They're here!!!

Mom and Dad arrived in one piece! They are, needless to say, quite tired but are doing pretty good. They reported that the flight wasn't very bumpy and they actually slept... some. They made it through immigration and customs with not too many issues... Mom wasn't sure how to do the finger print machine - she tried five times before it worked. Dad told her to wipe the sweat from her hands and then try... then it worked. All of their bags arrived safely, as well.

The funny part was watching mom's face as they came out of the baggage claim area - she didn't see Sydney and I until she was almost on top of us! Many hugs later we were ready to go. We were making our way out of the lobby when we were stopped by the Japanese police who asked us for our passports. Apparently it was a routine random (i.e. pick out the American in the crowd) passport check . Daddy had gone to the bathroom at this time. Mom handed them Dad's passport at first - the cop's face was priceless as he knew that passport didn't belong to my mother. Mom then proceeded to tell him that that was her husband and he was in the bathroom. I kept telling mom "less is more" as I giggled to myself. Fortunately, we made it through the check right about the time Dad walked out of the bathroom... at which time, both policeman looked at him and said, "ahhhh!" Then they pointed to his passport - clearly the mystery was solved!

We made it safely back to our aparment although it took us about twice as long to drive home because the traffic was so bad. Dad took a nap, but mom was attentive and interested in the sights. It's 9:45 PM now and after some dinner and dessert - Mom has given it up and gone to bed. Dad is still hanging in there, but his eyes are pretty tired. It's 6:45 AM their time... we'll see how this goes.

We are looking forward to a fun day tomorrow - and hoping and praying that it doesn't start at 4:00 AM!!

They're on the way!!

Very excited to report that Denny and Papa are somewhere over the Pacific now on their 13 hour flight to Tokyo! They've already gotten some special treatment... they called and said that they were met at the gate from their flight from Nashville and escorted onto the plane in Detroit. This was quite nice considering their flight was late leaving Nashville and they were pressed for time. Mom called (it was 2:00 AM here!) and said that as they boarded, they were calling "final boarding call!" Oh well, never a dull moment and they are on the way and will be here soon!

The best part is that they think that there is a car picking them up and bringing them to our house - the truth is that Sydney and I are going to pick them up in the "hoop" - that's our name for our car... it's short for "hoopty van" (that's definitely a post for another day!) and will see them once they've been officially "admitted" into the country! Can't wait to see them!!!

I will keep you posted - with pictures - as we continue with "Denny and Papa's Adventures in Tokyo!"

Mitake Valley Pictures

The Effectiveness of Sake

As you read below, I went to a sake factory today. As part of the tour, we were given an English brochure describing the process... I started reading it on the train ride home and found it to be quite humorous. I decided that the last page was worhty of an entire blog entry all by itself... so I shall now type it word for word here... and after you read it, you will see why I am now considering creating a sake closet here in our apartment!

Effectiveness of Japanese Sake

Terrific effect with 0.36 "litter" per day

If you are Sake drinker or health conscious, don't miss this out!

"Sake is the chief of all medicine" is TRUE!

• Japanese Sake Prevents cancer! Natural Killer (NK) cells are inside blood and destroy cancer cells. Japanese Sake contains over 100 kinds of micronutrients that activate the Natural Killer cells.
• Japanese Sake precents arteriosclerosis! The cause of arteriosclerosis is not bad cholesterol itself, but "oxidized and degenerated" bad cholesterol. An antioxidant that controls such oxidized and degenerated bad cholesterol is included in fermented liquor such as Japanese sake and wine.
• Japanese sake prevents dementia! The maintenance of memory and study function are conducted by "vasopressin," a neurotransmitter hormone in the cerebrum. It is presumed that malfunction of this hormone for some reasons might lead to onset of dementia. Recently, however, three kinds of protein enzyme were discovered in Japanese sake, which proved to be effective in our study or memory.
• Japanese sake prevents osteoporosis! There is no particular treatment for this disease, however, it was proved that moderate drinking of sake delays the onset of the disease and alleviates the symptom.
• Japanese sake is gentler to liver than distilled spirits! Japanese sake drinker is not prone to alcoholic liver cirrhosis. In fact, death rate due to liver cirrhosis is lower for people who live in eastern Japan, known as sake consuming region, than those who live in western Japan, known as distilled spirit consuming region. This is because Japanese sake deems to contain more than 100 kinds of nutrients.

GIVE YOUR LIVER A REST!!! People who can hold their liquor well do not always have healthy liver. To metabolize alcohol, a lot of Vitamin Bs are required. We suggest that you partake of such dishes that contain Vitamin Bs including soy beans, peanuts, liver, fish roe, egg yolk, and pork as you enjoy drinking at your own pace. Care for your liver by giving it a rest once a week or so.

Trip to Mitake Valley

Today I went on a day trip to the Mitaka River Valley. It was a nice day walking along the river, visiting an art museum, touring a temple, and enjoying a tasting at a local sake distillery. The weather was beautiful  as was the scenery - the leaves were just starting to change and it was just a blessing walking around away from the concrete and skyscrapers.

We enjoyed a nice lunch by the river - Not really sure what it was but it was served in a HOT clay pot which was still cooking the dish. Our tour guide said this was more of a Korean type of a dish. There was a raw egg on top and we were directed to stir everything in the bowl which literally was so hot, it cooked the egg! It was very tasty - the rice was a bit crunchy on the bottom which made it even better. There were also dishes of miso soup and tofu something with mushrooms - tried them, didn't like them.

