Saturday morning

Saturday starts in Japan much like it does in America - sleeping late and enjoying a leisurely breakfast - today fresh cherries, French toast and coffee. Oh, and Grilled Cheese Pringles to cleanse the palate (: I haven't posted any pictures before because so far on this vacation I have looked terrible. But this morning I think I am finally getting adjusted to this time zone. Yoko and I stayed home most of Friday. We talked a lot, on many topics, to catch up on our lives apart the last six months. I think Yoko is happy that her English skills have not abandoned her. We cleaned her house (I vacuumed) and took the dog for a walk. She made a big salad for our lunch; I like her potato salad (with onions, cucumber, carrot and 2 kinds of ham - YUM). Shotaro has After School School on MWF until 8pm. He is SO independent for 10 years old! Yesterday Yoko taught me the regions of Japan, which I correlated to US regions to help me remember. Then Shotaro helped me practice my new knowledge last night by working a geography puzzle with him. I managed to stay awake all day and then go to bed at 10:30. I slept good and am ready for the day!
I am so interested in the vehicles here. Yoko and I are both shopping for a new car right now, so we had a long discussion of the features we are interested in and the models available. This is the car she has chosen - a Daihatsu Mira Gino. We both picked Orange paint. Here there is a terrible pink color available on some cars. The yellow license plate means this car is super-efficient so the taxes are cheaper and you don't have to prove you own a place to park it before you can buy it. Also at 4 years old all cars have to pass a rigorous inspection, so many people trade before then, but there is not a big used car market. Most used cars are shipped to other countries. OK, that's probably not fascinating to anyone else but me.

Separate Vacations

Since Joanne is in Japan I'll fill you in on my vacation. I made it to Colorado safe and sound and Denver seems to get bigger ever time I visit. Today was spent enjoying the metro area. Unfortunately I didn't walk anywhere like Joanne. I did get to see and tour the new digs of Pro Door and Trim. Much bigger and nicer than the previous location and right off of I-25. After that I went to Fort Lupton to meet a guy that builds semi-custom bicycles. He has a shop in the back of his house and makes about 150 bikes a year. He does everything from metal stamping to CNC machining to the welding. The only thing he doesn't do is anodize or paint. As I was looking at one of his bikes I noticed a dove symbol on the seat stay bridge. Yep, the guy is a Christian and the dove goes on every bike he makes. Perhaps the coolest thing though is he is letting me borrow one of his bikes for the next 5 days. Maybe I'll get a workout after all. Tomorrow morning we are headed to Camp Hale for the annual Eye Extravaganza camping trip. Fishing and biking, yep that's how I'm going to spend the next 5 days. Te quiero siempre Joanne.

Yokohama City

Today's adventure was into the city. Yoko lives in a "suburb" of Yokohama. This morning we took a bus from her house to the train station and took the train to meet her friend Rie. The three of us then took a boat (Sea Bass, which here sounds like SeaBus) across Yokohama Bay. We walked through the waterfront park and then in a few blocks to Chinatown, where we ate lunch in what I thought was an upscale restaurant. We had a private room and excellent service. We ate a pan-fried noodle (think of a small block of ramen noodles soften and then browned) salad with delicious sesame seed dressing. Then sauted mushrooms and vegetables. Finally a course of rice cakes covered in a seafood and vegetables in oyster sauce. One Litchi ball (a funny Chinese fruit) to top it off. That was our big, expensive meal of the day. I drank cold Jasmine tea and Rie & Yoko drank Litchi juice over ice. We bought desserts in a Chinese sweet shop (I'm nibbling on one now). Then we strolled down Motomachi, a famous shopping street,　by many international stores - some I recognized, like the Gap, Brooks Brothers, and Ty (the beanie baby store)- back to the train station and home. For me today was about learning to use the money and public transportation. And I only saw 6 "foreigners" in Yokohama (Rie and I counted) so I'm not sure Yoko was right about what she told me yesterday (see below). When we got home, we walked the dog across the neighborhood to Shotaro's school. He and I tossed a tennis ball in a park for a while and then in the yard when we got home until dark. It was fun for me to remember that I have some skill throwing and catching a ball. Very relaxing. Yoko made a great noodle dish for dinner, then I napped on the couch, took a bath and am ready to sleep. Hopefully tomorrow my body will be on Japanese time. I walked 13,500 steps today, about 6.5 miles.

