January '08

My friend Ayako's birthday is Jan 5, so we had a joint birthday party on Jan 12, a week after hers and a week before mine. It also happened to be a long weekend, so many of our friends were out of town, but we ended up having a group of 14 or so gather for dinner at a French restaurant and then for some drinks and cigars. We rented out the whole restaurant and played bingo, complete with prizes everywhere from lunch-for-two to a giant bag of snack food. We both kind of felt sick, too, from the cold. Just a unfortunate time of the year to have a birthday, I guess. But still, we had fun. I gave web cams to my parents and sister for Christmas so that we can keep in touch by seeing each other more often. On my birthday, I got to chat with my sister and her husband, Grant, and my Dad, who's stranded in Wyoming for one month on a business trip, and my Mom and bunch of other family, who were all having a surprise birthday party at my parents' house for my aunt Jann's 50th birthday. Whew. Meg bought me a new digital camera that is smaller than my current one so I can take it skiing and around the town a little easier. When my parents got me my last camera, I remember that 1GB of memory was about $200. Amazingly, now you can get 1GB for about $40 and 2GB for $50. The largest size I've seen is 32GB for $400. That is 9 times the size of the memory I had on my desktop computer in college. So I've been playing with my new camera a bunch, as you can see by clicking the one above.

Hakuba Christmas

This weekend I went skiboarding (some skiing, some snowboarding) with Meg and some friends in the Hakuba area of Nagano, Japan, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. The snow wasn't very good the first couple days, really hard and wet, and the second day it got reeeally hot outside, I was sweating like crazy, it was so bizarre (global warming). But the last day we finally got some fresh snow and to make it even more fun, you could get a free lift pass if you dressed up like Santa. So Ayako, Vince, and I dressed up like Santa and Andy dressed up in a full reindeer outfit complete with a little well-placed tail. Even though the snow wasn't amazing each day, we still had a good time and, as always, enjoyed the onsen at the end of each day. We got back into Tokyo last night and today I'm spending Christmas with Meg who is running around like crazy trying to cook a special meal.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

*<|:)

T Day in Tokyo

For an American, not being at home in the US for Thanksgiving is pretty depressing. Nonetheless, this year a bunch of my friends got together, both American and non-American, for a pot-luck style meal to celebrate Thanksgiving. I even got to teach some of my friends the story of Thanksgiving. Twelve of us gathered at my friend Vince's place, who was in charge of the turkey, gravy, and dressing. I prepared the mashed potatoes (with hidden bits of jalapeno) and Meg's made my Mom's pecan pie and some tasty guacamole. I also took a raspberry chipotle sauce that my Mom gave me when I was home in July and everyone commented how good it was, for most of them it was a completely new taste and smell. I didn't have to work too hard for that one! :) My friend Vince's oven has a built-in rotisserie which he used to prepare the turkey, it came out really good and everyone gobbled it up. Sebastien and Kaori made an amazing tiramisu dessert. Haruko and Florent brought some various appetizers and awesome green beans. Jeff and Emi brought some tasty lasagna and persimmon. Ayako brought a mind-blowing cheesecake. Andy brought some snazzy mulled wine. And Rob supplied some saucy cranberry sauce. We totally stuffed ourselves and everyone started falling asleep, it was the closest to being home without being home.

I won't be home for Christmas either, I've already blown all of my vacation days for the year and I have to be in Tokyo for support because my manager will be home in Australia. Well, I have one day vacation left, but it's not enough to combine into any trip to the US. Really bummed about that, but there's not much I can do. Luckily some of my friends will be staying around for Christmas, too, and of course Meg will be here so I can hang out with her and her family and then get in some skiing and snowboarding. I bought skis for the first time and my friend Andy gave me his old snowboard so I'm totally going to rip it up.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Seattle

Congratulations, John and Sarah

The last weekend of August I flew to Seattle on a four-day weekend trip for my friend John's wedding, who married the wondermous Miss Sarah Lyons. I hadn't seen either of them or John's brother, Jenks, in a long time, so it was great to catch up. I've known John since 2nd grade, but I can't even remember now when we met exactly, it was through common friends or something. We became good buds though when we had the same class in 4th grade. That same year, John and I even had the same girlfriend once...at the same time. We were so advanced beyond our years.

Thursday I got into Seattle, took an hour nap, the groomsmen went to try on our tuxes, and then we went kayaking! The wedding party all stayed together at an old ornate mansion known as the Shuey House, which dates from 1914. It was great meeting all of John's and Sarah's other friends and family. John, I think you married into a nice strong family! And definitely a tall one.

We spent Friday at Sarah's grandmother's beautiful home on Lake Washington and then had the rehearsal dinner on the top floor of an old skyscraper in downtown Seattle. Saturday was the wedding and then the after-party at Sarah's grandmother's house. I didn't take many photos, relying more on the professional ones, but you can click the photo above to see the ones I did take. Also Sarah's cousin, Colin, took some good photos you can find here.

Linsey's Wedding

In July, I went back to the US for my sister's wedding. I spent a week in Colorado hanging out with my friend Jake, attended the wedding, and then spent a week in Texas. It was a great time and great to see so many of my family and friends. I hadn't been back to the US during the summertime for two years. My girlfriend, Megumi, joined as well. Neither one of us were ready to head back to Japan.

Viet Nam

War, motorbikes, fresh seafood, and sparkling beaches.

Meg and I made an adventurous trek to Vietnam this past week. We visited Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Mui Ne, a beach town four hours away. On the day we left, she asked me if I needed a visa for Vietnam and I said no I didn't think so. Then I began wondering, uh oh, I don't know, do I? After searching online and then calling my British friend at work who has been to Vietnam, it turned out that yes, I did. I freaked out, internally. Of course it was my responsibility, but having discussed Vietnam with many people who had been there, I wondered why nobody mentioned that I needed a visa. I've been to Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea! No visa required. Vietnam, required. Luckily, the lady who does my mother's nails in Houston is Vietnamese and had previously put me in touch with her brother-in-law, Tue, who grew up in Austin but now lives in Ho Chi Minh. Normally, obtaining a visa for Vietnam takes 5-7 business days and costs $30. I called Tue, he contacted his travel agent, and somehow was able to secure me a visa upon arrival. After arriving to Ho Chi Minh, I went through customs and told them I should have a visa upon arrival, but the lady at customs said she saw nothing and to go to another office on the other end of the room, where there were a few scary looking guys with machine guns. As I walked to the other office, Meg saw a guy holding up a sign with my first, middle, and last name. He had my visa and it was $60. No problem. Sweeeeet.

We stayed at the Continental Hotel, which was recommended by a friend. My friend stayed in the top suite so it must have been nicer, our room was just ok. The hotel is an old French colonial building and kind of run down. The bathroom was the main disappointment, the water pressure in the shower was more along the lines of a light drizzle. We checked out some other rooms and hotels but in the end we decided to stay because the price wasn't so bad and we'd be there for only a few days. One major winning point was the coffee at breakfast.

Ho Chi Minh is a crazed ant colony of a city with scooters and motorbikes dashing around everywhere you turn. Just crossing the street is an adventure. And honking your horn just seems like something you do while driving, like pressing on the accelerator or on the brake. Ho Chi Minh sounds mostly like, "beep beep beep, meep meep, beep beep beep, hey mister you need ride? meep meep meep". There is rarely a break in traffic, you just need to pick the largest gap in the traffic and make your way. I was surprised we didn't see any traffic accidents while we were there. Tue later told me that he sees multiple accidents per week. One of the first things I noticed was that so many people spoke English, at least in Ho Chi Minh. And even more so than in Japan. There wasn't as much French spoken as I had expected. I learned the Vietnamese word for "thank you" but never had to use it. The food was excellent, if you enjoy fresh seafood and spicy soups and sauces, which both us do, so we had a field day. You can get a plate of huge crusted grouper starting around $5, depending on where you are and where you go. The prices are even less expensive once you get outside the city.

