Joy

What is the definition of 'joy'?
I tried to look it up in Wikipedia, but it just had a lot of synonyms for 'happiness.' And a lot of these terms are ones that do not lend themselves to easy translation. So, I guess I am allowed to offer my own definition.
I think there is a lot of difference between 'happiness' and many of its synonyms, but how do you define it? I am 'happy,' briefly, several times a day, like if the Colts have a really good game the day before. This feeling applies to a lot of internal states that lots of people have every day.
I suppose the other end of the spectrum would be 'ecstasy,' or perhaps ,'nirvana.' I don't know the definitions of those terms, but I think I will know when I get there. I think I may have felt 'ecstasy,' a few times in my life, but if I get to make my own definition of 'joy,' then maybe these were just 'joy.'
I am thinking that my definition of 'joy' has something to do with a state you experience, probably coming upon it unexpectedly, where you simultaneously feel 'happy,' 'content,'and 'peaceful."
(I had have had feelings of joy when I have hit a winning shot against one of the tennis pros at our club. I experience that as unexpected, but they encourage us to "own it" as a great shot....)
Looked like a nice day outside, in contrast to the weather report I saw yesterday. So, what to do? Head out for some shopping with my camera in tow. I had been told that the cherry blossoms were starting to pop locally, but my friends here had expressed concern that perhaps I would not be able to see them so I got numerous suggestions of various places to take in the cherry blossoms. Arigato!
Well, it was not very far that I had to travel before I started to feel 'joy,' and I had to sit for a while to take it in. Spring day. Sunny. People out doing all sorts of things - walking the dogs, boys splashing in the fountains, grandpa tending to the boys in the fountains, other kids skating and riding skateboards...
I set out to explore for the possible elusive cherry blossoms, but I had some luck within about 70m when I experienced the next hit of joy.
I was really happy to experience plum blossoms in Kobe and Osaka over the last few weeks, but I was a little embarassed to ask, "How can I tell if it is a charry blossom (or a plum blossom)?" Since I didn't know, I walked up to the first tree that did not look like a plum tree and gave some of the blossoms a big sniff. "Cherries, Yes!!" So this happened to be a little street running East and West, a little south of my apartment and I got to tour up and down enjoying the cherry blossoms. Something between 'joy" and 'sublime,' but I won't bore you with the definition of 'sublime.'
Enjoy the pictures and try to imagine a mild cherry scent....

Shodoshima, part 2

After we rented a car, Hideki drove us around the island and we headed over to an area called the Kankakei Gorge. I mentioned in the previous post that we went on a "rope way" as it is called here, but I don't know the best way to describe it. So, look at the picture! I called this a "cable car," but that made Mary Ann think of the trolley in San Francisco. I'm used to thinking of these as a "gondola" because that is one thing they are called on a mountain for skiing.
Anyway, we took about a 5 minute trip up to the top of the local mountain (900m?) and it was really beautiful to see the hills and the gorge. Too bad that everything hadn't "greened up" yet, but it was pretty. Must be breathtaking in the fall colors. It was notable cooler at the top and we explored around to see different views of the island. I wonder what kind of wildlife they have around there because we saw a rather grim looking monkey when we came and left. We had lunch up at the top and then came back down to head around the island some more.
Apparently there are a few soy sauce breweries on the island and we tried to see if we could take a tour. No luck with that, but we did find one of that had "soy sauce soft serve" ice cream. WTF?! No lie! I hesitated a little but caved in after Hidkeki bought a cone. How many times in your life....? Anyway, the flavor was very mild, only a tiny bit salty, actually a nice little snack. We continued around the island coast and came to a place called the Tanoura School. This was apparently the site that inspired a famous novel about WWII (and later a movie)called "24 eyes." Really neat to see a school preserved over 60 years. This was kind of out in the boondocks of the island, so interesting to see what a small contemporary fishing village is like.
Drove back toward the port and went by what I think is called "Olive Park." Nice park with numerous olive trees and a small museum describing how olives came to be cultivated on the island. We did not have any olive flavored ice cream at the gift shop, but something much better - olive flavored chocolates! OK, they were green and didn't taste like olive. I brought some back to work and I noticed the 'strawberry' ones disappeared faster than the 'olive' ones. We returned the car and then caught a bus that went along the north coast of the island to another ferry port. Ferry over to Himeji, train back to Kobe, bus back to Rokko island. Long but very satisfying day!

