Beijing, Day 1: Getting there, and getting around without a guideWinter 1998 -- Travels and Tribulations
Starting with Thanksgiving Weekend, 1998, we hit the road. Come with us to Beijing, New Zealand, and the continuing adventures of life in Tokyo.
Beijing, Day 1: Getting there, and getting around without a guide
Beijing, Day 2: The Great Wall
Beijing, Day 3: Temple of Heaven, wandering the streets.
New Zealand: Leaving Tokyo.
New Zealand: Arriving Down under in Auckland
New Zealand: The first few days, a whirlwind!
New Zealand: Queenstown or Pinning the Fun Meter on 10
New Zealand: Flying through Fiordland and Cruising Milford Sound
New Zealand: New Year's in Christchurch
Tokyo, 31 Jan: Colleen on the honor roll, Hina Matsuri dolls, a busy month
Tokyo, 9 Feb: Colleen hurts her wrist - The Movie
Tokyo, 16 February: Rock and Roll is here to stay!
Iwatake, 21 February: Skiing in the Shadow of the Olympics, T. Falls Down
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[This is a team-written report, and the authorship flips back and forth from Kent to Theresa ... just to amuse/confuse/bemuse you.]
It's now 11 PM on Thanksgiving day and everyone is asleep except me (K) after an interesting first day in Beijing.
I met Teri and the girls yesterday at the Tokyo City Air Terminal about 4 PM for our 7 PM flight. They beat me there by a few minutes and were talking to Kate's third grade teacher, Maeve Chambers, when I arrived. She was waiting for her boyfriend to arrive so they could catch the same flight to Beijing for Thanksgiving vacation. By 4:30 we had cleared immigration, stocked up on snack food and were on the bus to the airport. When we arrived at the airport we were walking towards the terminal when we heard a girl screaming, "Kate! Kate!" It turns out that one of Kate's best buddies from school, Solene, was also at the airport and was heading to Beijing on the same flight with her Mom and sister and brother. (Her dad flew in from New York on Thursday, then back to NY on Saturday! A worse schedule than T's this last couple of weeks.) The two of them had great fun visiting each other throughout the flight, though the man sitting next to Kate was not too crazy about being climbed over repeatedly as he tried to sleep.
Our flight arrived a little before 10 PM at the Beijing International Airport. Since we did not check any luggage we were ready to go as soon as we cleared the slow moving lines in customs. Teri changed some yen at the bank in the airport into the local currency, which is the RMB or yuan. Right now the exchange rate is almost exactly 10 yuan/dollar so it makes it easy to change to dollars in your head. The bills are of varying sizes, with the largest worth 100 yuan (about $10). We got some 50s, 20s, 10s, 5s, 2s and 1s also. Since the largest value bill is the 100, we ended up with an impressively thick pile of cash. Imagine how your wallet would look if the largest denomination you could carry was a $10, and you were traveling in a cash-based country.
In the terminal we found a sign over a counter with the name of our hotel. We asked if there was a bus to our hotel, but found that the counter was closed (for the night or permanently was not clear), but the man behind the counter offered to have his friend take us to our hotel. I was a little nervous about this and preferred to go outside to the taxi stand, but Teri negotiated a ride with these guys and it turned out to be OK.
The hotel turned out to be very nice as well. Teri got us a suite with 1.5 baths and separate beds for the girls. They were also glad to see 2 TVs with cable including HBO.
Random Thought Department: As we went to sleep I was thinking, "I wonder if I went outside and dug a really deep hole, would some mother walk by and ask if I was digging all the way to California?..."
This morning we had a buffet breakfast at our hotel and waited to see if our guide would show up at 8:30 AM as planned. Our friends, the Casters (you may remember some narratives featuring Lauren, who is also in middle school at Seisen) hired Mrs. Li in June when they visited Beijing, and gave her rave reviews. Though she confirmed with us in September, she had not answered any FAXes sent last week asking to reconfirm. After about 15 minutes we decided she was not coming, so we bundled up (it was a little below freezing) and set off walking toward the Forbidden City. After about 20 minutes of walking we realized that it was going to be much further than we thought so we piled in a cab to get the rest of the way there.
On the way to the Forbidden City, we got to watch our first Beijing street life show. Though there are about 10,000,000 residents of Beijing, not so many of them drive, and most of the streets are very wide -- one of many contrasts between Beijing and Tokyo. However, drivers seem to take the lines on the roads merely as suggestions, often straddling them or even crossing over into opposing traffic. Traffic lights are few and far between, and seem to cause more traffic jams than they solve. Numerous busy intersections have no controls on them at all; cars just slide in and out of traffic accompanied by the constant blaring of horns. I suspect the horn is the most often-used piece of equipment in the average car! We saw very few traffic cops and surprisingly few accidents given the accepted anarchy.
The bicycle is the main form of transportation in this flat, sprawling city. There were dozens of bikes pulling huge loads of vegetables, coats, and other retail items. Rather than taking automobile taxis, we could have hopped into bicycle-drawn conveyances. Among the mental snapshots I took during this first taxi ride, the sight of Beijing residents getting haircuts on the sidewalk stands out. It was a few degrees below freezing, which is not the ideal weather for an outdoor haircut as far as I'm concerned...
Outside the Forbidden City we hooked up with a guide who spoke good English, called himself John (or was it Xian?), and took us over much of the 200 acre compound for $15. The place is truly spectacular in both size and craftsmanship. It was well worth the visit and we're looking forward to renting "The Last Emperor" again so we can take another look. There are special walkways which were constructed only for use by the Emperor, and the carvings are spectacular and ornate. Kate especially liked walking on "the Emperor's road" and at one point assigned all of us roles in the royal family. The pictures we took there are a much better description of what we saw than I can give here. Hopefully you can view them soon.
We had lunch at a place recommended by our guide. It was our first REAL Chinese food in China. Colleen and Kate were good about trying some of each dish, and decided that it was good even though it was different from the California and Japanese Chinese food that we are used to. The restaurant was clean and well-appointed, and the menu was even longer than Jing Jing's. We ordered a lot of food, and a couple of beers, and ended up paying about $15 for the meal.
After lunch we decided to go visit the Lama Temple. We took a taxi there and did this tour without a guide. Luckily there was a fair amount of information in English. The girls each rang a large bell 3 times for good luck and burned some incense. There are many statues there, mostly of Buddha, including a standing Buddha over 18m tall. The colors and patterns used at the Lama Temple are bright and ornate, and were an interesting contrast to the muted and grand colors in The Forbidden City. The founder of this temple became Emperor and dedicated his old stomping ground to intellectual studies, so there are halls devoted to medicine, politics, etc. By the time we finished, the girls were pretty tired of sightseeing and were ready to shop.
We caught a cab back across town to a large indoor shopping mall that is only a year or two old. Without going into details lets just say that we ended up buying a new suitcase to carry our purchases. Colleen found a down jacket for $35 (blue, of course), and the girls both bought numerous beanie babies at $2 each (including rare ones like Princess, Erin, Libearty and Gloria). The suitcase, in a fetching blue plaid with wheels, was $10, and had a handle adjustment setting for short people that works perfectly for Kate.
We headed back to the hotel at this point (about 5 PM) for a little R&R. The cab ride back to the hotel was very interesting as the driver decided to take some back streets to avoid traffic. First you should know that most of the taxis fit me tighter than my clothes. The typical routine is that Kent squishes in the front and the the rest of us squish in the back. The driver is usually surrounded by a plexiglas box, so Kent gets smashed up against that unforgiving surface for the duration of the ride. The base rate is about 1 dollar, though, and 2 dollars has been our most expensive ride so far inside the city, and that was for a 20-minute trip.
Anyway, our driver decided to take some narrow streets that, as far as we could tell, were completely blocked with people. There were large flatbed tricycles on both sides of the road piled with all kinds of produce and animal parts. There were prepared dishes as well. Teri named as many items as she could as we drove by. If we could have moved enough to roll down a window, we could have grabbed items from carts on either side of the car. Of course, our progress was aided by constant use of the horn. A little further on, the neighborhoood changed with signs in Russian -- the shops were selling fur coats and hats. Want a full-length mink? Only $200-500 in Beijing! Eventually we came back out on some of the larger streets and made it to our hotel.
At 7 PM we went on our search for our Peking Duck Thanksgiving dinner. Not surprisingly it is known here as simply "roast duck" similar to "French fries" being called "pomme frites" (fried potatoes) in France. After a little confusion between the concierge and bellman about which roast duck places were open, we set off across town. We ended up having a very good meal complete with a couple of large beers for $17 for the 4 of us.
One of the highlights was having a young man come to the table and pour boiling hot water from a kettle with a 3 ft. spout into cups we each had. He would get the end of the spout about 6 inches from the cup and then hit it without spilling a drop. The were some very interesting dried ingredients in the cups, flowers and leaves and one thing that looked like a dehydrated snail (not that I shared this impression with anyone else at the table). It took us about half the meal to figure out whether this was tea or soup once it was hydrated. Most of the time, we watched the locals who filled all the other tables in the restaurant for clues. By the way, it was tea in the cups. Well, we're pretty sure it was tea.
The menu at this restaurant featured every part of the duck but the quack. We ordered a roast duck, which was served with a towering pile of small pancakes, slivered scallions, plum sauce, and radishes. Kate the quasi-Vegetarian ate onion-filled pancakes, but the rest of us loaded up with all the ingredients. One word for this meal: Deeee-licious! But of course I'll add more. Included with the duck fixings was duck soup, and we also got a fruit salad, snow peas with loads of garlic, and corn with roasted pine nuts. Colleen noticed, late in the meal, that the duck platter even held the duck's crispy head. OK, so they did serve the quack after all. (We'd passed on the dishes featuring liver, heart, intestines and feet.) Yep, nothing quite like a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
There was so much food that we ended up leaving a little on our plates. I couldn't help but remember my mom's admonition about eating everything that we'd been served: "You have to eat that -- there are children starving in China!"
Anyway, that pretty much tells the story of day one of the Careys in Beijing.
Tomorrow: The Great Wall.
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Friday morning began with a call to California to talk with Mom and send our regards to all the people celebrating Thanksgiving there sixteen time zones behind us. We had arranged to have a driver from the hotel take us to the Great Wall starting at 9 AM, so after a quick buffet breakfast (for Kate this was baked beans, bacon, a croissant, peanut butter and nuttella) we linked up with our driver and took off.
The drive to Mutianyu to see the Wall takes about two hours. Since our driver did not speak English, we kept amused by playing Twenty Questions and looking at the scenery. The roads were wide and not too crowded, and were practically empty as we got further from the city. Even the big roads, though, had to be shared with bicycles and the occasional horse-drawn cart. The area around Beijing is very flat -- it makes Tokyo's hills seem Alpine in comparison -- but the road climbs about 50 miles from the city. We passed the site of the 1995 Women's Conference when we were about 3/4 of the way to the Wall. When we left Beijing the weather was kind of cold and grey, but by the time we arrived at the Great Wall the sky was clear blue and we could see even the distant mountain peaks. It was a perfect day for Wall viewing.
We left our driver in the parking lot (he took a nap) and headed up the hill toward the gondola. The vendors outnumbered the tourists about 5 to 1, possibly more. They were incredibly hard sell with their T-shirts, quilts, postcards and other knickknacks. A favorite tactic was for a vendor to offer t-shirts, and then say, "I remember you! Good price for you when you come back!" I regret to tell you that we didn't pick up any statues of Buddha or plastic replicas of a section of the Wall as souvenirs to give to any of you. We made it onto the gondola with just one purchase, a pack of 10 postcards, which set us back 1 US dollar.
It was a short walk from the top of the gondola to Wall. From this point you could see it run for miles in each direction. It went down valleys, up peaks and along ridges. The walk was a challenge since there are a lot of steps that are uneven, and today were often icy and slippery as well. There are few places along the top of the Wall that are flat, so bring good walking shoes when you visit. We took many pictures as we slowly meandered along the wall for a third of a mile or so. Kate buried a tooth she lost recently (which had been mysteriously returned to her by the Tooth Fairy on Tuesday night) in the base of the wall for good luck. The girls had their picture taken sitting on a horse with a local man dressed up like an ancient Chinese soldier. All in all, we spent about 2 hours looking around and hiking down the mountain back to the car.
The vendors were even more aggressive on the way down. We did end up buying some T-shirts and panda-festooned quilts, but not before a little pushing, shoving, and arm-grabbing as we attempted to walk away when they were trying to charge us Japanese prices for the T-shirts. The eventual price we paid was less than 1/4 of what they were originally demanding. We passed on an opportunity for the kids to be photographed on a camel; by this time we were pretty tired of dealing with the vendors. The walk down from the wall left us with wobbly thighs -- we must have tromped down at least 1,000 steps. We bought a few drinks and snacks for the ride home and headed back to Beijing.
After a quiet hour or two at the hotel we were ready for action once again. The evening's main event was a trip to the Beijing Acrobatics Show. Since this started at 7 PM we headed out for an early dinner shortly after 5 PM. The hotel recommended a nearby Szechuan Restaurant, so we invested five minutes in the walk over. At 5 PM we were the first customers in a room that could seat about 150 people. The tables and chairs were simple and a little unsteady, while the table linens were clean but in need of mending. The young woman who took our order spoke excellent English. Some workers were putting drapes back up on over the windows, and our waitress asked us what the English word is for those things. She'd thought they were "window clothes" which I told her was a great description. We had three or four people standing near the table ready to help with anything we might want, such as replacing a set of chopsticks that fell on the floor. The food and beer were good, and for entertainment we watched as a man who appeared to be the kitchen manager grabbed live fish out of a stack of tanks to sell to some local customers. Watching an eel thrashing around in a plastic bag is an ... ah ... interesting thing to do during dinner. All this, and beer to drink, for less than $14.
We walked back to the hotel and grabbed a taxi to the acrobatics show. The taxi driver was not quite sure where he was going and stopped once to ask for directions, but we arrived with a few minutes to spare. Since every foreigner we talked to that had ever visited Beijing reported seeing this show, we expected it to be packed with round-eyes. As it turned out only 15 to 20 people came to the show in a theater that holds about 250 people. The performers outnumbered the audience 2 to 1, and had better wardrobes too. We had great seats -- big chairs that resembled living room furniture more than theatre seats -- with plenty of leg room and complementary tea and cookies. I guess the locals cannot afford the tickets and this is not the peak tourist season. The show was about 1.5 hours long and was simply incredible. There was everything from contortionists to gymnasts, with a liberal sprinkling of imaginative balancing acts. There was a trapeze act, as well as a young woman who suspended herself over the stage using two long red ribbons, and wound herself up and down in amazing ways. Performers twisted themselves into amazing shapes while twirling rugs, plates, glasses full of water, and a variety of other breakable objects. The show was excellent and is highly recommended should you find yourself in Beijing.
