Monthly Archives: September 2011

Ups & Downs & Ups

September 28, 2011 By in Chase, Cliff, Daily Living, Girlfriends, Japan, Japanese Excursions, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, School, Tokyo, Uncategorized Tags: , , 3 Comments

Yesterday was Chase’s first day at school in his complete school ensemble:

First Day of Full Uniform

I see pictures of him like this and I swear he takes my breath away. I had an argument with Cliff this morning and I am going to throw him under the bus a little bit. From the beginning, No one would ever describe Chase as a “wispy” child. He has been referred to as Buddha Baby, Big Tiny, Gentle Giant, Bam Bam, etc…. Cliff has always been very concerned about his weight, but I for one have never worried because the doctors have all projected that he will end up somewhere in the 6’3-6’5 height. Anyhow, last night over dinner, Chase asked me if I thought he was “chunky”. At this point I must contain my inner Mamma Bear and just ask him why and if someone is teasing him. So he admits that some of the boys have said something, but that his tennis coach also called him chunky and “even Dad calls me chunky.” I don’t believe that Cliff would call Chase that to his face, but I do believe people can let you know how they are thinking by other forms of communication, like, say, questioning your food choices, portion size, seconds, you get the picture. It really bothers me that Chase would feel insecure about his body at a time when he is still a growing boy. For the first time, when I told him I thought he was perfect and that he would need his flesh for the growth spurt, he told me I was just saying it because I was his mom. I feel so sad about this but I really don’t know what else I can do other than support him and tell him how beautiful I think he is.

Anyhow, I wanted to follow up to the bad news about that 3rd grader at St. Mary’s who died unexpectedly. I found out that His mom killed him. I might have mentioned that despite being one of the safest street cities in the world, Tokyo does have a high rate of parent/child murder as well as child/parent murder. The details are too macabre to go into, but needless to say, now, when I get mad and I tell Chase, “I’m so angry I could choke you!” he starts running. It is all so surreal and hard to believe, and yet it happened. Chase’s friend Shebab was able to recite a poem for his best friend.

Back to happier news.

Yesterday, after I saw Chase off to school in the uniform, I met with my girlfriend Nghi and we biked our way to Tsukiji Market. It was really such a high point of being here. As I biked through the city, early in the morning and walked around the market with my new friend in tow, I realized this is what relocating is all about. This whole moment was so uniquely Tokyo and I was wallowing in the moment.

I couldn't resist

I ended up buying some Salmon and Tuna and believe it or not, I got them at less than US prices! Today I plan to cook the salmon. I just finished skinning and deboning the fillets and I have to tell you, I am not sure it was worth it. I either need to get better at cleaning fish, or I need to just buy the fish at the market already sushi-fied.

After the market, I had to race across town to meet with Adonica for our Japanese Vegan cooking class. The teacher is Hema Parekh (author of “The Asian Vegan Kitchen”). The lesson was enlightening and the dishes were so delicious I know you carnivores out there will not believe how satisfying it was. I am going to cook a version of the eggplant marinade tonight and tomorrow I am planning on making the bamboo rice and stir fried carrots & burdock. I’ll wait here while you get up to get a towel for your drooling lips….

Back?

Today, I am actually trying the grocery delivery service from Nissin Store. I felt so inspired by the cooking lesson, so I went to the grocery to get ingredients and stock my pantry and just wasn’t in the mood to do the Tide 300 so for 600 Yen ($7.84) they will deliver my groceries to my door at my designated time. I asked for after 5:30pm today so we’ll soon find out.

Until next time…

School Daze

September 24, 2011 By in Chase, Cliff, Daily Living, Family, Japan, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, School Tags: , Leave a comment

Last night we had lovely dinner with one of our neighbors from Atlanta. Unexpectedly, he emailed me and let me know he was “in town” and had a little time before he was off to his next destination. Chuck’s daughter Elizabeth was Chase’s babysitter in Atlanta and Chase and I really adored her. She was one of those kids who managed to escape the trappings of living with successful parents and having a nice home and ya-ya. She is such a lovely young lady and is one of the very few kids from Atlanta that ended up getting accepted to Vanderbilt University. Anyhow, her father Chuck is one of these brilliant scientist/entrepreneurs and as we spoke in-depth about his work, it was almost like discovering your neighbor Clark Kent was Superman all this time! We spoke non-stop the whole evening and it reminded me a lot of the first dinner you have with adults only after you’ve had a baby. I didn’t realize how homesick I was until I actually made contact with someone from my old hood. All in all, it was very fun and looks like he’ll be back in the future.

Cliff made it back safely from the States. The Typhoon ended up delaying him for a day but he weathered it. He swears he doesn’t have jet-lag, but every time I turn around he is nodding off on the couch. Having lived in Charleston, SC where hurricanes abound, I thought it was a pretty cool storm. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized from local Japanese that the Typhoon was really severe. In fact, schools shut down early and trains and subways were stopped. A lot of Chase’s classmates ended up having to return to spend the evening at school.

Chase is doing great. Found an awesome tennis teacher. She nicknamed him “Grandpa” because he’s so slow on the court. I like her a LOT! He was having a tough time getting into the math class, but he seems to be improving. The interesting thing is he really enjoys Japanese and according to him he is the best student in Level 1. Chase’s other milestone last week was coming home by himself by the subway. The school is getting ready to hold a funeral for a student who died there last week. It is really unbelievable because the kid was only in the 3rd grade. His dad is from England and his mom is Japanese. They won’t say how he died. It is so sad. We knew about it first because Chase’s best friend Shabab was really close to Oliver (the boy who died). Sorry for the sad note, but I felt like it was something that really troubled me. I know in the States at Chase’s old school, everyone knows when tragedy hits and we all rally to support the family. Here it is so different. I don’t know if one way is better or not. I hope I never have to find out.

Until next time…

First Typhoon

September 21, 2011 By in Daily Living, Tokyo, Transportation, Weather Tags: , 1 Comment

Today I had my aqua aerobics class. I keep forgetting to take pictures but it really is something to see. Afterwards, my new friend Okhui picked me up from the club. Our original plan was to explore Koreatown, but unfortunately we are getting hit by Typhoon Roke. Typhoon by definition is: a tropical cyclone or hurricane of the western Pacific areaand the China seas. I didn’t want us to get stuck in traffic and delayed coming home and I had already heard about other schools shutting down early. So, we ended up going to a Korean restaurant in town. Okhui by the way is also Korean (but she told me that her favorite food is actually Italian). Ojori (The Korean restaurant by Chase’s school) is still the best I’ve had so far. We had a lovely lunch and then she took me back to her apartment for coffee where I could also peruse her furniture. She is in the process of moving out so over here when people have a lot of stuff they want to get rid of they hold Sayoonara Sales. She is trying to avoid this, but after seeing her apartment I don’t think that is going to be possible. After a very nice afternoon, she dropped me off at home so I could meet Chase at his bus stop. All afterschool activities have been cancelled. Walking around in a typhoon is a tricky thing. Honestly I don’t know if you are better off without an umbrella because the rain and wind is just coming at you from every direction and there were a couple of times I felt like the “wind beneath my wings” was going to toss me off the sidewalk and right into an oncoming taxi. I am glad I was there to meet Chase though. He was so happy to see me waiting. It’s what I call a MOMent when you can feel the gratitude.

We are just hanging low today, enjoying a good storm. Cliff is stranded in Atlanta because the planes won’t fly this way due to the weather. Hopefully he’ll make it home sometime.

Daily Living: One thing I wanted to mention before I forgot was taxis. I know that in different cities taxis will start charging at different rates, so FYI here in Tokyo, a cab ride will cost a minimum of 710 Yen = $9.31

Until next time…

Not for the Faint-Hearted

September 20, 2011 By in Girlfriends, Japan, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, Tokyo, Uncategorized Tags: , , 1 Comment

WARNING: The following blog contains information that may not be suitable for young children or persons with Y chromosomes.

So my uterus is no longer jet-lagged. Unfortunately for me, I was still thinking I had a few days.

Anyhow, this is how this morning went. I was all excited because I discovered an ashtanga studio in a different prefecture of course, but one that looked promising. Class didn’t start until 11am so I have started designating Tuesday as my “Cleaning Day”. I walked Chase to bus stop and then came home and put in some housekeeping time. I never thought I would say this, but I think I actually like doing light housekeeping. I dust a little in the bathroom and push a swiffer around the floor in the main areas and do a load of laundry and I feel like I’ve accomplished something. I actually just hired my helper Joji’s sister to come in for a half day (Tuesdays) because I just felt like once a week was not good enough. Since Cliff has been gone for a week, the place hasn’t gotten so dirty so I told her to start next week, although I am having my doubts. Plus, I am still feeling guilty over my mani/pedi situation, hair, food, classes, EVERYTHING! I was complaining the other day to this lady who’s lived here for 5 years already that I feel like I am just bleeding money and she said, “Oh honey it’s not real! It’s Monopoly money!” Insert: look of surprise. So I am going to try to keep my cleaning mojo going and save myself 4500 Yen ($60) a week.

