What's a Kid not to Like?

Pictures above are referenced below by number, with picture #1 the one in the upper left hand corner and picture #9 the one in the lower left hand corner.

Disneyland does not seem as large now as it once did. However, it's obvious that the makers of the theme park (picture #6 at the front entrance to Disneyland) have found a way to stay one step ahead of those of us that feel this way. Just make the place larger! They've added Mickey's Toontown since my last visit (okay, so it's been awhile since my last visit). There's also this "little" attraction called Disney's California Adventure Park right next door. Dividing the two is the "free" area known as Downtown Disney (picture #5) where the Disney resort hotels and associated restaurants like the Rainforest Cafe are located.

Perhaps, the park seemed smaller because we spent most of our time in Fantasyland, Mickey's Toontown (picture #1 is with Mickey in his House) and "a bug's land" across the way due to the age of our kids. The star attraction in our estimation was "it's a small world" to the tune of three helpings for us over the course of three days. The ride was trimmed to match the holiday season. Picture #7 above shows the "it's a small world" marquee. Every 15 minutes the marquee comes to life as toy characters march out of the marquee to announce the time. At night, a light show that changes the coloring of the marquee comes to life to announce the time. This was a convenient way to mark time during our wait for the holiday parade.

The centerpiece of Fantasyland is Sleeping Beauty's Castle (picture #4). We were fortunate to get a curbseat right in front of the castle for the nightly firework show. The last night we were able to view the firework show from the Main Street train station looking over the top of what seemed to be a 50-foot plus Disneyland Christmas tree (picture #2).

Not everything worked like a storybook. The Monsters Inc. attraction (picture #9 of us in the model taxis used to ferry us through Monstropolis) was running glitchy the day we were in California Adventure Park. Upon arrival we found that the attraction was closed until further notice. Our second time in line ended with us about ready to be loaded into our car when the attraction malfunctioned again. When we finally made it through the ride, the ride itself was slightly anticlimatic.

One pleasant surprise was the Sun Wheel (picture #3) in the Adventure Park. Ethan was a little nervous during the first revolution, but was down with the ferris wheel by the second revolution and thought that it was "really cool" when we got a bonus revolution when the operators forgot to stop to let us out. After that, whenever I referred to it as the "ferris wheel," he would correct me and say, "No dad, it's the Sun Wheel."

The Adventure Park also has its own parade with Pixar characters dancing to the beat of dance music such as "Y-M-C-A." Definitely did not have the draw of the Disneyland parade, but it did offer an opportunity for the audience to dance with cast members near the end.

Conversations with Kids - Part IV

Kids are quite honest in their comments, but this does not mean that they do not put some forethought into their comments. Here's a recent exchange from our household.

Mom: Ryan, are you a naughty monkey?
Ryan: I'm not a monkey.

Sports Trivia - 1

Name the only two NBA players to have tallied the following: 12,500 points, 8,000 assists, 5,500 rebounds, and 1,500 steals.

Halloween 2006

Our street is a fairly quiet no outlet street off the local roadway. Most of the trick-or-treaters stay on this local roadway or on one of the other longer connecting streets. This explains why we usually get only about 35 trick-or-treaters every year.

This year was a banner year, with 40 kids making it to our house. Here's a rundown on the multiple costumes that we saw: 5 witches, 5 with nondescript costumes, 3 vampires, 3 wearing school jerseys, 2 cheerleaders, 2 cowboys, and 2 hillbillies. We were also visited by one each of the following: Buzz Lightyear, Bat Girl, Snow White, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, motocrosser, preppie, bunny rabbit, gypsy, astronaut, dalmatian, dragon, zombie, football player, wearing "The Scream" mask, monster of some sort, princess and someone wearing an asian outfit. Some of the outfits were obviously homemade.

Our own kids were a butterfly, a policeman and Thomas the Tank Engine. The days leading up to Halloween did not bode well for Ryan getting into a costume. We had a few options for him, but he did not express interest in wearing any costume. In the end, when he figured out that wearing a costume meant that strangers would put candy into a bag that he possessed, wearing a costume was not a problem.

