TUNE IN TOKYO

A few Pictures

2011-07-30T14:31:00.004-04:00

Sorry haven't updated in a while. I can't really sit at the computer for a very long time and I get distracted...

Here are some new pictures:

A couple videos!

2011-07-27T20:41:00.001-04:00

Jason is standing

2011-06-09T15:16:00.005-04:00

And helping sort laundry

waving at me

Here he is-standing in the #1 place I do not want him to stand.
Dishwasher is the #2 worst place

#3 is this table. Above he is looking quite innocent. Below happened this morning. Needless to say the table will probably be removed.So we have an 8 month old climber on our hands. Yikes

Springtime in New York

2011-05-05T08:16:00.007-04:00

I haven't really had much to blog about since the earthquake in Japan. I wanted to write about how that made me feel but it all got so jumbled that I just couldn't really do it.

Spring has made me miss Japan a ton! It's such a great time of year in Japan with the cherry blossoms and great weather. Everything comes to life. I can't believe that a year ago right now we were packing up and doing our "lasts" and getting ready to move back to the USA. I can't believe in the blink of an eye that country is once again hit with such terrible devastation. I can't believe we lived there!

Kevin, Jason and I have been going to Central Park practically every time the weather is nice. Jason now goes in the swings which is cute. I also go with some Mom friends I have made, so I am spending lots of time outside. I love that we are only 2 blocks from the park but I just have to say it- It does not hold a candle to Yoyogi Park. Now I know that probably nothing ever will.

But don't get me wrong, New York is still cool. I have been loving the neighborhood we decided to live in. It feels very neighborly. Our dry cleaner and little bodega lady always want to talk about Jason. People in our building are chatty. I've made some new friends. Never in a million years did I think I would live in Japan, but I am equally shocked that I am a stay at home mom in New York City.

And this past weekend I finally got a reason to do a post. Something that I would have done a post on if I were in Japan. We walked up to a puppet show on the street already in progress to the song "Sara Smile" by Hall and Oates. I couldn't get the video going until he was well into "You are so Beautiful"

The music selection was glorious.

This restored me. It gave me inspiration to carry my camera around again. The reason I had so much to write about in Japan (other than the fact that it is 10 times more interesting than America and Americans) is because I always had my camera. I was always documenting the random crap people do all day.

So I have a mid-year resolution. To treat New York City the way I did Japan.

I will start with a few featured stories coming up will highlight the "regulars" in Central Park

Stay Tuned!

Here is a vid of Jason's first time in the swing

A couple videos

2011-04-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

Of Jason scooting around!

Blabbering away

I'll do a real blog post soon.

2011-03-16T13:35:00.001-04:00

Ugghhhh

2011-03-15T16:53:00.001-04:00

From NY magazine today

Mom Sues Upper East Side Preschool for Ruining Her Daughter’s Chances at the Ivy League

* 3/15/11 at 09:30 AM

Of course a Manhattan mother is suing her daughter's Upper East Side preschool for failing to prepare her 4-year-old for the Ivy League. And of course her lawyers actually used the phrase "getting a child into the Ivy League starts in nursery school" in their lawsuit. The mom, Nicole Imprescia, says York Avenue Preschool's crime (presumably besides the $19,000-a-year tuition) was forcing little Lucia to spend too much time with 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. Slackers, no doubt. Imprescia says the school should have been focused on preparation for the ERB, an admissions exam required by almost all elite private elementary schools. "Indeed," the suit alleges, "the school proved not to be a school at all but just one big playroom." Imprescia yanked her daughter out after just three weeks and wants her money back, despite a no-refund policy. But we're not sure what she's so worried about. Clearly Lucia's heartwarming personal essay about a young girl's struggle to get out from under her mother's overbearing ways and overcome the stigma of this lawsuit will get her entrée into any ivy-covered institution.

Our laughing baby

2011-03-06T19:34:00.001-05:00

OK baby products industry, you win this time...

2011-02-05T10:22:00.009-05:00

Unfortunately we do not have door frames so a simple johnny jump up or whatever they are called was not possible. Instead we now have this thing sitting in our living room:
Dude.
It's a huge piece of magical plastic. It bounces. It rotates. It lights up. It plays "Pop goes the weasel" endlessly to the point I was dreaming about it last night. This is exactly the type of thing that had me running out of Babies R Us scared when I was pregnant. It's exactly what I said I would never buy. It's also exactly and precisely the perfect thing for a baby that wants to stand up pretty much all day long and can't yet. We put Jason in here and he can't even touch the floor yet but was so excited about it. He went crazy!

So baby products industry, you won this time. I feel defeated.

But I also feel clean, because I can put him in it while I take a shower.

I need to name this thing. Our friends Justin and Annie called their play mat "Baby Vegas" because it lights up and plays music. This is even more crazy! It's like "Baby Vegas-clubbing-at- a-5am-dance-party".

Oh speaking of clubbing, Jason digs rap music. Specifically Danger Doom and Outkast. So I am just going to have to ditch the "Pop goes the Weasel" and start playing music to allow Jason to refine his dance moves.

Here are a few other recent pictures:

After the storm last week, cars were buried:

reaching for the mobile

reaching for the camera

reaching for beer
foot in mouth
My knee in his mouth

Jason now flips over and sleeps on his face. Not on his stomach, mind you. His face. So although he is sleeping 11 hours at night now I am waking up to check on him...

That's it for now.

Here is a video of Jason Razzing:

Big differences

2011-01-20T16:58:00.005-05:00

4 day old Jason

4 month old Jason

4 day old Jason

4 Month old Jason

4 day old Jason

4 Month old Jason

4 day old Jason

4 Month old Jason

Milestones

2011-01-13T14:59:00.019-05:00

Happy New Year!

Jason is almost 4 months and has started off the new year right...with a few milestones. He is now sleeping from 8:30pm-7:00am without a feeding. Yay baby! Now I just need to teach my body to get some sleep again!

His hair now, well, exists! I like to call it business in the front, party on top, bald in back.
He has started grabbing EVERYTHING within reach and putting it directly in his mouth. Yesterday he chewed so much on his own hand that his gum started bleeding. He didn't even notice! I mean, that's a little obnoxious! He also likes to stand. Even when we burp him.
And last but not least, he is rolling over. From back to front...a lot! In a 24 hour period he went from doing it once or twice to doing it non-stop. The highlight was last night from about 4am-6am pretty consistently. The problem is that he turns over and is in push up sort of position, but then wont lie down. So it sort of cancels out the sleeping through the night thing that we had just nailed down if he wakes up like that every fifteen minutes. yikes.

One of the first roll overs

Less then 24 hours later...notice the increased speed.

We went home for Christmas in Utah for 2 weeks and had a great time!!! Jason saw the grandparents, great grandparents and a bunch of aunts, uncles and friends. He even met his dog family-cousin Tommy the bulldog, Uncle Wally the pug and Aunt Molly the Border Collie.

Meeting the Great Grandparents
The best shirt ever

similar napping positions

my favorite present under the tree

two Santas and an elf

4 generations of Mosses

We also saw our friends and had 4 outstanding ski days. It was great snow for December but I didn't take my camera up.

Oh I almost forgot a few pictures from just before X mas on our walk in NYC:

All in one day we hit Central Park, The Big Tree, Times Square and the most amazing wolf sweater ever.

This is how I carry Jason around when he's not in the stroller.
For all the time we have spent in nature we have never seen a hawk catch a mouse in the wild...yet we saw it that day in Central Park. The mouse is in his mouth still alive.
We had also never seen so many people dressed up as Santa. Probably a few thousand. It was some sort of Santa Bar Crawl that happens every year in a different city.

See what I mean?

I don't think I can top that last picture so I'll just stop now.

A New York Day

2010-12-09T11:14:00.011-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! There are X mas trees for sale on the sidewalk in front of the delis on the upper west side.
I had a very New Yorkish sort of day. On the subway a Mariachi Band was playing Feliz Navidad. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE the mariachi bands on the subway. I save my change in ziplock bags to give them whenever I see them. Best thing about NY subways. Actually, it might be the only good thing.

I was going to Macy's to return something. Ah, Herald Square. The bell ringers were singing and it was very "Xmas in New York" People bundled up singing "Baby it's Cold Outside" (it was!!!) as an old man walked by me with no coat eating an ice cream cone. What?

Then I got IN to Macy's. I KNEW what I was getting myself into but I figured better on a Wed than a Sat. Except Macy's apparently has a 1 days sale EVERY FREAKING DAY. The shoppers were everywhere! Lines everywhere and security guards were monitoring both the escalators and elevators. I wasn't even trying to use the elevators (I was wearing Jason in the baby carrier-As far as I'm concerned Macys at Christmas time is a no stroller zone) but I was still informed by a rather cranky fat woman sitting on her stool that she carries around that I can't take the elevator because I don't have a stroller. I was like, "Hey, I'm just trying to get into a normal cash register line!"

Now that I am not working as a Buyer, I am, for the first time since graduating college (Japan didn't count-that was la la land and frankly out of this world), looking at Christmas with a new set of eyes. Walking through the largest department store in America all I could think was, "So you are the people who actually buy this shit" Before it was numbers and $ on a computer screen that I would check on Monday mornings...and at Christmastime I was working on next summer's orders. I'm not saying I don't X mas shop, I do! But I definitely steer clear of malls and crowds and cologne sprayers and stuff.

EVERYONE was there to see Santa. I have never seen such miserable people in my entire life. Crying kids, bitching adults, grandmothers yelling at their daughters, Moms spanking their kids and making threats about Santa not coming. Some of the brattiest kids ever. If I were Santa I think I would steer clear of Macy's Herald Sq.

THANK GOD JASON doesn't know any of this exists yet. I need more mental preparation time. He was just asleep in his carrier, like a little X mas peanut.

Today was also the 30th anniversary of the John Lennon tragedy. So I of course walked over to Strawberry Fields in Central Park to check out the scene. It was the same as his birthday-I couldn't get anywhere close to the mosaic, despite how bitter cold it was. The big difference was this time the whole side street near the mosaic across from The Dakota was closed down and lined with police and news trucks.

It's pretty cliche to hear Imagine at the Imagine mosaic...but I have to admit, this was really neat.

But it's not without it's humor. Directly in front of me is Fox 5 news trying to figure out the placement of their shot. Towards the end you hear her talking about breaking a heel...

THEN we have the lady busting in on the Fox 5 news ladies bit. She is literally talking to the News chick WHILE the story is going on (at the 45 sec mark on this next video) I think she was drunk. She is blabbering on about being from Connecticut and a huge music fan and finally after the news lady couldn't hear her cues, the cop came and escorted her away! Too funny.

As I was leaving the crescent moon was in the trees and looked like the Cheshire Cat. I love when it does that.

The day ended with a "New York" version of a good Samaritan. A man kicked a lady's car on my behalf. I had the walk signal and was crossing the street and a car turned in front of me. But I had my stroller so this guys who saw it all took it upon himself to kick the woman's car and yell at her on my behalf.