Back to this morning: I decided to bike to the station and of course it’s raining and of course on my way the chain came loose, but thank God I wear black all the time, because after I fixed my chain I could wipe the grease on my pants. Once I find a bridge to park my bike under, I head to the station and just as I pass through the gates I get “the feeling”. You know, when you think, “Did I just lose control of my bladder? or is that my period starting?” So now I am looking around at the kiosks and typing into my translator app “Where are your feminine products?” Logically, I’m thinking there is no way they are selling newspapers, snacks and tampons in that little booth and I am just going to embarrass myself. So I find a bathroom -and Girls, you can deny it all day, but I KNOW you relate… I get into a stall and get to working on my MacGyver pad. Of course this is Japan and they only have that terrible super thin crunchy easily degradable tissue on the roll and of course I am wearing Brazilian workout pants…. but GD! I’m gonna make this work! So the time is ticking. I walkout albeit less comfortably than when I walked in, and I get to my next town. As I am climbing the many flights of stairs out of the station, I know people are looking at me strangely either because those Brazilian pants don’t hide a thing, or because I am walking funny due to the fact that my makeshift pad keeps migrating all over my lower half. Somehow I manage to find a convenience store and locate their 1 box of tampons.

POD of the Pad:

I couldn't resist. A 1000 words people...

I must also add that shortly after I moved here I took notice of all the video surveillance cameras everywhere. I guess that is part of the price you pay to be in a safe city. It is a little strange though thinking that you are being watched everywhere you go.

Tomorrow my new friend from the Club is taking me to Korea town in her car! I am very excited about this. Chase has decided to try the swim team which meets after school every Mon/Wed/Fri and with cub scouts Tuesdays and Baseball Thursdays, my push for him to try to make it home alone by the train is on. Cliff just called and should be back in Japan by Wed evening our time. Says he had a great time in the States.

Until next time…

Time, Fashion, White Woman, What Happened?!?, Movies, Bicycle Police, Vending Machines, Hair Salon Part 2

September 17, 2011 By in Chase, Daily Living, Hair Salon, Japan, Japanese Excursions, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, Tokyo, Uncategorized, useful Tags: , , , 5 Comments

For those of you reading and appreciating the blog: Thank You. In a city where sarcasm doesn’t exist, it’s a little bit like 1 hand clapping all the time.

Today I’m talking about a bunch of stuff. I finally was able to decipher my oven manual and have the time on my oven converted to AM/PM as opposed to military time. I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal to you, but after a while, all that subtracting by 12 was making me a little headachey. By the way, that’s how they roll here in Japan. As if Metrics wasn’t hard enough to punch into my converter app.

As I continue to live here in Tokyo, I will try to remember to let you know what kind of “fashion” I see on the streets. Like I have noticed a LOT of girls (and a few guys) running around with frames on their faces without the lenses. It’s a little weird. I don’t get it. The other thing I have noticed is women walking around with VERY short shorts. I know it’s hot, but still. Cliff and I were walking home the other week and we got behind this one girl who I swear was wearing white underwear that had pockets drawn on the butt. WHITE. I was thinking I hope she got lasered and I hope it doesn’t rain for her sake. Am I getting old? I really thought it was gross. Among my observations, I’m just going to say what others here are thinking. What the heck is going on with the Caucasian group of women here? Maybe it’s because back in Hotlanta, all my friends were hot chicks and there were certainly extensions, nails, boobs and whatever else deemed necessary for goddessness, but over here, the white chicks are losing the battle. I thought it was just me and the fact that maybe I just came from a city where women liked to accessorize, but here it is a stark contrast between the Asian women who put on heels to go to the convenience store, and the foreign white women who look like they own no make-up and are always wearing bad resort wear circa 1980. I’m sorry if you are reading this White Lady and you take offense, but let’s be honest with ourselves. It kind of surprises me because for the most part, the expats here are women from around the world who have traveled and seen a lot more than most. I’ll try to take some pictures secretly to illustrate my point.

Chase went to his first movie here in Tokyo at the Roppongi Hills. It was part of a birthday party for one of the boys in our apartment. I knew tickets wouldn’t be cheap so I opted to keep another mom company and not have a ticket bought for me. Tickets range from 900-1700 yen ($11.72-22.14) depending on whether you are a high school student, senior or general admission. Tickets are assigned! and if you are like me and you don’t see movies opening weekend so that later you might be able to walk into a theater to find only 4 other people there with you, that kind of goes away because in the assignments, even if there are only 5 people in a theater they plop you all together in the middle. Since I haven’t tested the MPs (Movie Police) by actually going to a movie and switching seats, I’ll let you know when that drama unfolds.

In case you were wondering about the movie snack options I took this picture. Don't forget that portion sizes are much smaller.

Speaking of police, the other day I needed to pick up something at the shopping center and rode over on my bike. I couldn’t find a spot on the street rail, so I tied my bike to a tree next to the door and went in. By the time I came out, there was a ticket on my bike lock! Evidently I did something wrong. I’m not sure how they expect to enforce this, but I can only assume they think I will simply be a good citizen and not do it again. I just thought that was funny. Angela, of course, explained to me that I need to register my bicycle with the government. You know how in every mom group there’s that one woman who seems to know everything and have been everywhere already twice? that’s Angela. Part of me doesn’t believe she’s really new here. She’s either one of the craziest people I know, or one of the bravest.

Yesterday I went on a Kimono Shopping excursion with the TAC Women’s group. It was a lot of fun and I actually ended up picking up a terrific antique Obi to hang on my wall. I have to mention, during our walk, we passed a vending machine and we realized that it sold beer and wine! Talk about trusting your citizens.

Nghi is getting the Asahi Dry in the extra big can

I know compared to some blogs, mine might run a sukoshi long, but partly it’s because there is so much to talk about!

I want to wrap this episode with a follow-up to my first hair experience with my second attempt.

This is the website for Montblan criket:  http://www.creativeart.jp

Yuji Okawa is evidently some kind of color genius and in fact helps Aveda create some of its colors. Despite his notoriety, his salon is modest by some standards and I liked it better as soon as I walked in. It didn’t feel like a nightclub and he was very kind and spoke great English. Educated in England and his family has been in the hair business for many years.

I was offered a blanket, didn’t take it. We got to know each other a bit. While my color was processing,

 

Yuji offered me a variety of drinks, I accepted coffee.

When I needed to shampoo, they didn’t put the tissue over my face. The only way I can describe the shampoo is to say it felt like what I imagine a newborn baby must feel the first time its mother washes its hair. It was nice.

All in all a much more simplified experience and much more enjoyable experience. As we were wrapping up and I was signing the bill: 15,500 Yen = $201.84 I felt like I needed to say something more. I started telling him, “you know, in the States, I never had to say anything to Patti…” and he reached over and touched my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, I’m here to make you beautiful. You don’t have to say anything more”.  He had me at “Don’t“.

Until next time…

Lunch

September 15, 2011 By in Culture Shock, Girlfriends, Japan, Japanese Excursions, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, School, Tokyo Tags: , , 1 Comment

Just to give you a little history, there was a time in my life when I was one of those crazy workout chicks who demonized lunch and chose to eat protein bar  on a VERY regular basis. Then, I decided life was too short to live my life like a hamster eating meal supplements. As soon as I started doing lunch with girlfriends I must say the quality of my life took a wonderful turn for the better. Luckily our lunches were pretty regular and I am a true believer that rituals are integral to creating deep and meaningful bonds to the people in your life.

My POD for today is a picture we took today at hopefully the first of many lunches:

Our first lunch was at a French restaurant called Milieu. They served a delicious set menu. The Japanese have many restaurants where especially for lunch a set menu can be very affordable and fulfilling. Today we could choose between a main course of 1)Sardines with Pasta or 2) Chicken with roast vegetable. With your main course you get a delicious salad, bread, a small cup of carrot soup, a little serving of Tiramisu, and after meal drink. 1200 yen total =$15.66 and don’t forget NO TIPPING. It was delicious and we decided that whoever could make Thursday lunch would be there. As I get to know these women, I cannot help but reminisce about my friends from cities past and of course most recently Atlanta. As outspoken and opinionated as I sense everyone is, I also know we are still at that “getting-to-know” one another stage. I can’t even tell you how often I remember sitting over meals with my girlfriends and discussing without censorship: men, surgery, gossip, personal hygiene and a plethora of other embarrassing topics only to find ourselves screaming or face-cramping. I have decided that it is futile to find replacements and what I need to do is enjoy the process and appreciate each moment and relationship as it develops. I think I have a good start. Tomorrow, Nghi and Angela and I will go on a Kimono and Obi shopping tour. Should be interesting.

