Tokyo for Christmas: Day Five

Day Five...

December 27, 2009

Ahhh, finally a day for a little rest and relaxation! Just what the doctor ordered for my physical state and mental state! Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that when I get tired I can get a little cranky. Maybe I should say cranky with a capital "C". My kids and Dan the Man would tell you it is more like "CRANKY" in all capital letters! LOL

Anyway, today Nick had a baseball game at 11:00 am so we really couldn't go do anything. To tell you the truth, I didn't really want to do anything! It was Nick's team's last game so I was glad we were here to watch it. They ended up losing, but I didn't care. I've never had the chance to see Nick or Chris play baseball since that is something that they always did in the summer while they were visiting their father.

The weather was perfect for it. It was a little cool, but not freezing and the wind wasn't blowing. The "backdrop" for the baseball field was like none I have ever seen. You could see the mountains, or do they call them "hills," in the background along with a HUGE cargo plane and another plane which looked like a commercial 747 or something. Then in the far distance you could see Mt. Fuji, not very clearly because of the weather, but you definitely could tell it was Mt. Fuji.

I was surprised there weren't any people watching the game. It was just Dan the Man, me, one wife and her two small children. The opposing team, which was a Japanese team, had a couple of kids. I was a little disappointed because I thought that maybe I could strike up a conversation with one of the wives about something that we could do on Monday since Nick has to work and we will be on our own. No such luck.

You can see the mountains in the background.

Mt. Fuji is among them but you can't see it in the picture because

it is snowcapped and doesn't show up in the photo.

See the plane in the distance?

Nick pitching.

Dan the Man and Kathi, two of five fans!

After the game we came back to the hotel for a little TV watching and I did laundry, which was at no charge for guests of the hotel. They have washing machines and dryers on every floor. How nice is that! One thing I always hate about returning home from a vacation is doing all the laundry. This time I can actually do our laundry before we leave and not have so much to do when we get home. Nice! The only thing that this hotel is lacking in my opinion is a cat for each room! LOL, I do miss my cats! Those of you who love cats as much as I do I'm sure can relate. Those of you who don't care for cats must think I'm crazy!

Nick came and picked us up around 5pm and we went bowling. After three games of bowling we ate at some supper at the bowling alley. Nick and Dan the Man both had cheese burgers. I on the other hand who still hasn't had enough Japanese food had some sort of noodle/chicken dish that had a little "heat" to it. It was delicious but I couldn't eat it all so I brought it back to the hotel with us.

The bowling alley was really nice and appeared to be fairly new. The lanes on the other hand sucked. I have never bowled on such a "dry" lane before. Dan the Man went first and preceded to do a face plant right at the fowl line. Oops! "I stuck!" he said. No kidding! He was much more cautious with his 2nd ball. Then it was my turn. I too "stuck" and almost fell, but caught myself at the expense of my ankle. Ouch, darn it! Nick didn't fall but his arm was sore from pitching the baseball game. What a sight we must have been! Oh well, it was fun! I've never not had a good time bowling. If I could choose any job in the world, a professional bowler would have to be one of my top five! No kidding!

I've been thinking of a few observations that I think about when we are out but have been forgetting to write about in the blog so here are some random thoughts...

Remember all the laundry I mentioned drying outside on the balconies? They also "hang" their beds, which I assume to be like futon mattresses, out to dry or just to air them out.

There are no towels of any sort in the public bathroom or hand dryers. I have seen a few women take little towels out of their purses to dry their hands.

We haven't seen any wildlife. I did see one squirrel at one of the shrines. The only birds we have seen are huge black ravens.

We have only seen a handful of dogs, maybe 6, and only 3 cats!

The Japanese are very friendly and extremely polite.

Hardly any of the Japanese wear wedding bands.

Almost every one, the young and old alike, has a cell phone charm on their cell phones. Some of you will know what I mean.

A lot of the signage is done with bright colors and cartoon characters.

Well, Mr. Travel is starting to stir and is getting out of bed (it's Monday morning here). Nick has to work today. I don't know what Mr. Travel has planned for today since I went to bed while he was still researching on the internet. I'd better get off of the computer and take my shower so I am ready to go when he is!

Mr. Travel just informed me that today's adventure will be "downtown" Tokyo! Should be interesting, hope we don't get lost! Wish us luck!!