Whirlwind tour of Hachinohe area-Part 1 of 2

So….James, Everett and Grandma were on their 5th day in Japan when we decided to take them on day trip while older kids were at school.

We took them to some of our favorite places.

The Fish Market in Hachinohe:

Everett was not so sure about trying “unknown” foods...

Oh, and our choices are endless!

Dried squid.

Grandma is learning to pose in a real Japanese way.

After the Fish Market, we all headed to a shrine that I had never been to before. It’s Kushihiki Hachiman-gu shrine in Hachinohe, built in the 17th century.

Traditionally washing hands before entering the temple grounds.

We found this Hachinohe Horse, symbol of Hachinohe near the torii gates.

Some beautiful architecture:

We figured out that Grandma was born in the year of a DRAGON! So this is her year this year! Would you like to know what animal you are?

Another Hachinohe Horse.

Grandma really liked this Japanese lantern.

On the way home, we made a stop at Miss Veedol Beach. There used to be two parts to Miss Veedol Beach—the swimming part and the fishing port. Last year’s tsunami destroyed the swimming part completely. Fishing port suffered tremendously as well, most buildings were destroyed and boats washed away. The whole swimming part of the Beach is still blocked off, I am sure they are trying to rebuild it, maybe even in time for summer. On the fishing port side, you can tell how much has been done to get things back to normal. 

Rebuilding the wall to protect the land.

These cement blocks are massive!

It is still quite sobering to be standing on top of one of those retention walls, looking back at how far the water can reach if there were a tsunami and realizing how devastating the power of a tsunami could be.

You can still see how high tsunami wave was in this area. Just this spring the new branches are appearing on the trees in this grove that were standing on the way of the tsunami.

All right, let’s not leave it on a sour note. We’ve got much more to write about regarding our second daytrip (or Day 6 in Japan)—that was quite an action packed day!  So come back for more in a couple of days. 

Have a great day!

Tokyo-o-o-o-o!

That’s Tokyo – oh I am so tired! 

My mom, brother and his 11 year-old son came to visit us in Japan in March.  We were so glad they came, even though the trip was short – but I think we all ended up with some wonderful family memories.  We were all over the place and had a ton of fun.  

They arrived in Tokyo at 5AM, and in order to meet them at the airport I (Robert here) flew down the night before.  That in itself was a memorable trip, for me at least.  I arrived at the Haneda airport around 9PM and somehow had to find my way to the international terminal.  After a lot of directionless pacing I found my way down an escalator to an enormous room that looked like it was taken straight out of one of those doomsday movies where all the lights are on, the TVs are blaring but there’s no sign of life anywhere – except me.  I thought about crashing right there for the night, but I still wasn’t sure how to get to the other side of the airport yet.  And there it was, the gate for the shuttle.  Thankfully they were still running, so I just sat there until, true to Japan, the bus arrived exactly on time.  “Boarding pass?” the man asked when I approached him.  “I don’t have a boarding pass.  I’m trying to get to the international terminal to meet my family arriving tomorrow morning from LA,” I explained.  “Ah, meeting.  Come,” he replied, and with that I was on the shuttle bus, the only passenger, on a 20 minute ride from one side of the airport to the other, literally driving around the airplanes on the tarmac.

The international terminal was the complete opposite of the domestic terminal, bustling with busy crowds.  I explored for a while, stopping occasionally to catch up on the next chapter in my book. (An enthralling tale of deceit, trickery and mischievousness – The Secret Garden, perhaps you’ve heard of it.  I figured it’s never too late to catch up on the classics).  Eventually I spied a corner section of chairs on which to bed down for the night.  With gratitude for my wife reminding me to take earplugs and an airplane pillow, I nodded off to sleep.  And then woke up to check the clock and watch the zamboni clean the floor.  Then sleep, then awake.  Repeat 5 times.  Surprisingly the number of people in the terminal didn't seem to diminish much – the difference was just that every other bench had turned into someone’s bed.

Finally, I woke up and noticed it was 4:20, and the flight would arrive soon.  I jumped up (rather, I rolled off), and went to where they would exit customs.  I was literally staring at them when they came out, and my brother gave me a rather quizzical look and then I recognized him.  I was glad to see them.

After a quick bit of freshening up (remember, they had just had a 10 hour flight) we got on the train and headed to the hotel.  We arrived at the New Sanno around 7AM, a bit early to check in to our room, so we stowed the bags, ate a big buffet breakfast, lingered around the dining room for at least another hour, then headed over to the locker rooms by the pool to get ready for church. 

After church, the hotel let us have one of the rooms, so we could get ready for the rest of the day, which is where the pictures start (and probably where I should have started this post instead of turning it into a recap of Tom Hanks’ character in “The Terminal” – I liked that movie, by the way).
I’ve been to many places in Tokyo, some several times, but one place I hadn’t been to yet was Asakusa (the ‘u’ is silent, but I still can’t pronounce it).  Lyana recommended it and it turned out to be a great place to go. 

The main avenue leading up to the big temple/shrine is full of assorted shops and vendors, and the the whole path is lined with read lanterns.  This is a perfect stop for first-time visitors to Japan. 

I like five-story pagodas (or is it pagodi?)  And I think they mean something special in Japanese culture, though I can’t put my finger on it right now.

We didn’t realize how close we would be to the Tokyo Sky Tree.  It will open in May, and at  634 meters (or 2,080 ft) tall, it is the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world (the first is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.  It’s featured in the latest “Mission Impossible” movie, which I really enjoyed, and not just because half the audience in the theater gasped in fear as Tom Cruise jumped out a window on the 100th floor.)

We were fortunate to be at the Shrine when a religious procession went through.  I won’t pretend that I knew what was happening, but it was pretty cool to watch, especially that dragon in the back held up on poles.  I’ve got video of it that I’d like to show you, but it takes too long to upload, so I’ll save it for another day.  Besides, this post is long enough as it is.

I should probably be able to tell you who this guy is – after all, the picture’s in my blog.  But alas, I do not know.  He looked important, though, so I snapped a photo.

The rest of the day, not documented with photos, consisted of squid balls, dangerous playground equipment, firefighters in bright orange wetsuits, trains, trains, more trains, snacks and Pawn Stars.
The next day we went to Tokyo Disney Sea.  Mom had never been to Disney anywhere, so it was neat that her first time was in Japan.  Despite the long lines, she was hooked.

There was a Japanese holiday the day before we went (don’t know which) but it was the only day we could go, and though it was crazy crowded, we had a blast.  Fast Pass is the way to go.  We ran straight to Tower of Terror (and apparently so did 9,000 other people).  The line just to get the Fast Pass was longer than the line for the ride, so we bit the bullet and stood in line (actually, they stood in line while I ran and walked and ran and staggered short of breath to the Indiana Jones ride to get a Fast Pass for that one, then hobbled my way back to the others – yes, line jumping, I know). 

This is probably a good time to confess my sins:  we didn’t tell mom what the Tower of Terror actually was.  We just told her it had something to do with an elevator.  I’m not sure at which point she figured us out – maybe when she was asked to buckle here seatbelt or perhaps it was during that first plunge down the elevator shaft. 

Oh, here’s a pic of Ariel’s Grotto.  We saw the Little Mermaid live show in there.  We loved it.  The dialogue was in Japanese, and the songs were in English. 

Lunch afterward was in the grotto too.  That’s a “sausage pizza” which in Japanese means “hot dog, corn and onion” pizza.  I told my nephew the clear gelatinous stuff on the dessert plate was Jellyfish brains.  I like to think he believed me, though he probably won’t admit it.  And I should probably apologize with every ounce of dentist in me, that I think I got him hooked on melon soda.