The first day, Meg intended to shop for a dress. You can just bring a picture of any dress from a magazine or whatever and take it to the multitude of tailoring shops and they'll make it for you in 1-2 days starting at a whopping $30. There are a ton of tailoring shops on Dong Khoi street, which was right next to our hotel. She picked out her favorite place, discussed the design with the ladies in the store, and picked out the color and fabric. By 3pm the next day, it was done. Meg's mother is somewhat of a clothing designer herself so she was able to tell that they did a really good job down to the details.

The second day we visited the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. The Reunification Palace, or Independence Palace, once was the headquarters for the South Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. Of course, in Vietnam they refer to it as the American War. We took a tour of the palace rooms and the underground bunker. Now it's mostly a museum, but the government still uses the building for official engagements as well. The War Remnants Museum was interesting. It used to be called something like the Museum of Chinese and American Imperialist War Crimes Against Vietnamese People, no kidding, but they decided to change the name to not offend any tourists. The museum basically features a graveyard of US military equipment (tanks, choppers, guns, fighter jets), some gruesome photos from the war and post-war, and lots of communist propoganda.

The next day we went to De Tham street where there are lots of tour companies where you can hire a bus ride to destinations around Vietnam. A lot of backpackers stay in the same area at little Mom and Pop guesthouses. We woke up early in the morning and went to visit the Chu Chi Tunnels, about an hour and a half northwest of Ho Chi Minh (probably only 40 minutes without all the traffic). The town of Chu Chi started building underground tunnels after WWII and they continued through the Vietnam War. The entire network of tunnels cover 200km in total. Our guide told us that you can enter the tunnel and make it to the Saigon River, about one hour away. The VC forces used the tunnels extensively during the war and they were literally right outside Saigon. Around the whole area there are still 15 foot deep indentions in the ground from B52 bombs and stranded military equipment. They don't let you see much of the tunnels, themselves, mainly just a 30m area where you enter and hunch over through a little opening about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide and make your way to the end to get out. Because we were in a group and people were in line and couldn't really see well, it kind of freaked me out so I didn't even go more than 6m in before backing out. I waited for Meg on the other side but she didn't show up, turns out that she went farther than me but then the tunnel split into two ways and the people in front of her were already out so she didn't know which way to go, so she turned around and backed out, too. It's amazing that people could stay down there for so long. Our guide said people lived down there for years and babies were born, etc. Too much for me!

After all the time in the city and doing the war thing, we needed a break and took off to the beach area of Mui Ne, a four hour $6 bus ride. Our hotel was so much better than the one in Ho Chi Minh, so much so that we decided to stay 3 nights instead of 2. Our bungalow had an outdoor bathroom and shower, like bathing out in the jungle. The food was really good and inexpensive at the hotel restaurant. We ate there for all but two meals. There were hardly any English-speaking tourists in Mui Ne, which is odd because you usually see Australians and Europeans everywhere in Southeast Asia. Most of the tourists were Russian. Tue later told me that there is a little island off the coast of middle Vietnam that is known to be controlled by the Russian mafia. So maybe that's who we were vacationing with. Then again, maybe not. Meg's birthday was Wednesday and I contrived with the hotel to surprise her with a birthday cake. They came to the room to surprise her with a cake and then we went out for dinner. Our stay in Mui Ne was relaxing and uneventful until the last night when our room became infested with flying termites. They were suddenly everywhere, like hundreds of them, and I ran down to the front desk. They tried to convince me that the cleaning staff would go to the room and bomb it with Raid and that it would be ok after that. Yeah. Eventually, I convinced them to move us to a new room, so we moved to another nearby bungalow in the middle of the night. Luckily, it was fine and we were able to sleep with no insects trying to eat us alive. The next morning I went back to the room to get something I'd left and they were still cleaning up all the dead bugs into a huge pile and mopping the floor.

