Snack time

Here is a picture of two snacks available in the Tokyo office. Strange, but I don't find myself snacking between meals.

- C

Technology . . . the dark side

HAL, Evil Kit, Blackberries and now this . . .

I proudly introduced you all to the next-generation toilet technology at the office in Tokyo. Imagine my horror when I read the following (on the 2nd page our the english-language weekly, no less)

"Doctors warned that sufferers of washlette syndrome - people who overuse automatic "washlette" bidet toilets by raising the water's pressure and temperature - risk damaging their rectums."

Umm . . . so use in moderation, I guess.

- C

Men & bags

So, I am planning to get Chuck a bag. No, not the subtle, smallish man-purse version, this is a proper, stylish, and very feminine bag. Japanese guys will contest the last adjective I guess...











I am still undecided about the colour and so I hope I can get some suggestions ... (This is Chuck. My suggestion is "Don't.")

"Cruising" in Shibuya

What is it like in Shibuya crossing?

I promised you a video of how it felt to walk through this crossing during rush hour. Well, it is not exactly rush hour but it is a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Click play and enjoy the busiest crossing in Tokyo.

Meiji shrine

I still do not know what to expect in Tokyo. This city is so foreign to me in so many ways.

I visited Meiji Shrine - a Shinto shrine very close to where we live - on a beautiful sunny day. The entrance of a Shinto shrine is generally framed by a Torii.

Many Japanese people visiting the shrine kiss the Torii and hug it as they pass (seemed odd to me, but the more they did it the more tempted I was to hug it too… strange).

One of the parts I liked the most was this “wall of wishes”. This is the place where people write their wishes and prayers in small pieces of wood arranged all around a somewhat important tree.


It was surprising to see so many young people in the shrine, and the mood is quite happy. Some teenagers are playing around and there are school kids watching and talking. I guess I still do not know enough about the shrines , about Japan and about their customes... 2 more months to soak it all up.

Will the wonders never cease?

As we all know, the Japanese are already enjoying technologies that the US and EU won't see for a few years. I want to introduce you to my favorite.

Let's start with the close-ups. . . .

That's right people, that is the toilet of the future. Its available right now in my office. The toilet features:

• Heated seat
• Fan which automatically starts when you sit
  
• A *Powerful Deodorizer*; activated by push button
• Cleansing stream of water WITH adjustable pressure.

I have also been informed by reliable sources that the women's toilet plays the sound of a babbling brook to mask any other sounds being created. Because, as a member of my team explains; "Japanese lady don't like people hear them pee." Fair enough.

I am clearly enamored by the technology, although the brief instant after hitting the button for the cleansing and before the stream starts is actually a little scary.

Now, Ale and I disagree about the *gross* factor in showing a toilet. She is against it. I, however, feel that in the interest of education and completeness, the toilet must be displayed. The photo was taken first thing in the morning to ensure cleanliness. However, if you don't want to see the picture of a toilet, please look no further.














In all its high-tech glory . . .

We love Japan . . . but we can't live here.

Why I can't live here . . .

Study the picture to the left. That is meat . . . the meat on the middle shelf is not the mythical Kobe beef, it is your run of the mill beef. It is, in fact, Top Round . . . the Honda Civic of the beef world.

Now, let's do some math. 100 grams is 1050 yen. So I don't have to get a calculator, let's assume the exchange rate is 100 yen to the dollar. That means that a kilo of top round is 105 dollars and a pound is about 47 dollars.

Let's repeat the exercise for Filet Mignon at the bottom of the picture. Filet is going for 315 dollars a kilo or about 143 a pound.

Why Ale can't live here . . .

Using the same exchange rate . . . those beauties are one hundred and five dollar mellons.

Any questions . . .

Outed: Tommy Lee Jones

I have a new mission: to out every American celebrity who is pimping ridiculous products in the Japanese market because they are confident it won't compromise their artistic integrity at home.