Yesterday I had my first houseguest. Her name is Okhui and she is a lovely lady I met during my last trip here to take Chase to school interviews. She is in the process of leaving Japan (Her exodus is Dec 30th). So she is trying to get organized and sell whatever she can to avoid lugging it around the world and having a sayoonara sale where people need to invade her home. I really enjoy her because she is the sort of person I want to emulate. You ever meet people and just say “she/he’s so classy” and find yourself just admiring them? She happens to be Korean too and has offered to drive me to Koreatown next week.

Cliff Stories:

1) I needed to buy Cliff some shampoo the other day because I realized the only shampoo in the shower was mine which meant he was using my precious formulas and when it comes to my personal beauty products, well let’s just say I’m like a crack addict and I don’t like sharing. So I went to the Aveda salon up the street thinking I would get him that “Blue Malva” shampoo that is good for white hair. Well, I got to the store and tried to explain I wanted to buy shampoo for white hair and the dude at the store was just dumbfounded. I don’t think he even thought having white hair would be something anyone would want to keep. Then he thought he understood and showed me a bottle of shampoo that was white colored, and I said no. Then I finally showed him a picture of the “Silver Fox” in my phone and the lightbulb finally turned on and he informed me that there was no shampoo for white hair people. I guess that’s a downside to living in Asia. Some products just don’t have a market.

2) The Japanese sometimes get criticized for believing that they are the superior race. I’m not here to agree or disagree. I do think being here is making Cliff weirdly racist. The weird thing is he is breaking it down. For example, the other day he was talking about some partner in the Seoul office and after he got off the phone, he says “I can’t believe that guy… he wants blah blah blah… that guy is so Korean…” So I’m just looking at him thinking what the f**k? Did he just say that? I don’t know, I just told him he needed to be careful and just because he had an Asian wife, it didn’t give him license to going around calling people “his ninja”.

The last “lost in translation” moment came yesterday at Chase’s school tea. I walked in and “registered at the front table” and sat down for the program. While we were wrapping things up and I was chatting with some other moms, a lady came over with a sheet of paper and kept bowing and saying thank you in Japanese and saying “homu roomu momu”. I swear, my brain had like a mini stroke when I realized I freaking signed up to be room mom! Shit! I swear that paper didn’t have anything written on it except for the different rooms and I thought they were just trying to keep a tally of who showed up!

PS: here are some pictures of what I see when I grocery shop at Nissin. This is there to help inform shoppers who are concerned about where products are coming from relative to radiation sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time…

1st Month Anniversary: Reflections, Apps, TV

September 12, 2011 By in Bullet train/Shinkansen, Culture Shock, Daily Living, Japan, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, Tokyo, Transportation, Uncategorized, useful Tags: , , , , 4 Comments

It’s hard to believe we have hit the month mark!

Let me just say one more thing about my mani-pedi experience and then I will drop it: “NO $500 hand job is ever worth it.” There, I said it and now I am moving on.

First, let me get my POD out of the way. I have a new app on my phone called 360Panorama which enables me to take really terrific scenic pictures. So I’m giving it a shot. Sorry if it doesn’t work:

http://360.io/4TK5ru

This is a panorama of a park very close to the apartment. It was one of those surreal moments of being in Tokyo. One of the things I most love about the city is it’s dichotomies. How within the world of tall skyscrapers, taxis, and huge videoscreens, you can find a perfectly preserved park where groups of people get together to sketch a gentle waterfall or old men can sit on a rock and fish using colored string and a stick. When you see the picture, just touch the mouse and left click anywhere on the image to see the panorama.

One month in. I have managed to:

  1. Travel to Karuizawa & Kyoto
  2. Moved into apartment
  3. Met & Established relationships with 4 other new expats
  4. Attained cell phone, alien card, and cash card
  5. Traveled by bullet train, train, subway, taxi

Since we have been here, I have noticed that Cliff’s conversations always seem to drift onto the topic of American movies and television. There seem to be a plethora of ways of fooling Netflix or “borrowing” ip addresses, but to be honest, we have set ourselves up with a Japanese cable company which provides us with a lot of Japanese channels but also a few English speaking ones. I do not feel the need to spend more money or time/energy trying to get bootleg television into the house when I feel like I barely watch it anyhow.

At this point, I would like to share a few thoughts about Cliff:

1) I have discovered that when I am not able to fix dinner, inevitably when I finally do make it home I’ll ask Cliff, “So what did you end up eating?” and he’ll say, “Oh, just some fruit and cheese…” and I’m thinking, “why the hell am I stressing out trying to get 4 courses on a plate for him when he is fixing crudite for himself and I know he really likes it?

