Reading Record (yes, I've slowed down a bit!)

25 "Touch the Top of the World; A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See"

By Erik Weihenmayer

An amazing story about a man who was born with an eye disease and progressively lost his sight and at 13 was declared blind. This, however, has not stopped him from reaching his goals and is a world-class athlete: acrobatic skydiver, long distance biker and marathon runner, skier, mountaineer, ice climber and rock climber. He married his long time sweet heart at 13,000 feet of Kilimanjaro and has a daughter. Just an amazing story!

26 - "Blink"

By Malcolm Gladwell

An interesting read about how opinions and decisions are made in the "Blink: of an eye.

Halloween at Shirasagi

It is an annual custom here at Shirasagi Residence to put on a Halloween party for kids in the local community, and who are we to mess with tradition? We all spent time decorating the apartment block with spider webs, skeletons, pumpkins, black cats, streamers and the like in preparation of last night's big event.

Everyone managed to rustle up some great costumes and I was told by a Japanese friend that this was the best effort yet. We had elementary and Jr High students, a workman, witches, cat woman, Cleopatra, Scream, Arabian night, the devil, a cowgirl, Lilo and Stitch, a waitress, a nun and one of the Blues Brothers and that was just the adults!!!!! It was actually my first Halloween to dress up so I was very excited to dress in my new costume and join in the fun.

At 6 the kids started arriving and they lined up at the door to collect their colour-coded wrist band and enter the party. The first part of the night included lots of games. The kids were split into their coloured groups and rotated through the following games:

• fishing for points. There was a tub of green water with dry ice on top and small jack-o-lanterns floating. The kids had to hook a jack-o-lantern with a fishing rod and collected the points inside.
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  Trick or Treating bag decorating.
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  The Marshmellow Suck game. This was a relay where kids had to run to the table, suck up a small marshmellow from their cup and return it to the other end without dropping it. The first team to remove all of their marshmellows won.
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  Eyeball Toss. Kids had to toss the eyeball ping pong and bouncy balls into the jack-o-lantern container.

The kids were really well behaved, though there was one really feisty princess who kept kicking and shoving people! Next there was the jack-o-lantern carving viewing an the costume competition. They all looked just gorgeous. The last activity of the night was the much anticipated "Trick or Treating". Jono and I were on duty for this one so we waited in our apartment for the doorbell to ring. Jono, in his Scream costume simply stood in the doorway and slowly opened the door. One little girl opened the door, took one look at Jono standing there and screamed her lungs out as she hightailed it down the balcony!!!! Poor kid, though it was classic!

All in all a pretty successful party.

Ikebana Take 2

I enjoyed my first taste of ikebana so much that I had to go back for more...this time Katie joined in too.

Once again Eiko picked some beautiful flowers for us including gladiolas, daisies and some pretty pink flowers (forget their name). I was surprised at how much I had actually remembered from last time including measuring the flowers across the diameter of the dish.

Once again we looked at the 'depth' of our triangular arrangements and followed Eiko's instructions carefully. I think Katie was concentrating really hard (well, I think the tongue gives it away!). Once again, I really enjoyed putting it all together and in a flash it was all done. I just can't wait for the red gladiolas to bloom.

Nada Festival

Jono and I took a half day off work so we could go to the Nada Festival. We had been invited by one of Jono's elementary school teachers to sit with her family on the mountain. We met Murakami at the train station and made our way through the small town. There were people everywhere as well as many portable shrines awaiting their time in the lime light. They looked very relaxed as these guys casually lean on their 1 ton shrine drinking beer and smoking cigarettes!

Next we made the small trek to the mountain, and they weren't kidding when they called it that! As soon as we rounded the last corner I could see the very tall mountain with levels cut into it and many people sitting on their picnic rugs awaiting the action. It was quite a hike up the steep side of the mountain, trying not to step on people's blankets or slide down the dirt paths! About 4 levels from the top we were invited to sit down. Murakami's daughter, father, sister and niece were there and soon came her husband (who brought us some much appreciated extra jumpers!!). We were provided with a bento for lunch which had many yummy bits, and not so yummy bits, and pieces in it. Soon the action began. To the left of Jono's head you can see a small patch of red...that's where it all happened. Luckily my camera has a big zoom!
To begin the action the many different groups from different towns (identified by the different coloured pom poms and outfits) brought their smaller shrine made of wood in the arena to fight. It was crazy. The shrines were carried by men and held up by the long sticks you can see. The two shrines would crash into each other and the last to crash to the ground won. We saw a couple of people being carried out of the mass of people looking worse for wear as they were carried to the waiting ambulance and taken to hospital. Jono saw one guy with his leg bent the wrong way! Ewwww! You wouldn't want to be trapped under those things that's for sure! Once the fighting was over the small shrines were hauled up the side of the mountain to the top.