Here’s a few outside shots for you.  This globe greets you at the entrance.  Water flows along the sides where the oceans are.  Gotta see it for real to appreciate it, sorry.

Mom (and I guess the rest of us) loved the shows.  We saw several.  Some were outdoors on the harbor like this one, others were inside theatres – acrobatics, live music, cinematronics, puppeteers, 3D – we saw it all.

What do you think it’s like inside those floats?  Do you think they have a bathroom?

Young at heart.  I made sure we all got to ride the double-decker carousel.

Disney really was a lot of fun.  I couldn’t believe some of the wait times for the rides.  Journey to the Center of the Earth had an estimated waiting time of 180 minutes at one point.  All the Fast Passes were gone by the time we got around to that one, but since we had done everything else, we said what the heck and went for it (but only after the time had decreased to a less alarming 150 minutes).  We didn’t notice the wait too much, though.  We had two games of Scrabble to keep us busy (we had an i-phone AND an i-pad with us).  The batteries died a few minutes before we got on the ride.
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Okay, time to switch gears.  Tuesday morning we got up at a reasonable time, and the plan was to get to the LDS temple up the street for a 10:00 session.  We went fast, but not fast enough.  We just missed it, but we decided that since we were already there, we’d do whatever they wanted us to do, so we ended up participating in some sealings, which turned out to be a great experience.  It was just great being in the temple together with my mom and brother (we left the nephew in the hotel). 

And then off to the Shinkansen (bullet train).  At the platform we had to take pictures (though it turned out to not be the train we’d be on).  First the nephew.

And then mom and brother.  A small detail you might not realize, but notice that mom and brother are not standing right next to the train.  They tried, but off the picture to your right all of a sudden several custodians/train janitors shooed us them away from the train.  We thought they were telling us that we weren’t allowed to touch the train, but when the train suddenly started moving, we realized they were just trying to keep us safe. 

The train ride up was uneventful (more Scrabble – recharged at the hotel).  Finally arrived in Misawa and that’s where I’ll stop.

More to come (whether you like it or not).

Rob

P.S. I didn’t mention the prank my nephew pulled on me Monday morning, but let’s just say it had something to do with the alarm clock and he’d better be on his toes next time we get together.

Good bye, crib!

March 26th, 2012 was a big day for our little family. That was the day we finally disassembled our crib….

We got the crib before Katya was born as part of a baby shower gift from uncle Isaac (on Robert’s side).  We were immensely grateful for it since we were still both going to BYU trying to make the ends meet. The crib, yet simple, lasted this long (almost 9 years!) and is being passed along to another couple who are expecting their first baby soon.

Here are some pictures from our last night with the crib in Mark’s room.

The great thing is that Mark never tried to climb OUT of his crib, only to climb into it.

We asked each one of the kids to pose next to the crib

Katya is 8, Alex is 6 and Mark is 3 (just in case you forgot-haha)

You might be wondering why we’d waited for over three years before we transferred him to a Big Boy Bed….well…we don’t exactly have a bed for Mark yet… just a mattress.

Mark loves his new “bed”! He is so excited to crawl under the sheet and blanket (my only kid that still uses a flat sheet besides a comforter).  Since he doesn’t take naps any more and is pretty tired for bedtime by 7:30 pm, he is pretty easy to put to bed. For now…

Have a good night!

