G.I. Jack & Lady Mia

Chris was turning in his gear, and the kids helped of course...The helmets were so heavy they had a hard time standing.

President's Day in Mrs. Libertino's 2nd Grade Class

Sorry, I know this is a little late, but I thought I'd better catch up.

Emily Washington

Goodbye Cake

My store manager and I quit at about the same time---I made this cake for her. (She makes her own jewelry, thus the chocolate rock jewelry on the cake.)

Jack stole my camera...

GUESS THE BELLYBUTTON!

ANSWER: (a) Ronin (b) Jack (c) Mia

I was absolutely mesmerized by Ronin's swirl of a bellybutton, so I took a picture of all three of the little ones. I also think Mia's looks like Sugar Smacks cereal. :)

Father Daughter Dance 08

Emily and Chris went to this Father-Daughter dance last month. Unfortunately Paige had a fever that night so she and Papa stayed home.

Wednesday...Heading Back Home

Today we take off for home. I can't wait to see my family and give them all big hugs. We've had such an incredible time here in Japan. Diane and Jim have been wonderful hosts...and Diane is the most amazing trip planner! I feel more than satisfied with our experience. We saw everything from ancient shrines, temples, and national treasures to modern Tokyo. We experienced Kabuki theater, a traditional meal, the fish market, and much much more. We got to see how people live and work here by using many forms of public transport. We got to ride on the bullet train and take an airplane tour. We got to take in the most beautiful sights and learn a little Japanese. I am very grateful for our well rounded trip. Thank you so much Diane, Jim and Mom! (And a special thank you to Chris for encouraging me to go while he took care of the kids and everything else at home!)

Tues: Tour From the Sky

Tokyo Dome

Imperial palace

Train

Yesterday my mom and I took an aero-tour. It was my first time in a small plane (Cessna 172). We were supposed to go last week but the pilot was sick. He was very surprised to hear all the things we had done in the past week and a half. We had already been to a lot of the places that he pointed out. Before taking off we had to wait for about half a dozen C-130s to land. They landed one right after the other, very closely. We flew from Yokota across Tachikawa, Yokohama, Tokyo, and the bay. We saw little helicopters flying beneath us and even saw the Shinkansen (bullet train) that looked like a little white string moving through the city. It was amazing to see how densely populated Tokyo and it's surrounding areas were. The pilot said that Japan is roughly the size of California, but that the entire population of California is living in this Tokyo area (about 120 million). It was a hazy day, and although we couldn't see everything clearly, we were probably better off that way because the pilot said that when the air is clear it's because of wind- which makes for a bumpy ride. By the end of one hour (relatively smooth tour) I was feeling a little queasy.

Japanese version of a pick-up truck...are those 10" rims? How cute.

Landing

Mon: Misaka, Tama-Kawa River

Jim's cute little Toyota Vitz


Jim took the day off and took us to Misaka. The plan was to walk along the river and then see the Sake distillery and a museum, however, both of those were closed on Mondays. The river was beautiful. I've never seen a river that blue before...

Wore green on St. Pat's day...couldn't deny my Irish roots, even in Japan! ;)

Found this lichen and lacquer can for Wayne...

Sun: East Garden of Imperial Palace, Ueno Park

On Sunday we walked around the East garden of the Imperial Palace. It was very nice, and probably amazing later on in spring when everything is in full bloom. Then we walked through Ueno Park and stopped in at the Tokyo National Museum. After that we caught out bus back to Yakota

Fish Saw

Sat: Tsukiji Fish Market, Super Kabuki, Roppongi Hills

Nissan Skyline pics for Chris....

On Saturday morning we got up very early to catch the first subway train to the Tsukiji fish market. We arrived around 5:30am and the market had been going on since about 2 or 3am. I'm sure the auction had finished already, but it was not open to the public anyway. There were quite a few tourists there and we all just seemed to get in the way. It was the highest energy filled place that I've ever been in. It was exhilarating and somewhat dangerous with all the carts whizzing around and fishermen organizing their shops. After that we went back to the New Sanno hotel and met Jim before going to Super Kabuki, Yamato Takeru. It lasted 4 1/2 hours and was a great experience. The costumes, makeup, acrobats, and special effects were amazing. Many thanks to Ayako, Grandma, Marlene & Dave for making this possible. Ayako also provided us with a DVD before hand so that we could understand a little better what was going on. Our seats were right next to a walkway that jutted out from the stage, so we got to see the actors (all male) up close. Unfortunately we were not permitted to take any pictures. Afterwards we stopped in Roppongi Hills to get an idea of what Tokyo is like. While we were in what I think was downtown Tokyo, we saw a street that was closed off to traffic for a while as hoards of people swarmed the street. You feel like a stationary spectator as a blur of people quickly move past you like a fluid in a huge living organism...ok, maybe my imagination is running a little wild, sorry...must be the effect of the zen garden. :) We then returned to the hotel, did some laundry and said good bye to Jim. Another full day of Japanese culture...