2) The other day I found I had about an hour of chillin time before I needed to get ready for dinner out with Nghi & Michael. So I go over to the TV area where Cliff already is and sit on the couch. Then I notice that on the screen are 2 young women dancing naked with paint on their bodies in plexiglass cages in a nightclub. At this point, I turn and look at Cliff with my widest eyes communicating “what the hell are you watching and why are you watching this with our 9 year old just a few feet away?” So without trying to hide any of his frustration, Cliff hands the remote to me like “the remote did it” and I start channel surfing. Luckily I came across a movie on one of the movie channels. Remember “Witness” starring Harrison Ford as a cop going undercover in Amish country? Good movie. Amish Country. At this point I look over to Cliff with my eyes communicating:  Amish 1, Debauchery ZERO. :)

I promised pictures of Chase’s City bag. I think I might have mentioned also that I have started toting my backpack in lieu of purse on busy days but you all know what a backpack looks like. This past weekend we also discovered the 100 YEN Store, or as you all might think of it as the $1.30 Store.

Daily Living and Useful Notes for New Expats:

iPhone Apps

  • MAPS, yes, the one that comes with your phone. It is by far the best GPS for getting around by Taxi,Foot or Train. It takes a little getting used to, but trust me there isn’t any better and I have wasted some money thinking other apps would help and I always default to this one.
  • CONVERTER   There are other “currency” converters, temperature converters, etc. Just get the one by Globe Convert it does it all and works really simply.
  • TEXT PLUS SILVER this is a cool app that one of my new expat buddies turned me on to. It enables you to text for free with anyone. I didn’t know how much use I would get with people who were sleeping when I was awake, but surprisingly I am getting a lot of use.
  • TRANSLATOR  need I say more? Get the one from iHandy Apps. I can’t tell you the number of times I have not known how to ask someone about something and used this app to say it for me. It’s awesome.

Well, Chase is telling me it’s time to go to bed.

Until next time…

Mani/Pedi/Whattie?!?!?

September 9, 2011 By in Culture Shock, Daily Living, Disaster Kit, Kathryn, Living in Tokyo, Tokyo, useful Tags: , , 2 Comments

WTF?!? Yeah, I used the “F”! I just got back from the nail salon Dolce.

http://www.dolce-nail.net

Let me just say I had a whole plethora of other topics I wanted to address, but I need to get this down while it is still fresh.

Many of you may remember by hair salon experience. I think it was also helpful to me to prepare for something overthetop on the nail salon side. I wasn’t disappointed. I pass this place twice a day walking to and fro from Chase’s Bus Stop. I decided to check it out thinking this might be more cost-effective than the more mainstream salons where all the foreigners go. I made the appointment and today was the day.

Anyhow. I walk in, sign some forms registering myself. Everything is beautiful and pretty, just like the website shows you.

My last manicure was in the States and I had literally peeled the gel on three of my nails already. I walk through a hallway where there are private rooms to each side with something that looks like a dentist chair and a bunch of nail accouterments. I am seated in my private room and a blanket is put over my lap. Then one of the girls (I’ll call her 1) brings over like 5 pallets of nail options for my feet and hands.

I pick a soft pink for my nails (no razzle dazzle) just color on short piano ready nails. For my feet I say what the heck and get a little dizzle in the form of a black braidy thing on my big toe on a pink background. Simple. Once this is decided, I have again, 1 then 2, and 3, all on me. One girl on each hand and one girl on my feet. Btw, two days ago when I had lunch with Angela, I decided to venture out in good shoes (Christian Dior Platforms) thinking lunch was going to be close by, but nonetheless ended up with no fewer than 4 new blisters. That being said, “ Girlfriends, alcohol and blisters DO NOT mix.” Number 2 should have been grateful that I am in the middle of reading a story about Japanese POWs in the war because otherwise I might have reflexively done one of my famous kickboxing kicks in her face.

The manicure itself continues on in its own Japanese way, each girl being extremely precise and exact with their tools. I start surrendering to this whole weird experience when I realize that overhead I am listening to some Japanese girl band singing Michael Jackson covers with an accent. It just got weird again. After 1 and 3 are done with my hands, I am given a glass of sparkling water. 2 is taking a little longer but after she finishes she and 1 are asking me something and even though I don’t understand the Japanese totally, I see the foot files in each of their hands and I say, “hai.” The next thing I know, they have placed a sheet of paper under my feet and each of them takes a foot with aforementioned foot file and starts filing away. I start wondering if this how Pinocchio felt just before he came to life. I swear, I am so embarrassed by my flying debris I have to grab my phone and pretend to be doing something important lest I accidentally have eye contact.

