on me about a dog in a rather holy place, you’ll note one of us waits outside the grounds with him while the other goes in…then we switch. We may be a bit slow but we do try to be as respectful as possible.
Along the way we came across a few other interesting sites.
We did eventually find our way though and found Sengakuji.
I’m not sure that it will ever cease to amaze me what you can find in the middle of the sprawling city that surrounds us. This temple in particular is in a very urban area and is just down the road a bit from on of the largest train stations in the area yet it remains a rather tranquil space for visitors to pay their respects.
Sometimes it’s amazing what you can find in your own backyard.
Shortly before we left for Sydney last year I signed myself up to a program known as Doppler. As a frequent traveler it seemed to be a pretty good source for travel (not that I would ever cheat on my true travel love – tripadvisor.com but really, the more sources the merrier) and offered to notify anyone who might be interested of my whereabouts (read: no one.)
Little did I know that they would be providing me a travel annual report.
Now my husband and I frequently refer to each other as nerds in love but even he was concerned with my gleeful squeal at the arrival of my little report. Not only did it summarize our year in travel but it provided us statistics! We traveled 69,999 miles last year!
Oh the nerds of it all.
Regardless, this little report has spurred me into action. It is mid-January after all. By this time last year I was all booked for Kyoto and Seoul and yet as of today I haven’t a single plane ticket to show for myself. Of course, this is a serious situation for me to be in after all and it must be remedied immediately.
Now. Before you think ill of me for the fact I start to twitch when I check my email and can’t find a single plane reservation understand that this is part of the expat way.
You go crazy unless you leave every 6-8 weeks.
I’m not even kidding. It’s something I’ve actually discussed with the small group of expats we work with and we’re all in agreement. Getting out of Tokyo every once in a while is a must.
Why?
It might be the 60 hour work weeks. Perhaps it’s the hours in meetings spent not having a clue about what’s being said around you. Maybe it’s just the fact that Tokyo is generally very overwhelming. It could also be the fact that there’s an opportunity to see much of Asia (which is generally very inexpensive to travel) on long weekends and holidays. Regardless of what it is, travel presents a perspective which is easily lost in the craziness that we live in.
And thus, I book trains (Beijing – Tibet), Planes (Kathmandu!) and automobiles (um..china?) to keep us sane.
The goal: Break Last Years’s record (which technically doesn’t include Vietnam, Seoul, Kyoto or Hiroshima).
No not that new era. That one is pretty cool though and we spent much of the morning watching the speeches, parades and fashion evaluations. I would have liked to have stayed up to watch it live but alas, the Gods have decided to gift me a cold and it just didn’t happen.
Regardless, we’ve come to a new era in casa des holmespun.
Enter the Era of “Gizmo, No!”
I know it really quite shocking but it’s time as he’s become a little piece of work. Actually, he’s been a piece of work from day one when he refused to sleep in the little bed I made him and instead demanded to sleep under the covers. That should have been my first clue that I was dealing with a small, furry Napoleon. Alas, I’m blond so it’s taken me four years to figure this out.
Now, you’ll note that Gizmo knows basic commands like “sit” “get down” and “Just let me eat my half without the guilt! You’ll get yours” but as of late he’s taken to the darling habit of verbalizing his demands. It’s important to mention that most of his one sided conversations have been occurring at 3am.
Perhaps it’s also important to mention that this is the dog that knows how to get out of his crate (he’s mastered zippers), how to get into a refrigerator and requires us to put baby locks on all cabinets containing food. Yes, it’s a mandatory as he began helping himself to whatever he’d like out of the fridge in NYC and would then munch the afternoon away on the couch. Try getting cottage cheese and tofu out of a couch fabric.
So in all reality we’re not dealing with a normal dog. We’re dealing with a two year old child that just happens to inhabit a dog’s body.
While he’s always listened to me, the addition of T to the household was not a smooth one. The battles over who got to sit next to me were endless and no, one on each side never seemed to work for either T or Gremlin (I’m dealing with a jealous bunch). Thus as T and I plan on expanding our family this year with a new addition (another dog. sorry mom.) it’s time for the little price to enter charm school bootcamp.
Gone are the days of warbling for hours. The days of trying to sit in Mommy’s lap while she eats and the days of leisure. Ok, maybe the days of leisure continue but the manners lessons are actually starting to help a bit.
