Restrooms In Japan

The public restroom stalls in Japan are much more private than in the USA. (Legs do not show.). Also note extra toilet paper is hung nicely in a public stall and soap looks quite inviting! No paper towels though...

Things I have noticed in Japan

Things I have noticed in Japan:

• Bike helmets not worn.
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• Many people do not lock up their bikes.
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• Umbrellas are used as a shield from the sun.
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• Leggings and jazz pants are rarely worn by women. It is common to see conservative pants and skirts and blouses worn instead.
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• People line up politely to enter train and subway cars rather than push way on as we do in USA.
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• Public restrooms have both Asian and Western style toilets.
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• Bathrooms in hotels are almost as small as bathrooms in a trailer or motor home.
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• Big bottles of shampoo, body wash, and conditioner are provided by hotel. Pump soap and air freshener is also provided.
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• Hotel also gives patrons a new toothbrush and toothpaste and a hairbrush every day.
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• Beds are hard.
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• Bathroom slippers and insoles and a robe are provided by hotel.
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• Cash is used most of the time instead of credit or debit cards.
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• No tipping!
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• Cars are driven on the left side of the road and the driver’s seat is on the right side of the car.
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• Public restrooms (called toilets) are very clean and there are no towels to dry hands.
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• Toilet paper roll holders include a toilet paper cutter!
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• There is a certain elevator etiquette: If you are the first one in the elevator you are in charge of the buttons. Before exiting the elevator that person waits for everyone to exit and is the last to exit. The person closest to the exit takes over the buttons after that.
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• Wet umbrellas must not be taken into buildings and are put in special umbrella holders at building entrances.
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• There is no trash receptacles on the street and no trash is left on street either. It is clean everywhere!
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• No eating or drinking is done while walking on the street.
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• Washcloths are not used in Japan.
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• There are bugs in the trees that make a scary sound!
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• People wear face masks that cover their noses and mouth if they are sick.
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• Denny’s Restaurant is in Japan!

More observations to come....

I Am In Japan!

I am in Japan!  Yes...I really am in Japan.

I arrived on Wednesday night July 26.  My daughter Rebekah met me at the airport in Nagoya and we took the train to the Kayahama Station and from there we walked across the street to the Cypress Garden Hotel.

After Rebekah helped me check in and settle into the hotel, we went to a nearby convenience store and I cashed some Japanese money.  Rebekah taught me how to pay for things in Japan.  The cashier puts out a tray and the patron puts his or her cash or coins in the tray and then is given back change.  I have learned that it is not polite to count your money to make sure you received the correct change since the Japanese people are so honest that checking your coins and cash is not necessary.

The next morning, Thursday, Rebekah and I went to Starbucks.  Yes, Starbucks is all over Japan!  And...I am able to drink decaf coffee there just like I do in the USA.  The cinnamon roll I had Thursday morning was delicious and so was the biscuits I had on Friday and Saturday and Sunday morning.

On Thursday, after Rebekah went off to work, I hung out at Starbucks for awhile and then I decided to check out the beautiful Shirotori Garden.  I rode my little scooter that I brought to Japan there.  It was a long scooter ride since I didn't quite understand how to use the GPS, but I eventually did get there.

I forgot my water bottle which in Japan during the summer is essential, so I had to stop for a break at a 7/11 where I had a delicious Salted Rice Ball and water.  The break gave me a "2nd Wind" and I'm so glad I made it to the garden.  It reminded me a bit of a nature center in California I've hiked though and I enjoyed taking photos until all of a sudden I realized I had been bitten like crazy by some sort of bugs (Rebekah said they were mosquitoes).  The itching was so horrible that I headed quickly towards the tea room to cool down and I threw some cold water on my legs and arms.

I then decided to head back to the hotel and was delighted that the GPS took me on a bike path where I got to enjoy riding my scooter!

When Rebekah returned to the hotel after a two show day, we went to CoCo Curry, a chain in Japan that my son Joel told me was his favorite restaurant in Japan.   I had Vegetable and Eggplant Curry and I'm not sure exactly what Rebekah had.

On Friday, Rebekah and I started off at Starbucks again and then I rode the train with her to the show venue and saw her perform in Disney On Ice!  Before the show I got to see her practice on Open Ice and got to see some of the cast.  It was a challenge for me to find Will Call to pick up my ticket, but I discovered the employees at the arena were so very helpful and walked me right to the ticket window.  I had the best seat ever right in the front row at stage left!

After Rebekah led me back to the train, I found my way to the train platform and got back to the Kagahama Station and back to our hotel.  Before I returned to the hotel, I found the coolest semi-outdoor marketplace in the train station and bought myself a coin purse.  I don't use coins much at home in the USA, but found in Japan I really do need to use coins since the 500 Yen ($5.00) and 100 Yen ($1.00) coins are used often.  (Hey...I wonder what the Japanese use at coin laundries?)