Next came in the large, more beautiful and heavy shrines. They did not fight with these, more like dance around. The crowd would clap and cheer when two shrines were lifted and bounced up and down next to each other. At one stage the shrines were heading towards the crowd and one tipped up...luckily it didn't fall over...but we got very nervous. After some showing off, they eventually made their way up the mountain too. By this time we had been sitting and watching for 4 hours and Murakami decided we needed to go to her home to rest before climbing the hill to view the shrines.

It was a short walk away and we were soon sitting in a tatami-floored guest room being offered fruit, cookies, pretzels and drinks. They were very kind. After a short relax we went the short-cut way up the mountain (through the scrub) and made it to the top. It was an interesting sight. The 6 shrines lined up in a line and their carriers drinking beer and eating lots of food. There was a bit of a stench up there too, so we didn't hang around for too long...the mix of body odour and urine was a bit over powering! Soon the shrines were carried back down the mountain and back to the bottom. After having drunk a lot of beer it was quite scary to see these guys head downhill with a 1 ton shrine on their shoulders. Needless to say it took one particular group 8 attempts to pick the thing up and get going!

After we had seen enough we headed back to the family home to collect our gear and go home, but they invited us to stay for dinner! We had sukiyaki and it was great. We felt really spoilt and glad we had the opportunity to enjoy Nada Festival in such great company.

Aboshi Lantern Festival

Tonight we headed to Aboshi for their Lantern Festival. There were the usual stalls lining the streets with great smelling foods and games for kids and some more portable shrines beautifully lit up for night time. After battling the crowds we made our way down the other end of the road to where the festivities were.

Rising above the crowds were some bamboo sticks with lanterns hanging from them, but only for a short time. Soon there were many bamboo sticks hitting each other and smashing the lanterns to smithereens! It was pretty full on! There was then a giant lantern that everyone attacked and smashed into tiny pieces.

Next came a huge banner and giant pinata (well it reminded us of one anyway!). All the men formed a circle with the banner in the middle and chanted while hitting their bamboo poles on the ground, then they all ran in for the kill, but because of the height of the banner, only destroyed the bottom half of it!

To finish our viewing for the night we saw the giant boy being lead into the middle of the circle. After the chanting and hitting of sticks on the ground, again they went in for the kill! The poor boy had his head ripped off and face pulled apart! Meanwhile there was a Japanese man standing behind us laughing his head off! We were glad that there are some Japanese people who find these things as amusing as we do!

Fushimi-Inari Taisha

This is certainly in the top 5 of my favourites in Japan so far. The entire complex, consisting of fine shrines, sprawls across the wooded slopes of Inari-Yama. A pathway wanders 4km up the mountain and is lined with hundreds of red torii. Apparently these torii gates have been donated by many different towns and they vary from the very new, vibrant red colours to the very old faded ones. There are a scattering of stone torii too. This place just felt magical to me.

As Phillip, Lesley, Verity, Jono and I made our way up the mountain I couldn't help but stop often to take more and more beautiful shots on my camera! I just couldn't take enough! There were lots of people wandering both up and down the mountain as well as one guy who used the path as his running trail. What an awesome place to workout!

About 3/4 of the way up Lesley, Verity and Jono retreated back down the mountain but Phillip and I continued up. At the very top was a shrine at which there were a sprinkling of people preying to their Gods. The feel up there was quite different to the one I experienced climbing up. There were many mini torii gates put here and there with messages written on them. It made me think of a graveyard...like a torii gate graveyard. A bit creepy really!

The trip back down was very easy and we met up with the others ready to head to our next destination.

Japanese cooking Class #4

Well, another 2 weeks have passed so that means it's time for another Japanese cooking class with Yumiko.