The Christmas spirit is all around.

Xtreme Eating 2010

2010-12-07T09:10:00.001-05:00

This is so disgusting. The PF Chang dish has over 7000mg of salt!

Xtreme Eating 2010

a couple vids

2010-11-29T14:30:00.002-05:00

Jason is now giggling and finding his hands. Sounds like he sucked some helium:

Here is a video of Jason on his stomach.

Shrek is currently taking a nap on 77th street

2010-11-24T15:18:00.007-05:00

Today they are blowing the balloons up for the Macy's Parade just 6 blocks from our apt, so Jason and I took a walk down to check it out.

Santa is helping carry balloons in this year's parade. I think he's doing it to scout the neighborhood out before his big appearance.
snoopy

The anime ballon that was, of course, my favorite. It was kaikai or kiki or something...SUGOI!
Kung fu Panda

Jason's favorite, the Pillsbury Dough boy wasn't blown up yet, so we might go back tonight when Kevin gets home from work.

Here are Jason's 2 month pictures I took:

Fall in NY

2010-11-17T15:34:00.006-05:00

Grandma Moss aka "Janny" came to meet Jason. We had a great time walking around the park and the Upper West Side...

Jason took a two hour nap on her

The colors in the park have been gorgeous! Can you believe I didn't touch this photo up at all?

I am going to start getting around the city more now so I think I'll start posting some non baby pics here again someday soon.

In the meantime though, here is a smiley video

cute jason

2010-11-09T17:50:00.001-05:00

A couple videos

2010-11-04T10:17:00.004-04:00

I have decided that Jason is perfect for me because I am easily entertained

Jason smiling at Domo Kun

I am quite certain that play-mats and mobiles are a psychedelic experience for Jason. He looks so googly eyed when he is on his play-mat!

Jason all bundled up

Nothin Says Lovin....

2010-11-01T17:57:00.006-04:00

...like baby Jason in a Pillsbury Dough Boy Costume.

We decided to dress Jason up as the Dough Boy. Not so much because he is doughy (he is not) but because he makes the "hee heee!" noise quite often now.
He pretty much makes the dough boy noise anytime he is not forced into wearing an adult sized chef hat: He here is after crying about it like a little girl and submitting to his fate of being strolled around the Upper West Side for people to squeal at.

This is his "You guys are a couple of jerks" face
It got really cold out there in the evening but it didn't stop all the Upper West Side kids from Trick or Treating! There were SOOOO many kids out!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Jason

2010-10-27T09:23:00.011-04:00

I realized I had a couple blog posts I never posted.

Jason has been hanging out with us for a few weeks now and I can't believe how great it is and how much our lives just changed over night! There have definitely been moments of chaos, but when I think about the overall picture so far, it's going really well.

Birth story:
Jason arrived 2 days early (determined to be a Virgo-funny because as a Virgo, he will spend his whole life rolling his eyes and not believing my sun sign assessments of him) on Sunday, Sep 19th at about noon after 28 hours of labor. Yeah, that was REALLY long! I went into labor Sat morning at about 9am. It woke me up and it wasn't that dramatic at all. I literally thought, "huh. I think I'm in labor" and waited for Kev to wake up to tell him. I was surprisingly calm in the month leading up to giving birth-don't really know why.

It was all about distractions to survive that long a labor. I spent the whole day and much of the night at home before cabbing it to the hospital at about 1:30 am on Sunday. My goal was to not go to the hospital until contractions were 3 mins apart and that's what I did. It was pretty intense.

Highlights of the experience included Kevin and I watching Karate Kid...the final scene going on right as contractions were getting unbearable. We were timing contractions and Kevin is going, "Put him in a body bag Johnny!" and I am cracking up laughing and trying not to scream at the same time. Sort of like laughing and sneezing at the same time. Laughing through contractions, it turns out, is not really possible.

Kevin was an amazing partner through everything. At the end of it all I had to push for 3 hours and Kevin was so awesome and supportive. I had the birth experience I wanted (other than being too long) and he was such an important part of it. When Jason was born I heard Kevin yell, "It's a boy! We have a baby boy!" I have never seen Kevin so excited in my whole life.

Not knowing if it was a boy or girl was so freaking awesome. Our doctor didn't even know so we all couldn't wait to find out who was taking so long in there.... At one point in between contractions she goes, "I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl! " like she was one of our friends. Up until that point I thought she knew and was just keeping the secret because she had done an ultrasound at 36 weeks. Kevin, the Nurse and the Doctor were all cheering me on at end like there was a football game going on in the room! Everyone was yelling and so excited.

The only person not making noise was Jason-he didn't cry when he was born. They put him on me right away and I think Jason and I were both in shock. Seriously, I could not believe what had just happened. They wrapped him up like a burrito for me. It was love at first sight. This is right after they wrapped him up.
We spent the normal 2 days in the hospital and then took him home in a cab. Once we were home for about 5 minutes , Kevin and I looked at each other and one of us said, "Now what do we do?" Seriously, does everyone say that? How could you not? We were totally clueless. Here he is when we got home.

Here he is now:

He has gotten bigger and started collected chins.

We are still clueless, but not really. You just figure things out. The nurturing side of us just sort of appeared out of nowhere. We both suddenly know how to rock a crying newborn to sleep even though neither of us had ever held a newborn. Neither of us changed diapers before and we have figured that out too. (We have both been peed on several times)

He is constantly changing. Everyday he makes a new noise, facial expression or gets a little stronger. I didn't expect that he'd be this busy. He is constantly moving while he's awake. He is starting to roll over when on this tummy and we are getting a few smiles which are SO CUTE. He seems amused by me babbling at him all the time. Or maybe he's getting sick of me. He'll cry and I'll pick him up and he looks like he's thinking, "Oh great, it's this chick again"

So far he likes the Beatles, James Taylor and Paul Simon. He will be introduced to The Dead momentarily. Oh and Kevin played some Motley Crew for him the other night....luckily he slept through it:

This was taken yesterday after discovering the elephant
Here he is grumpy that there is nothing but crap on TV
I can't believe he'll be 6 weeks old this Sunday! Time is flying!

Here is a video of Jason and the elephant

one more

More on "the rent is too damn high party"

2010-10-21T12:50:00.004-04:00

Thank goodness this was put on You Tube! This is what Kevin and I saw live on TV the other night. So amazing. And like I said before-the gloves!

I registered to vote yesterday because of this.

Also:

"Rent Is Too Damn High" Candidate Registered As A Democrat

By: NY1 News

There's word gubernatorial Jimmy McMillan’s voter registration doesn't help his "Rent is Too Damn High" Party.

The 64-year old Vietnam vet was quick to repeat his party name over and over during the debate, but documents show he is really a registered Democrat.

While “The Rent is Too Damn High” Party will not be on a ballot, McMillan could have registered as an independent.

This hasn't stood in the way of McMillan getting his moment in the spotlight this week, after his rapid-fire responses at the seven-way debate this week, and his catchy music on his website. A YouTube clip of McMillan at the debate has already gotten more than a million hits.

He also confessed to the New York Times yesterday that he doesn't actually pay rent under a deal with his landlord to do maintenance work in his building.

One more Jason video

2010-10-20T13:10:00.001-04:00

Jason is 1 month old

2010-10-19T23:24:00.002-04:00

Today he went to the DR and he has grown 1 inch in 2 weeks! He now weighs 9lbs 6oz.

Here are a couple videos of him:

The rent is too damn high party

2010-10-18T19:40:00.005-04:00

Kevin just busted up laughing because we are watching the debate for NY governor. One of the parties is called "The rent is too damn high party" Of course I immediately looked it up.

His name is Jimmy McMillan. So far his answer to every question he turns around and ends up talking about the rent being too damn high.

check out this website!
McMillan for Governor

Here is a pic of him- he is debating right now and wearing gloves for some reason

Also in the running is Kristen Davis- the madam who got the call girls for Elliot Spitzer. She looks like that's where she's headed right after this debate!

And don't even get me started on Paladino.

I love America. I am heading to the DMV on Wednesday to get my "Moss" License(and because I love to torture myself at government offices) and I will now be registering to vote that day too. How can I not?!?!?!

Most ridiculous commercial I've seen since being back in the USA

2010-10-17T13:38:00.003-04:00

Other than all the prescription drug commercials where the people are doing random crap like going to high school reunions, trying on wedding dresses and other stuff that has nothing to do with the actual product they are taking...

I seriously can't believe this is real.

Here is the WEBSITE

Nazz-Moss now Moss-Moss

2010-10-13T10:53:00.016-04:00

Well, a year after giving up my freedom...errrr.... I mean getting married, I gave something else up-the name Nazzaro. I have officially changed my last name to Moss after much harassment by friends and family. At least I am in good company-all the Mosses I am associated with are great!

The reason I am writing about it is to describe the "Seinfeld Episode-like" experience that it was to get my name changed in NYC. This, like the apartment hunting story, can only really be believed if you go through it yourself, but I have to tell the story because, well, I am my father's daughter. I really don't expect many people to read this-but I had to document it.

First of all, it's not that I was on some soap box about changing my last name. I thought I would care more (in that I thought I would NEVER want to change it, lose my identity, take the man's name, etc) but when it came down to it, I didn't really give a crap. I liked Nazzaro because it was so unique, but my identity has been completely turned on it's head in the last few years anyway, so whatever...the truth was that I didn't go through the process when we got married because I didn't want to deal with passport changes and identification issues from Tokyo, where I didn't even have a visa...

I was in no particular hurry to change my last name either. Again, who really cares? But Kevin kept saying things like, "Well, our baby will be Moss and I am Moss and everyone will be like, "Who's that lady with them?"" So I just decided to take care of it while I had time.

So fast forward to moving back to NY. I waited until we were at our permanent address and looked online to see what needed to be done. Here is what the website says.

Go down to the courthouse. Bring $65, a couple forms of ID, and the application form.

That's it- It sounds simple!!! I also went ahead and filled out the social security card app and drivers license app while I was at it. Maybe I could do this all in one day ! I promise I wasn't high when I had that notion. But I was pregnant which must have killed off some brain cells. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

So I get to the courthouse. Lady takes all my info, puts together "my case" and gives me a court date for about 3 weeks later. An actual court date. In a court room. With a judge. The website said NOTHING about a court date! hmmm, I thought. This is going to be a "New York experience"

So three weeks later I show up to court with about 20 other people who, for various reasons, want their names changed too. And really, do I want to know the reason? No. But we were all in there together, like an episode of Night Court. With a judge wearing a robe. One girl was being stalked and wanted to change her name. Is that any of my business? No! I don't get why this couldn't be done one on one by the original lady on day 1!

I was then informed by the person playing "Bull" in my "Night Court Fantasy" that I would need to have my name change published. Once published, I should return to court within 90 days with the Affidavit, and only then is it legally changed and I can buy certified copies to then get a social security card, license blah blah blah...Specifically, I must publish this in the New York Beacon Newspaper. Again, no mention of this on their handy effing website! Thank you State of New York!

So the next day I call the NY Beacon thinking I can do this over the phone, with a credit card. I mean, this is America!

Wrong again! The lady who answered said I would either need to hand deliver or send a money order for $37. So I went down to the NY Beacon. Why trust another agency (mail) at this point.

Okay, this is a newspaper, so I was expecting a fairly large operation. Nope! The NY Beacon is a one room office located in the garment district. The lady who answered the phone was THE. ONLY. PERSON. WORKING. THERE. Her name is Edna. I think this is a phony publication that exists in cahoots with the state to collect money for people's name changes. Seriously google them! They don't even have a website!

So I paid my $37 and got a hand written receipt. Here it is:

Edna told me it would be published the following Thursday and the following Friday I could either pick up the Affidavit or she would mail it.

So I wanted this changed before having the baby so I wouldn't have to go back down to the courthouse with Jason. However that Friday was thee Friday before my due date. As it was I went into labor that Sat! So I said "Edna, please mail it, I could be in labor then."

Fast forward to the Friday. I was not in labor. I woke up and thought, "I am going to call that nice lady aka: sole employee of NY Beacon and see if she mailed it already. If not, I will go down and get that affidavit"

So I called when they opened and once again spoke to Edna. Here is the conversation I had.

Me (after explaining who I was/situation) : "can I come pick up the affidavit?"

Edna: If I told you you could pick it up then you can pick it up.

Me: Like I just explained, I had asked you to mail it- I just thought if you hadn't mailed it yet today I could come pick it up if it's not too much trouble.

Edna: If I told you I would mail it then I mailed it.

Me: So you mailed it then?

Edna: If I said I did, I did.

Me: But did you? Because your office just opened and you said you would mail it Friday morning and well, it's Friday morning right now. Can you remember if you mailed it?
(in the last 5 freaking minutes! Seriously is this conversation happening?)

Edna: (big sigh) Let me check.
(Gee thanks for getting off your ass and walking the 2 feet to the other side of the room-I have been in this office-I know how big it is!)

Edna: It's not here

Me: It's not here as in it's just not there or it's mailed?
(ANSWER THE QUESTION! DID YOU MAIL IT!? Or is it lost?)

Edna: I must have mailed it last night. Sometimes I do that.

Couldn't she have said that to begin with? Seriously, I just lived in Japan for 3 years and it was easier to communicate there! This is when the Seinfeld rental car episode started going through my head.

So I received the Affidavit in the mail a few days after Baby Jason was born. I waited for my parents to get in town and went down to the courthouse in between feeding Jason to turn in the Affidavit. There I met the jolly guy behind the window-the final person standing between me and my new last name. All I needed to do was pay this guy for certified copies. But not before I had this final interaction:

Guy behind window: Hey! It's Kate Moss! Nudging lady in window next to him. Kate Moss is here! Hey Kate Moss, have you been doing any modeling lately? Have you been in WWD lately? Ha ha ha! Kate Moss!

(I'm thinking -Wow, I have NEVER heard that before. What are you, a comedian? Katie, just be patient, you are almost done. This guy is the last hurdle. Don't mess it up by being a smart ass)

Talking about models led him to telling me about the Barkers beauty that Bob Barker slept with and then fired while on Price is Right. He said that is the reason why I shouldn't sleep with any older men.

THAT led him to talking about the Sex and the City Episode where Samantha sleeps with someone tons older and doesn't realize just how old he was until she gets a look at him naked the next day.

THAT led him to telling me he has daughters my age and Samantha was too young for him.

THAT led him to telling me the story of taking his son to the auto show a few years back and watching this old dappered up guy buy his hot young arm candy a brand new Bentley at the auto show and paid with a check on the spot so he got $50,000 off the price of the car. He had never seen anything like it before, but he loves going to the auto shows.

He ended with, "Good luck Kate Moss- hope to see you in a magazine soon!"

So now my name is Moss. I also spent 3 hours at the Social Security office turning in my app for a new card. I have yet to get my driver's license. Yikes.

Baby Pictures

2010-10-12T19:10:00.012-04:00

Jason is now 3 weeks old! Sorry I haven't had a chance to update this before now. Talk about life changing! But I will go into one of my long drawn out blogs about that later-I know everyone wants to see pictures.

Here are some starting with what I took today:Does anyone else get "head" quotes from "So I Married and Axe Murderer" in their head when they see that picture. He has some serious neck muscles to hold that up!

Jason's first "event". John Lennon's 70th birthday sing along at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. It was cool. Hundreds of people singing Beatles songs. I have never seen the Imagine Mosaic so busy! I am hoping it solidified the Beatles as one of Jason's favorite bands. He seemed to be liking it.

He has also been to a Greek restaurant and a Jewish deli so far. Just trying to make sure he has good taste in food.
People brought paintings, flowers, candles, etc

Jason's first bath given by Mutti. The Nazzaro grandparents were out for almost 2 weeks. It was great having them here to keep me sane my first few days home while Kevin was at work.

FYI- Trying to organize a photo shoot is next to impossible

Joining the Central Park stroller mafia

first day home!
snuggle bug
More soon, I promise!

A few pics

2010-09-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the world!

2010-09-23T08:03:00.007-04:00

Well, for the last 9 months, I personally thought we were going to have a Harvest Moon baby. So this is his song even though he was born a couple days early.

Jason Robert Moss
Born on September 19, 2010 at 11:59am
7 lb 11 oz
21.5 inches long
Virgo - Born on Uncle JP and Aunt Karla's B-day, so it's already a lucky day!

More pics to come- this site keeps giving me error messages!

39 weeks and counting

2010-09-16T21:04:00.002-04:00

I feel huge. That is all. Still going to yoga and walking though! Sitting is painful.

But tomorrow I plan to blog about my month-long experience changing my last name in NYC. Anyone that says doing this would be "easy" "simple" or "no big deal" can bite me. It was/is a Seinfeld episode.

The word on the street

2010-08-30T14:46:00.009-04:00

I have now had the third stranger tell me it's a girl. Today in the elevator a 80 year old woman goes, "baby girl?" I just smiled back because I couldn't really tell what she was saying until she left the elevator.

Also, last weekend Kevin and I were walking across the street and a guy and his dog were coming toward us. He stops in the middle of the street and points and yells. "That's a girl! I would know, I have like 10 of them!" We both started laughing and said we didn't know and he goes, "No seriously that's a girl. If it's not, your boy better watch out for my girls, but I am sure it's a girl. I'll be looking for you walking up and down the Avenues to see that I'm right!

I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks! Still feeling pretty good!

My subway experiment has continued as I have gotten bigger and my stats I said before have remained constant. Kevin has witnessed and confirmed I am right. Hispanic girls give up the seats first, followed by all other women, black guys (2 jumped up at the same time yesterday) and then all other guys- white men come in last. Come on white men! Get some freaking manners!!! Living in NYC doesn't give you a free card to be an A Hole! (I take the subways A LOT - this is well documented)

Still need to get some pictures put up on the walls, but here is our apt.

"There and Back Again, the couches tale of their journey around the world"

Domo Kun hangs out in the chair in the baby room now. He says he is excited to have someone to gnaw on his eyeballs. That's the spirit Domo!

Our very city friendly stroller and a quite pointless carseat (considering we don't own a car) I lovingly refer to the Upper West Side as the Stroller Mafia and everyone seems to dig this stroller. Seriously it IS Manhattan's version of suburbia up here- babies are an accessory - Like Louis Vuitton in Tokyo.

Calling it "it"

2010-08-26T23:56:00.008-04:00

I am now 36 weeks and feeling huge! Still walking around tons though and for the most part feeling good. I really don't get what it's doing in there all day long but it's moving a ton. I can honestly say that I no longer believe that "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" show. How the hell do you not know. There is an 18 inch, 6 pound alien in me right now kicking my ribs and bladder. People on the subway can see it moving. I just find it hard to believe.

Sorry I don't have many New York pictures yet. It's harder to carry around my camera backpack now. Here are a couple pics of me and my beach ball.

You know how they say the camera adds ten pounds? In this case I think it's taking it away because I am bigger than what these look like (I think) but the front on view isn't any easier to tell.
Everyone thinks it's a boy! Some of the reasoning is the most ridiculous stuff I have ever heard but whatever...I guess people like being able to say they were right (when there is a 50/50 chance of being right) I love hearing everyone's guesses-it makes it fun and funny. I am so glad we decided to not find out! It's just fun having it to look forward to...plus it has cut down on the amount of time I spend looking for boy or girl stuff. As in I have not done that AT ALL. This works out really well for my personality type because I can just avoid that stuff for as long as possible (see previous post on have flight syndrome at babies R us)

I am not sure at all what it is and neither is Kevin. Kevin also sometimes tells me he "decided" it's a girl. Sometimes I get girl vibes too but that just might be my subconscious countering everyone saying it's a boy. This is actually the first week that I have been truly curious and can't wait to find out!

The Chinese Gender Chart says it will be a girl. So does the random guy on the street that pointed at my belly as I walked by yesterday and yelled "Now that's a girl!!!" To be honest-I am wondering just as much if it will be a Libra or Virgo because I am due on the cusp!

Sidenote: That random guy is actually a permanent fixture in our neighborhood who brings his own chair out from wherever he lives and sits out on the sidewalk all day long with a couple of his friends. I am fascinated by this little neighborhood clique and plan to find out what their deal is soon. There are some funny characters in our building and on our street that I definitely need to start stalking and writing about them.

So that's all for now. I'll post some pictures of our apt in the next day or so. The TV is finally gone!

And you may ask yourself...How did I get here?

2010-08-06T11:02:00.010-04:00

Another lengthy post.
(Written Lovingly to the tunes of Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime)

Kevin and I have been getting settled into our apartment. The last couple weekends have been filled with goodwill trips, Ikea trips, Bed Bath and Beyond trips, Home Depot Trips and the scariest of them all...Babies R Us.

We are nesting in NYC! Well not really...but soon. Up until last weekend the Babies R Us appearances have consisted of wandering in there, mainly to use the bathroom (Yes I have to pee aprox every 20 minutes and I have actually scouted out most public restrooms on this island-Babies R Us is key is you have to pee in Union Square!) , getting overwhelmed and making a bee line out the door and across the street to the Union Square farmers market where I can relax with the produce I know and love, buy tomatoes and eat a cookie.

Then it sort of hit home. We are having a baby and that baby needs a place to sleep. Also, by law, at least according to our hospital, it needs a car seat...even if you do not own a car. These two objects alone are foreign enough to send me spinning.

But we made it and the crib is already put together! Between this and several pieces of furniture we have finally replaced, Kevin has become talented with an allen wrench. We are getting somewhere!

A note about our possessions.
Once upon a time Kevin and I lived apart for 4 years. When we finally mushed our stuff together none of it matched. Then I moved in with Kevin, Billy, Dave and Spitzer in Chicago and magically when we moved to NYC, we ended up with a pile of their stuff too...lids to pots, odds and ends, etc. and Billy had ruined my couch. Then we moved to Japan. All along the way we have tried to A. Simpify and B. Convince ourselves that we can live with our original stuff and "someday" we will get new, nice stuff.

Well, that "someday" is sort of here. Some stuff is finally being replaced. We still have our trusty mismatched couches though.

This is where getting somewhere came to a hault
There is this one thing that has haunted me and become something of a joke. His TV. It is so big it has it's own solar system. It's so big it's on wheels. It's so big that I can't believe we moved it to NY the first time and found an apt that had that big a wall, but we did. Well it has been in storage for 3 years. It finally re-appeared yesterday in our apt....
This is a very misleading picture because it makes it look skinny-like flat screens these days. Not so much. It is 30 inches deep and 52 inches wide. (I measured)

So it's sitting in our entryway. Laughing at me as I type this. (It has the same laugh as the end of the Thriller video) Along with a bunch of other stuff we forgot we owned or thought we got rid of. Just when things were starting to look put together in here!!!

Here are some ridiculous things I have found:

My Blues Brothers poster from Highschool. Yeah, you heard me right. Highschool

Kevin's? From college I assume. MANY more VHS tapes were a part of this situation.
The 3 original Ascom Timplex Tee Shirts
Siggggggghhhhhh...The infamous Ascom Timplex t shirts. These are also from highschool and were such a joke back then! Kevin had 5 of them, which he numbered and wore practically every day of school. I remember friends asking what number he was wearing that day. Anyway, I would roll my eyes at this all of senior year so he gave me #5 for X mas. So like the TV, these shirts came back to haunt me yesterday. Please notice that they are disgusting and it's clear they were packed away dirty. I don't know where these have been, but I did not run across them the entire time Kevin and I have lived together. Until now.

But then! I found a couple cute things that had me smiling the rest of the day:

I found a box of stuff I have been keeping since Kevin and I became friends.

Here is a pic of our marriage certificate from the Valentine Dance in 1994 our first date when we were just friends.
There was also a letter that he wrote me from his cabin in 1995 that said, "I wish you could see it up here. Pictures do not do it justice. The Milky Way stretches across the whole sky. If we get married we can take our family up here"

I also found a series of letters Kevin wrote me from the summer when he got to bring the Bronco back from the cabin. I will never forget him driving it to my house and us plotting our road trip back to college that year. (going 55 mph across Kansas)
We have a lot of crap to go through, but finding some of these old things was totally worth it. So does digging through your past count as nesting? I doubt it.

A little catch up

2010-08-06T09:24:00.010-04:00

I wanted to post a few pictures of the last month in NY.

Megs was in town for a few days and we were wandering around Gramercy Park when we noticed a man standing on the edge of a roof of the Flatiron Building:After a triple take we realized it was a statue...then suddenly noticed they were everywhere, on all of the buildings around Madison Square Park. It turns out it's an art installation. Pretty cool looking:Over the 4th of July weekend we really didn't have any plans. Kevin actually had to go back to Tokyo for a couple weeks before that so he got home that weekend and we spent time up in Central Park and wandering around. I really wanted to go to the beach though. There was a heatwave here and all of these heat warnings but I didn't care. Kevin was pretty weary about it. Anyhoo, on that Monday we headed to Coney Island. We have only been there once out of season (to see the White Stripes in October 05) so we had no idea what to expect. I didn't care. I knew it would probably be crowed, dirty etc. NOTHING prepared us for how busy it was.

The people look like candy sprinkles in the picture

seriously

It's sad that most people leave their trash on the beach and there is lots of broken glass.

In terms of crowds, the only thing I can compare this to was my Vietnam beach experience

So yeah, Coney Island. I ate ice cream and Kevin ate a Nathan's hot dog. Unfortunately we were there the day after the hot dog eating contest where Kobayashi was arrested. I probably don't need to go back anytime soon. Unless the White Stripes play there again. I think we were still suffering from reverse culture shock a month ago and were attracted to large crowded things since this is exactly what a Japanese beach on a holiday weekend would look like. Too funny...

Oh Yeah!

2010-08-05T21:00:00.005-04:00

I think there is a decent chance I am giving birth to the Kool Aid man. This thing is moving around so much that it feels like it is going to burst through the living room wall...only that wall is my stomach!

32 weeks
I am actually even bigger now. I will have Kevin take another picture. We don't have a full length mirror in our apt so I rely on strangers and Kevin to know I've gotten huge. For example, a doorman I walked by the other day told me congratulations...and the lady at Barnes and Noble asked a bunch of questions. I am still in denial about the fact that I can't carry heavy stuff. I am used to walking with bags of groceries and stuff like that. When I attempted to carry three bags the other day the lady at the store freaked out and I realized 3/4 of the way home that yeah, I just can't carry heavy stuff right now. Then I catch a glimpse of myself in a store window or in the mirror in near our elevator and WHOA! Luckily no waddle or cankles...yet.

I am conducting a research experiment on groups of people on the subway and who gets up to offer their seat. Don't get me wrong-I am not handicapped and do not need a seat!! But I am just saying it's interesting to observe. I have noticed hispanic women are most likely to get up and offer me a seat, that is followed by a tie between pretty much all other women (young and old-all ethnicity) and younger black men. The worst is men. White men. Fat old white men to be precise. I think there is a sense of entitlement there or something. Unless their wives are with them and you can see them nudge their husbands to get up. It just boils down to noticing who has good manners in this day and age and who think that good manners has an expiration date. (ie: I am 50 yrs old and don't think I have to be polite anymore)

Which brings me to another topic related to subways- Japan vs USA. Large People! I will produce photographic evidence of this very soon because it's comical and eye opening. (Lord knows I have plenty of pictures of Japanese people on subways) I counted in a subway car the other day. 11 of 35 people took at least two, sometimes 3 seats. It's easy to tell in NY because the seats are indented. Don't get me wrong-I do not miss the Asian perception of what personal space is, I am just saying there are BIG differences! On a postive note, I love that you can see the diversity of the New York City just by standing in a subway car.

Today outside our temp apt...there were these A-Holes

2010-07-27T16:46:00.000-04:00

NYC Tanning Salon Holds "Free Lindsay" Rally

Seriously!?

Beach Bum tanning salon is not happy that their client Lindsay Lohan is locked up in jail, so today they're holding a "Free Lindsay" rally in New York City.

The event is expected to draw a crowd of 40 to 70 people where they'll participate in a ribbon-tying ceremony and hold signs that say "We love you Lindsay! Come home soon."

The fake n' bake chain even sent out a press release, saying:

Lindsay Lohan is one of Beach Bum's most loyal clients, with her entire family regularly visiting the salons. The salon hopes its campaign will draw awareness to the harsh punishment inflicted on Lohan due to her celebrity status and that she will be released from jail before her 90 day sentence reaches completion. […] The owners of Beach Bum miss seeing her at the salon and hope for her speedy return.

Do these people not read or watch the news?

First of all, we all know Lindsanity's being released early due to overcrowding. Second, she won't be waltzing into your New York salon any time soon because she's been ordered to 90 days in rehab once she's released.

Idiots.

[Image via AP Images.]

Tags: beach bum tanning salon, free lindsay rally, lindsanity, new york city

Posted: July 27, 2010 at 2:30 pm

moving day!

2010-07-22T09:17:00.002-04:00

The movers came to our apt a couple days ago. I have got to hand it to Japanese packers. They take the Japanese tradition of carefully packaging things to an extreme. They used about 3 huge sheets of packing paper to pack a plastic 1/4 cup measuring cup just to give you an idea.

This was the first move in about a dozen moves that Kevin and I have had where NOTHING was broken. And if you see what we own that would really surprise you because we own a bunch of crap.

Now that we will have our normal computer back I will get back to blogging. Last week we were in Utah for JP and Jenny's wedding! It was beautiful up at Deer Valley but I dont' have any pics yet.

Here is one of me at 30 weeks up at Alta hiking around.

Welcome back to NYC

2010-06-23T12:37:00.009-04:00

Proceed with caution- This is my very long annoying post about apt hunting. I just need to get this off my chest.

But before I talk about finding an apt here, I must add my favorite e mail I woke up to this morning from Kevin, who is in Japan for 2 weeks to wrap things up at work. "Hey. In a karaoke booth... I don't have the heart to tell them japanese music sucks"
Kevin couldn't last a month without Karaoke. Classic.

Now I will break down the glorious experience of finding an apt in NYC:

I will preface this whole thing with these are "most of the times" If you have a friend who got some old lady's rent controlled place for $500 per month in the West Village after she died, then good for you and your friend. That never happens to normal people like us.

1. Before you even look you need to know that to qualify for an apartment you need most, if not all of the following:
*To prove you make 40 times your monthly rent in salary. Exp: $2500 per month=$100,000 per year, and so on. Also a letter of employment.

*Good credit-you pay $50-$100 application fee to have them check

*Two years of W2/tax documents

*Copies of current bank statements

*Last time we moved here I was called and conferenced in with my bank and had to give verbal consent for them to tell the apt leasing company what my balance at that very moment was.

*Some places require that you prove you have "1 year of liquidity" I think that means you could basically pay your rent if you lost your job- only a couple places told us this.

2. The search So then you start looking. There are a few websites that are common to use here that have listings by broker and non broker, fee and no-fee. Craigslist is one of these.

*Brokers get paid a fee, basically for opening the door for you. They serve absolutely no purpose other than that. 90% of their listings are lies, fake apts, or old listings that they have up online just to get the phone call. A broker (My buddy Leroy) actually admitted this to me the other day.

*Broker fees are anywhere from 1 months rent to 15% of your YEARS rent. Sometimes the leasing company pays the broker, sometimes you do. It depends on the market at the time. It swings like everything else. If leasing companies have a bunch of empty apts, they'll pay the fee-if vacancy rate is low, then it swings back to the renters paying it.
(Apparently, the rental market has been bad since we've been gone (no surprise) but it is showing recovery, especially since everyone moves in the summer, so LOTS of places had fees.)

*Non-broker apts- obviously you want a non-broker apt or at least a no-fee apt. Often times if the owner is doing it them self, they will have an open-house at a specific time. Typically you show up, with 15 other people, and feel the pressure to decide then and there if you will "apply" and pay the credit check fee. Because if you don't-one of these people will.

3. A note about applications A place will take multiple applications. Why wouldn't they pocket a quick G in application fees after an open house knowing only one person will get the apt. They give it to the person most qualified.

* There are some decent human beings that won't take more than one application and will let you know if a place already has an application in. But lets be honest-most people in the business here in NY are slimey. Proceed with caution.

