Do you Shabu?

While we lived in London, the husband and I had a regularly scheduled date night every Saturday.  I'm finding that this is even more of a requirement here in Tokyo as I don't see him at all during the week.  We eat dinner together a max of 2x per week (including weekends) - the hours that he is keeping right now are looooonngg but I think that is to be expected when undertaking a new role.   So last Saturday night we booked the sitter (at an equivalent of over $20/hour - ouch!) and set out for Roppongi - an area of the city mostly known for touristy hotspots, bars and clubs.   I had read a review of a shabu shabu restaurant and was dying to try it out.

After walking up and down Roppongi dori (Roppongi street) a number of times, we finally located the restaurant.  Whereas we are trained to look for locations on street level, Tokyo uses a multi story system. Your intended location could be sub street level or up 3 or 4 flights of stairs.   Upon entrance to the restaurant we were greeted by two tuxedoed men with the customary "Irrashaimase" which means "welcome".   In some restaurants, you seriously want to run for cover when the entire waitstaff shouts it at you when you walk in the door, it's a bit startling.  We were shown to our table by our hostess dressed in full kimono, immaculate of course.    

After settling on a white wine for me and a Sapporo for the husband, the fun really began.  Shabu shabu consists of a meal of thin slices of beef (or pork or seafood) along with vegetables - shiitake mushrooms, leeks, rice noodles, tofu, spinach, cabbage, that you cook yourself in boiling dashi (soup stock)at your table.  Similar to fondue but a bit healthier than oil, cheese or chocolate!  We were given 3 dipping sauces - sesame, garlic chili and ponzu (yuzu + mirin+soy sauce) and large bowl of the veggies and tofu and a platter each of beef.  Chopsticks completed the place setting.  The meal was delicious and so fun too.  We had a bit of challenge retrieving slippery glass noodles and tofu out of the boiling dashi with chopsticks but persevered and were rewarded at the end of the meal with a soup made from the stock  plus spring onions and additional noodles brought to us and prepared by our waitress.  

The dessert of gelatinous cubes of lemon curd? floating  in more jello was not something to write home about.  Note to self: go elsewhere (like to TGIF next door to the restaurant) for a real dessert experience.  We opted instead to hit up a notorious hotspot - Motown bar.  Hiiillllarious.  Small, dive bar, 3 floors up from street level, smoke filled and frequented byJapanese women looking for gaijin, couples on awkward dates, business men...and us.   Strangely androgynous look to the waitstaff and the husband and I started placing bets on who was male and who was not.  fyi - all were male, but so very pretty.  Odd.  Motown was packed to the rafters and with no identifiable dance floor, everyone was getting down with their bad selves in the middle of the floor, between tables, en route to the toilets, you name it.   All dancing to Billie Jean and then trying to Bring Sexy Back....amazing people watching as you can imagine.  Headed home reeking of cigarette smoke - so nasty.  Am waiting for Tokyo to go smoke free at least in the restaurants and coffee shops.    

fyi - shabu shabu is so named as it is allegedly the sound the meat makes as you swish it around in the boiling dashi or it's from the sound that the dashi makes as it boils.

And that's your Japanese cuisine lesson of the day.
Sayonara                                                                                                                              

Finding My Feet Feb. 15th 2011

Finally it feels like I/we may  possibly be getting into the groove of things here in Tokyo - woo hoo!  G is enrolled in an international nursery and absolutely loves it.  He is playing soccer once a week at the Tokyo American Club (TAC) and does gymnastics on the weekends.  The soccer is hysterical to witness and the term "herding cats" does come to mind.  I made the rookie mistake of wearing inappropriate footwear -knee high equestrian boots anyone?  to the first class not understanding the amount of parental involvement required.  Now I know and Converse it is!   Knowing that it's genetically impossible for my child to be an Olympic gymnast as he's not exactly a petite flower, I take him to gymnastics to improve his coordination, balance and more importantly his confidence.  Generally a bit reticent in a new situation, he shocked the hell out of me and volunteered to be the first one to hang from the "high bar" - 4 feet off the ground and let the instructor help flip him over backwards.  Baby steps...literally.