Conversations with Kids - Part III

Dad: Do you know who in our family is Chinese?

Ethan: I don't know. Is it mom?

Dad: That's right. Now what am I?

Naomi: Japanese?

Dad: That's right again. (with kids smiling for answering correctly)

Dad: Now what does this make you?

Ethan: English?

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Here's a fun video clip that is a favorite of our kids.

Stats Redux - October 12, 2006

Here's an update on stats first posted in November 2005, updated in January 2006 and in June 2006.

Price of Gas: $2.41 per gallon (and falling; it must be election season)
Price of Milk: $2.99 for hormone free milk at Trader Joe's ($0.30 price drop since June 2006)
Bridge Toll: still $3 on all Bay Area bridges except Golden Gate Bridge (very satisfied FasTrak user now)
Today's High Temperature: 81 degrees F (overhight low of 52)
Dow Jones Average: 11,947.70 (up 95.57 today); and about 1100 since first 2006 trading day (wow!)
Shopping Days to Christmas: 72 days including Christmas Eve (definitely recommend doing Secret Santa to minimize shopping)
Dinner Tonight: Pork Chops w/Tomato & Barley and Green Beans (spinach still recalled due to e-coli)
Average Commute Time: still over an hour (in a 3-person carpool; travel time +10 minutes due to new pick-up in Dublin)
Cost of Area Homes: still over $600,000, but properties are moving more slowly than ever (home on our street moved to "pending" status, but now back on market again)
Movie Ticket: $9.50 ($6.25 matinee), thumbs up to to Jet Li's Fearless (still NetFlix customer too)
Time with My Kids: Practicing forward rolls and skin-the-cats with my son; playing Trouble with all 3 (okay, Ryan really cannot make it through a game yet)

Returning to School

It was the first day of school for Naomi and Ethan. Dorothy (and Ryan) took the two to their first day of school. Being a mom and kids event seems to be the norm for many. This was Ethan's first day at the big kids' school (as opposed to the little kids' school - preschool). He was quite familiar with the routine having spent the past two years helping mom to walk Naomi to first kindergarten and then to first grade. There still were moments of uncertainty for him though - not wanting to be left alone because Dorothy had to walk Naomi to her room. "Ethan, you'll be okay in the playground." The kindergartners have their own cordoned off playground separate from the rest of the elementary grade kids.

Dorothy remembers having her mom take her to school. She remembers the apprehension that comes with being thrust into a new situation not knowing anyone. She remembers her mom telling her to sit next to some boy who was known to her family.

My memories of first school days in a small town in Alaska are quite different. The first day of school was just that. There was no apprehension about not knowing anyone, maybe just a little about what desk you would have or who would be your teacher. There were no parents - just all of us kids.

Summer Birthdays

It's known that having a birthday on or near a major holiday is a major downer (especially if you're still at the age where you're losing teeth and know that they will be replaced naturally). What is sometimes overlooked is that there is an entire season that mixes like oil and water with birthdays. Of course, we're talking about summer.

Naomi was a summer baby. Interestingly, her birthday is the same day as her cousin's. Also, Carson who was the ring bearer in our wedding increments his age on the same day. Her aunt's friend who was on duty as a nurse at the hospital about the time when Naomi was born also has the same birthday. There are at least two more people that we know who have July 29 as their birthday.

We've learned that July 29 is a good birthday for swim team purposes because the age cut-off is June 15. This means that Naomi will be swimming in the 7 and 8 year old division when she is almost 8 and almost 9. So a common response to hearing Naomi's birthday is, "oh, that's a great swim birthday!"

However, we get the impression that her league meet might be an annual occurence near the end of July. This year the meet was on her birthday and the day after. So instead of gorging herself on cake and ice cream, Naomi spent her birthday trying to stay cool, eating fruit and drinking water while waiting to swim for her team the Ygnacio Wood Seahorses. Perhaps going out to celebrate their 3rd place finish and her individual achievements after the meet was enough to offset any disappointment for not having a party on her birthday.

