Fish Heads, Fish Heads, yummy baby fish heads...

OK, as promised here are a few pics from the most awesome restaurant in Japan. The top pic is the normal table set-up once the rice, soup, meat, tofu and accessories arrive. The second picture is just a plate of raw meat awaiting its place upon the hibachi. The last picture however is the one you really have to click on to appreciate. Do that now....those little noodle things are actually some sort of baby fish. Why, tell me why on earth, would someone think of putting those on food. Granted, its tofu underneath and I'm not planning on eating it, but why the little guppies? I dont get it. As for eating a mouthful, I chickened out tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

Today was a huge day. We toured Tokyo. Our tour guides name was Akiko. She was great. Her English was better than any of ours. She'd never been to America, studied Polish Linguistics in the university; yet somehow had great English and a huge vocabulary. Akiko first took us (by tour bus) to a very tall skyscraper that provided a 360 degree panoramic view of the city. This building was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatory. That was cool, for about 10 minutes, and then I was ready to go. After that, we went to the Imperial Palace/Imperial Garden. It is a very historical location here in Japan. It was home to a Shogun and all of his Samurai warriors. It was interesting and there was a beautiful water garden there that has been maintained since the 7th century. It is now the home of the Japanese Emperor and his family. (None of them came out to meet with us today, I was disappointed at that.) From there we went to an authentic Japanese restaurant and had tempura foods (deep fried stuff) that was really pretty good. We had to take off our shoes, sit on the floor and eat with chopsticks. (I still cant hardly use them right, but if you hold your plate to your mouth, the sticks make nice little shoveling devices.) The eatery was located in the heart of downtown Tokyo. After that, we walked a few blocks to the Asakusa Kannon Buddhist Temple and the Nakamise Shopping Arcade. You can look them up for yourself on the net if you want, I'm too tired right now to link them for you. The temple was ok, if you are Buddhist, and I guess its historicity made it interesting, but I'll stick with Jesus.

My funny at the Temple...As we were listening to Akiko make her spiel about the Temple, I noticed a young couple at the incense location. The purpose of the incense is to purify yourself before going inside the Temple. If you have a particular infirmity, you are supposed to direct smoke from the incense to that spot on your body. Then, after your worship in the temple, you are supposed to be healed or restored or whatever. Well, this guy wafted smoke over his girlfriends hair. Then he turned her around and wafted smoke towards her chest. Then they giggled. I think he was making a joke about the size of his girlfriend and was hoping the Buddha could help them out. I laughed. Maybe not funny to you, but its my blog.

The path to the Temple is lined with shops almost like the old time farmers market which we have in Paducah. Only about 8000 times bigger. There were all sorts of traditional Japanese items available for sale. I happened into one little shop and the girl there spoke perfect English. Needless to say, I did quite a bit of business with her, and she was very helpful. I commented on her English and she gave me a big, big discount. I really wanted to get her picture, especially since she had been so helpful and was a tad cute for over here, but my camera battery was dead. I loaded up on souvenirs for the kids and headed back for the bus. We were only given 40 minutes here because we were behind schedule. Partially because Akiko took too much time explaining the history of everything, and partially because Dare Aden got lost earlier in the day and we had to kill quite a bit of time looking for him in the middle of Japan.

Tomorrow is our final day in Japan. We have a morning and an afternoon session as a body, and then it will be time to prepare to leave. Our bus will depart the hotel at 11:30 am on Friday. We will get to the airport in time for our flight. Hopefully, due to all the time change and what not, we should arrive in Chicago by 2 PM on Friday afternoon. From there, its just a hop, skip and a jump to Nashville. If all goes as planned I should be in the long overdue embrace of my family by 9 or 10 Friday Night.

I commented earlier today about the one thing I miss the most about home so far. The answer was easy. I miss hearing "DADDY" being yelled in my general vicinity. I've been able to at least type back and forth on messenger to Bert, but the kids dont get the typing thing yet. Hunter tried. It's not the same. I love being daddy. It's an awesome job and I'm glad I am blessed to get to do it. Thanks for checking out the blog and keeping me and this trip in your prayers.

Domo Aragoto.

He Has Made Me Glad!

jeff