Visit to the Farm

One more blog about vacation! 

Kelly & I took the girls to the nearby attraction "Weber's Farm" for fall fun! 

I should note that people in Parkville, MD go crazy for this place.  From the day Kelly and Mike first moved into their home, we've heard about the Farm again and again.  I guess Balto folks never grew up near the country like we did in Richmond.  People act as though pumpkin picking, fresh produce, a petting zoo, and a hayride are the most amazing things on earth.  Don't get me wrong... these things are all cool, but they are also all things I expect to see every autumn.  Not exactly ground-breaking and earth-shattering!

Kelly and the giant 2-kid stroller she pushed uphill most of the way to get here.

(BTW - the weather was steamy and hot, completely unlike autumn on this day.)

Cool gal Avery in her shades gives the camera a wave!

Rylan and Kerri do some "rubber duck racing" by using an old-fashioned water pump.

Rylan pets the sheep and goats. 

These were very friendly animals.  They were probably hoping we'd feed them some food!

4 gorgeous gals

Rylan would stop at nothing to get prime seating on the hayride. 

Here she is squirming away from Kelly and crawling under the gate even though we were supposed to be waiting patiently for the tractor driver.

We fed her a snack instead to keep her occupied!

Hayride Time!

Final stop was the best... we enjoyed apple cider slushies and yummy cinnamon sugar donuts! 

They were both delicious!

Vacation in Baltimore

  I just got back from my relaxing "summer" vacation in America.  After a few days with the family in Richmond, I went to visit my nieces in Baltimore. 

Most weeks I get to see everyone on the webcam at least once, but Rylan has changed a lot since I last saw her at Christmas and I was excited to meet 5-week-old Avery!

Kerri holding her new niece for the first time!

Rylan likes my sunglasses, and she was wearing the dress I bought her in China. 

 Breakfast time. 

Rylan is sneaky because after she's done with her bfast, she looks cute so she can sit on my lap and eat the rest of my donut.  Clever kid.

Avery watches us eat.

Aunt Kerri went to music class and sang & danced to all of the silly songs.

Aunt Kerri also got to read Rylan books before bedtime.

The girls in their pink Minnie Mouse footie pajamas!!

Avery gives us a big yawn.

It looks like an ice cream cone, but it's really a cupcake baked in a cone with plenty of frosting and sprinkles. 

Either way, we couldn't tear that thing out of Rylan's hands.  She wouldn't even look up for a picture!!

This is an impromptu baby straight jacket.  When no snuggle sack is handy, Avery gets wrapped up like a burrito instead!

 I swear, she really likes it when you hold her like this! 

Rylan after a particularly messy meal. 

She's already ripped off her bib. 

Notice the noodle she flung on the back of her high chair. 

Also, she has her sticky hand in her hair (specifically against her mother's orders). 

It looks tough being an almost 2-year-old!

Little backpack as an early birthday gift from Aunt Kerri.

Rylan shows off her (early) birthday shoes from Japan. 

Plenty of time to grow into them!

Baking with my nieces. 

Avery is sleeping in the BabyBjorn while Rylan & I check the oven.

Kelly reads to her girls.

(Easter is celebrated all year round in this household!)

Rylan is trying to decide if she wants to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween this year!

Kelly and her girls relaxing outside.



This is what happens if you don't snap the picture fast enough!

Aunt Kerri with Rylan & Avery.

Thanks to everyone for my fun trip and feeding me such yummy food :)

Just Another Work Party

It seems like I get invited to work parties every week, and I really hate to say no to these shindigs for several reasons:

1. Free food

(strange and scary at times, but still free)

2. Great company

(these people really do tell the best stories once you get the beer and sake flowin')

3. Umm... because the whole reason I'm in Japan is due of work

(which means I should try to cram in as much quality time with my work colleagues as possible)

This was a Farewell Party for Katsuyama, who belongs to the department next to me at work, but we all have the same General Manager.  (So it's like one big happy family!)

Katsuyama and Kerri. 

He got reassigned to Malaysia, where the Mitsui office only has 2 people!  We keep telling Katsuyama that he's going to be the "big boss" since he's at the top of the food chain in the Malaysia office, but he denies it and says he's "only a normal boss"!

Yes, this is really what restaurants look like in Japan.  Our party took up the whole downstairs.  I have no idea what's going on upstairs.   

Yuri pours Katsuyama more sake. 

(The purpose of these farewell parties is to get the honoree spectacularly drunk.)

 

 Someone's not drinking their beer right now if they are also taking this photo... oh, the horror!!

Katsuyama is telling me a ridiculous story about his road trip from Miami to Los Angeles one summer. 

Let's just say it involves 1 Japanese guy, 1 Brazilian guy, 3 weeks, 2 totaled rental cars, no hotel rooms (but plenty of truck stop showers), 3 run-in's with the police, and lots of pretending as though they don't speak English! 

I was kind of ashamed of my boring road trip stories after I heard his. 

(And seriously I've been on some pretty memorable road trips.)

 The obligatory farewell gift. 

(The gifts are always presented by a woman.  I have no idea why.  Maybe we photograph better than men?!  Just one of the many gender roles in Mitsui.)

It's a Burberry golf cap. 

I did some checking online, and this thing goes for about $140.  There are no sales or discounts in Japan.  Really, is a hat really worth than much?!  And it's white.  It will surely get stained and dirty in no time...

The misfits from the Motor Vehicle Department at Mitsui. 

I should also mention that this farewell dinner took place the night before my flight back to America, and we didn't get done eating until after midnight!!  Then I had to walk home and finish packing my 2 suitcases.  It's no problem because I had plenty of time to sleep on my 13-hour flight the next day.  But, really, do dinners need to last that long?! 

"Old Boy" Baseball

Today I had a special excuse to leave work on time... I was going to watch the General Manager of the Mitsui Nagoya office play baseball!!

The 32nd annual baseball event between "Japan OB's" and "Local Execs" was held at the Nagoya Dome and consisted of retired Chunichi Dragon players vs. Presidents/Executives of Nagoya businesses!

(Side Note: OB is a common term in Japan meaning "Old Boy" or anyone who is retired.  Guess what Dad's new nickname is gonna be when I see him in a few days?!  LOL.)

The players were mostly in the late 50's and early 60's, but there were 3 players who were 75 years old!! 

In fact, one of them was playing first base for the "Local Execs".  Sure, that position doesn't require a lot of running, but you certainly gotta stay alert and have some great catching skills. 

Impressive to say the least, but who is still working when they are 75?  When the heck are these guys gonna retire and let someone else be CEO?!

Here's the Mitsui GM Mr. Hanagata up to bat. 

He is a lefty, and sadly he drilled a hit down the first baseline for a swift Out.

You may recall Mr. Hanagata as one of my kind translators during our trip to the Mitsui Forest.

It was hilarious to see a crowd full of men in suits and ladies in their office clothes rooting for their bosses.

I wonder how many people felt obligated to go due to pressure from their boss.  (Mr. Hanagata stopped by my desk today to ask if I was still going to come and support him, but I'll use pretty much any excuse to leave the office at 5:30!!)

Tickets were free to this event, but you did have to sign up and collect them from work prior to the game.

There were no concession stands open, so instead they gave each person free cans of beer and a bag full of snacks when you walked in!

In addition, there were no cleaning crews working at the Dome, so they announced that everyone should pick up their own trash when leaving.  Gotta love Japan and their rules!  As we were leaving, I didn't see a stray empty can or wrapper anywhere.  (Do you think we could ever pull that off in America?!)

When Ema and I arrived in the 3rd inning, the score was 7-1 favoring the Local Execs.  I was trying to decide if the Japan OBs were just going easy on purpose, but I soon discovered that wasn't the case.  Final score was 8-6, and the Execs finally broke their 11-year losing streak!

I've never noticed this before, but at the end of the game, the players all meet in the field and bow to each other!!  LOL.  Total Japan!  I love it... so funny that there's no hand slapping!!

Notice the 4 ladies standing up in the bottom of the picture above. 

They were all wearing kimono, and Ema tells me they were "working" girls.  (Not prostitutes per se, but if you've seen the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, you know what I mean.)  Apparently, these ladies work at some kind of local gentlemen's club, and the businessmen are very important clients.  Some ladies had to leave in the middle of the game, presumably to go to work entertaining other clients, while many stayed to cheer for their men.  I should mention that 99.9% of all businessmen are married... Awkward!!!

The game was a lot of fun and really entertaining! 

One OB stuck his leg out while batting in order to get hit by the ball, and then charged the mound in mock fight before taking his base :)

Many of the players were moving pretty slow when walking back to the dugout between innings or after being tagged out, but I'm not complaining!  It was awesome to see them run to catch pop flies and speed around the bases.  There were even several double plays!

One of my friends from work, Hariyama, was watching the game with her dad, whose company executive was also playing.  I thought it was adorable because you don't usually see men and women out together in Japan unless they are married.  (Another crazy rule!)

I learned that "Nice Catch" is the same in either language, so whenever a pop fly was caught, I could chime in...

The uniforms for the Local Execs looked pretty professional to only be used for one game, and I decided since all Japanese men are basically the same size, they are likely used year after year by random players!!

On my subway ride home, check out the sweet train I got to ride on!! 

I've never seen this Dragons train before, and it's decorated inside and out!

And what amazing luck since I was actually coming from the Nagoya Dome to see some former Dragons play ball!

Lighthouse lookout spot

Next stop on our sacred road trip is a visit to a lighthouse. 

We are at the one in red on the map below.

I won't bore you with the details of the lighthouse because I don't know any! 

The signs were all in Japanese, so I just had to take in the beauty of the ocean instead!

Takashi, Kerri, Ema, Kishi, Sachiyo, & Mamie visited on Sept 4th.  (Year 22 on the Japan calendar.)

I climbed the 12 circular flights of stairs (without complaining) to the top of the lighthouse and was rewarded with this view!

I love hearing the crash of the waves on the rocks.

It was 4 o'clock... almost time for sunset.  LOL.

The gang on top of the world!  (Or just the lighthouse.)

So many beautiful views!

Look far into the distance on this one...

the locals tell me they can see Mt. Fuji in this direction on a clear day.

I liked the shadow of the lighthouse on the water.

Snack time!  How about some clear seaweed?!

It looks very similar to jellyfish, but I bet it is much less chewy. 

I declined this snack and opted to drink water instead.

Uhh, yeah, this is what parks look like in Japan.  Kind of sad.

Honestly, I'm surprised it even has a bench.  Why don't they mow the grass on the right side of the park?! ... wacky!

Anyway, we went to the park because of the gorgeous views of the lighthouse!

Our road trip crew.

The Ise Peninsula is known for its pearls, so here is a replica of the Nagoya Castle made out of white, silver, and black pearls.  Really cool!

Final stop back in Nagoya was a cafe called Abbey Road (since they know how much I like The Beatles)!!

They don't speak any English here or have an English menu,

but they do have a giant poster for a wall and all the tunes they play are The Beatles!

I saw this parked outside of Abbey Road and thought I was in Richmond again! 

Who rides their 4-wheeler (complete with camouflage jacket) to a cafe in Nagoya?! 

Who even owns an ATV in Japan?! 

Truly a wacky end to the day... LOL.  But it has a license plate, so it must be "street legal"!!