Another Side of Tokyo

We took a subway and the Japan Railroad just a few stops to a street that is quite a bit different from our neighborhood! It has the atmosphere of a carnival or Las Vegas. It reminded me of New Orleans on Fat Tuesday or something like that. People everywhere - and a lot of them dressed crazily. It was NOT a good place for young missionaries to be - or old ones either - but young ones are not allowed here. Looking down the street.

I tried to get some pictures but it was hard because you don't want people to know that you are photgraphing them specifically.

This is the reason we went there - to go to the 100 Yen Store (think Dollar Tree or Family Dollar).

I tried to get a picture of someone in a mask - they are everywhere!! People are more concerned with others' health than they are about their own health (lots of smoking, etc.)

Here are some of the outfits that I had heard about (Bo Peep type things).

And full leather suits were displayed and worn. We also saw a lot of piercings. I wish I could have got this BoPeep from the front or a closer view. Actually, she looked like she was ready for a Halloween costume party!

More candid shots - lots of legs and heels and boots and bleached hair.

Buying a kabob for dinner - delicious!

School girls - wonder what they think of what they are seeing?

Must have been a huge sale going on - at least it was a huge sign!

They have people outside the shops who are yelling at you to come inside - just like the people who wave signs along State Street for various businesses.

This beautiful car was just left with the windows open and the door unlocked while the young girl went off with a guy who came up to the window and called her "Darling". I wouldn't have trusted him or leaving the car.

Here is a better picture of that fellow trying to get people to enter his shop.

And here is a better picture of someone in a mask.

I was glad to get back to our neighborhood! But "opposition in all things", right?

Temple in Tokyo

We attended a temple session (in Japanese) with twelve mission presidents from the North Asia Area including Japan, Korea, and Guam, the area presidency, the DTA (Director of Temporal Affairs)and his wife, the Area Medical Advisor and his wife, and the executive secretary and his wife. What a wonderful group of people! We felt privileged to be included in that group. It was interesting to have to deal with headphones in order to get the translation into English. Now I know how the Spanish people feel in the Chicago Temple. Wires get tangled and it is a little hard to concentrate when the Japanese language is in the background. But it was a wonderful experience and the temple is so beautiful. Each temple is decorated with items of the country. This one has very colorful stained glass windows and oriental decor everywhere. But the purpose is the same in all temples.
After the session, we all got in taxis and went to another part of Tokyo to Lawry's Restaurant which specializes in prime rib. Wow, talk about an experience! We were treated like royalty with them catering to our every need. We had a separate room and the waiters were so professional and attentive. First, we had shrimp with cocktail sauce and smoked salmon (which I think was raw but I ate it!). Next we had a roll, then a salad that they spun in front of us while pouring the dressing on it. Then came a bowl of clam chowder. The huge trays with the prime rib were then wheeled in and we were asked which cut we preferred. There was the Diamond Jim Brady which was about 500 grams, the Lawry's cut (300 grams), the California cut (180 grams) and then the Tokyo cut (150 grams). No one had the Diamond Jim. Most had the California or the Tokyo cuts. And besides this huge portion, mashed potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, creamed corn, and creamed spinach were also on the plate. After all this, raspberry trifle was served! We were very full at the end of all that.
We were able to meet all the mission presidents. We will be traveling to see them once a year starting next week with two missions in Japan. The next week, we will be going to Korea. The mission president of Busan (or Pusan as the Korean call it) is Kenneth Jennings - the father of Ken Jennings of Jeopardy fame. Whew! Like father, like son! He was so fun and knowledgeable about so many subjects. You can tell that he is brilliant. He told us all about his son's time on the show and we learned many little insights. That show is one that I always watched whenever I could and I loved the time that Ken Jennings was participating. We will actually be staying in the Jennings' home when we are in Korea in a week or so.
We took a taxi back home (in the rain). Which reminds me that there is really no "umbrella ownership" here. You just take one from the stands that are by every door when you need one and leave it at another location. You could write a book and call it "The Case of the Traveling Umbrella"!
Well, that concludes today's episode of "The Adventures of Elder and Sister Gibson"! Stay tuned!

