Bali , part 1

Sitting in my cold and drafty Tokyo apartment with a box of tissues close by, I stare at the pictures of the glorious sunsets we saw every night as we sipped our cocktails by the ocean. What a wonderful vacation it was. Beautiful place, great food and people and the perfect combination of beach and culture.

We arrived about 10:30 pm and after going through immigration (not the nightmare as had been reported), we met the driver from the hotel and were quickly whisked into an air conditioned van, with cold towels and water instantly provided. The fifteen minute drive to the hotel gave us our first glimpse of Bali - not at all the pretty sunsets and rolling rice fields. Bumpy roads crowded with motorcycles, some with 2 and 3 passengers; child beggars on streets approaching the stopped cars; small worn down buildings lining the roads -a bit sobering at 11pm. Arriving at our hotel, the car was stopped and searched for bombs; an event that would become a daily occurrence.


At the hotel, while our luggage was loaded on to a cart, we were escorted through the open air lobby to a comfortable seating area to check in - none of this stand-behind-a-counter business here in Bali. After wiping off with a cold cloth (this too would become routine) and sipping at some cool tea, we were taken to our room. And what a room it was! On the second floor of the 4 story building looking out over one of the pools, the luscious gardens and yes, the ocean, this was one of the most comfortable rooms I'd ever been in. It was very quiet, but not so much that you couldn't hear the rolling surf or the birds and with the comfy black chairs, the balcony would prove to be the perfect place to listen.


Sunday was a day to relax and explore the hotel. After breakfast in the lounge, we headed out to the pool; actually a series of pools - some wading, some with fountains and finally the main one with the requisite bars stools in the water. Ariana found one with fountains she liked, so we plunked ourselves down:


and jumped in:

Another family joined us. The mother was covered from head to toe as is the traditional Muslim way, while the kids had on regular bathing suits. Certainly that mom didn't get her shoulders sun burnt like I did, being swathed like she was in colorful fabric.

After we had enough of the pool, we headed for the beach. It was quiet with only a few others walking along. In fact, most of the people we passed were local children or enterprising Balinese who offered us massages right on the beach. We passed a group of restaurants, really just shacks with tables in front of them, which we later discovered had the freshest, most delicious fish. We also discovered that was the location of one of the Bali bombings, the reason for all of the security and car searches.


Lunch, a mani and pedi followed. Yes, I know, it's a tough life. But, after the year I had, it was certainly well deserved. We stopped at the beach side bar for a cocktail, something that would become a nightly routine. Besides the amazing sunsets, the clean air and being able to watch the surf from a stress sapping Balinese beach chair, how can you resist a place that even makes milk look good???

under the weather

The cold season has come to the DiLaura house as both Ariana and I are sick. Baba san has been doing an excellent job of taking care of us, making food and basically keeping Ariana occupied so I can sleep.

We have also been making use of one of the more brilliant Japanese drug store items. Ariana is wearing it on her forehead - it's a gel strip that cools (for fevers) and also has menthol to ease breathing. Ariana loves them and actually knew she had a fever before I took her temperature. She went into the medicine cabinet and got one (I can do this myself, thank you very much!!) and then said to me "I have a fever". I took her temperature and sure enough she was right.

As you can see, Simba has not left her side for a minute since Christmas. She has taken it to her friends house and to the movies and slept with it every night. In fact, one night she woke up asking for it (silly me, forgot to put in into bed with her). She knows Santa brought it and fully understands the "ask Santa, get from Santa" concept. What she is having a hard time understanding though, is that Santa only comes once a year. She will say "I think I want to ask Santa for....", and I explain that she has to wait until next year.

Needless to say, she is not happy.

Christmas As Planned

Simba showed up just in time and so, early Christmas morning, I watched as Ariana slowly opened.....
the well wrapped doll with a sense of wonder......

and then...................................................... a big smile!!!
She carried it with her the entire day, as we went for Chinese food and then to a movie. The movie had to be postponed though, because it was sold out. Who would have thought on a Wednesday here in Tokyo there would be a problem seeing a movie, as Christmas is not a holiday here (proven by the symphony of hammer and drill that greeting us at 9am!!) . But, sold out it was, so we made our way to friends Clare and Jason's for a bit of champers.