I guess we shall see but as we’re starting to visit animal shelters for potential siblings he needs to be on his top behavior. Hopefully we’ll find him the sibling he’s never really wanted but will grow to love soon.
I feel like I should have something patriotic and profound to say.
I don’t.
Hell, I don’t even have a picture of the real statue of liberty to share. Thus, I provide you with the knockoff stationed in Odaiba, Tokyo.
Sadly, we’re thousands of miles away from the festivities in D.C. but are watching as much as possible (Thanks NBC for not blocking overseas URLs!) as it seems like forever since people have been this excited about anything in the U.S. Obama cakes! concerts! t-shirts! Dare I say people seem to actually be having fun?
Obama – saving the world one cupcake at a time!
No, seriously, I think I may have seen more news coverage of the Obama baked good mania then I have of his economic or 100 day plan. Be it the 500lbs cheesecake or the Obama cookies, you’d think the man was about to be the new Pillsbury mascot and not the new leader of the free world. You’ll note that this wouldn’t bother me if I could actually get my hands on a good cupcake.
Sadly, the baked goods of Japan are lacking (see: red beans as a substitute for real chocolate because “it’s too sweet!” – don’t even get me started) and I am not going to make an entire batch of cupcakes for the two of us to eat alone.
Regardless, watching the baking frenzy overseas warms the cockles of my cold little heart as it signals a change of attitude overseas. Gone are the countdown clocks announcing the end of the Bush reign and in are the cupcakes! There hasn’t even been mentioned of what all of these baked goods could be laced with. Nary a mention of food poisoning or arsenic laced icing! Seriously, I haven’t read a single media report on how dangerous cupcakes can be. I haven’t yet seen a single story on how a single buttery cupcake could conceivable be the end of one’s waste line.
Has everyone gone soft? We’ve gone from using foil and plastic wrap to secure windows from nuclear fallout to using them to securing our presidential cupcakes in a single election period.
Perhaps the fear mongering of the last 8 years is really over?
Perhaps the US will return to a stronger version of its former self? No longer afraid of everything and everyone? Perhaps we can finally be a touch more accepting and less frightened of our both literal and figurative neighbors? Perhaps the fear that has driven so many of the last 8 years for the US will be replaced by Hope?
Perhaps.
Perhaps it’s too early to judge though. The bar has been set astronomically high for Obama as he takes office. Not only is he expected to fix the economy, the Iraq war and a list 100 miles long of other things but if this takes more than week there’s a strong potential for people to turn on him and start demanding the change that was promised.
Thus as I depart this eve I ask for two things: 1) Be patient people. The change the US needs isn’t going to happen overnight. 2) Pass the cupcakes.
So I’ve recently been getting my ass kicked by old people.
Now, I know pilates is not a competition and is supposed to be all about inner peace, growth and all that but STILL. It’s not as if I sit on the couch and eat bonbons all day. Actually, I tend to try and take pretty good care of myself (and yes, it is possible to get fat in Japan. See: Beer and Fried meat. Lucky for me I don’t drink and I’m a veggie). But still I find myself being schooled by a group of women older than my grandmother.
I joined the pilates class at the gym nearby with the intention of improving upon my stretching skills and instead have found myself dumbfounded as a woman three times my age is able to bend herself neatly into a pretzel without so much as a single bead of sweat.
It’s actually pretty impressive.
Further humbling is the fact that there are only two of us in the class that don’t speak Japanese and thus we know that if the instructor is speaking english it means we are doing something wrong. Not that she and I need any additional attention draw to ourselves as we pull the average age in the class down from 75 to about 60 (lot’s o’old people).
But how did these old ladies get so bendy? Not only that but they seem to take the classes both before AND after our pilates class. I’m probably coiled up in bed before they even think about leaving the gym. Seriously, I’ve watched them from the treadmill in the step classes they take just before our pilates class. These women have moves.
They kick, they punch, they could seriously beat me up.
Needless to say, there’s not much knitting going on with this group. Each week we spend almost an hour doing our stretches and working out. I try and follow along as they bend, they flex, they stand on their heads without the slightest bit of challenge as I tip over should I even consider exhaling.
Clearly, I’m wildly jealous.
Oh well, off to my weekly dose of humble pie.
When asked to define life in Japan most will choose words like “Efficient” or “Orderly” and while I’m inclined to agree with such descriptors, every once in a while something happens to change this perspective.