After the show it took us three tries to find a taxi driver that could read the address to our hotel. He was driving one of the many yellow sub-minivans being used as taxis here. We are convinced they are the least expensive because their top speed is limited to about 30 mph. Just picture a motor scooter engine inside a rectangular can about the size and shape of a breadbox. Kate's friend Solene reported riding in one of these cabs over the weekend too -- and a huge hole in its floor was covered with cardboard. (Our Lonely Planet guide to Beijing refers to these cabs as bread boxes, a name that the kids found very amusing.) The driver dropped us within sight of our hotel so we got out and walked rather than try to explain to him that we were not there yet.
The evening was finished off with a trip to the Haagen Daaz Ice Cream parlor next to our hotel. Yum, Yum! It was a tasty treat, but cost as much as our duck and Szechuan dinners combined.
Tomorrow: The Temple of Heaven and a glimpse of Tiananmen Square.
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Since we had no tours, or really any firm idea of what we wanted to do, we got started a little later on Saturday. After our usual buffet breakfast at the hotel, during which we decided where to go, we grabbed a cab and headed for the Natural History Museum. Even though the bellhop told the cab driver where to take us, we ended up at the Chinese History Museum next to Tiananmen Square.
We had been told that we really should see Tiananmen Square, the sight of the 1989 democracy protests, but right now there is not much to see. The whole area is surrounded by a construction fence and the bricks are being replaced. When we stood on the top of the stairs leading to the museum we didn't want to visit, we could see over the construction fence and into the square itself. It's huge, much bigger than I'd expected. Mao's mausoleum sits near one end, but it's impossible to get in there to view his corpse these days. (Thankful for small favors, yes indeed ....)
By the time we figured out that we were at the wrong museum, the cab was long gone. The kids wanted to get another cab, but the alleged adults among us decided we could walk a mile to the other museum. The walk was quite interesting. There were many sidewalk vendors selling food, toys and other goods. A favorite item was a little shaver that was powered by squeezing your hand. Early on during the walk, the kids insisted on sugaring up with soft drinks. Kate reiterated her distaste for Chinese coke, and the drink that looked like it was in a Sprite bottle didn't please Colleen either. The kids were somewhat grumpy during the entire walk, but parental hearing filters were firmly in place, and we trudged on. We stayed on fairly major streets, yet even there the sidewalks were dirty and in poor repair. Spitting is a top form of entertainment in Beijing, so we had to watch our step. We did some window shopping, but did not go in any shops. It was interesting to see that similar shops are congregated together -- leather jacket stores side side by side for a few hundred yards, then there are a bunch of hardware stores.
We finally made it to the Natural History Museum, but it was pretty disappointing. It reminded me of an extremely low budget version of the Museum in Golden Gate Park as I remember it from childhood visits, plus thirty years of age and little work put into either updates or maintenance. There were a couple of highlights, though. Kate really liked the room full of dinosaur skeletons. There was also a room in the aquarium where Colleen and Kate bought some live brine shrimp to feed to a pool of hungry fish. The girls each fed the fish two helpings.
As we left the museum it was time for lunch. In a bit of unfortunate timing, or fortunate to Colleen and Kate's thinking, there was a McDonald's right outside the museum. We were able to feed everyone for less than $7 there, which is about the price of a single meal at a Tokyo McDonald's. Mostly it was like the usual McD's fare but Kate thought the fries had a funny aftertaste, and I agreed with her.
From McD's we walked a short distance to Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park. The outer part of the park has some broad streets and walkways and the main part has some temples from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Kate and Colleen found some vendors where they could spend their allowance money, which goes slowly in Beijing, so they were reasonably happy. Colleen got some magic metal rings, more beanie babies and a panda bear that moves when you clap. Kate bought cotton candy, ring and more beanie babies.
The temples and areas where the Emperors made their offerings were quite spectacular. The main structures were round buildings with square bases -- round things are the shape of heaven and square things signify earth. At one end of the worship area, there was a raised altar where sacrifices and offerings were made to get good luck for the harvest. Radiating from the center were pie shaped stones forming rings. The number of stones in each successive ring was a multiple of 9 which is a lucky number in Chinese lore. (Odd numbers are lucky, and 9 is the largest single-digit odd number, so it's used often in sacred zones.) If you stood on the center stone and talked the sign said your voice would sound "particularly resonant and sonorous." Teri tried it and claims that it's true. The acoustics were great at that spot; we should all meet there and belt out a few tunes someday. No artificial reverb needed.
Another place also had some acoustic tricks built in. There was an "echo wall" where you could hear voices from more than 50 meters away if both speakers stood near the curved brick wall. Colleen's voice sounded somewhat distorted, but it did carry all the way around the circle. There was also a spot where you should be able to hear a triple echo if you clap your hands or yell, but it was too noisy from the crowd, not to mention the workers clearing week-old snow, for us to verify the claim.
At the other end of a grand marble walkway is the pavilion for offerings to improve the grain harvest. This building is reminiscient of the Lama Temple, with its bright colors and ornate carvings. We walked along the Emperor's Road again to get from one place to the other. Kate was born in the wrong era and the wrong country; clearly she was meant to be royalty given her parade decorum.
We finished at the Temple of Heaven just before 4 PM and caught a cab back to the hotel to rest, warm up, and contemplate dinner options. We decided to go American for our last night in Beijing, so we went to the "Hard Rock Cafe." The food is pretty much the same as the others we have been to, but the music was not quite as loud as the Tokyo Hard Rock, so conversations were more easily carried on. The was a live band from the Philippines playing mostly 50s and 60s tunes. The crowd was almost half foreigners, but it was hard to know how many were tourists and how many are living and working in Beijing.
As I tucked Kate in and said goodnight I asked here if she enjoyed our trip here. She admitted that she liked seeing the Great Wall, the acrobats and buying beanie babies. Colleen said her trip highlight was riding the glass elevator at the shopping center on Thursday, but I think she was teasing. I hope she was teasing...
We hope you've enjoyed our account of our Beijing adventure. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and we hope this note find you and your family in good spirits and good health.
Now we have just under 3 weeks to go before our New Zealand adventure!
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Out the door!
18 December 4:15PM
Dear family and friends mailing list --
We're just running out the door to go to Narita to go to Sydney to go to
Auckland for our two week tour of New Zealand. I should be able to log on to
CompuServe from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, but I'm not sure about
Rotorua or Queenstown.
It's been a busy couple of weeks since we got back from Beijing. I'll fill
you in when I get a chance. In the meantime, New Zealand ni ikimasho!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ... we'll throw another sheep on the
barbie for ya.
-- T.
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Greetings from Down Under
21 December, 12:30AM
Hiya, folks!
After many hours of travel, we made it to Auckland yesterday afternoon. Our
flight on Qantas from Tokyo left about an hour or so late, but all that did
to us was cut our layover in Sydney a little shorter. Sydney has a very
entertaining airport, even for transients who can't leave the airport, so it
wasn't such a bad place to hang around for a while. Our Air New Zealand
flight from Sydney to Auckland was very pleasant, on a fairly new 767, which
Kate declared her most favorite plane ever.
When we picked up our car, the rental agent asked us if we needed any hints
for driving on the left side of the road. Well, no, we told her, we don't;
after a year and a half of driving in Japan, it just wouldn't be a problem.
Considering how nice and wide the roads are here, and the fact that the signs
are all in English, *and* the streets all have names -- so far, driving has
been a snap!
The hotel I found over the Internet is pretty nice. Here in Auckland, we
have a 2 BR suite in the Heritage, which costs about half what I paid for my
room in Las Vegas for Comdex. Anyone who visited our house on Fife before
the remodel would quickly notice that it's quite a bit bigger -- and the
furnishings are much better <g>.
I had some trouble logging on to CompuServe at first. There was no problem
getting my program to dial the number, but the phones ring in a way that my
modem mistakes for a busy signal, so I had to figure out a way to get the
modem to ignore the ringing. I finally stuck a pause after the phone number,
which gave CompuServe time to answer the phone before the program had a
chance to interpret the ring as a busy. The joys of international travel. I
did get to take a look at my 12/21 column in Barron's from the news clipping
service tonight!
Auckland is a nice city that seems to be in the middle of a transformation.
The World Cup races will start here next year, so there's a lot of
construction near the harbor. Our hotel is only a couple of blocks from the
harbor, so we're in the midst of the mess. We wandered around the city
today, taking in Victoria Square Market (where Colleen got her ears
re-pierced by a fellow who drives a remodeled ambulance labeled "Piercing
Doctor") and just enjoying the nice warm weather. It's a little more humid
here than in the S.F. area, but pretty darn pleasant. We had dinner this
evening on a sailboat, one of the 'Pride of Auckland' fleet, and enjoyed the
harbor cruise. Part of the route took us past the docks where all the
America's Cup boats are being built and stored, so that was fun. Also Steve
Fossett's catamaran, which he will use on his next around-the-world sailing
attempt, is berthed here.
We're looking forward to checking out the night sky once it clears up -- it's
been a little cloudy. I want to see Orion upside down!
Hope you're all enjoying your holiday season. Happy Birthday to
brother-in-law Steve Schaniel, and congratulations on finishing the marathon
in Hawaii! You da man!
Cheerio,
-- T.
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Merry Merry Happy Happy!
25 December, 11:30PM
Greetings from Queenstown, New Zealand, where the sky has finally turned
dark. We watched the sun set around 10:15PM through a beautiful show of
pinks and oranges set against a clear blue sky. This is a beautiful place.
One of these days, I'll get around to doing a full-blown travelogue, but for
now we're all too busy having fun for me to stay awake long enough to do a
write-up! So here's the brief version:
Auckland -- Pretty town, set right against the water, clean and breezy. It's
a city in transition, getting ready for the America's Cup sailing events that
will start next October as well as some economic summit meetings in July. We
stayed in a nice hotel, the Heritage, that had been transmogrified from a
department store. It's called the "City of Sails" and the reason is obvious
-- the bay is filled with boats day and night. Our stay was short, but fun.
One surprise was seeing the Hewlett-Packard building poised right on the
waterfront!
Rotorua -- as Kate said, "Rotorua stinks!" Well, it's a volcanic zone and
there is a sulphurous aroma in some places. Unfortunately, one place that
was very sulphurous was our hotel. Whew! We saw a lot of volcanic activity,
ranging from boiling pits of sulphur to boiling pools of mud. Driving down
the road, you'd see a plume of steam heading out of a hole in a sheep-filled
pasture. Our car was broken into in the stinky hotel parking lot, which led
to quite a bit of boring paperwork, but the only thing taken was Colleen's
Palo Alto All-Star softball jacket. If you see someone in New Zealand
wearing that bright red jacket with the white lettering, call the constable!
Lake Taupo -- We drove through this area on the way to Wellington and found
it beautiful and interesting. The lake is the crater left by a few volcanic
explosions many thousands of years ago and it's huuuuuuge! A place to put on
The List for a return visit.
Wellington -- They don't call it Windy Wellington for nothing. We drove from
the warmth of a summer afternoon in Taupo to the rain and wind and cold of
Wellington. Brrr! The capital city of the country, there's a lot to do and
see in Wellington, but bring warm clothes if you plan to do it. Seeing the
Symington family was great, and their house near the top of a hill
overlooking the city and the harbor was a nice haven from the weather. We
did some shopping and checked out the city museum, which is a *must see* if
you're ever in town. Loads of fun laughing and enjoying the company of Jane,
Ken, James and Emma. Made me miss them all the more though; leaving was
tough.
The flight to Queenstown -- I talked my way into the cockpit of the 737 we
took to Queenstown, and was invited up when we were on the descent. The
captain and first officer took some time pointing out various sights in the
area while flipping switches, talking to Queenstown Tower, and setting the
plane up for its landing. I'd heard that the approach into Queenstown was a
hairy one, so I wanted to watch it from the front seat. Wow!! It's all
true. The 737 has to make a fairly steep dive through a valley to set itself
up, then the base leg of the landing pattern took us very VERY close to a
rather large and unforgiving-looking mountain. They had to get close to the
mountain to miss a hill next to a river that's below the final approach. The
runway is about 4000 feet long, and there's one taxiway at about 3000'. The
pilot told me, "We have to land firmly here, you'll see why in a moment," as
we thumped onto the runway and stopped pretty close to the end of the runway.
Then we did a 180 to go back to the single taxiway. An exciting landing, and
I was thrilled to watch it up close.
Queenstown -- Again, we're staying at a Heritage hotel, and this one is also
very nice and reasonably priced. We've had a swim and a late dinner, and
tomorrow will plan our attack on the sights of the south end of the South
Island.
Sunset at 10:15PM on Christmas Day? Who would believe it!
Merry Christmas to all of you ...
-- T.
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Pinning the Fun Meter on 10
Queenstown, NZ
27 December, 10:20PM
Hi there, family and friends.
Well. A chance to sit still for a few minutes without moving, whether on
horseback, in a bus, on a boat, in a seat strapped to a parachute, or in a
movie theater. It's been a busy day! We pinned the fun meter on 10 today,
and have only ourselves to blame. Kate fell asleep, feeling a little sick, a
few minutes ago, but I bet she'll be fine in the morning.
Queenstown's business district is dotted with agencies that will book you on
various adventures, and we took advantage of quite a few of them in the last
28 hours. Last night, after a fairly relaxing day of strolling around town,
swimming, and napping, we took a ride on the coal-powered 1912-vintage
steamboat that cruises the lake. The boat took us to Walter Peak Farm, where
we had a very nice New Zealand gourmet/gourmand feast. After dinner, we
were treated to a brief tour of the farm, and saw a couple of border
collies run a group of sheep up and down the mountain. On the cruise back to
Queenstown, we were entertained by the sing-along piano-fest on the deck with
the bar.
