Day 1: Jusco Department Store- Japanese Bathrooms

Here's the Japanese cultural lesson on bathrooms:

Many private toilets have heated toilet seats with bidets as a part of the seat. At Jusco (a large department store a short walk from M&M's) they had several types of toilet seats available. I especially liked the bidet control icons.





Here's another cultural treat: A traditional Japanese style squatty potty. Many bathrooms had both "Japanese" and "Western-style" toilets available. Although on Mt. Fuji Sam & Meika both had to use a Japanese style toilet because no other options were available.

Meika theorizes why elderly Japanese people get around so well is because they use a squatty every day. 

Day 1: Temple Grounds 3

This is a large chunk of clear obsidian sitting at the base of a Buddha statue with an inscription on it's base. I have no idea what it says, but maybe if someone who reads Japanese comes upon this site they can inform us all. :)









In a clearing along a path in the cemetary there were several small statues of Buddha that all had bibs put on them. We're not sure exactly why people put bibs on the Buddhas, but almost every Buddha statue we saw in a shrine in Japan had a bib either on it or tied on a fence in front of it.








Sam is cheesing it up even through the intense heat. We weren't sure exactly how hot it was, but it was probably in the low to mid 90's (fahrenheit) with high humidity every day. You can see some of the bibbed Buddhas behind her.















Further on down the path we came upon an opening with a building with multi-colored banners hanging over the opening. We would've walked over to check it out, but there was no shade from where we were to where it was, so we decided to walk down a shady path instead. 

Day 1: Temple Grounds 2

This is a newer pagoda on the temple grounds, located just up some stairs from the old 5-tiered pagoda. 

Day 1: Temple Grounds

After stopping at the small shine we went to a larger temple in Nagoya. The temple grounds were quite large and had several buildings, a cemetary, and wooded areas.

This is an old (I'm not sure how old) 5-tiered pagoda on the temple grounds. 

Day 1: Small Shrine

I'll try to go through our time in Japan a day at a time to break it up into more managable chunks.

We actually got into Nagoya on Thursday, flying in about 4:30 or so. At that point we had been up for a long time, so we really just went back to Mike & Meika's and went to sleep.

On Friday morning Meika took us around the area near her house while Mike had to work.

We walked from their house up the road and stopped at a small shrine near their house. The bottom picture is a picture of the shrine from it's entrance.

The top picture is a water spigot in the shape of a dragon. The water that comes out into a basin where people pour it over their hands to purify themselves. 

On top of Mt. Fuji; All covered with rain...

Here we are a bit over 3000 meters (9900 ft) above sea-level on Mt. Fuji.

The details of the climb will have to come later due to excessive tiredness now.

Back From Japan

We're back from Japan. Flew in 11:30ish Friday morning after departing from Japan 12:55pm (Yeah, we arrived before we left). We're tired, we're going to bed, we've been up for almost 30 hours. More details and pictures will follow...

This picture is Fuji-san from the outskirts of the town of Gotemba.

That's Fast

Here's the speed of a typical Zumaya fastball. He got one reading of 103 mph and several 102's.

Zumaya

Zumaya came in during the 7th inning. He's well known for throwing very hard.

Tiger's Bullpen

We sat in the Pavillion just behind the Tiger's bullpen in left field. These are pictures of the Tiger's relievers and closers from our seats.

From right to left: Todd Jones, Joel Zumaya, Jason Grilli, Fernando Rodney, ???, Roberto Colon.

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Zumaya & Grilli watching the game from the bullpen.

Tiger's Game Pics

Here are the promised pictures from the Tiger's game last night.

This picture shows the sun setting behind the stadium. You can see our view was almost blocked by the foul pole, but luckily we could see just inside it.

Detroit Tigers & Nagoya, Japan!

Last night Sam & I slipped out for a Tigers game quick before our honeymoon to Japan. We tried getting tickets for Friday or Saturday night, but two seats together weren't available two weeks ahead of time for Saturday, and only obstructed views way, way up in the upperdeck. It was probably for the best though, since Monday the Twins came into town, and they've been streaking as of late. We sat in the "Pavillion," which is just past the bullpens in right field. We sat in section 144, row L, seats 16 & 17, just inside the foul pole.

Game Notes
Tigers: 9 Twins: 3

Tigers record: 76-36 (best in the majors by 10 games I believe)

Winning Pitcher- Zach Miner (a rookie): 7-2
Losing Pitcher- Francisco Liriano (a rookie): 12-3

Marcus Thames hit the longest home-run at Comerica Park this season (442 ft) to lead off the 4th inning.

