Happy New Year!

Ohayo!

I AM AN AUNT! My nephew is called Ruben. He lives in Vancouver. He is small and pink.

In December we had our SECOND visitors! Ross's sister and her husband came to visit. There was lots of shopping and eating and of course, karaoke. Good times.

Christmas was a bit of a strange non-event. After all the build up (decorations, trees, "Christmas illumination" displays, carols, salespeople wearing Santa hats or reindeer antlers), Christmas was basically just a regular day and then IMMEDIATELY on the 26th all the decorations came down. Then the New Year decorations went up: modest bouquets of pine and bamboo and oranges.

On December 27th my colleagues and I were invited to join one of our operators on their traditional end of year visit to the JCAB (Japanese Civil Aviation Board). The idea is to ask for continued good relations in the coming year and to forget the troubles that happened in the previous year (which would be very convenient for us). It turned out we crashed the most amazing office party I have ever seen. At the regional office there were foods from all over Japan. Mini gas burners had been set up to grill meat. There were pots of fish soup and huge plates of sashimi, scallops and raw oysters. There was wine, beer and sake. It was right in their office so there were desks with piles of paper all around. Nobody spoke much English so it was all a bit bewildering for me. But I think it went well (someone commented that we were very brave to visit, and that Boeing and Airbus have never visited the end of year party!).

During the week of the New Year holiday (when many restaurants and bars were closed- for the whole week!) Ross and I did some sightseeing. We went up the Mori Tower at Roppongi Hills to visit the contemporary art gallery and to see the 53rd floor view of Tokyo. We also went to a town on the coast south of Tokyo called Kamakura. We visited some temples and shrines and saw a big Buddha statue. There were MANY people there as it is a New Year tradition to visit temples and shrines. Happily this meant that there were many street food stalls so I was able to enjoy tako yaki (octopus balls). Then we watched the surfers and kite fliers at the beach and had dinner at a Hawaiian burger restaurant.

On New Year's Eve Ross and I enjoyed dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant (one of the few that were open) and then at midnight went to check out the local shrine action. There were around 20 people milling about our small local shrine (conveniently located next to a 24-hour Denny's) and then at midnight someone started banging a drum. Then everyone lined up to ring the temple bell. The drum was cool but the bell was a bit tinny and disappointing. But the net effect was quite charming.

Twice in the past month we have visited notable pet-friendly restaurants. The first was dog-friendly The Great Burger in Harajuku. There were water bowls for dogs at the front door and a nice bulldog wearing a Santa hat on a bar stool. The ladies in the booth behind us had a collection of tiny dogs wearing nice clothes. The dogs were carried out in a combination of fancy bags and a stroller.

The second place was a RABBIT-friendly cafe in Kamakura. We were the only customers without a rabbit. In addition to eating pancakes branded with a little picture of a rabbit, we could buy rabbit things and watch the resident rabbit. It was very nice.

Now we have our THIRD visitor (if you count Allie and Ben as one), Ross's father. He has just completed his teaching season in northern China and is currently enjoying the creature comforts of Tokyo (deep bath, unlimited hot water, good bakeries, mild weather).

Tokyo Mystery #1: The Moss Scooter

Since we arrived at the beginning of October, there has been an abandoned scooter outside the Westin hotel next door. It seems to have been tagged but has not moved for months. There is even moss growing on the seat. Whose scooter is it? Why is it still there? Why is there moss growing on the seat? I don't know.