Shodoshima Island

This post may take 2 parts because it was an adventure and I took a lot of pictures.
Shortly after I arrived here, I ran into an old friend, Hideki. I have known him now for 4 or 5 years, although we now work in different departments. Anyway, we decided to go to lunch and he was interested to hear that Mary Ann would be visiting. He volunteered to show us around to some place interesting, but I was not sure if this was serious because he would have to take a day off from work. Anyway, closer to MA's arrival, I sent him an e-mail and he said that we should make a trip and he had been planning it. I think 'planning it' is to put it mildly. He was previously a project manager on a mutual project, so this day trip was planned down to the finest detail. We joked half way through the day that if he ever quits, he would be able to do quite well as a travel planner.
While we were riding back on the 2nd ferry of the day, we mused about the forms of transportation we had taken that day and what did we miss...
Here is as best as I can remember now... bus, subway, shin-kansen (bullet train), cab, ferry, walking, rental car, 'rope way,' another bus, a different ferry, commuter train, and bus again. What did we miss? No flying, no submarines...
We learned ahead of time that Shodoshima was an island famous for growing olives and it seemed to be a popular place to go in the summer for folks to get away from it all. Not a bad place for that. We were there in the 'off season,' but still plenty to see. When I started to think of this place like a place in Florida or the Caribbean 'off season' it made sense. A lot of places were shut and looked like they had been way overexposed to the sun.
Backing up, we took the shin-kansen out of Kobe to a city called Okayama. First time on the shinkansen for MA and i think she enjoyed it. Maybe not as fast as a jet, but way smoother and I think more interesting. Took a cab from the Okayama train station to the ferry, which seemed to drive all over the place. Anyway, an interesting way to see the city and some of the suburbs down to the port. Had to wait 8-10 minutes before catching the ferry over to Shodoshima, approx 50 minutes. Nice ride, calm (inland) sea. Very interesting arrival to the island. Again, like arriving at a small caribbean country. Walked over to a nearby stripmall and found the car rental place. Here are some pics from the trip and the arrival, you will have to wait for more tomorrow.

O-saka!

I have found around here that when people pronounce the name of this city, they tend to put a small accent and draw out the "O" sound a little. After our Kobe adventures, the next day Mary Ann and I went to Osaka. This is a city larger than Kobe and about a half an hour to the east by train. I don't know how to describe it, maybe like the Chicago of Japan? People in Kobe like to say, "Well, yes, there may be more things to do, but Kobe is much nicer."
I had heard good things about the Osaka castle there, so that's where we headed. Not much trouble getting over there on the train and not a far stroll from the train station. Again, we had a nice Spring-like day and we were greeted outside the castle by a small bonsai garden. The grounds around this castle were huge! We followed the crowd and came upon a bunch of flowering trees. We thought maybe we had hit the early side of cherry blossom time, but later learned we were in the "plum orchard." It was huge! It had countless kinds of plum trees, many very old, all different colors, and it smelled wonderful!! There were also quite a few folks out there selling plums trees and plum bonsai. I wanted to buy one so bad, but figured I would not be able to bring it back to the US. Oh well!
We ambled around the grounds and found one of the main gates. The castle is so huge, it hard to appreciate from photos. Unfortunately, instead of preserving the interior of the castle, the folks controlling this property turned the inside of this castle into a museum. A little disappointing, but intersting nonetheless. Next to the stunning sights and smells of the day, I found the story of the founder of the castle, Hideoyoshi Toyotomi, and the rise and fall of the castle very interesting. The castle fell in a war in the summer of 1615, and there is a replica of a huge painting that details the battle including the famous leaders involved. Incredible! I have included a pic with a shot of the replica and models of period soldiers. There is a companion painting showing the fall of the castle with people fleeing and swimming for their lives. Although the figures in the paintings are by necessity tiny, I think the paintings are amazing because you can actually see a lot of emotion in the soldiers and fleeing courtesans along with actually a good sense of action and movement. Not bad for early 17th century!

Harborland

After Mary Ann and I visited the Kitano neighborhood, we caught a bus to see much of the rest of Kobe and arrived at a spot called Harborland. The harbor and port are very extensive, so I am not sure if there really is a center to it all. Anyway, maybe this is the declared center and there are a number of museums, a couple of malls, and a ferry port. So, a nice place to cool your heels, have a glass of wine, and watch the ferries go in and out. Some of these are harbor tours and have lovely themes like "Grotesque Roman Cruise."

Kitano-cho

Japan was pretty much closed to a lot of foreign trade until the 1860's. Once the country "opened," many foreigners rushed in. Apparently there was not a lot to Kobe prior to the 1860's but the city grew after that. It is a really ideal port area. Althought the city has had it trouble over the last 100+ years (earthquakes, etc.) there are still remnants of these early foreign settlers. One is the Kitano neighborhood.
Maybe not the first foreign enclave, but this neighborhood is known throughout Japan - many other people come from within Japan to see it. This neighborhood is in the mountain foothills and was a little bit of a hike for us. We weren't complaining because it was a beautiful sunny day. We went by an odd little temple (sorry ladies, no admittance if it is that time of the month) and saw a balcony with a fruit tree beginning to bloom. Further up the hill, the neighborhood took on a more European character. Felt less and less like Japan as we got to the center of the neighborhood. Toured a couple of early 20th century homes - very interesting! Had lunch at a little Italian style cafe and then hiked back into town.

Update

Sorry to have been away for a while.
What follows are more details of Mary Ann's and my adventures here in Japan. I have not had time to write for a while - the working for a living thing has been getting in the way!
Also, I updated the pictures on the site. All the pictures are small now, so let me know if you want a larger copy for some reason. Also, the entries relating to Hong Kong have had pictures added, so go back if you want to see the view from Victoria Peak or other snaps from the funky fish market....

Okonomiyaki time!

I was going to title this post "I get by with a little help from my friends," but I did not want to attract Beatles internet traffic.
I have been very lucky here to reconnect with a guy I previously new (Taki) and a new person to the clinical team, Okita-san. Sorry, no pictures yet. I think Taki is a kindred soul because he likes to eat good food and drink beer. Always thinking about the next meal. He is thin, like most Japanese, so the spare tire he talks about is about as big as a bicycle tire.
Anyway, these 2 have been curious to take me to lunch, and who was I to turn them down? They became impressed that I can eat anything, so they have spent the last several weeks devising more and more challenging foods for me. Bring it on, baby!
They were interested to hear that Mary Ann and I had gone for 'takoyaki," so they asked if I wanted to try 'okonomiyaki.' I confessed that I had not had it, but I would try. They explained it was a regional food, but decide for yourself from this link to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki
So this stuff is like an eggy pancake with lots of different veggies and other things thrown in. I love the wiki definition "cook what you like." I thought afterwards, that this style of cooking begins in college and med/grad school and can persist after that. My roommate Jim and I used to make spaghetti once a week with a jar of tomato sauce and any left over veggies and meat. Same thing nowadays for me and the kids on Saturday or Sunday - omelettte du jour with left-over meat, cheese, and veggies.
Anyway, not to take away from the lunch - it was wonderful! The cook came out shortly with waht looked like 3 nice omelletes (unfolded) and placed them on our table that was actually a mini teppanayiki table so we could keep the okonomiyakis warm and cut them up to share. Nice sauce like mild barbecue sauce. Wow!
OK, guess which is the okonomiyaki, and what is the steak and eggs I had for dinner? Please don't tell my doctor!

