Pumpkin muffins...

This morning one of my pregnancy apps had a recipe for pumpkin muffins as a good source of vitamins during pregnancy. Well, they sounded so nice (and easy!) that I had to give the recipe a try.

Problems that I faced?? No muffin pan! Also, no canned pumpkin. And... last, no dried ginger! However, this did not deter me. First of all... if Amy has taught me via her blog is that you can rearrange recipes to fit the implements that you have! So, I decided to make a muffin-like cake with one of my rectangular pans (smaller than 9x13, but not sure the size...).

One thing that is quite nice about living in Japan is that in the fall there's lots of "pumpkins" to be had. Now, Japanese pumpkins don't look ANYTHING like their American counterparts, they look like this instead. So, I picked up a quarter of a pumpkin up at the store (one from Mexico, funnily enough!) and decided that I could steam and mash it for the muffin-cake.

It came out AWESOME! There was lots of cinnamon and nutmeg in the recipe and I improvised on the ginger by using oroshi ginger... it's more or less mushed up and mixable ginger. The ginger is great for sauces and dressings and things.

And the final result??

Seriously dangerous! I will probably freeze some for snacks later... and to prevent me from eating too much of it before Saturday (aka next doctors appointment).

Now that I know how well my oven does with baking... I will baking much more in the future. I just haven't found a recipe that was easy enough that I wanted to try! :-)
.

I LOVE Ikea!!

Yesterday, Shimon and I rented a car to do a bit of shopping. It may sound strange, but it's much less painful to have a car when you go to certain stores... Ikea and Costco are two such stores.

Our trip to Ikea was a HUGE success. I knew that I wanted to check out the kids and baby section because I hadn't really had a chance (or reason) to do so up until now. There was so much! There were beds, furniture, sheets, duvets, clothes, stuffed animals and more! Sadly I didn't have the dimensions of the baby bed that we're going to get so I had to skip getting sheets or a duvet. But I did manage to find some other fun things...

Here we have a blanket, a crib bumper, and a snake rattle. Note: they all match!! :-)

Baby towel with a hood... and a random character... who knows what that's supposed to be, Either way, it's cute, but not cutesy.

This is something still in the package (and flipped the wrong way, my picture viewer was not cooperating!)... it's this neat wearable sleeping bag kind of thing. Since our little bundle will be joining us in winter, I figured it might be handy. 

So I officially LOVE Ikea! And what was most remarkable was the fact that we only spent 2 hours walking through the store and making our purchases. I was quite surprised as it was a national holiday... I thought it would be much worse. Turns out Costco was the worse place... but I won't get into that!

Food safety, Japan and Pregnancy

As many of you may know, eating during pregnancy is a bit different than eating when it's just for one. Thinking about how many grams of protein, how many servings of green veggies to eat, etc. There's a lot to process and keep tabs on.
Now, you may remember that in March of this year there was a large earthquake and tsunami that decimated large areas of Japan. It happened to have been one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history and was certainly the largest quake I've ever felt. Then there was that little thing at the nuclear plant in Fukushima.
Those of us living here are used to following the radiation updates and the news from that area.

The biggest problem for me as a pregnant woman in Japan has been food safety. Though foods are on the shelves, especially produce, some come from areas that are banned for import by the US. I figure it's good to avoid buying that produce for the time being. What's the problem, you ask? The majority of produce is coming out of the areas considered to be dangerous these days!
The Japanese are quite big on buying local... many areas are well known for certain types of fruits and vegetables and a lot of the local areas happen to be in the area not far from the nuclear plants. What kinds of things do I have to avoid, you may ask. Carrots, cabbage, spinach and other greens, strawberries, some types of onions, napa cabbage... the list goes on! And that's just fruits/veggies... then there's pork and chicken and beef that are all coming from somewhat suspicious areas.

This may sound like a big whine-y post, but... I just envy the people who don't have to worry about radiation right now! It would be so nice to be able to buy whatever it is that I fancy to eat on any given day, without having to worry about the safety of the food I'm buying!

The naming of the bub!

Now that we know we're having a boy, we have upped the name search. Sadly, we had more or less decided on a great girls' name when we found out our baby is a boy! Oops. So much for planning ahead.

I know that choosing a name is hard, but from my experience it's mostly about choosing a name with a meaning the parents like and that fits nicely with the last name. However, in Japan, the difficulties are raised to a whole new level.

