From Ramichan to Sunny Saipan

GOMENAZAI!!!!  (I am so sorry!!)  I did not mean to take such a long break from writing!!!!

***I know the Post Date says September, but I only tried to start typing then...the actual final post date is November 1, 2013.  Tried to correct and it won't let me!***

It seems like only a few days ago I was in the States dropping two of my kids off for summer camp...

We have been back in Japan for 3 months now...so why does it feel like only one??

Maybe because, thanks to school, studying, work and friends, I did NOT stop moving until we escaped to Saipan for our October fall break from school.

I am in intense Japanese classes now, so my "free time" is filled with learning verb conjugation and mountains of vocabulary.  If you know me, you know I love words...and being immersed in the language while learning Japanese is something I really enjoy.  I am already better at this than I was after 10 years of Spanish, having never lived in a Spanish-speaking country.

Since arriving, when not combatting typhoon winds and rain, we have done some exploring, and LOTS of eating, both in and out of Japan.

Dinner at La Cocina Gabriela in Roppongi

One of our first reunion events was our Onigiri Team Dinner.

My onigiri team meets every Friday morning at a local church to make rice cakes for the homeless.

The 300+ cakes we assemble are delivered the next morning to the homeless in a nearby park.

After working together for a year, we have become quite close and formed a dinner club so we could include spouses.

In September, we decided on La Cocina Gabriela and we were not disappointed.

There are actually around 18 of us, but several were out of town this particular week.

(The dinners are never quite the same without Victor and Brian!)

Such a fun group of friends!!!

Dinner at Ramichan Cafe in Nishiazabu

Alex Ramirez (not to be confused with A-Rod) is known as Ramichan, given this affectionate name by his baseball teammates.  He currently plays for the Yokohama BayStars of Nippon (Japan) Professional Baseball. (NPB)  

The "chan" at the end of his name is how the Japanese refer to a "friend."  

Ramichan, a Venezuelan-born outfielder, is the 1st foreign-born player to record 2,000 hits while playing in NPB.

He previously played for the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ramichan Cafe's tropical bar

Ramichan's new tropical setting restaurant features his Puerto Rican wife, Liz, as head chef.  The cuisine is mostly Puerto Rican-style, with the specialties being foods Alex loves from Venezuela.  They proudly serve Jalisco-insprired food...great authentic taste and plenty of it for the customer to enjoy, at a reasonable price.
Our favorite was the roast pork with yellow rice...more than I could eat by myself, and cooked so long it absolutely melted in your mouth.
They also serve outstanding pina coladas and daiquiris.
For the full menu, click this link Ramichan Cafe.

My dinner partners made fun of me for asking owner and baseball celebrity, Alex Ramirez, to pose.

The same guys who made fun of me THEN decided they wanted a picture too...hmmmm.

Rami invited us to his private VIP lounge.  All of his treasured autographed jerseys are displayed under glass.

Tim, admiring Rami's impressive collection of trophies and awards.

A super host and a super restaurant!!
Thank you, Ramichan!!!


Moving on...to the Grand Sumo Tournament!!!

Also in September, we attended the final Sumo tournament of the season at Kokugikan Sumo Stadium.

Click on this link: Sumo if you want to learn more about the rules and rituals.)

This particular stadium seats 10,000, and has been home to Sumo tournaments since 1985.

Sumo is steeped in religious tradition and ritual, and prior to 1905 was held only in shrines and temples.

Heading into the Sumo Stadium

My funny girl

We snagged a photo-op outside of the stadium

We managed another photo-op INSIDE the stadium!!!

Introduction of one group of wrestlers

The Sumo arena

Wrestlers parade in their stable colors  (the stable is where they train and live)

A Sumo match begins!!!!

We stayed till the very end of the day to see the winner!
Each tournament lasts 15 days.
We actually watched 66 matches on our day, and that was after arriving at noon.
There were 136 matches in all that day.
The daily matches began at 8:30am and did not end until 6:45.

Why did I have so much fun?
1st:  It helped that I hired an English-speaking guide.
She sat with us and explained the various rituals, like why the wrestlers throw salt on the dohyo (elevated fighting ring.)
The salt is for purification.
2nd:  Because I am way too competitive!
Before each match our guide gave us sheets of "wrestler stats, " so JE and I made a game of "betting" against each other on the winner, based on weight, years of experience, and wins vs. losses.
I got really good at picking the winner....a gambler is born!!!
The popular and well known Hakuho-san was named Grand Sumo Champion!!!


Vacation!!!!
Finally,  we took a long-awaited beach vacation to sunny Saipan!!!
We got away during the school fall holiday, October 11-16.
Saipan is a 3-hour flight from Tokyo, leaving plenty of time for lazy rest and relaxation.

Saipan is 80 miles north of Guam.

About to board our flight from Tokyo to Saipan

 Saipan awaits!!!

The view from our hotel room.
We stayed at the Pacific Island Club.

My boy checks out the view from his balcony

Enjoying the island life!!

We hiked to the end of the island to see the beautiful views!
(JE was getting tired of posing with me, so I had just threatened to pitch her into the waves.)

Tempting fate on the edge of the cliff!!

Jane Ellis (and Mom!) loved floating the day away on the Lazy River.

Enjoyed a wonderful dinner of steak and lobster at the Seaside Grill.

Our nightly after-dinner tradition was to go to the Buoy Bar to visit with our friend Rey and his (my?) feline buddy, Charlie.

We had to leave our tiny paradise way too soon....

It was even harder to return when we had to fly through Typhoon Wipha to get back to Tokyo!!!

Typhoon Wipha battering Japan

The good news was, school was cancelled the morning after we flew in, due to the flooded streets,

so we all got to sleep in after our late flight home.

What a rude welcome home...

Halloween!!

We were rewarded in the end, though, with the beautiful weather Tokyo is known for in October.

The past week has been glorious, and perfect for trick-or-treaters.

Halloween, as always, was a wild end to a crazy week of seeing the entire city (and I mean the adults) in costume...on trains, in restaurants, at work.  The Saturday before Halloween is the night the city is overtaken by the 18-and-over crowd.  Roppongi streets are mobbed with bar-hopping costumed crowds, and it is pretty much an all night event.

Halloween is serious stuff in Tokyo!!!

The actual Halloween is slightly more about the kids...though we noticed that most parents took their little ones door to door still decked out as their favorite characters.
Stephanie and I took the low-key approach...

Stephanie and I are prepared to lavish treats on hoards of children!

All this and we STILL ran out!!!!  Broke out the Christmas candies at the end!!!

For 2 solid hours they arrived in droves...we never even got to sit in our chairs!!!

It got so frenzied that Stephanie's husband Dave had to pitch in to help!!

Such a sweetie!!! That little tiny treat bag was all she carried, as was the case with most of the little ones.
(The parents tell them "Hitotsu, kudasai"...just one!!)

Getting to the bottom of the bowl...and still 45 minutes to go!!

The Man-o-War Jellyfish was very cool!!!

My kid was cool too...a cute cupcake with pink frosting and sprinkles!!!

It was wild and crazy...but all the kids are always so gracious and so polite!!!
A very Happy Halloween!!!!

I promise not to take so much time before adding my next post!!

Thanks to all my faithful followers!!!

Your patience and kind comments are appreciated!!!!!