Arima/pictures update

My ace technical advisor told me I might be able to upload photos better if they are not so big. Hai! I am going to fool around with that some and see.
One of my friends here says our lunch was "takoyaki" which means "octopus (tako) fried yummy things (yaki)." Obvious.

Arima ..... ahhhhh!

So Mary Ann arrived last night and we had to do something that would help her adjust to local time. Myself, I was looking for adventure, but something mellow too. So what do you do? Spa town is not a bad choice.
Sounds like this town Arima is VERY old and famous throughout Japan for the spa facilities. We walked by a temple founded in 1539.
Very cool town. Got there by bus, subway, and local train. Very nice when we got out of the metro area. Basically could walk all over the town. Some of the "alleys" thought we were walking down turned out to be "streets," so had to stay on our feet to jump out of the way of local trucks, cars, etc.
We arrived after 2PM and most of the local places were shut after lunch. Wandered around a while and found some place that smelled good. Small place, no English menu. Had something on the menu that looked like dumplings and a beer, so I figured we had found our spot. We sat at the counter, so we got to see the gal prepare the chow. Batter, piece of calamari, and something like rice crispies in each little mold. This gal let them fry for a bit and then started poking and flipping these things around to form a yummy calamari dough ball! Wow! Put a little mild sauce (like mild BBQ sauce) and some ground spices on top! Just what we needed!
Found out from the restaurant staff that there was a spring and temple up the hill about 100m away. Nothing for spa action, but a nice little spiritual bump. After that, we continued to lumber up the hill and finally cut over to the Gin no Yu spa. There are different types of water coming out of these springs - seems amazing to me, so close together. Gin no Yu is supposed to have 'Ginsen' water that is rich in radium and carbonate. No idea what we were getting into. They had a little 'spa etiquette' sign telling you not to wear your undies in, and I went to the mens'. After the lockeroom, realized the style was "naked, not coed." How much fun is that?! "Hanging" with the boys, story of my life. WTF? Fortunately, the m/f pools were separated were separated by an INPENETRABLE rock wall, but you could at least shout over the wall. So Mary Ann and I could shout to each other, which I do not think the locals appreciated one bit. We did not last too long - the water was really hot! But it was worth it. Ambled around a few more spots in town and caught the train back. Nice day!

Victoria Peak

Last day in Hong Kong!
We had noticed from the past few days that the air quality deteriorated between morning and late afternoon, so we thought if we could get up to the peak early on Sunday morning, we might be able to see something. I had optimistically thought that this was some peculiar atmospheric problem, but other people were willing to say it was "smog," or (gasp!) "air pollution." (:-/
We were staying in Kowloon, which is actually on "the peninsula" and you have to take a ferry to the Kong Kong Island (proper). The current ferry service has been going for over 100 years, and the ferry we rode was actually 2 years younger than me. My friend AJ had a good sense of direction, so we quickly found the spot where we were supposed to catch a mountain tramway to the peak. But my friend Ling stopped to ask a local cop, who told us the tram was shut down, so we took the bus. That was an adventure! Double decker bus, very exciting swerving and swaying up the narrow mountain road.
Spectacular views from the "peak" - not actually the highest point of the island, but what the heck. Took some pictures, but the camera does not capture all the eye can see. After we explored around for a while, we decided to descend. Found out the tram was actually in service! Very interesting - Very Steep! Especially going backwards! yee ha! Anyway, we were actually glad to have taken the bus up and the tram down. We got to see some interesting parts of HK on the bus, plus the swervy curvy ride. The tram was intersting, but I think would take a while to get used to..