4.The Search continues (Amentities) Our requirements for obvious reasons were 2 bedrooms, laundry in building and an elevator building. So you start calling and NONE of the places were real 2 bedrooms. They were all one bedrooms -then YOU PAY a company come in and put a fake wall up in the living room (and have it taken down when you leave), usually cutting off all the living room windows and air conditioning so the living room is a tiny dark square that won't even fit a couch. Some brokers will not be straight with you on this fact until YOU ARE STANDING IN THE APT and are like THIS ISN'T A TWO EFFING BEDROOM, LEROY! (Leroy was a Broker I walked around with for about 4 days in a row)

*Sidenote on Leroy. Bless his heart, he just wanted our money-they guy's gotta make a living. But after I bonded with Leroy, he actually tried to argue with me about why I didn't really need a "true 2 BR" and I can just put a bookshelf up in the living room to divide the room" I didn't come right out an tell him I was pregnant but it's pretty damn obvious! I couldn't believe he tried to debate this with me!!!
He also took me to a FIFTH FLOOR WALKUP and showed me an apartment on the FIFTH FLOOR. I was like oh Hellllllllllllllll no, Leroy! And STILL he didn't notice my belly.

5. The search continues (neighborhood) The other annoying thing is that most listings do not post the address-only the neighborhood. So you have to make the phone call just to find out if that fake lie of a listing is even where you would want to live. 8/10 times you don't get an answer and you leave 10 different voicemails on 10 different places then they do call you back and you have no idea which one they are calling back on (but that could be any city)
Back to the lack of address. We were looking at the hoods of Chelsea, Gramercy, Union Sq, West Village and Upper West Side. But we need to be close to a subway (like everyone else) Exp: just because we are ok with Upper West doesn't mean we want to be on 115th street on the Hudson River. Most people want to be in the heart of the neighborhood. So the first one we called on was Gramercy. The listing says "near Gramercy Park" Where we were taken was all the way on the East side of the island-at least 2 miles from the park, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FDR Highway (the highway that runs along the East side) behind all the hospitals over there. You have to cross over the freeway overpass to get to the rest of Manhattan. That is NOT Gramercy Park Neighborhood. See what I mean about the lies?

So yeah, that's what's been going on. :)

This process was good for 2 things:
1. I got my "cut the bullshit" frame of mind back.
2. I got to walk around lots and re learn neighborhoods.

At the end of the day we found a non-broker/ no fee place on the Upper West Side that is a real 2 BR with everything we wanted. And of all things, we found it on Craigslist. The thing is we were never worried about finding a place...it's just a matter of what you'll have to sacrifice or pay and it's just a crappy process. Some of it feels like it should be illegal. Especially the advertising of 2 BR when it's not. (and does not have a closet, electric plug, etc)

It got me thinking about Japan and how different the process was there. Mostly, it made me think of how hard it must be for a Japanese person (or any foreigner) to move here, say for a 2-3 year work assignment like we did, and find a place without getting completely screwed.

For now we are still in our furnished place provided by Kevin's company till our stuff arrives from Japan. I will post pictures of our apartment as soon as we move in!

Idiot of the day award

2010-06-23T12:22:00.001-04:00

Now that I am back in the USA, it's so hard to pick just one...

Novelty meal in honor of World Cup generates protests

updated 27 minutes ago

PHOENIX - An Arizona restaurant owner dreamed up a novelty meal to give customers a South African experience during the World Cup. But serving burgers made with African lion meat has generated protests.

Cameron Selogie says his Il Vinaio restaurant in Mesa has received a bomb threat and more than 150 e-mails from protesters. He says African lions are on the protected list, but not endangered.

The restaurant ordered 10 pounds of African lion meat from a USDA-regulated, free-range farm in Illinois, which Selogie says he researched to make sure they were humane. It's mixed with ground beef, and the restaurant says it's serving about 15 burgers a day.

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd type out

2010-06-22T16:19:00.003-04:00

Amanda Peet just scoped out my bump.

Hahaha, that makes me laugh just to type. I was out walking in Tribeca and there she was wearing her new baby-but it was covered up. Anyway, her eyes went right to my stomach. I must be getting big.

Last week in second trimester

2010-06-15T21:27:00.010-04:00

Today we took a hospital tour of St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital where I plan to deliver. I also had my first doctor appointment here in New York last week. Between those two things I am feeling very at ease and comfortable on our decisions on all this stuff. I did all of my research from Japan so I wasn't sure if the things I was reading were accurate. There is a big difference between some of the hospitals in this city, and the philosophies of each.

The doctor is very sweet. She did an ultrasound just to make sure everything was good since we had never seen her. She confirmed that mini-me is no longer a T Rex but rather pretty normal in size...weighs 2 pounds which is normal. I got an email today saying it is the size of an eggplant and the length of an English cucumber. Last week it was the weight of a rutabaga (what the hell is that) so whatever. The doctor giving an actual weight was more useful than any of that other hokey crap.

SLR hospital is located on the west side of Manhattan in midtown, so it will be a quick taxi cab ride down from our neighborhood on the upper west side, (assuming that is where I will go into labor)

I am 26 weeks today. Here is a pic:

Here is me at 24 weeks. I think you can see a difference in just 2 weeks but maybe not...
PS: I do wear color other than black, by the way. Just not very often...and I am kind of purposely wearing close to the same thing every time to compare apples to apples. I am still wearing mostly non maternity tops and some maternity bottoms.

I am feeling great and walking a TON. I catch people scoping out my bump now instead of the...eh hem....girls, if you will. I mean, come on, I have been well endowed my whole damn life-and people aren't as subtle as they think they are. So it's bizarre to see people's stares go lower. Sometimes when I forget what's going on I think maybe I spilled something down the front of me. (which is also a very good possibility at any time) I have also been offered subway seats quite a few times which is nice. New Yorkers have been quite nice about that so far...

Next up, the apt search.

AC-I did a 360!

2010-06-13T11:17:00.004-04:00

I am still here and plan to keep blogging

Kevin and I had 2 great celeb spottings yesterday...actually Kevin spotted them, I would've walked right by!

First Amy Poehler- I suspect Kevin was checking out her stroller before he realized who he was looking at. She was just buying flowers from a guy on the street in the West Village. Clearly doesn't care about the World Cup.

Second and the "swoon of the day" The Silver Fox...Live at the Hacienda....In the flesh...Anderson Cooper. I love him so much. Earlier in the day I was telling Kevin how much I like him (for the 11 billionth time) and there he was, at Chelsea Market looking totally normal with who I assume was his cute boyfriend, and doing the same thing we were (checking out all the cupcake shops they have in there)

It's so funny-I didn't even have the urge to snap a pic of either of them and neither did anyone else. It really shows that my highly trained paparazzi skills are to be used for one thing and one thing only- Crazy Japanese Fashion. Well, maybe a little more than just that...

My next blog will be about the joys and excitement of apartment hunting in New York City. Brokers, bait and switches, and lies lies lies. Seriously, how this shit is legal is beyond me.

Finally!

2010-06-05T17:33:00.003-04:00

After moving back from Tokyo, one of my submissions to Engrish.com FINALLY made "Engrish of the Day"

CLICK HERE

I submitted this at least 2 years ago. I guess the site owner gets lots of submissions. It wasn't even my best one (obviously, if you follow my blog)

Back in New York

2010-06-02T08:04:00.002-04:00

After running around looking at crappy apartments yesterday and riding the subways I feel right at home again.

Tune Out Tokyo-Last "Japanese" experience

2010-05-28T00:39:00.006-04:00

We had our last couple nights in Japan and are now at the airport.

Our second to last night, after the movers left we obviously had nowhere to sleep. We knew we were staying at a big hotel on our last night with an airport bus service, but we hadn't made a reservation for the second to last night. hmmmm why would we do such a thing?

I'll tell you why. Because we have had a nagging urge to stay at either a Japanese Love Hotel or a capsule hotel ever since we learned what they both are. We went with Love Hotel because capsule hotels are basically just that- a tube the size of an MRI machine that you sleep in for about $40.

Here is a description of a capsule hotel according to Wiki:
Capsule

Anyway, back to Love Hotels. They are usually all clustered together in areas with clubs or red light districts like Shibuya or Shinjuku. We chose "Love Hotel Hill" in Shibuya.

Okay, first of all it's not as sleazy as you think. The hotels are more kitsch than anything else. Many have themes and it's almost Vegasy or Disneyish... Hotels in the shape of castles or french looking...or maybe tropical. And it's so weird looking because like I said they are all clustered together in the back streets of these main areas, so you feel like you've entered some little secret wonderland area, where couples are sort of sneaking around.

It's true there are plenty of prostitution and porn operations going on in these places, but there are rules too. For example you can't have more than 2 people in a room and you must be heterosexual (sadly gay people will be waiting a long time to be anywhere in the ballpark of equal rights in this country).

When you walk in it is super discreet. There are prices for Rest (AKA: by the hour) or Stay (the whole night) You choose the room you want on this light up wall and then go pay a cashier who is behind a wall and you can't see other than her hand reaching out. Then the elevator opens and will only go to your floor where your room is unlocked an waiting. Everything is automated.

Some websites I read said that to make it even more private sometimes it is all done via vending machine or you get locked in your room and pay a machine to get out when you're done! Hilarious!

So we wandered around giggling for about an hour before picking a place. We have heard stories about the actual rooms. Hello Kitty themes rooms with Hello Kitty shaped beds, Disney murals painted on walls, robot rooms, costume themes...you name it. Apparently lots of love hotels in Tokyo are tying to be called "boutique hotels" or "fashion hotels" now so they lose the sleezy image. The best ones are in Osaka, where a famous one is Christmas themed all year long. So Japanese.

Before I say anything else I must emphasize how clean it was! This is Japan damn it, and if I have learned only one thing in this country it is the importance of cleanliness. In fact, after the lady handed us our key, which was actually a large remote that controlled everything in the room, she yelled at us for getting our wet umbrellas all over the floor.

So our room was sort of 70's looking. Nothing too special when you first look at it. Aside from the remote control key, there was a control panel on the bed which had about 6 different lighting options. The bathroom was amazing (again, this is Japan) but the BEST PART WAS THE PERMANENT KARAOKE HOOK UP IN THE ROOM. Yes, you heard me right. Two mics hanging on the walls hooked up to the speakers in the ceiling and the TV. And they had a English song book. So we stayed in a karaoke love hotel room our second to last night in Japan. We sang a couple duets and cracked ourselves up.

What a country.

So this is goodbye Japan. Goodbye love hotels, karaoke, awesome toilets, glorious food, beautiful ladies in kimonos and robot salarymen, and comedy and deep seeded culture around every corner. We will miss it. I have learned a lot here. I might have to do another post about everything I really learned because I could go on and one. But bottom line, when your boyfriend asks if you if are open to dropping everything and moving to the other side of the world, saying yes is the right answer.

