Staff Retreat

Back in Japan I headed directly to our spring staff retreat at Bible Home in Gunma. Here we all are after breakfast.

This year they have had a lot of snow, Tom said that this year they had about 3.4 meters of snow. That's a lot of snow! It started to snow the evening I arrived and continued through the next day.



Of course one of the highlights of our staff mtg. is a trip to Takaragawa Hot Spring





They had already stopped on the way up so only Bernie, Rachelle, and I made the trip on Wed. Most people didn't want to pay the ¥1500 2 days in a row, but we were happily surprised when they told us we would get a discount because they had just cleaned the big mixed bath and the water level was not all the way back. Granted the lower portion of the bath was not up and a little cool the upper bath was really nice. We also got a door prize as we went in so that was nice.


Here is Rachelle and I showing off our prizes.

Spring Vacation

Well, I am back home after a very busy spring break. I went to California to visit my good friends Brenda and Dieter and I had a very relaxing time. It had been just about 8 years since I had been back but I felt like it was just yesterday, and Fresno really felt like home. Here we are on the last day.


The reason for the trip was just to get away, relax, and do some shopping. But lets not forget the food. I am into simple pleasures and how happy I was when Jean Williams asked us to go ou to In-N-Out. For those of you that are not familiar with the west coast burger chain, you don't know what you are missing. If you ever have the chance go!

Fresno has grown a lot since I was there, there ae strip malls going up everywhere! So I went to see if I could at least get some things to fill up my suitcase for the trip back. The dissapointing thing about shoping in the states anymore coustomer service is really the pits. It seemed that in most stores that their are either not enough clerks or the ones that are there really aren't there to help you. So I was happy when I finally went into Eddie Bauer, and the clerk was very helpfully and spent the time to find things for me and made the shopping experience enjoyable. It also helped that they seemed to have all the things that I wanted and liked.

I really didn't have a lot of time in Fresno, but it was great. I promise that it won't be as long before I get back.

Katsudon

Ever since I lived in Kobe and was introduced to Katsudon at a very popular restaurant "Kishibe", I have always been on the lookout for an equivalent, but have yet to find anyplace as good. Tonight was no exception. I had heard about a famous tonkatsu store in Nakameguro and tonight I had the chance to eat there. I found it a couple of weeks ago but I got there at a bad time and they had already closed for the afternoon. Well today on my way back from a massage in Ebisu I thought I would give it a try. It was about 5:30 so still a little early for a crowd, there was one other person in the store. I ordered the Katsudon that I had seen on a TV show where these different celebrities were choosing the best Katsudon in the Tokyo area. I guess the big claim to fame of this restaurant, "たい樹" Taiki, is they use Porkshire black pork exclusively. Well maybe the pork was good, but the overall taste of the dish was lacking. I think the biggest draw back was the sauce, which was actually on the sweet side. The worst part of the meal was the price, ¥1,920. I wanted to say what a rip off, especially when you compare it to the store in Kobe where the basic price is ¥550. So what ever you do, don't waste your money on the Katsudon at Taiki.

Asakusa 浅草

I stopped by Asakusa today, mostly just to pick up some new underwear at Trunk's Ya, that is all they sell boxer shorts and they are the most comfortable that I have owned. They also make great gifts for guy's. In Japan it is easy to find nice gifts for women, but when it comes to finding a nice afordable Japanese gifts for men it is rather challenging.

Of course on the way there I stopped by a few of the shops that I know, and across from the Hanten Ya I saw something that caught my eye. Can you tell from the picture what it is? An old Japanese urinal. I have one already but this one is nicer and if it is still there the next time i go back and if I can get the guy to come down a little in price it will be mine.

Vivid Thoughts

Another Larson cartoon that I have thought was really funny. It reminds me of a book I read recently by Amy Tan, "Saving Fish From Drowning". It follows an bungling group of American travelers to Myanmar, as they go on their adventure without the tour leader, who was found dead in her store window days before the trip. The journey starts in China where one of the members urinates on a sacred idol, that resembles the female genitilia, after that they are cursed by locals and forced to abandon the trip in China and move up their arrival in Myanmar. There are many examples of tourist stupidity, or should I say of cultural insensitivity. The main fiasco of the story is when they are kidnapped by a hill trip that sees the young teenage boy in the group as their reincarted great white hope so to say. They are lured to the village by the kidnappers by the hoax of special surprise a chance to see some really unique off the beaten track hidden tribe. Little did they realize that is was all a trick to lure them to their village and hold them captive because this young boy is the one that is going to liberate them from the oppression of the military. Well I have already given away to much of the plot, for the rest of the story you'll have to read it yourself. It's a good read, and maybe you can see how I found these two cows similar to the bungling travelers.

Eating

Eating, one of the great pleasures of life. Last Saturday I enjoyed a lavish Chinese meal and I thought I might end up like the Parker's.
I found this comic a couple of years ago and have kept it at my desk at work. Maybe as a reminder for me to watch what I eat, but in reality more to just bring some laughter into my life. Hope you enjoy it, and I hope none of you end up like the Parkers.