On the way there, Ariana got a lesson in saying "please don't touch" and "you can look, but please don't touch" as she was adamant that Rhianna and Tom could not touch Simba. I explained that it was always good to share, but she wasn't' having any of it. She wasted no time playing with all of their new toys, forgetting about Simba as he sat on the couch, feeling ignored I'm sure.

Simba was reclaimed as we left and she carried him all the way home. She spent the evening putting him to bed, wrapping him in the new Mickey Mouse blanket that Santa brought. It was all very sweet....

....and happy holidays to all!!!!!

Moving Christmas

Finding a Simba doll here in Japan has proved impossible. After a trip to the Disney store where the shelves were full of everything but, I discovered the reason for the absence of anything "lion king like".

Apparently, the original story was written by a Japanese person years and years ago. Disney made the movie and was promptly sued and the resulting settlement prevents any merchandising from being sold here.

So I ordered one from the United States and here is where it gets sticky. If it doesn't arrive by Christmas, what do we do? I don't want to ruin Christmas and Santa for Ariana especially after she bravely sat on Santa's lap and asked for it. Imagine her getting up in the morning and looking high and low for Simba only to find nothing. Too sad.

Baba san and I have decided that our Christmas will be celebrated exactly the day after Simba arrives. We will be celebrating Hanukkah too and it is very late this year, starting just a few days before Christmas, so she will be preoccupied with candles and little gifts.

Now, off to finish packing.......Bali here we come!!!

Hello Santa!!!

After a sugar laden lunch at TGI Friday's (yes, we do still live in Tokyo and yes, there is a Friday's here) we headed over to the Tokyo American Club for a meeting with Santa. All week long we had been preparing for the big event, with me explaining to Ariana that she had to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. Since she is normally very quiet around strangers, we were practicing in the hopes that she would feel less overwhelmed by the big guy in the big red suit.

It worked!! She walked up to the big guy a little tentatively, sat down a little more so, but was able to answer when he asked her what she wanted. We all heard a soft little "I want Simba". And then a big smile when she realized she did it!!!

Now, she did get a little put out when she realized that she couldn't get the Simba doll right there and then. I had to explain that Santa (me) has to go back to the North Pole (Shibuya) and make the Simba for her (has to fight my way through the crowds in the Disney store and pray there is a Simba doll - or Simba something). Then if she is a good girl (and I find the time to do this before Christmas sometime before we leave for vacation next week) when she wakes up on Christmas day, Simba will be there waiting for her.

Ahhhh, the joys of Christmas!!!!!

Have Turkey Will Travel

It pays to have a resourceful husband sometimes........................and a very large stroller.

On Sunday, my friend Darla and I decided to have a belated Thanksgiving. Since I had the larger oven, one that could actually fit a turkey, it was decided to have it at my house, so early Sunday morning, I put the turkey in the oven and started on the rest of my dishes. Darla would bring her stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie over around 1pm and we would eat.

Everyone was dressed, the table was set and stomachs were beginning to growl when the phone rang about 12:45:

Ryder was running a fever.

Now for all of you who have children, you know what that means. The balancing of two thoughts: "I must take care of my child" with "can we still make it?"

Having been in this situation many times myself (and with the turkey just about ready to come out of the oven) I said we would just wheel the turkey over there. Luckily Darla lives close - about a 5 minute walk.

So, as I was starting on the gravy, baba san rigged up the "turkey delivery devise" and wheeled it over. I followed once I had finished the gravy and a wonderful dinner followed, with a revived Ryder partaking just a little bit.


Sometimes it really does pay to roll with the flow, or should I say turkey..................

A Moment of Graditude

Today is Thanksgiving. As concerned as I am about the state of the world, our status here in Tokyo and the frightening sight of our 401k's, I also look around and see how much I have.

Two years ago (today!!!!!) the powers that be placed a beautiful (despite the fact she was screaming her head off) daughter in my arms. Today she surprises me regularly with her inquisitiveness and her humor. I have a loving husband who is caring and compassionate and who cooks and even cleans up (ok, not all the time and not everything, but enough). I have two step children that occasionally surprise me with their insightful observations and constantly amuse me with their antics, two of the best in-laws a girl could have (even my mother thought so, so you know they have to be great) and friends - oh, where do I even begin to explain where I would I be without my friends......

Life is good......

Food Glorious Food

After spending an afternoon at a Japanese cooking class, I have come to a realization. I really don't like Japanese food. I eat it and enjoy most of what I eat, but not enough to take the time involved to actually prepare an entire meal.

Part of the problem is finding the ingredients you need. The teacher will show us a bag of something and everyone will pull out their cameras to take a picture of it, but if that brand isn't sold in your local store, you may never find that store's equivalent. I have tried to write out the kanji, but sometimes there is so much writing on the label, I can't find the word that spells out the actual contents.

The labels on fish are truly confusing. Written down is everything from where the fish came from to how to cook it. I have a little cheat sheet and still I can't figure out what I have. I routinely answer the question "what are we having for dinner?" with "possibly tuna" or " some sort of white fish". Baba san has gotten used to it. The only major error was buying the saltiest of salmon (salmon comes in 4 different ways - unsalted, lightly salted, medium salted and mouth puckering salt with a little bit of salmon). Up until then, I didn't know this and afterhaving to swear up and down that I didn't put too much salt on the fish, we went 6 months without salmon at all, least I risk having to go through that experience again.

I can do better with Miso as I actually know what that looks like in the store, but then again, there are something like 17 different kinds, so I'm not sure exactly which kind I am buying. I found out on Saturday that there is actually "chunky" miso - just like peanut butter. Which is exactly what it looks like on the shelf. And yes, I will make miso soup, if only because you need a cute little gadget to make it.

The cooking tools are great though. Skimmers and knives and pans and other gadgets that anyone who gets "called" to that section of the store will appreciate. Little graters just for ginger or Daikon, strainers used exclusively for making miso soup and rectangular pans used for making the sweet omelets that are found in every bento box. - these are all on my wish list.

Next week I have a trip to Kappabashi planned with some of the moms from school. Kappabashi is actually one long street filled on each side with stores catering to people who like to buy kitchen gadgets. A former wholesale area for restaurants, it is now basically a place for people like me, who get a thrill from seeing store after store filled with bowls and plates and cookie cutters and knives (there is one store devoted to nothing but) and a bunch of things that I don't know, but feel certain I will need. Which is why I am happy to be visiting with some of the Japanese moms, who will be able to explain these enticing little items. Of course, they don't actually shop there, finding out long ago that it is far more convenient to do one's shopping on line.

Ah, The Magic of Christmas

"I want Simba doll......................I want Mickey Mouse doll........................where's Simba shirt?...........I tell Santa I want Simba shirt.....................can I buy this at the store? (sitting on toy firetruck at friend's house).......................where's Santa?..........................we go Santa tomorrow...................I want to buy this...........................I get money at the store......................I have money for Santa.....I want to buy this DVD and this DVD and this DVD (pointing to the insert in one of the DVDs she already has)...................we go see Santa tomorrow?..........................I think I want to buy this (different truck at friend's house)......................I think I want to tell Santa about Mickey Mouse boots.......Mama, we need a Mickey Mouse Telephone. We don't have one and this one (pointing at our perfectly good land line) doesn't work...........I need a Mickey Mouse back pack. I ask Santa for one .............. I think I want to get Mickey Mouse gloves and shoes and boots"........................ah yes, such a magical season...

