I'm ready for a staycation

It's been an absolutely exhausting 10 days. Of the last 10 days, I've spent 7 in Oklahoma and/or on planes between California and Oklahoma. My first visit was to see my grandmother before she passed. Not more than 20 hours after I left her bedside, she died, on Monday, January 11th. Just 6 weeks shy of her 98th birthday. So, I packed up, organized travel and bundled up my boys and headed back to Oklahoma on Thursday for the funeral services over the weekend.

The day of the funeral was the most sad, emotionally exhausting, yet celebratory and fun day that weekend. My cousin had the entire family over after the post-cemetery dinner and after many hugs and tears, the alcohol flowed. Let's just say we all like our drinks.

Despite the gloomy feeling of the weekend, the one bright spot was seeing my son enjoy all of his cousins and second cousins. We don't have any young kids in our family in California and now with a little one, I desperately wish we did. It's so fun! and easy! You just dump the kids in the family room or outside with each other and fun ensues. They come in when they're dirty, hungry or tired and we feed them, bath them and get them ready for bed. And bam, you're done for the night. Easiest parenting experience ever!

And even though the kids outnumbered us, it seemed like we never had to worry about them. The older ones took care of the younger ones, the younger ones screamed when something was really wrong and at least one responsible adult was always available to pick up the pieces.

I'm entertaining the thought of buying a little abode out there so we can spend more time with the family as E gets older. We both really want him to experience the closeness of family and know who these people are. It saddens me enough that he wont know my grandmother--a woman who influenced everyone in our family--and I don't want him to be the lost cousin way out in California.

Anyways--after 6,000 miles back and forth, 4 layovers in Denver, 1 lost (and recovered) bag, hours in the car driving between family homes and now one minor cold (for me and E)---we are HOME. FOR GOOD. As much as I'd like a vacation, I cant fathom getting on another airplane for a long time (except for work in a couple weeks). Not because of E--he did fabulous this time! We bought him his own seat and plunked him down in the car seat--which made him comfortable and happy. And bonus--due to all the travel we endured in 2009, I got a fabulous bump up to Premier status, which made the travel experience so much better (premier security line, earlier online check in, automatic economy plus, free bag checks, etc). But it's more the upheaval of life and the chaos when we return home that I'm done with. So, yeah, I'm ready for a staycation.

Pregnancy rant #1 and Aloha!

I. AM. FAT. And this is really bothering me. It does not matter that I "have a reason." I do not enjoy getting fatter. It does not matter that it's "for a good cause." It does not matter that it may be "water weight." None of that matters, so word to the wise, don't tell a pregnant woman that all is a-okay if (or rather when) she complains about weight gain.

I don't really know when this all happened. Before I went to Japan I was in great shape, my legs resembled their old selves, my arms weren't bad and my stomach.... well I had no hope for that. I'm not delusional. But after a week of being back home and sick, then 5 hard-core workouts before leaving for Maui (btw, Aloha!) I am still looking like a massive fat ass.

For the first time in recent recollection, I have visible cellulite on my ass and back of thighs. And speaking of my thighs, could they be any bigger? Jesus.

Needless to say, this is making me very uncomfortable in my own skin in Maui. I hate, generally, going on a beach vacation being even 5 lbs over my "comfortable" range. I am firmly OUT of that range and in whale-poaching range now.

For some pregnant women this may not be a big deal. But for someone who has spent her entire life watching what she eats (within reason of course) and working out with some regularity and intensity, this is very difficult. I am having a very. hard. time getting over this. And it's only going to get worse. I am perfectly aware of that.