Remembering 3/11/11 2:46 pm

I will never forget those numbers.  For many in the world, these figures represent just another far-off natural disaster.  They may remember when they first heard about the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, as it has become known, but for me I remember feeling the movement of the earth, as it swayed back and forth like a boat rocking in the ocean waves.  I remember wondering, “when is it going to end?”  I had felt many earthquakes before, but this time it was different, very different.  Everyone around me knew, just knew that this was not a typical earth shaking. 
I remember everyone in the hallway stood up as soon as the building started to move.  Like curious onlookers, we peeked out of our offices and operatories to see what everyone else was doing.  No one left – we all just stood in our doorways, holding on to the walls.  Some sat down so they wouldn’t fall.  At first it was gentle – an assistant across the hall who was from New Zealand, and had felt many earthquakes before, mentioned that this was not small.  We waited.  The shaking did not stop, in fact it intensified, lasting almost two minutes.  Within 30 seconds the lights flickered then went out, and the emergency generator kicked in, powering only the tiny yellow emergency lights on the ceiling, which only added to the eerie ambience now present in the clinic. 
Most earthquakes, even the strong ones, are usually short, quick bursts of power.   This one swayed and rolled longer than anyone had ever felt.  Dental stone casts in one of the doctor’s rooms could be heard crashing to the floor.  Finally the rolling stopped long enough for everyone to leave the building.
Outside we gathered out the designated evacuation point, nervously talking to each other, wondering what just happened.  Some Japanese co-workers were visibly worried – an ominous sign.  One of them had lived in Misawa her whole life (she’s in her 50s now) told me she’d never felt one like this before.  That didn’t make me feel much better.
Then the aftershocks started.  Multiple times per minute for who knows how long.  Trees waved their branches but there was no wind.  Cars in the parking lot danced back and forth on their tires.  Aftershocks continued, thousands of them in fact, over the next month.
What we didn’t know at the time was that while we were gathered outside our building, standing in the cold but safe from harm, a monstrous wave was racing toward Japan’s east coast.  Many had less than 15 minutes warning to seek higher ground.  In some places, the water travelled six miles inland.  Simply not enough time.  Neighborhoods and whole villages vanished.  More than 15,000 died or disappeared.
So that is what I remember from 3/11/11 14:46 + 5 minutes.  It is still fresh in my mind, one year later.
In the past year, since that infamous day, I have acquired many inspiring memories that have stemmed from that disaster.  I watched firsthand as this great country healed itself.  I visited some of the areas hit by the tsunami, and witnessed the destruction, the wounds of the land, firsthand.  But I have also been privileged to observe the healing process, and though the scars remain as memories in all our minds, or as evidence of the altered landscape, nevertheless, there is an unexpected strength and resilience in this country.  And that is how I will remember Japan.  Not as a country devastated by a natural disaster, but a nation of hope, strength, unity and love.
Rob  

Expanding My Horizons

We have pretty amazing opportunities here on base to learn about Japanese culture. Every month Airman Family Readiness Center sets up a whole bunch of activities/excursions to interesting places in the area. They are all free. Some of the activities they offer is teaching you how to shop at Japanese stores, make traditional Japanese food, Japanese crafts, and even how to dress in a kimono. This time, I signed up for a class that taught us the how to play Koto—national musical instrument of Japan.

Koto has thirteen strings, it is about 180 cm (71 in) long and is made of kiri wood. Its strings are strung over thirteen movable bridges along the width of the instrument. To adjust string pitches, you move the bridges before playing, and then use three finger picks (on thumb, index finger, and middle finger) to pluck the strings.

Those picks for fingers are made of ivory and are called Tsume, meaning nail in Japanese.

This is our sensei, Kurimura. She has a dozen of kotos set up in her living room and she teaches private lessons as well.

The best sound is achieved by sitting at a 45 degree angle from the instrument.

We only had an hour to learn to play a couple of songs. It seems that you can only play only certain notes with bridges in each position—sort of like a stationary guitar (maybe?). We learned “Sakura, Sakura”-traditional Japanese melody, and “Mary Had a Little Lamb”—just for fun. Here is my attempt to perform for you-haha

Mary had a little lamb

Overall, I think the fact that I play the piano didn’t help at all to play koto-haha. It was a very different feeling to be plucking the strings with Tsume. I have seen koto musicians perform and they sound amazing, so I understand why Japanese love this instrument so much. Nevertheless, I won’t be buying one of these any time soon. Great cultural experience though!

Lyana