Sayonara!
(I will post Pictures when I get to NY...in airport right now)

Movers came

2010-05-26T00:33:00.012-04:00

I am now sitting in an empty apt on a little laptop. I need to clean but I am stalling. We are really leaving. I can't believe we are leaving this:

and this:

....and our beloved toilet....sigh.

So I just read my first Tokyo Post from Nov 2007. Here is what I wrote:

"I plan to document pretty much anything of substance on here...that is if you have the same definition of "substance" as I do which is: all of the funky and cool people, sights, experiences, fashion, funny translations, music and TV. Don't worry, I know what you are thinking, and I will assure you that special emphasis will be placed on men's haircuts, men's and women's clothing, and Japanese gameshows. Of course I will document all of our travels, which will hopefully be plentiful, and the cultural learnings as well.
(PS: A picture of me drinking an unknown drink with a smiley face on it is a perfect example of "substance" )"

I think I stayed true to my goal. Hope it was interesting to anyone who followed it! I have one last Tokyo post about last night and it won't disappoint. But first I need to clean this apt so we don't get charged $80,000 for the damage deposit.

Lasts

2010-05-22T23:06:00.023-04:00

I am sad to say yesterday was our last day in Yoyogi Park. We had a picnic on a beautiful day.

An now a photo montage of the guy we were picnicking next to.

The warm up stretches
starts with one gets up to 3

He was practicing for about 4 hours

Last day to watch dogs in their strollers. The stroller thing is crazy! I don't want that big of a stroller for my kid!

Last day for fashion (well technically I have a few more days)
The green hat says "ugly" Seeing lots of girls wearing these around
Also, hair bows that stick up. I watched a girl arranging another girl's bow on the train so it would stick up perfectly

By the way, I

am
so
sick
ofstraw
hats
and
old lady wallpaper floral
jumpsuits and dresses

No offense meant if you have one. I bet you look cute. I am sure they are already/will get popular in the US. It's just when a trend explodes here you can't escape it. This is year 2 for the straw hat gig...

We also had our last night in Shinjuku last night. We ate Tempura at a famous restaurant in a tatami room and wandered through Kabukicho

Kevin with a gin and tonic in a can. Great invention
We are getting sad! We have started to reflect on our "Top Five Japan Moments" I will probably post about that in the next few days.

A few pictures from the last week or so

2010-05-20T06:17:00.013-04:00

still loving fashion
She looks so pretty as she's flipping all of us off...

Border Collie wearing a diaper
Typical drug store I will miss. Fluorescent lights and major signage

karaoke building

After almost 3 years it still doesn't sound good

She is already covered head to toe, but she really needed that umbrella for sun protection

An every day example of a mob forming for no reason. Everyone started crowding around to see what everyone else was crowding around about.
Cosplay dance off in Yoyogi park last weekend. All the dances were known by all participants.

Yes, this is a man in a maid costume and cat ears checking his makeup. He is no spring chicken either...
nice shirt

There was a giant tarantula like stuffed animal hanging off his back
Another guy checking himself out. I have realized that guys not only carry purses here but also makeup mirrors.

more yoyogi

girls practicing their singing routine in a center walkway area. I must repeat for the 80th time that no one is performing for money here....they are just using the space.
Thai Festival at the park. It was so crowded I couldn't believe it. They were charging so much for SE Asian fruit, that we didn't stay long. ($5 for half a dragonfruit!)
Last weekend we walked to 6 small temples around Tokyo. They house the 7 Lucky Gods. We thought we could use some good luck before leaving Tokyo. It was a neat walk through some residential areas
Here are 6 of the 7 Gods.
the monkeys
rub gold leaf in a part of you body that is bothering you

I love all of the facial expressions!
We also visited a Japanese Garden

He's gonna be a soccer player...Yes he isssss. Yes he issssssssss.

2010-05-13T05:15:00.007-04:00

I am being kicked as I type in fact... :)

Alright, it's finally time for a true pregnancy post. I am 21 weeks and feeling great! In the last couple days there is no denying that I. have. popped. out. People I saw while in the USA said I didn't look any different, but I think you will see differently when you look at these pics

4 weeks along21 weeks 2 days along taken today-today is my first day wearing maternity jeans. (surprisingly comfy! I just walked about 5 miles in them- 2 thumbs up!)
Also I feel Mini Me/Rex/little nugget moving in there all the time now and Kevin felt him kick yesterday morning! That is pretty weird and cool to feel something from the outside and inside!
It's just nice to feel the movement happening at the same time as the weight gain hit so I don't feel like I am just getting fat.

Yesterday was my last Doctor appointment here in Japan. We had another ultrasound (that makes 5) which was a quite lengthy anatomy scan. Everything looks good and we have no idea if it's a boy or girl. Apparently it can hear and taste now which is awesome for this little guy because I have good taste in both food and music and I plan on doing as much prenatal brainwashing as possible. Plus Kevin cracks me up daily so I am wondering what it thinks about my loud laugh.

Luckily the arms caught up with the head and legs. At 16 weeks we had an ultrasound where the Doctor measured the humerus, femur and head. The legs were measuring 3 and a half weeks ahead! The head was measuring big too and the arms were just normal. We left the office and Kevin goes, We are going to have a T Rex!

That night we made these. We are awesome at photoshop. (and easily amused)

We, along with both sets of parents, starting calling the baby Rex. But alas, it is Rex no more. Now it's just a regular alien looking thing with normal limbs. We are going to have to find something else to make fun of our unborn child for.

Back to the Doctor. We had such a great experience with Dr. Sakamoto. He changed my view of being pregnant in Japan. He was very open and reasonable and I would not be scared of delivering here in Japan with him. He did all of the ultrasounds himself and explained everything. When I first found out I was pregnant I read all sorts of things, mostly horror stories, about having a baby here. Now I am focusing on horror stories in NYC. Japan was easy!

Lets see what else can I say...other random things.... I have been blasting White Stripes and Janis Joplin into my belly as often as possible to balance out Kevin singing Journey into it. I haven't been showing enough for anyone to offer me a subway seat yet (nor have I needed that) or for strangers to say anything to me. I have been going to prenatal yoga which in no way takes the place of my normal yoga practice but it feels good. Kevin and I both eyeball strollers and baby carriers now like they are cars. That's pretty much it!

In other news we are moving back to New York on May 28th! We will be in temporary housing until we find an apt. I am sure I'll have a few more Tokyo posts up my sleeve before then though. It's sad to think about leaving but we are both really excited about New York too.

The Realization

2010-04-26T06:02:00.012-04:00

It is beginning to hit us that we are moving back to the states. We are heading back to Utah in a couple days for a week and after we get back here we only have TWO more weekends! Two more weekends of crazy, mesmerizing, over stimulating Japan. Two more weekends of quaint, quiet temples, shrines and restaurants. I feel like we are going to land at JFK at the end of May and look at each other and say, "Did that just really happen?"

There is no point in having a "to do" list before leaving here. Our entire existence here has been one giant "to do list". So we went to Yoyogi this past weekend and plan to go back in May and hit some of our favorite spots around town. Then it's Sayonara Japan! How sad!

I am excited to move back to New York City. I am excited for the farmers market and the buzz of NYC. And bagels (I wouldn't eat them here if my life depended on it) And the museums. And a slice. And record stores. And diners. And pushing a stroller to all said places. Wait, what?!? :)

Lets talk about greasers, bunnies and dog strollers:

The greaser guys have new jackets. And they are AMAZING

The "Rebels". Seriously, They had 20 leather jackets made with Rebels spelled "Lebels"
The above pic is awesome because in addition to the Lebels, it also shows that couple each holding their teddy bear. I swear the amount of adults spotted with their stuffed animals in public places in on the rise. Too bad I am leaving or I would give this trend the photographic attention it deserves

Boy dressed up as a maid with a blond wig and witch hat.

Dance practice
And so many dog strollers

Corgie club

The bunny picnic was back! This bunny looks shell shocked. Maybe because it didn't have an outfit on?
Honestly, have you ever seen a bunny in a sweater with bunny ears????
Now a little Spring fashion:

Boys:

Girls:
Lot's of cowgirls

everyone and I mean EVERYONE is wearing these one piece jumpsuits in floral prints
and these hats which I am so sick of

I am going to miss this.

Today's Lesson

2010-04-22T09:31:00.002-04:00

only 1.4% of executive positions are held by women!

Quick note

2010-04-20T21:16:00.004-04:00

From my walk yesterday.

When I walked past club "Be Cool" I heard "Big Poppa" blasting. It was 3pm. Or it might have been the dart bar next door. Either way I was impressed.

Then I was walking around in a basement of a mall type place and it was sort of sketchy. There were little grocery stalls and clothing stalls...kinda of market in feel. Anyway, I start hearing in the background, "after all that we've been through, I will make it up to you, I promise to" So that put a spring in my step. Here's where it gets weird. They played it three more times while I was down there.

"Boutique Psycho" was an old lady resale shop.

It's nice out today so I will hit the street and see what spring fashion the peeps are wearing.

Baseball Game and Koenji

2010-04-13T20:13:00.014-04:00

Yesterday I walked around Koenji, a great neighborhood just a few train stops outside of the city. Lots of second hand clothing stores and record shops. It's typical in areas like this for the main shopping/market areas to extend directly out of the train station. So I spent a few hours wandering around the area. If I had Japan to do all over again I would want to live in one of these areas.

Typical shopping road coming out of the station
side street. I took this so you could see how people hang their futon bedding outside everyday to air it out
Another little alley way with something "cute" out to dry. Is that the rug that goes around a toilet? Everything has a face.
Purchase #2 for mini me. Our favorite, ANPANMAN! I have posted about him before. This is exactly what I wanted. "Lets have happy life with me" It hits all of my requirements. 1. It has Anpanman 2. It has Engrish 3. It mentions the number 1 English word used in this country, Happy.
Front of the shirt
back of the shirt

I googled "gurmetic" when I got home. I think it was supposed to be gourmet??
I don't know what this store sold
this pug would not move
sweatpants

It's Baseball season in Japan too!

Last weekend we went to a Giants game. Baseball is huge here in Japan. The crowds are awesome. No one leaves when their team is losing, they don't boo their own team, and people stand and do these cheers when their team is batting that are insane.
The opposing team, The Dragons, doing a chant when a specific player is up to bat. This was taken in the last inning, and they were down 11-3! The dedication!!!!
Our favorite player, Ogasawara, got a home run. He is our favorite because his name is also the name of a chain of islands where there are lots of dolphins...so people bring inflatable dolphins to the game and do this chant when he is up to bat.