This morning, we were picked up at 9:15 and taken to Moonlight Stables for a
nice horseback ride through another farm to a trail overlooking a river
that drains the lake. Besides the inevitable sheep, we saw flocks of deer
that are being farmed for the velvet that covers their antlers. It's strange
to think of deer as an animal that can be farmed, like sheep and cattle, but
there you are. Following the ride, we came back to our hotel for a picnic
lunch, then went to meet the bus to the Shotover Jet Boats. There are quite
a few jetboat rides in the area, and without riding on them all it's hard to
say which one is the best, but this one was fun. The boats are super-powered
shallow-draft vessels, and crazy guys are hired to drive them. They take us
right up to the rocks towering above the river, practically up on the shore,
and within inches of various outcroppings, low-slung branches, and docks --
all at about 50mph. Kate and Colleen were very entertaining with all their
screaming! After the jet boats, we went back to the lake and booked
ourselves onto a parasailing trip. This was a fairly major rush, and we all
agreed it was the high point -- literally -- of the day. We chose to ride in
pairs, so Colleen and I went up first. We got strapped into a seat that
resembled a ferris wheel chair as a blue and gold parachute billowed out
behind us. The chair was attached to the parachute, and to a winch-fed rope
that let us out about 500 feet from the boat!! We floated above the boat,
then got higher and higher until we hit the end of the rope and rode there
for about 10 minutes. The driver slowed down at one point, and we dropped
until we were just a foot or two above the water. That was pretty exciting;
I was trying to figure out if he was doing this on purpose or what. <grin>
After catching a quick bite to eat, we watched "You've Got Mail" at the
theater in town. It's a multi-plex in one small room -- there are 4 movies
showing throughout the day (now showing: Prince of Egypt, Bug's Life, You've
Got Mail and one other we can't recall) in the 100-seat theater. Very cute
movie, and a good remake/update of "Shop Around the Corner" which I enjoyed
when I saw it about a million years ago. Colleen and I went for a short swim
and now we're all heading to bed to rest up for tomorrow's adventures!
Hope all is well with you,
-- T.
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Flying High over Fiordland
Queenstown, NZ
28 December 1998, 7:15PM
Hiya, family and friends. We survived a very interesting day of travel and
touring. Kate wasn't sure we'd make it, and for a few minutes I had my
doubts too. Nothing quite like a mountainside filling the windscreen of your
airplane to make you wonder whether your will is valid.
Today we did a triangle tour via chartered Cessna 206 of Te Anau and Milford
Sound before coming back to Queenstown. (Charter pilot too; I didn't have
time to get checked out here to do the flying myself.) There's so much to
see around here, and so little time to do it in, though we hear that five
days is a good long stretch for most visitors to this area. I think it's
about three weeks too little. To get a chance to check out the caves at Te
Anau, the fiordlands, and the cruise around Milford Sound, we had to either
go by air or spend a looooooong day riding buses. The choice was easy for me!
The flight from Queenstown to Te Anau was gorgeous and otherwise uneventful,
though the pattern entry was interesting. Te Anau is a grass strip about 1/2
mile from the "main" town area -- the whole place is pretty small, though the
lake it sits on is New Zealand's 2nd largest. Anyway, the pilot took us over
the airport, then dropped into a 60 degree bank to the left, circled down,
and made a beautiful soft field landing. He kept the nosewheel off the
ground until we were almost to the tiedown spot; I was impressed.
We jumped on a boat here to check out the cave system on the other side of
the lake, and to visit a glow-worm grotto. Blue constellations twinkling on
the roof of the cave -- really fun. Glow-worms are larva of an annoying
flying bug that have an interesting feature: their butts glow blue. Their
prey finds this attractive, so the hungry ones glow very brightly. These
bugs like to live in caves, and the trip up the Tunnel Burn into the series
of caves above Lake Te Anau was fun filled with oohs and aahhs.
From Te Anau to Milford the flight was ... interesting. Actually, I had
moments of pure terror, which is unusual for me. We flew up a series of
canyons in the Fiordland, with weather closing in above us, which made for a
bumpy ride. Also with the northerly winds blowing down (which bring tropical
storms and warm weather to NZ - my brain has a little trouble wrapping around
that one) we were always on the upwind side of the canyons. Sometimes we
were very VERY close to the upwind side of the canyons. Kate was sobbing in
the back seat, certain the plane's wing would hit a granite outcropping.
The landing at Milford was even more interesting than the one in Te Anau or
Queenstown. The pilot crossed over the runway, heading straight into a
mountain again (this seems to be a popular route here) and made a left to
parallel the runway just in the nick of time. Then he crossed over the
departure end and turned onto the downwind. Since Milford is set in an area
where two canyons come together, there isn't really a traditional looking
downwind. He flew about 1/2 mile past the runway to a small meadow where he
had room to do a 270 degree turn to line up with the runway. It's a short
field, maybe 2200 feet, so aiming for the numbers meant he nearly clipped the
tops of some trees on the way in. Well, we were glad to be down after that
bumpy ride!
Another boat ride took us down Milford Sound to its mouth, where it empties
into the Tasman Sea. The boat ride goes past cliffs carved by numerous
glaciers -- it's like Yosemite set on the coast, and going on for miles
and mile. Once we got to the mouth of the sound, we rolled over some
swells into the sea. 1300 or so miles due west is Australia, if one was
inclined to keep on going. On the boat ride, several members of a busload of
tourists from Osaka got their pictures taken with Kate, proclaiming her
"totemo kawaii!" (A sentiment with which I agree, it means "very cute!")
[Aside: We're getting a big kick out of the reaction we get when people ask,
"So, where are you from?" "Tokyo." A short silence always follows, then
we're asked, "No, really, where are you from?"]
From Milford back "home" to Queenstown, the pilot made a short field takeoff
and continued into a steep climb at about 65-70 knots. The stall horn went
off a couple of times on the way up. He flew up the sound a little ways
while climbing, then turned back towards Queenstown while still holding about
65 kts. Up one of the canyons we went, staying on the upwind side and
continuing this climb. Finally I saw why he was working for every vertical
foot: there's a saddle we had to clear at the head of the canyon, and we made
it over by about 100 feet. After that, the rest of the ride was almost
uneventful, except for the close-up views of waterfalls, fault lines, and
other interesting geographical items.
I don't think I've ever done so much flying below the tops of mountains. It
was an ... interesting day. I don't think the rest of the members of my
family are planning on taking away my vacation-arranging assignment, though
this might have been the trip that inspires someone else to at least make
some suggestions!
While waiting now for Colleen to get out of the shower so we can go to
dinner, we're watching a British comedy show that's causing much raucous
laughter here. It's set up like a game show where the contestants are given
subjects for an improvisation. They were just asked to do a news report
about Little Bo-Peep, which ended, "Stay tuned to Nook and Cranny News, and
don't let anyone pull the wool over your eyes!" Now two players have to
concoct an entire dialog where each line has to start with a successive
letter of the alphabet. "Touchy, aren't you?" "Under the wing is a very bad
place to land." "Very very bad." And so on. I'll have to see if we can get
this show on our BBC channel in Tokyo.
-- T.
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Happy 1999!
1 January 1999, 12:45AM
Christchurch, NZ
The party is just breaking up out on Cathedral Square, so it really must be
1999. At the stroke of 12, there were about 10,000 people on hand to sing
"Auld Lang Syne" and dance around as the cathedral bells chimed the hour. So
now we can officially say Happy New Year!
We got to Christchurch yesterday afternoon after a pretty 5 hour drive down
from Queenstown. We stopped for lunch in Omarama, mainly because I like the
name and wanted to see what was on hand there. It turns out that Omarama has
not only a half-dozen restaurants, three gas stations, and two motels, but it
also boasts an airport with a turf runway. It's in between two mountain
lakes on Highway 8. We managed to finagle another good deal at the hotel
here and are very comfortable. This morning, we got up awfully early to
drive out to Akaroa so we could go swim with the dolphins in the harbor.