They finally finish filing and now my feet will probably fit into those old Ferragamo’s I haven’t been able to wear. They tell me as a “presento” I get to keep my foam toe separators.

Sometimes I will be asked about cost of living comparisons between Atlanta and Tokyo. I am going to try to be better at letting you all know what I am paying for things here even though I do think it gauche to talk about money but I know it does interest some of you.

So an hour and half later, at the counter, I see the invoice (yes, I’m calling it that). They charge separately for feet and hands. They charge for:

removing the gel, filing the nails, the new gel coat, for the color of the gel coat, the Geppetto special, for the top coats, and the separator wasn’t really a present… all in all the total came out to, 36,540 yen. In US Dollars = $471.51.

Next time you are at the salon, I hope you think of me and give your girl/man an extra tip. Also, the next time you see me, if you see me coming off the plane with some raggedy ass hands, I think you’ll know why.

Here I am with 1 & 2. Number 3 is behind the camera.

Final result. Picture Taken One Week Later

Deep Breath now. Like I said, I literally ran home to type all this down.

The reason I decided to break down and do all this is Cliff and I have a wine-tasting and the TAC tonight at 7pm. Of course TAC’s Cub Scout group is also meeting at that time so I will have to hit that for an hour, put Chase in a taxi and then join the dinner. Will need to blog about the whole Cub Scout thing separately.

Useful things for potential expats: I have continued to add to my disaster kit thanks to my sister in DC who is also my US mailing address. I am shopping on Amazon US for these things because even though Japan’s Amazon is good, it doesn’t seem to have everything I would like. I bought a camping tent, another sleeping bag, some cans of tuna, some candy, hard hats, work gloves, you get the idea. If I had known about this whole disaster kit thing, I would have done it while still in the US and had it shipped over with my furniture.  The other useful thing is what I call “city bags”. Most all the men here carry a type of man-purse. I had to call it something else so that I Chase wouldn’t accuse me of trying to make him carry a purse and we found a really cool one at Tokyo hands. It is better to get one that drapes across the body for ergonomic reasons and it frees the arms. I too have forsaken my designer leather/skin purses which I love for my old nylon backpack when I know I have a long day ahead of me. These are definitely things I am happy to have and would have gotten in the States. I do break out my purses when I have to go somewhere where a blue backpack might “throw the whole look off”.

I will try to take a picture of Chase modeling his citybag. If you see him on our next visit, PLEASE don’t refer to his purse.

I’m exhausted now. -Oh, I forgot POD! I have 2 of the same thing.:

I felt like I needed to mention these things before I started not noticing how small the garage space is here in Tokyo! I can’t tell you how happy I am not to have a car, but if I had to park like this everyday, let me just say the odds would not be in my favor. WTH? you need a machete to get out of that one garage!

Until next time my peeps!…

Picture of the Day, Soon Dooboo, and Other Stuff

September 7, 2011 By in Daily Living, Japan, Tokyo, useful Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment
As I was reading comment left by someone completely unrelated to me about the blog, I was suddenly struck with an inspirational moment. I am going to include a Picture of The Day in my blogs! Don’t get too excited folks, I just thought a picture is worth a thousand words and there are so many moments in my days here when I will pass something and think, I wish my friends or family could see this. Like there is a hotel I pass everytime I go to the Club (Tokyo American Club TAC) called Hotel Glanz and I don’t know why (well, I really do know why) but it just makes me smile. There’s also another place of business near my apartment called Brain(s). I keep envisioning that scene from Young Frankenstein when (Eye-Gore) is trying to steal a brain for his master. Anyhow here is the PoD for today:

The Dog Salon

I think I may have mentioned in previous blog about Japan being the capital of pet pamperment. I was walking around after lunch with a new newbie to the area and we passed this pet salon on our way to coffee. Evidently this is a form of decorative dog tattoo. If you ask me, people here have really taken the whole “I Heart Whatever” business way too far. A lot of these dogs have better lives than some of the children in rural villages but I think that goes without saying. I can’t even imagine what something like this costs.

Prior to this I had my 2nd session of aqua aerobics, but prior to that I was reading my girlfriend’s comment on my blog and her continuing saga with exercise-related pain. This is my Our Town moment when I break the 4th wall: “Debra, I think this is God’s way of telling you to give up Fast Twitch and buy some aqua gloves and a fanny pack and join the rest of us.” Of course she won’t. Debra is my Korean sister from another mister, but don’t get me wrong, she’s Caucasion…. like Michigan caucasion, BUT she loves her some Korean food. I have recently been on a search for a place to get my Korean fix here in Tokyo. Not much luck. Today, Angela (the other newbie to Tokyo) asked if I wanted to try her place so I said sure.