After charging my phone and eating a rice ball, I decided to head towards the Eon Mall on my scooter.  It took awhile for me to get back on track with the GPS on my phone, but I eventually found that there was a clear bike path the the GPS called a "crosswalk" that took me right there.

I was shocked at how huge the mall was and I couldn't believe the huge supermarket in that mall.  There were several levels in the mall and I did spend considerable time staring at everything.  I headed back to the hotel without purchasing anything and after taking my scooter back to the hotel, I walked over to CoCo Curry and ate another wonderful meal there which was Vegetable and Spinach Curry.

I found one English speaking channel on the hotel television: CNN.  I watched some of that and then got ready for bed.  The jet lag really was "heavy" on Friday so crawling into bed at 7:45 PM and trying to stay awake until 8 pm was quite a challenge!

On Saturday morning I again met Rebekah at Starbucks and after she left I hung out at Starbucks trying to decide what to do.  I finally decided to visit the Nagoya-Boston Art Museum which was right in the area of of the Kayahama Station.  The museum was very nice too!

After the museum, I went back to hotel for a bit and then decided to head towards the Osu shopping area on my scooter.  I got to see more of the city on that trip, but when I got to the shopping district, I was amazed at the long covered streets which were very crowded!

I decided that the crowds were more than I wanted to deal with, so I began scootering back to the hotel, but it was so hot, that when I saw the subway entrance, I decided to try to figure out how to take the Subway back to the hotel and Kayahama Station, but to my dismay, it was not easy to figure out how to do that.  Just as I was about to give up, a lady approached me and in very broken English she asked me if I needed help and she helped me buy my ticket and led me to the station and correct platform.  Once I returned to Kayahma, I was so relieved!

After dropping my scooter off at the hotel, I walked over to CoCo Curry and had a wonderful plate of Vegetable Curry and then headed back to the hotel.

I tried hard to stay awake and when Rebekah returned to the hotel, we got to visit a bit before she went off to bed.

On Sunday morning, Rebekah and I went to Starbucks and I repeated hanging out at Starbucks deciding what to do, and made up my mind that I would go to Nagoya Castle.  Using the GPS on my phone I learned about how much it would cost and after getting my scooter, off I went to the Kayahama Station and found the correct Subway Train and got myself to Nagoya Castle!

The castle was so cool and I could tell that tourists had come from all over Japan to see it.

After spending a few hours there and roaming the castle gardens, I headed back to the Subway and got myself back to the Kayahama Station and returned to the hotel where I've been for the past couple hours wearing the robe supplied by the hotel and recovering from the long hot humid day in Nagoya!

More Japan adventures to come....

Remembering My Uncle Bobby (1935--2014)

Every person in this world may have a very strange or "different" or "weird" or "odd" relative.  My Uncle Bobby was the nicest and kindest person in the world, but he definitely could have been labeled "strange" or "different" or "a bit odd."

As a child, I didn't quite know how odd he was, but when I visited my grandparents in their big house in Belmont Shore in Long Beach, California, my brother, sister, and I knew his room was "off-limits" to us. We were allowed in all other rooms of the house, but his room was a mysterious territory and he certainly was our mysterious uncle.

Most of the time when we visited Grandma Fannie and Grandpa Max Schneider on Sundays, Uncle Bobby was sleeping upstairs in that room that did not allow us in.

You see, Uncle Bobby almost lived the lifestyle of a vampire!  He slept all day long and stayed awake all night.  During those long nights, he would read or write letters.  He read the books and newspapers and magazines he collected.  I heard that his room was piled to the top with those magazines and newspapers that collected dust.

When I grew up and moved into my Grandma Fannie's house when I was 22 years old, I decided to open the door to Uncle Bobby's mysterious off-limits room.  At that time, Uncle Bobby only visited Grandma on weekends since he lived in Marina del Rey.   The room was tidy, but had a stuffy smell since the windows were never opened in that room.  It was really dark inside.  There were many magazines stacked in the room and his clothes hung neatly in the closet.

There was a new addition put on the house when my Grandpa Max was alive which included two additional rooms and a bathroom.  One of those rooms, which was fixed up like a study, Grandma explained, was Bobby's domain and was off-limits, just like his bedroom was.  No one was supposed to go inside that room or touch anything in it.

Once I went in that room and Grandma was frantic.

"Bobby will be mad!" Grandma exclaimed.  She was horrified he would find out I'd been inside.  She told me Bobby liked to just sit in that room since it was so clean and perfectly furnished.

Uncle Bobby was really clean.  When he visited on weekends, he'd arrive at 2:00 am in the morning since he didn't want to battle the Los Angeles traffic.  He would drive on Hwy 1, Pacific Coast Highway, from Marina del Rey to Long Beach. in the middle of the night.  When he arrived he would shower in Grandma's huge upstairs bathroom and clean everything in that bathroom, so I always knew he had arrived.

