Yunessun in Unison

At the tail end of our trip to Singapore, we took one last day of vacation to head back to Hakone to try out Yunessun, the fabulous spa resort. We bought half price tickets from the Navy base and drove two hours. Then after donning our gender-specific cover-ups, we enjoyed a full day of going from one hot bath to the next.














Some baths were inside with a normal pool-like atmosphere.


Except that they were really nice and warm. And more notably, some were green (I hope that's not why they called it an "Ancient" bath); purple; or full of salt like the Dead Sea (although I was alive with the pain of freshly shaved legs, so only Brian tested its flotation properties to the fullest.)

And some baths were outside in a more natural section of the resort called "Yutopia." That is, if you call bathing in coffee, wine, sake, or green tea "natural."

As you can see, we had a very enjoyable day together. The echos of many joyous (mostly Japanese) screams would've masked them anyway, but no one had any temper tantrums. Miranda didn't want a nap or need her "binky" at all. And we were moving fast enough from pool to pool so as to not bore Sydney. Thus, I think this qualifies as Yunessun in unison...even if we're not all looking good in the "quintessential Japanese bath" photo. If we could just remove Miranda's hand to reveal Sydney's face, we could take away the Y in Yutopia; it was that fun.

Celebrating Five Years Together















(And a new camera. See previous post.)

The latter three-fifths of our marriage has been spent in Japan, so it's very sentimental that Brian secretly journeyed to the Mikimoto in Ginza Tokyo (with Miranda in tow one Saturday in January) to pick out a beautiful black pearl pendant necklace as an anniversary surprise, which he gave me on our date that he arranged. I love it and it reminds me of him; it's gorgeous, brilliant, and just what I would've picked out if I'd picked it today.

Mere Memories of Singapore

For our last adventure while living in Japan, we recently decided against an all-inclusive relaxing beach vacation in Saipan (remind me to always go with my first instinct) and instead opted for a free military (AMC) flight to Singapore to experience a little more Asian culture (and English-speakers, for an easier time of things). We arrived with such ease (especially in comparison to my October AMC trip to Okinawa) and set off to enjoy our week in this tropical city full of great food, upscale shopping and fun activities.

Although note that there are no relaxing beaches in Singapore. And come to find out, their rainy season is in March (which is not advertised clearly on the city state's website).

We did notice the rain showers right away, so the first day we made our way to Orchard Road for some window shopping decked out in our rain gear. We enjoyed some local Singaporean food for lunch at a hawker stall. It was fast and delicious and the price of a full meal, S$3.80 ($2.50) was a pleasant surprise.

When we saw sun our second full day, we headed straight for the Singapore Zoo, where we started our day with a buffet breakfast alongside free-roaming orangutans--the zoo's main claim to fame. We spent a whole day watching the animals in beautiful, and what appeared to be fairly natural, habitats. Sydney had a blast at a water playground within the zoo, where she played for more than an hour and a half.

On the way out of the zoo, while Sydney took a catnap in the stroller and Brian treated Miranda to some ice cream, I stole 10 minutes for myself at a nearby spa to "try my feet" at the Turkish fish pond. These minnow-size fish literally feed on the dead skin of your feet--if you can stand the tickle/slight sting and the mere thought of the fish sinking their teeth into your feet. I had to continually stifle a little scream that welled up within me as the number of fish attached to my feet increased exponentially within seconds. The two young Asian men sitting opposite of me, with our backs to each other, were kind enough to be entertained by my squeamishness. They laughed and spoke enough English to try to encourage me to put my feet and lower legs all the way in. I simply shuddered, shook my head, nervously laughed and tried to keep my feet barely below the surface, while every 30 seconds my autonomic nervous system kicked in to send a message in the form of a jitter to the fish: back off. I think my feet were in the water for at least three of the ten minutes.

On a second sunny morning, we took in the Jurong Bird Park, where we saw two fun bird shows. Our favorite featured a parrot who sang three songs in three languages; of course, we only recognized "Happy Birthday." Then we stopped off at Little India on our way back to the city to try some great Indian food at Banana Leaf Apolo. Many dishes in Singapore were actually served on huge placemat-like banana leaves. Very green, we noticed.

We were on a roll, fitting in one sight on my list of things to do after another, so we weren't terribly upset about the full day of rain that set in the second to last day of our trip. Although we were disappointed that we couldn't use more relaxing pool time due to the weather. (This is when we most regretted not choosing Saipan.) So, we tried to make the best of it and spent some time running around (Brian, Sydney and Miranda) and shopping (me) in the Raffles City Shopping Centre attached to our hotel.

After a great Chinese dumpling lunch, while I tried on a shirt over my clothes at a kiosk in the center of the mall and Brian chased the girls around, my purse (and accompanying sweater wrap) was stolen right out from under me. It was at my feet as I looked around the cart, but then distracted, I left it out of sight for a few weak moments...and in those moments, Brian was "entertained" by an ugly woman paying false attention to the kids, whole another person rustled in the clothing near my purse, which Brian hadn't realized was there and in jeopardy.