The Fun

We had a visit from Arny's cousins on Sunday. As you can see, Ariana was feeling chipper, entertaining us all with her jumping skills. Bob was happy they were so good, as his knees wouldn't have been able to take a hard landing.
Ryshin is getting big - at two, he is almost as big as Ariana. They played happily most of time and had several lessons in sharing after they were not.

The energy of the weekend disintegrated into illness after I received a call from school saying Ariana had a fever. She has been fighting off a cold for quite a while and it finally got the best of her. About a third of her class was out sick yesterday and two of her other friends were home so something is definitely going around.


But, we have vaporizer pig to provide much needed moisture in the air. You gotta love Japanese design. We named it Goldie. Last night Ariana slept on the couch right next to it and had her first almost full night sleep in days. I did too, which is even better. Thanks Goldie!!!

More Happy Pictures...

Fall In Tokyo

The leaves change color, the vending machines now hold hot drinks as well as cold and the toilet seats are warm - these are all signs that fall has come to Japan. Potato digging is another. In pre-schools all over, little children followed (or in some cases led) by their teachers and parents make their way to one of the small farms to commune with nature.

Ariana and I went last week. While many children were actively digging and pulling at the vines, Ariana was waiting until the farmer came along and dug out the potatoes that were left in the ground. Then she would gracefully pick them up and put them in our bag.

The farm was small, probably about 2 acres, and as you can see from the picture, smack in the middle of a neighborhood. In addition to sweet potatoes, they also grew other vegetables and had a few pomegranate trees.





This is a Daikon radish, a very popular vegetable here. It can be sliced or grated into a salad or sauteed. It grows straight down into the ground and as you can see, with the leafy top was almost as big as Ariana.

Ariana was quite interested in the bug she found (eew!!) - picking it up and waving it around for all to see (eeeeeeeeww!!!!!!!!!!!). Luckily this one did not make it into the bag of potatoes.

As you can probably tell, I am not a big fan of bugs - not a good quality to have living here. It is easy to forget that Japan is one big island, but it is and it has the variety of bugs and insects to prove it. Like I said before, eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!

What a Week

The excitement still has not faded here in Japan after the election on Wednesday. I watched the returns with fellow democrats at a restaurant in Roppongi. Two friends, neither US citizens, met me there to participate in the celebration. They were thrilled to be able to see American democracy in action and asked question after question about the process (luckily, I was able to answer all of them). The interest in this election was truly worldwide - and I am being congratulated by people from every part of it.

I am back to being proud to be American, instead of apologetic. We did it. We chose hope over fear; integrity over deceit; respect over contempt. Yes, we did.

Yes.

WE.

DID!!!!!!!!

And the Winner Is......................

Finally, Halloween is Over

We celebrated in school on Friday - all the kids in their costumes were ridiculously adorable. Given Ariana's slight cold, we did not go out that night, preferring to stay inside and eat the treats she got.

On Saturday, we had some friends over (both little and big) and they brought some of their take from the previous night. They were kind enough to share with Ariana, which made her very happy.

And yes, she does have a new haircut......definitely more manageable and less likely to attract spaghetti sauce, since she is not into hair accessories of any kind.

So now that Halloween is over, the Christmas decorations and displays are already up - even here!! While not a national holiday, the gift giving and visual aspects of the day are very popular here in Tokyo. Thankfully I have not yet heard any Christmas music - I do hope they hold off for a little while.....

We Pause This Blog For a Short Political Announcement

Halloween Part 2 - My Little Superfreak

Yesterday was the Halloween parade in Harajuku, where children of all ages (and some dogs too) dress up and have a fine old time in the streets of Tokyo. We started at brunch, where Ariana serenaded us with what, I don't remember. I do know it was loud....

We then made our way to the parade and got there just as it started. Kids of all ages and in all sorts of costumes paraded down the street.


Ariana even met a "Kiki" - for those who are not familiar with "Kiki's Delivery Service", it is a wonderful movie about a little girl witch (Kiki) and her black cat (Jiji). The girl below with the red bow in her hair was Kiki and Ariana was so excited to see her.

