LIFE IN JAPAN 2003-2005

Well I really had to start the Japan blog with a shot of Mount Fuji or Kinkakuji and since we didn't make it to Mount Fuji...

Unfortunately one of our hard drives died and took about 18 months worth of digital pictures we had taken. Jenn and I bought a film SLR and pretty well forgot about our digital point-and-shoot so we don't have any digital pictures from 2004. We have 1000s of shots on film but I have not scanned them yet.

So what was it like to live in Japan for 2 1/2 years. Well we struggled and grew and were bewildered and annoyed and felt intense kindness from the most unlikely people and places. We ate delectably strange food and were able to travel to places most North Americans scarcely have heard of.

But what we most cherish from Japan is the people...our beautiful friends.

Goodbye Annge and Megan...

I believe the reason for the above get-together was one of the many sayonara (a.k.a. goodbye) parties for the many fantastic people we met who had decided to move on. Although this appears to be a "bad turnout" party, let me reassure you that the eight of us were plenty crowded in our tiny apartment, not to mention our bed to get this shot. (the people you don't know from left to right are Annge, Autumn, Jen, Megan, Edwin and Sarah)

Below is the Yoshida triplets. From left to right, Kyoko, Ayaka and Mitsuki. Our most loved and terribly missed relationships from Japan also includes their mother Tsukiko. The Yoshida family literally brought us into their home and enriched our time in Japan in a way that is difficult to explain.

Now if you don't know who the characters are below they are Dave and Nina Prideaux. Our lives changed after meeting Dave and Nina in the most positive way and they will always be an inspiration to us.

Speaking of people there were lots of people we didn't know and a Sunday afternoon in Umeda made that pretty clear. As a trivial pursuit tidbit of information the hallway I took this photo in is the same hallway where Andy Garcia lost is jacket and passport to the Japanese Yakuza (Mafia) in the movie Black Rain with Micheal Douglas.

The most popular place to have your photo taken at night in Osaka is on the Dotomburi bridge near Shinsaibashi. So when the 'rents came for a visit they also had to have their picture taken on the bridge. While Mum and Dad Smith were in the land of the rising sun, we made our way to Hiroshima. We arrived late and could not get in to a cramped and socially acceptable hotel so we found our way to the 'LOVE HOTEL' district and got a couple rooms. Because family homes in Japan tend to house 2-4 generations of a family, privacy is at a premium so people use love hotels for 'alone time'. It's not in any way dodgy like by-the-hour hotels in North America and the rooms were ENORMOUS.

Back to the real reason for our visit. Here is a shot of the A-bomb Dome. The two following shots are models of before and after to show the massive and complete decimation of the city If you want to see castles, come to Japan.

Himeji Jo (Jo means castle)

Osaka Jo Osaka tower in Tenoji

Our lovely Sakaemachi. Look no further for all your Hostess Bar need and the local grocery store.

Smoke and mirrors and who knows what.

The KIX airport is built in the middle of the ocean 3 km out from the main land. We have seen documentaries on the engineering that went into building the island and building and it is truly amazing. Even if it is still sinking!!!!

If they can build an island in the ocean and plop an international airport on it, why not build an office building around a highway off ramp???? That's right. Buses, trucks and cars drive right through that building.

Since Jenn and I lived in Juso (which means 13 and also means Love Hotel district) we had to walk through the streets and pass the 'hostess bar' touts trying to lure men into spending money and women into 'taking pictures' WINK WINK.

But the hostess bar below was just for Japanese. Imagine if the word Japanese was changed to WHITES. That way of thinking is why it would be so hard to make Japan your home if you're a 'Gaijin' (outsider).

But even with it's flaws the sun sets on Japan and the beauty and culture remain intriguing and unbelievable and we will always have a special place in our hearts for Japan and its people.

KYRA - FOR YOUR LOVE WE THANK YOU

This Blog is dedicated to Johanna Welker.

Her love, courage, commitment and generosity allowed us to share so much more of Kyra's life.

She was born on August 24th 1991 and given to a family that named her Kyra.

When she was just nine months old this family decided they didn’t want a dog like Kyra cause she was kinda like a cat, personality-wise. We went to see her and how could we not take her home and love her to bits. Just look at her!!!!! So that’s what we did.

Kyra has been with us since nearly the beginning of US and even for those periods when there was no US there was still Kyra.

Kyra didn’t bark, she didn’t like chasing balls, she would perform a trick only once before becoming bored and scoffing at us when we asked her to do it again. She wasn’t often cuddly and walked away the minute she had had enough. She moaned at us when we made too much noise while she was trying to sleep and acted like she could care less (after an initial sniff) when we walked through the door.

