The Dynamic Duo

January 5
Happy 33 Birthday UltraBob. Thirty-three years ago, on a snowy Idaho January when my perfect (though a little blue) baby boy was born, I never dreamed I would be visiting him today at his home in Japan. If I could have designed a wife/best friend for him and a perfect little son, I couldn’t have done better than he has done for himself with Tomoko and Linc. Okay, enough smaltz. That isn’t what you came here for. Right now I’m babysitting Linc while everyone else has gone to the Laundromat. I think this is the first day I have not even been out of the house by this time. It’s nearly 4:30 PM and it’s just starting to get dark. Wow, Linc is sitting near me on the floor surrounded by toys; he just reached over, grabbed my foot and bit my big toed! Ouch! He has four teeth now, half each on top and bottom, and they meet very well, right in the front of this mouth. I was just looking at this floor with all the computer cords, etc, thinking that this house will be drastically rearranged once this baby starts crawling. I think he’s getting close, though he really hates belly time.

I’m meant to be writing about Karaoke and Pumpkin House, so we’ll see how far I get. I can’t really remember the morning of that day, Jan 3 I think, perhaps a Sunday? We get started a bit late, usually, with the morning consisting mostly of Linc playtime. We would have liked to go to UltraBobs favorite Karoke place, Karoke Look, but it’s only open in the evening, and we want to go in the daytime today. Yuri will be keeping Linc, so we drop him off first, then all pile in Mitsu’s car. The first Karaoke place we check out is packed; hour and a half wait. The second choice works out, and we get ice and drinks on our way to our private karaoke room. Mitsu carries the basket of music selector and mikes. Thankfully, there is one catalog that lists song choices in English. Bob starts out with Red Hot Chili Peppers “Soul to Squeeze,” the song he recorded for UltraMom’s birthday. Mitsu sings some popular Japanese songs; most have random English words thrown in among the kanji symbols on the screen. He was a great voice; very strong and true to tone. UltraGirl does her signature “Top of the World” and UltraMom also starts with a Carpenters tune. UltraDad declines a turn at the mike, but claims he is greatly enjoying himself, none the less. And so it goes, in turn. At one point, when it is UltraGirl’s turn, there is a challenge. I don’t really understand how this works, but apparently she can compete for points with some other person at some other karaoke bar. She does an amazing job, and ends up with a score of some 90 points, but her challenger is rated slightly better. We decide the machine is broken. Another notable song selection includes UltraBob’s “El Paso, which UltraDad really likes. Though he doesn’t want to sing, he says he thoroughly enjoyed himself.  All too soon, the time is up and we had back to the Suzuki house.
We are all going to dinner at Pumpkin Village Station (or something like that), which is one of UltraBob’s favorites. The restaurant, located near the tip of the Mura peninsula, is decorated like a train depot and the inside looks kind of like a railroad car. This is a ‘cook your own dinner’ kind of place, and there are several griddles on the middle of the long table. We end up with UltraDad, UltraBob, UltraMom and Mitsu at one end, and Yuri, Motoji and UltraGirl at the other. The order comes as a raw mixture of batter, veggies and meats, fish, etc with a raw egg on top. This is stirred and poured onto the hot griddle, where it is cooked kind of like a pancake frittata. Mitsu is very charming and competent; he does most of the cooking, and also finishes each creation off with a brushing of sauce and mayonnaise before quartering and serving a piece to each of us at his end of the table. Bob’s favorite type is rice cake/cheese. I like the corned beef. Other varieties are cooking up at the other end of the table; in addition we each have an order of yakisoba. UltraMom declines a special drink, deciding to drink water. Soon water glasses are lined in front of her; Mitsu, UltraBob and UltraDad will make certain UltraMom will not go thirsty while they drink their iced tea (UBob and Mitsu) and beer (UDad). Yuri effortlessly handles Linc while enjoying her meal. The food is great, but the experience and the company are priceless.

I’m going to make this kind of a ‘sandwich’ post and finish today up as well. Yesterday afternoon, with hiking and Sushi, will be a separate post.

Journey with me back to the first part of this post where we left UltraMom and Linc waiting for the others to return from the Laundromat. We had lots of fun, toe-biting aside, but were happy to see some familiar faces. Linc was very happy to see his Mama, and UltraMom greatly appreciated the bag of clean laundry. UMom and Linc had been busy planning a birthday surprise for UBob. There were clues leading to gifts, but first the clues must be earned. UBob and UMom played games of MadGibs, Blackjack, Catchphrase, and, UBob’s nemesis, the dice game. He finally won enough games to run all the clues to ground; one was hidden in Linc’s pocket! The net result was eight gift cards for itunes. Several were from Jimbo and Johnny, the rest from UMom and UDad. UBob had asked me to bring the cards, for which he would pay me in yen, so I know it was something he wanted. I had convinced him (or I THINK so anyway) that I had forgotten to get them, so hopefully it was a fun surprise.
For the birthday dinner, we would be going to the Jailhouse Restaurant. This interesting place was themed to resemble an American old west jail. There was a bar and three tables, which were each behind bars. In order for us to reach our table, our proprietor had to unlock the jail door and remove the handcuffs that were keeping it closed.
I will add to and edit this post later; keep thinking I will have time to get back to it and it isn’t happening right now! But I want to have something to post today. Read this one again in a few days for an updated ending, pictures and more about he amazing Jailhouse Restaurant! Johnny feel free to contribute your memories of this one of a kind eatery.

Okay, continuation is here! We all ordered the ‘ American steak’ off the menu, which came with soup and rice. The plate, when it arrived, was beautiful, with a salad, fried potatoes, a fried egg and a slice of pineapple in the shell. The steak was flavorful, but had a lot of fat, though that probably added to the flavor, come to think of it.  Linc was very fussy, so his Daddy took him out; when UltraMom went out to check, she found UBob rocking his baby in a semi-enclosed building space next door. She offered to take over for a while, and several times almost had the baby asleep when loud motorcycles would come roaring down the street, startling him back awake. UDad was the next to arrive, but I think in the end, UltraGirl had the baby brought back to the table where he more or less behaved for the rest of the meal. We ended the meal by sharing a couple of orders of ‘strawberry milk’, which arrived topped with whipped cream and a real strawberry on the top. I think we were the only diners, though there were a couple of gents at the bar.

Like the old American West: Jailhouse Restaurant


We’re in Jail!

American Steak

Proprieter behind his bar

We get home in time for Daddy and son to take a birthday bath together. Afterwards, followed a hilarious time as Linc, adorable in a white terry cloth hooded robe, attempted to remove the hood. It took him awhile, as he pulled sideways, and when he finally did get if off, somehow it mysteriously would be back and he would have to start all over again. I have a video if I can figure out how to post it, which I probably can’t.

Baby in Hood, a classic