We had a great time over this past weekend, as I took off Friday and Tuesday, and Monday was a national holiday. Five-day weekend, yeah!! Our three big activities were, 1. Mom's first night away from Rhianna; 2. Star Wars Celebration 2008; 3. A great overnight trip to a hot spring in the Izu Penninsula, in nearby Shizuoka Prefecture.
Shinako spent the night at her parents home in Chiba Prefecture on Saturday, and Rhianna and dad got to spend their first night alone together. Both Rhianna, Dad (and mom!) did well, though it was admittedly a little strange for everyone. We saw mom off at the Mitsukoshi-mae subway station on Saturday after eating lunch together in Nihonbashi. Then, Rhianna and Dad took the train over to the Shiodome area, near Ginza, and wandered around the Nippon Television Station nearby Dad's office. They do an annual event in front of the station every year, kind of like a festival, and Rhianna and Dad wandered around looking at the attractions. Most of the attractions are based on Nippon Television Studios television programming, so it was pretty interesting to see. Hopefully, the three of us will be able to go back together and check it out as a family, as it was quite interesting.
Then, Dad and Rhianna had Starbucks together at the Shiodome City Center Building (the top of which was our wedding location), and shared a tart passion fruit ice tea. We then took the train back to Ningyocho, and got out the car and drove over to Babys R Us. We could have taken the train that day, but it was incredibly hot, and dad didnt feel like carrying the stroller up and down any more steps!!! Anyway, Rhianna now has a new drum, and has been enjoying pounding on it ever since. We had a nice dinner together at home (dad eating Pizza Hut delivered Pizza, and Rhianna eating some squash and rice that mom had prepared earlier. The next morning, we woke up early and took the train to Kaihin Makuhari Train Station in Chiba, and met with Mom for a one-day family reunion, and had a nice lunch at the Outback Steakhouse there.
The main event for the day was the Star Wars Convention. This year is the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Wars in Japan, so this past weekend they held an enormous convention to celebrate(
http://www.celebrationjapan.jp/cj/home.html). After lunch, we went over to the convention and spent about 5 hours wandering around and watching people dressed up as various characters from the movies. Many of the original performers were there, too, including the actors who played Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Bobba Fett, Darth Maul, and many others. It was a really impressive event. The best part of it of all, however, was that they brought seveal of the actual props from the movies, including a Snowspeeder from Empire Strikes Back. We waited in line for over two hours, and had our pictures taken on it. Well worth the time!!!! I remember loving the snowspeeder and playing with a toy replica when I was a little boy, and it was really fun taking Rhianna to see some of these things (even though she had absolutely no idea what she was seeing).
The next day we took a train to Atagawa Onsen on the Izu Penninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecturehttp (
http://www.jref.com/practical/izu_hanto.shtml). We took a train called the Super Odoriko, named after the title (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dancing_Girl_of_Izu )of a famous Japanese book based on the area. It had big windows, and great views of the ocean. This was Rhianna's first time on a long train ride (she has already been on a plane), and she did very well. After we arrived in Atagawa Onsen, our Japanese Inn, the Bosui Inn, came to pick us up. The Inn (http://www.bousui.com/) was absolutely fantastic. It was right on the ocean, and everything about the place was perfect. The people were very nice, and the facilities were great. After receiving an explanation of the inn in our room, we relaxed for a while, and then took a walk along the ocean. Then at 6 o'clock we went to our private bath, in a special gazebo. It was open to the ocean, and absolutely luxurious. They prepared bottles of iced tea and water for us, and everything about it was great.
We then went back to the room, and they were preparing our dinner for us. It was a really excellent dinner, though a little bit heavy on fish for me. Still, it is a resort on the ocean, so it wasnt too big of a surprise for me! After dinner, the inn hosted a champagne after-dinner drink in the lobby, overlooking the ocean, and we really enjoyed it. To top off the evening, Shinachan had an appointment in the hotel's spa, enjoying a facial treatment and massage(http://www.bousui.com/gecca/index.html), which lasted from about 10:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. During this time, Dad enjoyed one of his favorite parts of the inn, which was its excellent DVD library, including relatively new movies (though not a new movie, Dad finally got to see the director's cut of the movie, Bladerunner; Shinako and John watched the golf movie, Tin Cup, of all movies).
The next morning, they called to wake us at a bit before 5:00 a.m. for our morning bath, which was held in another, also excellent, gazebo overlooking the ocean. On our way back to our room, we enjoyed an early morning snack of fresh vegetables and tea. Then we had breakfast again in our room.
It was sad to leave the inn, but we really enjoyed it and would love to go back again. After leaving the inn, we enjoyed making clear candles at an art shop near the train station. Shinachan made a pretty purple candle, and I made a candle which reminded me of our beautiful view of the ocean the night before.
We took the train back to Tokyo in the first class section of the train (a first for both of us, but only about 15 dollars more per person, which was well worth it), and that was the end of our fantastic weekend.
Rhianna has been really funny recently. She has into immitating people, and loves to walk around with a purse on her arm, just like mom. She stands by the door to the hallway with the purse on her arm, and waves at us, saying "bye-bye!!!!!" until Dad takes her to the bathroom and puts her on the counter-top so she can see how cute she is. This process keeps repeating itself over and over, which makes it even more funny. You'll see pictures of her at the Star Wars convention with her purse, which she carred around all day without dropping. People loved to see this!!!
I'm including several pictures (in reverse order!!) . More soon!!!
The Train back to Tokyo
Making a candle
Mom's work of art--a clear purple candle
Morning in the hotel lobby
Morning view from the lobby
Fresh local vegetables provided by the hotel in the morning
Our morning bath
Rhianna ready for dinner!!
The beautiful orange moon over the ocean
Ready for bed!
Fast asleep on dad's pillow while he watches his movie
A walk along the ocean
Rhianna and dad
Rhianna and mom in the Inn
Rhianna fast asleep on dad
Sweet dreams!!
Rhianna in our room
The view from the room
Our first moments in the room
Relaxing while looking at the ocean
Our afternoon snack after arrival
Our room
Drinking lemonade in the hotel lobby
The ride to Izu
The train to Izu
The ride to Izu
Shinachan and Darth Vader
A long day at the Star Wars Convention
Dad and Rhianna in the Snowspeeder
Sitting in the Snowspeeder
Rhianna wondering why the top is coming down
Sitting with Dad in the Snowspeeder, preparing for flight
Commander Shinako Klumpp
Mom, preparing to lead the rebel alliance
Jabba the Hut
The Snowspeeder
The Millenium Falcon (and the poor Star Wars person trying toget Rhianna to look at the camera)
A Bantha and R2-D2
C3-PO
A Stormtrooper
John, the Emperor, and the Empress
A Sandperson and a Jawa
Hanging out in line
The Millenium Falcon
Walking around with her purse
The Convention Floor
After lunch
After lunch
Ready to go out
Hurry up, dad!!!!
Outside our apartmentRunning around Ningyocho
At dinner
Playing peek-a-boo with the waitress
