Halloween 2009

Kiana:

The Neighborhood Party:



Kevin:

Kevin was sick on Halloween so I didn't go to the school party, but I hear it was quite fun. The neighborhood party had sack races, pinatas, a hay ride, petting zoo, games for the little kids and a "gross food" buffet.

There was a costume contest and Kiana won for silliest. She thought up the striped costume and we managed to find all that we needed. If you asked her "What are you?"...her answer, "I'm awesome!". Love it!

Trick or treating was busy, chaotic and fun. We hit every house, apartment and condo in the neighborhood. Our house had over 100 trick or treaters! Definitely a fun day!

We spent the weekend relaxing and eating candy and tonight we will go out to our favorite Chinese restaurant.
.
.
.

Going to "Archie"

When people are going to the fabric market and tailor they say the are going to "Archie".... at least it sounds like that. It is actually "er qi" (27). I don't know if that is what the building is called or the address. I just know where to tell my driver to go!

The fabric market is nothing like I've ever imagined. Two floors of nothing but material and sewing supplies, plus stands for tailors. Each floor has about 500 stands. It is a typical Chinese market - a very large building full of individual stalls. Each stall is an individual's business. Here are some pictures.

Two typical aisles:


Tailor stalls:


The stall which specializes in striped t-shirt material:



It is amazing what you can find here - I think you could find almost any kind and color of fabric.

Most people we know go there to visit a specific tailor (stall #6). She has a good reputation and speaks some English. You can show her a picture or a piece of clothing you already have and she can copy it. Her husband will take you to a stall to pick out the fabric you want. Here she is fitting a coat:


Kiana and I went a week ago to have her Halloween costume made [you'll have to wait for pictures because I can't ruin the surprise]. It took a week and cost only $15 for the sewing!

I'm thinking of going back someday to have a sweater knit...or maybe a nice coat made... I have lots of time to think about it...

Note: if you double click on the pictures, it should make them bigger.
.
.
.

Thinking

Some days I see things that just make me stop and think. Today was one of those days.

What I saw?

A donkey-pulled cart riding along the road to the school. On the cart were an older man and woman with some stuff (not sure what it was, but I think they collect trash or recyclables). I was walking to the school in the middle of the day, so we were alone on the road. I said hello (in Chinese) and they smiled and said hello. Very friendly.

Why did this make me stop and think?

I find the difference in the economic situation of their family and the families that usually use that road to be so different it is absurd. Usually when I walk that road it is filled with brand new minivans driven by paid drivers taking expat kids to school (some driven from 2 blocks away). At the homes of most expats there is a maid who will do all the housework.

The kids that are walking or riding their shiny new bikes to school have many things in their homes that we see as normal, but to many people those things are luxuries. I'll start by thinking about the computers, TVs, game systems, and cell phones...but then I move on to electricity, running water, toilets, food.

We live such a privileged life...

I would have loved to take a picture of the friendly couple, but it just seemed too intrusive. Here's a picture of a similar cart that I took awhile back.


.
.
.

Squatty Potty Adventures

Adventure #1

Something to remember while you read this story: Japan has really fancy toilets that have warm toilet seats and warm water that washes you when you are done and all kinds of buttons to push, including a "sound princess" that makes a water rushing noise to "disrupt the toilet noises."

Anyway, when we were on the high-speed train in Japan, Kiana went to use the toilet. There were several toilets, and the one she went in had "Japanese-Style Toilet" on the door.

She thought "OH! Sweet! Japanese-style," but instead she walked in and saw the squat toilet and thought "OH (disappointed voice) I thought it'd be the fancy kind."

So when she came back she told us the story and said "I thought it'd be the fancy kind, but at least I can say I used a squatty potty going 200 MPH!"


Adventure #2

Kiana and I went to the Fabric Mart on Sunday. If you watch Amazing Race, it is like where they had to find the scarves - a big building with lots of little stalls of fabric and tailors and clothes. When we went in to the bathroom, we were just a little surprised to walk in and SEE everyone squatting - no doors! We just joined the crowd....
.
.
.

Coming Back to China

Coming back to China on Sunday was quite a culture shock for me. When I initially arrived in June, I was dead tired from an overnight flight and weeks of prep. So while I knew I was in China, I don't think my brain really registered all that I was seeing. This time, I was awake and alert. Coming from Japan, I couldn't help but notice that China is dirty, crumbling, and chaotic. It took me a few days and 2 trips into town to feel "back to normal" where I don't notice (as much) the cars driving on the wrong side of the highway, the pedestrians stepping in front of moving cars (and the cars not stopping), and the trash.