Yes, there's a certain amount of thought put into the meaning and sound of a name. There's a whole other dimension because of the Chinese (kanji) characters. With characters, there's a certain number of strokes. In order to determine the fortune associated with a name the number of strokes are combined from the first and last name to determine if it's a good, lucky, number or not. There's also consideration for the actual characters themselves. Are they "good" or are they "boring" characters!?!

In the past, all of these determinations were made by using books. Thank goodness for the internet!! There are a lot of sites that will actually do all these calculations and say what the name means as far as fortune is concerned. These sites are all in Japanese, so Shimon is in charge of figuring out that part. I get a say in the "sounds good" department.

I have a good list of middles names built up, but until we choose a first name we can't really choose a middle name. My job is more or less on hold until we find the magic first name. Every time I think we're stumbling closer to a name, we stumble backwards a few paces. It's kind of frustrating, but we still have about 3 months to go before we HAVE to have a name. I'd like to have it sorted out before going to the hospital though.

Wish us luck!

Big news!

On Thursday, Shimon and I went to a doctor's appointment. This is the first appointment that has been able to work for Shimon, which was really nice. Our goal on Thursday: find out the gender of our baby!

In Japan, weight gain is taken very seriously with the recommended gain being only 10kg (22lbs). In the US, the recommended weight gain is between 25 and 35 pounds (or 11.5kg and 15kg). It still strikes me as rather uncompromising to expect every woman, regardless of body shape, overall health, etc. to gain the exact same amount of weight.

I had gained nearly 2kgs (over 4lbs) since my September check up. And this is with limiting what I eat, but still indulging a little bit. Well, it looks like I am changing my eating habits (and starving at the same time!!). Once I get the hang of it, I should be fine. The worst part of this news is that Japanese docs seem to like to use the "scare" technique when getting women and their partners to conform to the weight standards they have set. While I was in the other room the doctor explained all of the "dangers" of gaining too much weight and that if I kept going as I was going.... well, you get the picture. He freaked Shimon out completely.

Then we went next door for the ultrasound... Shimon had never seen one (it was his first visit with me!) and had never heard the babies heartbeat - two firsts!! And then the doctor told us the big news... we're having a boy! Shimon was SO surprised (I was too, but I think he was more surprised)! We had started discussing names and had come to a consensus on girls' names... but we hadn't really tackled boys names yet.

Well, now begins the big naming decision. Luckily we have a few months left, but still... it's going to be a bit of a struggle (more on that in a future post!).

Better late than never: Party pics!

So a few weeks ago we celebrated our marriage again with friends here in Yokohama. It was a really good night and I've finally figured out which photos I want to put up. I will include a bit of narration... but many need no explanation!

Since there was a bit  planning to do before the party, I showed up in casual wear and changed into my dress (in the bag still). Our party was held at a very nice hotel that had a fantastic changing area! And my friend Sunaho (person I'm talking to) helped zip me up and make sure I was presentable.

Starting off the party, Shimon said a few simple words in Japanese and then passed the mic to me. Not having prepared any formal speech, I basically repeated what he said... only in English.

These are my Tokyo "Mama" and "Papa." The Iidas took me in when I first came to Tokyo and are just amazing people. They have 3 kids who weren't able to come, but I'll see them sometime soon.

Then it was time to meet Shimon's real family! These are two of his cousins, Junko and Maiko. They were really nice and we'll have to do dinner soon.

The person I've known the longest at the party?? Sara Harriger! We grew up together singing and playing handbells in church among other things. It was really nice to have here there... her Japanese definitely got a test drive that night!

This is my dear friend, Ikue Toda (aka Toda-sempai). We had extra time, so a few friends were asked to give a few words. She said such nice things and I'm so glad that she spoke.

She also had all the kendo guys get up and chug a beer in our honor! Gotta love Toda!!

Then there were Shimon's college, hockey buddies (and manager, Marie!). They were also given a chance to say a few words... and the mic got passed around quite a bit. But they were a really fun bunch and I'm glad they made the trip.

We then cut into another cake. In Alaska, we were both very polite. In Japan, they gave us big spoons to feed each other with. However, with Shimon's very drunk friends egging me on...

This is what happened!! Heehee... I really couldn't help myself. To be fair, I did help him clean up and nothing actually got on his clothes.

 After a few more shots with various groups, the party came to an end. It was a really special night. It was really great to celebrate with our friends in Japan.

Party Week!

This week has been busy and exciting!!

Since so many of our friends in Japan could not make it to our wedding in Alaska, we decided to do a small party here in Yokohama. That party was on Saturday. In the lead up to the party there were lots of little errands to do.

