Hope and Possibility 5 Mile Race

Today we ran in the Hope and Possibility 5 mile race in Central Park. This race is an inspirational race as it has able bodied and disabled running side by side in solidarity. Over 4500 runners participated today. Among these were many American soldiers wounded in Iraq. They ran with prosthetic limbs, in wheelchairs and push-rims and with their families. It was so sad to see so many maimed young man. They called themselves the Freedom Team and on their t-shirts were the words: "Just doing our job". Very sad indeed...

Two years ago, my son Sean's friend Mike Dolan was swimming at our beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and dove into the water and broke his neck. He is a high level quadriplegic and we ran for him today. Our t-shirts had a picture of him when he was in Stowe skiing in a special sled with ski instructors, a tribute to his courage and determination not to let this tragedy break his spirit or slow him down. When we got to the finish line, the announcer saw our t-shirts and announced that we were running for Mike Dolan! We were so happy to hear his name.

We finished in 56 minutes, I slowed Myron down because of heel pain from plantar fascitis, but we came in 12th in our age groups. There were 33 in my female age group ( 55-60) and 19 in the Myron's men's age group ( 60-64). Not too bad!

BTW Our head bands are from Japan. They say Kamikaze which means "divine wind" ... we were so fast.... :-)

Once we got home, we hung out by the pool for 4 hours! Resting and recuperating!

Myron and Anna

Double Rainbow in West New York, NJ

Rain squall and a rainbow terminating on the next street!

Tonkatsu on the Hudson

Anna and Myron went shopping at Mitsuwa in Edgewater, NJ - Anna then made tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets) and miso soup with udon noodles. Thank you Hiroko and Chie!!

CJ Is Married!

CJ got married to Howard at a beautiful banquet location in Mt. Tremper, NY. Of course, she was lovely and Howard turned out to be an inspired dancer!

The Fam

Click here for more pictures of Chikage and Ren and Hiroko!

Bamboo Forest

Bamboo Forest
Originally uploaded by hatterasanna

In Kyoto there was a magnificent Bamboo Forest. We saw more temples and shrines, wonderful gardens and our guide, Harumi, was terrific. The Kyoto Train Station is a marvel to see from a modern architectural standpoint.

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We Went to Harajuku!

DSC_0029
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In Tokyo, we all went for a walk to Harajuku where teenagers dress up in costume as young sweet girls or as Goth punks! Talk about weird!
We also did some shopping and of course ate great food!
Chikage was her usual happy self.

Serious

Serious
Originally uploaded by hatterasanna

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Isn't she cute even when serious?

Slurping Noodles

Slurping Noodles
Originally uploaded by hatterasanna

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Kyoto- Tawaraya and Daibutsu

Wow-- Kyoto is beautiful. Different from Tokyo, ringed by mountains.
We stayed 2 nights at the Hotel Granvia by the train station and one fantastic evening at the Tawaraya Japanese inn renowned for exceptional Japanese service. We had a 8 course Japanese dinner in our Japanese room served by a Kimono clad attendant. An incredible private scrumptious dinner, sitting on our cushions on the floor eating beautifully displayed and incredibly delicious native dishes. Our bathroom was Japanese with a hot tub for soaking. Sake and green tea appeared before we even asked for it. Our attendant made up our futons, prepared our shojii screens, pajamas and bath. Amazing...
We also went to the Daibutsu shrine where we luckily got to witness the "ordination" of the new buddhist head monk ( like a Pope or Bishop). Though it rained, we were able to get a terrific view of the proceedings ( the monk walked right by us and we snapped pix as did the news crews).

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Capsule Hotels

We were enthralled with the concept of the "capsule hotels".

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Basically these are hotels that cater to the "salary man" when he can't make it home, missed the last train, or was too drunk on Sake to make it home and needed to sleep it off! These are not sleazy hotels! They are large rooms with capsules ( like a cocoon) that you sleep in. Each capsule is enough room for a person on a futon with an alarm clock and a suspended small TV. The pictures here show it. They are spotlessly clean! Actually the entire place is spotless. There are shower rooms and these capsule hotels are for men only.
The cost is about $30-40 per night or $10.00 for 3 hours catnap and shower.
We went to visit one and we were simply amazed by the cleanliness and the very idea.
Such a hotel would work great in our airports when flight delays make travelors weary and frustrated, dirty and annoyed.

At Ren-San and Hiroko-San's New Apartment

Hiroko and Ren have a most fantastic apartment. Very large by Tokyo standards and very well appointed. Besides the ultra modern amenities and spaciousness, the apartment boasts a fantastic Japanese room, which is used as the guest room. Weren't we lucky to have such a room! Tatami mats, shojii screen slides over the windows and comfy futons was ours! But Chikage stole the show! Cute as a button, and such a good baby. We played and rocked and giggled and laughed. She was just fabulous as we strolled around her neighborhood, explored some stores, ate great food and enjoyed the sights. She was never grumpy. Grandpa Myron simply loved to hold her.