Anyways, Aloha from Maui! Other than the fat factor, we are enjoying ourselves. The weather is pretty wierd today, so M just surfed a little bit and now we're chillin' at our fat hotel. We've never stayed at such a nice hotel in Maui. We've both realized, with certain clarity, that we vacation very differently than most of the people we've encountered. We generally don't:

[1] Pay more than $100 bucks a night for a hotel room. Or stay in hotels period. We always rent a condo/apartment so we can buy groceries and eat out less.
[2] Stay in our hotel room/apartment for any period of time. We sleep, wake up, eat breakfast and leave all day almost every day while we are here.
[3] Come down to Wailea for any discernible amount of time. And now we are certain we never will again. French toast is $25 bucks here at the Fairmont! f-that!
[4] Shop at the hotel grocery/convenience store for staples like water, fruit, soda. $8 bucks for Evian?!

We've just realized that we are probably considered cheapskates. But honestly, when I can spend $10 bucks on lunch for the both of us or eat on the premises for roughly 10 times that amount, who would eat here? Sure, it's easy and convenient. But [1] It makes no sense to do so and [2] spending all your time in Wailea and thinking you're actually experiencing real Maui is completely delusional.

Are we budget-travel snobs?

Don't get me wrong, this hotel is amazing. Our suite is bigger than many apartments in San Francisco and Manhattan. This hotel has a great beach onsite for which they provide beach chairs, towels, snorkeling geat and boogey boards all for free. And dudes who will bring you cocktails and food all the livelong day. But that's not really our gig, so it's just really wierd. We'd rather drive to some out-of-the-way secluded beach where we're the only ones, with our cooler and subway sandwiches and read or surf the afternoon away. Then come back to the room, shower and change and have a nice dinner out.

Anyways. Mahalo for listening to my rant(s). Despite my complaints, we are having a great time so far and looking forward to a lovely week here in paradise. :-)

Aloha

Yet again I've let my blog go. I'm not entirely certain where I went wrong this week .

Anywho.. we're off to Maui for a well-deserved Babymoon, aka the last real vacation before our baby boy arrives in September. So it'll likely be quiet on the front here unless I can snag free wi-fi in the hotel.

Have a great week!

Aloooohhaaa!

Japan, again

In other news, the Japan trip....

Overall it went well, albeit short--4 days. I arrived in Tokyo Friday and after a 1-hr train ride from the airport on the Keisei line, I met my parents at the Nippori train station for the 45-minute ride back to my grandma's house. (she now lives at the care facility nearby, so her house is our home in Tokyo now).

The funeral on Saturday went as well as expected. It's quite strange to attend a funeral spoken entirely in Japanese and run by a monk rather than a pastor/priest/etc. But at least I wasn't the only one who couldn't totally understand what was being said, my dad was there too. But the monk did say one thing that I felt was particularly true in our case, that a funeral, while sad, is a time for the family to gather and remember but also to remind each other how we can help each other in life and not just in death. (rough translation) For the Oshima family, this is particularly pertinent because my grandmother and my uncle hadn't been on speaking terms for years until after my aunt died last Fall (they now are, mostly because she's forgotten what they were fighting about). Similarly my aunt and my uncle hadn't spoken in many many years and in fact didn't reconcile before her death. So it was really sad for me to see my uncle wipe his eyes at the service and be reminded of how deep his regret must be.

But I'm really glad I went. Not only did I get to see my uncle, who I hadn't seen since I was about 6 at his wedding, and my cousin (his daughter) who I hadn't seen since she visited us last in the States about 16 years ago, I got to see my grandma again in her new care facility and see how happy and well she is doing there. Dementia is a crazy thing, she's totally healthy otherwise, but she just thinks she's still running the show. A few weeks ago she was helping the staff prepare meals for the other residents and after a couple days of doing this she told my mom "I am wondering when I am going to get paid?" hee hee! Then, she told my mom recently that she really likes this place and can't believe it's only 100Y a day (about $1 USD), although she doesn't know why she hasn't seen a bill yet. ha!

It's really funny... I just try not to think about the good memories she can't recall anymore because she still remembers me, my mom and my dad. For now. She's thrilled to become a great-grandmother, the first in her family. And I'm excited at the prospect of taking our son to meet his Japanese great-grandmother sometime next year.

