This one is not reversible but I still put an interesting band in it
The photographic supervisor says I should put a picture of me wearing the hat-
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Hats on the brain!
I am really loving this hat pattern. I decided to make one for myself as well.
This one is not reversible but I still put an interesting band in it
The photographic supervisor says I should put a picture of me wearing the hat-
This one is not reversible but I still put an interesting band in it
The photographic supervisor says I should put a picture of me wearing the hat-
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Color Pink in Japan
Pink is the color of spring in Japan. The whole nation longs for the Cherry trees to start blooming! There are count downs on the news as to when cherry blossoms will appear. In case you are longing for spring here are a few pink things I saw on this trip and last.
Plum blossoms
Early cherry
Pink tumbleweeds in a park in 2005
A field of pink Cosmos in 2005
Odd pink pods
A samurai with pink flowers in her head
Plum blossoms
Early cherry
Pink tumbleweeds in a park in 2005
A field of pink Cosmos in 2005
Odd pink pods
A samurai with pink flowers in her head
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sewing: My new Japanese Pattern book!
I've been sewing up some the of cute kids clothes patterns I found in Japan. In Japan, you can buy a high quality book with about 20 outfits being modeled. They are very cool looking and what's even cooler is the patterns for all the looks and instructions are included! Here is the book I bought-
This-
Plus this Liberty fabric
Equals this-
Its reversible!
And I made a even tinier one. One side is still the purple gingham and the other is this wild Liberty-like flower pattern.
This-
Plus this Liberty fabric
Equals this-
Its reversible!
And I made a even tinier one. One side is still the purple gingham and the other is this wild Liberty-like flower pattern.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Last Trip in Japan: part 2
We started over the Tokyo Bay Bridge at sunset. I loved the graceful light poles that looked like they had bird's tails. 
Tokyo Bay Bridge has a five story rest area that is practically a resort all on its own. There are three levels of parking and three levels of food (one is a split level), souvenirs and shops. It suddenly rises out of the highway and sort of looks like a ship.
This is the Upper deck. It has several sculptures you can have your picture taken with.
My gracious kidnappers
The Sunset
So far the trip across Tokyo Bay is free. We could turn around and go back and not owe a cent. However, we went forward into the tunnel. The tunnel goes under about 2/3rds of the bay so it is very long and very expensive to go into. You have to pay $70 toll to travel in the tunnel/bridge! We then went up through Tokyo proper, through the worst rush hour traffic in the whole world! However, the city scenery was pretty and you rarely get that view since you always take trains and subways.
One thing that impressed me- the Japanese seem so reserved and don't show emotion very often. I was very impressed about how close my mother-in-law's relationship is with her sister. They are very loving towards one another and the older sister often pets the younger sister's hair and laughs at all of her jokes!
I thought you might like to see their highways. Highways have sound barriers that curve along both sides of the highway. Some have windows so the home owners can have a view
And some are solid (for the most point because you can't see through those dirty bottom windows!).
All in all, a pretty decent kidnapping.
Tokyo Bay Bridge has a five story rest area that is practically a resort all on its own. There are three levels of parking and three levels of food (one is a split level), souvenirs and shops. It suddenly rises out of the highway and sort of looks like a ship.
This is the Upper deck. It has several sculptures you can have your picture taken with.
My gracious kidnappers
The Sunset
So far the trip across Tokyo Bay is free. We could turn around and go back and not owe a cent. However, we went forward into the tunnel. The tunnel goes under about 2/3rds of the bay so it is very long and very expensive to go into. You have to pay $70 toll to travel in the tunnel/bridge! We then went up through Tokyo proper, through the worst rush hour traffic in the whole world! However, the city scenery was pretty and you rarely get that view since you always take trains and subways.
One thing that impressed me- the Japanese seem so reserved and don't show emotion very often. I was very impressed about how close my mother-in-law's relationship is with her sister. They are very loving towards one another and the older sister often pets the younger sister's hair and laughs at all of her jokes!
I thought you might like to see their highways. Highways have sound barriers that curve along both sides of the highway. Some have windows so the home owners can have a view
And some are solid (for the most point because you can't see through those dirty bottom windows!).
All in all, a pretty decent kidnapping.
