Kyoto and Some Stuff

In true Japanese fashion, we spent the last 5 days moving at a very quick pace. We've visited castles, temples, shrines, walked the Path of Philosophy, eaten sashimi (raw fish),and for those of us without mono, consumed our fair share of alcoholic beverages.



Thursday- After gorging at an all you-can-eat Indian Curry Buffet, we waddled around Nagoya Castle.


The six of us barely fit into our tiny apartment. No one understands how small it really is until they try to spend more than ten minutes inside. We lasted fifteen.




Friday (Day One of Kyoto)
Fushimi Inari and the endless Torri Gates. You may recognize the Torri Gates from Lost in Translation or Memoirs of a Geisha. If you haven't seen either of the movies, put them on your list!



Kinkaku, or more commonly known as the Golden Pavilion. The temple is actually covered in gold.



Justin's Dinner. Tuna Sashimi. Thanks to his adventurous ordering we were all able to experience raw fish, and surprisingly enjoyed it.



Saturday (Day Two of Kyoto)
Heian Jingu- just another shrine. :)


The Path of Philosophy. Do you feel enlightened?


Ginkaku Ji. The main temple was under construction, so we opted for tasty treats instead. Justin and Jake are enjoying boiled fish paste with shrimp inside, while Erika licks her green tea icecream. Yum!


Geisha at Kiyomizudera.



Kiyomizudera. It's remarkable that we were able to get a picture without a million people in it.


Our last stop in Kyoto was Sanjusangendo- home of 1001 statues. Here were are in front of the ever popular cherry blossom tree. I think having to tilt your head to look at the picture really adds to its beauty.


Sunday-
We are back in Nagoya and at the Port. This picture was taken before it started to pour. We are all very tired and would probably rather have been in bed.

WE HAVE VISITORS!

The Denbrooks and Moores arrived on Tuesday. Wahoo, wahoo!


Monika and Darrel are staying at The Marriot. Yes, their room is definitely bigger than our apartment.

Erika and Justin's room is just about the size of our place. We'll post of a picture of their posh suite soon.



A great view from D and M's room.



We, of course, went to Karaoke.

We Don't Always Watch TV

Contrary to popular belief, we have not wasted the entire last two weeks watching TV.



Noritake Garden- one of Japan's best known porcelain makers. Maybe not the most exciting place, but the weather was wonderful and we had a great time.





We couldn't resist some good old McDonalds. Jake really enjoyed sharing his fries with the surrounding pigeons.






Human dining really is the best.











Nagoya Port. Jake longs to be a Nagoya sailor. Jill is unsure why Jake made her sit on one of the dogs, and is terrified she will be yelled at by a mean Japanese man.






Venice in Japan?















We really love karaoke.

"You Were Right"

So here's an update on the life of Jake and Jill.

March 7- March 11: Jill is tired. Her eyes are yellow. She's starting to get a sore throat. No news from the doctor.

March 12: Jake comes to Jill's school. He is referred to as an "it". Example: "I saw IT in the baby class." He is treated like a celebrity and even signs a few autographs. He witnesses Kohei (the jumper from the Christmas video) sucking on Jill's discarded juice box.

After Jake leaves, Jill gets a message from her doctor that states "your blood work is very bad, come immediately.

Jill goes to the doctor and he tells her "YOU WERE RIGHT." Jill's eyes ARE yellow and her liver is not behaving properly. She does not have Hepatitis. The doctor is very unclear about what she may or may not have. Mono? EB? He wishes he did not have this foreigner as a patient. She is too tall and too white for him to treat.

Jill gives more blood. This time it is not necessary to cover her in a sheet or make her lie down.

Jill does not get to go to work.

March 14: Jill has a sore throat that may just kill her. Jake is at her beck and call. He wonders what happened to his wife. She used to be human.

March 15-19: Jill and Jake stay at home. They watch too much television and both wish Jill was back at work.

March 19: Jill goes to the doctor for a third blood test...

A Visit to the Doctor

For the second time since we have been in Japan, Jake and I have made our way to a doctor's office. This is always a very uneasy adventure as we don't have any health insurance and obviously don't speak Japanese. Jake's appointment was a success. His doctor spoke English, gave him some antibiotics, and sent him on his merry way. The only downside was the room he had to go in looked liked a place you went to die.

This time it was my turn. For the past two weeks I've been sick with a fever and extreme fatigue. This week the whites of my eyes started to turn yellow. I'd say most normal people would think that these symptoms would be a pretty good reason to go to the doctor. The doctor I was lucky enough to see apparently is not one of these "normal people". He looked at me for about five seconds and announced that indeed my eyes were not yellow, that I was just fine and he did not believe I needed any further treatment. Maybe he hasn't seen enough foreign eyes to know that mine are not normal looking, or maybe he just didn't care. We finally voiced our concern that with the symptoms I had, we would like to rule out hepatitis or mono with a blood test. He agreed do the the test, but only after saying, "I don't think you should."

Once they decided to take my blood they sat me on a stool and then for whatever reason decided that I wouldn't be able to handle giving blood while sitting down. They instead moved me to a bed, instructed me to lie down, and then covered me from chin to toes with a white blanket. I wasn't sure if they were pronouncing me dead or if they were in fact going to take my blood. Luckily they took my blood and promised results early next week.

This was definitely the most bizarre doctor's appointment I have ever had. Not only was the doctor a nut, but the place didn't resemble a doctor's office at all. The entire office was a big open room about the size of two living rooms. My doctor had about three feet of his own in which to see patients, and there were no barriers or dividers. Not too big on privacy I guess.

Here's to hoping we can survive the next 48 days without anymore visits the doctor.

Yen-sational

That's right. Today, we officially were paid back the 7 plus thousand dollars Nova owed us in back wages.

The fact that we're so psychologically astounded to get paid money that we were already owed shows the gravity of the situation. In other words, we're like the dog that's continually beaten by its owner, but gets excited when the owner offers it a scrap of bacon fat. Expectations were that low.

Anyway, fiscally, we're better off. However, Jill's health is still suspect. As soon as she's healthy, we'll celebrate Nova payday with a bottle of wine and some karaoke! Here's to singing Backstreet Boys at midnight!

J and J

Joy Joy Karaoke- 1:30 AM to 7:00 AM

How did we live this long without Karaoke in our lives?

For the small price of 1300 yen, we were able to sing (or rather scream) our hearts out in a small and very soundproof room.



Jake was an all-star. Jill didn't let tone deafness get in the way.


Graham's tambourine skills really added to the overall talent of the group.


Katy and Katie went strong all night. We lost David somewhere around 4:30 AM. Not even our never-ending screeching could wake this kid.

Definitely one of our best nights in Japan.