The big event

We were invited to Japan to attend a service and reception in honor of the 7th year mark since the passing of my paternal grandfather.  My dad put a lot of thought and work into this occasion and included my grandmother's memory into the event.  It was a full and long day that went off without a hitch.

We rode a microbus out to Chiba prefecture with two of my aunts, an uncle and a cousin.  There, a second cousin of mine (who I may or may not have ever met) performed the Buddhist service in an incredibly intimate setting.

We then hopped back onto the bus and enjoyed a wonderful reception at the historic Hotel New Grand (in Yokohama) where my grandparents held their wedding reception over 70 years ago.  There were relatives in attendance who vividly remembered sending my grandparents off to their honeymoon from outside the hotel.

The food was amazing and decadent (after the relative simplicity of the food and smaller portions I've been eating, naturally, since arriving here, my digestive system has been struggling a bit today, the day after) and it was wonderful to see my cousins and their children.

Afterward, we took the train home and, crazily, enjoyed a dinner of sushi and pizza take-out.  The pizza was Domino's (Japanese style) and Sag loved it.  The sushi was delicious, but Gem was very disappointed that they had run out of salmon for the night.  To add insult to injury, the tekka maki he ordered without wasabi came with wasabi and he had to wait a long time for the correct order to be delivered.

Today has been a post-adrenaline day off for me.  I didn't get enough sleep.  By the time Cap left the apartment to head back to NJ, shortly after noon, I knew I wouldn't be joining the rest of the family on the planned afternoon outing to visit my maternal grandparents' grave and the Motomachi-Chukagai (China Town) area of Yokohama.  My nerves were fraying and my GI system felt...delicate.

The quiet of an afternoon home has been restorative.  The kids have decorated wrapping paper for Ellie's birthday present, a card has been picked up (Hello Kitty), the kids have watched some Pokemon episodes online, and I've been catching up on blogging.  (Not so much reflecting, but at least the archiving is happening.)  Gem and I went to the market and dinner ingredients were bought.

Tomorrow, my aunts will come over for a visit.  Tuesday I will pack and we'll pick up any last minute souvenirs.  Wednesday we leave the apartment around noon and head to Oakland.  What a time we've had...and will continue to have in California!

(Listening to The Decemberists and sitting up front meant no motion sickness for Sag...yay!)

(The highway took us over and under and over Tokyo Bay---this was one long tunnel--- as went from Yokohama to Chiba.)

(Multiple altars...  The one in the foreground had my grandparents' photo, some orange offerings, incense---Sag opted to make his own incense offering while Gem chose to observe---, other offerings in those boxes, and in the lower left hand corner, a copy of one of my grandfather's self-published books.  The priest made some lovely and insightful comments about the day and my grandfather, inspired by the books he remembered having of my grandfather's.  During the service, the priest sat in between these two altar spaces with his back to us/facing the main altar.  He often gonged the metal bell-like bowl to his left and hit the wooden bell-like drum on his right.  Very rhythmic, lots of chanting.  At one point he waved incense around using a big brush in the air which reminded me of seeing a priest wave a metal box full of burning incense in a Catholic service once.  Interesting stuff!)

(Before the service started we were offered tea and rice crackers to warm up and settle down after our long bus ride.)

(The bookshelves lining one wall of the temple space made me feel instantly connected to my grandfather who loved books.)

(The priest and his mother.  The priest's father was a first cousin of my dad's.  The priest's paternal grandmother was a sister of my paternal grandmother.)

(An incense burning pot outside a smaller temple space on the grounds of the temple.)

(The temple grounds held so much that caught my eye!  A truly eclectic assortment of statuary and design elements.  I was walking briskly back to the microbus and kept getting pulled here and there to take "one more shot".)

(The microbus.)

(Sag having fun with a bottle of beer at the reception.)

(Gem at the reception.  The wife of one of my cousin's remarked that Gem resembled me!  I don't hear that very often...a treasure I tuck away when I do :-)

                                     
(I was too busy making sure Gem had food and was eating---white rice and smoked salmon and fresh fruit , all from the buffet, kept him happy---and then thoroughly enjoying my own food that I didn't take any photos!  Here is one of the desserts I ate.  A chocolate mousse-y chiffon-y kind of layer cake with this chocolate lattice decoration.  Yum.)