Afterwards, we hung out in Yogogi Park for awhile

and then made it to the Baby Does Disco event, where the parents got to dance to 80's disco music and the kids got to laugh. Ariana was quite timid, preferring to play with the big balloons scattered around the room.

...that is until they started playing "YMCA". As she watched baba san and I dance, she started following us as we made the letters with our arms (yes, she thought it was funny). But once she heard "Superfreak" , she turned into a dancing machine...

Halloween Part 1

Presenting.....................Jiji the cat, from the movie "Kiki's Delivery Service". Continuing with the animal theme of last year, Ariana wanted to be Jiji this year, so again I pulled out the face paint markers and went to work. She was pleased with the resemblance and yesterday we had the first excursion out, to the Halloween birthday party of one of her classmates.

It turned out to be both an inspired and original choice, as all of her classmates were dressed as princesses, several in the exact same Disney dresses. As you can see, Ariana was quite pleased with herself.

The Best Birthday Present

She's Turning into Jed, Part Deux

me: how was school today Ariana

her: fine

me: what did you do?

her: (long pause)...........nothinggggggggggggg........................................

She's Turning Into Jed

me: Ariana, how was school today?

her: fine

me: what did you do?

her: (blank stare and silence, then) huh??

More Birthday Pictures

Tess keeps watch as Ariana opens a present...
gently placing the Oreo's on the roof......
Ryder couldn't wait.......
"happy birthday to you".....
Baba made it home just in time.......

Ariana's Fourth Birthday or The Day I Went Insane

It actually began a few days before when I decided to make gingerbread houses for Ariana and her friends to decorate. It took me two days to make the gingerbread and another to put them together into what could only generously called houses - they were actually more like tenement houses or more realistically - outhouses.

The recipe itself was easy - the mixing wore me out as the batter is really hard and with only a hand mixer, very tiring. The putting together was frustrating as the walls kept coming down, which required an enormous amount of icing glue to make stick.


They all stood up on the day of decorating though which made me very happy. A thin film of flour is still on the counters after many scrubbings and I am still finding bits of gingerbread batter stuck to everything with a 10 foot range of the mixer. And Ariana's creation is on the counter waiting to be eaten.

Then, in an additional fit of "creativity" in the wake of the "no sugar" policy at her school (don't even get me started on this one!!) I decided to make a "fruit" cake. While at the store to buy a piece of Styrofoam to stick the fruit on, my friend Darla encouraged me to get creative and actually make something. The something turned into a truck, since Ariana is big into Bob the Builder these days, shouting with excitement every time we see a truck, or a mixer, or actually anything resembling anything Bob the Builderish.



At school, the kids liked the truck and the fruit, but were still disappointed there was no cake (I found out that morning at the mom's meeting that I could have made a cake with honey or another "natural" sweetener, but really, that just gets me more irate- sugar is sugar!!!)

At home, the kids arrived and were having a fine time......

The Bob the Builder Lego Crane Set went over well...........
and Ariana had fun showing everyone how the elevator worked in her new doll house..



running laps around the apartment was fun for everyone............
.....here is Ariana showing Darla how old she is now........4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Now, A Brief Pause From This Blog For A Political Announcement

During my time in Japan, I have learned to enjoy living in peace. Peace from fear, anger and just plain nastiness. These things being absent in my life lead me to be drawn to a candidate who proposed real change, who spoke of hope. For a long time, these words were absent from politics and to hear them again was refreshing. I have been away long enough to believe real change is possible and to understand how much US citizens live in an environment of “fear” without even knowing it.

What I have seen the past few days reminded me that sometimes we have to fight for a change in the way people look at things. Rather than offer real plans, Mr. McCain, Ms. Palin and their supporters offered sarcasm, insults and fear – yet again.

How can someone with more homes he remembers call a couple who recently paid off their student loans elitist?

How can someone rail against government in peoples lives while trying to ban books in the library in her hometown for being “controversial”.