Luckily, I had the day off on Friday. So I had a list of things to do: get my hair done, make a music CD for background music, wrap some prizes for bingo (we played a silly kind of bingo game at the second party!), and choose pictures for the slide show! I got everything done, but man, I was tired at the end of the day!

Then came Saturday, the big day! I had forgotten to call my clinic on Friday (amongst all the other things I had to do!) and so had to go in to the clinic on Saturday morning.After an hours wait, I got in and out and back to the house in time to help Shimon get going (he had to meet people at 2ish) before I got ready (makeup and hair) to meet up a little after 3.

In Japan, there's always an MC kind of person (no DJ because there's no dancing) at these kind of parties. Shimon's two friends from Tokyo volunteered to do the honors. These guys were great. Another friend helped with getting people seated and he also took lots of pictures (as soon as I have copies, I will post them).

The party went off without a hitch! Lots of people came and had fun. There was good food (really amazing Italian food!) and plenty to drink (open bar!), which helped fuel the party.

Since it's a long weekend, I've been mostly relaxing at home, while Shimon has been out hanging with some of his friends who are still in town after the party. They came a long way, so he wants to make sure they have a nice time while they're up here! I don't mind... it's nice to lay around and relax sometimes!

Shopping!!

As many of you know (or maybe it's the first time hearing the news), Shimon and I are expecting our first child in January. After recovering from the initial shock, we're doing very well.
As I am just entering month 4, most of my clothes are no longer fitting properly and I had to do a bit of shopping yesterday.

Our first stop was H&M. Quite often H&M has great sales when the seasons change, however I think my timing was off because there was no big sale and all of the fall clothes were already out! Ack! That said, I did manage to find some things that will work very well for school. I'm not a huge fan of leggings, but I really love that they can go under my belly versus over it.

Then we wondered over toward a shopping area that has the only maternity shop that I know of in Yokohama. I had checked it out before and thought that things were awfully expensive. What I had not checked out were the bras. (Sorry if that's TMI to any gentlemen readers!!) So, I marched over and checked it out. And boy was I glad I did... they were very reasonable (about $15 a piece) and comfortable! So I scooped up three and a dress ($20!!) that I could wear to school.

I still have comfy shoes on my list of things to buy, but that will have to wait until a bit later. :-)

Cooling off!

As much as I tend to dislike rain, I have to say that the last few days have been a huge relief. The temperature has cooled to the high 60s and low 70s thanks to overcast and rainy weather. Aaaah... it feels great! The previous week or so has been absolutely hellishly hot. We've been in the high 90s with over 80 humidity each day.

With the cooling off comes the fact that school will be starting up again soon. As much as I love being a teacher, the end of vacation time is a bit sad. No matter if you have 3 months (like in the US) or about  6 weeks (like in Japan) the vacation time never seems to be quite enough. There's always more that you want to do, more people you want to see, and more cleaning you want to do.

In the next few months there will be a lot of changes and adjustments, here's to facing them!

More pictures!

A couple days after the wedding, we got our spiffy duds on again and took a few more pictures! Our photographer has an engagement photo shoot included in every picture package. Well, since we were arriving only a few days before the wedding she suggested doing a "wear it again" shoot instead. I thought that would be a great way to relax and have a few more pictures taken when all the pressure was off.

We took two sets of pictures: one at the cabin in the woods where we'd stayed after the wedding and then a few more at my parents house! It was a bit chilly when we took the pictures, but they came out great! Check them out under "Alisha and Shimon: Wear it Again."

Just a side note... Every time Shimon and I are kissing in a picture he goes all funny and says hazukashii, which roughly means "how embarrassing!" Haha! I quite enjoy those pictures, but he's very Japanese about affection... i.e. doesn't show a lot in public, let alone in front of cameras!

Wedding Pictures!

Sooooo... I am a horrible blogger. :-( I have neglected my blog for months! Eeek! To be fair... weddings are a big deal. Lots of planning and all that... yeah, it still means I'm a bad blogger. ;-)

But as my first blog "back" in the blogging world... I'm going to share wedding pictures!

Our wedding photographers were Rebecca Kurber and her husband Joe. They did an awesome job! (If you live in the Fairbanks area and need to have portraits done or are getting married - I would highly recommend them!)

So far, we only have highlights and there are some great pics! Our pictures are in an album called "Alisha & Shimon: I Do" and had nearly 200 pics in it. In the near future we should have ALL the pictures and I'll share them as well!!

Things left to do...

So we're beginning the countdown (or listing up of) things left to do. For instance, attendant presents. Shimon and I both have to figure out what to give attendants. It's got to be easier for him than for me. A few bottles of nice sake and a nice couple of cups to drink it with should do fine for him. Me!?!? Something Japanese. Yeah, that's a pretty broad category. Still not sure. Maybe I should go window shopping soon to try to figure out.

Then there's the dress (still too long), but I have to figure that out in Fairbanks in June. I'm sure that will all work out fine. :-) (The power of positive thinking? Oh yeah!)

There's also ordering the favors (which should be pretty easy since we now have some numbers). Plan is to do that next weekend... and maybe go looking for presents for attendants afterwards? Maybe.

Also left to be done:

- sorting out how to organize the rehearsal dinner (they don't have them in Japan)
- finding a way to transport my dress and all of the accessories in June (when I head to my brother's wedding)
- trying to figure out what else to add to our registry
- get Shimon started on the wedding ceremony and vows and things like that (It's all being done in English)

And none of that includes my long list of errands for when I'm in Fairbanks in June! Whee! It's all a bit surreal that we're under 2 months out from the wedding date. Eeek!

Much later than planned...

So it's been a very long time since I posted anything at all. To be fair, between crises in Japan, starting a new job and wedding planning I was busy. Mostly, I just got lazy with the blogging. That happens frequently enough to me, but I figure that now is a good time to start back up. When I have a bit of a rant...

I chose a beautiful wedding dress a few months ago. Very elegant, but still me! When I tried it on it was without this underskirt thing called a panier. I was asked if I wanted to try it on with one, but declined since I don't really like the poofy, cupcake-top look of them.

Happy with the panier-less dress I decided to get it and even went to the shop to be measured.

Fast forward a bit... the dress arrived at the end of April (yay!!), but I had to get friends together to help with trying on the dress. I tried on the dress last Sunday. It fit well, except for the length. Even with shoes it was too long.

I contacted the shop and said that I wanted the length adjusted because it's just too long. After several emails, it comes out that the length of the dress was determined including all the information on my measurements and shoe size AND to fit over a panier. Apparently the style I chose is meant to go with a panier.

Problem 1: No one told me that when I chose and ordered the dress. Problem 2: Still don't want a panier. Problem 3: Going ahead with the length alterations could make the dress look strange. Problem 4: I want to scream!!! A WHOLE LOT!!! On top of all that the shop has no openings to try on the dress with panier to see if I would even like it.

At this point, I'm probably just going to go with the panier because it's about $60 and alterations would be much more expensive. But I'm still royally pissed because I'm not going to really be wearing the dress that I liked when I tried it on. It will be similar, but it's not going to be the dress I wanted. *whew*


Ranting over... I'll post better (more cheerful) blogs in the near future!

The last few weeks...

The last few weeks have been an absolute roller coaster, as many of you might imagine. March 11th, Eastern Japan was rocked by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake - the 4th strongest quake recorded since 1900. The tsunami that struck North Eastern Japan following the quake has wiped several towns and cities off the map. All that's left is pile after pile of rubble. The death toll is over 10,000 and there are still many thousands of people missing.

Add that to the nuclear reactor that was damaged only after the 4th largest earthquake recorded and a tsunami took a swing at it and we've had an interesting few weeks. For the record, I'm safe. I took a long weekend a week or so ago to visit my fiancees family (far away from the center of the action!) and came back to Yokohama and Tokyo a bit refreshed. The exaggerated reports of evacuations and huge levels of contamination are simply not true. If they were I probably would not have returned to the Tokyo area.

Then add all that to the fact that I still have a wedding to plan! July is not getting any further away and I have decisions to make, presents to buy and cakes to approve. Needless to say I've been feeling a distinct lack of motivation. Planning a wedding seems so frivolous when faced with daily reports and videos of the devastation up north.

I have made a few decisions... I have a cake! :-) Yeah, I guess a few was exaggerating... I made one big decision since the earthquake!

I'm hoping to find my wedding mojo soon... there's still a lot to plan and I'm pretty integral to most of it. 

On a different note... if people reading this feel like donating to the recovery effort in Japan there are a lot of places you can do that. If you have the money, I would strongly encourage you to donate. The recovery is going to be a long uphill process.

Thanks!

What's happening now?

