Namban Rengo Bonenkai

The Namban Rengo Bonenkai (Year-end Christmas Party) was held on Saturday, December 8. This was the night after Amy Rivard's concert, which meant the second night out in a row for me while Rodney stayed home with Markus...such a sweet husband!

Greg and Satohi receiving awards from Steve

A large portion of the night included updates and news over the year given by the groups' proprietor, Bob Poulson (photo left), followed by awards presented by team leaders Steve Lacey and Brett Larner. After the speeches, it was party time...lots more of drinking and dancing!

This would be my official first social gathering to attend with the Nambanners since joining the group in August. I gotta say this group really likes to have a good time. During Wednesday night track training, everyone is usually in serious running mode, so this was a side of the group that I hadn't discovered. What a surprise it was to see Renald's fridge stocked...I mean stocked with beer. I guess I didn't expect it since I know most runners are in training mode gearing up for upcoming races including the 2008 Tokyo Marathon in February. If you put in the "carb-loading" perspective, I guess beer fits into that category of consumption. Regardless, everyone had a great time.

It was wonderful to hear truly inspiring stories from many of the avid runners in the group. Makes you really want to strive to be a better runner; at least for me, that is. Our next group race is on January 20, which is the Shibuya Ekiden. It is a relay race which consists of four legs, each running about 3km. Not bad at all. Apparently the ekiden/relay is a big event for the Nambanners. Tanoshimi! (Looking forward to it!)

With running friends Alice O'Reily and Meg

Cheese!

Above with Alice O'Reily and Steve Lacey

The host, Renald Gregoire and the Beer Fridge

With fellow Canadians Renald Gregoire and Brett Larner

Gettin' their groove on!

Amy Rivard Live at Cozmo's Cafe

"It's a small world after all..."

How bizarre it was to hear that a fellow Canadian, better yet, a fellow Windsor-ite happened to be performing in a metropolis like Tokyo. What's even more, we both graduated from the same high school, as well as the University of Windsor, in Ontario, Canada. Ever since the high school drama presentation days, I've always known Amy Rivard to be a very talented musician, who was such a happy, outgoing and friendly person, to boot. She was one of those individuals you just knew would become a star one day...and she definitely has!

Coincidentally, I learned through a friend that Amy Rivard was touring in Tokyo with the highly acclaimed group, Celtic Woman. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend neither of the three shows during the last week of November. However, after contacting her directly through email (yay..the the perks of knowing her personally), she informed me of another performance promoting her new CD titled Amy Rivard Cashmere. Her solo jazz performance was held at Cozmo's International Lounge & Cafe in the downtown Shibuya district, on December 7. I was thrilled and just knew I wanted to be there for support so I gathered three of my girlfriends and we enjoyed a night out listening to Amy's sweet voice. Her live performance was phenomenal! Her voice sent chills up my spine! My friends were absolutely amazed and willingly purchased her CD! Amy was so sweet to spend time with us signing the covers.

Miyuki, Keiko, Amy, me, and Meiri

Toasting to Amy's success with a delicious mint Mojito cocktail. Kanpai!

The Japan scene is nothing new to Amy Rivard. She resided in Tokyo for over a year while performing as a singer/dancer/actress for Tokyo DisnerySea. She completed her contract in January 2007. A month later in February 2007, she was hired to sing first soprano for Celtic Woman, thus sending her to Ireland to begin her training.

Up to now, her thriving career includes a plethora of impressive achievements including singing in the renowned broadway production Riverdance, The Roy Orbison Tour and Camelot. Throughout Canada and the United States, she has also performed several theatre and cabaret shows, which included the SilverSea 6 Star Cruiseline as principal singer. Currently, she is touring worldwide with Celtic Women. Clearly, there's no stopping Amy!

I was happy to read an article about Amy and her new connection with Celtic Woman featured in the local Japanese/English magazine, Metropolis (November 7, 2007 Issue #711). Her solo performances were also listed separately in the Metropolis events columns. As you can see, she has been well-received by many Japanese fans and it was evident at Cozmo's Cafe with the crowds of people who attended her show.

To learn more about Amy Rivard, visit her website at http://www.amyrivard.com/.

To purchase her new CD Cashmere, simply click on her album icon on the left.

You can also listen to samples of her music on http://www.myspace.com/amyrivardmusic.

Gambatte Amy! Totemo tanoshikatta!

2007 Tokyo Motor Show

Perfection...

During the first weekend while Markus and I were away abroad, Rodney attended the 40th Annual Tokyo Motor Show on October 28. Since it was opening weekend of the show, he expected it to be much more crowded than it actually was. Over the course of the 17 days of public viewing, the show attracted a total of 1,425,800 visitors. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) published online articles about the Tokyo Motor Show, if you're interested in reading further.

“Catch the News, Touch the Future” - was the theme for the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show

Honda Civic Type R

2007 Moto GP World Champion, Ducati's Casey Stoner's bike

Crowds flocking toward the highly anticipated Nissan GTR. This was manufactured to compete with the Porsche GT3.