My mom was so funny during the trip too. During my short stay, we took one day to do some touring we hadn't done before. We visited Ueno Park (a Central Park-like place in the middle of Tokyo), went to the Tokyo National Museum and went to Ame-yoko, which is an outdoor market that has everything from food, knock-off designer bags and shoes, groceries, pharmacy to old PX stuff from way back when. (It actually started as a place to get American goods during the war). My mom kept saying, "i cant wait to bring the grandson here... and here...and here..." (fill in with Tokyo Disneyland, Ueno Zoo to see the famous panda exhibit, etc). It was really cute actually.

After a day of touring we met up with BT and her husband, who had arrived in Tokyo just the night before. It was really cool to see them in Tokyo actually. We met at the top of the Park Hyatt in the bar featured in the film Lost in Translation. Although the views were *killer* the drinks were l-a-m-e and expensive and took FOREVER to get. There had to be maybe 5 other patrons in the bar when I ordered my drink. However our waiter failed to bring my drink or even WATER to the table until BT and E ordered their second round. And when my virgin-drink got there it was about 98% ice chips and 2% liquid. For 1300Y (13 bucks). Sorry, but I'm not willing to pay for that tourist attraction again. Puh-leeze.

Thankfully we were able to locate where the *cheaper* food is in the Park Tower (down in the basement, like it is in most tall buildings in Tokyo). We were so lucky to have my mom there because all of the signs in English indicated that the only food in the Park Tower was above the 41st floor (the bar we were in was on the 52nd). My mom found a building attendant and asked them where the food was (we read in my book there is tons of food here but couldnt find it) and they directed us to the one elevator that goes down. All the rest go from Floor 2 (entry) straight up to Floor 41 (where check-in is for the Park Hyatt). BT cleverly pointed out that if you only spoke English, you'd be spending roughly 3xs the price of dinner because there's no way to know the cheaper food is downstairs! In retrospect, our round of drinks on the 52nd Floor were more expensive than our dinner for 5 down in the basement. Huh.

Anyways, dinner was lovely and yummy--fresh, handmade Udon and beef over rice served with hot tea and a lovely mucas-fest by yours truly. I felt bad for BT/E and my folks for having to put up with a sick person at their dinner table. I'm sure i wasn't pleasant company and I kept having to leave the table to blow my nose. ICK. Although BT made me feel a little better by noting that out of everyone, that kind of grossness would really bother me the most, so it's a good thing it was me who was sick. Touche!

Alas, I was supposed to leave on Tuesday, but after a restless night with no sleep, despite the Japanese decongestant I took and about 5 mini-boxes of kleenex, I woke up feeling worse and decided to call it. My mom called the airlines and changed my listing to leave that night and we packed it up and headed out for a visit with my grandma. Thank goodness her care facility is close to her old house. It was a short walk and bus ride away, so I was able to drag my sick ass down there for a nice visit with her.

I can't believe I spent roughly a long weekend in Tokyo. It's such a funny contradiction to BT/E's trip. They have been planning this for 18 months and looking forward to it for weeks. I planned my trip about a week before. Granted, I don't have to book hotels, worry about getting around with the language barrier or even think about how to get where I'm going from the airport. I've done it now twice in 6 months and we'll likely go again next year with our son. It occurred to me on the train home from dinner with BT & E that my experience in Japan will never be what theirs is. I'll never stay in a hotel in Tokyo. I'll never eat 3 meals out a day there. I'll never really be a tourist in Tokyo. Maybe in Kyoto (kinda, because last time my mom made all our reservations over the phone for us the night before and figured out our train schedule). It's kinda cool actually. It feels like going to Japan is not a big deal anymore, it's not a o-mi-god, we-have-to-plan-forever-in-advance thing anymore. We just get a buddy pass on United from a friend, hop on a plane and bam 11 hours later we're there.

Anyways, you're officially caught up! I'll be posting recent baby and belly pics soon, so stay tuned!