I'm sure everyone has heard all about the nuclear reactors in Fukushima. I'm also fairly certain that a lot of the information you are hearing may be inaccurate. If you want the full scoop, I would work backwards (by date) on MIT website and find out the scoop. There's a lot of reading, but it might be worth it to ease your mind a bit. I read it and felt better.

Yes, there are some big problems at the reactor in Fukushima. Some of the containment is working very well (reactors 1 and 3). There's still some work to be done (reactors 2 and 4), but overall the information that we are getting in Japan is less hysterical in feeling and more informed. There are some delays in information, but in the end I feel like the government and TEPCO are doing their best to get people safe and keep people informed.

That being said, it doesn't mean that people are listening. The US Embassy given the information available is not asking citizens to evacuate. The French and Germans are. Overall the population of Eastern Japan is doing a great job of dealing with scheduled blackouts and all of that without much problem at all. There were some runs on instant foods (ramen in particular) when the blackouts began, but things are back to normal.

To ease some fears at home and here (Shimon), I'm heading out tomorrow for where Shimon's mom lives. That puts a lot of miles between me and Fukushima (which is already about 300km away) and maybe gives people some peace of mind. To be fair, I could use a rest from the stress that has accompanied the situation. I am not really complaining because I have very little to complain about, but it will let me have a bit of a break and give people at home a little peace of mind as well.

I'll keep everyone updated as I know things. I'd make one more plug for the website I linked to... there's a lot of up to date information from the science guys who know this stuff best. I know CNN is a new leader, but I'm pretty sure they don't have access to nuclear physicists the caliber of those at MIT.

Be safe.

48 hours parte two

I left off my story yesterday with the fact that the cafe we'd camped out in served everyone up some breakfast. By this time I was getting quite worried about my kitty and Shimon about getting home and making sure things were alright. At around 8 o'clock we decided it might be prudent to see what the trains were like and if we could get home.

First, Michelle and I went to check her train line home, while Shimon went to check ours. Turned out that all trains were running and we could all get home. This is where we parted ways. Michelle made it home in about the time it took us to get to Yokohama. This doesn't sound so bad if you don't know that her distance from where she started to where she ended was much shorter than our trip from Tokyo to Yokohama. She should have been home in around 30 minutes... it took around an hour.

Shimon had us aiming for an 8:40am train. We arrived on the platform to find people crammed so full into the trains that they were literally spilling out the doors. Kind of like the classic videos of Japan from the 1980s with people being shoved unceremoniously into trains. Only this time people were shoving themselves into trains just to get home. Trains were only running about every 30 minutes (which is a huge change from every 5 to every 15 depending on the train line).

We walked along the platform trying to find a train car that appeared to have enough space to shove ourselves in. Finally, somewhere near the front we found a car that would do. We waited until the last moment before we had to cram ourselves in (and cram we did). There was a fairly constant stream of announcements telling us that due to the earthquake and the amount of people there were likely to be many stoppages along the way and to please be patient.

So, what's the hardest thing about being on a crowded train?? First, lack of fresh air. Or even the fans blowing. Being in winter clothes with that many people made things unbearably hot. Then there was the fact that because there were so many legs and other things (luggage, bags, etc.) it was hard to get your legs situated in a way that you were stable.

Due to the crowds and the lack of air and other factors there were a few times when I was near panicking. At every station we stopped at it took at least 5 minutes to close the train's door and another few minutes the train started moving again. Finally we made it to Yokohama where Shimon was on the ball and got us a taxi rather quickly.

In the taxi on the way back home, Shimon received a number of phone calls from friends and colleagues checking that things were alright with him. As we passed through the streets of Yokohama we noticed a number of stores that seemed to have small "trenches" in front of them. Shimon wondered aloud if it was from construction, but we quickly realized that these gaps in front of buildings and storefronts was from the earthquake.

On our way home Shimon asked if I'd shut off the gas before I left home. I couldn't remember. That got me really worried. What if the gas had started to leak and Suzu (kitty) was dead from the fumes? Shimon was panicking about his TV. The ride home in the taxi took too long!!

We arrived and Shimon went to check on his scooter and I ran to the front door to get in. Surprisingly, things were ok. No gas leak. The kitty was hungry, but very happy to see us. The TV was intact. One of the first things we did was turn on the TV...

At this point, we began to realize the devastation that this earthquake and tsunami had caused. Entire coastal towns washed away in minutes. Repeated footage of the tsunami coming in from the open sea and just wreaking havoc on the northern coast of Japan. The initial footage, before rescue efforts began, was shocking enough.

