Mt. Fuji Climb Update

The Mt. Fuji Climb is set for July 17 & 18 with American guides. We will go by bus up to the 10th Station, then climb for a while, then attempt to sleep on a mat in a hut with about 50 other people, then get up in the middle of the night to finish the climb so that we are on the top at sunrise, then take photos with the Texas flag, then go back down, then catch the bus back to Tokyo. The guide is actually the brother of a pilot from Colorado who has just been hired by the Japanese.... I have already told him that I am a very slow climber. He said, "No problem." I hope those are not the famous last words. Just in case, I will be bringing my SCENAR (Ukranian Star Trek Healing Device) to care for my joints along the way.

For climb details, go to the following website...

http://www.fujimountainguides.com/cgi-bin/FMG?Page_Factory=2day&extend=schedulequick

Name That Tune

What tune do you hear when you are on hold with the Soft Bank Phone Company?

1. Chrysanthemum, a Japanese classic

2. Home on the Range

3. Yellow Submarine, by the Beatles

If you guessed "Home on the Range," you are correct...



What tune are likely to hear in a souvenir shop at the great Asakusa Temple in July?

1. Silent Night

2. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

3. Blue Danube Waltz

If you guessed "Silent Night," you are correct...



Half of the music I heard last week while wandering through stores was:

1. Classical

2. Country Western

3. Hip Hop

If you guessed "County Western," you are correct.

(PS: I see a lot of pointy toed cowboy boots here.)

The Big Bug Store (Parental Viewing Discretion Advised), The "Blue Plate" Special, and The 007 "Gold" Facials

THIS IS NOT A BUG YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO SEE: IT WILL EITHER GIVE THEM NIGHTMARES..... OR THEY WILL WANT ONE FOR CHRISTMAS




I stumbled upon this store while exploring Odaiba, a leisure and business complex that was built across Tokyo Bay from my apartment. It is a man-made island built on more than 1,000 acres of landfill. That's a lot of garbage.

Anyway, I had just visited Little Hong Kong on the 6th. and 7th. floors of the Island Mall. Little Hong Kong, is a restaurant area built to look like the old red-light district in Hong Kong. It has great Cantonese and Dim Sum. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Dim Sum, a cart is usually brought around so that you may choose small tastes of all kinds of food. In this restaurant, patrons sit at a counter and the ledge above the counter rotates. You just grab what looks good as it moves past you - but beware - you can run up a big bill because everything looks good. The price of the dish is determined by the color of the plate that the food is on. Unfortunately, I liked the "blue plate" specials and they were the most expensive.

After my revolving lunch, I did some more brousing in the Island Mall. Ladies you are going to love this. There were two whole floors dedicated to "beautification" techniques from all over the world...Japanese, Chinese, Thai, French, Swiss, Israeli, Hawaiian, Romanian and more... When I have time, I'm going back for the "gold" treatment. It's sort of like what they did to James Bond's girlfriend in "Goldfinger." They cover you with GOLD. Apparently you won't die of "skin suffocation" like Bond's girlfriend did. The gold somehow irritates the skin, no kidding, and causes you to produce skin cells at a much higher rate. I'm sure no one will recognize me when I return...

Opps, almost forgot. For the kids out there, there were two floors of indoor entertainment. There were several catgegories: The Muscle Park (to test your muscles, DUH), The Brain Park (to test your brain, DUH), and the Twin Park (which allowed you and your friends to compete, Double DUH). I watched the action for a while. It was a bit like going to an orchestrated birthday party...the Japanese version of Chucky Cheese.

After this, I think I entered a Stephen King novel. I stumbled into the bug store. This was a place filled with beetles only found in your worst nightmares. It was so awful that it was fascinating - so I spent a long time in the store - watching the owner "prepare" the growing medium for the baby bugs. The main bug featured in the store was the Hercules Beetle (Dynastes Hercules for the entomologists out there). They are really strong bugs in case you didn't get the clue from their name. They are also the longest living beetle in the world (6 to 12 months) which really isn't very long in pet years but is great for the store owner. Once you are hooked on these little pets, you have to get a new one every few months. There was even a Japanese BBC documentary about these beetles featuring information by Japan's leading Hercules Beetle expert, Kojima. To see the Hercules beetle in action, click on the attached link ....

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/zoo-logic--hercules-beetle/1954334111


Back to Kojima, the beetle expert... I hate to break the bad news, but, like your mother said, "Just because someone is smart, it doesn't mean they're smart," or something like that.... There is a fascinating Associated Press article (Aug 20, 2007) about the capture of Kojima by the US Fish & Wildlife Agency. Apparently, Kojima was a notorious smuggler of rare bugs and butterflies from all over the world. They tracked him for years but were never able to nab him till now. For a thrilling story that will make you want to be a Fish and Wildlife Agent instead of joining the French Foreign Legion, go to the link below.

http://www.hawkowlsnest.com/2007/09/notorious-butterfly-smuggler-netted.html

As if my day could not have gotten better, after leaving the nightmare bug shop, I ended up at a haunted house. It was based upon the Japanese horror movie "The Ring." I decided to save that experience for when my daughters visit Tokyo. I need someone to lead me through while I keep my eyes closed.

GO: A Mental Torture Worse Than Sudoko

"Go" can mean several things in Japanese. "Go" is the number "5" in the Japanese language. "Go" is also the name of a traditional board game ...

Today I learned to play "Go." It is a bit disconcerting because the board is divided into squares like a chess / checker board ... but instead of playing inside the squares, you place your pieces on the places where the lines cross. The object of the game is to control as many of those intersections as possible. The game was played by the samurai to teach strategy as well as to size up the strategy and personality of the other samurai.

The least experienced player uses the black stones and the more experienced player uses the white stones. At the end of the game, I had 56 corners and my opponent had 59 - so she won. She said that, according to how I played the game, she could tell I was a very calm and intelligent opponent. Of course, I was just sitting there calmly while she told me where to place the stones... which of course, shows great intelligence to act dumb and let her play my pieces...??? Apparently, there is going to be a big "GO" championship in Spain this summer....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsElvaoWcyw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyllVL9fpe0&feature=related

Half-time Show, Unicycles and Plastic Tube Sword Fights

I pass the local elementary & middle school playground while on my way to the subway. I am always curious about what the students are doing. Usually, they are arranged in a very large group and are performing elaborate exercise routines to music .... better than a Superbowl half-time show... each of the different age groups have different colored caps and the colors ebb and flow as each group blends with the other. Apparently at the end of the school year there is a grand finale performance by the students for the teachers and parents. It's pretty amazing to see them practice. The students are quite focused and I have yet to see any student misbehave in any way....

Sometimes there are unicycles all over the playground for the students to ride...

And, at other times, there are long plastic tubes that the students used in what look like choreographed sword fights...

Motorcycle Specialist

At the grocery store near me there is an employee who speaks English. He is the guy to go to when you need help finding a product. His real love though is riding motorcycles...but he doesn't just ride motorcycles....he teaches people how to ride motorcycles through rubble after an earthquake...and, when there is an earthquake anywhere in Japan, he leaves his job at the grocercy store to go help by rubble-riding....

"Research Institute of Controlling Flow Movement"

This is the English wording on the sign of the ballroom dance studio near my apartment...

Paying those pesky bills - You know how your mother said "Never send cash in the mail?"

No Checks !

No Credit Cards !

When my rent is due, I go to my bank and make a cash wire transfer into the account of my landlord....

When my gas/electric/water is due, I go to the AM PM convenience store and pay in cold hard cash....

To make other payments, I go to the Post Office, put my cash in a "special" envelope that has some origami type folds that are glued shut and initialed by me. It's then tossed into the pile with all the other "special" cash envelopes - wow, piles and piles of cash and everybody knows which envelope you've put it in ...

When shopping or eating out - often no credit cards or checks - ATM machines everywhere but many times they don't seem to take American cards - that's because you are probably trying to insert the card as shown by the illustration on the machine. Just insert the card in as many possible directions imaginable - sometimes that does it...

Who You Gonna Call?

Bought a new sofa? Don't have a car? Can't carry it home on the subway? Who you gonna call?

Mama Black Cat of course...the logo says it all...a mama black cat with a kitten in her mouth. They have trucks for the big items and motorcycles for the small items. You can usually see their banner flying at the local AM PM convenience stores.

Computer Goes Beserk and Sidelines Blog

Evil computer virus has been erradicated and TexZen is back in business....