The last day we returned to Ho Chi Minh and met up with Tue at his office and then went to have dinner. I treated him for helping me get a visa at the last minute. Without his help the trip could well not have happened or at least would have started out badly. In all, we had a good time and I'd like to visit again to see more of the countryside and the north around Hanoi.

Golden Week '07

The annual national holiday consortium known as Golden Week took place this past week. Monday, Thursday, and Friday were holidays. On Saturday and Sunday, Meg and I tooled around the city and went to Tamagawa park to lay in the sun and throw the frisbee. Then Monday, we went to Takao in west Tokyo for a leisurely day trip 'out of the city'. Tokyo proper is shaped like a baked potato and stretches quite far to the west, where the main city center is on the far east end of the potato. We took a train for 50 minutes and were suddenly in the lush green mountains, country air, and still in Tokyo. It's really bizarre. At Takao, we took a cable car up the mountain to the top, where there is a gathering of small shrines and a monkey area with 35 Japanese snow monkeys running around like crazy. We sat watching them for an hour or so, they are so interesting. They abide by a linear heirarchy in each of their little communities. In this particular one, even the zoo keepers (monkey attendants?) are included in their hierarchy, which is wholly determined by the monkeys themselves. Only a few of the keepers are higher than the alpha male monkey and a few of them are even ranked in the lower half. If one of the keepers in the lower half tries to approach the top monkey or give him food, the other monkeys freak out as if to say, "Dude, what are you thinking? You know the rules!" The rules being: do not mess with monkeys ranked higher than you or we will all kick your butt.

Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy and we had to work.

Thursday I just took it easy and caught up on some errands. Friday we went to Mitake, again in west Tokyo but farther out, this time about 1hr 30min. And still in Tokyo. On the train ride out to Mitake you pass the Yokota US Air Force Base. Meg said it was the only place to get a Burger King Whopper when she was growing up. Apparently, they have Taco Bell, too, which exists no where in Japan outside US military bases. In the 1970's, the US gave half of the land back to Japan and that half is now a large park where people gather for outdoor barbeques and so on. Once we arrived to Mitake, we took a bus to a cable car to ride up half the mountain. Then you can hike or take a chair lift to the very top where there is a shrine. We choose to hike the rest of the way and then hiked to the neighboring mountain, Hinode. The view from the top of these mountains is crazy. Looking into Tokyo, it feels like you're looking at New York City from Colorado. We chose an alternate path to hike down Hinode and after a few hundred meters we were the only people within a 1 km radius. Having something like that available just a short distance outside the city is amazing. We hiked passed waterfalls and vast areas of ceder trees that were planted after WWII in order to rebuild Tokyo. The ceders are not indigenous and create a lot of pollen that covers Tokyo in the springtime, causing many people to walk around the city wearing those funny white surgical face masks.

Finally on Saturday we went to Tokyo DisneySea. One day when I checked into my gym they were having some promotion and I won two free vouchers for Disneyland and DisneySea in nearby Chiba. Sweet, ok. So we went to check out DisneySea which supposedly caters more to adults and rode four rides and grabbed some lunch in about 4 hours. We were expecting it to be crowded for Golden Week but it wasn't too bad. All of the rides were indoors, which makes regular rides seem scarier, like Space Mountain. It was nothing too hardcore, it is Disney after all, but it was fun to get out and do something different.

Shinjuku Gyoen

It's Hanami time again, marking the beginning of Spring. Meg and I tried to meet some friends at Shinjuku Gyoen, but it was crowded and we did not find them, so we just relaxed on the lawn and ate and stared at the cherry trees and all the people.

