Railway Museum

Tim went skiing. I knew William would be upset dad was going without him, so I made plans to go to the Railway Museum.We had a great view of Fuji from Tokyo.
The train enthusiasts discuss how fast we are going on this 'shuttle.' It was only one train-change to get to Omiya. Then, we got on this nice little elevated tram/shuttle to the museum.
Outside, they had the date and a train to take a picture of. The year is Heisei 21. Emperor Heisei has been such for 21 years. So, instead of 2009, we're in Heisei 21 over here in Japan!
The museum is world-class. VERY well done. The turn-table in the middle is operated twice a day. It was exciting to see, and very loud, as they blow the whistle.

Each exhibit had a little bar code for cameras to read (it's all the rage here in Japan, and easy to use... use your camera to 'scan' the barcode, and the information shows up on your screen!). We borrowed a scanner from the museum, and all you did, was at the bottom of the description in Japanese, were these small bar codes, and we'd do the one for English. There were other languages, like Chinese and Korean. Cool, huh?

The diorama was amazing, and they had video, as well. Only after the show could you go up and look at it.
We loved this very Art deco train. Most trains you could go inside, except the Royal Carriages, which you could look at through glass.
This is a stairway down, to look under the train. It was neat, as now I know how they seal up under a shinkansen, how a cog train looks like underneath, and a few others.
The first few shinkansens are in the museum. The first shapes were like 'bullets.' Ergo, 'Bullet Trains.'
Although this small ride's shinkanen is shaped more like the modern ones, it was definitely not as fast. I think we hit the incredibly high speed of 3 kph as we trundled down the track.
These are all the boys on the trip, minus Ian (3 months) on Hallie's lap. On the way back, we took a real shinkansen ride between Omiya and Tokyo. The boys loved the rides at the museum.
Even this popular ride. If you hold on to the escalator, it pulls you down a 'slide' on the side.
While we had to get tickets to ride the other specialty rides at the museum, this one was on a first-come, first served basis.
William's favorite authentic 'ride' was being able to drive the mini-train. They have these cool little tracks, and a miniature train. The controls are like the ones for real trains. Thank heavens William had plenty of experience on the Japanese train driving game. He was an ace. You had to not go over a certain speed limit. You have to be 6 to drive the train. WOO HOO!!!

Tim (wherever he was) had the good video camera with him, so I used my cell phone. Pretty chunky video, but you get the idea!

Tape Conspiracy

Okay, here's my problem: A child development specialist sent my son tape and a tape dispenser for his birthday. Okay, so it's my best friend/sister-in-law (friend before brother Arnold married her). I know Arnold would love to bug the heck out of me, since it has been my main goal in life to be the most annoying little sister since I was very small. (wink) So, I have to wonder if this isn't a secret plot against me.Oh yes, tape is very cool. It does wonderous things like become bridges, which suspend cars.
But the darned stuff is nigh impossible to get off of some of the things William has stuck it to. I swear Scotch Tape has stock in Goo-Gone.
Oh yeah, pose with it. He thinks he's so smart. But I, too, can plot. I have now banned double sided tape, as he sticks things with it to the door, floor, wherever. That stuff is just plain annoying, as you can't find an end, and try to gently coax it off with an even pull. I guess I should be glad it's not duct tape. Once the roll ran out, I scuttled the cute orange slug tape dispenser away from site (you can see it behind William in this picture).
He tried to tape the door shut. Well, the first opening broke it, so he tried taping it again. If I took a picture of this door right now, you will find remnants of the tape. It is so obnoxiously stuck on! This door is to his closet, and made of metal (hurray for the refrigerator magnets he can put on them!). This tape LOVES to adhere to metal.

Notice how it's used it to help stick Hot Wheels track together. The good news is the tape easily comes off of plastic.

Which reminds me. Mattel is evil. Hot Wheels take so many batteries to run these days. What happened to gravity and arm muscles? I think Mattel owns Duracell, and they're hooking the kids young. It's all a devious plot.

And there was more than one shooter on the grassy knoll.

Gift Sorting

We have a 6-year-old in the house, and that means an obsession when it comes to the Christmas gifts. He is totally focused with how many gifts he's getting. Apparently it doesn't matter what's inside or what it costs. It is just all about the number in the stack.

The bows have been hopelessly crushed from other gifts being put on top, over and over again.
William has refused to write Santa. So he gets to live with what Santa gives him. I think it's a 'test.' The boys from school and he have been comparing notes, and Will is now seeing if Santa has ESP. Of course he doesn't. Everyone knows that the elves are the spies who monitor the naughy/nice quotient for the kids. Santa just wants children to learn to be polite and request things.

