Yunessun

Last Sunday we went to a hot springs amusement park and spa resort called Yunessun. It was an amazing place with many different kinds of hot baths. After entering you go into a locker room and change into your bathing suit, then head out to the pools and baths. They have an unbelieveable variety: red wine, coffee, sake, green tea, charcoal and even a Dead Sea bath. Here is a link to the official site with all the information about it. Check it out: http://www.yunessun.com/english/yunessun.html

Here's Maddie in the pumpkin flavored bath in her funny witch hat.

Here we are in the Dr. Fish bath. They have hundreds of little fish that eat the dead skin off your feet and legs. This picture was taken when we first put our feet in so you don't see many fish. A few minutes later our feet were covered in them! It was quite tickly and interesting for sure. Maddie liked this bath alot. She also enjoyed the heated outdoor water slide even though it was a cold, drizzly day. What a great place! Come visit us and we'll take you there.

Harajuku

On Columbus Day (Physical Education Day in Japan) we all had the day off so we decided to go to Harajuku. It is famous in Japan because young people like to dress up in crazy fashions and try to get noticed. Many famous designers have been known to walk around and find inspiration. It is a really interesting place to go and people watch. There is also a great shrine there, the Meiji shrine.

After exiting the train station we headed up a street where they sell clothes. They also have places to eat and Madeleine picked up a sweet crepe. It was pretty crowded as is typical on the weekends.

We had enough of the crowds and decided to go to the shrine. Here is Maddie at the torii gate to the shrine.

Maddie looking very cute in front of the shrine. There were quite a few weddings happening that day so we got to see the amazing wedding parties and the brides in their white wedding kimonos and hoods. Sorry, no pictures of the brides.

After the shrine we were ready to get back out on the streets. We headed to a nearby park but got sidetracked by crowds of people heading across the street. It turned out there was a concert being held at the Yoyogi stadium across the street. A Japanese boy band called Sid was performing later that night and the young people were gathering. One of the fashions was what I called "Little Bo Peep" but they have another name for it (I don't remember it.) They were very elaborate costumes and Maddie stopped counting the number of girls dressed this way after 100.

We didn't get enough pictures of them so I grabbed the ones above from the world wide internets. I think we actually saw this girl!

After that we headed over to the park. They had a big rose garden with lots of varieties. Here is Madeleine in front of the yellow roses.

Vanessa amidst the Princess Diana roses (I think.)

We stopped for a rest at the fountains before heading back on the trains to our home in the suburbs. Another grand day in Tokyo! Thanks for reading our blog!!

Digging Sweet Potatoes

Vanessa and Madeleine joined the Camp Zama Girl Scouts one Sunday to go digging for sweet potatoes. They are different from the ones we have in the States but just as delicious. There is a little truck that drives around our neighborhood selling roasted ones in the evenings this time of year.

Maddie and the other Scouts digging away.

Vanessa dug up a few too!

Just part of Maddie's haul. (We took them home and cooked them up. Sweet and delicious!)

After the digging, they had lunch. They set up a bamboo trough and ran water through it. Then they dropped noodles at the top and they flowed down the bamboo with the water. You have to be quick with your chopsticks if you want to eat! At the end of the bamboo there is a basket that catches the noodles. The girls report they had a very good time!

Typhoon

A typhoon came through our area the other day. They closed the base and schools as a precaution. We had some winds about 40mph and some rain but it was over in about two hours and the sun came out. It ended up being a beautiful day so we went shopping.
Maddie couldn't resist stepping out in the wind for a few minutes.

Even Jelly Bean came out to see what was going on. Maddie had to hold on tight so he didn't blow away!

After the storm blew past, we had a nice view of the mountains from our rooftop garden.

Orienteering

In early October we went with a group of Camp Zama Girl and Boy Scouts to join a Japanese group of Scouts to do some orienteering. We grouped into teams (we were the white team) and were then given instructions, a compass and map. They staggered the teams' starts and we headed out into a very large park. We were looking for little signs tucked back in the woods.

Vanessa and I are ready to go!

We were the only team with a baby and stroller. It made it a little challenging when we decided to go "off road" for a short cut that wasn't so short.

Maddie helped one of the little girls in our group.

We finished the orienteering at a place in the park where they have a little dairy. They gave us some of the milk from these cows and it was incredibly delicious. We ended up buying more to take home with us along with some smoked cheese. It was the best smoked cheese I have ever had!

Maddie enjoyed the big hill next to where we had our picnic lunch. In addition to the wonderful milk, the group that held the event provided a McDonald's lunch of fish filets and McHot Dogs.

In another area of the park they had some rides for the kids. Vanessa rode the giant panda.

And Maddie rode the race/bumper cars. We all had a really good time. Orienteering is fun!

More Undokai Pictures

Undokai 2009

One of the highlights of Japanese school is the annual Undokai, or Sports Day, and it was a beautiful day for Sagamidai Elementary's Undokai this year. The picture below is Maddie about to win her 100m event. Maddie served tea to the old people.

In almost all of the events, the emphasis is on working together in team cooperation rather than individual achievement. In this one, three students carry the hat-wearing children onto the field in an attempt to capture as many of the other teams' caps as possible while trying to keep their team's caps from being captured. Maddie was on yellow team this year. Her teacher is in the yellow shirt.

Here they are on the field. (You can click to enlarge.)

Performing the Happiness Dance:

Madeleine's Birthday

Yes, she's now a "tween"! Opening presents:

The party was a camping theme - we set up a big tent on our rooftop garden, and the girls spent the night outside. The weather was perfect - very mild. They built a fire and roasted marshmallows and in the morning enjoyed a big breakfast with classical music playing. They didn't have to rough it, though, we brought out the big TV for Wii (Active Outdoor Challenge) and a movie at bedtime.

Maddie's new ring from Nana:

Cello

Maddie practiced diligently over the summer in Texas and played her pieces beautifully for the recital when we arrived back in Japan. She played her (now famous) Yellow Rose variation and Bach Concerto for Violins with some of the other students (see below for video). It was amazing to us that the group only had one rehersal before the concert.

Madeleine at the civic hall and the sign for the event: