A special treat

There's something about birthdays that make you want to be with family and close friends. At least for me that is. And since I come from a big family, I admit I felt a bit homesick on my birthday.

Mihoko had prepared a delicious Japanese lunch for me at her home. For dinner, Markus, Rodney and I went to a Yakiniku Barbeque Restaurant called Gyu Kaku, close to home. Following dinner, we took a long bike ride around our area. We ended the day having some yummy desserts back at home.


Mihoko's lunch (photo on right) consisted of a cold noodle dish with cut strips of cucumber, ham, crab and egg in soy based sauce. The side dish is called nato, which is fermented soy beans - known to be very good for your health. Mihoko knows that nato is not one of my favourite Japanese foods. In fact, I've tried it a few times and it just never seemed to agree with my taste buds. However, in this dish, she disguised it with ocra and other spices and I actually enjoyed it very much.



Markus just loves bike rides! He rings the bell on the handlebars to signal people out of the way.
Sometimes he'll even say "Sumimasen", which means "Excuse me". Rodney and I get a kick out of it everytime.















The day after, which was Saturday, Rodney had made plans to spend an afternoon at a new park, which I thought was a perfect plan for the nice weather. Well, as we drove to our destination and turned a final street corner, we pulled into the Tokyo Four Seasons Hotel. My first thought was maybe Rodney had made lunch reservations at the hotel restaurant. To my surprise, my wonderful husband had made me a reservation for a spa retreat package, which included a full-body massage and aromatherapy. The hotel itself was as elaborate and gorgeous as you would imagine a Four Seasons Hotel would be.



Antioxidising ingredients and vitamins in the aromatherapy oils help provide conditioning and rejuvenating effects. I was given the option to select 1 of 4 treatment oils - spring, summer, autumn or winter blends. I selected the spring scent, which had notes of sakura flower, mandarin, geranium, orange blossom and cherry oils.

I loved the rich zen atmosphere throughout the spa facility. The visual appeal made the experience even more revitalizing.

I left feeling pampered, extremely relaxed and rejuvinated after the wonderful treatment I received. Overall, it was a great weekend and most importantly I didn't feel a day older!

It was a happy birthday indeed. I was in the company of the two most important people in my life.

Has it been year already?!

Well it's official, we've been in Japan for a whole year, to date. Unbelievable how time flies!

Recently, Rodney and I have enjoyed looking back at our previous blog posts to see all we've done since we arrived (Refer to slide strip on side bar). It's especially incredible to see how much Markus has grown since last April 14. He was such a little squirt who could barely communicate. Wow, what a big difference a year can make! We've done several activities and seen some pretty impressive places. There were also some frightening experiences including a couple of hospital emergency visits. Once I sliced the tip of my left index finger while chopping onions. Follow up visits continued for over two weeks thereafter, which was well worth it now that my finger is completely healed.

The second ER visit was for an allergic reaction that Markus had after eating a cookie with cashew nuts. That evening, we were actually transported by ambulance. Prior to leaving for the hospital, Markus was freaked right out by the sight of the paramedics . To him, they were complete strangers who wore blue uniforms and hardhats invading his space. It was in an intense situation for us all. Thank God both incidents were not life threatening. In addition, I've also had surgery done in Tokyo. Under the circumstances, we were fortunate to have good care and good communication. Thanks Mihoko and Keiko for all your invaluable help with our medical traumas. You have been my angels and I am forever in debt of you both.

We've had the time of our lives in our adventures including the Mt. Fuji climb; the summer vacation to Okinawa; visits to Kyoto, Nikko, Kamakura, Hakone, and the ski trips, to name only a few. Not to mention the many attractions within Tokyo that we frequent each time visitors arrive. In short, it's been a productive year thus far and we consider ourselves blessed with this wonderful opportunity to live in Japan.

To think, if we hadn't decided on taking Rodney's offer of extension at work, we'd be home by now. Of course we have no regrets and look forward to the next six months with total excitement as our Japan adventures continue.

We're especially excited to welcome to our next visitors from our hometown, my sister Liza and her best friend, Loredana. They arrive next Friday, April 20. I can't wait!

Welcome Spring!

In Japan, there's no better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than by enjoying Ohanami, which is Cherry Blossom-viewing. It is also known as Sakura Festival season, a tradition in Japan since the ancient times. The beautiful Sakura is the nation's flower. There are many parks in Tokyo that offer fabulous views of Sakura blooming throughout. People view Ohanami in many different places besides parks including cemeteries.

Strolling through our neighborhood one morning in early March, before Jidoukan, I caught my first glimpse of cherry blossoms beginning to bloom. By the way, these trees do not yield any fruit, though I have actually tasted a wonderful pastry dessert with actual Sakura flower added into the recipe.