How can you uphold a Bill of Rights that talks about separation of church and state and then propose teaching creationism in the public schools?

How can the most prosperous country in the world be one holdout for providing healthcare to all of it’s’ citizens? This is the question I am asked about the most when I am talking to people from other countries and it is frankly, embarrassing to have to answer. We are on the Japanese healthcare system and it works for me just fine.

Yes, I agree, families and especially children should be off limits in politics, but what about the policies involved. Ms. Palin is for abstinence education and against any sort of comprehensive sex education when study after study (not to mention her own personal experience) shows that abstinence education alone just does not work.

For those interested in the economy, read this article from the Washington Monthly www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_05/006282.php. If you don’t want to read it, just ask yourself if you are better now than you were eight years ago? Are we better off? Eight years ago we had billion of dollars in surplus; now we have a deficit even larger.

All of the anger, the sarcasm, and the insults mask the fact that just a few weeks ago, the Republicans were mocking Obama’s call for change – now they have co-opted the message as their own. But so far, I have heard no details about what they will do different, but more importantly seen anything in their methods and behavior to believe they are sincere.

for more on ms. palin - http://my2bucks.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/a-letter-from-someone-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1992/

My New SUV

...Japanese style. Otherwise known as a mama-chari, these motorized bikes can be seen all over Tokyo. Since Ariana's new school is a few miles away, this seemed the best way to get her back and forth. She and I, both with helmets securely fastened and with shouts of "mama, be careful" from the little back seat driver, made our way carefully through the quiet streets and up the steep hills (hence the need for the motor) to school.
Unscathed.
So far.
Most adults here don't wear helmets and only some of the kids do, so I was quite relieved to see one of the other mothers pulling up to the school in a helmet. "I'm from Chicago", she said when I commented how we seemed to be the only two who were risking looking silly. True, in any big city in America, all you see are people in helmets and for kids, it's the law.
Since the bike "rules of the road" are fluid here (ride on the street unless you can't and then ride on the sidewalk) , you are competing with cars, motorcycles or pedestrians at any given moment. I wonder why more people don't"risk looking silly" as the potential for an accident is pretty good.
I am happy to say that our trips to school have so far been incident free.
So far.

Oh Sado Mio

One of my favorite places anywhere is the island of Sado, off the western coast of Japan. We went for the Earth Celebration, a festival started by Kodo, a famous Taiko drumming group. After arriving on Friday and getting settled in our room, we enjoyed the dinner prepared by the hotel - a typical Japanese one made up of many little dishes. This being Sado, an island known for its seafood, most of the dishes came from the sea, most were recognizable and most were delicious.

Saturday morning we made our way down to Ogi, the port town where the festival was being held. Meeting our friends Ryan, Darla and Ryder, we spent the mostly rainy day listening to drumming, walking around the festival market and marveling at the amazingly relaxed crowd.

Kanatsuryu Yanagawa Shishi Odori (Deer Dance)

A Brazilian group called Bloco Barravento, made up of both Japanese and Brazilian drummers.
Waiting patiently to get into the gym to hear the next group....

A very relaxed group waiting for the main band, Olodum, to perform. I have never seen such an orderly group. Before we got to our spot, we had to line up according to the color card we got earlier in the day. Even within the green group, we had numbers - this was the chart:



Can you believe anyone would pay attention to this in the states? - NO WAY. But here, everyone did. We had a very steep climb up to the clearing for the concert and everyone sat down very nicely. No pushing, no shoving, no fights. An announcement was made about the venue and the concert, what was allowed and what wasn't and a special note that if you wanted to dance, to please move to the side as to not disturb the people behind you who may not want to stand. This lasted all of about 30 seconds once the main band Oludum came out. As they are Brazilian and not used to sitting still during a musical performance, they immediately called out for everyone to stand, which we all did - and danced for almost the entire two hour performance, through rain and everything. Even Baba san was dancing - and Ariana, well let me just show you. Mind you, this was shot earlier in the day as we were listening to Bloco Barravento, but you get the idea: