The Sato-Veillon Family » Vacations

Japan ’09: Day Three

Shawn — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:17:38 +0000

We started the day with a haircut at “Rudy de grazios” in Motomachi. Mine is pretty good, just what I asked for, but nothing really new. Rika, on the other hand, spent 4 times as much and got a “Digital Perm”, which is a technology developed recently in Japan and not released elsewhere yet. Like a perm, it makes your hair wavy, or curly. It has a lot more precise control over how it looks, and has the opposite reaction to water. A standard perm gets more curly when wet and straightens out when dry. A digital perm is straight when when and curls when dry. That’s more like natural curls, isn’t it?

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After a couple of hours at the salon (some of which I went out for a walk, and did a video conference with my brother), we went to a “Shichishi Ramen” ramen shop that was recommended by the guys at the salon. O.E.Sheeee! So yummy! I had Tan Tan Men and she had Shio Ramen. But first as we exited the salon, I recorded this clip of a group of people taking part in the bon festival’s traditions in the street outside the salon. (Rika will fill in details/explination soon)

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Amelie’s Day: Amelie stayed with Jiji and Baba while we are at the hair salon and had some fun with them.

That evening we went to the Bon Dance, which ultimately got rained out. Still, Amelie played a “Kingyo Sukui” game where you try to scoop out a goldfish with a net made of rice paper. Obviously time is of the essance. She wasn’t able to do it after two tries, mostly because she was scared to actually catch the fish, but they gave her a goldfish anyway. She was SO happy! She loves her new pet!

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Japan ’09: Day Two

Shawn — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:10:36 +0000

We were too worn out to post last night, but I’m up early, due to having forgotten to put the HDCam’s battery on the charger last night, and doing the business.

We were off to a slow start in the morning, but then headed off to Isezaki-cho (since there is UniQlo) to buy Yukatas for Rika and Amelie, and a Jinbei for me… to wear at the fireworks festival at night (video below).
Sound of the Semi:

After Jiji and Baba went home, 3 of us went to Motomachi to just to browse around. We checked out Union, which is supposed to be an American style grocery store. Don’t believe it. It is laid out like one, but the contents, not so much. They did have a very nice wine selection (for a grocery store), complete with a walk-in cellar for the nicer stuff. And they had nice stuff. We couldn’t resist buying a Margeaux at a very good price.

Motomachi was fun… we took a picture in a BIG red chair in front of Daniel Furniture Store and were able to drink beer walking down the street… legal in Japan!

When we got back Amelie had a chance to wear out her JiJi (grandfather) – she loves to use him like a toy doll.

The fireworks at Minato Mirai were great, although we missed some because we were late. Plus, we didn’t get to record as much as we’d have liked because our HDCam’s battery died. Oh well, here’s the day’s images:

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We’re in Japan!

Shawn — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:46:39 +0000

Settling down at the parents’ place in Yokohama. Nice to be back… just thinking about going to bed though. The humidity feels quite nice. And the temperature is not as bad as expected… it has been overcast all day, so the temps are a little low… about 73F. But it feels more like 83 in L.A.

No pics or vids yet, will most likely be plenty tomorrow. Check back in!