Yesterday, the tsunami footage was joined by footage of the rescue efforts. There were many interviews with people waiting to find family members. I'll share the two most poignant and heartbreaking stories (out of many) that made me break down in tears last night.

One woman had been caught fleeing the tsunami in a car with her mother and her daughter. The daughter, who'd only had a license a year, was driving and doing the best she could. The car was rolled many times before it became lodged to the side of the building. All three had climbed from the back of the broken car window using the daughter's belt onto the roof of a house and were subsequently rescued. The lady was saying that they waited and there was an older man on another rooftop saying, "We can do this!" and shouting encouragement. One of the men nearby said, "He died." And the women was inconsolable. He'd made it through so much and managed to climb to safety. But the night was so cold and he was old... The reporter was able to interview the son of the man who had died as well. The raw emotion in both people just flowed through the television images.

The second story was of a woman in Fukushima. She had been at work when the quake hit. She had tried to call her family who were all at home; her husband and two daughters. She couldn't get through and couldn't get through. They were buried in a landslide. During the short interview, the woman describe the situation and events. And slowly lost composure... saying, "I just want them to come out safe. My husband, my daughters... I'll be left all alone. I just want them to come out."

Sadly as the reality of the situation unfolds, there will be many stories from the area that will break your heart. But there will be others that uplift.

For my last short story, there was a woman waiting near rescue vehicles for her elderly parents. Her parents and her dog had been rescued. I can't accurately describe how she must have felt, but I think that the actions of her dog speak loudest. The dog jumped right into her arms and showered her face with kisses and couldn't stop moving for his excitement in being reunited with his "mom."

The hardest part of the ordeal is yet to come I'm sure. The temperatures in the quake hit areas has been dipping down to freezing at night. Without power and heat, even the people in evacuation centers are having a pretty hard time. Supplies of food, water and baby supplies are also down. Even us in Japan are trying to figure out what the best way to help is.

Keep Japan in your thoughts an prayers as the true impact of the quake and tsunami begins to sink in.

48 hours part one

Friday I set out to help a friend find an apartment. By the evening, a huge (9.0 magnitude; 4th largest on record since 1900) earthquake had struck northeastern Japan and I was sleeping in a cafe in Tokyo. I'll try to remember what all of it was like in this post...

Sitting in the realtor's in the early afternoon on Friday afternoon, I noticed the lights moving a slight bit. As Japan is a country of earthquakes, I didn't think much of it. I said to my friend, Michelle, "hey, an earthquake." I was calm. Until the lights began swaying more violently and the shaking didn't end readily. Michelle and I moved out from under the swaying lights as across the street the high schoolers began pouring out of the karaoke shop. At about the same time, tiles began falling off the buildings outside and falling, breaking on the sidewalks. That's one of the reasons we didn't rush out of the building. After the shaking stopped, we went back to our seats, had a bit of tea (trying to settle stomachs after the long duration of the quake), and renewed the search for apartments.

After a few aftershocks, there came another very large quake. This time we ran out into the middle of the street (to avoid falling tiles) and watched as the buildings around us swayed back and forth. Having two large quakes back to back like that was crazy, but at this point we had no idea how bad the quake really had been.

We even headed out to look at one apartment before calling it a day and making an appointment for Michelle to go back the next day (she went back today, two days after the quake).

Since the trains were all stopped we started walking in the direction of the Palace (near Tokyo Station) to where Shimon and I had agreed to meet should an earthquake strike and we're stranded. However, we still had no idea how bad things were. We thought that after walking a little while we'd be able to hop on a train to get to our final destination. Boy were we wrong....

We walked to Kagurazaka, where I stopped into a convenience store to check a map and make sure we were setting a course that wouldn't get us lost. But we failed to realize that we should probably buy some food too. We walked on, hoping at some point that we could flag down an empty taxi... but there were none. By this time we'd been walking for over an hour.

We stopped to wait for a bus for about 10 minutes. When it hadn't come after waiting 5 minutes past it's arrival time, we kept walking.

We finally reached Yasukuni Dori (street) and there was a wave of people walking away from downtown Tokyo (the business district is near where we were headed). Some people wearing crash helmets and other carrying them. The road was positively brimming with cars and other vehicles... lots of rescue vehicles and taxis!

As we we walking close to the Palace (at last!), the Mainichi Shinbun was handing out short 4-page leaflets on the earthquake. After more than 3 hours of no outside information we were both shocked to see the pictures... our "inconvenience" was a major disaster!