So this year her party with friends is scheduled for the second week of August. Based on the responses so far, we're beginning to think that perhaps a birthday party in July is not too bad after all. For next year, we're considering a swim party in June.

Stats Redux - June 20, 2006

Here's an update on stats first posted in November 2005 and then updated in January 2006.

Price of Gas: $3.02 per gallon (after reaching highs over $3.40 per gallon)
Price of Milk: still $3.29 for hormone free milk at Trader Joe's (price drop even with higher gas prices)
Bridge Toll: still $3 on nearly all Bay Area bridges (still need to sign up for FasTrak)
Today's High Temperature: 92 degrees F (hot and dry)
Dow Jones Average: 10,974.84 (up 32.73); but only +127 since first 2006 trading day
Shopping Days to Christmas: 187 days including Christmas Eve
Dinner Tonight: Baked Salmon, Broccoli and Rice
Average Commute Time: still over an hour (in a 3-person carpool)
Cost of Area Homes: still over $600,000, but properties are moving more slowly than ever
Movie Ticket: assume that it's still around $9, although it's been some time since we've watched anything but NetFlix rentals
Vacation with My Kids: roadtrip to Seattle!

Answers to Onomatopoetic Words

Here are the answers:

1. bari bari - the sound of tearing paper
2. boro boro - being worn out and old [something old is said to be "boro"]
3. deko boko - to be bumpy [usually in reference to a surface]
4. doki doki - excited fast beating heart [not to be confused with "toki doki" which means "from time to time"]
5. fuwa fuwa - fluffy [doesn't it sort of have a "fluffy" sound?]
6. gari gari - the sound of scraping
7. giri giri -just in the nick of time
8. gucha gucha - being very soft and wet (flooded carpeting) [imagine what footsteps would sound like on a flooded carpet]
9. guru guru - round and round in circles
10. hoka hoka - warm, heated (a warm bento) [there's a bento shop near my aunt's in Japan that's called Hoka Hoka Bento]
11. iro iro - this and that
12. kara kara - the state of being very dry
13. niko niko - smiling
14. peko peko - to be hungry
15. pera pera - fluent in a language
16. pika pika - blinking lights [just say this the next time you see a blinking light]
17. pon pon - to have a full stomach [next time after a heavy meal, rub your stomach and say "pon pon"]
18. ten ten - to be dotted
19. wai wai - a state of noisy exuberance (noisy kids)
20. wan wan - the sound that a dog makes [a doggie is sometimes referred to as wanwan-chan]

"Broken" Trees

Carrying on a conversation with a two-year old is an interesting experience that brings a whole new meaning to the word "perspective." Here's a conversation with our two-year from this evening at bed time.

Me: Ryan, what's this? (pointing to a series of deciduous trees illustrating the seasons of the year)

Ryan: Broken.

Me: Do you remember the seasons that we talked about the other night?

Ryan: Broken, DaDa. (pointing to the picture of a tree in winter, bare without leaves)

Me: Oh, I get it. The tree is broken. There aren't any leaves. (laughter on my part)

Ryan: Broken. (smiling)

Ygnacio Woods Swim Team

We have dived into the world of organized sports due to Naomi's love of swimming. She'll be swimming this summer with the swim team at our local swim club. There was a preseason period of three weeks ending with a test to see if they could swim the width of the pool. All who could do this were eligible to be on the team.

The following week they launched right into practicing each of the four main strokes: freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke. Before the start of the season there were time trials. We had missed the new parent informational meeting, so we had no idea what to expect. In hindsight, it's just like the competitive meets except with no visiting team. So here we were at the time trial beginning at 5:15pm on a Wednesday evening, with only one towel for Naomi, and no jackets for any of the kids, and no snacks or drinks to refresh the hungry masses. Talk about not being prepared.

As the time trials progressed, it became obvious that this was going to be a long evening. There was talk that it would take until 9pm to get bench mark times for each child for each event. So we had to make a run home to gather more dry towels, jackets for everyone and munchies to fill in for dinner. Newbies.