Well, I've said it before in regards to free AMC flights, you get what you pay for. I suppose losing a purse, a few bucks and a camera was my karmic payment for saving a few bucks on a flight...and being stupid enough to take it off my body and leave myself vulnerable. But unfortunately, the universe didn't take into account that the photos in that camera were priceless. Among them, a gorgeous, sunny aerial view of snowy Fuji as we flew over it on the way to Singapore. And even more precious--at least one family photo (that I know of) in front of the Singapore Zoo orangutans, where all 4 of us were looking at the camera with pleasant expressions. It was so good, I didn't buy the photographer's photo, because Miranda wasn't looking in his photo.

Later as I needed them, I thought of all the relatively inexpensive conveniences that had been in my purse, which later turned into inconveniences, roughly in this order: chapstick, hand sanitizer, two toy cell phones for the girls, Hello Kitty pen with an okonomiyaki from Hiroshima, a plastic travel bib, sunglasses, and my jump drive.

But...it could've been worse, I realized even immediately. I noticed within 10 minutes of last checking my purse at my feet, and pulling it closer to me. (Yet another time I should've gone with my first instinct.) We canceled two credit cards and my bank card, and put a fraud alert on both our credit reports because my military ID has both our SS#s on it, which is the real identity theft fear, especially because it's a popular crime in Singapore. But I had placed most cash, both passports, both driver's licenses, and my mp3 player in the hotel safe. So, after our last and sunny day on the island of Sentosa (the last place to check off my list), at least I could return home on the military flight...a day earlier than we'd planned. Can you blame us?

You might say Singapore screwed us. But maybe this negative event only cosmically makes up for the fact that Sydney appeared to be gesturing inappropriately the whole week as she showed everyone she met her black and blue middle fingernail, which was dangling and finally fell off our last day in Singapore. Just as well; by then she'd unknowingly communicated all we needed to "say" to Singapore already.

Girls' Day in Japan

Sydney and I joined our friends Jocelyn and Mel this week for a Girls' Day outing. March 3 is Hina-matsuri (or Girl's Day) in Japan and we wanted to do something fun together, so we took the train to visit the Yokohama Doll Museum.

The museum displays hundreds of dolls from all over the world in a three-story building. But our girls mostly enjoyed playing at each of about twelve hands-on stations around the first floor. Each station had different kinds of dolls from around the world.

Sydney really got into the pretend play. She played with the wooden animals. She put the baby to sleep.

And apparently thought she was the curator. She explained to Jocelyn and me that "you see, this one has blue feathers." (Well, as we all know, she often owns the part of being "in charge," I just finally caught it on camera.)

Some of our favorite dolls were the Japanese ones like this doll in kimono given to the museum by the mayor of Yokohama, Hello Kitty, and Monchichi.

And it was great fun seeing some dolls that mean a lot to me and made me nostalgic for my childhood. These Greek dolls reminded me of some given to me by my Grandma. And there were some great American classics, like Raggedy Ann, which always reminds me of when my mom took the clothes off our Raggedy Ann and put me in them as one of my first Halloween costumes. There was also an American Girl, Star Wars figures, etc.

There were so many dolls from all over the world, my only clue I was in Japan was the special Hina-matsuri exhibit for Girls' Day (and we weren't allowed to take photos of it; here's one with just the Emperor and Empress dolls.)

And I didn't notice any Madame Alexander or original Cabbage Patch Kids. Not that I'm about to donate any of the several I have stored in my Mom's house. I do have two girls. Instead I thought I'd add to our "collection"; I bought a tiny ceramic Japanese tea set for Sydney to use one day in the dollhouse my PopPop made for my sister and me.

Kabuki-za: 2009 is a Year of Farewell Performances

Kabuki is highly stylised classical Japanese dance-drama. The word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning "to lean" or "to be out of the ordinary." So. kabuki can be interpreted to mean "avant-garde" or "bizarre" theatre.

A few friends and I ventured to the historic Kabuki-za theater in the Ginza district of Tokyo to see the short act of February's afternoon performance. Now that I've experienced it, I'd have to agree it is a tad bizarre. But I knew it would be different going into it. And I really enjoyed it. (Thanks to the English headsets, I could actually understand it.)

Kabuki-za theater opened in 1889, and sadly, the plan is to demolish it after this year and rebuild a new theater that can withstand earthquakes and provide more accessibility. I guess those are valid reasons at least.

I feel lucky to have procrastinated enough to enjoy seeing a "sayonara" performance during this historic year. And in case you were wondering, it's purely coincidental that 2009 happens to also be the year we Norwoods say "Farewell" to Japan. But I'd say it's historic nonetheless. And maybe you think we can be a little bizarre in a dramatic sort of way, too.