At long last, after 3 hours+ of walking, we reached the cafe where Shimon was waiting. It turned out he had tried to call me all afternoon... my phone never rang once. Phone connections were down. We did manage a few texts, but they were delayed and they only arrived when I searched for new mails.

He had bought some sustenance, however after listening to the radio updates (trains and subways down, etc.) he went out to get more food. He got enough for the people around us who were sharing in the "adventure."

Two ladies were originally sketching in Hibiya Park when the quake hit. Another two were a mother and son. The son had been job hunting and had met up with his mom after. We sat around listening to Shimon give us reports from the radio for most of the evening.

Originally the cafe said that the heating would be shut off, but that people were allowed to stay inside for shelter. As the evening enfolded, the heating was not turned off. The staff (who were also stuck there) provided us with tea and later coffee and snacks. There was an open area set up for a wedding, but we were told to put 3-4 chairs together and try to get some sleep if we wanted to. We ended up going to bed at around 11... I actually slept quite well. That's what walking 3 hours straight will do!

In the morning, the main manager of the cafe announced that they would be making us all breakfast. We had toast, eggs, coffee, and orange juice. It's in times of distress that humanity seems to be redeemed... and I was able to experience that firsthand Friday night/Saturday morning.

This turned into a very long post, so I've decided to write it in two parts.

Tomorrow we have rolling blackouts. I have no idea when mine begins, but we all have to do our part to save energy. I'll just take a nap! :-)

Please keep Japan in your thoughts and prayers right now... there's a lot going on and it's pretty overwhelming for everyone here.

Shoes and Rings!

So... after all of the struggles with dress sizes, I've been somewhat silent on the wedding prep front.

The main reason for the silence is a combination of laziness and just too much going on!

Things that have been going on include: deciding on a dress color for bridesmaids, choosing flowers I like (red gerbera daisies), to have a DJ or a band (DJ won out), catering decisions, etc... Other things going on include: freaking out about trying to find a job for next year (one of my current schools decided to use a different company to supply its teachers next year), help a friend also find a job (kind of), and other miscellaneous things that go along with the end of the Japanese school year.

Last weekend, Shimon and I ended up going into the shop to choose and buy our wedding bands. In Japan a lot of women do not wear their engagement rings after they get married (such a waste if you ask me). So most wedding bands are not meant to go along with an engagement ring. That being the case and the fact that I want to wear my engagement ring along with my wedding band our choices of rings were fairly limited. Luckily we found a nice pairing (if not exactly a pair) of rings. To top it all off, they had a sale going on (part of why we wandered into the shop in the first place!). Our rings will be ready for pick up on April 2nd.

Also in big(gish) news, I found shoes!! I think they will be comfortable for the wedding and wearable after. AND they were a steal!! (Roughly $60!) I was feeling so happy over finding wedding shoes that I was inspired to by a second pair of shoes at the same shop. :-)

I will try to keep updated on wedding things from now on.., I'm sure I'll have lots to post coming up and I may even ask for opinions!!

Struggles...

Well, if you had told me that measuring for a dress (and getting it right) was going to take 2 weeks, I would have said you're crazy! But that's where I sit... nearly.

Last week I ordered and paid for my wedding dress. When my bust, waist and hip sizes did not match any of the standard sizes on the sizing chart things started to get complicated. The company that makes the dresses asked for a whole lot of measurements that I had never done before and didn't have a clue about (like measuring from your shoulders to you waist, etc.). After three emails back and forth being asked to double check the sizing, I threw in the towel.

By throwing in the towel, I mean I asked if I could just go to the shop and have them do the measurements. As long as it's on a weekday, they'll do measurements for free. So, I called the shop... they wanted to wait until the 14th (that would have been almost 2 weeks from when I ordered the dress!) to fit me in. With a bit of cajoling, I managed to get an appointment for Thursday. Only during that phone call did the sales lady ask if I'd been doing the measurements in the proper undergarments that would go with the dress.

ACK! No! I was in my regular bra... since I haven't bought the proper undergarments yet! If I'd known all that, maybe this whole process could have gone a bit smoother. Or maybe I would have called the shop earlier to ask them to measure me.

Either way... I should be able to have the dress in May at the latest. *sigh of relief*

A dress...

So... I have officially chosen a dress! Yay! One MAJOR thing down and many others left to go... haha.

I'm not going to put it up, because who knows whether out of a whim Shimon would check this blog. If you're interested in seeing a picture, drop me a mail and I'll send you a pic.

