November 18, 2012: Harajuku

I have been following the "Tokyo Fashion" blog for quite a while.  This guy lives in Harajuku and goes out and photographs young people wearing the latest fashions or even costumes.  Of course, I had to go there.

We took the bus to the train station, got on one train and then transferred to another.  The stations are supposed to be handicap accessible.  I guess they are if you had a scooter and could drive from one end with the elevator to get to the next level and drive back again to catch the train on the other end.  It would be a pretty long walk.  So, we climbed the stairs. Tomoko held Kenny and Kevin had to carry the stroller up the stairs. I just had to take care of myself.

There's a section on the train set aside for old people, the disabled, pregnant mothers and people with small children.  I eventually got to sit in one of those seats.  I think it was at least a half hour trip to the next station.  Kevin was starving again so we stopped there.  We went into a new shopping mall to get lunch.  This time we had Japanese style lunch.  You are each served with a big tray.  There was beef on top of rice, pickles, shredded onion, noodle soup and pudding each in their own little dish.  I missed that good bread we had yesterday.

As long as we were in a mall we shopped.  There was lots of housewares, handbags, children's stuff, some jewelry.  I bought a little wallet.

Then back to the station for the train to Harajuku.  The station was right in the middle of the action.  I wanted to look for the place where the kids posed for photos.  They moved from a bridge to a park.  We first came upon a group of guys dressed up like characters in "Grease" breakdancing to rock music.  Kenny loved watching the dancers.  He even did a few twirls himself.

We walked on further and found a group dressed like characters in a video game.  Kenny wasn't at all scared of the guy with a mask on his mouth and wearing a long red cape.  They were very nice and posed for us.

Kenny loves to give high fives.

He's so cute that the girls took his picture!

Next, shopping... We went into a small mall.  Everything was so expensive again.  Unfortunately, the clerks were very attentive so I couldn't snap any photos of stuff.  I saw some pumps covered with knitting that looked like a cat.  I think my pink poodle pumps are much cuter.  There was a shop selling beads and beading supplies.  I liked one store that just had weird stuff - sunglasses covered in rhinestones, pink plastic apes, necklaces made with kids' toys.

We needed to rest somewhere before the trip home.  We went to a cute little cafe.  Kevin and Tomoko had green tea cheesecake with coffee.  I had Irish Coffee and french toast.  The Irish Coffee was tasty but weak.  The french toast was delicious.

As we were walking back to the station we saw a small store that was up a short flight of stairs.  Tomoko and I went inside.  They were selling all kinds of cute bags.  I bought a pink kitty cat tote.

We were all ready to crash when we got home.  I went to bed. But, Kenny was full of energy.  He helped Kevin and Tomoko fold the laundry.  They told him "go give this to grandma" and he ran down the hall with all the items individually, including hangers and gave them to me. 

I told Kenny to call me "NaNa" and he does!  He likes when I tickle him and kiss his ears.

November 17, 2012 part 2

We walked around the Maranuchi shops after lunch.  Everything was very expensive.  I did buy a Hello Kitty bag with a Geisha kitty on it.  It was made in China but only for the Japanese market.  So, it was relatively inexpensive.  I paid around $25.00.  I wanted to add some of the little charms they sold to hang on the bag.  But, each one was around $10.00.  I would be able to find similar items at home in a dollar store.

I bought some souvenirs in a couple of shops that only sold items made in Japan.

I took photos of some store items.  These are pins made from folded ribbon to form animal heads.  One is a lion and the other is a cat.  Retail price for each was $160.00.

There were also ribbons folded to look like candles and put on trees for decoration.




I liked the flower decoration on these sweaters.  I didn't even bother looking at the price.  They were in a swanky store.

We went to the basement level to look at toy stores.  It was very crowded.  I just stood by a pole so no one would knock me over.  It was "every man for themselves" downstairs.

By the time we were ready to leave it had stopped raining but was already dark.  The Japanese do not set their clocks back for the winter.

