Week of October 24th, 2014

Friday was the schools annual International Food Fair.  My job this year was mostly in the weeks leading up to it and during set-up in the morning, so had time for my second favorite fair activity...getting pictures with mascots..

 

My favorite thing about fairs is eating all the different kinds of food and had tastes of Israeli, Italian, Argentine, Singaporean, Malaysian, and Mexican.  Most of the food booths are parent run and am always amazed there aren't mass cases of food poisoning.  I did pass on the Thai ice tea though.  Waiting in line, watched how the 10 year old kid that was putting the ice in the cups would grab the cup by the lip, then put his entire fist inside the cup and spin it around before he loaded in the ice. I told him that was kind of gross and he looked at me like I was out of my mind.     Always a fun time...had 9900 people this year, which is a thousand more than last years event, so a big success.

On Thursday, a good friend told me his mom died, and another friend lost a dear neighbor that was just like family the same day, so felt the need to reach out to my mom.  She is good, but ended up being quite jealous by the end of the call.  Her place organizes a ton of events...pizza party to watch the Giant WS game, mah jong classes, etc., and this week she tells me that she signed up through her place for a lecture series at the university across the street.  On the line-up are Walter Issacson (biographer of Steve Jobs), former Defense Secretary under Bush/Obama Robert Gates, media personalities Soledad O'Brian and Anderson Cooper, and that last night she saw the great Bill Nye.  I miss seeing her a lot, but love that she is having such rich experiences and is in good health.

The food fair took up a lot of time this week and didn't have an opportunity to write here, so will just finish off sharing Japan photos.  This week...Tokyo.  I've mentioned how awesome the subway was and that for a city of some 25 million, the place doesn't feel packed and things move great.  Amazing what a well behaved populace can do.  I shouldn't have been, but was a bit disappointed in the looks of the buildings.  Obviously, there wasn't anything older than 1945 as the place was leveled, so there wasn't that historical feeling you get from most major cities.  That said, tons of cool neighborhoods and could tell it would be a great place to live. 

This area was near our hotel and it is about 8 (very small) square blocks of these tiny bars.  Each one was about 6-8 seats and the specialty is mizuwari, which is whisky with one perfectly spherical ice cube.  Genius.

 Caught a couple songs on the street by the Japanese version of Fishbone

 We were all taken by the escalator that flattened out in the middle and had to ride it twice.  We are easily entertained

 Lots of cool little public spaces interspersed throughout town...this one was a misting playground.

 There are cool modern building...this is  an upside-down ships hull design that we snuck into for a breather.

 The Shibuya intersection is arguably the most famous spot in Tokyo...you see it in all car chase movies from Japan where the crowd parts as the cars go through..  In a busy neighborhood, is a 5-way intersection that has an all pedestrian walk signal.  The whole intersection fills with people from all directions and is mesmerizing.  There is a Starbucks on the second floor that provides a great birds-eye view

Quickie parties go on in the intersection...These girls were singing happy birthday and having cake.

 One of those towns where it is had to see the big trees in the forest.  Tokyo Tower is huge, and you should be able to see it from anywhere, but it wasn't until day 5 that we actually had an angle where we could see it.

 Stumbled across Budokan walking through a park one day.  An old Olympic venue most famous (in my mind) for being the site of the legendary Cheap Trick album 'At Budokan'

 So wanted to get inside, but one of the drawbacks to having a well behaved society is that doing spontaneous guerrilla sneak-ins of places is strictly prohibited.  The guards were mad that I even got behind the stupid metal barricade for a quick photo.

 Persuaded Betty and our niece to meet a 5AM wake-up call to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market.  It's the principle supplier of fresh fish to all of Tokyo and its environs.  Hard to describe how massive it was and how many varieties of fish they had. 

 So much Styrofoam

 One day, we took a daylong tour to see Mt. Fuji.  Had been warned that June was the rainy season and that we were risking not seeing it.  About a 3 hour drive, and we could barely tell we were in the mountains.  At one point, the guide said that it looks like we might get a quick window to see it around a bend and to get our cameras ready, and out it came...for literally 30 seconds.  I took 6 photos and 5 of them were no better than this. 

 This is the only one I got of it...after seeing iconic photos of its conical snow capped summit, Mt Fuji did not impress


As a huge baseball fan, had to arrange for a game.  We had two choices...catch the Giants at the Tokyo Dome or Swallows outside at Jingu Stadium.  Since it was rainy season, thought that if I had to buy tix in advance, there would be no rainouts inside the Dome.  Massive...75,000 capacity and understand they sellout every game, so was glad we got out tickets early 

 Has the same personality inside as the old Seattle Kingdome did, which is to say, absolutely none. 

