Life of Buraian

Top 10 Highlights of my Week in Japan

I recently went to Japan for a week to visit Rika's family. Rika was there for three weeks, but I couldn't take that kind of time given the busy work schedule right now.  We don't do a lot of touristy stuff anymore when we go to Japan, so nine days kind of works, but I'd prefer to stay a little longer.  It felt like we returned just after getting adjusted, and with only one week, every night gets booked and the trip becomes a whirlwind.

Below I've written a "Top 10" list of my favorite experiences on this trip.  You can also see the photo album I put up (also linked to the right).

10. Daria-en (Dahlia Park)

We went to "Daria-en" with Rika's mom and grandma.  Dahlia Park is in a neighboring town called Kawanishi.  I used to teach at Okino High School in Kawanishi, which is very close to the Park, but I never saw it while I lived there.  So I actually did do one touristy thing.

The park is just acres and acres of dahlias.  Huge bloomin' dahlias.  Not knowing what a dahlia looked like, I was a bit surprised at how big they are and how many varieties of colors and shapes they come in.  They aren't quite orchids for sheer wow factor, but they are impressive nonetheless.  It costs about $5 to get in, but if you buy the "Park & Onsen Combo", you can do both for $6.50.  We did that.  Nothin like a day of western flowers and eastern bathing.

9. Morning jogs

I always try to go for at least a few jogs in Japan, but this year there was a twist.  Rika was jogging with me.  We chose to run up into the mountains toward the campground, which I found out is actually owned by Rika's family (who knew?).  Rika's family was a bit iffy about us running out there, for two reasons.  The first, and saddest, is that someone committed suicide there the week before I got there.  Nobody really wanted to be up there as a result, which is a real shame because we normally might have had a barbecue there.

The other reason is that there are bears.  Before we start, Rika's mom is careful to remind us to watch out for bears.  Rika decided it was better to be safe than sorry, and sang while she ran, some kids' song about meeting a bear.  It is sung in rounds to the tune of Down by the Bay, and goes something like this:

Aru hi (One day)
Mori no naka (Out in the woods)
Kumasan ni (Into a bear)
Deatta (I did run)

Hanasaku mori no michi (Out on a road in the blossoming woods)
Kumasan ni deatta (Into a bear I did run)

She sang this to make sure the bears knew to stay away.  I argued that Japanese bears were small and wussy and that they were nothing to worry about.  Apparently word got out, though, because on the news one night a bear went into a bus terminal and messed up 9 people.  Don't diss Japanese bears.

Rika runs Wharf-to-Wharf!

One of the little adventures Rika and I have taken up is getting her in shape.  We go out for runs about 4 days per week, and we've been doing so for about 3 months now.  When we started, it was pretty discouraging for me.  I think our first workout was 5 minutes super slow jogging, 5 minutes power walking, and then 5 minutes super slow jogging.  And I wasn't sure if she'd finish.

What a difference 3 months makes!

Rika just finished running Wharf-to-Wharf, a 6 mile race from Santa Cruz to Capitola.  The course is full of undulating hills along the coast, making it significantly more difficult than our average training run.  But she ran tough, and finished in just under 60 minutes!  I don't have any pictures, unfortunately, but we've got some great memories instead.  Now it looks like we need a new goal!

As for me, I ran 34:40, which was significantly faster than I've been training, and significantly faster than my buddy Andrew ran.  We're 1-1 this year, with him having crushed me at the Alumni 2400.  Where should we settle this thing, Andrew?

Pee Yoo! These doodles stink.

My sister and I have embarked on a new project called Pee Yoo!.  Essentially, she tries to get me fired by drawing ridiculous doodles to me on Yahoo IM, and I help her to set up a website to share those pictures with the world.  And now, the site is up and running:  http://www.stinkydoodles.com

I hope you'll stop by and check out my sister's quirky sense of humor.  You can get a little taste by viewing the Pee Yoo! widget I made and installed on this site (at the right).  And if you like what you see, you can get the widget here and embed it on your blog, Facebook or MySpace page.  I hope you like 'em and spread the word!

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

My nieces CC and Angelina are learning some Japanese.  Check out this super-cute video of them performing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in Japanese.

You can also see CC and Angelina sing the alphabet...or, more realistically, their own song inspired by the Japanese alphabet, here:

Peter's birthday and an outhouse

Rika and I went up to Santa Rosa for Peter's birthday this weekend.  We got up there a bit late on Friday so the kids were in bed already.  They had been expecting to do Peter's birthday dinner that night, so the kids had to go to bed cake-less.  I'm sure they were devastated.

Rika went with Jesse to a stamping party--where a bunch of ladies buy stamps and make things that involve stamps--and I watched a lot of online videos with Josh.  There are some hilarious Onion news videos that I'd never knew existed.  Check out this one: