A Hawaiian Christmas with JAW

Fearless, Gina, and Beth

Today the Americans hosted the annual Japanese and American Wives Club holiday party, one of the four "at-large" events on our calendar. "At-large" encompasses the thirty Americans who belong to the conversation group that meets bi-weekly plus fifteen additional ladies who are unable to make that sort of commitment.

This year's theme was "A Hawaiian Holiday" and we all wore Santa hats made out of island fabrics. A professional dance troupe treated us to a hula performance and then tried their best to teach us how to hula to "White Christmas". I regret we did not film the result for your viewing pleasure.

Birthday Girl Ouizer made all the Hawaiian Santa hats

Katherine eschewed the tropical Santa hat in favor of a felt Christmas tree number her daughter picked up at DisneyWorld. Midway through the party, she sought me out. "Jealous?" How did she know? This is the only the third or fourth time our paths have crossed since she arrived in Japan so how did she know I am the sort of person who would lust after that hat?

I told her I wanted to borrow it for my son's wedding. I was only half-kidding.

When I came home from the party and told the Ancient Mariner about the hat I wished I could wear to James and Emily's wedding, he knew I would never, ever be so thoughtless as to attempt to upstage a bride, especially one to whom I will be related for the rest of my life.

But if I ever do borrow that hat from Katherine, the Ancient Mariner came up with a really great fashion statement to complement mine.

More Hakone Open-Air Museum

In the middle of the park there's a stained glass tower decorated with flat shiny sculptures. This one reminded me of something. I think Whitney Strieber might have used it for the cover of his alien abduction book. And I just spent fifteen minutes researching that, time that would have been better spent finishing my Christmas projects.

The most eye-catching statue

Before cell phones, we held shells to our ears

Hard to get a good shot of The Hand of God

Lots of Henry Moore scuptures

This was my favorite sculpture

This is the other side of my favorite sculpture

The Hakone Open-Air Museum: Public Art Tickles My Fancy

A cable car was a welcome relief after we dangled from a steel cable all the way up the mountain and halfway down the back side. The colorful maple leaves were a bonus, a feast for the eyes, and I was not about to complain that we were about a week too late to see them in their full splendor.

The cable car line ends where the Hakone Tozan Train begins so we hopped aboard and rode it to the next station which is just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Hakone Open-Air Museum, definitely one of Japan's best kept secrets.

Now I'll shut up and show you some of the wonderful statues we saw while strolling around the vast park setting.

Yes, the "hair" is living plants.

Inside, I learned a LOT about Picasso.

We had fun watching the 12-and-under crowd exploring this two-story high maze. It's a lot like the mazes at McDonald's playgrounds but bigger and cleaner. And I know what I'm talking about because I spent one of the worst quarter hours of my life chasing a four-year old through a McDonald's maze back in the day.

More statues tomorrow while I try to get a grip on the pictures I took at Matsuzaki's house today.

A November Weekend in Hakone: Fabulous Views and Black Eggs

Saturday afternoon we circuited Hakone by ferry, foot, ropeway, foot, cable car, foot, train, and taxi. Along the way we caught some splendid views of Mount Fuji and inhaled some noxious fumes on a smoldering volcano.

We hopped off the ropeway in Owakudani because our guidebook insisted we should eat the black eggs cooked in the open sulfur pits. One of us took the guidebook seriously.

When it came time to crack open the first of his five black eggs on an old wooden table littered with broken egg shells, the Ancient Mariner experienced a brief "public health" moment but curiosity and hunger trumped that Johns Hopkins degree in the blink of an eye.

He pronounced the eggs "delicious". I took his word for it.

A November Weekend in Hakone: Getting There was Half the Fun

We were travel rookies the first time we visited Hakone, four summers ago. With only 24 hours at our disposal, we booked a room within walking distance of the train station and never saw Mt. Fuji or Lake Ashi. These days we are more adventurous so the Ancient Mariner booked us at a lakeside hotel for two nights.

We didn't worry about how we'd get there until we woke up in Tokyo on Friday morning. A nice lady at Shinjuku station sold us three-day passes good for trains, cable cars, ropeways, and buses. We shelled out an extra $10 each for reserved seats on a "Romance Car" which would get us to Hakone thirty minutes faster (90 minutes versus two hours).

We rode a bus from Hakone-Yumoto station to Motohakone-ko, a four-block village on the south end of the lake. The bus that serves the lake's eastern shore, including our hotel and the aquarium at Hakone-en, had already stopped running for the day. We crossed the village twice searching in vain for a taxi. One of us was balancing the Tokyo shopping bags on top of his squeaky rolling suitcase. The other one of us was smugly toting her entire travel wardrobe and some of his in a small backpack.

"Maybe we should just start walking before the sun goes down and it gets even colder."

"Wait! What's that? Is that a ferry?"

So we caught the last ferry of the day to the aquarium next to our hotel.

View of Mt. Fuji from Ashinko Ferry

We had our pick of seats so opted for the front row. He perked up when the ferry rounded the bend and Mt. Fuji loomed into view.

View of Prince Hotel from Ashinko Ferry

The Prince Hotel was a bit fancier and more remote than we expected but the room was one of the largest we've seen in Japan. Those are double beds and there's a walk-out balcony, mini-bar, and CD player.

I'm glad we didn't have to walk the last leg even if it would have made a better story.

Happy Thanksgiving from Tokyo!

The fact that you are taking the time to read my blog now and then is one of the many things for which I am truly grateful this Thanksgiving Day.

Fox Faces, Bananas, and a Godzilla-size Dahlia

The salt-laden typhoon winds don't seem to have stopped the Gingko trees from changing color this year so maybe there's hope for the Maples yet.

There were quite a few rose varieties blooming and most carried a heady fragrance. We buried our noses in the velvety blossoms, inhaled deeply, and then raced along the path to the next group of bushes.

In the glass conservatory we spotted bananas after the bougainvillea but before the water lotuses.

According to Shinagawa-san, this citrus is called "Fox Face"

Fox Face or Cow Face? You be the judge.

We also some incredibly tall clumps of sunflowers and dahlias.

Japan has changed me into something of a Nature Girl. I wonder how the Norfolk City Planning Department will feel about me transforming my flat side yard into a miniature version of the Japanese Alps.