But she was a gift from heaven and we love her just for being Kyra.

One thing that would get her excited was when we brought out her leash. She loved when we lived near Victoria Park and would take the path all the way around. At the beginning of our walk she would pull & pull & pull.

Then, it was almost like she instinctively knew the humans had hit their halfway point and that we were completing that second half of the loop, which meant only one thing…WE WERE HEADING HOME!

Her pace would instantly turn to a slow, sleuth-like dawdle, where every little scent was worth a good 1-2

minute nose investigation.

She also loved the snow and it was something you couldn’t tear her away from. She would bound through the white stuff and stick her nose deep in it trying to track down the source of some smell.

Kyra was relaxed or laid back or lazy depending on your point of view but then from out of nowhere she would have a nuclear burst of energy and rip around the house like a psyche patient.

And even after years of being on Senior Diet Dog Food people still mistook her for a puppy because she had this child-like prance to her step.

But the years eventually catch up to everyone as they have with Kyra too. So this Blog is to celebrate her life and how she enriched the lives of everyone who loved her.

What are you lookin at?

What do you smell Kyra Belle?

Some of Kyra's closest friends. Human and K9.

Kyra could be thoughtful

Sorry Agnes. She doesn't play Barbies.

She could look right through you sometimes.

She loved kissing babies

Gorgeous!

Peaceful.

Our Brown Eyed Girl.

I'm ready for my walk...PLEASE!!!

So many smells in the snow. Thats an adventure.

Here's what we call the "Siberian Donut".

Kyra lying on her favourite rug.

Her tail says "I'm excited and ready to play".

Walk for as long as you like Kyra.

We love you!

08.24.91-10.19.06

PICTURES OF OUR HK HOOD

As requested, here are some shots of the streets of Hong Kong and what we see outside our door everyday.

Well what is outside our door? A bakery, karaoke bar, HSBC bank, lingerie shop, breakfast restaurant, and the list goes on. Here is Jenn standing on our street followed by a rainy night shot from a tram pulling into the closest stop to our building.

Below is a shot of a tram pulling into the tram stop. The trams are our favourite way to travel on the island. They have no air con and are rickety and noisy but they only cost $2 HKD which is about 30 cents Canadian and if you climb up to the top deck the higher view gives you a different perspective of the streets.

Here is a shot taken on the Star Ferry which travels from the Mainland or Kowloon side of Hong Kong to the Island side (the Island side is known as, you guessed it Hong Kong Island). Riding the ferry allows you to see just how busy the harbour really is. With barges, cruise liners, fishing boats, luxury cruisers, Chinese junks, house boats, the ferry you're sitting on, ...

To take this shot of Jenn I hung the camera out the window and used the widest angle lens I had at the moment. We were riding the tram just to see how far it went. It turned out to be a pretty relaxing journey and as I said before, dirt cheap!!!

The reason I took the following shots was to show the Hong Kong Island skyline and focus on the Panasonic building. The Panasonic Building is a little too far East of Central, which is where all the Sky Scraping business towers are, to be in most of the published pictures of Hong Kong. But if you get a panoramic shot look for the Panasonic building and you'll be pretty much looking at where we live.

Although it looks as though the sun is setting between these two towers, in reality the bright light is just a reflection of the sun by a third building. I thought is was a cool shoot and it also showed a typical Friday evening traffic jam.

Many people who have uprooted and moved away tend to compare their new environment with where they grew up. This is not untrue where we are concerned but our comparison conversations tend to focus on Japan and HK. And I'm sorry to say it but Japan is losing big time. The HUGE park pictured below on a glorious blue sky day has tennis courts, basketball courts, a roller-blading rink, running and walking paths, soccer fields, benches(where the hell were the benches in Japan????), pool and a polo field. Oh yeah it also has trees ... lots of trees(where the hell were the trees in Japan????).

Now yes there are parks in HK but it is a big city too and longest set of escalators in the world can be found in HK. They start in Central and climb all the way up to the top of the Mid Levels. Now it's not one continuous escalator and in the morning they go down but it is a cruisy ride and I couldn't imagine what it would be like having to climb the hill everyday. It is pretty steep.

And that's where we live. There is so much to HK that I would be uploading photos for ages just to give a small two dimensional impression of the city. To be here is a gift for both Jenn and I and even though we miss our friends and families terribly(and you're all welcome to stay with us) we will be better people because of our experiences.

Much Love

DandJ