Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday playdate
One Sunday we went with friends Coco, Tony & Pearly to visit another friend & her family - Magali, Hideaki & Akio.
Starting out at the subway station
The kids had fun in the pool
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Fuji-san
My friend Andy and I left work early on Wednesday and drove the 2 hours from Tokyo to the 5th station of Fuji-san. We had some noodles for dinner, bought our hiking sticks, and began the climb around 7:30 PM, just after dark. We didn't rush the hike, but didn't slack either. Early on, we walked 30-45 mins between stops - but as the night wore on we walked in shorter increments and stopped longer between them.
Climbing in the dark was kind of nice, actually - since we didn't have to look up and see how high the mountain was above us. Just kept our headlamps pointed at the trail and one foot in front of the other. The changing altitude did bother me a bit as we climbed, but I bought a can of oxygen from a hut about an hour after we started walking and that helped a lot.
When we left Tokyo (sea-level-ish), it was in the high 80s and rather humid. At the 5th station where we left the car (2,305 meters) it was around 70 degrees. At 1:30 in the morning on the summit (3,776 meters) it was in the mid 30s. After 6 hours of climbing, it is NOT fun to be freezing cold. I layered up with everything I was carrying with me, wrapped a plastic tarp around us, and we sat against a wall and tried to get a couple hours of sleep before dawn.
We were one of the first people to make it to the top of the mountain. We knew that everyone tries to time their climb to arrive just before sunrise, so we left in time to walk ahead of the pack. There were other climbers around us through most of the night and when we reached the top we saw one or two other people around. That was very different than when we woke up around 4:30 Am; still huddled from the wind against a wall.
In the pre-dawn light, we were surrounded by people. We were on the east side of the summit, for the best view of the sunrise. So were about 1500 other people. More people were streaming through the tori gate at the trailhead every minute.
Andy and I ducked into one of the mountain huts for a breakfast of some raman and coffee. mmm... warm noodles and salt. We had to wait a while to be able to drink the coffee because they were keeping the cans warm by boiling them in a huge pot of water. After they cooled down enough that the metal can didn't burn our lips we sucked it down and headed outside to find a spot for the main event.
What wasn't so beautiful were the 3000 other people around me, the huts behind me yelling orders from the waiters to the kitchen, or the Japan national anthem (I'm guessing?) playing through the speakers on one of the huts. Seriously. I know there's a lot of people there, because it's a beautiful thing to see, but the music? And who's ordering food during the 2 mins of sunrise anyway?
After the sunrise, lots of people started back down the mountain. Andy and I made a hike around the crater to the opposite side to take more pictures and also mail some postcards from the highest post office in Japan. Next to the post office is a shrine where we had the final stamp added to our sticks.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Tokyo Tower
In the morning, our friend Andy took us in his car to Costco...one of the few times Jamey has ridden in his carseat.
Looking out the window. We didn't go all the way to the top but close enough :)
We thought the tower's "mascot" was interesting... You could buy just about anything with him on it in the gift shop, key chains, magnets, rulers, toys...
Louis had a blast in the play area set up for kids - probably as a treat after they endured the trip up/down with mom and dad in the tower. We were glad it was there (Louis wasn't very entertained by the view from the tower).
It was dark by the time we left.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Earthquake
Tonight we felt our first earthquake here. Since we arrived in Tokyo in February, there have been many earthquakes, but none that we felt. This one shook everything in the apartment - we first noticed our drink glasses on the table moving, then looked up and saw the mirror and the curtains shaking. Then we felt the building shaking. It was scary to me - Derek remained quite calm and herded us all under the table. He explained to Louis that we needed to be still and quiet under the table until it was safe.
After it was over, Louis was quite a bit upset by the whole thing and Derek took him on a tour of the apartment to show him all was okay.
We discovered it was a 7.1 earthquake (see the 1st listing for August 9, 2009 here http://www.iris.edu/seismon/last30days_N_Pacific.html) in the ocean. Wow. No wonder we felt it! I am not real anxious for the next big one...
Below is a screenshot of the earthquake information, in case the link above changes. Most of Japan is inside the large red circle...

UPDATE! We had 2 more large earthquakes this week that we felt...3 in 5 days! None since...
After it was over, Louis was quite a bit upset by the whole thing and Derek took him on a tour of the apartment to show him all was okay.
We discovered it was a 7.1 earthquake (see the 1st listing for August 9, 2009 here http://www.iris.edu/seismon/last30days_N_Pacific.html) in the ocean. Wow. No wonder we felt it! I am not real anxious for the next big one...
Below is a screenshot of the earthquake information, in case the link above changes. Most of Japan is inside the large red circle...

UPDATE! We had 2 more large earthquakes this week that we felt...3 in 5 days! None since...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Tokyo Toy Museum
Friday, August 7, 2009
Summer Concert
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)