Our other favorite player, Ramirez, got a grand slam! Ramirez is our favorite because everyone chants "LA Mirez! LA Mirez!" When you get a grand slam in Japan they give you a bouquet of flowers. I don't know if they do that in the USA because I haven't seen a grand slam before.
Lots of people take their shoes off
...and eat bowls of noodles or tonkatsu
Another thing they do is have all these warning signs and guards out on the field when the teams change from outfield to batting. I think it is to warn people of flying balls? Also, when there is a foul ball all these whistles go off to warn people. Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't ever want to be hit by a ball...but the alarms that go off here and you would think it's an emergency situation! Why not just watch the ball yourself? It sort of reminds me of the post about banning walking on escalators. Can't people just take care of themselves here?
These are the cheerleaders dancing to the song from the the 80's, "I'm your venus, I'm your fire, it's your desire" Coincidentally, Kevin heard a guy on the subway last night BLASTING that song on the way home from work. Is it making a comeback???

The best part of the game are the beer girls! They carry these pony kegs on their backs. It's pure genius! And they wear neon and quite often rock the side ponytail. I love them.
They also have sake girls, whiskey girls (also on some sort of "tap") kentucky bourbon girls, and when you are done hitting the alcohol, coffee girls seen below
So glad we got to go to another game before leaving Tokyo. They are so much fun.

Sakura

2010-04-12T21:33:00.015-04:00

Happy Spring everyone!Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) season is just about wrapping up here. There have been some really beautiful days for walking around and enjoying Hanami (picnicking under the trees) but it has also been quite rainy and cold. Here are some pictures from various locations around the city.hanami in the cold
hanami with your stuffed animal exhibit A:
exhibit B (that's a hello kitty she's holding):
hanami with your 3 pugs
hanami in your princess costume
Always hanami with your shoes off
Hanami in your awesome sweatshirt that I wanted to steal
Hanami with 84 million others
Yes it's that time again. Time for everyone to crowd around and take a picture of the one branch that everyone else is taking a picture of

While Kevin was in Australia a couple weeks ago for a business trip, I was lucky to have a spontaneous visitor arrive for a long weekend. Rachel, a friend from Minnesota, jumped on a ticket she found from San Fran where she is working.
We did lots of wandering through Tokyo and Kamakura. We also gorged ourselves on Shabu Shabu and went to a karaoke bar. I actually had never been to a bar for karaoke here! We always go to the booths. This place was 100 yen (about a $1) to sing a song. Rachel sang "My Cherie Amour", which was an absolute hit during the "la la la la la la" part which everyone chimed in on. After she sang several people came up to talk to us. While Rachel was chatting with her new friends a Japanese guy came up behind me and taps me on shoulder:
"Hajimemashita" (means nice to meet you) me: Hi. (But I think he thought I meant "hai" as in "yes" instead of "Hi" as in "Hello") Guy very very slowly: "Hello. I am Japanese boy"
What do you say to that? It was this long awkward silence followed by me slowly turning around and re-entering the conversation with Rachel...that was weird.

walking through Golden Gai in Shinjuku
The next day we went to Yoyogi Park. It was pretty cold but people were determined to picnic under the trees no matter what!

Not too many people in costume this time, but there are always the dancing greasers...
And maids dancing in the trees:
And a Bunny Picnic!

Yes.

hanami with your bunny.

About 10 or so people picnicking with their pet bunnies. All in outfits obviously.

Every bunny should have a Louis vest...

So glad Rachel was able to make it out! It was fast an furious but very fun!

Happy Spring

2010-04-12T20:49:00.010-04:00

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

Donkey Rockabilly Burn Up. I am semi regretting not buying this...

This is a party game. It is a tug of war with underwear on your head. What?
Don't feed the dog chocolate!
And now for the beauty portion of the blog post:
Have I posted this before? I see these everywhere
you sleep with this in
this too...it builds cheek muscles.

The end

Another article-I can't get enough!

2010-04-09T01:38:00.003-04:00

So Funny. But I am willing to bet there are many more walking related accidents due to the fact that people in Japan swarm together and run into eachother like bees, walk into a busy street when there is a red light because they assume it's safe because another person did it and they just follow along, and often can't walk in a straight line, usually due to the fact they are either walking while playing video games or reading books.

They really should patrol the sidewalks more.

A new Japanese social epidemic: Walking on escalators

In an effort to prevent spills, Japanese subway stations are starting to outlaw the practice of hurrying up the moving steps

84%

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Watch out, guy in yellow shirt. Running up an escalator may seem cool but could cost you an eye. (Photo by Flickr user theeruditefrog)

According to Sankei/MSN, metro stations in Japan are starting to prohibit walking on escalators in order to curb a rash of escalator-related accidents. The escalator industry has identified the act of leg-powered movement on an escalator as a "dangerous action" (危険行為). As quoted in the article, the Japan Elevator Association says that escalators are not meant for walking, and people should not stand on one side to let walkers go by.

To back up these claims of an 'escalator walking' epidemic, Sankei/MSN points to a doubling of escalator-related accidents from 1993-1994 to 2003-2004. The expansion of 2,000 escalators during this era, however, may be the real reason for the increase in that more escalators means more opportunities for clumsy people to fall down.

Not to mention the fact that the number of incidents in 2003-2004 was still just 674 in a nation of 127 million people. If 50 million Japanese ride five escalators per day, that means a total of 91.2 billion escalator rides per year. So less than 0.0001% of escalator rides end in casualties.

Tokyo has yet to officially outlaw walking on escalators but is putting up posters warning of its dangers. The article quotes a spokesman from the Tokyo Transportation Authority who admits they have to accommodate "the people in a hurry."

That may be the case, but if Tokyo refuses to ban walking on escalators, the responsibility to stop this horrible social menace must start with each of us. Will you be able to tell your children, "I did my part to eradicate escalator-related injuries in Japan"?

It just doesn't stop

2010-04-05T02:46:00.001-04:00

Japanese guy marries a video game character

Hello

2010-04-01T23:19:00.008-04:00

I officially bought the first baby thing the other day. It is so soft, funny looking and hug-able. Plus it has a typical Japanese stuffed animal "concerned" face. I love it. It definitely looks like an alien though, and if our baby turns out to be a wimp, I'll just keep it for myself.

Oh, and it smells like grapefruit. I don't get that part.
So, we only have 2 months left in Japan! I need to go on a major Engrish baby tee/onesie hunt STAT! One of the problems is I need it to be unisex because we are not finding out if it's a boy or girl. So many kid's Engrish shirts say, "I heart pretty dolly. Do you heart pretty dolly too?" That's not going to work if it's a boy.

The reason I haven't done any blog posts about being pregnant yet is because, well, I don't have a very good reason for not blogging other than nothing exciting has really happened yet. But I figured since this is really a blog about our lives in Japan I should write about being pregnant here. I mean, I have posted pictures of our toilet, eating, and sleeping...why wouldn't I talk about this experience?

So the main things/realizations so far:

I have an English speaking doctor who I really like. I found out after I made my appointment that he delivers all the western babies here. He probably delivers them all because he speaks English, which is rare, and he is willing to do epidurals (many doctors/hospitals will not)

I don't really care about his delivery procedures because we are moving back to the USA June 1! So I will be delivering in an even crazier place, New York City.

They do ultrasounds every appointment here so we have already had 3! I have another one in a week. They burn us DVDs and they are really awesome.

I have not eaten sushi or cooked eel since before X mas and I won't be doing so. Sad. Luckily I haven't been craving it.

I have discovered that sober karaoke is almost as fun as drunk karaoke. I never would have known!

We didn't go skiing in Hokkaido this winter like we wanted to because I knew since we got back after X mas that I was pregnant.

I luckily haven't been sick at all so our honeymoon, which I already posted about, was not effected at all.

You never see pregnant women around here walking around...It makes me think that they lock themselves away for nine months like back in the 1800s. Or maybe they just don't show very much. They are encouraged to gain much less weight here than in the USA.

I am not showing yet, but I am scared any day that will change and I will need to find maternity clothes here. I have already been looking around and there is NOTHING! Plus, Hello! I can't fit in to normal damn clothes here. Why would I be able to fit in maternity clothes? This greatly concerns me.

So that's it so far. Since I am not showing riding subways, walking tons and my normal stuff hasn't changed at all. We are really excited about it!

Dirty Japan

2010-03-30T18:17:00.004-04:00

This is the same video game that was accidentally being sold on Amazon UK last year. I might have posted about it then. I love that CNN catches wind of it a year later. Definitely brings into question censorship for me. Does this cross a line more than than other violent games?

Without a doubt it 100% convinces me that Japan is crazy. Oh wait, I already knew that.

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- The game begins with a teenage girl on a subway platform. She notices you are looking at her and asks, "Can I help you with something?"

That is when you, the player, can choose your method of assault.

With the click of your mouse, you can grope her and lift her skirt. Then you can follow her aboard the train, assaulting her sister and her mother.

As you continue to play, "friends" join in and in a series of graphic, interactive scenes, you can corner the women, rape them again and again.

The game allows you to even impregnate a girl and urge her to have an abortion. The reason behind your assault, explains the game, is that the teenage girl has accused you of molesting her on the train. The motive is revenge.

When does a video game go too far?

It is little wonder that the game, titled RapeLay, sparked international outrage from women's groups. Taina Bien-Aime helped yank the game off store shelves worldwide.

"This was a game that had absolutely no place on the market," said Taina Bien-Aime of women's rights organization Equality Now which has campaigned for the game to be taken off the shelves.

But the controversy that led to stopping sales of the game instead took it viral.

That was how Lucy Kibble and Jim Gardner in Britain heard about it.

"I think the idea that you can do it by wholesale banning is just never going to work anyway because we downloaded it for free off the Internet," Gardner said.

In the case of RapeLay, he was right. It is still readily available on dozens of Web sites, sometimes for free.

What happened to RapeLay is an example, said Bien-Aime, of why Japan needs to police game makers.

"It's obviously very difficult to curtail activity on the Internet. But the governments do have a role in trying to regulate this sort of extreme pornography of children, both in their countries, and through the Internet ," she said, adding that they were calling for the Japanese government "to ban all games that promote and simulate sexual violence, sexual torture, stalking and rape against women and girls. And there are plenty of games like that. "

Those games are known as "hentai games." Almost all feature girlish-looking characters. Some of the games are violent -- depicting rape, torture and bondage in detail.

Step into a game shop in Akihabara, Japan's electronics district, and hentai games are readily available. In minutes, we found a game similar to RapeLay. The object here is also revenge: Find and rape the woman who fired the player from his imaginary job. Along the way, the player can rape a number of other girls and women.

Hentai games are not new to Japan. This country has long produced products the rest of the world would call pornographic. But before the arrival of the Internet, such items stayed in Japan. Now, once a game goes on sale in Tokyo, it is digitized and shared everywhere.

Japan does have censorship laws for sexual content. In games and videos, genitalia are obscured, even if it is animated. But Japan's laws do not restrict the themes and ideas of the games.

A national law that would make possession of real and virtual images of child porn illegal is under discussion, but no serious legislation has moved forward in Japan's parliament.