Interesting (to me) Household Items

The kitchen sink drain ... which needs a netting to catch debris.

These are the elasticizednets that cover the drain.

The dishwasher is about 18" x 20". Big enough for about two meals worth of dishes for the two of us.

And these are the directions to use it!

This is the washer/dryer and its directions. But I got it to work - mainly by sheer luck and pushing all the buttons.

The inside of the fridge . . .

and another huge drawer for putting things in.

But this is the freezer - on the bottom. Not much room here because the ice cubes take some of the space.

This is the outside of the fridge. I am just happy to have it!

And here are the directions for sorting the garbage. Whew!

The wastebasket - half is for burnable trash plus anything that is organic. Half is for plastics. Then you also have to sort out the cardboard, the cans, the batteries, the spray cans, the glass, anything dangerous, etc. Another whew!!

Every kitchen needs a rice cooker - haven't tried it yet. That looks like it will make a LOT of rice.

And our gas stove top.

This is a little broiler to cook fish, etc.

The inside of the oven - see, I told you that cookie sheets won't fit in it!

They did trade out our microwave to this one that is simpler to use - the other one was also an oven and much too complicated for me.

And we have an ironing board that is on the back of the bedroom door - very handy.

We are so lucky to live in such a nice place. It is becoming more and more familiar and we do appreciate living here.

More Wonders of Japan

Look at this telephone that is in the Annex of the Temple. These are the women who were at Institute today. Some come on the train for an hour and a half! This was the last meeting of the season and we had a nice lunch afterwards. There are women of all nationalities. The teacher today was French .

The Swiss Embassy is very near the temple. There are so many embassies around - I looked in our atlas and it lists over 150.

This is the Norwegian Embassy.

How would you like to have to use this fire escape?

Here is the Lamborghini showroom that is near our apartment. You see so many beautiful cars here - expensive ones.

And tons of motorcycles.

This is a city of skyscrapers. Makes Chicago look small and Salt Lake dinky!

This is a parking meter box - I guess you put the money in here somewhere.

All the school kids wear uniforms and look so smart. These girls were coming out of school about 6 o'clock and headed for the subway. Must be long days for them.

There are bikes everywhere. Some are locked and some aren't.

This is a view of the Church Office Building (called the Presiding Bishop's Office or PBO). The whole building is owned by the Church.

More school kids after a long day.

The old and the modern co-exist everywhere here. This old shrine is in the midst of huge buildings.

And we are home from our walk!

Tomorrow is a mission presidents' conference of all the missions in the North Asia Area and Dad will be introducing himself. Then we will go to the temple with them. And then to dinner!

Familiar Sights

Thought I would show you my decorative shelving display. All these dishes and fun things were in a storage place. It was fun to put them out so we can enjoy them. Notice our little book that contains the messages and pictures from our family. We love looking at it - a touch of home.I put these pictures up on a wall so we can see our family every day. We love all of you! Today on our walk, I took some pictures of things that reminded me of home. Haven't been to McDonald's yet but it is nearby.

There is even a Baskin-Robbins! The National grocery store is where you can buy almost anything and it is labled in English.

It was even fun to see the Dunlop Tire store. Think I will ever be able to read the Japanese characters??

And of course, Starbucks is everywhere.

We bought a Tokyo atlas today so that we can expand our walking area without getting lost (or at least "as lost"). The streets wind and curve to fit where they were able to put buildings. It is actually very charming. You walk down lots of "alleys" that are really streets. You feel like you are invading people's space but they don't seem to mind if you are just a foot or two from their property. And you find shops and vending machines right in residential neighborhoods. We love looking out our window and watching people walk by or ride by on their bikes or motorbikes. Cars also manage to negotiate the narrow streets. This is not suburbia!

We had our entrance interview with President Stevenson yesterday. He is the North Asia Area President. He is young (compared to us). He seems very nice and says he is glad we are here. He served as a mission president in Japan earlier.

We also had a FHE with the other senior couples. We are the newbies but not for long. Several of them are leaving in June and we will be the "experienced" ones! We have had very good mentors and hope we can help those who come to replace them.