The Dynamic Duo

The Japan Saga Continues: Wherein UltraMom and Heather have another fun Tokyo day with Kristen & Co., and MJ learns a new word
After the DisneyLand, er sorry Heather, DisneySEA adventure, both of the UltraKids were definitely feeling under the weather and needed some recoup time. Hopefully they would be feeling better by the evening, when Game Night at Todd & Kristen’s in Tokyo was happening. In the meantime, a Girls’ Day Out was suggested, and pounced upon by our heros…. or is that heroines, Jessica?
UltraBob again took us to the Zushi Train Station and made sure we were on the correct train and that we knew where to get off; a different stop this time around. Again, we were armed with the orange UltraBob cell phone of courage. I’m trying to think what we did for lunch, and I’m pretty sure Heather finagled us a trip to the grocery store pastry section. Yes, that was it. We enjoyed our repast on the train, splitting each pastry in half so we could each experience each one. After consuming way too may carbohydrates, UltraMom was soon lulled to sleep by the motion of the train, so it was Heather who answered the important phone call from Kristen. “My work is taking longer than expected, so I will be a little late,” she informed us. “Just sit tight and wait for me.” Can do.
We arrived at the station and had a good time walking around the near vicinity of the platform while watching for red-haired American Kristen. Of particular interest was the kiosk where you could purchase reading material, snacks, drinks or any number of other interesting and incomprehensible (to us) merchandise. We were absorbed in our wanderings, and didn’t notice Kristen right away. She seemed a bit relieved to see us; I think she was afraid we had wandered off, which we had, but not too far.

UltraMom in the Train Station. We wandered just a bit….

“I thought we’d go up in the Government Building 40 stories up,” she told us. “You can see a lot from there and it’s quite interesting. MJ is at the computer store picking up her new Apple G-Book laptop, but she will meet us later for Karaoke.” Okay!
Just walking around Tokyo was fascinating. I was struck by how very few overweight people we saw in Japan, and especially in Tokyo. Everywhere, professionally dressed men and women were walking with evident purpose. Some of the crosswalks in Tokyo were unreal; when the signal came to “Walk”, hundreds of people in a group 50 feet wide would cross the street en mass.

The view out the windows from 40 stories up was incredible. On the roofs of slightly shorter skyscrapers we saw a helicopter landing pad, and a swimming pool that evidently belonged to a school. A lot of it was much as I had imagined it would be: tall gray buildings very close together and more tall gray buildings. After this, we went to a department store where Kristen wanted to purchase some desserts for the party she was having that evening. We had lots of fun looking around at the beautiful and, in some cases, mystifying food displays. We tried a few samples, most of which we liked.

Looking out on Tokyo. Notice the helicopter landing pad.

Now for the fun part: the Karaoke Bar. The plan was for MJ (an Australian) and her husband Yoshi, who is Japanese, to meet us there, but they were still at the Apple Store getting MJ’s new GBook, so got started without them. In Japan, these Karaoke Bars are very popular and I could soon see why. Each party gets a private room, where you can key in your karaoke selection from a catalog. You can also order drinks in, which, for many people, greatly adds to the experience. There are a couple of microphones, and the words to your song display on a television-type screen. Kristen has a lovely voice, and I don’t think UltraMom and Heather were too shabby either. The hour passed way too quickly, and Kristen declared that she needed to get back to her apartment to get started on dinner. At this point, MJ and Yoshi showed up, disappointed at missing Karaoke. The upshot was that UltraMom stayed and karaoked (I think that is a word) with MJ and Yoshi for another hour, and Kristen and Heather left to start on dinner. I definitely think I got the best end of THAT deal. MJ and Yoshi are both awesome singers, and I found a cool Carpenter’s Medley that kept me singing for a good 5-6 minutes, so that was fun.

Heather and Kristen- Karaoke!

Yoshi singing out

When MJ, Yoshi and I arrived at Todd and Kristen’s very comfortable and stylish Tokyo apartment, we found the party already started. Jonathan, a large, bearded American, who teaches English to Japanese businessmen was there, with his beautiful Japanese wife Sachico (sp?) Jonathan is also a gourmet cook and brought an out-of-this world beef lasagna dish. I inquired about the recipe, but quickly got lost in unfamiliar ingredients, and cooking techniques. Jim, an American blogger and fellow (to UltraBob, MJ, Todd and Kristen) computer genius was there too. Kristen had, along with some appetizers, made an outstanding vegetarian lasagna dish. UltraBob showed up a bit late, but with a healthy appetite, and without UltraGirl, who was still feeling pretty sick.
After the repast, and after admiring MJ’s new g-book, everyone was ready to get down to some game-playing, one of my all-time favorite pastimes. As UltraMom revealed her choices, she began her speech, “I have traveled across an ocean to bring you these games…..” First was Cranium, a game familiar to those of you who have have participated in an UltraMom game-a-thon. Your team competes in 4 categories; 1)answering factual questions, 2}drawing & clay modeling, 3}spelling & words, and 4}charades & humming. We split the teams into “boys” and “girls” and I think the game ended in a tie….....Okay, maybe the boys won slightly, but just because they kept picking the cheater factoid questions and had some lucky guesses. Next was Catchphrase, where you must get your team to guess a word by giving clues. It was especially fun watching Sachiko, who speaks very good English, and squealed with delight when her words were guessed. But MJ provided the evening’s highlight. I know this has been written about previously in other venues, but that’s not going to stop me from rehashing it here. MJ began giving clues in her charming Aussie accent “This car is following you way too closely.” We immediately guessed “tailgate”, but she wasn’t finished. “This car is following very closely, but nobody cares because you are all having a really good time.” Huh? When the time was up, MJ revealed her word “Tailgate Party”, and she didn’t have a clue what it actually meant. Seems they don’t picnic and barbeque on their pickup tailgates at Australian football games. Anyway, I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, and I wasn’t the only one. Thanks, MJ, for the best laugh I’ve had all year.
Before we had our fill of game-playing, it was time to leave if we wanted to catch the last train of the evening headed back to Zushi. It seemed only right to gift my Catchphrase game to Todd and Kristen (I could always get another one back in the States) and thank them for a wonderful evening. Heather and I were glad to be in UltraBob’s expert care as we made our way back to the Train Station and the ride home. It made me feel really good that the UltraKids have such nice friends, and even better that they are willing to share them with us.
UltraMom

Jonathan and Sachico

MJ: actually this was in the Cranium game. I don’t remember this clue, but apparently she was entertaining no matter what game we were playing

UltraBob and UltraMom laughing after the “Tailgate” incident. And a good shot of the Zous.

The guys puzzling over a Cranium clue: not sure what Kristen is doing there; maybe trying to throw them off?