Quiet Time

We got home from the three-day conference in Tokyo on Sunday night. We had time to unpack our stuff and get some sleep before it was time to get up and go to work again. The conference was very informative and professionally inspiring, just as Tokyo itself was invigorating and pulsating...yet we are both looking forward to a bit of a quiet weekend. And we're already counting down the days (three) before Saturday brings us some much-needed rest, and hopefully some more interesting activities to blog about.

Back and Gone again

I got back from my little business trip last night at about 9:00 pm or so after having dinner at an okonomiyaki place in Hamakita. It was pretty good and I even got to cook my own okonomiyaki:



It was a longish drive back, but at least I got a good night's sleep in my own futon, because now we're both off again to Tokyo for the weekend (tonight through Sunday).

Once again it is that time of year for the annual Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT) conference. We'll be away for the full three days, absorbing the presentations by day, and catching up with colleagues in the evenings.

Should be an interesting and informative event, with experts in the field of linguistics and language teaching hopefully sharing their many insights. Also, it doesn't hurt that the conference this year is in Tokyo where bars and restaurants of any variety can be found. Tonight we're thinking about Mexican...

Murakami Haruki - After the Quake

I'm out of town again for a few days - this time in Hamamatsu proper. I'm holed up at one of my favourite business hotels - the Route Inn - and as a result have had time once again to actually read an entire book.

It is 10:49 p.m. and I have just finished After the Quake, a collection of six short stories by Haruki Murakami (he of Norwegian Wood fame). I don't sense sleep coming any time soon, and I can't really help blaming the stories for my current state of wakefulness - six stories with characters who are desperately deep and achingly empty, feeling the lack but not knowing what it is.

As with others of Murakami's writings, the stories in After the Quake are bordering on the surreal. There is an eerie sense throughout that something just isn't right, but you can never really figure out what that something is; yet the anticipation, anxiety created is tangible. In the first story, toward the end, after the the main character as delivered a mysterious box, he asks what was in the box? The woman replies that in the box was all that he had ever had in him, so now he's really empty. She then laughs and says that of course she's kidding - but one has to wonder.

The stories are all tied together by the 1995 Kobe quake; the characters are not in Kobe, and the stories are not realistic tales of the actual damage done, but rather uses the quake as a metaphor and starting point to reflect the damage in the lives of others in all parts of the country.

Next time I'm away spending the night alone in a hotel room, I think I'll opt for some lighter fare:-)

Gotemba Supremium Outlet Mall

Getting there: Take the train to JR Gotemba station, on the Gotemba line. If you're coming from Shinjuku, you may want to take the Odakyu Romance Car called The Asagiri, that stops in Gotemba only about 5 times per day but is very comfortable, easy and affordable. There is a free shuttle bus to the mall that leaves from Gotemba station every twenty minutes (10 past, half past and 10 till the hour). More info can be found at: http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/en/gotemba/access/index.php

Yesterday was spent mostly in front of the computer for me, and doing other projects for Brian. Today we greeted the day ready to go shopping at the Gotemba Supremium Outlet Mall. It was sort of a spontaneous decision; I've been feeling like shopping for a while, and Brian decided that he needed a jacket. So off we went.

Now, I know that everyone has been to an outlet mall before, but here I want to give you an idea of what this particular mall is like on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It's less than 20km from our apartment and I've been several times for a day of shopping over the years; it's easy to just decide on the spur of the moment to go shopping. But this mall is actually something of a tourist attraction and attracts people from as far away as Gunma, Nagano, Yamanashi, and Nagoya, just to name a few. These are families, and boyfriends and girlfriends, who plan one special weekend around a trip to this mall. And trust me - there were enough people there, with their dogs in tow, to keep all but the bravest from diving into the Nike store! I enjoy shopping Outlet Mall but seriously I can't figure out why it is so popular. I go there because it's fun - and close by. I would certainly not drive through three other prefectures just to get to it.

However - we really did enjoy our day walking around outside and going into all the stores. I suppose the 5.5 hours we spent shopping were more fun for me than Brian since I came away with a couple of jackets, blouses and perfume, while Brian wasn't able to find just the right jacket with just the right fit. Instead, he is going to place an order with My Suit Shop.com where he has always been satisfied! Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to trying out some of my new purchases...

Ubuntu 7.10 - a.k.a. Gutsy Gibbon

My "alone day"　on Saturday was very productive. Brian and I went for a vigorous ride in the chilly morning air; after that, I spent some time finally upgrading my Ubuntu OS from Feisty Fawn to Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu has cool animal names for all its versions - Edgy Eft, Feisty Fawn, Gutsy Gibbon...).

I've been playing with and enjoying Ubuntu for nearly a year now. Ubuntu, which bills itself as "Linux for Humans", is a completely free operating system, and I've been having fun poking around in it and customizing it.

Anyway - upgrading the version is super easy and for me, at least, it went off without a hitch. I first installed any security and/or software updates under System-Administration-Update manager; still in the update manager, I simply then went ahead and clicked the "Upgrade to Ubuntu 7.10" option. And now here I am, fully functional in Gutsy Gibbon. Here's a screenshot, just for fun:



Oh, and I also spent some time on Saturday re-doing our main Japan Rider site, making use of the power of CSS...though you can't actually see the CSS part:-)

Bonenkai Season

Year-end parties - called bonenkai in Japanese - are a very popular part of the business and social culture here. Bonenkai literally means "forget-the-year party", and marks a release from whatever evils this year had brought in preparation to move on, without burdens, into the new year.

Though we are not exactly in bonenkai season yet, the time is getting close, and tonight we went to two separate parties- one, a bonenkai; and the other, a welcome party for two of our newest employees.

I was the designated driver and refrained from overimbibing - for which I'm sure I'll be thankful tomorrow!

Party One was a fun chance to catch up with some old students/friends:




Party number two saw the introduction of bottle of Fireball...


Over the next couple of weeks we will be increasingly busy socializing and working and going to conferences, and more.

Tomorrow, though, is mine. My day to bask in solitude and shut out the world for just a few precious hours...

Shinjuku and Shibuya: The Most Exciting Show on Earth?

On Saturday, we ventured into the Big Toe for some fine dining and general "big city" fun before heading to the Motor Show on Sunday. We also had arranged to meet a friend of Brian's in town just for a very limited amount of time on business. It was her first trip to Japan and we had a great time taking her around Shinjuku and Shibuya - two of the busiest areas of Tokyo. In fact, rumor has it that Shinjuku station is the busiest station in the world, and I have to say that I can well believe it. I used my cell phone to take the video below on exiting Shinjuku station at about 1 p.m. - NOT a busy time of day (it's not a great video - I have to get some practice, but I do think it shows Shinjuku station a bit, and I also wanted to try out Blogger's new "upload video" feature):


After lunch and window shopping around the east side of Shinjuku station, we went to the west (businessy and non-trendy) side where we checked into our hotel and then met Natalie. From there, we went to Shibuya - another very lively part of town. Here's a photo of Brian and Natalie standing outside at the Hachiko exit of Shibuya station at the most famous intersection in Japan:




Something Natalie said while going from shop to shop in Shibuya summed everything up: Sensory Overload...

EDIT: The Blogger video feature is great, but it seems to have compressed my video and reduced the quality a bit. I'm not complaining, though - I did take the video on my cell phone after all!

Tokyo Motor Show Favourites

The Tokyo Motor Show provided a great day of visual delights - sweet motorbikes and cars, and, of course, yes, good looking models!

This is Brian's favorite - a Yamaha Sakura (taken by Brian with a Nikon D40x).



This is the Kawasaki Ninja (yes, the model's pretty nice, too!).



Toyota Lexus:


Mitsuoka Orochi - a car that was voted "the ugliest super car ever" by Jalopnik (click here for the article). Frankly, I kinda like it. . .


So those are a few of our top pics from the Motor Show; we also, of course, spend some fun time around Shinjuku and Shibuya - those pics coming tomorrow!

Weekend plans

Last night we breathed a sigh of relief as we settled in for a Friday night pizza and looked forward to our weekend.

Today we're taking the 10:40 Asagiri "Romance Car" to Shinjuku in Tokyo. The Romance Car is an Odakyu express train that is super nice and comfortable with reserved seats and scenic views. It's not nearly as fast as the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), but it has the superior advantage of leaving straight from our very own little train station, saving us the hassle (and expense) of getting to the Mishima Shinkansen station.

In Shinjuku we plan to shop a little and have an exotic lunch before meeting a friend of Brian's for dinner.

We're going to spend the night in Tokyo and make our way to the Tokyo Motor Show tomorrow, which is a shortish train ride from central Tokyo. It's the final day for the Motor Show, so we're expecting to be overcome by the sweltering crowds...but still hope to get a look at the new cars!

Remembering to See

A long time ago I saw a movie where some prisoners planned an escape from a Siberian prison camp. They escaped by loading planks of wood onto a box-car they had to stock and building a false wall. How did they get the wood onto the box-car without the guards seeing? As one of the characters said, "Let them see. Let them get used to seeing." So the prisoners made carrying the wood part of their daily routine, and sure enough, the guards simply stopped seeing the wooden planks for what they were.

This little snippet holds true for so much of life, too. We get so used to doing the same things, seeing the same things, that really we just don't see anymore. Every now and then I remind myself to be aware; I ask myself what sounds I am hearing at a given moment, what textures I can feel against my skin, what am I feeling on the ground beneath my feet. And then I look around, and make a mental note of things - vending machines with Pokari Sweat (a sports drink), and Depresso iced coffee (best thing in a can!).

Sometimes we need a little reminder; tonight we welcomed a new comer to Japan and again, I find myself seeing things again, and enjoying the newness.

Biking around Motosuko, 2007

We have to apologise for the brief hiatus from Blogging - life was busy either being too hectic to blog, or too mundane to be worth blogging... However several emails, text messages and phone calls from my mother has prompted me to get back on track and post. Everybody has a muse, I suppose! Thankfully, we now report on our weekend of camping and biking around Motosuko, one of the Fuji Five Lakes.

We got not-so-early start on Saturday morning, leaving Susono at about 7:45 a.m.; we took the scenic route (along the 469 via Jurigi and Fujinomiya) in Brian's Pajero, and got to the "Lake" area around maybe 9:30 or so. We spent a few hours scoping out appropriate camp grounds and/or camp-able places, starting with Lake Saiko, then Lake Shojiko, and finally back to Motosuko. Despite the fact that Motosuko is actually a larger lake than the other two, it is less frequented simply because there are no motor boats allowed and, I think, even fishing is regulated. Also, on Saturday, there was some highschool marathon being held at Shojiko, and campers were everywhere.

Motosuko however was delightful, and Brian remembered a place he'd camped there a year or two ago - not an official campground, just a secluded spot in the woods, just 400 meters or so from the lake. So there was set up camp, and then got out our bikes and hit the road and trails.

The Tokai Shizen Hodo hiking trail is the most amazing off-road cross-country trail for mountain biking and seems absolutely made for single speeding with its mostly-gentle rolling hills. There were very few hikers (we saw 4 hikers in total in about 20 km of riding). We really wanted to get some photos of the trails, but were having too much fun riding to stop!

However, we did take some time to get photos of the lake and Mt. Fuji on Saturday and Sunday.