The next dilemma is shoes. I still need to fax measurements to the dress folks. And in the list of measurements they want to know the height of heel that I'll be wearing. I'm going back and forth between a kitten heel (3-5cm) or flats. I don't wear heels that often and Shimon is not that much taller than I am. Plus, the wedding is going to be outside and I want to be completely comfortable. If I wore heels a lot, I'd be less reluctant to go with heels, but I don't.

Any advice for wedding shoes?? I'm just curious what other people have done or are thinking about this mini-dilemma.

Hope everyone is staying warm! Especially folks who are in areas that are being battered with snow!!!

Flamenco!!!

So... this is a completely non-wedding planning related post...

Yesterday, after work I met with a friend for a bit of karaoke and to wait for Shimon to finish up with work. After which we were going to all have dinner.

We headed to a Spanish restaurant in Kanda (near where Shimon works)... when we got there we found out that it had been reserved for a party and we headed out to try our luck somewhere else. As we were leaving we met a lady on the stairs... and she proceeded to invite us to the party (a gathering of flamenco dance students and teacher), discount the price for us (it was about $50 a person, she made it $30) and insist that we join because it would be fun.

Well... with that sort of hospitality we couldn't very well say no. So the three of us (Shimon, myself and my friend Michelle) headed into the Spanish restaurant for an interesting and fun evening.

Now, to better understand the situation... in the countryside in Japan things like this often happen. You walk by and some people are drinking or eating or whatever and you randomly get invited and join in. Lots of times you have a fab time and it's great!

We are in Tokyo. Things like that don't happen. I've lived here 4 years and it's never happened (I lived in the countryside for 3 and it happened more times than I can count!).

Last night there was generous amounts of wine and food... and lots of people who are really quite into flamenco. The teacher is Japanese and lived in Spain for 30 years. He came over, chatted with us and then introduced us later. The lady who met us on the stairs goes by the nickname Maria (everyone has a Spanish nickname in the group) and was so nice. She also lived in the UK for about 5 years when she was younger.

All in all it was a great (if completely random) evening!! And now Michelle and I feel a little obligated to check out flamenco, if for no other reason than it seemed fun... after a few glasses of wine!

A Date!

So... we finally set our wedding date last week!! It will be July 23rd, 2011 in Fairbanks, Alaska. :-)

In my excitement over having found a date, I did not set aside time to freak out over maybe not being able to find a dress. That's right. Apparently, many wedding dress designers are already busy with orders up to June. Which means if I want a dress before July, I need to get a move on. Also, I originally had not considered buying a dress in Japan... but I'm increasingly convinced that it will probably be the easiest thing. Flying to Seattle to choose a dress in March (provided there are places with dresses) and then getting it made.... and sent to me in Japan for fittings... eek!

Today is my first official dress adventure! I'm going to a dress shop just to look (not try on) at some dresses. If I like what I see, then I will make an appointment to try dresses on at a later date. (Not too much later, though!)

Wish me luck! Things are getting more interesting with each day!!

Finding a date...

How does one choose a wedding date!?

So far, I'm mystified as to whether there's a method or not.

I'd like to choose a date that works for as many of my close friends as possible, but I also realize there's a lot of people who won't be able to make it.

I'd like to work around family schedules if possible.

I have to work around venue availability.

Also, I possibly have to work around caterer's schedules.

Bah! Can't anyone just make a decision for me!?! The rest would be easier if the date was all sorted out! :-)

Any advice out there??

The New Year!

On December 28th, Shimon and I left Tokyo Station and headed for Shimonoseki, at the very southern tip of the Japanese main island. (If you're a history buff, there have been a few interesting historical events that have happened there.) It's a long train ride... more than 5 hours in total. I somehow made myself motion sick within the first couple of hours, so really had a lovely journey down.

Last year, I went home with Shimon, but he went and met friends while I stayed home with his family. Apparently engagement changes EVERYTHING! I got to meet a lot of people this time. One of his oldest friends and his wife have a 6-month old. What a cutie!! Very serious most of the time, but sure was a calm baby.

We also got luck with the weather and got to go to Miyajima in Hiroshima. Utsukushima-jinja [shrine] is a World Heritage Site that was built during the Heian period (I think). It was great because it's been on my list of places to visit for a very long time! And finally I got to go. The weather was chilly, but it was sunny and perfect for a day out.

We got back to Yokohama on Monday night. Eeek! How the time flew by. I sure wish that we'd had a few more days of vacation, but alas that was not in the cards this year. Maybe next year??