American and now US Airways are on my s**t list

If you've booked a flight to/from Miami in the recent past, you'll know that the only direct flight options are on American. I hate American Airlines. They have sucked for so long my last good memory of them was getting a deck of cards and wings on my way to visit my grandma when I was like 9. True to form, they f**ked us royally on the way to Miami. My flight, which was scheduled to depart at at 12:30pm didnt end up leaving unti 4:45pm. Yes folks, that's over a 4 hour delay to the East Coast. Thus, instead of arriving at a reasonable 8:45pm, I got in at nearly 2am and the normally lazy bag handlers at any airport at 2am were even slower than usual... because there was only 1 of them and he only had 1 luggage truck. Yup. He had to clear out baggage for an A-320 full of people and bags by himself with one truck. F-in sucked.

I was totally hopeful that my experience coming home on US Airways/America West would be better. What was I thinking? There's a reason M has always called them America WORST. The flight out West was fine, we left on time and even though the pilot promised a 5-hour flight that ended up being 5.5 hours, we still landed in Vegas on time. I should've known it was bad news bears when I didnt see my flight listed on the Departures board. I hurried to the gate (after asking another dude wearing a Stanford Rowing shirt---yeah yeah, but he was a likely fellow passenger and wasn't ugly so whatever) and found that my in-bound flight from BWI was late, wouldn't be here for another hour and I'd be departing at 1:20 am instead of 11:50pm. US AIRWAYS YOU SUCK. Do not fuck with late-night flights on a Sunday night. It is now midnight and I should be sitting comfortably on my plane home. Instead, I'm listening to the non-stop nonsense of "Wheel of Fortune" slot machines, other slot machine noise and blogging furiously. Thank god they don't allow smoking in the airport anymore.

The only upside is free wifi at the airport. At least I will sift through some work emails that I absolutely will be too tired to do tomorrow since I am now getting in at nearly 230am, won't get home till almost 3am and have appointments and conference calls all day.

Again, I repeat--US Airways/America West and American--you lick. There's no weather in LAS, no flow, clear skies at SFO and perfectly fine weather in BWI. WTF happened?

I know you don't give two shits about a measley passenger complaint, but I still feel the need to rant.

ps--Girl in the white long dress who is still drunk and yapping at the gate agent behind her counter (they hate it when you get up in their space), you should know that you can't fly drunk and next time you try you might find yourself the unlucky recipient of an overnight stay in the LAS airport terminal.

I'm goin' to Miami.. bienvenidos a Miami

I have been mighty lame about posting this week. Perhaps it's because I've been sick since Sunday. When you're sick, it's pretty much the same from day to day--sneeze, cough, flem. Sudafed, Kleenex and Mucinex. Nothin' anyone wants to read about, right? Or just plain ole lazy. Probably a combo of both. But maybe after a weekend visiting M in Miami I'll have more to blog about.

Even though I'm going to Miami (apparently folks think this is a cool destination) we don't have much planned. I'm totally planning to just hang out with M, see The Other Boleyn Girl, read, sleep in and eat out. It's going to be fabulous. I can't wait to see him! M desperately needs a mental break from training and physical removal from his extended-stay hotel prison. I know the feeling, it sounds a lot like studying for the bar. The pressure is enormous and the training materials are [1] organized so poorly because it's a start up airline and they haven't yet created their own training program so they are relying on Airbus' and [2] translated from French. And not well. So it's been rough for him.

I've got us booked in a nice room in the Grove (Coconut Grove). I don't know what the hell is going on in Miami this weekend, but a hotel anywhere near the beach was outrageous and/or completely booked, even in North Miami Beach continuing all the way up to Fort Lauderdale (we're talking $500/night for the cheap rooms). So I opted for the Grove. It's like Burlingame but tropical. Cute restaurants, bars, boutique shops and rich people. But they hang in South Beach too (which I loathe), so I'm glad not to be in that scene. Plus it's supposed to be cooler than normal and a chance of scattered showers, so I think we'll be happy we opted for the nicer, somewhat-inland hotel rather than the sketchy beachfront hotel.