At a recent children's Christmas party, William was so disappointed with what Santa brought him. I'm a bit miffed at Santa myself, as he chose a train (not a Shinkansen or Bullet Train, that was the rub) that has annoying sounds. Nothing normal or cute. Just annoying. What's up with that? There's some sick, twisted elf making these gifts. I swear it.
The stacks have gotten bigger, and are growing as things get wrapped. Also, noting the inequity of the piles, I've had to add some to Tim's and mine. Nothing like a little healthy competition. :)

Beatles Night

Well, if I can't have Paul (the cute one), then Tim is my favorite Mop-top. Last year we went to this really great venue called 'Beatles Night' in Tokyo. It is a cover band, the Parrots, performing Beatles songs. They are really good, and they speak with a Liverpoolian accent when they speak English. It's a hoot!

So, we went back this year. I borrowed an orange peace sign necklace from a friend (my real one is in storage) and bought me some orange hoops, and I was set to scream with the best of them!
These are all really great friends of ours. Standing, from left to right: the Strands are the funnest family, and we're blessed to have them as neighbors (and drinking buddies!). Connors are next, and our closest neighbors, as our driveway comes out in front of their house. She's my RS President (Mormon thing). Aldridges live just a few blocks over here in Mabori Kaigan. They live on the ocean-front and have a great view. Then there's the Murphy's. They live a bit further away, but Christy and I are the same age, and William loves to boss her daughter, Jaz around. Tim and I. The Church's were our sponsors and solid-rock type of friends. Kneeling are Casey and Rich. They are a fun couple who actually invited us over to their place for dinner, even though we come with William in tow! Rich likes the Ice Age movies, so William watched those. Ken and Jandi (sitting). Jandi is the one that turned us all on to this fun night. She's the cook of the neighborhood. The Rourke's are our closest neighbors. I think there's about 10 meters between our beds, if you had an imaginary straight line. But we never see them! Our house has all frosted privacy windows on the back, and so even though their house is kitty-cornered, unless I open up a window and lean out, it's like their house isn't even there.
The deal comes with buffet (and it's a spread) and entertainment. You do have to buy your own drinks.
They give you free hats, sunglasses and glow-sticks. What more can you want? A conga line? Got that! It got so bad trying to get up to the dance floor, we started heading to the back and dancing there.
I was being silly and dancing the swim and the like, and this Japanese man grabs me, and pulls me over to dance with his wife (who had been sitting down)! Luckily, Tim snapped a picture. Kind of odd, but I rolled with it! She was a really good dancer, too! The Japanese man had been dancing with his buddy. He had obviously purchased enough beverages.

LIVIN with Walmart and Healthy Diet Coke

Japanese stores close at 7. Except for LIVIN, which is on the way home from base. I would recognize Walmart brands on some of the items, but the grocery store was always a Seiyu (Japanese equivalent to Safeway/Dominicks/Fry's). But, I walked in the other day, and they had the black shelving up, and the lowest prices signs up!
I'm sure that sign says, 'falling prices' in Japanese. Or something like that.
Check-outs were like in the states, and they have the do-it-yourself check-outs here. I haven't seen these before in Japan (except on base). The line was long for the do-it-yourself novelty. They didn't have a WalMart greeter, however. And, you have to walk back through the store to get to the escalators to get to the parking. I would have designed the layout differently, but they are using an existing building where there is a parking structure on top of the store. Gotta make do!
I am a diet coke addict. I found this at the LIVIN (name of the store that is WalMart). You can get Diet Coke with Green Tea extracts in it here. You can also get it with your daily vitamins in it. Now you can get it with fiber!!! Double click and look for yourself. I had to take this picture at my doctor's office. I had to prove to my doctor that I am living healthier... :)

Contracting out the Holidays

Since we'd already bought an Anikan Skywalker jedi outfit for William's birthday, that is what he went as this Halloween. The day after we got back from China, it was October 30, and Tim and I went to see Joe Sample in Tokyo. Joe Sample is a jazz pianist. The show was excellent. Spendy, but a great venue (we saw him at the Cotton Club). So, William went to spend some time at the Strand's that night. They were carving pumpkins, and this is what William did without our help. Interesting big eye there...
Jowanzo's birthday is in November, but his mom had his party on Halloween night. That way, his Japanese friends could come on base and trick-or-treat. William, Shuto (who is great at soccer), ?, Masato and Jowanzo are pictured.

It was strange dropping him off, as we've always done Halloween with him, and he was off on his own.