Next we toured a temple which had been brought over from China - there I met a Japanese man who tried his best to speak English and commented on how we as Americans might find their religion as "odd"... not sure about all of that, but they certainly make some beautiful shrines and temples to celebrate their beliefs.

We ended our day with a tour of a sake distillery, felt almost like I was back at Jack Daniels in Lynchburg! I have only taken a few sips of sake, but all I can say is ICK - not yummy but they certainly love the stuff here! I did have a few sips of their plum wine and that was yummy! But it was very interesting to see how serious they are about this process and how much they protect the "pure" water with which they start the drink. It is one more thing that becomes almost holy... 

I will add some more pictures of the trip next...

Another Tokyo Moment...

Tonight was our first Bunko game night of the school year. I was very excited to go since I could hang out with some great gals, eat some great food (it was Mexican night!), and I really didn't have to use my brain since the object of the game it to just roll some dice! However, as with mnay things in Japan - a simple night of dice rolling just can't be so easy, right?? Let me explain...

My friends, Pattie and Kim, and I left promptly at 6:20 for the 30 minute or so train ride to the host's home. Well, the house is a bit out of the city and would require a longer train ride, but according to the directions I had we shouldn't need to change trains, we were to just continue the path of one of the local subway lines. Easy, right? We reached the last stop on the subway and thought we should just stay on the train - even though everyone else was getting off...

Next, the train conductor started moving through the train and looked at us and said "Last stop" - OK, we then realized that everyone had gotten off and switched to the other track and were preparing to literally shove themselves onto the other train. Pattie asked the conductor if that train would take us to the station we needed (insert picture of Pattie gesturing to the train and saying the stop we needed...) - the dude said yes... so off we went.

Now, I should take a minute to inform you that since it was Mexican night and we were each bringing goodies - not only were we competing for space for ourselves but we also carried with us our potluck dishes... I had a lovely Pyrex carrying case holding my refried bean dip and Pattie had a lovely earthwise recyling bag holding her large bowl of ambrosia... picture us if you will...

So, as we were shoved into the train (the nice business man that was shoving into me did say sorry several times), we hgrabbed onto the handles, and off we went - we only had two stops to go... We buzzed through stop one and quickly realized that we were on an express train (which means it only stops every three or four stations)... then we buzzed through our stop, didn't even slow down. We went on for four stops before the train stopped, and that's when we thought we'd just jump across the track and go back. At this point we weren't thinking and the doors shut and the train proceeded to continue in the wrong direction! We buzzed through a few more stops arriving at the end of the line. This time we got a bit smart - got off, went to the correct track this time and headed by in the right direction.

We finally made it to our desired stop, bean dip and ambrosia in tact, paid the hefty train tab and headed off to the host's home... we, of course, got lost along the way, but fortunately a friend came to our rescue and we were found!

Bunko commenced and we spent the evening, rolling dice and drinking a few margaritas... and laughed about our most recent adventure.

The Japanese Baseball Game

On Sept. 26th, we had the joy of attending our first baseball game in Japan. We went with our very good friends and their children - 12 of us in all. We went out to see the Chiba Marines take on the Orix Buffaloes - the train took us right past Tokyo Disney and we all decided that if the game didn't work out we'd come back there!

As with games in the U.S., there is quite a lot going on pre-game. We came upon some dancers who were performing to a type of Japanese "rap" music. They ranged in age from small children to adults - it was quite a site to behold. Every group had a "flag waver" who had this GIGANTIC flag that he constantly waved throughout the dance - thinking those guys have some awesome arm muscles after that!

After that we realized that there was a huge section where they were just giving out samples of all types - this was serious stuff - people brought extra bags just to carry out their "freebies" - of course we got in on it, but couldn't compete with the locals.

Next it was time to head into the stadium - FYI, the Chiba Marines are currently being managed by Bobby Valentine, who used to coach the Mets. His team also had Benny Agbayani playing for him. The stadium was much like others we've seen... except there was a distinct difference in the concession stand! No Fenway Franks were found here! We sat off the third base line and realized quickly that it was going to be a HOT game as we were in the direct sunlight and it was hot hot hot - add to that the fact that several women around us were dressed in wool clothes and hats and we were all pouring in sweat!

The best part about a Japanese baseball game are the songs and the keg girls... there is a section on each side of the outfield for each team's fans. As players come up to bat, they start singing a song for that individual player - for instance, when Benny Agbayani came up they sang, "Let's go, let's go, B - en - ny!" Every time he batted. They also had specific team songs that they sang during the inning changes. Then when the other team came up to bat, they were silent while the other team sang their songs - they are very organized - they even have drums and horns!

Then there are the keg girls... these are young Japanese girls who walk around with kegs strapped to their backs and come to you to pour you a fresh beer - pretty cool. They have all the different types of beer so all you have to do is wait for your favorite brand to come walking by...

It was so hot we made it to about the 7th inning before we had to leave - the little girls had the reddest cheeks and all we could think of were the full trains that we would encounter if we waited until the end of the game... certainly didn't want to try out the train pushers with the kids!

It was a fun experience and another thing we have checked off our list - certainly may try that again!

Check out my pictures of the day below...