Hokkaido

Here is a video on YouTube that my friend Andy made for a ski trip we took with two other friends to Niseko in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Click the photos above for more. We stayed in a hotel right at the base of the mountain and coincidentally another group of guys were know from work were staying in the same hotel. The snow was great once you got off the beaten track. Niseko is a different type of ski resort for Japan in that it is...a ski resort. Some Australian English teachers started developing it 10 years ago or so and it is now one of the few ski areas in Japan that resembles ones in the West in that there is a little ski village with restaurants, bars, karaoke bars, many choices for lodging, and so on. This ended up being our last ski trip for the season. Normally, you can ski Hokkaido until early May but it was warmer than normal this year and the snow was not as strong. The annual snow festival in Sapporo, Hokkaido, where large snow sculptures adorn the city, was limited in duration this year from the snow melting as soon as the sculptures were built. Most people here blame it on El Nino, which according to the late Chris Farley is Spanish for The Nino. Anyway, I hope it's not from global warming because that's too depressing.

Bali

Over Thanksgiving weekend last week I took a trip with my girlfriend, Meg, to Bali, Indonesia. We originally had planned to make a shorter trip to Shanghai or to Okinawa, but everything was very expensive and there were not many flights because it was over a Japan national holiday (Labour Thanksgiving Day, similar to Labor Day). We began searching for other destinations like Vietnam, Taiwan, etc., but then came across a deal for Bali. The only catch is that we wouldn't know our flight schedule until 10-12 days before the trip. We were thinking sunshine, beaches, a place we both had never been to...ok we'll try it. Eventually we lucked out and got direct flights both ways from Tokyo to Denpasar, the main city on Bali island. Some friends were going to join us, too, but the travel agency wouldn't give them the same package deal because neither of them were Japanese. They said in case there was trouble they would need someone who spoke Japanese in order to communicate with them. Anyway, my friend ended up not being able to go, for work reasons.
The flight from Tokyo is about 7 hours there and 6 hours back. We arrived late Tuesday night and made our way to the hotel. The first thing we realized we didn't really think about was the currency. It took us a while to figure out that 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah is equal to about 125 Japanese Yen is equal to about $1.10 US. So it kind of suprises you when you hear a taxi ride is 80,000 or that dinner is 200,000, but eventually you figure out that mostly everything is cheap.
We did not do much at all in Bali other than wake up and have breakfast at the hotel, go to the beach/pool all day, have dinner, and then go back to the hotel. Two nights in a row we had dinner in Jimbaran at the string of seafood restaurants on the beach. The tables are out in the sand facing the water and looking out toward the sunset. Our dinner consisted of barracuda soup, tomato/cucumber/onion salad, rice, potatoes, prawns, clams, crab, choice of fish, and four sauces. The first night we had barracuda, the second night we had grouper. All that plus drinks came to about $20 total. Not for one person, but for two. Not bad.
After four days, we returned back to Tokyo and wintertime has finally hit. On Wednesday night I went to see U2 in concert in Saitama with about 20 people from work. That was the first time for to see them in concert. They played all their hits, except for New Year's Day. There were only a couple songs that I'd never heard.
Cool, I found the set list online (www.u2setlists.com):

11/29/2006 Saitama Super Arena - Saitama, Japan
City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo / She Loves You (snippet), Elevation, I Will Follow, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / In A Little While (snippet), Beautiful Day / Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (snippet) / Blackbird (snippet), Window In The Skies, Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet), Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Bad / 40 (snippet), Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet), Bullet The Blue Sky / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet) / The Hands That Built America (snippet), Miss Sarajevo, Pride (In The Name Of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, One
Encores: The Fly / (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (snippet), Mysterious Ways, With Or Without You, The Saints Are Coming, Angel Of Harlem, One Tree Hill
Comment: Live debut of Window In The Skies. This is one of three shows scheduled to make up for the postponed show that was planned to take place on 4 April 2006 at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium.

There are a lot of holiday parties in the next few weeks and then I'll be in Texas for Christmas and New Year. Those who are in Houston or Austin, I look forward to seeing you over the holidays.