Tonight we made:
Kentinjiru (miso and sesame paste soup with vegetables)
Hamburger steaks (with bamboo, shitake mushrooms and sesame)

The hamburgers was the fun part. All the ingredients had to be finely chopped and then mixed in with mince meat! Yumiko got this job and squished it all together with her hands! These steaks were humongous but absolutely divine to eat!

The soup was also very tasty, a slight variation on the miso soup we previously learned how to cook. Once again Yumiko came armed with all of the equipment and ingredients. The meal was delicious and really simple.

Maikos for a day

The time had finally come...I had been waiting all year for this...as I kidnapped Verity (who put up no resistance at all) we headed to the streets of Gion to a little studio to be made up as Maiko (Geisha).

First off we had to strip to our underwears and put on a white robe. With all jewellery removed we went up to the 2nd floor for stage 1...the make-up. Well, I wouldn't call it make-up, more like paint! First our faces were massaged as we had some sort of moisturisers put on our faces, then a wide brush was used to paint our faces and necks white. Next came the red eyeliner, mascara and then the lips. The lips were so beautifully done that I actually looked like I had some!! haha (My Aunty calls me chicken lips for a good reason!) We were asked to smile with our mouth closed as a thick, smooth brush was pushed in between the lips. When I opened my mouth to smile I looked like I had been sucking some one's blood! It was all over my teeth. But I sucked it off, so it was all good! Next came the wig. They actually used the front section of my own hair to stick to the wig so I had my own hair line. They used a wax to make it stay and spray painted it black to blend in. I hardly recognised myself in the mirror. It was surreal.

Secondly we went to the 1st floor for the kimono. We had a rather large selection to choose from so after some ooohing and ahhhing we chose our outfits and waited to be dressed. There were a few other girls there at that time, 2 were westerners too! After lots of layers, padding, tying, pulling and sucking in (hehe) we were dressed and ready for our studio photo shoot.

They seemed to have a routine of poses because the two westerners in front of us did the exact same poses we did. Which was actually quite handy because then we could see what way we had to face and what way to tilt our heads. I found it really hard to smile without showing my teeth (a yellow colour compared to the make-up). I was also trying to go for the Japanese style! Soon we were done and headed downstairs to surprise Lesley who was waiting for us. We hit the streets...

I really wasn't sure how the local people would react to seeing some western girls dress like this. Their reaction really surprised and delighted me. Everyone had to do a double take as they realised we weren't Japanese! "Kawaii" (cute) and "Kirei" (beautiful) were words we heard over and over along with many smiles, waves and cameras pointing in our direction. I felt like a movie star.

Our choice of footware was perhaps not the best. We went for the really high thongs, which look really cool but are pretty hard to walk in, especially downhill! We had to lean on Lesley for support! After an hour on the streets in was time to de-maiko ourselves and meet Jono and Phillip. Our studio photos are absolutely gorgeous, we were both really happy with them. It was an awesome experience.

Curves - In Japan

Now that the cooler weather has arrived, as if someone has just flipped a switch, I am much more motivated to do some exercise. After Katie commented on how much fun it is at Curves, a short bike ride down the street, I decided to check it out.

As soon as we entered through the doors there were happy and loud greetings from all the staff members and waves from the gym members working out! The staff were really cute and helped explain each of the machines in the circuit. For those of you unfamiliar with the Curves way of doing things...It is simply a circuit room set up with 12 machines and exercise mats in between each one for you to jog, squat or do whatever your little heart desires. You do two complete circuits, stretch and then you're done. The whole thing takes about half an hour. So, after my introductory visit I decided to join up.

Here are some rules of Curves...I wonder if they have these in America and Australia?

1. Say "Hi, hello" to your fellow members when you jump in the circuit, and "See you" when you leave.

2. Welcome new members and help them get familiar with the circuit.

3. Bring your sports shoes separately (inside sneakers), and do not use your street shoes.

I am really enjoying working out at Curves I just regret not joining earlier!

Skipping Class for a lesson!

Confused by the title? Well, let me (Jodi) explain.

Last week the head of the PTA came and invited me to join the mothers in a cooking lesson for today (Friday). I knew I had 4 lessons but 3rd period was free so said I'd come then. My English teachers then informed me this morning that we had to record the listening exam in 3rd period, so I thought I'd miss it.

At the end of 1st period the deputy principal told my English teacher about the cooking class downstairs and suggested that I go. Ms Morimoto said it was OK for me to go and if I finish early to come to class afterwards. Woohoo!

When I arrived in the Home Ec room (a double classroom with 9 large work benches) there was a man in a chef outfit mixing some flour and water in front of an attentive audience of mothers sitting and watching wearing aprons and head scarves. They all looked so cute. For the duration of the 2nd period we saw him mix, knead and roll the special flour which was soon to turn into SOBA! I was so excited! He used the longest rolling pin I have ever seen and managed to roll his blob of dough into a large, flat, square sheet of soba which he then folded in half and half again. To finish off he used a scary looking knife to cut the 2mm strips. That was all I got to see because the chimes rang and I had to go.

I managed to get some extra time and went back to the Home Ec room for 10 or so minutes. The ladies had formed 4 groups and each group had made their own soba dough. They were up to the rolling part, beauty! The group which invited me to join them formed a circle around the table and took turns doing the rolling. Once your turn was up you moved around the table to the other side, everyone making their way around the table and back again for another shot. The ladies were impressed that I knew what to do. I told them (in Japanese) that I couldn't understand the chef speaking Japanese but I watched him. I think this surprised them, but hey, that's what I've been doing all year! Watch and learn!

At lunch time I was half way through eating my lunch when the head of the PTA came and asked if I wanted to taste the soba. Hmmmm, let me think about that...yep! I went down and was instructed on how to prepare the soba and then joined the other ladies in eating the soba dipped in a soy sauce, rice and tea. It was just delicious.

Ginkakuji

To end Jono's family's holiday on a high we headed to Kyoto for 3 days. Though this was the third time for Jono and I to visit Kyoto, we managed to do things we haven't done before. First stop was Ginkakuji.

You approach the main gates along a path lined with tall hedges. You are greeted straight away with a beautiful zen garden. It consists of a sand cone with the top cut off and the characteristic parallel lines in the sand.

The rest of the gardens were beautiful and I went hell for leather with my new camera! I am starting to get really excited (as the Japanese do) because the leaves are starting to turn beautiful yellows, oranges and reds for Autumn. I don't think I have ever been this excited about the change in seasons, aside from the temperature!

The temple itself wasn't all that special (in my opinion). It looks like a little tired old thing and seeing at made me wonder why it's called the "Silver Pavilion". However, the visit to Ginkakuji was a very pleasant one indeed.

Japanese Cooking Lesson #3

For our third cooking lesson we nominated to cook tempura (battered and fried meat and/or vegetables). As per usual, Yumiko arrived with all the goods and chattels needed for the lesson. First we read through (and corrected) her recipe for tempura and hiyayakko (a soft tofu salad). Then we set to work.

Yumiko instructed us on how to prepare the different dishes and we learned a few new tricks of the trade. My favourite was learning that the carrots (which are in a flower shape) are actually cut like that by using a type of cookie cutter! Verity had the honour of cutting those for us! Merry experienced whisking with chopsticks for the first time (that's very Japanese) to mix together the batter for the vegies and meat.

Yumiko brought an impressive range of vegies and meat for us to cook including mushroom, sweet potato, egg plant, carrot, green pepper type things, lotus root, a leaf type plant as well as shrimp, white fish and chicken. They were all cut into thin slices all ready to go.

The process of tempuring is quite simple...pick up the food, dip it into the batter and stick it in the oil. Yumiko was our 'chef' and told us that if you go to a restaurant the chef would cook the tempura for you at your table. We ate as she cooked, so everything was freshly cooked and piping hot. It all tasted soooooo good. My favourite was the lotus root. Verity loved the lotus root for a different reason, she could stick her chopsticks through the little holes to pick it up!

I (Jodi) was not a big fan of the tofu salad. Merry, knowing that I don't like the squishy tofu, was laughing the whole time and watching closely to see if I would eat it. She on the other hand loves the squishy tofu! I gave it a red hot go, mixing the shallots, ginger and soy sauce together and dipping the tofu in. The taste was really good but it's the texture I can't get past!

We invited Jono's parents to come and taste the tempura and Phillip was all very keen! So for his second dinner of the night he dug right in and loved everything! I think this made Yumiko very happy. Yumiko kindly made us dessert, a fruit gelatin which was magnificent. It had grapefruit, pineapple and kiwi fruit in it. Yummo!

Another successful cooking lesson and more dishes we can't wait to cook for everyone back home.

Arakawa Elementary School

Today at Arakawa Elementary School there was a dodgeball competition on during home room time. Everyone made their way out onto the track and lined up on their classes. The kids were put into teams (and one team turned their cap inside out to show the red colour) and when the whistle blew there were about 12 games of Dodgeball all going at once! It was crazy. I was surprised at the force in which the 4th graders, whom I was watching, threw the ball at the other team! Quite violent and I even winced when kids were hit anywhere below the neck. Apparently you're not out if you get hit in the head (well that's alright then!).

Today I taught all of the 6th grade classes. I was asked to tell them some of my childhood memories and then teach them the vocabulary for McDonald's food. Well, I drew pictures on the blackboard, did over exaggerated gestures and sound effects to explain the story of how I broke my arm, how my Dad fell on top of me when a friend jokingly pushed him in the pool, that I always wanted to be a teacher and that my hobby is photography. On the last point I ask the classes if I could take their picture. Of course they said yes, they love having their picture taken. I had them on their edge of their seats and laughing their heads off, so making a fool of myself paid off. So then I taught them some vocab from McDonald's. The English teacher had prepared some cups and burger wrapping to make them look like burgers, which was great. I had to draw a few other food items, but the kids recognised them straight away!

Eating lunch at Elementary school still cracks me up when I see the kids wearing their little face masks and coats while serving lunch. Today's lunch included tuna and carrot spaghetti, my favourite salad (cabbage, carrot, con and bacon) and a bread roll. Not bad for free!!!! I had another fun day!

What the ??!!?? October

Universal Studios Japan

Jono and I happily took a day off work to go to USJ with Jono's family. We set off for Osaka nice and early and seemed to beat most of the crowds. As I (Jodi) had already been to USJ in March, I was keen to go back and do some more exploring. This time around the whole place was decorated in a Halloween theme. Street flags, souvenirs, drinks, ice creams, lollies, staff uniforms and a stage performance. "Happy Halloween" was the popular phrase of the day.

Jono, Verity, Phillip and I headed straight to the roller coaster called "Hollywood Dream". It was a REALLY COOL coaster, with at least 4 parts where you lose your stomach and a scream creeps out of your mouth. A unique feature of this coaster was the personal stereo. There was a control panel on the safety guard where you could choose which song you wanted to listen to on the ride. I chose "Get Back" by the Beatles as it was quite fitting. The music made the ride that much more enjoyable and gave you something else to think about other than the massive drop in front of you (well, maybe).

The other rides we went of for the day were:
* Jurrasic Park (another hilarious photo came from this)

* Jaws (This was really good and even shocked me a couple of times. At one stage there was a fair amount of fire and I felt ans though it would singe my eyebrows!)

*Spiderman (I didn't go on this one, but everyone said it was just incredible)
We also caught a number of shows:
*Backdraft

*Waterworld (This was both very impressive and hilarious. The show started with the hosts trying to wind up the crowd. If they weren't happy with the crowd's involvement they sprayed a bucket of water on them! So many people were sopping wet and it was hilarious because it wasn't us! The drama show was all in Japanese but we were excited by the boat chases, jumps and stunts. Brilliant.)

*Monsters Live Rock N Roll Show



*Blues Brothers Show (Verity and Lesley were pulled up on stage and did about 15 seconds of dancing! Very funny.)

We had lunch at Mel's Diner which is in the theme of the sixties rock 'n' roll. Burgers were the menu choice which were delicious. Other treats which we couldn't go past were the long donut sticks (pumpkin flavour), orange and strawberry muffin, ice cream and melon soda!

There were many different characters wandering around the park and we took the opportunity to have our pictures taken with them. We met Woody Wood Pecker, Popeye, The Pink Panther, Betty Boop and Hello Kitty. They were very cute and thankfully not being mobbed like Mickey and Minnie at Disneyland.

It was a fun day with the family and after okonomiyaki for dinner we headed home for some much needed rest!

VISITORS COMMENTS:

Initially I (Phillip) was a little cynical, Theme Parks are Theme Parks the world over. But gradually USJ won me over. The roller coaster was great, but Spiderman was the most fun. Checking out the food was interesting, because it was American Theme Park food transformed into a Japanese style. Sometimes great, other times just plain weird. Still a great day.