Oh Thomas. . . a super sugary "coffee flavored" beverage called BOSS!? With a freaking rainbow can? What's the matter big guy, Men in Black residuals running out on you?

For shame.

ok, so what is it like?!

We have been in Tokyo for a week, a whole week, beating jet-lag - the last 3 Tylenol PM dissapeared within the firs two days and after that Chuck and I were awake pretty much every day after 3:33 a.m. Luckily it was a long weekend so we spent those days trying to get in and out of bed (but doing so at the wrong times). This photo shows how we felt the first few days.

So, what is it like?!! well Tokyo is cool, alive, short, fun, clean, confusing and extremely polite.

- We have had people carry our bags, direct us, smiling and saying a lot of things we could not understand. Remember we are used to French service, so this for us is paradise! and by the way: no tips.

- Shops and restaurants are eveywhere, in the backstreet from our place, (between Aoyama-dori and Omotesando) there are at least 15 hairdressers, and we are talking about a 200 m street. To those of us reading this in Luxembourg: yes shops are open until 9pm (at least) and also on Sundays.

- The toilets .. Chuck has a whole post dedicated to them.

- Shoes size go to a maximum of 7.5 ... well, shoe shopping is out of the question. Shop assitants look at me with pity every time I ask for a scary 9.5

- I spent 3 hours in the supermarket, 2 of which were wasted (or invested depending on how you see things) trying to buy soy sauce and chili sauce. A whole wall full of them. After 1 h 45 m I had to drag (very politely) a Japanese woman and beg for help: "sumimasen ... can you pick a soy sauce for me please?"

- ... I am still trying to buy chili sauce

- When running in Tokyo make sure you do not try to enter a shrine with your (very small) running clothes, you will be summoned by a very polite guard, who will escort you out to Yoyogi Park.

- ahh and in Tokyo, Japanese people do not carry cameras around. We are! it's revenge now!

Rugby in Tokyo

Amazingly, our new apartment is three blocks from Japan's national rugby stadium. So, how did we spend our first Saturday in Tokyo? Did we go see a thousand-year-old Shinto shrine? Did we relax in the warm natural onsen bath? Oh no, we went to see Japan's national team play a select side from Australia. The Australians, who outweighed the Japanese by 10 kilos in every position, won the game handily but the Japanese did themselves proud.

Here I am buying tickets. I have finally achieved my life dream of being tall! I am actually having a great time, I am not sure why I have such a big smile on my face.

Here is our ticket . . . pretty obvious how to find our seat, right?

Luckily, people like to help Ale and eventually people pointed us in the right direction.


Once we found our place, it turns out that we had great seats. As you can imagine, Ale is thrilled that we are so close to the stadium. She has already made a list of the up-coming games. She has also started scouting tickets for the major Sumo tournament that starts in Tokyo in January.

I can only hope that we have enough time to work in some shrines and Kimono exhibits amidst her schedule.

We are finally in Tokyo!

All righty! After a mere 20-hour trip, Ale and I arrived to Narita Airport just outside of Tokyo. As with all long trips with Ale, it was maddening. Basically, I got to sit in a cramped, hot airplane cabin watching Ale sleep like a baby. Adding insult to injury, she wakes up right before the breakfast service (coincidently right as I am about to fall asleep) and wants to chat.

For those of you who don't know, I will be working in Japan for the next three months. Ale will be exploring, making friends and studying oregami.

Anyway, here we are on the 2-hour bus ride in to the center of town. Ale looks fresh and happy, I look like death warmed over.

Juan & Susana en Luxemburgo

A few days before escaping to Tokyo we had my parents visit us in Luxembourg. They were at the last part of a beautiful trip that took them and the Arbulu's to Denmark (roaming by bike), Stockolm, Oslo, Helsinki and later St. Petersburg and Moscow.

So, after such an amazing trip, what did we do in Luxembourg? showed them how we lived, where we went for runs, the lake where we trained, Chuck's lard sandwich (i.e. huge cut of bacon looking meat) impressed them with the "wonderful" weather and took them to an Elvis's night with all our friends! I think they had a fantastic night ... the chairs were dancing!

