Been experimenting with wordpress and php to see if I can come up with a better, more “unified” look and feel for this blog and the gallery… ended up installing another theme (called K2, for those interested). I hacked on it a bit, tweaking a few sizes and styles to get it looking a little better.
To get the gallery link to work as I wanted, I had to install the “Page Links To” plug-in. This actually worked really well and got things going in the right direction.
So give it a test and see how you like the gallery. It’s in early beta yet, so it might change on you if I’m editing it as you’re viewing it. (Yah, I know I shouldn’t be mucking around with a live site, but luckily I know the admin and he says it’s okay).
Today was Tamie’s mom’s birthday and we celebrated in style. We all went out to lunch at one of her favourite restaurants… the restaurant is up in the mountains and hamster and papa-san took the second car (the GPS-less Celica) while the rest of us all crammed into the Prius. Along the way, we saw the Celica drive past us going in the opposite direction – turns out they stopped to pick up a dozen roses. The birthday girl’s eyes lit up when she saw the flowers – mission accomplished!
Lunch was good and beefy with a bit of wine and a bit more beer. Even the birthday girl went with a glass of wine after debating which kind of juice to drink.
For whatever reason, Layla decided she wanted to sit on my lap for most of the lunch, helping to eat the good parts of my meal. She’s really learning the word ‘share’ these days… she uses it a lot, although the definition is a bit off in her mind. To her, sharing means “you have something I want”. To be honest, it was initially a one-way street, but these days she is getting better at actual sharing too, not just asking to share.
After lunch, Jiji wanted to buy Layla a piano. At least, that was my uneducated interpretation of what I heard is. We headed to Toys R Us of all places, where Layla ran up and down the aisles taking it all in. In the end, she picked out some books and a kid karaoke machine with a bunch of Japanese kids’ songs. There was a 7.1 megapixel camera there for 2500 yen that I almost bought for her, but thought better of it… she plays with my camera enough – if she breaks it, I’ll just have to buy a new one… something I wouldn’t be loathe to do.
We headed back to the grandparents’ house for some karaoke fun. Multiple renditions of several of the 32 songs were sung by at least Tamie and Layla, with the occasional vocal backings of the aunt and/or grandparents. Seems like that little machine is a good investment so far! We’ll see how much they like those 32 songs in a year.
We came back home after doing a bit of grocery shopping, Tamie prepared supper while I played with Layla. We ended up watching the princess and the frog… Tamie nearly burst into tears at the end because of the … well, I won’t ruin the ending for anyone.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures from the lunch, the shopping, the karaoke, or the movie… but I did snap a few of running in the rain.
Tamie has a professor from her university days that she still keeps in contact with – we’ve visited him once and she always brings him and his wife ice wine from Canada when we go. Saturday was his last lecture, given to a room full of people he’d taught or worked with. The turnout was impressive – there must have been at least 200 people who showed up to celebrate his 44 years of service.
I didn’t understand a word of the lecture, but from what I gathered it was a brief 2+ hour presentation of the prof’s works and achievements over his career. The occasional laughter from the crowd hinted that he was dropping humour into his lecture, making me wish I understood the language a little bit better. Instead, I was busy holding Layla as she snored loud enough to embarrass Tamie, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear (thankfully).
The day was not without it’s humourous moments. As the speech was getting started, Layla was getting fidgety so I said I’d go get a drink from a vending machine… Layla wanted to come so we snuck out the back door to find a couple guys sitting in suits holding flowers waiting outside. The politely held the door and closed it quietly as we ventured forth on our quest for juice.
It was raining outside but we didn’t have any umbrella, so we dashed into and around buildings looking for a vending machine. In this country, you can pretty much hit a vending machine with a rock in any direction you decide to throw it. In this school campus, with the intention of finding one, it was next to impossible. I exaggerate, but it did take more time than I thought and by the time we actually found one I realized I didn’t have any change or bills small enough to actually use them! The card reader wouldn’t read my card or phone either (not that I was actually expecting it to).
With no way to work the vending machines, what could we do? Instead of going back to get change from Tamie, we headed over to the cafeteria that Tamie pointed out on our way in. The place was abandoned. There was one lady mopping the floor but no one available to break a large bill… so we ended up going to get change. And umbrellas. Our wet, squeaky shoes sure impressed the flower boys who held the door for us and the silent lecture hall that we tried to sneak through. Layla yelling ‘Mom!’ when she entered was fun too.
After we got some drinks and settled into a spot beside Tamie, things seemed to settle down. Layla tried to get comfortable on me and seemed ready to fall asleep… but not before she wanted to play a game on my phone. So I discretely pulled out my phone, ensured that the volume was turned down all the way and fired up her favourite Poke-A-Mole game. They say you learn something new every day, and that day I learned that my phone has two volumes — one volume for the ringer, which I had shut off, and one for media, which was at full blast. It only took a second to turn it down, but a second of poke-a-mole music in a silent lecture hall is definitely a second too much. The best part – Layla only played one game before she curled up and fell asleep.
