Terry's Weekly Email Newsletter; 26 Jul 09

Hi all,

Next day in Tokyo, Monday, 29 June, Mike was back in classes and

Jenn, Joe, and I toured around West Shinjuku where most of Tokyo's

skyscraper office blocks are clustered. We went to the observatory

in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices complex, where on a

clear day you can get a view of Mount Fuji (this way not a clear day,

nor were any of the days we were there clear - it wasn't raining

though!) (first picture).

We stopped at a 7-11 and got some "ice cream balls" - ice cream balls were highly recommended by Jenn's

roommate at school, Saori - we're not sure these were the ones she

recommended, but they were good (second picture)! We also went to

the NS Building and saw the 95-ft high water-powered clock (third

picture). While we were there, we stopped at The Rose and Crown, a

British-style pub, for a beer and fries.

That night the four of us went out to dinner at the New York Grill in the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

The New York Bar in the Park Hyatt Tokyo - in the same location as

the restaurant - was made famous in the movie "Lost in Translation".

The New York Grill is beautiful and expensive, and we had a good time

(it also had English on the menu as well as Japanese, so we knew what

we were getting!). The Park Hyatt Tokyo is one of the two places in

Tokyo that are listed in the "1,000 Places To See Before You Die"

book - the other being the Tsukiji Fish Market.

During our entire stay we didn't leave Tokyo. We had planned to take some day trips

out of the city, but we pretty much fell in love with Tokyo, and

wanted to see as much of it as we could.

Nothing much new here this week. Jenn's been working at Target, and

is starting to actually save some money for her trip to Spain. Mike

has one more week left in Tokyo, then it's back to Santa Clara for

him. Things are pretty much the same for Joe and me. It rained most

of the week, but this weekend has been warmer and not quite as

rainy. Joe's mom fell and hurt her knee, so she had to go into the

hospital to get it checked out. She is OK, but a little weak - they

are going to keep her in to try to build her strength up before she

goes back home.

That's it here. Hope everyone is well!

Kind regards,

Terry

Terry's Weekly Newsletter; 19 July 09

Hi all,

On Sunday, 28 June, Joe and I met Mike for breakfast at the hotel.

The hotel that we stayed at - The Asia Center of Japan, located in

Akasaka - is the same hotel that Mike is living at for his study

abroad program. The breakfast buffet was complimentary for hotel

guests, so Joe and I met Mike there every morning. Jenn, not being a

morning person or a breakfast person, usually took the opportunity to

sleep.

After breakfast on Sunday morning, Mike showed us how he

walks to a grocery store that he goes to often to buy lunch - the

store has a good selection of prepared salads, meats, etc. and a

bakery. We walked through the Akasaka Cemetery - first picture (the

high-rise in the distance is the Mori Tower, the building where Mike

is doing his internship) - and picked up a little lunch to have with

Jenn. Then we all headed out to Harajuku just as the rain was

starting up.

Our vacation in Tokyo was during Japan's rainy season, and a couple

of days it rained most of the time. Sunday was one of them. First

we went to see the Meiji Shrine, the most important shinto shrine in

Tokyo. During the New Year holidays it is the most heavily visited

place in Japan, with over three million people worshipping and buying

good-luck charms for the year ahead. We didn't get many pictures

because of the heavy rain, but the second picture shows ema boards

that you buy and write prayers or wishes on to hang at the shrine.

Then we went to the Harajuku District, which is a center for

fashion. In the Takeshita-dori, a narrow alley, you can find what's

hot in teen fashion and culture. Usually on Sundays there are a

crowd of young people dressed up in costumes; however, because of all

the rain, we didn't see that many. The alley-way was a mass of

people and a sea of umbrellas. We stopped at Kiddy Land, a 6-story

toy store, with one floor devoted to Hello Kitty collectibles (third

picture).

After that we went to a small place to eat that Mike found

- Chao Bamboo - that was just a bunch of tables tucked away in an

alley with plastic sheeting hung around to demarcate the restaurant

and keep out the rain - it was the best meal I had in Tokyo. After

that, we headed back - wet and tired, but having fun.

Everything here is going well. Andrew went back to Long Island on

Friday. Jenn spent the weekend with some friends at Cornell - she's

back to work at Target tomorrow. She's been working some eight hour

days, and has several weeks with almost 40 hours coming up. Mike is

doing fine - he's down to his last two weeks, and then it's back to

Santa Clara. Work for Joe and me is about the same, although GM is

no longer in bankruptcy, and Kodak's stock is just over $3! The

weather has been coolish and rather rainy, so we are spending a lot

of time doing yard work - mostly weeding and trimming - and trying to

avoid the mosquito bites.

Hope everyone is well,

Kind regards,

Terry