Redmond/Sammamish Blog

December 23, 2006

SAT 23 DEC 2006

MISSED THE STORM! I WAS IN JAPAN. By Carmen

It's good to be back home. I can't believe I missed this horrendous storm. I almost feel guilty because my kids were home.

My husband travels a lot because of his business and he is always asking me to accompany him and I almost always decline because I don't like to leave the kids. So early this month he asked me to go with him to Japan and this time I decided to accept his invitation. I hired a great babysitter and left to Japan on Sunday December 10th. We came back the following Sunday on the 17th. On our way home in the taxi, we were able to see all the debris on the roads. It looked like a tornado had hit the city, debris everywhere! When we got home the house was cold but everybody was well taken care of. Our babysitter did a great job and the kids were safe and had a lot of fun. I also had wonderful friends that checked on them too.

So what happens to a house when there is no electricity? Well, the house was cold, luckily we got power back 2 hours after we arrived on Sunday. They hadn't had electricity since Thursday. The food in the refrigerator had to be thrown away. The laundry was piled up high. The computers were off - no internet connection. The televisions and radios were off, so besides the phones, there was little communication with the outside world. Luckily, we have a gas cook top which they lit with a match, so they had plenty of hot meals.

I know this experience made my kids appreciate the comfort of their home even more and how sometimes we take for granted little things like electricity. We are blessed to live in this country and to enjoy many things a lot of countries do without regularly.

Now, I want to talk about my trip to Japan. Japan was AMAZING! I loved it. We stayed in the district of Shibuya. Shibuya is a very busy place. It is like Times Square but ten times bigger and with 20 times more people. I have never seen so many people together in my life! The intersections are enormous and they have pedestrian bridges everywhere. When the traffic lights change to let people cross, there are thousands of people doing it at the same time. If you are not careful you can be pushed around. You have to keep pace with everybody else.

Their buildings illuminate the night with all their advertisement and big Jumbotrons.  It is a very busy city, people are out until late at night.











Japanese people are very respectful. I almost felt uncomfortable coming out of the elevator of my hotel in the mornings because I knew there would be a couple of people who I think were hired to just greet and bow at you and of course I always responded in the same manner.  They are soft spoken and very helpful. They don't expect tips for the services they provide. If you leave a tip on the table for a waiter or waitress, they come after you and they tell you that you have forgotten your change.  In Japan, you don't tip anybody.

While my husband worked during the day,  I took the train and explored the city.  In Japan, most people don't own a car instead they rely on their train system which is very effective. It is a very intricate system with lines going everywhere in the city. You can go pretty much everywhere and know that there will be a train station close by.  Unfortunately only few signs are translated in English. I never got lost and if I wasn't sure what train to take, I would ask the attendant at the station and he would mark on a map the right route.










The food was fantastic. For sushi lovers like me and my husband, we were in paradise. We found this sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt. There were 4 sushi chefs busy making the sushis and a small selection of rolls to keep up with the consumption rate. Once we got stuffed, they count how many plates we have eaten and then we paid by the number of plates we had on the counter. I ate 9 plates, that means 18 pieces of sushi and rolls altogether. Yummo!










If you do not know Japanese and you want to order food, no problem! All the restaurants display their food with replicas made out of a synthetic material. All you have to do is point to the plate you want and they will make it for you. It is actually a big business in Japan to make food replicas. It is a work of art. We went to this district where they sold supplies for restaurants and they have stores after stores where they sold this food. It was amazing! Take a look:












But not only their fake food looked good, their real food was even better. I loved their markets, their fruits, vegetables and meats were so fresh and excellently packed.

Take a look:











I loved their food and I can't wait to learn how to make some sushi rolls here at home.

But enough about food. I was also delighted to see some of Japan's parks. I didn't go to any famous parks but to the neighborhood park and they were beautiful. Green space is so rare in Japan that people really appreciate their parks. The leaves in the trees are still changing colors making the scenery even more spectacular.







and look at these beautiful temples






The five-story building is called the Pagoda. This is my hubby Jeff (above)




I found Japanese people to be very stylish. You don't see people wearing tennis shoes when in the city. The women wear stilettos all the time and they sometimes walked like their feet are hurting. Of course, I can identify with that :-) I don't remember the last time I wore a pair of flats except when I go to the gym but never when I go out.










Overall I loved Japan. I loved the people. They were very respectful, they keep to themselves but they are very helpful and very nice when you talk to them. I loved their food. I am going to become an expert in making sushi rolls, sashimi and Katsudon which is one of my husband's favorite dishes. I know that I will go and visit Japan again. I am planning to take my kids there and also go with a whole bunch of girlfriends. Aragato Tokyo!!

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