My twice weekly Japanese lessons are still going strong.  Thus far we've covered - introducing yourself, how to order in a restaurant, how to shop (like I need help with this -ha!) - how to ask for a larger size, a more expensive item(ha again!), a different color etc. and finally the all important taxi cab vocabulary.  My sensei, Ichikawa-san is a huge advocate of visual learning so all of these lessons are accompanied by cut out pictures of items.  Ie:  a large pizza vs a small pizza, different colored sneakers, an expensive watch, car, handbag vs a cheap watch, car, handbag.  In our last lesson we utilized a large fold out map, a matchbox car and I was asked to request, while making the car move around the map natch, that the cab driver stop at the next corner, the 2nd intersection, at the hospital, the bank, make a left...you get the idea.   On a positive note, she informed that she believes I could be semi-fluent in 2-3 years...if my head doesn't explode before then of course.

The whole family has started taking advantage of our membership at TAC.  I've been attending a Core Conditioning class every Monday morning that I really like and The Husband and I have been making a concerted effort to go to the gym every weekend.  I guess he wants a Cameron Diaz bikini body by summer too.  TAC offers a childcare option so we can drop G off for an hour or so to play in a supervised environment while we work out and then afterwards we can all grab lunch at one of the onsite restaurants.  I was ecstatic to discover the well stocked library with English books (difficult to procure here and if found, ridiculously expensive) for both adults and children.  Just finished The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb and loooovved it.   There is a small group of women, myself included, that has decided to start up a new book club/book exchange that I'm really looking forward to and will be lobbying for One Day as our first book.  If you haven't read it, pick it up!

Last week we attending a wine tasting benefit for The Tyler Foundation which works to make life easier for children and families battling childhood cancer here in Japan.  http://www.tylershineon.org/
Expats Kimberly Forsythe and Mark Ferris founded the charity after their son Tyler was diagnosed with leukemia at less than 1 month old.  He lived for 23 months , spending most of the time in hospital undergoing treatment.  The Tyler Foundation provides counselling and support for parents, a therapy dog - Bailey, a Beads of Courage program for children undergoing the treatment and a Shine On! house (similar to the Ronald McDonald house in the US) where families can stay, rather than a hotel, while their child undergoes treatment.  It is a fantastic charity providing a much needed support system here in Japan and one which with I hope to become more involved.

Must run as today is sick day number 2 for G.  Upper respiratory infection with fever and cough.  Viral so "just let it run it's course".  I learned two lessons yesterday (sick day number 1):  pouring Listerine mouthwash on the 15 year old cat "to wash Riley's bum bum" does not make anyone happy.  And secondly, a spoonful of sugar may make the medicine go down, but a spoonful of honey makes my child projectile vomit.  Fun times in the big city, until next time...

xo,
Michele

Full of beans Tuesday Feb. 1, 2011

During my usual Tuesday torture aka my Japanese lesson, we deviated from the normal lesson plan to discuss Japanese culture, specific to February.  I found it quite interesting, so I thought I would share.

February is the coldest month of the year in Japan.  Snowfall is quite heavy in Hokkaido and the Japan Sea coastal areas and many snow festivals are held there during February.  We in Tokyo, bordering the Pacific, do not experience snow which is just fine by me.   Having grown up in Wisconsin,  I am quite happy never to lift a shovel again.  The Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido is famous for its extremely large snow and ice statues and replicas of famous buildings and people from the mainland of Japan as well as from all over the world to come and see them.





February the 3rd is Setsuban.  On the lunar calendar, this is the turning point from winter to spring - woo hoo!  To celebrate the coming of spring and to drive away evil spirits, a bean-throwing festival is held.  Do not ask me what kind of beans, I do not know.  I assume dried beans and not frozen green beans although I could be wrong.  At Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, men and women born under the same zodiac sign of the current year (toshiotoko and toshion'na), throw the beans - this is great for celebrity spotting...if you're down with Japanese celebrities, which I sadly am not.

At  home, one of the parents (generally the father) dons a rather scary mask in the entranceway or the living room and the children throw beans at him and shout "Evil spirits outside, good luck within".  Putting the mess aside, this sounds like a lovely tradition although I have yet to convince The Husband to participate.  Apparently being pelted by rocks, err I mean beans is not the way he wants to end the day.  G will be partaking in this festival on Thursday at school (yay, no mess at home) and I'm waiting to hear his take on the celebration.