So, have a wonderful weekend here! I hear it's going to rain pretty good. But I don't feel sorry for y'all staying here at home for two reasons: [1] We've had awesome weather here the past few days, even in the City and [2] Over the gorgeous holiday weekend we had a couple weeks ago when you all were having romantic weekends with your SO's, I was flyin' solo (it was a total "couples getaway-post-Valentine's-day-long weekend" holiday.)

Cheers! Perhaps more from Miami.... or at least upon my return.

And I quote, "Whistler kicks ass"

Indeed it does. As my friend JM just pointed out in an email to me, "and you don't even ski." True, I'm not a skier. But this place could bring the snowbunny out of a desert lizard. It rocks. We're staying in the main Village, which is so convenient. Ski in and ski out to both the Blackbcomb and the Whistler lifts, walking-only streets in the main village, TONS of insane food ranging from very cheap and tasty (my falafel burger yesterday) to expensive and awesome (dinner last night of mushroom soup and mushroom ravioli were both divine).

Today (and yesterday) we had constant snow from flurries to HUGE snowflakes. Check out M in the hip-deep powder!

All said, we got 25cm today as well as yesterday. So no matter what time you hit the slopes, you always had fresh powder. Once I finally got my legs under me (yesterday's runs were a bit choppy and un-fun) I had a blast. I love that you can take lifts to the peak (around 8500 feet) and still make it down on beginner runs. This is us at the top of Blackcomb:

Check this one out, you can't even see my feet up to my knees! And this was a beginner run! Amazing powder.

*Note, if you do come here and you are a beginner-plus at home, you will be a baby beginner here. As in, Easiest Route down (that's what they call the runs for super easy). Regular green beginner runs are NOT beginner, be warned. So if you think you're going to get warmed up on a green and move onto a blue, like I normally do, maybe not so much. I stayed on greens, in fact I was promoted to full greens today (yesterday I was on green/whites aka "Easiest Route Down").

All in all, it's been an awesome trip. The people are fantastic, I've never met so many Aussies and Kiwis outside of Australia/NZ! The food is amazing, the Village is SO FUN and the skiing is amazing. We are so coming back here again.

Here's Whistler Village at night.... so picturesque!

Cheers!

I also heart BC

I wish I had remembered to bring the cord that connects our camera to this computer. Cuz damn, this place is awesome and you should see it. We arrived in Vancouver on January 1, 2008 (yeah baby!), spent a day and half there, ate well at my new local favorite restaurant (I'm sure next time we come back I'll have new favs), and today we drove up to Whistler, BC.

Once again, I heart Canada. This time, I particularly heart British Columbia. I could seriously live here. And to be honest, we most likely will at some point. Vancouver is so West Coast-minded, it's ridiculous. More so than the Peninsula. Garbage bags in the City are made of biodegradable materials. All of the taxis are Prius hybrids. And there are TONS of Asians of all sorts. I would never be deprived of my comfort foods like Pho, udon and hot soba. Nor would I miss the charming broken English of my Japanese and Vietnamese servers. There's more Korean than we have close to our current house. Best dolmas I've had since we ate with BT and hubby a few weeks ago. The best hummus EVAR. It's ridiculous. AND and up-and-coming wine industry. Hells to the yeah.

Now we are in Whistler. And despite the fact that our porter dropped my beloved laptop in the snow when he unloaded our car (GASP!), I heart this hotel and our room!! This place is insanely perfect. It has an iHome deck in our loft/bedroom upstairs so we can blast our favorite music while drinking some local BC wines we picked up at Liberty Wines (recommended by our waiter at RainCity Grill last night) and reading my latest book. A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

I am seriously in heaven right now. Today's agenda? Chill over breakfast over Dutch pancakes, take a bathtub-sized ferry to Granville Island,

grab lunch at Granville Public Market (of said hummus, dolmas, fresh french baguette)

And drive up to Whistler with M after a long, leisurely walk along the beach of English Bay. I heart British Columbia*.