As I watched the lecture, I couldn’t help but think about where I’m going to be after 44 years of working for the man. Dead, most likely, but if I’m still around I hope I’m sitting on the deck of my boat with a beer in one hand and a fishing rod in the other. I certainly don’t see myself working at the same place for 44 years… Heck – in the 7 years since I graduated I’ve worked at 3 different companies in 3 different cities across 2 countries. Including co-ops, it’s 6 companies in 10 years! At that rate, I’ll be on to company 32 or 33 in another 44 years!
When the lecture was complete, a few other people stood up and gave speeches to or about the professor. One guy even made another presentation with slides and everything. When it was almost over, the back doors opened and I expected to see the two guys who’d been waiting with the bouquets… The bouquets came, but carried by two girls who brought them up and presented them to the prof and his wife. I’m not sure who they were, but in a country of booth babes, hostesses, etc, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were hired just to present the flowers. Before wrapping up completely, there was a group photo taken — the big group required a big camera!
There was a small lunch buffet served where the prof got to mingle with everyone and enjoy the photo opportunities, shaking hands and kissing babies. As Layla was the only kid there, and one not totally happy being picked up by most people, not a lot of baby-kissing took place that day. But there were photos and handshakes aplenty.
We ended up going to Machida after we left the lunch to get Layla a much-deserved ice cream parfait. Green tea ice cream at least sounds healthy, doesn’t it? =)
Saturday was Tamie’s birthday and we celebrated in class… at least that was the plan…
The girls stayed in Isehara on Friday, as Tamie had to work late and the grandparents were picking up Layla. Tamie also booked a haircut on Saturday morning so it was more convenient to just stay there. It gave me the opportunity to clean up the apartment for her birthday. How’s that for a good present, eh? The place was spotless… at least until Layla was back for more than five minutes.
For her birthday dinner, I booked a cruise on the Royal Wing in Yokohama. We headed out early to visit Motomachi for the tail end of their “Charming Sale” to let Tamie do what she does best… spend money!
After visiting a number of jewerly and clothing stores, we stopped at a cafe for fries before heading out to the docks to catch our ship. That’s when the rain started – not a huge downpour, but enough to get cold and wet.
At the dock, we noticed there were two weddings going on that night – at least, there were two girls in big, poofy white dresses at big parties… in this country, you never know if it’s a wedding dress or a fashion statement.
I picked up the tickets I reserved from the counter and the lady gave me the tickets and charged me for the meal. I was a bit surprised, as it was a lot cheaper than I was expecting, until I found out that we were booked for the buffet instead of the course dinner. No one asked when I called to make the reservation, and it was too late when I picked up the tickets – I don’t know if they just assumed I wanted the buffet because I had a kid or what, but it wasn’t exactly what I (or Tamie) had in mind. It did make things easier with Layla, though.
On board, we were shown to our table along with everyone else waiting in line. The usually polite, orderly people of Japan who line up for everything from trains to bread shops raced for the buffet. We went to grab some food, fighting young and old people alike. The chaos that ensued was ridiculous – there wasn’t even an attempt at order as people circled the buffet table in both directions, cutting into lines and reaching over each other to get egg rolls and meat buns.
During dinner, a lady entertainer came to the table and made a balloon animal for Layla. Layla watched in abject wonder and amazement mixed with a bit of fear and nervousness. She finally regained the ability to move once the show was over and the animal was Layla’s. She’s too funny sometimes.
After the meal was over (or the food was done), we headed to the “Sun Deck” to take a look around. The wind was blowing, the deck was wet and slippery, but luckily the rain didn’t pour too heavily… so it was fun, if cold. I played around with my camera while Tamie and Layla eventually went inside. I would say I took pictures, but none of them really turned out… so I “played with my camera” instead.
When all was said and done, we went and grabbed a late train home. The girls fell asleep on the train while I stood stoically after giving up my seat for an old lady. The ungrateful old bat didn’t even say thank you, as if she was expecting someone to just jump up and give her a seat… you’d think she’d have been around this country long enough to know better. No, I’m not bitter – not even after a once pregnant Tamie would complain daily about how people here would ignore her while she stood in front of the “priority” seats.
Today, we woke up late after everyone slept in… I love Sundays. We stuck around home for most of the afternoon, watching Sesame Street and playing with Layla. We headed out to the grandparents’ house for birthday celebrations with the whole family.
On the way to the house, we stopped by the local cake shop to pick up some cakes for everyone. As everyone picked out which cake they wanted, Layla pointed to the biggest one in the display. Her grandma, always anxious to spoil the kid, bought it without hesitation. Who’s birthday was it, anyways? Cake in hand, we headed back to the house where Tamie helped her mom prepare an always delicious sukiyaki meal. Beef and cake! It should be Tamie’s birthday every weekend!
So here’s hoping Tamie had as good a weekend as I did. The buffet was a tad less classy than expected and the weather could have co-operated better than it did, but overall I’d say it was a successful birthday weekend.