They did a very traditional Japanese thing for Jowanzo's birthday. They went to an onsen and all soaked in hot water together. I imagine it was really late before they got to bed. But, I thought it was interesting: They all had to wear diapers. Usually, he doesn't when he stays at Jowanzo's. But, one of the kids obviously has an overnight incontinence issue, so to be fair, they all wore them! That is so Japanese to make everyone be equal.
I caught up to them for a brief moment at the commissary parking lot. They were having a blast, and I was having a little sting of not being a part of William's experiences here!
Thanksgiving was at the Strands. They put all the kids out-doors. William was late, as he had to go to school that day (Japanese Labor/Thanksgiving was on Monday). Liesl, Kaile, William, Charla, and Erin had a blast.

It was strange being the 'orphans.' We invited ourselves over. Our oven is a mini-oven, and not big enough for a turkey. Maybe a turkey breast. Strands have a place for an oven from base (base provides) and therefore were able to make a huge turkey! And, the stuffing was home-made and very good. All we had to do was bring pie, wine, cranberry salad (chopped fresh cranberries, mini marshmallows, cool whip, walnuts and grapes), and a relish tray.

For those who care. I made the Libby's classic pumpkin pie, and Paula Deen's Food Network pumpkin pie with cream cheese. Paula Deen's won hands-down. The pecan pie was good, as well. Burp.
This was the last picture taken before the food fight. OMG. These girls went at it. It was a total mess. And William didn't even holler when a fairly large chunk of turkey breast smacked him in the face! It was kinda funny to see the look on his face. Shoulda seen the candied yams stuck in the girl's hair, and the debris on the grass. I guess it will always be a memorable Thanksgiving for William.

Without football, we watched a Sumo competition. They're getting towards the end of the tournament, so it was interesting. William got to play his favorite game, 'Mille Bornes' (the Strands own this card game). Then, we went home. The past 2 holidays passed without much of an effort on our part. Kinda strange.

I missed my family terribly. They all got together at my sisters. My sister has new grandbabies to hold, and the pumpkin pie smack-down would have been fun to participate in... It is times like these that I ache for my family and friends. We are grateful we have good friends here.

Mikan Picking Field Trip

On the way to the next prefecture (or state) over, we stopped at a highway rest stop. Any crossings from the bus to the rest rooms were flagged by staff. On field trips, the kids are to wear similar outfits. Sure is easier to spot them!
I have to laugh... the eastern style toilets are remaining empty, as the people wait for the 2 western style ones. They usually have the icon on the outside at public restrooms to show which type it is. The floor ones I use if it is an absolute necessity. I notice that in newer places, like the airport, they have all western with one token eastern style. It did interest me that the Japanese will wait for a western style toilet.
This was the sign for the place we went. They even have a website, if you double click on the pic and look closer. The farmer studied agriculture at university in California and was able to speak reasonable English with me.

We walked past some dogs. Looked like they were breeding dogs, too. Puppies and kittens run $800.00 and up here in Japan. It is probably far more lucrative than mikan producing!
The buses couldn't go down the steep switch-backs, so we got to walk down. Japanese students have to hold hands with a buddy.
This is William's best friend, Jowanzo. Jowanzo is going to move away in December. We are not looking forward to this, as it is going to break William's heart.
The trees were laden. This place had a great view of Sagami Bay.
Right before the grove, they made the kids line up by class. This is William's class, Lily (they are all flower names). Sensei Taniguchi is holding the sign, and you see Jowanzo's mom, Mayumi in the pink at the back.
The Japanese ladies wondered why I was taking a picture. This is a grave marker in the grove.
The little offerings were mikan. Appropriate!
The mikan were fairly sour, and it was hard to find a sweet, ripe tree. I showed everyone the trick I'd learned from American citrus farmers. Look for the tree that the animals are going to. That will be the sweetest tree. And it was!
William picking his own mikan. He loved to pick, but didn't want to eat. It was the rule that you could only pick what you would eat. And, like American farmers, they wanted excess in a bin, to control the pests from eating fallen fruit.
Traditional picnic under the mikan trees. William and I had sandwiches, but I was amazed at how amazing some of the food the Japanese brought. They spend a lot of time preparing their food!
William posing for mom. This is rare, he usually won't.
The boys found some old stumps, rolled them over and tormented the bugs they found.
These boys insisted on showing me all the grubs, and tried to gross me out. I grew up on a farm, laddies. NOT going to happen!
Then, it was time for exercise! They brought the big player all the way down to blare the music from. The kids had to do their little exercise routine. I thought that they had gotten enough running around just coming down the kilometer of steep hillside switch-backs!
Oh goodie, we're done! On the bus, there was singing. I didn't videotape the funniest one. There's one song they sing, and also play on melodians (blow through a keyboard). When they got to the part where in the melodian version there's a little musical ditty, they SANG the musical ditty! It was unexpected and cute and made everyone laugh.