*Even though I despise the British dude I saw at lunch yesterday eating a bento box with a FORK AND KNIFE and then finish off the meal PICKING THE CRAP OUT OF THIS TEETH WITH HIS UNUSED CHOPSTICKS. Sick.*

I will definitely share pics when I get home. You must come here with us next time. It is amazing. GOOD food, lovely wine, amazing views. Oh wait, you'll just have to visit us when we MOVE HERE.

Japan Part Three (San): Everything in Japan is cooler, why don't we have these?

Just some examples...

Have you ever been annoyed that the air hand dryers in our public restrooms never get the job done? If not (a) you're wierd and (b) you've never experienced a jet-engine like Japanese hand dryer in Japan:

This picture doesn't really do it justice either. You simply stick your hands in there (and you dont have to touch any buttons and undo the germ-elimination you just completed) and these crazy jet-engine like dryers come on and wick away every drop of moisture. They're never too hot or too cold and the dryer stays on until you remove your hands.

Oh, that reminds me, every faucet and soap dispenser is automated. And not in the annoying way that it is here---where you spend at least 30 seconds waving your hands frantically around trying to get the damn sensor to sense that you are there and want to wash your hands. Nope. In Japan, the sensors actually do their jobs.

It's actually a bit disconcerting how automated the bathroom experience is. You'll go to the counter and there are no buttons, levers or anything to touch. Hence there are most likely less germs for you to pick up. I love it!

Speaking of bathrooms, the cool factor doesnt end there. It actually starts here:

First off, the toilet seats are all warmed. And not from someone else's ass. They are constantly warmed for your comfort. Plus, all the other options: flushing sound in case you're modest and dont want others to hear your business, 2 different types of cleansing options (with water pressure options too) and a deodorizing option:

The only down side is the rare occasion when you're in the sticks or in a place that hasn't joined the rest of Japan and given everyone Western toilets. I used to fear these last time I was in Japan. This time I was pleasantly surprised that they are a much more rare occurrence nowadays. May I present the typical Japanese toilet:

May you never have to use these without having been in Japan for at least 3 days. It will throw you off your game. I'm totally used to them by now, but I still prefer the First Class version of toilets. :-)

I couldn't possibly put in pics of all the cool things in Japan. Next time, a couple more cool things and then funny things. Stay tuned!

Japan Part Two (Ni): Everything is funkier in Japan

It's taken quite awhile for me to get to this second post, but if you've read some of the other posts, you know why.

Japanese Fashion: I wish I had taken pictures of some of the tragedies I witnessed on any given subway in Tokyo. The shock value alone would have been worth it. But I felt wierd pointing a camera at some strange girl/guy while trying to stifle my laughter and balance the load of bags & packages we always had in transit. (or the yummy bakery goodies we always stopped to eat--note to BT). Let me just describe a typical outfit by a young fashionista: horribly dyed blonde hair with standard black roots, her hair pulled up in a sequinced red scrunchie, plaid fitted flannel shirt with a totally contrasting shirt underneath peeking out, over a tu-tu styled black skirt overlaid with a giant alligator belt, then tights and high top converse rolled down. Now, the tights weren't any tights. I dont know how, but she managed to find tights where one leg was black & white striped while the other was bright purple with multi-colored polka dots on it. Oh, and she had a gigantic faux-patent leather bag to tie the outfit together.

Something like this, but worse:

Or this:

The time I saw that girl, I literally started laughing and had to walk away. There were obviously lesser offenders, but not too much better. Even the boys were guilty, wearing tight pants, or skinny jeans, in wierd colors.

It was never really this bad, thankfully:

But if I saw that, I would not have been surprised.

The one thing I didn't mind too much (because it made sense) was that everyone carries a bag on the subway. Men, women, children, elderly. Everyone. And it's because you need to. When you ride public transportation all day, everywhere and are never in one spot to gather your things, or you do your shopping all around town (many do), you will inevitably end up with lots of crap. So even men carry "man bags." (think Joey on Friends and his "fashionable"man bag) That I didnt mind so much. But everything else? . . . WOW. 'Nuf said.

