Yoyogi Park

October 29 cont.

Before we even crossed the street from Yoyogi station I could smell the ginko trees.

The oxygen and moisture felt delicious in my nose and lungs.

This is a huge park (133 acres) of the most ancient tree alive today. The trees were dense, barely letting in light, with a few broad, paved paths winding through.

I was starved for greenery and wanted to walk through the moss, running my hands along the bark of the big trees, but tidy fences made it clear that this is not allowed. Or maybe the fences are meant to keep the trees back.

A courtyard on the other side of the park is home to a famous gathering of youth every Sunday afternoon. 'Cosplay' is dressing up as charaters from manga & anime. The kids are like peacocks, primping and competing for attention.

introduction to Tokyo

October 28 cont.

We didn't have a hotel booked ahead of time, so we took what we could get at the tourist office. The New Izu Hotel turned out to be a simple (probably more on the spiffy side at one time) hotel with a free massage chair in the lobby, english-speaking staff (phew!) and a very uncomfortable bed.

It was great to stay in the Ueno district. We were a short walk from a major train station/mall, a fun shopping district, and some other tourist sights.

Ueno station made me think of the Jetsons with its multiple levels of concrete walkways.

There was an Andersen bakery at the station. It fed my pastry habit nicely (almost every day for breakfast). I tried to have juice or yogurt or something else 'healthy' to ease my guilt. These were the best pastries I have ever eaten in my life. Withdrawl was ugly when I got home.

October 29th

We took the train down to Shinjuku, the bustling business core of Tokyo and home to the Metropolitan Government buildings. We craned our necks to look up, way up at the two towers.

On the way around to find the doors, we came upon a crazy man with a cat. He was shouting at the top of his lungs, so we gave him a wide berth.

My feet were so sore from blisters by this point, I was really tired and it was very humid. It wasn't even lunchtime yet and I was wondering how I was going to make it through the day.

We took an elevator up to the observation deck on the 45th floor (not even the top of the building). This seemed to be a popular place, filled with Japanese tourists milling around in a huge central gift shop.Walking around the windows, the view was amazing despite the heavy smog that day. They say on a clear day you can see Fuji San. I saw a couple of window washers and got nasty vertigo for a minute. We could not see the borders of the city. It was like looking out into the ocean.

The gift shop was almost as fun as the view. We found all kinds of Astro Boy stuff, cool science toys, and merchandise from quite a few popular cartoons. Do you remember Monchichis? I hadn't seen these things in 20 years. What strange little thumb-sucking monkeys, all decked out in little japanese costumes.

We set out in search of a highly recommended tempura restaurant for lunch. It's very difficult to find addresses in Japan, even with directions and a well-drawn map. Tsunahachi was not a departure from this. When we finally found it, there was a long line-up of well-dressed people outside, which we took as a good sign. It was so worth the extra effort! We sat at the counter and watched the other diners to figure out proper tempura etiquette. The flavour & texture were Amazing! Now I'm ruined for the North American version.

wireless wonder

This is my first post on my new laptop computer. I am currently sitting in the waiting room at Canadian Blood Services in Calgary while Matt donates platelets.

I feel so sophisticated.

Now I just need a cell phone, pda, Ipod and cable TV to catch up with everyone else.

sometimes I hate people

I woke up angry this morning.

Angry at selfish middle class people who say "not in my back yard."

It's bad enough to wake up to news of how many car bombs exploded last night and which politician was indicted yesterday, but when, in the midst of all this crap that's going on in the world, I hear about some community group crying out against organizations who are trying to help people simply because of their own unscrutinized, knee-jerk fear (and perhaps concern for their property value), well, that's the last straw.

(big breath here)

I am referring to the neighbourhoods of Sunalta and Scarboro in Calgary who are in an uproar over the half-way house the John Howard Society would like to build there.

Everyone praises the John Howard Society for the work they do, but no one wants them down the street. The idea of giving ex-cons a second chance, grace, forgiveness, rehabilitation, is lovely as long as they don't have to participate.

Why can't they give the JHS a little credit? They've been doing this kind of thing for a long time. They have results and studies and research backing them up. They want to do this right and make it a success. They're not going to thoughtlessly put children's lives at risk. It is not in their best interests to do a crappy job and let a bunch of child molesters loose on local schools.

If it was their brother just getting out of jail and needing a hand to reintegrate into the community, they would be singing a different tune. Then it would be "our callous society is filled with prejudice. No one will let the past be the past. If he can't get a job and start a new life, he's in danger of re offending."

No one has any empathy.

No one can step outside their little bubble of personal experience to look around and see other people's lives going on, other people needing their help, other people being affected by them.

Instead of pressuring city hall to keep all the down-trodden and disenfranchised corralled in a ghetto to protect the rest of us, each one of us, 'the privileged', needs to take responsibility for our role in a society where so much suffering and crime exists, and help to find solutions.

I get tired of people telling me "it's so wonderful that you help people with your job. Keep up the good work!"

I bite my tongue to keep from saying "why don't you shut up and help me?"

Onion & Chick Pea Hot Dip

I found this recipe scribbled on the inside back cover of a cookbook my friend Phil gave me. It's simple, quite tasty, and filled with fabulous flavinoids.

Try it!

2-3 large red onions (chopped)
1/2 19 oz. can of chick peas (strained)*
1/4 c. red wine
1 1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar (I actually used basil white wine)
parsley

*I think I'll use the whole can next time I make it

1. saute onions 3 min.

2. add chick peas, saute 2 more min., covered.

3. add wine, cook 5 min.

4. add vinegar and blend until hummous consistency.

5. sprinkle parsley on top and serve hot or chilled with veggie sticks or "imagine" (this is the exact wording).

lunch at 250 km an hour

October 28, 2006

Even on the bullet train, it took more than 5 hours to get from Hiroshima to Tokyo. Japan is longer than it looks!

The view along the coast was not that interesting: houses, fields, industrial buildings, train station, repeat.

The highlight of the trip was actually the Ekiben, the boxed lunch we ate on the train. The japanese eat cold cooked food more than I expected. Certainly more than we do in the west.

Tasty. Except for the pickles.

There were no pickles that I liked in this meal. The bright pink pickled plum sitting on top of my rice was particularly unpalatable to me. I tried not to speculate about what foul chemicals it had been soaked in. At this point I was starting to get discouraged about the number of japanese foods I didn't like so far.