(I just love this photo of them.  They get along so well and occupy the same space so peacefully.)

(It truly was a wonderful spread of hot and cold buffet.  This hotel is renowned for its food and you could just feel the crowd feeling such pleasure from the culinary experience.  Here most of the guests have dispersed.  We had the room till 3.)

 

(Ellie did me the honor of holding one of the plates.  An old hotel pattern that I found pretty and pleasing.)

(Here the kids are discussing parts of the landscape vis-a-vis Pokemon cosmology.)

(Mom, brother and my two aunts.  They are my dad's sisters and I am very close with both of them.  Oh, there's my dad in the background :-)

(In the elevator.)

(Gem in the hotel lobby.  I wanted to show how they have original, formerly exterior, stonework incorporated into the renovated, now interior part of the, building.)

(A staircase leading up from the lobby to a section of the hotel I did not see.)



(My Xmas shoes, oh how I love them so, and my new tights bought for the occasion in a Japanese department store.)

Night out: Yokohama Eki

Yokohama eki (the train station) is a huge hub with trains coming and going in from and out to many directions.  In addition to the trains, there are hundreds (several hundreds) of shops and stores underground on two subterranean levels, as well as, next to and surrounding the station.  This is where Cap and I headed a few nights ago for a night out.

We had Japanese curry for dinner and then we walked around shops looking for goodies and just enjoying each other's company, the night air, and the "scene".

(My dinner: "classic" beef curry over yellow rice with a poached egg...yum!)

(Rows and rows of taxis waiting to pick up passengers.)

(Pre-Valentine's Day mania right inside the front doors of Takashimaya.  The tradition in Japan is that women give men gifts on St. V's day and the men get to return the favor on White Day.)

(My favorite of the chocolate I saw.  But, it was about 3 inches long from snout to curly tail for $20.)

(Acorns in the Totoro shop!)

(An enclosed smoking area outside.)

(An egg restaurant I'll have to try some day.)

("Comic Heaven" :-)

(On the train heading home.)

Catching up

So...

Cap is at the park with the boys, Ellie and my bro.  I just spent time sifting out the things the kids and I won't be needing for the next few days/Cali and stuffing them into an extra suitcase of my dad's so packmule Cap can bring them back to NJ for us.

I have a quiet moment now...to share some pics.

First up, the Kanazawa Zoo.  The big draw was our memory of the roller slide at the Kanazawa Nature Park, which the zoo is situated above.  But, we went into the zoo first.

(I loved these informational boards done in chalk.  You could feel the love of the work in these illustrations and narrative blurbs.)

(I wasn't sure if we'd see any of these old school toilets on this trip, but they had them at the zoo.  Nowadays, most public restrooms have at least one "western" style toilet so you don't have t worry about using one of these.  But, when I was little, I had to use these in public and residential bathrooms.)

(The zoo was at the top a hill and the view behind the cousins includes Tokyo Bay.)

(These shots of the roller slide pretty much speak for themselves.  It's really long and is designed for kids as young as five or so to ride on alone, safely.  Adults can ride it, too.  Unmonitored, free of charge, it's just part of the park.  Gem wishes so bad that we had a park like this close to home!)

(Shots taken on the bus back to the train to get back to the apartment.)

(Sag sipping a new favorite drink, a "milky" apple-peach juice, in the train station.)

Ful(filled)

Typing in the dark while Cap is taking a final ofuro (Japanese bath...a whole future post) and everyone else sleeps.  He leaves tomorrow with his laptop, but I am fairly certain I'll be able to blog and post pics from my dad's laptop.

Today was wonderful.  Tomorrow begins ten days of single parenting.  A mix of emotions.

I leave you with two photos.  A shot of me with my family at today's reception and my pic of the day which was taken at a subway station as we made our way back to my dad's from the hotel where the reception was held...the same hotel where my paternal grandparents had their wedding reception some seven-plus decades ago.  My closest cousin is in the shot.  We are two weeks apart in age, he is a very special person.