We're hoping to get back to see the Tigers a couple more times after Japan. Hopefully tickets will still be available...

I'll post some pictures of the game later (maybe much later), since I have to unpack at school and get stuff done for this trip to Japan. Leaving tomorrow!! WOO!

Pretty...

Here are some more of our wedding pictures.

The Pictures Are In!!

We were able to pick up our CDs with our wedding pictures on them from the photographers earlier this week. We have 4 CDs with over 600 images total. Plenty to choose from. I know I haven't been updating this as regularly as I would have been liking too, but I'll try to keep up as much as I can.

Here's our group picture of everyone at our reception. We're planning on placing the group picture in the frame with the signed mat.

The Thursday Before the Wedding

Thursday (July 13th) we were both a little tired from running out to the airport late to pick up Mindi (Sam's matron of honor).

We decorated the church with swags of tuiling and white lights along the side. We thought it would take 90 minutes or so, but it ended up taking 4. Oh well, it looked great at the end!

We're Married!!!!

We're married!! July 15th! WOOO!!!

I'll update more with some pictures and stuff as I have time. We're very happy and loving our 3rd day of marriage...

Here we are on the limo bus in between the ceremony and the reception.

Currently Reading...

Now for the update: I'm about halfway through the next book on my summer reading list. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

I'll give you what I thought once I'm done with it, so far I like it. I received over 2000 pages in books as gifts for Christmas, and have only read about 300 so far. I have a lot of reading to get done before next Christmas...

Blue Like Jazz

Time for the reading update!!

This one is a little overdue...I had been reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller for quite awhile. With the wedding planning and the school year happening concurrently, I didn't get too much time to read.

This book is a series of separate but connected reflective essays on Faith & Christianity. I haven't been a big of a reader of "Christian" books, but I loved this one. He gives emphatic, caring, loving, and socially & environmentally just depictions of what it is to be a Christian. This book offers a view of Christianity that I had known I believed in, yet hadn't fleshed out my thoughts on deeply. It reflects a Christianity largly unseen- perhaps largly unpracticed- by the general population. It has great characters (Tony the Beat Poet, Andrew the Protester, Mark the Cussing Pastor) and a flowing style of writing that kept me interested (something many "mainstream" Christian books haven't done). It's a book that made me want to go out and be a better person.

My advice: Read it! If you want to borrow it, I'll let you once Sam's done with it. But I'll want it back so I can read it again.

The Whitmore Lake Fireworks Show

The Whitmore Lake Fireworks Show this year could be summed up in one word: Really??

The show lasted 30 minutes or so, but each firework was separated by a long pause. The "grande finale" lasted 5 seconds and consisted of maybe 8 fireworks. (The grand finale is pictured to the right). It has been much better in past years. Maybe they should think about a good 15 minute show instead of a slow 30 minutes. The kids we were watching the fireworks with were getting bored because the show was too slow.

Hopefully they're better next year!

Thanks to Sandi & the Klump Krew for inviting us over to watch the show! It was fun even though the fireworks show was kinda a dud.

Sunset over Whitmore Lake

Sam and I spent most of Saturday in Bay City finishing the seating arrangements for the wedding. We left in time to make it to Whitmore Lake to watch the fireworks show over the lake. We went to Sandi's (a teacher I work with) house on the lake to watch the show.

The scene pictured is 9:40 or so looking over Whitmore Lake. Nice!

Before & After (kinda)

Here you can see what the improved Steenbergen deck looks like. I didn't take a picture of before, but I took a picture of their neighbor's deck, since it looks similar to what theirs looked like before. So if anybody out there needs someone to strip, clean, & stain their deck, I'll do it for $1,000- unless it's large, then $2,000.

Staining the Deck

Sam's Mom, Sam, and I decided before father's day that we would re-stain their deck as a father's day gift. I'm not exactly sure who came up with that idea...but let me advise anybody out there thinking about doing the same thing: Don't.

Last week we started stripping the old stain off, which took forever, required scrubbing, and stunk in general. I believe it took three longer days last weekend just to finish stripping the old stain off. I called my Mom at one point (since she's in charge of deck care at home) and asked her how to strip the stain off, because the way I was doing it was long & difficult. She said that she never strips the deck, just cleans and reseals.

Once the stripping was finally done, the cleaning part was pretty easy. Spray on the cleaner, let it sit, spray it off with a garden hose.

We started applying the stain this Friday (June 23), and Sunday morning we finally finished. The deck has too many spindles on the railing, and way too much lattice work. If the deck had just been large flat surfaces all the way around, it would've been much easier to finish.