 Crowd was totally into it...each teams fans are allowed half the outfield each, and they sing and chant while their team bats the whole game. 

 Had hoped to get some good food, and just cannot understand how no stadium in the world can get a tasty selection of food at the ballpark.  The Dome was no different...different food choices (pork cutlet with curry here), but same bland taste.

 They did get the beer right in a big way.  Beer girls with kegs on their back swarmed like bees.  No joke, if I wanted a beer, not 10 seconds would go by where a girl wasn't in our neighborhood.   And most of them were sorta cute...with flowers in their hair and such.  They (girls and flowers) were wilting and sweaty by the 7th, but their tenacity and strength were inspiring.

The next night was the outside game and it was dry.  Betty's old boss and a co-worker happened to be in town that night and they were up for it, so we decided to take in the game.  Stadium looked like it was from the 60's and was the size of a AAA stadium. 

 Far from a sellout, a lot of empty seats around home plate

 But the cheering sections in the outfield were packed and loud. 

 The Giants have a huge economic advantage as their fan base is massive and they sell out the Dome nightly.  The (they don't just suck, they) Swallow game at Jingu was way more fun.  Being outside is always better, and you could move around to get different vantage points.  We took in an inning in the cheering section and learned how they all get in unison in their songs.  This lady holds up a sign with the cheer and the crowd falls in line.  Very wild and is the way to go if you go.

 At every temple, they have these fortune stands.  For a handful of Yen, you get a fortune...we all got at least one at some point and the cool thing is that they aren't all good.  Carolyn and I got decent ones, Paul's was pretty non-committal, but Betty's was terrible.  Metaphorical lightning was likely to strike her any minute and we all gave her a wide berth for a few days so as not to get hit with collateral damage.

 We all did rub this guys head to ensure good health.

 

And of course, never miss a mascot picture.

Week of October 18th, 2014

Hey there...the last couple of weeks, have been thinking a lot about baseball.  These playoffs have been as good as any I can remember and have been engrossed daily.  In preparation for the playoffs, re-watched a couple of episodes of the Ken Burns documentary 'Baseball'.  His style is very soothing and I passed out a few times when watching them originally, so wanted to see a couple I had missed.  In the doc, the men and women that profess their love of it, like George Will, Doris Goodwin Kearns and Bob Costas, paint such beautiful and romantic pictures that almost make you want to cry. 

I love both the NFL and MLB...probably pay attention to them more than a person should.  George Carlin compared them much funnier than I ever could in his classic baseball vs football bit (if you've never seen it or haven't for a while, it is worth checking out as it is as true today as it was 40 years ago), but will share my comparative thoughts on them that I've had the last few days.  Watching football is similar to watching a great weekly show...like Breaking Bad or the Sopranos.  You look forward to it every week and while it is usually sublime, you'll get the occasional slow episode, one that is there to move the story line along.  Equally violent and beautiful, with bizarre twists and turns and paced perfectly.  The natural analogy for baseball would seem to be that it's like a daily soap opera, but is more than that.  Baseball is an everyday thing.  Most of the time, it is simple routine and can be kind of boring.  But some of the time, the drama builds and events unfold in unexpected and wonderful or sometime heartbreaking ways.  When those moments occur, there is nothing like it...the euphoria or sadness affects the mind and soul forever.  You get older and your physical skills erode but you get by more on your wits and experience,.  Then your career is over, but your stats live on forever.  Baseball is life.  I truly feel bad for anyone that says baseball is boring or they don't get it cause they are missing out on the true meaning of life. 

I read a study the other day that said that kids are done with Facebook, mainly because their parents are on it and that it's uncool.  I suppose, but also know from experience that kids are typically dumb asses and what they think is cool is typically the opposite and it's simply just being rebellious.    I like it for a lot of reasons cause I get to see what's up with friends or with things (bands, restaurants, organizations) that I follow,  I think my favorite part is when someone posts a photo, I get to create my own caption.  Usually it's something snarky or crass and I don't actually post it out of fear they will be offended, but the process is fun.  If you read this and we are friends on FB, let me know if it's OK to comment without editing and promise that you won't get mad.