Next time: cool stuff in Japan

Japan Part One (Ichi): Overwhelming gratitude... It's a lot harder than it looks

Japan is cool. I heart Japan, seriously. I implore you to visit this country and not come home with warm fuzzies and amazement at their country and culture. First, everyone is unbelievably polite. It's the Japanese way, as my cousin's husband said, to think of others first and yourself last. That's not new to some people, but to experience that in action every day is quite amazing. I have so many observations and interesting stories from our short trip to Japan, I've decided to break them up into parts.

One thing I was not prepared for on this visit was the level of gratitude and honor each member of my family felt and expressed to us for making the trip out to see them. Each and every one of them was so grateful and so happy and so overcome with emotion, it was completely overwhelming.

For example, M, my mother and I went to visit my great aunt in her care facility about 2 hours outside downtown Tokyo (Tokyo is huge, so everywhere we went there was pretty much still considered Tokyo, but it can take a long time to get to your destination with all the train transfers). When we arrived at the train station, my great uncle picked us up and the first thing he did was pull out a 27-year old picture of me at my uncle Hiro's wedding that he keeps in his wallet. That wasn't the last time I saw them, but it was the last picture he had of me with his wife, my great aunt. But still, I haven't seen him in at least 17 years and he still keeps a picture of me in his wallet. (It should be noted that my brother and I are 2 of the 3 grandchildren in the entire family. ENTIRE family, including all of my grandmother's siblings). He said (in Japanese) that he was so impressed that we came to visit him on this short trip, they were so grateful. To express his gratitude my great uncle and aunt gave M a *very* expensive watch (http://www.seikowatches.com/asia/press/news_gs2005.asp
--keep in mind, M has never met any of these Japanese relatives) and gave me an equally expensive piece of jewelry. I felt terrible because Japanese tradition is to bring people you are visiting a gift, not the other way around. But we simply did not have time to get something before this visit. But of course, we graciously accepted their gifts in awe.

Later, we went into my aunt's room at the care facility. She was so overcome with gratitude that she had to turn away to cry. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. She could NOT believe that we had travelled all that way to see her, and it was pretty evident that it would be the last time we will see her. She was so excited to meet my husband (who, in Japan, is practically at rock-star status). We communicated our well wishes for her health in the minimal Japanese we learned on the way over, and she was thrilled.

After the visit, we were supposed to have dinner with my great uncle in his hometown at some very fancy restaurant. We brought a change of clothes for the occasion. But at the last minute, he had to conduct some business downtown, so he drove us downtown to the Ginza area, put us in a beautiful Chinese restaurant, ordered us an unbelievable meal, complete with 2 bottles of French wine and a traditional Chinese liquor with dessert, paid the bill and went to his meeting. He later joined us for the Chinese liquor and dessert. Okay, he just bought us crazy expensive gifts and now he's taking us to a thousand dollar meal? I mean, soup was 4200 Yen (approx $42 bucks). OMG. This is just too much. But the thing is, in Japan, you gotta roll with it. So we ate and ate and ate, for fear of being rude for not trying everything. We rolled ourselves out of dinner, bade him farewell with multiple thank yous, and walked around in Ginza (famous part of Tokyo) to help digest.


A few days later, we went to visit my aunt at the hospital. She's very sick, and it was again clear that this would be our last visit with her. She too was completely overcome with emotion. She literally choked up and cried, bringing us all to tears too. I hadn't seen her in about 17 or so years, so seeing her in this condition was very difficult. But, in keeping with Japanese ways, she also gave us an all-too-generous gift of cash.