The next day, February 4th, is Risshun which means the first day of spring.  Although it remains cold throughout the month, plum blossoms and daffodils begin to bud and I'm told that you can smell the fragrance in the chilly air.

One twig of plum blossoms,
One twigful of
Warmth
 - Ransetsu

A little Haiku for you, until next time.

xo,
Michele

Getting Settled

Our sea shipment has arrived from London!  Actually it arrived last week and was delivered on Wednesday and Thursday - when G and I were both home sick with the flu.  The all Japanese crew was amazing and courteous and after ascertaining that we were both hacking and deathly ill, proceeded to unload and unpack with face masks on - and I don't blame them.  The foreman was named Alejandro and after a rough start with English and Japanese, we managed to communicate entirely in Spanish as his mother is Japanese and his father from Bolivia - who knew? All of the furniture was placed in the proper rooms and now it's just a matter of organizing.  This is specific to my closet and to my shoes, with the Husband now calling me Imelda (as in Marcos).  Did he not see the plethora of shoes before???  I guess not.  Did I mention that I have a full sized billiards/ping pong table in my living room?  Seriously not going to be featured in Architectural Digest anytime soon.  It's called "pick your battles" and I'll say nothing more.

Our new helper, Vergie, started this week as well.  She'll be doing housekeeping, laundry, ironing and occasionally babysitting for G.  The Phillipines (to the best of my knowledge) is one of the only countries to offer a nanny Visa, thus there are a large number of Filipina nannies/housekeepers looking for sponsors or part time work in Tokyo.  Vergie is actually sponsored by a friend of mine whose husband works for the Canadian government but she is looking for additional hours and money and then she in turn will send that money back to the Phillipines to help her family.  I adore her thus far and G (who doesn't normally warm up immediately) told her that she had very nice hair which elicited squeals of joy from her.  He's learning early that flattery will get you everywhere. Will be interested to see how she wrangles him as they are approximately the same height and weight.  I kid, but she is tiny.

Today I was the lucky/first one to experience the Tokyo medical system and treatment.  After bursting into tears this morning due to sharp shooting pain in my head as well as a jaw and ear ache, the Husband practically dragged me to the doctor.  I guess he's learned that when I cease to function, the world as he knows it pretty much comes to a grinding halt.  We're fortunate that we live in an area overrun by expats so there is an English speaking clinic nearby.  After a thorough check up, I was diagnosed with sinusitis and sent away with drugs - antibiotics plus additional amoxicillan that I am to take for 10 days.  Joy.

I've met a few ladies through the Tokyo American Club and am in the process of "dating" and weeding out the "could be really good friends" from the "we'll just be acquaintances".   Fortunately TAC affords a number of opportunities for involvement, be it classes, volunteering, interest groups or tours, so I've elected to throw myself in with abandonment.  Am drawing the line at lamp and shade making (for reals), but will be taking an Ikebana class - floral arrangement, a tea ceremony class and Shodo - calligraphy.  I've decided to adopt the When In Rome way of thinking and really make the most of our time here in Tokyo.

Until next time...

Michele

Baseball, Hotdogs and Apple Pie

As I sat in my kitchen this afternoon watching the Green Bay Packers vs. the Atlanta Falcons streaming live on my computer and with a little prompting from a FB friend (thanks Kirsten), I got to thinking about the things that I miss about the US.  I left NYC in January 2007 and have lived abroad ever since - first in London and now in Tokyo.  I'm lucky in that I've been able to travel frequently back to the states and have had a number of visitors in London.  I'm waiting to see who our first victims, err visitors to Tokyo will be.  There may be a prize associated.  It will not be Hello Kitty related and I promise that you will not have to sleep in the maid's room.

I will say this now, I love my life as an expat and wouldn't change it for the world.  To experience a different culture, meet new people, travel to exotic places, try new foods and learn a new language (see previous blog post), even at it's most challenging moments - I know that I am very, very fortunate.  That being said, here in no particular order, is what I miss most about "home", the United States.

• The fact that I miss my family and friends  is a given.  This does not get any easier as time goes by and in fact is made even more difficult by extended visits home.   I miss most holidays and birthday celebrations along with baby showers, wedding showers, weddings, 40th birthday parties and even funerals.  Facebook, email, phone calls and Skype are all life savers but it's just not the same as being there.  

• I miss the 4th of July and the Wauwatosa parade on North Avenue, complete with shriners in mini vehicles as well as watching the fireworks at Hart Park, covered in OFF while maniacally waving around sparklers and covering my ears during the "boomers".  

• I miss being an avid fan of a sports team, any sports team.  I confess even after 4 years in the UK, soccer is still soccer (not football) and I cannot tell you who plays for Arsenal, Man United or Tottenham or even what their colors are.  The obsession with the WAG (wives and girlfriends) is beyond my comprehension.  I can however, still talk ad nauseum about the "glory days" of the mid 90's Chicago Bulls and name a good portion of the 1984 Milwaukee Brewers starting lineup - hello Paul Molitor, loved him so.   Oh and goooooo Packers!

• Oh sweet Target, how I miss you so.  The fact that I could enter the store with a list of 3 small items to buy and emerge an hour later having spent $131.75 amazes me to this day.  If you do not know what Target is, you really don't know what you're missing...and trust me it's better that way.

• On a related note, I miss the extended shopping hours.  If I need cold medicine and it's 9 pm, no worries as Walgreens or Duane Reade is still open.  There may even be a 24 hour pharmacy - bonus!  This is definitely not the case elsewhere in the world as most shops open at 9 or 10 am and then close at 6 pm.  As I found out desperately searching for nappy creme (diaper rash)  one evening in London at 8:00 pm. 

• Just asked the Husband what he missed about the US and his answer was "knowing where I am going, a large parking space and a Satellite Navigation system that speaks English".  Did I mention that our Sat Nav speaks Japanese?  Very helpful to us as you can imagine.  

• We've been lucky in both London and Tokyo to find Costco as well as a few stores that import random American food products.  The following are the elusive items that have yet to be found or are simply just not available:  Wheat Thins, Triscuits, Fruit Loops, ranch dressing, Twizzlers, fruit snacks, Diet Coke (here in Tokyo), A&W Root Beer, Crystal Lite,  Lean Cuisine, Eggo Waffles, and Stove Top Stuffing.  To name a few. 

• I miss the friendliness of the American people....and this is coming from someone who has never lived in a small town or even the South.  I wasn't sure what to expect in NYC, but I was not disappointed.  From the bagel delivery man (yes, I miss him too) to the taxi driver to a street vendor, people are friendly and will (definitely generalizing here) bend over backwards to help you out.  Don't get me started on customer service.  For those in the US - let me quote the band Cinderella, "You Don't Know What You've Got, Til It's Goooooone". 

Now that I've managed to incorporate the lyrics from a bad 80's hair band into my blog, I think I should wrap up this post.  To be completely fair, I will also do a "Things I Do Not Miss about the US" in a upcoming post, stay tuned!

Packers vs. Bears???? not sure I could even watch the game.  

xo, 

Michele
 

Me Talk Pretty One Day January 15, 20100

If you haven't yet read this little gem of a book by David Sedaris, you really need to.  Let's talk about Japanese Language 101.  First a bit of background...I have spoken English for the past 40 years, if you don't count a the time spent in clases de Espanol in high school and college.  I loved Spanish, found it quite manageable to conquer and will to this day break it out -usually after a glass or 5 of sangria or a margarita.   In all our travels, it has not been too difficult for me to pick up key terminology and phrases as we navigated various cities, inclusive but not limited to France, Germany, Morocco, Italy.  You get the idea.  Thus, I wasn't too concerned with beginning my one on one, at home, intensive Japanese lessons...and that was a critical mistake.

I knew we might be off to a rocky start when on the first day, I answered the door in track pants and a fleece,  with my hair scraped back and not a speck of makeup and my instructor was in a full length fur.  Fighting back the urge to throw red paint all over her, while simultaneously locking the cat in the back bedroom, I ushered her into our kitchen where the breakfast dishes still remained.   Declining my offer of anything to eat or drink, she proceeded to unpack multiple textbooks and study materials from her rolling suitcase along with her designer handkerchief - who uses these???  I started to get a bit nervous.  Ichikawa-san, as she must be referred to as she is an elder and a teacher, is a lovely, gentle grandmotherly type who employs the "tsk, tsk" method of reprimanding along with the element of surprise - pop quiz, flashcards, tape recorder (so I can hear my own horrific pronounciation).  Am not going to lie, she scares me.  She scares me enough that I actually do the assigned homework which is perhaps her intention.