At Naomi's first meet, trying to read the event listing to determine her events was an event in itself. At her first meet, she swam the medley relay (butterfly), individual freestyle, individual butterfly, individual backstroke, and the freestyle relay. That was alot of swimming for a little girl. We were there at 7:45am for warm-ups and didn't leave till about 12:30. At least we were prepared in terms of munchies this time. She brought home three ribbons...one was even for a 2nd place finish in the 25 yd freestyle.

Can you pick out Naomi in the photo below?

Wisdom Teeth

Just out of curiosity, do you still have your wisdom teeth? An informal survey of other adults at our dentist's office this weekend found that one person had three of four. Four others had none. My dentist asks me each time I see him if I'm ready to have my wisdom teeth removed. Maybe next time.

Conversations with Kids - Part II

We attended a retirement party for Dorothy's aunt. The following is a discussion on retirement with our daughter.

Naomi: What is retirement?

Me: It is like taking a long vacation from working.

Naomi: What do you do when you retire?

Me: Well, you can use the time to just enjoy life. Take vacations.

Naomi: You mean like when we go to Seattle to visit Ojiichan and Obaachan?

Me: Yes, that's right.

Naomi: So how old do you have to be to retire?

Me: Most people are in their 50s or 60s.

Naomi: So if you don't make it to your 60s, does it mean that there's no retirement?

Onomatopoetic Words

Onomatopoetic words are that are used to represent sounds. Remember those old Batman shows where every time Batman or Robin punched the Joker words like BAM! or POW! would splash onto the television screen? These are examples of onomatopoetic words. The English language has its share of such words, the most common being sounds that animals make.

The Japanese have taken such words to the extreme though. They've even grouped these words into four categories: gitaigo (a word that represents an action), giseigo (a word that represents a sound made by animal, person or thing), gijoogo (a word that represents a human emotion or psychological state) and giongo (a word a word that represents a sound of nature). These words are used frequently in the ever-present comic books in Japan.

The following are some examples of onomatopoetic words in the Japanese language:

1. bari bari
2. boro boro
3. deko boko
4. doki doki
5. fuwa fuwa
6. gari gari
7. giri giri
8. gucha gucha
9. guru guru
10. hoka hoka
11. iro iro
12. kara kara
13. niko niko
14. peko peko
15. pera pera
16. pika pika
17. pon pon
18. ten ten
19. wai wai
20. wan wan

Match the above words with the meanings below:

a. the sound that a dog makes
b. blinking lights
c. the state of being very dry
d. being very soft and wet (flooded carpeting)
e. excited fast beating heart
f. a state of noisy exhuberance (noisy kids)
g. fluent in a language
h. this and that
i. just in the nick of time
j. to be bumpy
k. to be dotted
l. to be hungry
m. warm, heated (a warm bento)
n. the sound of scraping
o. being worn out and old
p. to have a full stomach
q. smiling
r. round and round in circles
s. fluffy
t. the sound of tearing paper

Check back for the answers in a future posting.

Conversations with Kids - Part I

Here's a conversation with Ethan, our 5-year old son, and Naomi, our 6-year old daughter, this evening at the dinner table:

Me: Wow, those lemon grass chicken sticks are sort of spicy.

Naomi: What are you talking about?

Me: Those things in front of you. Right there. Those things that look like taquitos.

Naomi: Yeah, you're sweating.

Me: You want to try one. Ethan has one. Maybe you're like mom and can handle spicy foods.

Naomi: Yeah, I'm a little bit like you and a little bit like mom. So maybe I can eat spicy foods like mom. (Proceeds to put one of the chicken sticks on her plate.)

Me: In other ways you're more like me.

Naomi: Like how we don't get cavities. (Unlike mom who gets cavities easily)

Me: That's right.

Ethan: But Dad, how come I get cavities easily even though I sweat like you?

The Toire

After having arrived at my cousin's place in Osaka after a long bus ride and a taxi ride, it was natural for my son Ethan to want to use the bathroom. We were escorted to the bathroom.

"Ethan, do you want me to stay?" I asked.