But now, a week later, this culture shock has turned to something more. I've wondered if the Chinese are happy with the current state of their country? Do they like it the way it is? Do Chinese who travel to Japan or the US wish that people in China would follow traffic rules? Do they wish their rivers and streets were clean? If they want it to change, how long will it take to change cultural values?

I've also felt quite judgmental the past week. I'm judging China based on my Western upbringing and standards. China is different, but the Chinese people I meet are happy. Isn't that enough?
.
.
.

What I'll Miss About Japan

1. Clean drinking water.
2. Cars that yield to pedestrians.
3. Not having to worry about food safety.
4. Easy public transportation.
5. Ramen.
6. Singing, spraying, warming toilets.
7. Family time.
8. Polite, kind people.
9. The beautiful landscapes.

What I Won't Miss
1. Rain
2. Thin futons
3. Small spaces

BTW, we took 750 pictures, so if you are really interested in Japan and want to see more, let me know.
.
.
.

Japan - Funny Story

In Kyoto, we were looking for a department store called "The Loft." Mike knew it was downtown because he had seen it there the day before, but he couldn't remember exactly where it was. We were about to give up finding it, when I offered to ask someone for directions (not so easy with the language barrier).

There were two nice looking older ladies nearby so I went up to them and said "Loft?" with my hands out like a question. They, of course, didn't understand me, so I said it again and they were very nice in trying again to understand me. Then after the third time, Mike comes over, and in very good Japanese asks them "Where is Loft?" And they LAUGHED! They thought it was so funny that I was asking for directions when I didn't know any Japanese while my husband stood nearby with the ability to ask. They gave us directions and continued to chuckle as we walked away.

I liked the way Mike put it - I had the guts to ask the question, but he had the ability to...guess we even each other out!
.
.
.

Japan - Hiroshima

Hiroshima was our last stop on our tour of Japan. For us, a must-see. The Hiroshima Peace Park and museum were sad and hopeful at the same time. It is overwhelming to see the damage our country inflicted on other people. And hopeful to see how a city could come back from that incident with such a message of hope and peace instead of anger. Inspiring.

Here are our pictures:

Japan - Hiroshima

We spent the last of our Yen at a great import grocery store at the Hiroshima airport. Gum, candy, Quik, Thai curry pastes, chips, root beer, chili beans. Yes, we love food!

And here was our welcoming committee when we arrived home...we live in a great community!


.
.
.

Japan - Toyota Factory Tour

We are a family that LOVES factory tours! We were trying to list all of the factories we've been to....Jelly Belly, Mrs. Grossman Stickers, Boeing, Hershey....

We made a special trip out of our way to go to see the Toyota Factory. It was great! We got to tour the assembly plant for the Prius. I saw my future car in production (a red Prius). Nice tour and nice museum too!

We had an interesting dinner at an Italian restaurant. The menu was in Japanese and the waitress spoke very little English. I ordered a nice salad that had lettuce, tomato and octopus. Not quite what I was expecting....but the pizza and pasta were good :).

Our pics from the Toyota Factory Museum are at the end of the Kyoto photo album. We couldn't take any pictures on the tour.
.
.
.

Japan - Kyoto

Kyoto was definitely my favorite city in Japan that we visited. Mike found us a cute little house to rent on VRBO.com (Vacation Rental By Owner). It is an old attached home that is nestled on a small road (one car lane) between the main street up to the Kiyomizu Temple and another temple grounds behind it. We were able to walk from the house to the Temple and also to shopping and restaurants.

It was a tiny house - downstairs a small kitchen, dining area bathroom with a traditional Japanese bath. Upstairs two rooms - a bedroom and a tatami mat room which serves as a tv room and a sleeping room with futons. A cute little creek ran behind the house and sounded very relaxing at night.

Kyoto is beautiful as it is surrounded by small mountains. It is a very peaceful place. I feel like there is so much more we could do there - hiking, visiting more Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples around town. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for 1000 years and was not bombed in WWII thanks the insistence of the US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, who had honeymooned there decades before. The Kiyomizu temple, a short walk from where we stayed, was a top 20 finalist in the poll of the new 7 wonders of the world, along with Eiffel tower, Statue of Liberty, Sydney Opera House, and Stonehenge.

Here are our pictures from Kyoto:

Japan - Kyoto

.
.
.