This is for you Debra:

Set Menu for Lunch
My standards for this tofu dish is very high, and this restaurant’s version was average.  It’s been so long since I have had my usual dish, I think I am started to idealize it now… you know, like an ex-boyfriend from a long time ago… but I digress.
This dish will always be linked to my Sunday lunches with Atlanta friends. Sometimes girls sometimes boys, always Debra.
One of my favorite words in the dictionary is companion. When you study its derivations it literally means “A person you break bread with.”
BTW, in true Japanese style, we each received a huge paper bib to put on to prevent any stains on our clothes.
The Other Stuff:
This is FYI for people thinking about moving here. There seems to be no consensus on whether or not coffee makers work. I have heard of some people bringing them from the States and they work fine. I brought our Keurig and it wouldn’t heat up and is therefore useless for me. If anyone has any nifty uses for K-Cups please feel free to comment.
Before coming to Japan, I don’t think I mentioned anything about the Expat Forum which I joined on the internet. It has reflected the live community I have encountered since being here. This is the website:
http://www.expatforum.com/
The nice thing about the website is there is actually a well reviewed app for iPhone users. Makes it all very handy to communicate.
Computers. I was concerned that my laptop would not work, but was very relieved to find that not only does my laptop work fine, but so does my iPad and I am downloading a ton of stuff through iTunes. I swear, those people at Apple will not let you have any problems finding them.
I should mention that my Bose radio however does not seem to pick up any stations. I do have another machine which I purchased at Costco as speaker plus radio unit for my iPod and it does pick up a Japanese radio station.
That’s all I have to say for now. I miss my friends and family everyday, but for the first time I am starting to feel like my new life is beginning to take form. Thank you for reading and staying in touch.
Until next time…
(I <3 U)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stuck at the Apartment. So I’m Blogging

September 5, 2011 By in Chase, Cliff, Daily Living, Grocery, Radiation, Tokyo Tags: , 3 Comments

I am sitting at my computer while the piano tuner is working on the piano in the Living Dining room. This weekend there was a little drama because Chase and Cliff were going to play catch in the nearby field so they biked over there (1st time going and 1st time on bike for Chase). Anyhow, after they got to the baseball field they were informed that they couldn’t use it unless they had “rented the field” for that time…. That’s right, rented the field.WTH?!?!? Anyhow, Chase and Cliff have to return to the apartment but of course Chase has gotten his dad’s bicycle gene evidently because just as he turned a corner, Chase clipped a sports car and wiped the car’s hood with his body. He’s alright, just a few bruises and scratches. Cliff of course was very concerned about the car. :) They get home and Cliff is trying to discourage me from being sympathetic because he feels like Chase was guilty of reckless driving. Whatever. I’m a mom. I can’t hear Chase and car accident in the same sentence and not be sympathetic. Of course they had to go back together and leave a note on the window. When they came back it started to rain, so they had to go back to the car and come back with a soggy note that was of course illegible and return to the scene with a new note in a ziplock bag. Anyhow, Cliff managed to bump into the  owner and the guy was extremely cool about it and just started pointing out other scratches on his car and whipped out some solution that we’ve all seen the infomercial for that “makes scratches DISAPPEAR!” so Cliff took the rag and tried to buff this guy’s car. He said it made it better but if it were his car Cliff probably would have submitted a claim. This guy was letting it go in the name of “livin in the city”. Cliff noticed the guy had golf clubs in his car, so he’s making Chase buy 2 dozen balls and give them to the guy for being so cool.

Back to my morning. I take Chase to the bus stop, return home for a little cardio. Get ready to go to TAC for my Aqua Aerobics Class at 9am. That’s right girlfriends from Atlanta…. I wrote Aqua Aerobics. It is being taught by a former ballroom dancer name Ronny. Need I say more? Anyhow, it was surprisingly vigorous and I had fun. Because you don’t necessarily sweat during the class it is hard to know if you are doing any work, but it was fun. I think I have decided to fool myself into thinking I’m in really good shape by hanging out with really old people. BTW, I was in no way the best in the aqua aerobics class, but I am smoking the mall walkers…. (just kidding). Afterwards I cleaned up and decided to sign up for a couple of “newcomers” classes and at 11:35 took a kickboxing class. I know some of you will think I am crazy and then there are my Atlantan girlfriends who understand the crazy. It was a lot like sparring which I hated in the US, but here, I actually enjoyed it.

There goes the alarm for me to go to the bus stop!

Until Next Time…

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