The upside is that the deck is now done, and it looks really good. Several people walking by have commented on how good the deck looks. Maybe I'll have to put a picture of it on here, just so everybody can share in the misery we went through. :)

Cheese

Sam is enjoying a round of mini-golf. I think at the point we stopped playing, Sam, Sean, and I were all tied with the best score.

Mini-Golf & Culvers

Last weekend (June 17th) Sam and I met up with some people from the Agape group from our church (younger adults out of college or in post-grad). We met at a putt-putt & go-kart place, and we played some putt-putt golf (which we cut short because it was hot), and then we did the go-karts. I would've won, but Sean (on the far right) works for Bosch, and he gets to drive cars on test tracks as part of his job.

After go-karting, we headed over to Culver's. Evidentally people from Wisconsin LOVE Culver's, and Laina (2nd from the right) lived in Wisconsin. I've been there before, but never really liked the food. What I've found is the food is just there to legitamize getting their frozen custard, which was pretty good. Yum!

Practicing for the big day

I'm just practicing how to "kiss the bride" when we get married. I want to make sure the kiss sticks, you know?

Lakeshore Park

Over Memorial Day Sam & I went with her parents to Lakeshore Park on Lake Michigan, evidentally a place they went while dating. The park is located around Saugatuck (sp?)/ Hollandish. You park on the back side of the dune, walk up a ton of stairs to the top of the dune, and then down the dune again to the beach. This picture is taken from the very top of one of the dunes (we illegally climbed on the dune itself- don't do it kids! Dune erosion is serious!) looking south along the shore line.

Bachelor & -ette Parties

Sam & I both had our bachelorette and bachelor parties on the 9th of June. Sam brought a camera along, Ben knew better than to incriminate himself. However, my parents stopped by in the middle of the festivities, so I suppose there wasn't much to keep secret.

Sam went out to Goodnight Gracie, a martini & jazz bar. They have several martinis which Sam loves. They then went over to the Full Moon, and back to Goodnight Gracie.

My party started out with beer pong & World Cup 2006 in the morning, followed by a break of beach volleyball & soccer. We then went to The Black Rose, Taps, O'Toole's, and finally the Margarita Grille.

Both made it through okay without incident. :)

The Gumby Incident

This is mainly for Mark. Not too long after we left Chicago, Sam received a cryptic email from an anonymous source with the following text:

Subject: Your Little Green Friend (Gumby that is...)

Looks like your little green friend hasn't been as secure as you might like to think. You really think that he's untouchable? Let me tell you something about Gumby: He has no backbone. He'll say he's your friend, appear to bend over backwards for you, but the next person that comes along will manipulate him to do exactly as they desire.

Consider this a warning! Gumby could be taken again at any time! You must leave a large cash deposit of $40,000 at the corner of Clark & Addison to secure your (and Gumby's) future. Any tricky business will result in Gumby being turned into Gumbo!

You think we're joking? Check these pictures out: http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g233/ItzaMystery/?action=view&slideshow=true
Drop off your goods by the time you depart for H-town. Oh...you think we don't know a little bit about you? WE DO! MWAA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Thank you.

It also had a link to the following page: Photobucket- "Itzamystery"

Two more Cubbies games...two more losses :(

Sam and I had tickets to a Cubs game on Sunday, May 28 vs. the Atlanta Braves. Sam's friend from high school, NJR, wrote Sam to tell her that he had extra tickets for the Saturday game if we wanted to go both days. We didn't hesitate long.

Unfortunately, the Cubs lost both games. On Saturday is was ATL 2, CHC 1.

Sunday was really hot. We walked to Wrigley from Mark's apartment on Rush & Elm (which we had done twice before) and it was unbearably hot. We stopped multiple times for water, a frappiccino, and then at the Sports Authority just because it was air conditioned. The Cubs were losing at the end of the 8th inning 8-12, so we left, since we were hot and sticky. We took the L back to Mark's, and when Sam checked her phone (she gets Cubs updates automatically texted to her), the Cubs had tied it up in the 9th. They ended up losing 13-12 though in the 11th inning, so we didn't feel like we had missed much.

I'm a slacker

OK, OK, I haven't posted here in a long time. School was ending, a wedding is in the process of being organized, and I'm a bit of a slacker.

I'm back though, and I'll try to keep this up at least a little bit. :)

Food Critics?

Here I am outside of Wrigley before the game. We walked up from Mark's (probably 3.5 miles or so) early to take in the atmosphere. Sam had to get a Cubs hat and some Cubs Sox (oops, I mean socks). We went in the stadium a little more than an hour before first pitch.

We're currently conducting a study on the quality of hot dogs as well as pretzels and cheese at each ballpark we visit. Wrigley's dogs are pretty good (2nd best behind Comerica), but don't get them from the express cart (if you're in the upper deck). Our hot dog buns were stale from the cart. Wrigley likes to serve their dogs smashed. The bun is kinda smooshed around the hot dog. It may not sound appetizing, but it does make it easier to eat one handed.

The pretzel & cheese are tasty, and the salt is easy to remove. Though their pretzels aren't very big. On the upside, you have more than enough cheese to enjoy with the pretzel, which is often lacking with larger pretzels.

7th Inning Stretch

A celebrity often leads the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field. The tradition started with Harry Caray (whose charactiture is in the window), who always raucously lead the crowd.

If you look closely, you can see Eddie Vedder singing (he's the one with the mic). For those less rock-n-roll inclined, he's the lead singer of Pearl Jam, a well known "grunge" band out of Seattle (I believe).

The lyrics of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" are slightly altered however. Below are the lyrics as sung at Wrigley Field:

And-a one, and-a two:

Take me out to the ballgame,
take me out to the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker-jack,
I don't care if I ever get back
because it's root, root, root for the CUBBIES!
If they don't win it's a shame!
Cuz it's ONE-TWO-THREE strikes you're out in the old ballgame!

If winning: Let's hold 'em!
If losing: Let's get some runs!

Looks like a fastball (as if I can tell)

Here's a picture of Clay Hensley (of the Padres) pitching to Michael Barrett. If you click on the picture to view the big version, you can see the baseball en route to the plate.

It looks like a really nice day for baseball, which was suprising, since the meteorologists were predicting rain for all day. It wasn't very warm though. We were both bundled pretty well and still were a bit chilly. The hot chocolate vendor did pretty well!

Zoomed in on the action

Here I am testing my digital zoom on my camera. I haven't really used it before, but it seems to work pretty well. We were sitting in the upper deck (Sec 533, Row 4, Seats 9 & 10), but you can see the action pretty closely zoomed all the way in.

Neifi Perez is being intentionally walked with 2 outs because the Cubs pitcher (Rich Hill) is batting next. Pitchers generally aren't known for being good hitters, and it paid off for the Padres. After walking Neifi, Rich Hill struck out.

Mike Piazza is catching. He was booed every time he came to bat because he hit a 3 run 9th inning homerun to beat the Cubs the day before.

The Scoreboard, since 1937

The world famous center field scoreboard at Wrigley Field. No batted baseball has ever hit the scoreboard in the 69 years it has been there. The scores are still changed by hand. Every now and then you'll see someone take down a blank space and put up a number. I wonder if they need any summer help...

The small flags have the names of other teams in the National League in order of their current standings.

Wrigley Field!

Sam & I spent Mother's Day at Wrigley Field of course! It was our first baseball game of the season. We spent the night at Mark's apartment (with earplugs), and walked up to Wrigley from there. It was a bit chilly, but at least it didn't rain (the forecast said it was going to).

The Cubs were a bit chilly too...not scoring any runs. It was their 12th loss in 14 games I believe. Sounds reminiscent of El Tigres, who are doing quite well this year!

The 1st Year!

It was also Meika & Mike's 1st anniversary on Sunday! Yay!

I heard from Mom they had an interesting time on their anniversary. I think the U.S. has "Love Hotels" too...they're just seen a little differently. ;)

Congratulations! We only have 60 days ourselves to our zeroeth anniversary!

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a bit late, but we were in Chicago on Sunday, so I didn't get a chance to post this.


Happy Mother's Day!!

Our First Dinner (Qdoba)

I know it's been awhile, but I'm back on the blog. It's been crazy busy to say the least, and it's not looking like it's going to let up for me until school's over. It may last through the summer even...

Today we signed the least for our new apartment and so we started moving some stuff in. Sam and I have been packing basically every night for the last week or so. Sam & I met at the new apartment right after we got off work (her alarm went off at 4:45am this morning so she could get to work early & leave at 3:00pm). We got the keys and took care of all the legalities, then met her parents back at my old apartment. We had four cars and loaded them all up with boxes of stuff and moved them to the new place. It went pretty fast, which is great, since I'm not a big fan of moving.

Saturday we're renting a truck and moving all my big stuff. Luckily we're getting some big help from both sets of parents and AGAPE from church. THANKS!