One evening we were treated by Susana's "arroz con langostinos" (think of a shrimp paella, only better) and Chuck and I made (well... tried to) veal and jambon cru roulades with Chuck's puree de pomme de terre ... hmmmm

It is now official, Chuck is their favourite son in law (does it count if he is the only one?) !-)

I am turning Japanese, I really think so

The latest news is that we are going to Japan. I am eagerly waiting for Chuck to write his “beloved friends” email telling you the story of how this happened, his new team, managing the time zones, his Q&A, etc. I will not ruin the surprise and will leave a space in the blog for his tale. Here I am writing a bit about what I have been able to discover so far about this fantastic place.

We are planning to leave Luxembourg at the end of October. With all the moves I have learned that it’s good to learn as much as possible before the trip, specially about the things one likes: where to find a (GOOD) coffee shop (VERY important), a metro map, the gym, free libraries, bookshops, and of course restaurants. Chuck will be happy to know that there are at least 2 good Mexican places and even a Peruvian one (btw, just so that you measure his desperation, Luxembourg’s only Mexican place is Chi-Chi’s … really).

Having said this, no information is enough. It is all different when you finally land in your destination. Information can prepare you but the real thing does not happen until you have a foot in the new city.

For example, we are going to live in Shibuya (渋谷区, Shibuya-ku?), one of the 20 something wards in Tokyo. From what I have heard this is one of the busiest places in Tokyo. Remember that crossing that always features in Japanese movies or documentaries? Well “that” is in Shibuya. One of my to-do things is to stand there at rush hour and not move. If I manage I will just spin around a few times, that will freak them out … I promise you a photo.

Chuck’s office is also in Shibuya. By the way, there is more people in Shibuya than in the entire Luxembourg and more restaurants too. There are about 200,000 people in the 15km2 area of Shibuya. I can see that after a year in Luxembourg we will have a bit of a culture shock. Here we can see cows from a friend’s apartment!

We have to find out if he is going to walk or take the metro to work. These days, in Luxembourg we both walk to our offices, an unsustainable luxury... Because there are no street names, we cannot put the address in www.multimap.com and just check the distance. To find a place in Tokyo you have to refer to buildings such as Tokyo Tower, Tokyu department store, Parco, Yoyogi Park, etc. I think it will be quite confusing and I will most likely be lost most of the time.

Interesting, I have heard that I should not think of buying shoes over there. Expensive, yes, , but the reason is that they will probably not carry my size: a decent 40.5 (Peruvian) 9.5 (American). Just think of the delicate Japanese women feet … I’d probably scare them with mine! On that note, I have heard Chuck saying that he is looking forward to feeling VERY TALL.

More later; I am hoping that this post will tempt Chuck - who these days is buried in work from Seattle, Germany, UK and now Japan (I have seen him carrying 4 watches).

L'île de la beauté

It has been a year since our trip to Croatia. Incredible. We have been living in Luxembourg for more than a year now, the schueberfouer (main Luxembourgish city fair) came and went and we missed it again. However we did manage to find a week of holiday in the sun again. This time in the island of Corsega (Corsica in English, Corse in French).

Our route was Luxembourg to Paris (by car), a night in Paris followed by Paris to Nice to South Corsica by plane (a propeller). Our ride started a little bumpy, at 8am, we had a call from the hotel in Paris saying that they could not take our reservation and had changed us to a "sister" hotel in the same area and in an "upgraded" room. Yeah right, we agreed of course, but we are still doubting what did they mean by an upgrade ... all Parisians hotel rooms (those we can afford) are equally tiny, that includes the suites !

An hour into our journey from Lux to Paris (Chuck will argue it was 1.5 hour) Ale discovers that she does not have her passport. Uppps … the options 1) tell Chuck, get out of the car and run for your life, or 2) don’t tell Chuck, ask him to take you back to Luxembourg because you think that the iron (we don’t own an iron) is still on and burning your house. Actually, Chuck was so shocked that he turned around and without saying a word headed back to get my passport.

Finally in Corsica our holidays began. Ahhh, wonderful beach, we made it to Santa Giulia and after the usual waiting time te check in and find the right place we dropped all our stuff in our rented apartment and went straight to the beach.

The highlights of our trip?

1) A new record in beach “paletas”. Yes, we spent most of our time perfecting our new found sport and after a mediocre start of less than 10 hits we went all the way to 240 our 6th day in the beach

2) A transparent sea spotted with wonderful and inoffensive jellyfish (which I called fried eggs because of the way the look … amazingly nobody thinks the same)

3) Pizzas at the beach, ahh , almost every day. Until we realised that our bathing suits were tight(er) and decided for the Trois Deux salads next door

4) Chestnuts in everything, Corsicans even have a town called Châtaigne
(Castaña, chestnut) and we found them in almost every dish we tried

5) Brocciu cheese "the poor man's cheese." Made from the whey that remains after the production of sheep's or goat's milk cheese. And of course … charcuterie

I am not joking, check out this site for more info about the food in Corsica www.theworldwidegourmet.com/countries/france/corsica/corsica

Corsica is a beautiful island, the French call it the island of beauty “Île de la beauté” … although we spend most of our time in the beach (we have a fantastic and enviable tan to prove it) we also spent a day travelling around the island. We made it to a nice high spot in Alta Roca, found an old Genovese bridge, had a wonderful lunch of osobuco estofado and ice cream and visited Bonifacio, the southernmost part of Corsica, almost “kissing” Serdeña.

After a week in the beach we feel ready (again) to face the Luxembourgish greyness and we look forward to the coming autumn y la visita de los Brescia.

Triathletes in three parts

Part One: The Awakening

I am making myself write this post because if I don’t have a written proof, I will forget that we really really did a Triathlon.

Well, Chuck has already a couple of Marathons and a few Tri’s under his belt. But I am a total débutante. Before committing to this, I looked at these events as something done only by those with close-to-superhuman abilities.

Then, one day Chuck calls to say that Matt and Anna, our friends from Seattle, were coming to London and ‘why don’t we meet doing the Windsor Triathlon?’ I had to ask him twice to repeat himself, I was sure he had mixed up two conversations or was giving me the name of a new café in London where we could ‘meet’ Matt and Anna. Oh, no … not at all, he clearly repeated the Windsor Tri, the four of us, wetsuits, etc etc. I began to get a cold sweat. “Are you in? It will be fun” He asks. “Uhu, I guess”. I say. And then our lives changed …


Part Two: The Real deal

This was January and we signed up for the June 11 Windsor tri. Chuck did a quick assessment of our training status:

1) Biking: we are both ok. No tri bikes but decent road bikes. I had been doing spinning classes which turn out to be a good tri training. Chuck’s cycling weekends in Seattle seemed to have given him the confidence of going long ways (and enjoying it).

2) Running: there we hit a bump. So, like I said, Chuck had already done a couple Marathons. Me .. ? I hated running. After every run I got red ears, a headache, could not keep my rhythm, but overall, I just could not enjoy it!

3) Swimming: swimming. How were we going to pull that one off?

And so the training plan was scheduled. Mon & Wed we would build muscle and strengthen our body (against my will, why athletes cannot be slim and lean..?)

We found a running route and for the first two months - in mid winter - we went for morning runs. Key to this was Chuck’s influence and gifts: IPod shuffle, trainers Asics GT 2100 (sadly only in white), gloves, winter hat and long pants. Who would have guessed! After a few weeks puffing and panting, the headaches were gone and the ears were no longer red and I was starting to enjoy the runs.

Then followed the swimming at D’Coque (Luxembourg’s sports arena) and which makes English speakers giggle every time. The training at this place was perfect. Not only because it is a massive pool but because there is so many people that is almost like being in a Tri. I learned how to swim over people, avoid the kicking and the breast stroke and swim looking up, just in case someone was coming right towards my head.


Part Three: The importance of languages

June was close, and I was getting the nervous laugh. It is difficult to believe that you are ready when you have so much information about people’s timings. My goal: to finish (and secretly, not to be the last one in the race).

Then we got a call. Matt and Anna had to cancel their trip at last minute and we were lost. What do we do? Unfortunately, or luckily, depends on how you see it, Matt and Anna were key in the logistics since neither Chuck nor I would drive in England mad roads.

We came home a little disappointed (and a little relieved) but still willing to make it, so we signed up for the Munich Triathlon at the end of July.

Ahhhggg. Well, guys, all the training could not have prepared me for a Tri in GERMAN. All the signs, everything was written in this language that does not connect with me.

We started of with the swim. Wearing our full body wetsuits in a temperature close to 30° C (+90° F), we started the race in a - thankfully - cold man-made lake. Chuck started in a group 10 minutes after mine. And when I finished the swim, I was a little glad that he had not passed me already!

Get on your bikes! After the swim and a running stretch to get to the transition area, whilst trying to get our wetsuits off - I finally find my bike, seat and begin pulling everything off me. 5 minutes later the wetsuit is off. Shoes, helmet, water, sun glasses, race number, puff! Run again and start the hopefully easiest part.

That’s when it happened. I felt I was flying, going at a good speed, although still being passed by all these pro’s in awfully expensive bikes. I check my speedometer, almost 20 km; I am finishing the 1st round, then a series of photo flashes – smile – what’s going on? I can see the finish line right in front of me. “Hold on, I have only done 20 kms, I need to do the other 20” – I shout in English, whilst all the Germans look at me like I am speaking … English. Panic! A guy approaches me and tells me to get off the bike and start the run. but … I need to do the other 20! He’s like: well, your time is already counted, so it’s not valid. Just start the run. “Hell no” (how do you say this in German!?). Finally I spot the transition area that I crossed earlier, get off the bike, run in my super uncomfortable biking shoes and get on the bike again to do my second round.

(“some” minutes later) …. It was probably 10 but it felt like a whole hour. Ok so everyone had passed me. My nightmare would come true. I was going to finish LAST!

I finish the 2nd RUNDEN. This time I see the sign in German, very clear indeed - in German. Got off the bike, and began the run. Or so I thought. My legs would not move. Everyone I had passed on the bike (again) was passing me now. Oh! this has to be a joke… a hill?? A hill??? Now?? Yes, up, 5kms later, a lot of water, more water for my feet which felt like they were sizzling in the gravel – and my legs were feeling better.

Then I spot Chuck, he’s already going for the last 3kms. He’s looking good, hot but happy, and looks very surprised to see me. - Later he told me that he really thought I had dropped out – me??

The last 5kms were the best and the worst. I kept trying to make conversation, in English … until someone finally agreed and chatted with me for the rest of the race. Then I saw Chuck who had finished and was waiting for me on the side just before the end. I finished!!!! (a medal and a few tears in my eyes)

Paris Part 2: Wandering aimlessly around the city of lights

So, again we went to Paris for Ale's birthday. You may remember from previous posts that Ale likes to take pictures of her shoes. She has also recently developed a penchant for taking pictures of famouse landmarks "from an angle that no one has ever chosen before."

Case in point, this picture of Notre Dame:

I tried explaining that perhaps no one had chosen this angle because there was a tree in the way and much of the building gets cut off, but she was undeterred.


While we didn't have much time in the city, we were careful to follow the tourism guidelines closely. Namely, we wore bright white Reebok tennis shows, fanny packs and spoke as loud in English as possible. And of course, we took time to take the cheesy *trick* pictures. Here, I am crushing the Eifel Tower. Look carefully and you can see that Ale is helping me by crushing one of the legs.