Grandma spent most of the week shopping for Bobby before his visits.  That saved food, mostly frozen dinners, was off-limits to me.  When Grandma Fannie ate out, she would always order more than she could possibly eat and bring food home from restaurants just for Bobby.

Also, Uncle Bobby was an "never-ending student."  He took one course at a time at different universities and eventually graduated from college with a four-year degree.

He just was unable to work, but Grandpa Max made sure he was taken care of and after Grandpa Max died, my Grandma Fannie and then my father, made sure he was okay.  My father continued to make sure Uncle Bobby was taken care of until the end of his life.

For a short time he was in the volunteer military so he would not be drafted.

My dad gave Uncle Bobby his old 1963 Thunderbird which he drove until it could no longer be driven.  The car was a classic. In time, the car broke down and could not be driven at all.  Too bad it got towed away when Bobby didn't pay for the car's license registration renewal....

When I became engaged to Dan Farris in 1978, Dan and Uncle Bobby had wonderful and long talks about history and religion.  Uncle Bobby, like Dan, had an amazing memory.  He remembered every person in the family's date of birth and date of death.  He remembered every anniversary date too.

I still remember the day I turned 10 years old.  Uncle Bobby told me I'd never be just "one-digit" again and I was getting old!

When we called Bobby on the phone, he had a bizarre system that we had to use before he would answer the phone.  We first had to call his number and let the phone ring 12 times and then hang up.  Then we had to dial his number again and ring for eight rings and hang up.  We then did the same thing for four rings.  Next we had to ring two times and hang up.  Then we'd make one last call and,he would answer the phone.

Uncle Bobby also had a mysterious lifetime close friend: Shelley.  As a child, I remember Shelley joining our family at family gatherings, and she attended my wedding on April 7, 1979.  Actually, that was the last time I saw Shelley until a year after my uncle's death which was in 2015.  When Uncle Bobby would talk about Shelley, I was sure he was making her up and that she'd either passed away or had left him long ago.

My Wedding 1979 - Bobby and Shelley are standing next to my Grandma Fannie who is wearing the mink 

We found out a month after Bobby's death which was April 17, 2014 that he had passed away.  My dad called his younger brother on his birthday, which is May 14, but there was no answer, so he tried "Bobby's other phone number" and Shelley answered and told my dad Bobby had died!

In April and May of 2015, my dad and I helped Shelley move from the apartment in Marina del Rey which she shared for 43 years with Bobby to a senior low income apartment in Long Beach.

After that, every time I visited Long Beach, I would take Shelley grocery shopping and as time passed I did more and more for Shelley.  During our times together, Shelley told me more and more about Bobby.  He continued to hoard newspapers and magazines throughout his life and Shelley told me that their living room was piled to the ceiling with newspapers and those newspapers and magazines broke the furniture in their living room.  Also, both Shelley and Bobby hoarded disposable plastic grocery bags.  After my dad and I moved Shelley to Long Beach, we went back to Marina del Rey to clean up the apartment and we must have bagged up about 30 huge lawn and leaf bags full of disposable plastic grocery bags! 

Bobby continued his strange sleeping pattern of sleeping all day and staying awake all night until the end of his life.  Shelley told me they rarely saw one another because of his strange sleep schedule during their 48 years of friendship.

Uncle Bobby attended my mother's funeral in 2011 with plastic bags that included his belongings attached to his belt clip and it was obvious that his clothes were very old and very worn.  He was so happy to be with family though.  By that time, he no longer had a car, so my close friends Marion and Bruce Curtis and I picked him up in Marina del Rey at a restaurant parking lot and took him to Long Beach for the funeral.  I bought him a fanny pack after that so he wouldn't have to put his valuables in plastic bags.

One time when we visited him at the same restaurant near his home in Marina del Rey, his glasses were taped together and he carried nothing with him.  He would not let us see his home, so we always met him at that restaurant location.  My kids said he talked and talked and ate his food very slowly, so they sure remembered that visit.  He told us so much about our family and relatives since he remembered everything!  (He even told us that our great-grandfather, Adoph Regenstreich had changed his name from Abraham Levine to Adoph Regenstreich to protect his family from antisemitism.)

Anyway, I just had to write down my memories of Uncle Bobby since they are so very bizarre!

Shelley and Uncle Bobby

This is a photo of my father's only brother Robert with his longtime "lifetime very close friend" Shelley.

Uncle Bobby died in 2014.

Shelley is in the hospital right now.

I found this photo yesterday when I was sent some old family photos. I never saw this photo until yesterday. I'm guessing they were in their 30s when this photo was taken and I'm guessing it was taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s.