"No, that's okay," was the reply. So I closed the door and left.

After about 10 minutes, we began to wonder if Ethan was okay. Perhaps he was having difficulties with the toilet. It was a Western style toilet so I never thought to give him pointers on the use of the toilet. I decided to go check on him.

Knock. Knock. "Is everything okay in there?"

"Yes, Dad. I'm done," was the reply. He didn't sound troubled, but I didn't hear any movement either so I decided to take a peek. Opening the door slightly I could see that he was still on the toilet, his feet not quite touching the floor swinging back and forth like the tail of a happy pup.

"Are you finished? Or are you just roosting?" I inquired.

He started to push himself off the toilet, hands on the seat like a gymnast dismounting from a pommel horse. "But Dad it's so warm."

I had no idea what he was talking about. The bathroom was your typical Japanese bathroom. A small room with a toilet with a tank that had a wash basin built on top. The room did feel a couple of degrees warmer than the rest of the house - maybe because it was small and cozy.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Dad, the toilet's warm," was the reply.

I felt the toilet seat. It was warm. The toilet seat had a seat warmer! Ethan had a big smile on his face, "See, Dad."

Meet the Toto Washlet. [Note: the brand name Toto is synonymous with toilets in Japan much as Otis is to elevators here in the U.S.]

The last time we were in Japan nine years ago perhaps one of my relative's home had such a toilet. This time around nearly all of the homes had a Washlet, likely the most sophisticated toilet ever made. The list of features available with these toilets is almost endless: adjustable water jet nozzles, massage options, blow dryers, heater, air conditioning, air freshener, auto lid, pressure sensitive seats, self cleaning nozzles, and germ resistant surfaces. See this link for more information on toilets in Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_toilet

As you can see, using the the "toiretto" or "toire" (from the word "toilet) in Japan can be quite a comforting experience.

The Keitai Denwa

One of the biggest changes that Dorothy and I noticed in Japan since our last visit nine years ago is the proliferation of cell phones, or as they're called in Japan "keitai denwas." But then again this change should not be that surprising - even here at home cell phones and their use have changed considerably. We only got cell phones seven years ago before the birth of our first child so that I would be reachable any where, any time.

My first memory of cell phones were objects that we called "car phones." There were a few people in my office where I worked 15 years ago who had them. They were usually grey, brick-shaped phones that were powered through the cigarette lighter in cars or could be operated on their own. Somewhere in the past 10 years the term "cell phone" has become the generic term for these phones. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones

In Japan, these phones are called "keitai denwas" or more simply "keitais." The word keitai means portable with the kanji characters for keitai coming from KEI meaning "carry" and TAI meaning "belt." http://www.cjvlang.com/Writing/writsys/signs/keitai.html

This literal translation of keitai would be a better description of cell phones here in the U.S. than in Japan. It's much more common to see cell phones carried on the belt here than in Japan. Most of my male relatives in Japan seemed to carry their phones in a pocket. Other observations include:

1. Not as many variations on the shape of the phone (many seemed to look like my Mom's Cingular Erickson phone).

2. High quality digital cameras and the storing of photos on their phones seemed to be more common.

3. Many of the phones were decorated with tags like we have on key chains.

4. Much more text messaging, perhaps even more text messaging than phone calls. I think text messaging is less expensive than making a call and perhaps much of what can be communicated can be done so through short messages. Another reason for the popularity is its outgrowth from the popularity of pagers in Japan from the mid-80s to the mid-90s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cell_phone_culture#Teenagers_and_keitai

5. Cell phone usage in cars is not allowed. There are also signs in may establishments that request phones to be placed on "manner mode." Trains have signs requesting phones to be turned off near senior priority seats because of the risk of cell phone radio waves interfering with pacemakers and other medical devices. Why isn't this more of an issue here in the U.S.?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cell_phone_culture#Negative_aspects

Our Family Visit to Japan

Starting with the photo in the upper left corner and going from left to right row-by-row:

1. We stayed with relatives for the entire trip and slept five across in a tatami floor room. Ryan usually found his way in between Mom and Dad, and managed to wake us up with his nai-nai request at least once most nights.

2&3. It was the peak of the cherry blossom season in Osaka. We attended the opening of the Japanese Mint Bureau grounds on April 12 for cherry blossom (sakura) viewing. The sakura are located on the grounds along the banks of the Okawa River. http://www.pref.osaka.jp/koho/brand/no6/sl/24sakura.html

4. Only managed to get a few photos of us in a shinkansen (bullet train). A picture of a still shinkansen from outside wouldn't have done it justice anyway. We have videos that'll give you a better feel for these trains that reach top speeds of about 185 mph. The 90-mile trip from Osaka to Okayama took about 45 minutes including three stops on the nozomi (super express) train. http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/shinkansen_history.htm

5. A view of Okayama Castle from the Korakuen. Okayama-jo aka U-jo, Crow Castle, because it is one of two castles in Japan that is painted black. The Korakuen is one of Japan's official "Great Gardens" - there are three such gardens. http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/okayama.htm

6&14. A view of the Yojima Bridge, the 4th of six bridges spanning 5.8 miles between Honshu (Kurashiki city) and Shikoku (Sakaide city) that make up the Great Seto Bridges. On Yojima, there is a Fisherman's Wharf area that is sort of a mini version of "Fisherman's Wharf" areas like those in Seattle or San Francisco. The bridges were constructed in 10 years at a cost of about $7.7 billion (assuming $1 = 130 Yen). http://web-japan.org/atlas/architecture/arc22.html

7. Beaver's Bakery is Tetsuya's (my cousin) bakery located in Kurashiki. In our humble opinion, it is the best bakery in Japan!

8. Muscat Stadium (capacity of about 30,000) is located in Kurashiki. Although Kurashiki (where Casey's relatives live) is not home to a professional Japanese baseball team, a small number of pro games are played there each year. We attended the game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Yakult Swallows on April 18. We rooted for the underdog Swallows to no avail as the Giants prevailed 1-0. The highlight was the release of thousands of noise making balloons at the end of the 7th inning stretch.

9, 10&13. Another highlight for our kids was the Kaiyukan (aquarium) in Osaka. It's an interesting aquarium with a 9-meter tall central tank display that houses a whale shark (9 years ago there were 2 such sharks in the tank). It's touted as one of the largest aquariums in the world. There are some 30,000 specimens of plants and animals representing 580 species in the aquarium, including dolphins, both sea and river otters, penguins and a sun fish. Headphones with narrations in English are available. http://www.kaiyukan.com/eng/profile/index.htm

11. Wish we could have gotten more pictures of the amazing train stations. Even in the smaller urban areas such as Okayama (population of about 1.9 million in the prefecture) the train station is home to several lines and plenty of shopping both above ground and below ground. The picture is of Casey and Ryan at the Hankyu train platforms at the main Umeda station in Osaka. Including the Hankyu line there are 5 private train lines, the JR line, a subway system with 7 lines and a monorail system in Osaka. There were something like 8 slots for Hankyu trains that were coming and going every couple of minutes. The slots were designed so that doors can open on one side to let passengers exit and open on the opposite side to take on passengers. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4006.html & http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/eng/accessmap.html

12. A highlight of shopping in Japan is the appealing cakes and pastries on display. The cake in the picture was Ryan's birthday cake. He celebrated his 2nd birthday during the trip.

15. Kurashiki is known for its Bikan-chiku area where several rice storehouses remain from the 18th and 19th centuries that were used to store rice harvested from the area around Kurashiki. The storehouses are located along the tree lined canal in the photo. http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/eng/accessmap.html

16. The last photo is of us in front of the Okayama train station at the statue of Momotaro, Peach Boy. Momtaro is the main character in a well-known (at least to Japanese) Japanese fable about a boy found inside a giant peach in Okayama. Of course, the area is well known for its peaches with the peak peach season being in late summer. http://www.pref.okayama.jp/kikaku/kokusai/momo/e/momotarou/momotarou.html