CNN contacted the Gender Equality Promotion Division in the Gender Equality Bureau of Japan's Cabinet Office, which is charged with handling the hentai gaming issue.

Despite repeated calls over a period of weeks, no representative from the government office would comment to CNN on camera. The office refused to make a statement on paper. A spokeswoman would only say over the telephone that the Japanese government was aware that the games were a problem and it was checking to see if self-policing by the gaming industry was enough.

A member of the Institute of Contents Culture, who did not want to give CNN his name, said restricting game themes limits freedom of expression.

"In my opinion, RapeLay's storyline went too far. However, if a game creator wants to express something and create content out of it, a government or public entity shouldn't have the power to restrain it."

Lucy Kibble and Jim Gardner, the gamers in Britain, said trying to control games on the Internet was futile and that content control was up to parents.

"The idea of banning it, or telling people what they can and can't do just because on the off chance some kid might get involved with it is just ridiculous," said Gardner.

The Cove - You should watch it

2010-03-23T22:26:00.005-04:00

The official Cove website

What I saw on a Monday

2010-03-22T07:19:00.011-04:00

This is why I never leave my camera at home.

Today, Monday, I went for a walk to check out a Japanese Garden because the cherrys are moments from blooming. I was just cutting through this foodcourt area of an amusement Park type place when I spotted this:

What I thought would be a peaceful walk turned into me taking a hundred pictures of people in their roleplay costumes:

g

Why were they out today? Some things are better unknown....

Don't Stop Believin

2010-03-18T09:07:00.024-04:00

We had a great time when my cousin Mark and his girlfriend, Pam came to visit Tokyo! I love seeing this city through someone's eyes who is seeing it for the first time.

We went to the fish market which is a usual stop for first timers to Tokyo. This time I was sporting a classic tee shirt that I received from Justin and Annie, our last visitors:

Katie's Tours:
Tour guide guides you long time:

This is so fitting to wear to the fish market because 2 years ago, when our parents came to visit, and we went to the fish market, I pulled my parents aside to explain that it's crowded, stay out of people's way yadda yadda and we look up and there is a crowd of 10 or so other white people gathering around me thinking I was indeed a fish market tour guide! It's finally all coming together with the shirt and 12 visits to the market later...

A smoke and a sharp knife.
These workers can all feel secure in their job since they decided not to ban trade on Bluefin last week. Well, at least they have a job till 2015 or so when they won't be any more bluefin to cut up...

We hit all the must see neighborhoods in Tokyo. After a drizzly walk through a few shrines and Ueno park we all needed a Ramen warm up so we went to a normal looking ramen restaurant. What we entered into turned out to be AMAZING. What are these people doing you ask...taking a test? Ha! It's a restaurant with individual eating booths...looks like you are taking the SATs. The idea is to fully focus on your ramen which after all, is a work of art. This place was FANTASTIC. Once we realized what it was (Kevin and I have heard of these places) we were like 4 giddy school kids...taking pictures that would make a Japanese tour group proud.
Which leads me to a sidenote: one of my absolute favorite things is amusing Japanese people with the picture taking. I need to learn how to say "I learned it by watching you" in Japanese.

So there was only one type of ramen , toppings and beer on the menu and you order through the vending machine...Please also notice the black square on the vending machine-you can pay with your subway pass- does life get any better?Then hand your ticket to a person that you can only see from the waist down through a tiny curtain in your booth. Below is a view of the booth with the bamboo curtain lifted. They lower it for full privacy once you get your ramen. The spicket to the left is my own water tap. Genius.
Then what comes through the secret window a few minutes later is a masterpiece

We visited Kamakura on a Monday, so I was completely shocked that we were lucky enough to see a wedding at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine. We actually got to see the entire ceremony which took place outside. It was beautiful:

The hair is always the best part to me
We also visited the Big Buddha and Hase temple. Here is a cute pic of Mark and Pam
Mark and Pam had a few days in Kyoto, Hiroshima and Miyajimi (even saw some geisha!) When they got back to town we had one more weekend with them so we went out Sat with the plans to go to a club.

Those plans changed after wandering through a cool area of Shinjuku called Golden Gai. I need to go back with my tripod and take better pics of the buildings:
They look like miniature tiny alleyways. There are about 4 in a row, making this small square area of lowrise buildings. There are literally at least 100 bars tucked into these alleys and alleys of alleys. Some bars only have 4 seats in them...even more are for their local regulars only and very few welcome gaijin (foreigner) Everything else in this area in Shinjuku is highrise strip clubs, karaoke bars, floors and floors of restaurants, internet cafes, you name it. So Golden Gai has been kept sacred for years and years and the bar owners are artists and musicians and cater to that crowd. The highrise builders want to tear the neighborhood down!!!

I have always been hesitant to enter these places...not because I am a foreigner as much as I am scared of hidden cover charges and really expensive drinks. I have heard horror stories about these places. But everyone else wanted to go in and I am so glad we did.

I wish these pictures did the place justice. We were on the second floor in this tiny room with art hanging everywhere and a bartender who disliked the shots he taking with Mark and Kevin but was taking them and feeding them to Mark and Kevin anyway...

After leaving the bar Pam announced loudly,

"I am ready to sing!!!!"

Well. Who were Mark, Kevin and I to deny a girl ready to sing?! Off to a Karaoke bar at 1:30am!

These are 2 brands of karaoke booths right next door to each other...Both taking up entire buildings.
So funny! The sign up sheet for karaoke. All of the Katakana then just "Kevin" Also see the "4" in front of Kevin? That means 4 people. Notice all of the "1"s! At 1:30am many people do karaoke alone!

After an hour they told us that time was up and Mark says into the mic: What about going for another hour? SO we did! I love that karaoke wins over the hearts and minds of the most suspecting .... Mark said over and over "who knew sing at the top of your lungs in a little room could be that much fun!" Well there is beer involved afterall....I don't think beer has anything to do with the picture below though. Karaoke just does something to him...It's like Teen Wolf..

We also made new friends down the hall. They visited our room and we visited theirs...I am starting to think karaoke could bring about world peace. Everyone is so happy when they are singing Michael Jackson.Here are a couple classic videos:

Somehow we didn't get home till 5am. Karaoke booths are truly a time warp. Not just because you are singing Wilson Phillips Hold On, but also because time literally disappeared in there. Every single time it happens.

Maybe they'll need to find a Karaoke machine for that garage bar they have at the cottage...

Random 1:
6 guys in helmets. 5 directing traffic on the sidewalk so one can use whatever machine that is. I would call it extreme cleaning but we can't confirm or deny they were actually cleaning anything. It was more just standing around. This is VERY common here. Kevin walked by 5 people directing sidewalk traffic the other day so that two of their coworkers could hang a new sign on a vending machine...It's one of the those how many people does it take to change a light bulb things.

Random 2:
Don't stick your hand in there or a crab will bite you

Random 3:
Actually not so random-It was Yoyogi Park on Sunday
Here are some more Yoyogi

power walking with poles club
roleplay
I have no idea:
So glad Mark and Pam made it out! They tasted, tried, walked and subway rode all over this crazy city.

On the Road again...the end

2010-03-17T00:15:00.013-04:00

We headed over Haast Pass to the West Coast of the South Island. Our destination was Fox Glacier. We stopped at a few pretty spots along the way
cairns lead to the coolest colored river I've ever seen.We arrived in Fox Glacier town which has 3 restaurants and that's about it. So we took a drive out to a lake and to the coast which was gorgeous:

Kevin stayed in one place turned one way:
and the other way:
Spotted: Japanese girls taking a picture of their doll with the lake in the background.
While at Fox Glacier we did a full day hike on the Glacier with Fox Glacier Guides. It wasn't difficult compared to the mountains we've been on, but it was so interesting to be on that large a glacier that is 20,000 years old. It was amazing! The first picture with the people gives you some perspective. The little specks are people.This glacier goes way back in this canyon. We only saw a small piece.

This hole was scary. Water was flowing under us and sounded like a toilet flushing the whole time.

About 3/4 through the Glacier hike it started raining. And it did not stop for about 20 hours. It POURED. And we were staying in this cozy cabin with a fireplace so we didn't care at all. We had officially done everything that was weather dependent on our trip and actually didn't even know where we were headed next.

The whole next day it rained too as we drove up the coast. It apparently always rains there. Luckily it stopped as we stopped at the Pancake Rocks. (Punakaiki)

We cut inland and it cleared up. We had a beautiful drive to Nelson but don't have any pics. The next day we went to Abel Tasman National Park by boat. Too bad we couldn't be here longer....the sunniest place in New Zealand, we heard, and completely different from the rest of the island. There is a neat 4 day backpacking trail that I wish we had time for up there.
After that it was off to Marlborough Wine Country for the day and down the east coast with plenty more seals, sheep and beautiful sights.

So as you can see, New Zealand is truly a magical wonderland. We always approach these trips with the attitude of "lets do it now b/c we might not come back" but then it never fails! We want to go back!!! There is more to explore! All I can say is what a beautiful world.

We're the best of friends, insisting that the world keep turning our way...

2010-03-11T01:16:00.012-05:00

Te Anau to Wanaka

Wanaka is a cool town. It's very chill compared to it's neighbor Queenstown, which is the adventure capitol of the world and everyone is skydiving and bungee jumping off of everything. Again located on a lake. I think most towns we stayed in were. We went for a hike when we got in just to scope stuff out and ran into some free range cows enjoying the lake too. They seemed to be offended we were ruining their sunset.

cow in the lake at sundown

The next day we went to Mt Aspiring National park to go hiking. We knew that the road to get there was unsealed. It was a beautiful drive along a river and into the back of a mountain range with more glaciers. We hiked to a beautful place with some cool waterfalls and actually saw some glacier movement. We heard it first-sounded like thunder.

taking a lil nappy up there

scope out that blue ice!
The river was a cool color due to the glacial runoff

This sky was super blue due to my polarizing lens. Crazy!

On the way back we were held up by literally HUNDREDS of sheep being herded.

Do these sheep have the best view ever or what

Here are some videos of the scurrying sheep and Kevin harassing cows. There were hundreds more sheep ahead of this group. They were everywhere and it looked like they had just been sheered b/c they had blue stripes on them. As you prob know we really are easily entertained.

After Wanaka we headed up the West Coast which I'll post pics of next...

Adventures in Extreme Cleaning Part 1000 and some others about having a precious time

2010-03-10T07:15:00.008-05:00

Guy scraping gum off the street with a metal poker:

Smiley sponges

The best part is that there were no shops.
Thee most politically INcorrect restaurant I have ever seen
This is the most ridiculous letter we have received from our building yet. More ridiculous than our monthly notices that they are going to clean our windows (on the same schedule EVERY month yet we get a letter EVERY month) and I would say even more ridiculous than the notices in our building warning of a "hornet infestation" We received this because they are shutting down the key card scanner for 5 minutes at 1:00am.