Officially Overwhelmed

So I thought I had seen it all.
We were recommended to go to a seafood restaurant in Hong Kong, "down by the fish market." Apparently you pick out your dinner from the tank while they're still swimming around. Yeah, right! So we show up in this area by the harbor and after walking down a few alleys, we start to see a lot of people wearing rubber boots. Like... fishermen... Somehow we found this place. Sat down, told them what we wanted, and they the waitress said, "OK, go across they way and pick your fish." OK...
I recognized most of the things over there, but other things seemed wild. Like what looked like a mussel whose digger thing/whatever was as big as my wrist. Or the crab whose body was somewhere between the size of a softball and a volleyball. Thank God I did not come across one of these monsters snorkeling. Yow!
We ended up with fish (steamed in spices, shallots, and soy sauce), scallops, crabs (no monsters), and shrimp. You could also order "vegetables": rice, noodles, or fried bok choi. I have never seen oysters like we had - breaded and deep fried. Now I have had fried oysters in New Orleans and Houston. Probably lucky if you get an oyster the size between a quarter and half dollar. I think thes oysters were about the size fo a pingpong ball to start with, so with the bread, bigger than a golf ball but smaller than a baseball. My friend Taki took home some of the left over crab and oysters. I said to him, "Holy Sh*t! You're having that for breakfast?!" He said, "Yeah, man, this stuff is great!"

Buddha Time!

Out meeting ended up about lunch time on Saturday and I did not have any plans. A couple friends and I ran into a couple of guys from our Japanese office and one person from Korea. We asked what they were doing and they told us about going to see a giant Buddha on Lantau island. We kind of invited ourselves, but I don't think they minded. This place was great. We took a subway out of town and then got a cable car up the mountain. One of the poor guys with us apparently is afraid of heights, but he took it pretty well. He's in one of the pictures, but you can't guess who because both of the guys (Shuji and Taki) seem to be having a good time. The area up on the mountain was pretty commercialized, but the only way to describe the Buddha was AWESOME! After we saw the Buddha, we went down to see the monastery and shrine, which were very nice. Very serene, spiritual, never seen so many orchids in one place at one time, among other flowers. Shuji and Taki bought some incense to burn, so we smelled good all the way back to HK.

Green Card

I didn't realize this process until a couple days ago when it was complete.
There was all of a sudden a big commotion 2-3 weeks before I came over here that I had to get a visa. WTF? I've been here 3-4 times before, why now? Took me a while to figure it out, but my work here is considered an official company transfer for 2 months. Most people would say BFD, but I guess this is significant for companies, governments, and tax authorities. I filled out the requisite forms and since we were in a big hurry we got some national law firm to help. To the tune of at least more than $500.
I remember when I got here on the first day I had to go down to the local government office and apply for an "alien registration card." Some times you have to do something like this when you go to a Latin American country or the Caribbean, but it seems like a joke because they staple your picture to a piece of paper and tell you not to lose it. In retrospect, to get my visa, there was a hell of a lot of paperwork, including a "letter from a local sponsor." It was a really nice letter from the local HR person who said that (among other things) I would keep out of trouble and they would pay if I had to be deported. Sweet!
So I went down to the local government office a couple days ago to pick up the card. Only then it hits me, this is a frickin' "green card" to work in Japan. No, this thing is more elaborate than my Indiana drivers' license. Hope you can see the hologram in the pic. Wow. What to think.... yes, I'm here for longer than a week and not just here for some meeting or something... and I guess I have some real documentation (prior to a couple of days ago I had been carrying around a blue piece of paper with my name and a stamp on it) so I don't get nabbed as an illegal alien. I don't know what they do with illegal aliens in this country. They surely wouldn't lock them in a concentration camp and take their American born children and turn them over to DFC? Whoops! Got a little carried away! Sorry!
They take immigration here seriously, as any country should. I think I caused a little stir at the immigration office when I put my occupation down as "physician." Like I am a deadly threat to the medical community here! Then, they found out I work for the pharmaceutical industry - basically useless, no problem.
I'm not really happy about the picture on my ARC, but I didn't anticipate needing more pictures and I just happened to have these in my travel wallet. This is a picture we had taken at the Paris Metro a couple years ago. I am looking a little grim because I almost strangled my son for wasting our last 2 euro coins getting pictures the wrong size. I am not sure we even needed pictures for the frickin' Metro pass - I think the clerk was maybe bored and didn't like us because we could not speak French.