My new European workout

So . . .hot on tail the success that I had adopting the Bavarian diet, I have been interested in adopting a more "European" workout routine. After much observation and enthographic study, I think I finally have it. There are a number of Italians at our gym that appear to use the following routine with some success. Not only does it make you fit and trim, but it also appears to result in long lustrous hair.

10- 15 min - Arrive at gym. Have an espresso wait for two friends to arrive. (Obviously, some changes will be necessary as I don't have any friends)

15 min - Change in to workout clothes. While changing into workout clothes, spend as much time as possible naked. Start an argument so that you can make large gestures in the middle of the locker room . . . still naked. Finally, and this, from what I can tell, is absolutely essential, . . . Spend as much time sitting bare-assed on the wooden changing benches as possible. When the time arrives to finally put on clothes, your fashion choices are essential - for my observation subjects, the choices invariable include an Italian National Soccer team Jersey, a shirt of the brand whose logo is the profile of 2 women sitting back to back and one alternating between Gucci, Dior and the Inter Milan jersey. For those of you that are wondering, yes, it is reasonable to keep your 70's era rose-colored slightly mirrored sunglasses on throughout the workout.

Weight lifting gloves go without mention.

15 min - The actual workout. Alternate sets of smith-machine bench press, one lifting while the other two reviews stories of glories past. Be sure to load the bar with as much as 10 KG (on each side!). Do at least 2 sets. While waiting your turn, primp.

10 min - recovery. Stand around the refreshment area rehydrating. This is essential given the strenuous workout or at least the diuretic effects of caffeine consumption. *Kick* legs repeatedly in order to relieve the stiffness cause by . . . um, the smith machine bench press, I guess.

Undetermined amount of time - Shower and dress. Not sure how long this actually lasts as I have never seen them finish. This segment is similar to changing in to the workout clothes. The argument evidently resumes as does the seated nakedness. Be sure to make liberal use of the hair dryer to dry just about anything that you got wet.

My only question is which member of the Azzurre am I; I think I am a Baggio, but I'm just not sure. Tough to say.

Paris part 1: A lesson in train ettiquette

For Ale's birthday, we decided to spend a weekend in Paris. We took the train on Friday evening and knowing that we would be arriving late, I decided to pack a picnic for the trip. I stopped at a local cheese shop and picked out some really nice (and old) cheeses to eat on the train.

When we opened the cheese, Ale commented, whoa - this stuff really stinks. I smelled at first but after a few whifs, my nose was comeplete dead to the smell. We enjoyed our wine and cheese and when we were done, I wrapped up the trash and, lacking anywhere else to put it, stuffed the bag of garbage in to a backpack that we had brought a long for the trip.

About a half an hour later, I opened the backback to grab my ipod. No sooner as had I touched the bag as I was almost overcome by the smell. It made my eyes water. I can't imagine the suffering that our neighbors must have endured as we had been eating. But, being France, no one had even blinked.

Evidently, it is a well known rule on this fine continent but in case you don't know:

DO NOT TAKE CHEESE ON THE TRAIN.

The blog re-awakens - Feb 2006

Blogging is hard and it takes time. I am lazy and Ale got a job so we haven't updated anything for a while. It becomes a vicious cycle because the more time with no posts means the more things you need to post to get up-to-date. At this point, we are backed up to before our trip to Croatia in August so we have LOTS to write about. . . . or in my case, skip.

Anyway, we are reinaugerating our blog. Mostly, we just wanted an excuse to open a bottle of Champagne.

Items skipped include but are not limited to:

• Various trips around Europe (Munich, Slough, Paris)
• Peru for Christmas and New Years
• A few trips to Detroit (come on now, you can't really jet set without Motown.)
• Ale learning to enjoy jogging (despite her ugly white "trainers")
• Me discovering that I really can't dance
• The failed resolution I called "Get Fit 2005" gave way to "Lose Weight 2006" (Both were preceded by Get Buff 03 and Get Ripped 2K4.
• Every single person we know has given birth. Its scary.

- C