Afternoon naps made staying up until midnight possible!
This was our second experience wearing wetsuits in three days. On Tuesday,
we signed up for a "Fun-Yaks" trip for our last day in Queenstown. We were
picked up and driven to the end of the lake at Glenorchy, and given wetsuits
and warm gear for the jet boat ride up the Dart River. This end of the lake
borders on the Mt. Aspiring National Park and is very quiet compared to the
tourist bustle in Queenstown. After an hour of jetting up the river, we were
dropped off at a large beach where we got to work inflating the kayaks.
Fun-Yaks are big red rubber kayaks, and our guide John trained us in their
use. We paddled down the river a while, enjoying the view and getting the
hang of this fun-yakking thing, then stopped for lunch along a tributary.
Another hour or so of paddling got us down to an area called Paradise, where
we deflated the fun-yaks and went for a ride in the van back to home base.
Paradise is indeed a beautiful spot, but it's not named for its beauty --
it's named for the ducks that used to nest there. After peeling our way out
of the wetsuits, we were transported back to Queenstown. For our last dinner
in the mountains, we went to a place called The Lookout, which perches right
over the harbor. Good Kiwi food, and a great view as well.
This morning's wetsuit excursion was quite a bit different from the
fun-yakking. This time, we were taken out into the harbor in a big catamaran
until we saw a group of dolphins swimming around. There were 8 of us suited
up to swim with these beauties, and we were carefully instructed in how to
get into the water and hang out until some of the dolphins decided to come
check us out. The water was pretty cold, so the wetsuits definitely came in
handy!! Wearing masks and snorkels, we laid in the water face down, arms and
legs flung out in a star pattern, so we'd appear unthreatening and friendly.
(Our guides assured us of this ... <grin>.) Unfortunately, about the time
the dolphins would come back to give us the once-over, a few idiots in
speedboats would come roaring up to have a look at the dolphins -- and would
scare them away. I had one close look at two dolphins that zipped by me,
maybe 4 or 5 feet away, but thanks to the speedboaters didn't get much
closer. Colleen was pretty disappointed, but we did manage to see quite a
few dolphins from the deck of the boat as we traveled around the harbor.
Next time I visit NZ, I'll plan a longer stay in Akaroa. It's a beautiful
spot, on the Banks Peninsula, which is the remains of an ancient volcano that
blew its top many thousands of years ago. On the way back from Akaroa, we
stopped at a cheese factory and a winery for picnic supplies and an al fresco
lunch. The French Farm Winery is tucked into another beautiful spot, also
well worth a longer visit. All they need over near Akaroa is a landing strip!
Kent and the kids went to see "A Bug's Life" while I lounged around the hotel
room for a couple of hours, then we all went out in search of dinner. Not an
easy task on a night when the center city fills up with party-goers, but we
managed to locate a couple of wild pizzas, captured them, and ate'em. Then
it was time to ring in the new with the throngs on the plaza below us.
Hoping all is well with all of you, and that 1999 is your best year yet.
-- T.
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It's been a busy month, but not in a way that makes for interesting update
emails. Well, a few things have happened, so what the heck, here goes.
Top of my list is how proud I am of Colleen -- she made First Honors at
Seisen for the first semester. Seisen gives numerical grades (0-100) for the
core academic classes, and the girls who make First Honors earn an average of
94 or higher. Colleen's lowest grade was 91 (English) and highest was 98
(you'll never guess -- Religion!). She did very well in math and science as
well as social studies. Last year, Colleen made Second Honors (average of
91-93) and it's good to see her move up. Today she's struggling through
reading Dickens' "Great Expectations" but I know she can do it.
Kent spent a week in California, allegedly working but actually timed his
trip to celebrate Paul and Glen's 40th birthday bash. Sounds like it was a
terrific party!! The kids and I were there in spirit.
I've been involved with a lot of CWAJ stuff this month. I was asked to join
the board of directors as the Website Coordinator, which means I'm working
with a huge committee. You all know how well I do working with committees
... let's just say this is a learning experience for everyone. I'm trying to
fiddle with a site that was created by a consultant a couple of years ago
while avoiding making everyone in the organization mad at me. It's a fine
line to walk! The first thing I did was register a name, so instead of
having to find a long convoluted address, users can just type in www.cwaj.org
and get there now. Next will be updating the content and then -- a total
re-design! My partner is an artist with some incredible ideas, and I hope
I'm able to learn enough about the technology to implement them.
Friday night was the kickoff event for the CWAJ's 50th anniversary
celebration, and it was fun. At the end, they had four women do a sake cask
opening ceremony, then a toast to the organization. One of the cask bashers
is one of the original founders of the CWAJ -- she had no idea that a concept
that started over a few cups of coffee would grow into the organization that
exists today.
I also attended my first official press conference in Tokyo, as Sun rolled
out Java 2 here. I was the only gaijin reporter in the room, and one of
three women. There was surprisingly little schmoozing going on compared to
similar events in the U.S.
The kids and I have been decorating the house for Hina Matsuri, which is
Girl's Day. The actual day of the celebration is March 3, but up until that
time you are supposed to display some fancy dolls to ensure your daughters'
future prosperity. There are some amazing collections now on display at the
local department store -- they are arranged on small steps with a prince and
princess at the top, then court attendants and furniture arrayed on the steps
below. Last year at the Seisen Festival, I picked up a prince and princess
doll set that's intended for Hina Matsuri, and Kate now has them proudly
displayed in her room, complete with some of her own tiny dolls as
attendants. (I suppose we really should wrap her dolls in kimono to make
them more authentic!) Colleen fell in love with a set of dolls that features
a couple of Snoopy dogs dressed as the prince and princess, and three
Woodstock dolls as the court attendants. I bought that for her as a reward
for her good grades. (I suspect her good grades will be much more effective
in ensuring her future prosperity than any collection of dolls though...!)
We enjoyed looking at the collections of dolls at the department store, and
who knows what we may pick up as a souvenir of our time in Japan ...???
Kent has been hosting several dozen distinguished scientists and HP Labs
(Palo Alto) folks this weekend, and is now out playing tour guide for a bunch
of them. Last night there was a big party for Professor Akasaki, who is one
of the pioneers in semiconductor blue laser research, to celebrate his
winning a major award for his contributions to science. Akasaki-sensei has
been working with HP Labs Japan on their blue laser project, so in honor of
his winning the award, HP L-J threw him a party. Kent's boss from Palo Alto
and some old friends like Fernando Ponce (who recently left Xerox/Parq to be
a professor at Arizona State) are in town. The kids and I may get invited
along to dinner tonight, but in the time-honored tradition of Japanese
business entertaining, we're pretty much left out of the festivities.
Colleen is slogging through a few more chapters of Dickens while Kate
entertains her pal Lisa this afternoon. I'm working on finishing up an
article for Fortune, and have another due for their subsidiary Your Company
on Tuesday. I'm heading to New York on 21 Feb to work on my 4th annual
survey of online trading for Barron's and will be in California for a few
days (27 Feb-3 March according to the current schedule). We're also planning
our spring break trip and a ski trip to Nagano. Big fun!
Talk to you soon,
-- T.