First morning

Jet lag, I guess.　It's a beautiful morning in the Yokohama area. I should know. I've been awake since 5 until 5 a.m. Delicious breakfast (what I think of as European style) - two bread stick twists (one w/ brown sugar), blueberries (thanks Mama), orange (like clementines), camembert cheese wedge, a sliced fuji apple, milk and coffee (again, thanks Mama). Today Yoko's friend Rie is meeting us at 9:30 to take a walking tour; she grew up here and wants to show us around. Yokohama is much like Kobe, where Yoko grew up. Yokohama also has an American military base, so there are many foreigners in this town. I am fascinated by the cars here, and the driving on the left.

Time travel

What a weird day! I've lost a whole day but Yoko says I'll get it back when I travel home next week. All my travel plans today came off perfectly, without a hitch, and even smoother than I imagined it would be. Still 14 hours on a plane is unpleasant. I barely napped 45 minutes twice. Alan left me at GSP at 8:30 Tuesday morning. Now it is 10:30pm Wednesday where I am and I am ready to get some sleep. I am in Yoko's house now. We went to a noodle shop for dinner and also did a little grocery shopping. It is strangely safe here. Shotaro, who is 10, walks to school alone and also rides the train and then the public bus home from his after school program three times a week. Yoko and I waited in McDonald's for him tonight, near the train station. When we got home about 10 we took the dog for a walk. She lives in suburbia, very much like Highlands Ranch. Can't wait to see it in the daylight. Good night for now.

Now THIS is a Big Fish

Alan only caught two fish all weekend, after fishing two nights from 9pm until 7am. But one of those fish weighed 42 lbs - and he won the Big Fish award for the weekend! This is a good picture of Alan, but not so great of the 42 lb flathead catfish.

Big Fish

It's Friday! Alan is off to Santee after work to go fishing with Brad McCall's family and friends. I think it is catfishing at night. I'm not really sure. But it seemed like something Alan would enjoy, and he's never had the opportunity to do. My plan for the weekend is to spend quality time with my mom and then come home and pack for Japan. I'm leaving on Tuesday for a week at my friend Yoko's near Yokohama. Wish I had a good book to take on the plane.

Breve latte

Yum! My favorite drink at Starbucks is a breve latte. My friend Renner introduced me to it during law school. Tonight I enjoyed one at Barnes and Noble. A tall has a mere 420 calories, thanks to the half and half. Alan and I had dinner tonight at Moe's, another place forever associated with law school in my mind. I lived on their "Ugly Naked Guy" at least three times a week during bar review. We are staying up late tonight watching the final game of the Stanley Cup. We have been fans of the hockey playoffs for years. Even Alan's mom likes the hockey playoffs. And tonight she is home from the hospital. Maybe she is watching it, I hope. I like both of these teams and will be happy no matter who wins. But just to be loyal to my roots, I'll say "Go Carolina Hurricanes!"

Here are the pictures!

Alan's Backyard Bike Shop

I took a picture last week of our house to post but it's still on the camera, which Alan took to work. And I also took a picture of Alan in the backyard working on his bikes. He has to empty out the tiny garage storage space where the bikes are and set up the bike stand kind of under a tree. Sometimes it's even shady out there. Tonight it got dark before he finished, so he brought two rims, two new tires and tubes into the house and set up in the living room. He might turn into a bike mechanic after all. Gotta love him!

Ride to the ride

Yep, it's city living when you can ride your bike to the bike ride. I was always envious of those in Greenwood who had that convenience ('tho' I thought those who rode in from Ware Shoals for the fountain ride were pushing it). Sunday afternoon we rode the tandem to the start of the C team Freewheelers ride from Panera Bread at Hillcrest. Met Marty, Lee and Jerry. Rode out Cannon's Campgrpound Road all the way to Cowpens and then back to Spbg on Beacon Light road. Not a traffic-free route, but two good climbs up from the Pacolet River. We might try the B team ride on Thursday night.

City Living

Alan says we are trying out "city living" now. Not that Spartanburg is all that much "city" but we are close to down town. Thursday night we rode the tandem through the neighborhood to a brand new 2 mile rail trail. Covered it, end to end, and also rode around the lake at Duncan Park and by the live Music on Main as we circled Daniel Morgan Square, the center of Spartanburg. Today we hit the Cottonwood Trail, a short, 5 mile-ish dirt trail beside Lawson's Fork Creek. Cottonwood is also accessible from our new place; the trailhead is just down the hill. On both rides we met nice "locals" - Pastor Randy and his wife Diana, on her brand new bike from Eric at Bike Worx, and today Stuart, the commercial real estate broker. City Living includes a train, but it seems to be a short one that goes by slowly without blowing its whistle, so it's not too disruptive. We tried the closest Japanese restaurant last night for dinner, with good results. So far, so good.