The closest view Rodney could get of the Nissan GTR.

This concept baby stroller is equipped with brake lights...only in Japan!

Rodney was accompanied by friend/co-worker, Monma-san and his girlfriend,Takako-san.

Rodney's forever favourite ride....the Porsche GT3

BMW concept

The Audi R8

Welcome Chiyo Hemmi!

During the early morning hours of October 16, 2007, one my nearest and dearest friends here in Tokyo, Mihoko Hemmi gave birth to her second child, a beautiful baby girl named Chiyo.

Onnanoko desu!

It's a Girl!

I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to visit Mihoko-san at the hospital a few days after Chiyo-chan's birth. Of course, I was ready with my camera to capture moments of her first few days. Full of energy, Mihoko recovered beautifully after her super-quick delivery!

Mihoko and husband Takeshi also have a two-and-a-half year-old son Chihiro, who has been a good helper and older brother to baby Chiyo.

At birth, Chiyo-chan weighed a tiny 2980 grams (6.6 lbs)

Omedetou Gozaimasu!

Congratulations!

My two great friends and their baby girls! Sayaka with Sora-chan and Mihoko holding Chiyo-chan.

'Tis the season...

Our Thanksgiving weekend here in Tokyo was quaint...sans turkey. I might have mentioned it before, but turkey meat is not prevalent in Japan, nor are the average homes with ovens large enough to bake a decent sized turkey, otherwise I wouldn't have minded slaving in our kitchen for the occasion. Generally, turkey is available at most international supas. Indeed we missed out on great home cooking with family.

What a smile!

Online, I found several restaurants serving turkey dinners. I randomly chose one restaurant named Farm Grill located in Ginza. Based on the review, it sounded great. So we ventured out to Ginza to the location, and much to our surprise we couldn't find it anywhere. We even went to the Koban (police box) for some assistance. I tried calling the phone number, which I had written down, only to get a busy signal. So I assumed that they were just simply busy. But to no avail, it turned out that the restaurant closed down two years ago. What a bummer! When I got home that night, I checked the listing once again online...I found out that I was reading a back issue of a magazine dated in 2005. Lesson learned!

Taking a stroll down the main street in Ginza.

Friday, November 23 was also a national holiday in Japan - Labour Thanksgiving Day. The purpose is to commemorate labour and production, as well as giving thanks to one another for hard work and accomplishments. Government-related offices and most businesses had the day off. However, like most national holidays, Honda employees were hard at work; at least we can say it was a short day.

On Thanksgiving weekend, we did some bulk shopping at Costco and headed to TOKYO MIDTOWN in Roppongi to see the wonderful holiday light displays, commonly known throughout Japan as "Winter illuminations". Tokyo Midtown is like a little town in itself right in the heart of Tokyo. This new attraction comprises six buildings, one of which is now the tallest building in the Tokyo Prefecture at the astounding height of 248 metres. After three years of construction, the complex first opened its doors early this year in March. Crowds upon crowds showed up for the Grand Opening. During that time, I remember us heading to church one Sunday morning, which is located just a few blocks away, and being swarmed by the hundreds of people making their way to the new site. Within it's commercial property, it houses several restaurants, Japan's first Ritz-Carlton Hotel, many retail shops and museums, including the Suntory Museum of Art.

Views of inside the Galleria of Tokyo Midtown

Tokyo Midtown Plaza area, by day

The Plaza, by night

Markus was compelled by the changing colours of hanging fibre optic streams of lights

The view looking up into the fibre optic streams

The weather was gorgeous last weekend, perfect for walking outdoors, so of course there were hundreds of people out and about trying to capture the perfect picture.

Glass Christmas Tree in the Garden Terrace

Just a side note, Japanese are predominately Buddhist and Shinto, and since Christmas is a Christian holiday, it is not considered a national holiday in Japan. In fact, Rodney is scheduled to work on the 25Th of December. However, these days it seems that Christmas has become more of a "Hallmark" holiday in that it gives people reasons to exchange Christmas gifts with each other. Traditionally, most of my Japanese friends buy their children gifts, but not their spouses or parents. Though we'll be here in Japan for the holidays, we intend on continuing our own family traditions. Yes, Rodney and I have already exchanged wishlists!

A closer look of the Milky Way display in the Garden Terrace consists of rows of brilliant blue and white LED lights.

Another spectacular view overlooking the Garden Terrace from the crosswalk

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TOKYO TOWER is the largest structure in all of Japan standing at 333 metres high. The illuminations display consists of 15,000 lights. Based on what I can recall, the set up is very similar, if not exactly the same, as last year's. Joanna and Giancarlo were in town when we toured the Tokyo Tower and holiday display last year.

Taking a breather from all the running around!

This theme is perfect for the toddler who loves trains, Markus included. He enjoyed popping in and out of the train cars and posing for the camera.

We plan to visit several more of the illumination displays all over Tokyo. I just love this time of year and it was so nice coming back to the Tokyo city scene adorned with plenty of beautiful holiday decor.


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!