Can you see how this week went? I felt so mixed up by the whole thing. I mean, it's not that difficult for us to fly out to Japan, and given that we had a free place to stay in Tokyo the whole time (along with my great uncle's offer to put us up in some fancy-pants hotel next time we come back to Tokyo because he thinks my Grandma's house is too small to accomodate us), we could certainly make the trip more often. I felt bad that we hadn't done so earlier. I felt bad that we didn't bring gifts with us (although I did write my aunt a card). I also felt amazed at their expressions of love and affection. It may be true that Japanese (and Asians in general) aren't too good at expressing love with words and physical actions, but these grandiose gestures make it pretty darn clear how they feel. And that was a big lesson learned for me. My mother has never been able to tell me how she felt about me, but she has done things that I know are hard for her, and now in retrospect (damn 20-20 hindsight) I have gratitude for that.

Next time on "Lucky_girl's odyssey to Japan:" CRAZY JAPANESE FASHION and funny idiosyncracies unique to Japan (singing toilets anyone?). Stay tuned Wintermute.

*okay, I know I saw a typo in here earlier... somewhere there is a word with two "m's".... so forgive me. i am too hungry to hunt it down right now*

Back in the States

Going to Canada is always an interesting experience for lots of reasons. First, M has family there, so we're always zipping off to see someone regardless of what province we're in. BC, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia--seriously. Whaddya need. But also because it's seriously M's turf! Since M has an insanely good memory, he rememers every slight detail about his life there. For example, ever since I've known him, he's been singing the theme song for their version of Little Caesar's Pizza.. and I thought it was a joke. (14 years of hearing this little ditty people, 14 years) No joke.
967 11-11, call Pizza Pizza hey hey hey!

Pizza Pizza's number is still the same! In fact it's plastered all over their signage in the City.

We also had to do all the traditional Canada stuff--Tim Hortons Timbits (yum) and coffee. For those of you not married to a Canuck, Timbits are the part of the donut cut out to make the hole. Genius way to make a buck from every part of a donut.

We went to Sobey's (grocery chain) and Shoppers (Walgreen's) for various items. We drove 1400 kms in 2 days (canadians drive long distances for fun, seriously). We drank a few Alexander Keith's. Yum. We rode the red rocket in TO. Toronto is called TO by locals, the Red Rocket is the subway. We seriously did it all. And that was only the first 3 days. We then flew a few thousand more kms to Halifax, Nova Scotia to visit the other side of the family and surprise M's grandma for her 80th birthday. As exhausting as this trip was, I absolutely love visiting that side of the family. They have their own flavor of crazy (and now I see where M's mom gets it), but I adore the family. The cousins are fantastic, even when they're dealing with some seriously f'ed up sh*t. It makes me wish they lived closer.

But visiting Canada this time made me think about how awesome it is. Yeah, the taxes are high but every single person has healthcare. The people are kind, they've got some kick ass cities with awesome food, waterfronts and nature. Think about it, the population of the entire country is roughly the same as California (33Mil) and they've got the whole damn country to spread out in! Canada also has an endearing quality that I've never felt here. Canadians love their country. It's the wierdest thing being an American and seeing that. Half the country here doesnt support the President at any given time and everyone bitches about everything. (with good cause, dont get me wrong) But it's just not like that up there and it's kinda refreshing.

I also love how education is still accessible to everyone. It's not insanely expensive like it is here (due in part to the high taxes). But Canadians also place true value on trade schools. They aren't looked down upon, in fact electricians, machinists, mechanics are viewed as professions. That's one thing we don't do here. Sure, you can become an electrician or plumber, but you're never going to be treated as a professional like a businessperson or something. It's just different up there.

One other thing that's super cool? It's a dual language country, so even if you don't want to, you will learn French if you live there. I love it. It's perfect because the English translation is always there in case I couldn't figure out what the sign said or what the flight attendant was saying. We listened to a few hours of French radio on the way up to Northern Ontario (we were literally across the lake from Quebec, I could have swam there) and it was awesome. Everyone speaks some French, regardless of how long it's been since they've practiced, because it's literally everywhere. M's little 6 year old cousin recited the Three Little Pigs to us in French. And she learned French in her french immersion classes at her public school. Love it!

I don't know if it's all the good clean Canadian air, the abundance of trees or just plain having some time off, but I heart Canada now.