Japan (日本) Week 8

So Kathie had to go, but I knew I would get to see her in a week - so I wasn't too sad.

Also, I had Pat Hanlon with me this week - She is very knowledgeable about Japan our business and pretty much everything. So it was great to absorb as much information as

possible from her this week.

On Monday, we took the Shinkansen to Osaka. I was able to get a decent shot of Mt. Fuji. I also loved how all the buildings look slanted because of the speed of the train.

In one of the pictures, I am with Pat and my translator Kazuyo (her English is great) outside one of the hospitals.

We had part of one day to see 3 temples on Nara. Also one of the coolest things I have ever see was in Nara. The deer are all over the place and are considered sacred. But I was also to see and experience, that when you walk up to the deer and bow, they bow back!! No kidding, check out the video at the bottom.

The Largest temple in Nara had a giant Buddha inside.

One of the pictures is another tasty treats. They are all kinds of things soaking in a very hot broth-like liquid. It's call Oden.

On Thursday, we traveled to Okinawa and saw several hospitals on Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday morning, I was able to visit the Shurijo Castle, It was really cool and sat on the highest point of the island.

Saturday night Pat gave a great lecture to a groups of 30 MEs (Perfusionists) followed by a nice dinner. I really enjoyed visiting with them.

Sunday I flew from Okinawa to Narita then Narita to LA then LA to Home - YEAH!! But was flying for about 24 hours.

My family was waiting for me at the airport - It was Awesome too see them all again!!

We then went to my parents house for a Thanksgiving dinner with my brothers and sisters and all their families.

After that I went to my daughters Young Women's program where they displayed their talents from the past year.

It's really great to be back home with family for the week of Thanksgiving - I know it's going to go quick!!

Japan (日本) Week 7 - With Kathie

What a wonderful week this was with Kathie here in Japan with me!

We spent several days seeing all the top sites in Tokyo, and then we took the Shinkansen (Bullet train) for a couple of days in Kyoto.

In Kyoto, we saw about a dozen different temples and shrines - all beautiful!

The weather was perfect, cool but not cold and no rain - The trees were changing colors so the landscaping and scenery around the sites was magnificent!!

Also in Kyoto, there was a Japanese Monkey habitat where they roamed freely all over the mountain - and at the top was the feeding area. It was caged off for our own safety, but monkeys were everywhere on that mountain.

The time just flew by so quickly!!

I just dropped Kathie at Narita for her flight home and I already miss her :(

I love her so much, it was so great to spend the week with her here in Japan.

There were hundreds of amazing pictures; I thought I'd just pick some of my favorites to share here.

Japan (日本) Week 6

The early part of this week was spent in Sendai for a Perfusion Conference as I mentioned in my last post.

One of the coolest things I saw in Sendai was this massive Buddha (about 16 stories tall). Inside was a life size wood carving of each of the 12 Chinese symbols along with about 50 Major Buddhas as well as the traditional one. Then you take an elevator to the top and walk down a ramp that has 108 (12 on each level) that represents characteristics we need to overcome.

This was very interesting to see.






On a food note: These (Galbo) are really tasty!

I was told that from the Teleflex Tokyo office stairwell you can see Mt. Fujiyama - which I haven't seen yet - sure enough, there it was.

Then later this week, we worked in the Yokohama and Kanagawa area and I was able to see Mt. Fuji every day - but never up close :(

One evening I took the Metro to Shibuya and witnessed first hand the busiest intersection in the world - All I can say was WOW!! It lived up to expectations and this was not even the busy time.

Also, sometimes finding a good place to eat is a little easier that others, or so I thought (OK, crab sounds good) the only problem, they didn't have any crab of any kind in the place!?

They are building the next Tokyo tower (1,100 ft. tall) (seen in my last blog) it's called the Sky Tree (2,100 ft. tall) - It is massive and is twice as tall as all the sky-scrappers around it. When it's finished it will be the 2nd tallest structure in the world.

The country side is beautiful with all the rice fields and traditional homes.

Kathie arrives on Friday night I can't wait to see her - YEAH!

Japan (日本) Week 5

What a long week - No weekend this time around with Hospital visits all week and a Perfusion Show in Sendai on Saturday and Sunday.

Got to visit the Tokyo Tower and snap a few pictures.

Also have a picture of a typical lunch menu.

One thing that is different here that took some getting use to was the public bathrooms. The stalls go all the way to the floor on all sides (very private), however, as you can see from the picture, the urinals are another matter. And the ladies that clean the bathrooms (seem to always be in there) just clean literally around you while your doing your business, this takes some getting use to.

I got to ride the Shinkansen a couple of hours each way to and from Sendai which was great. While on the train, they have a shopping magazine (like Delta's Sky Mall) and I had to ask Kazuyo what this was (see picture) she said it was for when you get angry, you can yell into it - I thought that was funny.

Sendai is famous for their tongue - so we ate the traditional meal and on of the chefs practiced his English with me and drew me some pictures - I told him he was a great artist (He just thought I was being nice).

Another picture of a Temple (so beautiful) and I love all the Dragons!!

There was a large castle in Sendai that is no longer there, but I really liked this Samurai statue.

Sendai's American sister city is Riverside California - That's why the large Orange and the tiled picture of the Mission - That's pretty cool!

Well, have a great week - Kathie is coming on Friday - YEAH!!!