I enjoyed learning a lot about the traditions of Ohanami, from my Japanese friends. For instance, it is common for someone to be sent to a park early in the morning to stake out a spot under a tree and wait for friends and family to arrive at a later time. Popular sites can get very crowded especially during the weekends. Usually, the parties, which consist of eating, singing, dancing, chatting and more eating, can last till the late hours of the evening. I really admire the Japanese' sense of pride and excitement they have for Ohanami.

Last year, Rodney arrived in Japan early April and was fortunate to experience the Ohanami season at the very crowded Ueno Park. There he witnessed exciting presentations of group dances. Markus and I missed out on the festivitie since we arrived mid-April and all the trees had already shedded it's blooms.

These two photos above are from Ohanami festivities in Ueno Park, last year.

Ichi-san with his cute 1 year-old daughter, Aozora

Last Saturday, we were invited to attend a backyard BBQ at Ichi-san's home (Rodney's co-worker). They have a lovely home in Saitama Prefecture which has a backyard view of cherry blossom trees lined up along a beautifully landscaped water trough. There was of course delicious Japanese cuisine and drinks to enjoy.

The next day, we had a picnic with the Wakayama family at Wako Jurim Koen. One of my favourite aspects of Tokyo is the abundance of parks, both big and small. Wako Jurim Koen is a large park adorned with several different types of cherry blossom trees. There were many people having picnics and enjoying the warm and sunny spring day. Markus had hours of fun with Naoki and Junki climbing trees and running around playing soccer. He just loves to follow the two boys around.

When the wind blows, the delicate petals of the cherry blossoms create an effect much like fluffy white snowflakes falling to the ground. It's a very pretty and peaceful site.

Welcome Spring!

Tanoshikatta! (We enjoyed!)

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Jidoukan's Latest and Greatest

Last Friday marked the completion of Markus' "Usagi Kurasu" (Rabbit Class) year at Jidokan. The next level classes, which is "Kuma Kurasu" (Bear Class), resumes on April 11.

The characters in the backdrop read "Omedetou", which means "Congratulations".

Wakagi Jidoukan held a year-end event celebration during the last class prior to spring break. Markus received his certificate of completion and souvenir badge.

Markus' Usagi Kurasu wore Anpanman hats (as shown) for their portion of the presentation. Anpanman is a popular cartoon character in Japan, idoled by many young toddlers.


Overall, Jidoukan has been a wonderful learning experience for both Markus and I. It gives us the opportunity to interact with many other neighboring Japanese families who have become good friends. It amazes me how much of the Japanese language and culture Markus has attained through his interactions with others.

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This is one of the favourite activities the children (and moms) love to play. I call it the "newspaper mess game". Sensei (teacher), gives all the children pieces of newspaper to rip up into tiny pieces, after which we pile it up into a big heap and then throw the paper into the air like confetti. The kids love to jump into the huge piles and burrow their way around. It's loads of energetic fun! Than of course all the children help clean up all the pieces of newspaper into the bags. We usually find bits of pieces of newspaper tucked in our clothes and hair when we get home.

Here, Chihiro and Kotaro enjoying every minute of the game

"Yay, I'm on vacation!"

Winter fun continues!

Skiing and snowboarding are very popular among the Japanese. There are an astonishing amount of ski resorts in Japan, most of which are located about a two-to-three hour drive from Tokyo. Being a Canadian native, most of my Japanese friends assume that I'm an avid skier...definitely not the case!

Last Saturday, March 10, we went on a ski trip to Sugadaira in Nagano Prefecture. Nagano was the host city for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Along with other Honda members and their families, we drove nearly 3 hours northwest to our destination. Since this winter in Japan has been unusually mild, there was unfortunately not as much snow as we anticipated, but we still had great fun. One of the winding runs seemed really narrow to me, but it I guess it forces you to practice ski technique.

Markus was in great spirits all day long. He kept busy collecting snow balls, piling them up on the sled, tossing them off the sled, then doing it all over again. He enjoyed watching the skiers and snowboarders whiz by down the mountain. Sugadaira is made up of many ski parks and fortunately the one we were at was not so busy. There was very little wait for the skilifts and Markus had plenty of room to roam around and exert his energy without interfering in anyone's way. Rodney and I took turns on the slopes while the other stayed back with Markus. Our good friends, the Wakayama family also went on the ski trip with us. Markus enjoys the company of the two boys, Naoki and Junki. It was the first time for Naoki and Junki to ever go skiing and boy did they ever learn fast. Their mom and dad are very good skiers and instructors! By the end of the day the two boys were skiing like young pros.

Rodney has taken a real liking to snowboarding since he's learned how to do it well. He has also taken a couple of separate snowboarding trips with his co-workers and friends. Of the places he's been to, Malnuma was his favourite. The view was great and there was a whole lot of real snow.

Hopefully we'll get to one last time before the season ends. Here's a collaboration of our trips...enjoy!