Japan - Tokyo

We loved the time we spent in downtown Tokyo. We stayed at a hotel that overlooked Shibuya crossing - the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. If you haven't heard of it, all of the cars stop so all the people can cross in all directions, then the people stop so the cars can go. Hundreds of people cross each time. We crossed it dozens of times during our stay.

We walked or took the public commuter trains to different parts of the city. They are very easy to take - we bought pass cards on our first day and then used those for the rest of the time. The station names are all written in English so they are easy to identify. Of course, we had a great guide - Mike - as he was familiar with the system from when he lived there years ago.

Some of the highlights of our trip included shopping (department stores, specialty kitchen shops, toy stores, 100 Yen stores, COSTCO, import and local grocery stores and other local stores), a visit to a Shinto Shrine and the large city park, a trip to the top of a skyscraper to view the city, lots of good food, and a picture with Hachiko.

The visit to COSTCO was both bliss and torture all at once. Bliss because we had dinner there (yum!) and they had so many familiar foods to buy. But torture because they had so many familiar foods to buy and we couldn't bring it all back with us! We bought food to eat for our days at Disneyland, but didn't want to spend the next 14 days lugging around cases of food, so we didn't buy anything to bring back to China (boo hoo). Next time we'll plan to fly out of Tokyo to come home so we can go just before we leave!

Here are our photos from Tokyo. Our friends were in Tokyo with us, so you'll see them in some of the pictures too!

Japan - Tokyo

.
.
.

What I Loved About Tokyo Disney

1.  They took Disneyland (Anaheim) and made it even better.  Same quaint layout, but everything just looks newer, nicer and better.  When we went to Magic Kingdom (Orlando), we thought that they took Disneyland and made it bigger and uglier.  It somehow lost it's Magic in Orlando.  Not so in Tokyo.  While the walkways are bigger, the Magic is still there.  They got the scale just right - big enough to handle a crowd, but small enough to still have the Magic of Disney. 

2.  Cool bathrooms.  Stall doors that have little symbols so you can see from the front of the line which stalls are occupied or vacant.  Auto soap & water.  And great handryers that dry your hands from BOTH sides at once with a strong blast of air (these hand dryers actually work!).  And in every womens bathroom, a mini urinal for little boys.  And did I mention before how clean they were????

3.  Polite parade audience.  People lined up really early to watch the parades.  The good news is that there were lots of good seats.  The walkways going toward the hub are downhill, so that if you are sitting way back on that walkway, you can still see.  Also, they make everyone sit down and collaspe their strollers, so the view is great.  I came late to see the parade and was probably sitting 50 people back along a walkway and I could still see great.

4.  Very safety conscious.  The ropes they used for the walkways during the nighttime parade had glowsticks attached to them so you could see them better.  Also, there are fewer curbs throughout the park which made it easier to walk around in the crowd.

5.  It smelled good :)  They were selling Honey Popcorn outside Pooh's Hunny Hunt and the entire outside area smelled like honey!  Nice!

6.  All the rides seemed cleaner, fresher, newer, and improved. 

Definitely the best Disney park I've ever been to!
.
.
.

Japan - Disney

The first stop on our trip to Japan was the Tokyo Disney Resort.  We loved it! 

You can view a small photo album here:

Japan - Disney Overview

Or one with lots of pictures here:

Japan - Disney Lots of Pics

We spent 1 day at Tokyo Disneyland and 2 days at Tokyo DisneySea.  We stayed at the Sheraton Grande which was a Disney partner hotel, so they had Disney bus service - definitely an asset.

Overall, I have to say that the Tokyo Disney parks are beautiful and so clean that I had a bit of culture shock.  I almost cried I was so happy to be there!

Our day at Disneyland was hot and crowded.  Because it was a weekday in October, we were expecting small crowds, but we were so wrong!  It was like a summer day weekend crowd in Anaheim.  So after passing by several rides because they had 1.5 - 2 hour waits, we changed our game plan, saw some shows and waited until later in the night to ride some of our favorite rides.  We were lucky to get Fastpasses to Pooh's Hunny Hunt - a ride we all loved.  We were able to Fastpass Space Mountain and we went on Big Thunder right at closing time.  Overall, the day turned out to be good, just not what we expected.

We spent the next two days at Disney Sea.  The pictures don't do justice to the beauty of this park.  It is stunning!  The highlights of Disney Sea included our first time on Tower of Terror, which the kids loved and the kids' first time on a loop roller coaster.  They went on Tower of Terror four times, the roller coaster three times and Indiana Jones two times! 

We were sad to leave Disney, but we were moving on to the excitement on downtown Tokyo!
.
.
.