Last Trip in Japan
While I was in Japan, my daughter had a birthday and asked that I bring her a yukata. They are basically cotton kimonos for summer and for after your bath. Of course, this wasn't the season for them so I could not find one. The Japanese do not over-market like we do. For instance, our retailers put out Halloween candy 2 months ahead. In Japan for White Day and for Valentine's Day, they only put out the goodies 2 weeks ahead! (White Day is women's Valentines Day in Japan. They have it all backwards! Women give chocolate and cards to men on the real Valentines Day. Men do nothing! On White Day, March 6th, men then give white gifts and sometimes chocolate to women. Of course they forget a lot. You'd think the retailers would guilt the men to death to increase sales!)
I still had to arrange a visit with my husband's Aunt. She is older than my mother-in-law but speaks better English because she worked as a receptionist just after World War II (during the occupation of Japan) at the Emperor's Hotel. She is well connected and has a sharp memory. She decided we should go visit relatives. So, her and her daughter came over and we started a road trip.
I love these types of trips in Japan because no one tells me anything. I have no clue as to where we are going! They amount to an interesting kidnapping. The Matsudo area is at the top of Tokyo Bay. They drove me down the right side of the bay to the Kawasaki area and the town of Kisaru. There, we met up with the daughter of a great aunt who had a kimono shop who still had some yukatas in stock. My Aunt bought my daughter and my little granddaughter yukatas.
From left to right- my mother-in-law, her sister (the Aunt), the Aunt's daughter. The women standing in back is the daughter of the great Aunt.
From there we drove a few blocks to the Great Aunt's grave to make a memorial. This was an old grave yard but the graves are so well cared for they seem new.
When making a visit or memorial at a grave site you have to do the following: wash and scrub the grave, weed if needed, buy at the office or bring with you a huge bundle of incense sticks, flowers and/or food or drink the loved one liked. Smaller cemeteries provide buckets, scoops and scrub brushes. As you wash and weed, you talk about the person and how old they were and any interesting stories. After it is clean, you lay out the food or flowers and light that huge bundle of incense. You put the incense in the little grotto to burn. Then you all pray.
Many of you reading this are fairly strict Christians and probably wonder what I do at shrines that worship gods other than mine, who employ demon statues to scare off other demons and pray to people and to other entities. When it is time to pray or wash with water or wash with smoke, I pray to my God. Its as simple as that. Since everyone is praying silently, we all just pray to our own God. My Aunt actually knew a Buddhist/Shinto prayer and said it out loud. It was like a little song or mantra that kind of drones. No one would have asked me to pray out loud because I don't know any proper Buddhist or Shinto prayers.
It was a beautiful graveyard. Right behind the Great Aunt's grave was a grave with this serene statue of a praying priest
They also had this mountain of Buddha blocks with a small shrine at the top that was interesting-
Then we hopped back in the car and started over the Tokyo Bay Bridge. You'll have to read the next blog entry for that!
I still had to arrange a visit with my husband's Aunt. She is older than my mother-in-law but speaks better English because she worked as a receptionist just after World War II (during the occupation of Japan) at the Emperor's Hotel. She is well connected and has a sharp memory. She decided we should go visit relatives. So, her and her daughter came over and we started a road trip.
I love these types of trips in Japan because no one tells me anything. I have no clue as to where we are going! They amount to an interesting kidnapping. The Matsudo area is at the top of Tokyo Bay. They drove me down the right side of the bay to the Kawasaki area and the town of Kisaru. There, we met up with the daughter of a great aunt who had a kimono shop who still had some yukatas in stock. My Aunt bought my daughter and my little granddaughter yukatas.
From left to right- my mother-in-law, her sister (the Aunt), the Aunt's daughter. The women standing in back is the daughter of the great Aunt.From there we drove a few blocks to the Great Aunt's grave to make a memorial. This was an old grave yard but the graves are so well cared for they seem new.
When making a visit or memorial at a grave site you have to do the following: wash and scrub the grave, weed if needed, buy at the office or bring with you a huge bundle of incense sticks, flowers and/or food or drink the loved one liked. Smaller cemeteries provide buckets, scoops and scrub brushes. As you wash and weed, you talk about the person and how old they were and any interesting stories. After it is clean, you lay out the food or flowers and light that huge bundle of incense. You put the incense in the little grotto to burn. Then you all pray.Many of you reading this are fairly strict Christians and probably wonder what I do at shrines that worship gods other than mine, who employ demon statues to scare off other demons and pray to people and to other entities. When it is time to pray or wash with water or wash with smoke, I pray to my God. Its as simple as that. Since everyone is praying silently, we all just pray to our own God. My Aunt actually knew a Buddhist/Shinto prayer and said it out loud. It was like a little song or mantra that kind of drones. No one would have asked me to pray out loud because I don't know any proper Buddhist or Shinto prayers.