I think I mentioned it was the Mid-Autumn Festival a couple of weeks back, and much like Labor Day, it marks the time it is the time of year when the seasons change.  There is the old adage that you are not to wear white after Labor Day, and while I have not heard this from anyone, the locals seem to have a similar tradition.   Ever since the Festival, many of the local food cart proprietors have changed from their faded white (Benjamin & Moore call it Taiwan white) wife beater tank tops for black ones.

Hard to see in this thumbnail, but the dude on the bottom has the twenty 6 inch strands of hair growing out of the mole on his neck.  Freaking gross.  I would have gone in for a close-up, but he started yelling something at me in Chinese, so beat a hasty retreat. 

I was invited to join the local chapter of the Beefsteak and Burgundy club the other day.  I went as a guest a couple months back and thought it was simply a bunch of guys getting together to get away from their families once a month and get loaded.  It is that, but this is a real thing and they take their outings seriously.  Starting in Adelaide, Australia in the 1950's, there are some 300 chapters of the club in many countries of the world, but inexplicably, none in the States.  In addition to your normal club officers, you have a Food Master, who researches a restaurant and helps create a menu, and the Wine Master, who pairs wines to go with the multi-course meal.  The ones I've been to so far have been exquisitely presented, had great meals and went away pleasantly buzzed.  There are fines for things you'd expect, like being late, cell phone usage, and "fun fines" that are issued by the secret policeman at the meal.  One guy got fined 200NT for saying that one of the canapés looked like his grandmother's nipple.  Looking forward to the next one and would really like to join in on a similar group when we get back to Seattle.  Check out the Beefsteak and Burgundy Club's website here and get it going fellas.

Carolyn stumbled on a math test recently and we were talking about it with some of her friends.  They asked if she received an Asian Fail.  Am embarrassed at never having heard that term before, but an Asian Fail is a B.  After explaining what it was, they all launched into quotations from this video.  Funny cause it's true.

Continuing with the Japan travelogue, this week's installment is Hiroshima.  We got up early and took the bullet train two hours south from Kyoto to spend the day in and around Hiroshima.  Got off the bullet train and took a local city train around the town to the ferry to Miyajima.

The travel guides said the Floating Temple here is in the top 3 sites in Japan.  At low tide, it is all exposed, but at high tide, it seems like it is floating.

Girls took a boat to ride through the Temple Gate

Deer were everywhere and were pretty damn cute.

One of my earliest memories in life is going to the LA Zoo with some class.  In the petting zoo, a goat thought my big name tag looked delicious and not only started eating it, but got a hold of the safety pin being used to keep it on my shirt.  This then pulled out a huge hole in my shirt.  The deer of Miyajima had a similar diet.  

While the girls were on the boat, Paul and I strolled around taking pictures of the wildlife.

Double your pleasure, double your fun Japanese style.

 

Not sure why, but the fact that the Miyajima Public Aquarium is the only aquarium with the Soto Inland Sea as its theme made us laugh.

The trains and streetcars in Hiroshima are all repurposed from other rail systems from around the world...makes for a great feel.

 

The real draw of Hiroshima for me was seeing ground zero.  Very impactful.  The grounds were all immaculate and well laid out.  Very peaceful and reverential experience.

The adjoining museum, which was also very well done, was very even handed in its description of events.  They explained the reasons why the US dropped the bomb fairly while showing the impact on the people in an emotional way.  There is a wall that has a metal plaque of the letters the mayor of Hiroshima sends to every head of state when a nuclear weapon is tested.  And there are a lot of them.  This one is to Kim Jong-un, but the last 4 were sent to Barak Obama.

After the museum, we had a couple of hours until our train was to leave back to Kyoto.  I gave the kids a choice...we could go to the ancient Imperial Palace, or to the Costco we saw next to the train station.  In a 4 - 1 vote (Betty being the lone dissenter), Costco it was.


I don't blame any of us...after three days in the temple capital of the world, I had seen enough.  The Costco looked the same as any you'd see in the states or here.  It is right next to the Hiroshima Carp's baseball stadium (Go Go Mazda Stadium), and Betty says that sales of their hot dogs on game days blows any other locations day sales out of the water.  Visiting it kinda pissed me off as their selection of foodstuffs was so much better than the Taiwan stores.  They had everything I am missing here, most of all, they carry a wide selection of interesting sausages.  The local Costco's sell only the local sausage product, which is that horrible sweet stuff.  The only "savory" kind they have are Johnsonville Brats, which is a small step up from Oscar Mayer.  In Japan, they had the sundried tomato, spicy Italian, habanero and more.   Damn Chinese.