Philippines

This week Roo's school is closed for mid term break. We've taken this opportunity to escape to sun and fun on an island in the Philippines. A relatively short flight from Tokyo Narita (4 1/2 hours), we arrived on Saturday night. Sunday we had a relaxing day:

enjoying the view from our room,

relaxing by the pool after a swim, conversing about Lego Power Miners, playing card games of Go Fish and Chomp,

and of course Roo did some snorkeling.

We haven't decided what's in store for today, but the resort offers many attractive options, a spa, a beach, an amazing play center for kids, golf, tennis, snorkeling, boat rides, jet skis, a game center, karaoke, and of course, swimming pools.

USA & Outerspace

The theme for this month in Roo's class has been outer space and the United States of America. Once again, the children and their teachers gave an amazing performance with the best yet of home made props, hand painted wall size backdrops included. They've learned of America's history by studying the culture of Native Americans, Cowboys, Inventions, and America's exploration of space. The show included:

a Native American rain dance (my favorite!),

around a camp fire,

a cowboy song and a song about inventions,

and the grand finale, a personalized version of the song "Ground Control to Agent Tom". The astronauts stepped from their shuttle while the teachers sang the main chorus.

As he stepped from the shuttle Roo did a good rendition of an astronaut walking on the moon where there is no gravity by slowly teetering from one leg to the next with his arms widely afloat. I guess the time he and Ryan spend watching YouTube clips of astronauts is time well spent!

Book Reviews: The Song of Hannah & The Red Tent

by Eva Etzioni-Halevy and Anita Diamant, respectively. I'd assign these two books a new type of genre, biblical fiction. In both, the main characters are women from the bible and the men provide the backdrop, in other words, the complete reverse of the bible. Since little is written of women, the authors created a story to fill in the detail. Both deeply describe the culture during the respective time periods. This, in combination with a captivating story, provides for an interesting read. I like The Song of Hannah more than The Red Tent, but both are well worth the time if you have an interest in this period of history.

Dr Hinohara

Last Friday I attended a talk given by a soon to be centurion, Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara. He has authored many books (200+) and has been influential in shaping Japan’s modern medical program. Amongst his many accomplishments is the development of the “Association for the New Elderly”. He argued that rather than be a burden to society, the elderly (75 years + in his definition) can continue to provide a positive contribution. A healthy lifestyle minimizes illness, therefore ensuring a higher quality existence. The mission of the society is two fold; first, to make sure younger generations understand the importance of world peace, and second, to transmit the goodness of their culture. I’ve always been fond of pleasant old people, so it’s no surprise that I found Dr. Hinohara charming. Despite the fact that he can no longer stand up straight, he has quite a spring to his step. However, you could sense the disappointment in the audience when one participant asked “what is the single most factor that one can do to ensure a long life?”. His answer, “Control your food intake. You should try to maintain the same weight you had at thirty years old”. Hoping for something exotic, for instance “do a shot of brandy ever day”, or “I do a headstand every night before bed”, "control your food intake" is probably the answer people LEAST want to hear. In reality, longevity is probably the outcome of many contributing factors. But, the Japanese are definitely doing something right because you see a lot of really old folks pushing their roller carts to the bus stop.

Tamarokuto Science Center

Thursday's field trip to the Tamarokuto Science Center wasn't as exhausting as past school trips. The layout of the center and the lack of a crowd minimized the stress associated with the potential risk of loosing sight of your child. The rooms are plenty open and almost everything is hands on, which goes over well will five year olds.

Strategically, I purposely dressed Roo in orange so I could spot him easily. Of course the yellow vest helps, too.

The challenge of this toy is arranging the exists just right so the marble flows through to the end.

In the human anatomy room, when the rider pedals the bike, leg bones appear!

Not so interested in Mom, after lunch Roo stayed close to his teacher Kevin, who has been elevated to the level of celebrity status in our home.

A close up of the group photo.

Cool, what's inside?

Minnesotans Eating Teppanyaki

And okonomiyaki. And sake. And ume shuu soda. And Kirin bi-ru. Last weekend we enjoyed a night out at one of our favorite casual restaurants, Karashi, located on Meguro dori between Shirokanedai and Meguro stations. Ryan and I like Karashi because of the initial plate of pate', followed by tasty ebi (shrimp) covered in creamy sauce, savory beef cooked medium rare on the griddle, and the okonomiyaki (best comparison, an omelet pancake) covered in a tangy sauce. The set dinner contains mostly fish, meat and vegetables. Since there are little carbs, not even rice, you don't leave feeling stuffed, but plenty satisfied. Bar seating and few tables help manage volume making it a good place for conversation. We'll be back!

Michelle, Joe, (Caroline was home sick), Ryan, me, and Andy. Thanks Michelle for the photo!

Year of the Tiger

He is calm, warm, fearsome, courageous, soft, hardworking and mysterious! His lucky numbers are 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 34, 44, 45, & 54. His favorite colors are green and red.