It was a beautiful graveyard. Right behind the Great Aunt's grave was a grave with this serene statue of a praying priest
They also had this mountain of Buddha blocks with a small shrine at the top that was interesting-
Then we hopped back in the car and started over the Tokyo Bay Bridge. You'll have to read the next blog entry for that!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Disney Sea photos
Since I took many pictures and I don't want to waste your time loading too many pictures, I loaded them into Picassa. Click here to see them.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
DisneySea - the newest addition to the Japanese Disneyland
Yesterday, I went with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law to DisneySea to listen my brother-in-law play his saxaphone. He is part of a walking band that plays Latin American songs about 6 times a day in the Lost River Delta area of the park.
The Japanese Disneyland is too small to hold everyone that wants to go there and the Japanese like new experiences so, they made DisneySea. Its Disneyland with water. Think of all the different Disney movies you've seen that involve water or occur in an interesting location and you have DisneySea. It is laid out like the other Disneylands. There is an American waterfront (Cape Cod theme), Mediterranean harbour, the Arabian coast (Aladdin), Port Discovery, Mysterious Island (1000 Leagues Under the Sea), the Lost River Delta (South American theme) and the Mermaid Lagoon (the Little Mermaid movie).
Instead of a parade, they have a big boat show. Since this is a whole new disney area and the Japanese crave a "new" experience (as opposed to Americans who tend to crave nostalgic experiences, in other words, we don't want our Disneyland to change too much. This is also evident in Japanese grocery stores. I have gone to our stores and seen the same brand names and labels since I was a child. But, in Japan there is more choice and the labels change contantly to keep them interested.), their parade is more mythical and involves story lines I don't recognize.
Here is a picture of my brother-in-law (to the left)
Since this is my last day in Japan and I took many disney pictures, I will load them into Picassa back at home and put the link in my next posting. See ya!
The Japanese Disneyland is too small to hold everyone that wants to go there and the Japanese like new experiences so, they made DisneySea. Its Disneyland with water. Think of all the different Disney movies you've seen that involve water or occur in an interesting location and you have DisneySea. It is laid out like the other Disneylands. There is an American waterfront (Cape Cod theme), Mediterranean harbour, the Arabian coast (Aladdin), Port Discovery, Mysterious Island (1000 Leagues Under the Sea), the Lost River Delta (South American theme) and the Mermaid Lagoon (the Little Mermaid movie).
Instead of a parade, they have a big boat show. Since this is a whole new disney area and the Japanese crave a "new" experience (as opposed to Americans who tend to crave nostalgic experiences, in other words, we don't want our Disneyland to change too much. This is also evident in Japanese grocery stores. I have gone to our stores and seen the same brand names and labels since I was a child. But, in Japan there is more choice and the labels change contantly to keep them interested.), their parade is more mythical and involves story lines I don't recognize.
Here is a picture of my brother-in-law (to the left)
Since this is my last day in Japan and I took many disney pictures, I will load them into Picassa back at home and put the link in my next posting. See ya!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Oranges in the Snow
I'm not sure what latitude that Tokyo is on but I always thought it was close to Seattle's. But I'm rather unsure since I don't have a globe handy. Oranges ripen in the winter! People grow them and kumquats all over the place. It's too cold to do this in Seattle!
The bamboo forests are common sights here but look very exotic to me-
The bamboo forests are common sights here but look very exotic to me-
Friday, March 7, 2008
Bigger Earthquake
We had a much bigger earthquake at 1:45 this morning. The last one was sharp and quick. This one was more normal; starting slow, building up, and slowly going away. Nothing and nobody was hurt.
It is healthy for Japan to have lots of little quakes. It relieves the pressure in the faults and helps prevent the "big one." Although, the Kobe quake about 10 years ago was huge.
It is healthy for Japan to have lots of little quakes. It relieves the pressure in the faults and helps prevent the "big one." Although, the Kobe quake about 10 years ago was huge.