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Yesterday's excitement (Monday) included a going-away lunch for my friend and
Print Show partner, Joan Hess, who is leaving the hustle-bustle of Tokyo for
the mountains of Idaho and Montana. I've added Joan to the mailing list with
this update. Let's all go visit her this summer! (Hey, I'm there!)
Colleen has been complaining of pain in her left wrist for a week or so, and
yesterday I finally broke down under the force of her whining and took her to
the doctor. This is the same doctor who did unspeakable things to my toe
last June. He found a small cyst and decided the best thing to do to relieve
the pain in the long run was to remove it. Colleen was very brave -- much
braver than her wimpy mother -- as he stuck the needle into her wrist and
fished around until he found the cyst. It's gone now though her wrist hurts
from the needle this morning!
Off to choir rehearsal ... looking forward to seeing many of you when I'm in
California the weekend of Feb 27. Aunt Lillian's 99th birthday is coming!
March 6th, mark your calendars.
-- T.
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February 16 -- Tokyo Rock and Roru
(Part 1 written by Kent)
Greetings Family and Friends,
We just finished our last full weekend at home together between now and late
March. Between planned vacations and business trips things will be pretty
busy.
We started the evening off with a nice dinner at home on Friday night.
Saturday we went through our usual routine. Colleen got up and went to
Aikido. Kate got up and read her book then watched some videos. Teri and I
checked our e-mail from the Friday working day in the U.S. Colleen spent
much of the morning between her Aikido classes coming up with excuses about
why it was impossible for her to clean up her room, but after lunch she
finally got to work and, with some help from her friend, Lauren, she made it
look pretty nice.
Saturday evening was the Seisen International School Dinner Dance, a major
social event for the parents. While Colleen and Kate stayed home reading
books and designing web pages, Teri and I went to the party at Seisen. It
started at 5:30 PM, so we figured we would be home fairly early. We picked
Mike and Sue Caster, Lauren's parents, up on the way and arrived just a few
minutes late.
The theme was "Chinese New Year." Several of the Chinese parents had
arranged for the food and entertainment for the evening. The food was a
delicious buffet and each table of eight had two bottles of wine. The
entertainment began with two young guys doing the "Lion Dance" in what I
always thought of as a dragon costume. One worked the big head and the
other was the south end when the dragon (or lion?) faced north. They were
quite good doing some nice acrobatic moves and doing a good job with the
dragon's/lion's facial expressions. They danced through the crowd seated at
their tables and paused from time to time to swallow someone's head or drink
their beer. Teri had her head swallowed and was quoted after the experience
as saying, "I think he's a smoker."
After dinner three young Chinese women danced 4 traditional Chinese dances.
They did an excellent job despite the amateur MC introducing 3 of the 4
dances out of order.
The big surprise of the evening was the band. They were a young Japanese
group that played American Rock and Roll Oldies. The started with Elvis'
"Love Me Tender" then sped thing up with good dance tunes that had more than
half the 170 attendees out on the floor. They played two short sets and by
the time it was over it was past 10:30 PM.
Several of the couples decided they were having too good a time to stop
partying, so we arranged to meet at a nearby "biker bar" that had karaoke.
Colleen and Kate were still up at home working on a web page online, so it
took a while to get through and let them know we would be home late. About
20 of us showed up in a bar that only holds 30 people when it is packed. We
took over the place until about 12:30 AM and had a great time visiting and
singing. We knew several of the couples already, but it was a good chance
to get to know them better and to meet a few new people.
Sunday most of us spent the day around the house, though Teri attended a
media event at a hotel in Shinjuku. Colleen's friend Katya, whose parents
are British and German, negotiated the trains from her home in downtown
Tokyo to ours for her first time and spent the afternoon with us. Everyone
seemed to find time to sneak out and buy some chocolate to give as
Valentine's Day gifts to each other.
Hope you are having/had a great Presidents' Day weekend in the U.S.
Kent
---- Part 2 by Theresa ----
Not a whole lot to add, except that the dance pointed out to me how much my
arthritis has progressed. I was nearly unable to walk at times on Monday!
Maybe it was the chocolate overload on Sunday night. The tradition in Japan
on Valentine's Day is that women are supposed to give chocolate to men, so
there's quite an industry of "giri-choco" (gift chocolate) that springs up
for a couple of weeks every February.
I spent the last two weeks writing like mad -- an article for Fortune,
another for Mutual Funds Magazine, and my usual columns for Barron's (which
is in this week's issue, 2/15/99) and MIND (the April issue). I also
attended a lecture series sponsored by the College Women's Association of
Japan entitled "Free to Fly: Japanese Women in the 20th Century and Beyond"
which was very interesting but occasionally very frustrating. One speaker,
Dr. Iwao, is the chair of the prime minister's commission on gender
equality. Her commission's main focus, however, seems to be the
"selfishness" of Japanese women in their 20s who are not getting married and
having babies the way the economists would like them to. As a consequence,
Japanese population is predicted to drop starting in 2007. The commission
chaired by Dr. Iwao seems to be trying to convince Japanese women that
they're supposed to do their duty and get married and have babies, but they
don't seem to be studying other possibilities -- encouraging immigration, for
instance, or learning to deal with a declining, aging population. The
economy and the misogynist tendencies of this society are the main reasons
Japanese women avoid marriage and children, but there don't seem to be any
plans to change those areas.
We leave for Nagano on Wednesday afternoon for a few days of skiing at
Hakuba-mura, where the Olympics were held exactly one year ago. Apparently
the ski resorts are practically empty on weekdays now, which is OK with us!
I leave for NY on Sunday the 21st, and will be in California from 2/27
through 3/4 -- hope to see some of you then!
-- T.
P.S. Robin and Bill are back on the email list at wcunning@got.net for those
of you interested in filling their mailbox with Internet jokes!
P.P.S. Colleen and Kate have been playing with websites here:
www.gurlpages.com/me/chocodog/index.html
www.gurlpages.com/other/asleepagain/index.html
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<Kent is the author of this part of the message, with occasional
editing touches provided by Theresa ...>
Greetings family and friends,
It's Sunday morning here. We just got back from our ski trip last night.
On the whole things went pretty well considering...
Teri packed up the car and got Colleen, Kate and their friend, Lauren,
settled in and came to pick me up at work. We left my office a little
before 4 PM for our skiing adventure. The first challenge was to figure out
how to get the nearest onramp to the Chuo Expressway. We looked at the map
and made a plan for where to get on the expressway, and arrived at the
preplanned spot 40 minutes later. That's when we found out you can only
get on the expressway there going towards Tokyo and we were headed the
opposite way. After another 20 minutes or so we found the proper entrance and
headed out of town.
Since the usual weather in Tokyo is in the mid-30's to low 40's F this time
of year, we did not have to climb up very high above sea level to start
seeing some snow by the side of the road. While the drive is about the same
as from S.F. to Tahoe, the terrain is much different. Instead of driving
across the Central Valley then climbing into the mountains, we climbed
quickly out of the Kanto plain (where Tokyo is) and into the mountains, so
most of the drive was between peaks. Still, I couldn't help but wonder
when we were going to pass the Nut Tree <grin>.
The place we were heading to was Hakuba-mura (White Horse Village) in Nagano
prefecture. We purchased 3 nights at the "Ski Seminar House," a Japanese
style inn at a fund raising auction last year. The inn is a short walk from
the lifts at the Iwatake Ski Resort. This is just a short drive up the road
from the Happo-One Ski Area where the Olympic ski jumping and downhill racing
events were held one year ago. The top of the mountain at Iwatake is about
5000 ft. (1300 m), low by comparison to the Sierras, but there is plenty of
snow this time of year.