It’s not unusual to see women walking alone down our street at 3am (no, not the ladies of the red light district) and this, much like one’s ability to drop $50 on the sidewalk and return to find it in the same place 30 minutes later are what makes Tokyo a very safe place to live.
For the most part.
What surprised me most about moving here was to discover that when there is crime, it’s often very very gruesome or an act of random violence. That said, it’s normally domestic violence (read: teenagers gone haywire) or extremely public with an incredible number of overlooked warnings.
Yes, warnings. Last year, prior to driving a van into a crowd of people, a man posted cryptic warnings of where and when he was planning on hurting people. He evidently did so on various social networking sites and personal interest sites. It’s been suggested to me that this system of warning people prior to a random attack is fairly common here. Call me naive, but who would think to look on something like myspace for a warning that someone is going to do something awful?
Needless to say, it’s all very disturbing.
Thus, you can imagine our horror when we received a notice from our office building last week that a threat was discovered at a nearby train stop giving a date and location for a “stabbing incident”. That date and location were this weekend and the message itself was a warning. The message was taken as credible enough that all who work in the building were advised to not work on Saturday. Now, while I understand most people reading this would question who would actually work on a Saturday, remember – This is Japan. Working on Saturday is very common and overworking in general (see: 60 hour work weeks as a standard) is commonplace.
Hell, there’s a word for death by work (過労死, karōshi).
While I had no intentions of working this past weekend, the idea of the threat itself was very disturbing (obviously) in that someone was actually planning on attacking people and warned of it. Although I’m not criminally inclined, I had always been under the impression that most violent acts (terrorism aside) weren’t very well planned out or at least weren’t planned out with a date and location in mind to stab people?
Regardless, nothing seemed to have come of the threat (perhaps thanks to the enormous amounts of security?) it still lingers in my mind as a side of life one doesn’t normally see.
Up next: A happier note
well, we’re back!
After a foot and a half of snow, hours spent running to Olympia for paperwork and a lot of christmas cookies, Gremlin, T and I are back in Japan. We had a great trip and a wonderful time reflecting upon our adventures in 2008.
Having spent much of 2008 wandering the globe, we’re left to wonder what 2009 will bring. More travel? A move? A lottery win that allows us to retire and spend the rest of our days living out of suitcases and traveling? Ok, so perhaps the lottery win isn’t all that realistic but the first two are most definitely on the radar.
(This is the part where our families toss the “BABIES?!?!?” question out. My response: NO! NO BABIES! If Gremlin gets a sibling this year it will have four feet, a tail and derive infinite joy from barking at nothing.)
Ahem.
So yes, travel! A few years back I set a goal for myself that I would continue to see three new countries a year for the foreseeable future and I’m already all over this task for 2009. Thus far I have the following on slate for this year:
Shanghai: March
Tibet/Nepal: April/May
Indonesia or Malaysia: July
Weekend getaways to Taiwan, Hokkaido and Okinawa are also under discussion for the first half of this year. Beyond that, I’m hesitant to plan out the entire year as something larger looms in our future.
When we moved here a little over two years ago we knew we’d spend at least two years here but at most three. While this could always change, it is time for us to start thinking about where we may head next.
This is the part where my superstitious husband starts spitting and throwing salt over his shoulder. You’ll note we got married on the 13th of the month though so his superstitions are perhaps a bit selective.
Following our September trip last year I would have told you that London would be our next stop. Unfortunately, the collapse of the global economy is throwing this into question and making it less and less likely as time passes.
That said, no, we won’t likely return stateside either. While it’s not something I can clearly explain and I know it saddens our families a bit, but it’s just not the right time for us to return nor do we see a permanent return to the US anywhere in our future as there is much to see in the world. The easiest explanation is that we could never go back to two weeks of holiday a year…but clearly the issue is far more complicated than that.
So, in my grand tradition of pondering things, I now get to start pondering the best place for us to go next. Do we stay in Asia where the economy will be slower to respond to the issues in the west? Do we go Europe in hopes that by 2010 a slow recovery begins to stabilize the markets?
Or do I admit that I really am going to decide based on the amount of holidays offered and the geographic desirability in terms of my travel goals? Could I be so shallow?
Yes, yes I could.
Sadly, choosing a place to live based solely on vacation isn’t the most responsible thing to do. Thus, I think I’m just going to have to compromise and see what the economic indicators are in combination with my insatiable wanderlust.
Or do we just stay put and continue to eat eel forever?
More to come on this…