The written Japanese language is made up of three scripts: Chinese characters called kanji, and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana and katakana. I know you're thinking "so fun!", right?   My current assignment consists of tracing vowels in the hiragana script over and over again on lined paper similar to the paper we learned to write cursive letters on in Mrs. Diskowski's 3rd grade class.  True to form Ichikawa-san breaks out the red pen to correct my inaccurate placement of the dots and squiggles -tsk, tsking as she does so.

The speaking portion goes a bit better.  We are currently concentrating on Greetings - introducing yourself and other people, everyday greetings that consist of commenting on the weather, thank you,  you're welcome, I'm sorry, excuse me and good bye, see you again.  Michele desu (silent "u") - I'm Michele.   Hajimemashite - How do you do?  Dozo yoroshiku - Nice to Meet you.  No problems thus far... Ichikawa-san then breaks out popsicle sticks with the cut out faces of Richard Gere, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage (argh)  pasted onto them.  I  spend the next 15 minutes (holding sticks) and introducing Meryl to Brad, Brad to Julia, Julia to Nicolas etc. and then introducing them all to my instructor.  Without laughing I might add.  I also manage to stifle the snicker when "excuse me" happens to sound alot like Shit sorry and I am made to repeat it approximately 10 times.

In all honesty, I'm taking this class to be able to navigate the city, conduct a transaction in a shop or restaurant and direct the cab driver to my home.  I have no illusions that I will ever be considered "fluent" but I can always hope that maybe, just maybe Me Talk Pretty One Day.  

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

New Years Day, January 1st aka Gantan is the most important holiday of the year here in Japan.  People welcome a new beginning; families spend the day together eating special dishes prepared in advance -to relieve the family cook from duty this day; they also visit the homes of relative and friend to eat and drink to the New Year.  New Year's Eve is generally spent visiting the local Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine.  Before midnight on New Year's Eve, temple bells begin to toll slowly 108 times - it's called joya-no-kane. It is said that the temple bell toll to purify us of our 108 worldly desires.

Unsure if the local neighborhood temple welcomed visitors (us) and even more uncertain if we really wanted to purify ourselves of the 108 worldly desires (note to self: look up and see what these are), we opted for the more Westernized NYE option - we went to a party. Or a potty if you ask the 2 year old. Somehow being born in the UK to American parents has given him a very strange accent.  Am not certain that time spent in Japan is going to help his cause.

Anyway,  The Husband's colleague and his lovely wife organized an impromptu dinner party for 10 of us at their house in Omotesando otherwise known as the Champs Elysees of Tokyo.  Although they live in the residential area, we had to drive past the shopping district whereby I suffered whiplash gawking at the likes and lights of Dolce & Gabbana, Bottega Veneta, YSL, Harry Winston, Ralph Lauren....*sigh*.  My night would have been complete, but the potty (see above) was waiting for us.   The host (French) and his wife (Chinese but raised in London), host's mother (French), Hungarian couple, the token New Yawka and the under 3 crowd of G and Oli made up our totally random group of revellers.  The food was delish, the music was loud and the alcohol was plentiful.  The Hungarians brought lentils which we ate after midnight as is their tradition.  Apparently this is meant to bring you as much riches in the New Year as the number of little lentils.  Perhaps sensing that his own mother was more interested in her wine, G elected to sit on lap of said French grandmother and eat lentils with her to ring in the New Year.  Yes, he was still awake at midnight and going strong.   I said it before - I'm not winning Mother of the Year anytime soon.

We did venture up to their rooftop at just before midnight with Veuve Cliquot in hand, but were unable to catch fireworks or tolling temple bells.  Contented ourselves with attempting to look (see definition for Peeping Tom) into the next door neighbor's house, in order to see his indoor climbing wall.  Managed to convince The Husband that singing Auld Lang Syne at the top of his lungs from the rooftop was probably not the best idea-did I mention that the alcohol was plentiful?  All in all, a very successful party and a great way to celebrate our first New Years Eve in Japan.  Cheers to 2011 and to all of the adventures that may come our way.