Driving while under the influence of a camera
I pass this huge Buddha at a monument business every time I go to Unidy. I keep trying to get a shot but I also keep trying to not kill anyone on this side of the road. Today's attempt-
A Word about Food
I love Japanese food but let's be honest, they eat some weird stuff sometimes! Like Natto, (fermented, slimy beans that smell bad but taste good) and raw fish. I wonder who thought that up?
My rule about food in Japan is this: In order to not be rude, I will eat anything they set in front of me (With the exception of fugu. I have already warned them I won't risk my life eating fugu. There is no way that raw fish can taste so good its worth dying over).
One other thing you need to know about Japanese food- they love, no adore soft textures. Think runny egg whites on a sunny-side up egg or runny jello. Ugggh! Most Americans and Europeans like a more crisp texture or even crunchy. I know I vastly prefer teeth breaking crunchy than soft.
Another thing you need to know is that my mother-in-law is a great cook. She cooks every meal fresh. Look at this fried shrimp and asparagus with miso soup and rice she made-
And this yummy pork katsudon on rice and miso soup-
Teriyaki Eel, which is yummy.
Look at her beautiful salad-
But even she can come up with some odd stuff. Any guesses?
It's chicken breastbone cartilage with spicy pepper sprinkled on it. It seems to be the cool new snack because I've now encountered it in several restaurants. And yes, I ate one.
My rule about food in Japan is this: In order to not be rude, I will eat anything they set in front of me (With the exception of fugu. I have already warned them I won't risk my life eating fugu. There is no way that raw fish can taste so good its worth dying over).
One other thing you need to know about Japanese food- they love, no adore soft textures. Think runny egg whites on a sunny-side up egg or runny jello. Ugggh! Most Americans and Europeans like a more crisp texture or even crunchy. I know I vastly prefer teeth breaking crunchy than soft.
Another thing you need to know is that my mother-in-law is a great cook. She cooks every meal fresh. Look at this fried shrimp and asparagus with miso soup and rice she made-
And this yummy pork katsudon on rice and miso soup-
Teriyaki Eel, which is yummy.
Look at her beautiful salad-
But even she can come up with some odd stuff. Any guesses?
It's chicken breastbone cartilage with spicy pepper sprinkled on it. It seems to be the cool new snack because I've now encountered it in several restaurants. And yes, I ate one.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
A small shrine at Akihabara
The Akihabara area of Tokyo is well known for its cheap electronics and gadgets. I went there yesterday and came across this tiny shrine to a raccoon-like creature (the Japanese have several mythological creatures they often tell tales of like our bigfoote, yeti and lockness monster). I have a sake bottle at home of this little guy.
The washing area
A small nook with a prayer figure
The Raccoon shrine
Close-up of the guardian figures, just like the sake bottle at home-
A close-up of the seramic figures inside the shrine (thats a money grate in front. You can donate towards the upkeep of the shrine)-
I wonder if the creator of the animation "Ren and Stimpy" was sitting at this very shrine, smoking a cigarette (Like a lot of businessmen at the shrine today. It seems that the cigarette is contemplated more often than this poor raccoon!), when he looked up and saw proto Ren-
The washing area
A small nook with a prayer figure
The Raccoon shrine
Close-up of the guardian figures, just like the sake bottle at home-
A close-up of the seramic figures inside the shrine (thats a money grate in front. You can donate towards the upkeep of the shrine)-
I wonder if the creator of the animation "Ren and Stimpy" was sitting at this very shrine, smoking a cigarette (Like a lot of businessmen at the shrine today. It seems that the cigarette is contemplated more often than this poor raccoon!), when he looked up and saw proto Ren-
Parking Sitiuation
There is little room for parking in Japan. This has not stopped Japanese creativity though. They have pay parking lots like we have but they want to make sure you pay (you know how we do it...pay the smaller amount and hope the parking lot attendant is late or fails to notice). Here's how they make sure you pay-
When your time runs out, the red X appears and the back part of that little parking bump goes up and traps your car. They also have these for bikes and if your time runs out, a little spoke pops between your wheels trapping your bike.
They even have them for scooters, but I could only find an old fashion one.
When your time runs out, the red X appears and the back part of that little parking bump goes up and traps your car. They also have these for bikes and if your time runs out, a little spoke pops between your wheels trapping your bike.They even have them for scooters, but I could only find an old fashion one.
So, no cheating on your parking fees in Japan!
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