The train home was crowded once more.

Just going from one part of town to another is exhausting in Tokyo!

November 17, 2012

Saturday and time for shopping!

Kevin got up at 7 AM and ran for an hour.  He got home and we had breakfast, etc.  After we all were ready we took the bus to Oji station.  The bus driver kept stopping and letting more and more people on.  Luckily, we got on early so I had a seat.  There was barely any space between people.  Kenny was in his stroller.  Kevin and Tomoko were so cute singing to Kenny to keep him happy.

At Oji station we got on a train to go to Tokyo.  We got off at the newly remodeled Tokyo station.  There were lots of people there to check it out and take photos.


It was raining heavily when we arrived in the Marunouchi section of Tokyo.  We went into the Marunouchi Building.  The lower floors had stores and restaurants.  The upper floors were offices.

The kids were hungry.  Kevin needs to eat lot because he's a runner, Tomoko has to keep refueling from all the nursing and Kenny is a growing boy.  We went to a restaurant where they had been very often.  There was a 30 minute wait.  The waitress was very happy to see them again.

Pork dish

Pasta with seafood

Pumpkin soup and bread

I ordered pumpkin soup with gnocchi.  Kevin had pork loin with a tasty sauce.  Tomoko had pasta with seafood.  And we had some yummy bread.  Everything was so good.

Kenny had a little bit of everybody's lunch.  He loves to suck up noodles.

Outside there was an exhibition by a Korean artist.  There was a giant flying pig, an opening and closing lotus flower and colorful towers made from glassware and plastic cups.

November 14-15, 2012

I actually arrived at 4:40 PM on Wednesday, Tokyo time.  Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Houston.

Kevin wasn't feeling well Thursday morning so he stayed at home with me.  I enjoyed being able to spend time with him.  In the afternoon he felt better so we walked to the 7-11 so I could use the ATM machine.  After you put in your card, the ATM will ask if you want it to talk in English.  It would only let me get 30,000 yen which is around $280.00.

We looked around the 7-11.  They sell lots of freshly made food there.  One special item - "American dog" - it's kind of like a corn dog.  Kevin says they're pretty good.

Then we walked a little further and went to the grocery store.  It was very exotic to me.  The Japanese make great bread and cakes.  I bought some freshly baked bread at the bakery.  I bought cream for my coffee and some cookies - the important staples.

After we got back I fell asleep for 3 hours.  Kevin said he slept for 2 hours.

Tomoko came home with Kenny.  She made corn soup, beef patties, potatoes and salad for dinner.  She is a very good cook!

I went to bed around 11 PM and didn't get up until 10:30 AM the next morning.  All that extra sleep got me over jet lag.

I was home alone that day, Friday.  I wanted to help out so I did some dishes and vacuuming.  Then I sat around reading and fooling around on the computer.

Tomoko arrived with Kenny, already nursing.  That baby just can't get enough.  Kevin came home and kept Kenny occupied so Tomoko could make dinner.  She made fried chicken, tomato salad and something else which I've already forgotten.

I got tired around 8 PM and decided to just go to bed.

November 13, 2012

This morning I left for Tokyo.  Sandra arrived at 6:30 AM to drive me to IAH to make my 10:40 AM flight.  I had 2 big suitcases - one was just presents for Kevin, Tomoko and Kenny.  The other had all my stuff.  Lupita helped me last night to be sure the bags were no more than 50 pounds each.

The check in agent didn't make any mention of my big bags, just put them right on through.  She advised me to get someone to push me in a wheelchair.  I was there so early that I just wanted to walk.  Then I saw the security lines.  I went to the wheelchair section.  The attendant got me right away.  He pushed me all the way to the front of the security line.  They helped me with all my carry on stuff.

I had to go through some kind of new (to me) screening gizmo and put my hands over my head.  I was waiting to see something and the guy had to tell me it was over.  When I got out I could see a little diagram of a body - with the left knee highlighted.  That was kind of cute - it was my left knee replacement.

The attendant pushed me down to the food court.  He offered to wait for me.  He was very sweet but I wanted to walk around.

United listed the flight as just serving lunch so I bought a snack to bring on board.

I got to board early since I was an old decrepit person using a cane.  I sat in the first row after first class in the bulkhead.  The extra leg room was nice.  I made sure that I got up several times to walk down to the potties.

It turns out that I didn't have to worry about bringing a snack.  First we got pretzels, then lunch, a warm snack around dinner time and a breakfast when we got near Japan.  It wasn't exciting food but it was better than trying to pack your own.  I am glad that I brought 2 big bottles of water with me since they don:t give you much to drink.

I watched 3 movies on board.  It was great for me since I've only seen 3 movies in the last two years.  First I watched "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer" then "Men in Black 3" and finally "Total Recall." I also watched  a TV show made in Japan:  "Cool Japan."  The format was strange - first they spoke in English, then switched to Japanese.  It was all about how the Japanese love taking baths.

We arrived (after 14 hours in the air).  An attendant was waiting for me with a wheelchair holding a sign with my name on it.  Pretty special, aren't I?  She whizzed me right to Immigration, then to baggage claim and then through Customs.  She was very concerned that someone was picking me up.

And there was Kevin!  He looked so handsome.  We said goodbye to the attendant, bowed, thanked her.  Kevin said no tipping in Japan.  We went to catch the fast train to Tokyo.

It took about an hour into Tokyo.  Kevin was pulling my 2 big bags.  We had to board another train to go to Oji Station and then we took a taxi to Kevin's Japanese mansion.  (I'll post photos of it soon.)

Tomoko was already home with Kenny, who is the most adorable baby in the world.  He doesn't give poor Tomoko much peace, though.  He insists on lots and lots of nursing.  Kevin reads him books in English so Tomoko can cook dinner.  Kevin does the kitchen clean-up.

Then I went to bed.  The 3 of them sleep together in the tatami room on futons.  So, they let me use their bed.  I slept and slept.......

November 11, 2012

Turns out that I didn't have allergy problems after all last weekend.  I went to see my allergist for my yearly visit.  She was checking me out and wiggled my esophagus.  It made my throat tickle and I started coughing and coughing.  My nose started running and my eyes teared up.  She said that was acid reflux, not an allergy attack.

I went to my GP and he told me to double up on nexium.  I could have been well last weekend, if I had only known what was going on in my body.

So, now I've learned and I feel good again.

My allergist, Dr Kristin Moore, is the only doctor I've been to that actually does a thorough exam.  I've been going to her for over 20 years now.  She has transferred her files to a computer system.  She enters  data as she speaks to you, sends prescriptions to the pharmacy, writes out instructions and gives you a print out after the exam.  I wish I could find a good GP that would do all this.

October 2012

I've been posting mostly on my private journal.

I visit Mom at least once every week.  This week I have had a spike in my allergies.  I was feeling sick all this past weekend - even had to track down my rescue inhaler for asthma.  So, I missed my visit this week.

A week from today I am leaving for Japan!  I had planned on getting all organized over the weekend but allergies prevented that.  Of course, I am well enough today to go to work.  I was going to stay home if I still felt bad today. 

I hate calling in sick.  Usually, I can ignore my personal problems at work.  It makes me angry, though, that I've been losing days of personal time-off every year.  I only noticed it this year because there was a change in time keeping that coincided with October 1, my 8th year anniversary of working at Rice.

When I started the new program I was able to see that my personal time was readjusted on October 1 so that I only carried over 1 year of personal time.  Guess I should have reviewed Rice policies earlier.  Oh well.  It's too bad I couldn't haven't carried some over for my 2 week trip to Japan.

Even so, Rice is the best place I've ever worked.  I love being in the midst of the beautiful campus and intelligent people.  I like having contact with the students.  Mostly I just deal with graduate students but they still seem like kids to me, even though some are in their 30's.  They have so much energy and enthusiasm.