We made good time and all the right turns until we got within a quarter mile
or so of the "Ski Seminar House." Then we had to stop and ask a few people
for directions. We finally found the place a little after 8 PM. Teri and
the owner, Belami-san, went to retrieve our car as we had finally taken to
searching on foot. Belami-san had kept dinner for us, so we sat down to a
tasty meal of fried pieces of chicken, apple slices wrapped in strips of
pork and other "oishii" (delicious) dishes accompanied by miso soup and
rice.
Since it was mid-week and the Japanese schools were still in session, we
were the only people in the inn the first two nights. It was two stories: the
top story had several guest rooms with tatami mats and the bottom story had
the kitchen, a large dining room and a lounge area with a couch and some big
comfortable chairs. We slept on futons on the tatami mats. Teri and I had
one room and the three girls shared a second room. The bathroom was down the
hall and there was a large area open to the hallway with long stainless steel
sinks to be used for washing and tooth brushing. The Japanese style bath was
downstairs.
The downstairs area was quite rustic. As the insulation was thin and there
was no central heating (each room had its own semi-adequate heater), it had
the feel of a garage room in some ways. It was clearly set up many years
ago and had a certain Berkeleyesque ambience. There was an entire wall of
LPs (you know, those old vinyl things?) although there was also a VCR and a
CD player. There were lots of games, too. Colleen and I played several games
of "Reversi" using an "Othello" board and pieces.
After dinner we set up our beds, the girls finding a stash of extra futons
to soften their beds, and settled in.
I woke up first in the morning and acted as alarm clock for the others to get
them downstairs for an 8 AM breakfast. Belami-san fixed us some scrambled eggs
and toast along with a bowl of sliced bananas and yogurt. Then she took us to
a local ski shop and helped us rent our equipment. By 10 AM the girls were
enrolled in a half-day ski lesson and Teri and I were off to the top of the
mountain on the Gondola. Since Lauren was a beginner and Colleen and Kate are
more in the intermediate category, the lesson was not too challenging for
them, but they all wanted to stay together.
Teri and I had a great couple of hours of skiing exploring runs all over the
mountain before meeting up with the kids as the bottom of the hill at noon.
Though we saw the girls on our run down the mountain, they took a different
route to the bottom, so Teri and I beat them there by a few minutes. Teri
decided to take a quick run on a short lift while we waited. The girls
showed up just as Teri was coming down the hill making great turns and
swooshing her way to the bottom. Near the bottom her hat started to come
off, but she quickly grabbed it to keep it on. I turned away for a second
to talk to the girls and when I looked back, Teri was face down in the snow
at the bottom of the hill with her skis about 15 feet behind her.
She started to get up, but felt some pain when she tried using her right
arm, so decided to sit there for a minute. The ski patrol arrived at about
the same time we did. After checking her over they decided to take her to
first aid. I went with her while the girls took one more run. Teri may
want to describe the rest of her visit to the Ski Patrol clinic, but the
upshot was that she was strongly encouraged to go to a clinic near Happo-One
for an X-ray, but not until after lunch as the clinic was closed until 2 PM.
We ate lunch at a local noodle shop and then Teri insisted that she take a
cab down to the clinic while the rest of us continued to ski. After lunch I
decided to take the girls up the Gondola as there were some great runs at
the top of the mountain even for beginners. Unfortunately, by the time we
got to the top, a cloud had covered the mountain, so the visibility was only
about 50 feet. Between that and the blowing wind we decided to head back to
the bottom of the mountain right away. It took us about a hour to get down
as Lauren was having some trouble keeping her skis tips from crossing while
doing her snow plow and she spent a lot of time picking herself up off of
the snow. Once we made it to the bottom, I was only able to coax the girls
outside for a few more runs as by that time it was raining and we were
getting pretty wet and cold.
When we got back to the inn we got the news from Teri about her injury. She
can give the details, but the summary is that she could not ski anymore, but
will otherwise be OK once the pain subsides in a week or so.
On Friday morning Teri stayed at the inn while the girls and I set out on
another skiing adventure. It was a little colder than Thursday, which was
good as the light rain turned to light snow, even at the bottom of the
mountain, and we did not get as wet. Lauren discovered the secret to
keeping her ski tips from crossing and we skied about 7 or 8 runs before
lunch. Mostly we all skied together, but after a while one of us would ski
down with Lauren while the other two took a more challenging path down from
the same chair. Typically, Lauren would lead with Kate and Colleen
tailgating her and following her every turn. I would wait further up the
hill until they had made some significant progress, then swoosh down the
hill to catch up with them. There was what seemed to be an entire
elementary school there skiing, but since they used a separate line, we did
not have to wait more than a couple of minutes to get on a lift all day.
After lunch the breaks were more frequent, but we did not turn in our skis
until 4:30 PM. Colleen and I got in some more challenging runs while Kate
and Lauren rested in the restaurant. All in all, we had a great day of
skiing.
Saturday morning we decided to let the kids play in the snow for a while and
then take a more leisurely drive home rather than to brave the weekend ski
crowds that arrived from Tokyo and Osaka. After the girls did some sledding
for a while we packed up and drove over to Happo-One for a closer look at
the Olympic ski jumps and to find some shops and have lunch.
We had lunch at a place called "Tijuana Bar and Grill." We were the only
customers there and I could not help but think that this restaurant was
probably packed last year at this time. After a few quesadillas, tortillas
and nachos, we hit the road for home. We called the vet to have him bring
Hershey home from our car cell phone, so he showed up soon after our
arrival. Hershey came with us as we all went to Lauren's family's house for
a spaghetti dinner to visit and talk about the trip.
That's all for now. Today Teri leaves for New York, so the girls and I will
be on our own until March 5. Some of you will be seeing her soon as her
return trip lands her briefly in the Bay Area.
Hope all is well with you. Write and let us know how you are doing when you
have time.
Kent
<Now for the news from the gimp ... >
While Kent and the kids skiied more on Thursday afternoon, I took a cab over
to the medical clinic recommended by the ski patrol. Fortunately I got there
right at 2 when the doors opened and signed in fourth on the list. There was
a steady stream of injured people showing up right after me; within 20
minutes the waiting room was packed. I was called in and x-rayed, then the
doctor showed me a lovely picture of a fractured collarbone. Though I'd
wished he was showing it to me just for fun, it turns out it was MY
collarbone with the fracture. They fitted me with a very uncomfortable brace
that relieves the pressure of gravity on the fracture, so I'm not wearing a
cast or any of that stuff, but I do feel pretty stupid.
Comments from the peanut gallery are *not* welcome at this point!
It obviously doesn't affect my typing, which is a good thing: I'm on my way
to New York very soon so I can work on my 4th annual look at online trading.
It's the 12-13 hours in an airplane seat that I'm really looking forward to
... not!! Ah well, what price fame (or something like it).
We were really glad to have Lauren along for the weekend. She's the only
friend that our two kids share these days, and she's a cheerful and fun
person to be around. We may kidnap her again sometime.
OK, I've got to finish packing and hit the road! I'll see some of you next
weekend, I hope.
On the road again ...
-- T.
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