Spreading her wings

Nikkō Tōshōgū Shintō shrine 

In our last installment our daughter had just graduated from high school here in Beijing 北京. Following a seemingly endless series of ceremonies and a school trip to Anhui Province 安徽省, you were left dangling as to what lay in store for our plucky heroine. Well, now, the waiting has stopped, for following the end of classes for the graduating students, Amber and four of her friends embarked on a nine-day, eight-night trip to Japan. While we covered her airfare and her share of the lodging costs as a graduation present, the costs of meals, transportation and various incidentals came out of her cash stash. From speaking with her each evening, it would appear she had an enjoyable trip, and a memorable conclusion to her time here in China

What follows are some photos from Japan that Amber sent to us via WeChat (with the exception of the first shot, taken at Beijing Capital International Airport 北京首都国际机场 as the group prepared to check in for their flight to Haneda Airport 羽田空港):

The group spent their first two nights in country at an Air B&B in Kamakura 鎌倉. The house was located close to Koshigoe Station 腰越駅 on the Enoden Line 江ノ島電鉄. This shot was taken prior to boarding the train at Kamakura Station 鎌倉駅:

The Eno-den Line 江ノ電 is known for how it seemingly cuts through backyards. This shot was taken from the balcony of their Air B&B:

The sea was a short walk away, and the offshore island of Enoshima 江の島 wasn't far off, either:

The kids' first dinner in Japan was at a Yoshinoya 吉野家:

Day 2 was spent in Kamakura (which Amber had visited with her father acting as guide last summer). Back on the Eno-den train:

Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū 鶴岡八幡宮 was one of the places my daughter and I went to last June:

However, Amber and Co. trumped me by also checking out Meigetsu-in 明月院, famous for its hydrangea flowers. Despite the fact I've been to Kamakura on numerous occasions, I've somehow succeeded in overlooking this famous sightseeing spot:

For the third day, the five friends left Kamakura and ventured into Tōkyō 東京, or Asakusa 浅草 to be exact. Amber, of course, was there last summer. Tokyo Skytree 東京スカイツリー loomed in the distance:

The golden turd 金のうんこ building, otherwise known as the Asahi Beer Hall スーパードライホール:

Sensō-ji 浅草寺, aka Asakusa Kannon Temple 浅草観音寺:

Five-Story Pagoda 五重塔:

From Asakusa the group boarded the Tobu Railway 東武鉄道 Spacia X スペーシアX limited express train, leaving Tokyo in style...:

...for the peace and quiet of rural Imaichi 今市 in Tochigi Prefecture 栃木県, where they checked into another Air B&B. Amber would tell us there were few businesses open (restaurants in particular were scarce on the ground), and many establishments shuttered, most likely casualties of Japan's declining population:

Imaichi was chosen for its close proximity to Nikkō 日光, which they visited on the fourth day:

Nikko is among Japan's most well-known, and therefore popular, sightseeing spots. Amber, however, told us that many of the visitors there were Japanese students on organized school trips, which must've been a welcome break from the foreign hordes currently besieging the country's hot spots:

Of course they went to the Tōshō-gū 東照宮, the most celebrated among the area's historic Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples, known for its colorful and grandiose ornamentation (think gold leaf and black lacquer), belying the supposed minimalism with which Japan is celebrated:

The Sleeping Cat 眠猫, which our offspring naturally had to get a photo of:

The tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康, though you may know him better as Lord Yoshii Toranaga:

A rare sighting of our daughter, presumably taken by one of her companions:

For lunch the group sampled a local specialty, Yuba 湯波:

Amber also snacked on a croquette that had gyōza 餃子 as its filling:

In the afternoon the girl and her friends took the bus to visit Lake Chūzen-ji 中禅寺湖 before returning to their lodgings in Imaichi:

Although I've been to Nikko many times in the past, my daughter managed to trump me yet again, by leaving Imaichi on Day Five and visiting Kinugawa Onsen 鬼怒川温泉:

In particular they were witness to the SL Taiju 大樹 steam train, something I've never glimpsed. Darn kids:

That night they left the world of online homestays and spent the night in a proper ryokan 旅館, the Nikko Yunishigawa Honke Bankyū 本家伴久, enjoying the fine cuisine and relaxing hot spring baths. I don't recall ever living it up in the lap of such luxury when I was 18!:

The dining room was accessed by means of an illuminated rope bridge:

Day 6 was spent having breakfast at the ryokan (and making connections with local felines) before embarking on the long train ride back into Tokyo. The group was so late in checking into their latest Air B&B (back to reality!) that my wife and I endured a mild panic attack waiting for Amber to call and reassure us that everything (and everyone) were doing fine:

Seven days into their trip, and this time was spent in Tokyo, transitioning from traditional ryokan fare to the earthier pleasures of chicken sandwiches from MOS Burger:

Being 18 it came as no surprise that Amber and Company spent the day in Shibuya 渋谷 and Akihabara 秋葉原:

Mewtwo ミュウツー at the Pokémon Center Shibuya ポケモンセンターシブヤ, looking like an alien corpse being stored in Area 51. And no, I had no idea what is was, either, until it was explained to me:

On their last full day (that would be Day 8 if you're playing at home) the group ventured from their Air B&B (located near Tenkūbashi Station 天空橋駅 in Ōta Ward 大田区, and only one stop from Haneda Airport) into Yokohama 横浜. Lunch for my daughter consisted of Miso Udon 味噌うどん noodle soup:

Alert readers might recall that Amber, Shu-E and myself spent time in Yokohama a scant four months ago, but our daughter maintained she didn't mind revisiting recent haunts. Admittedly, it was probably a lot more fun doing so with peers than with parents:

For their last supper in Japan, the group was treated to a sukiyaki すき焼き meal by the relatives of one of Amber's classmates:

All good things must come to an end it is said, and so it is with graduation trips. On the ninth and final day I welcomed my child back to Beijing:

The view from the airport express as we made our way from the airport back to our home in Chaoyang 朝阳区:

I would by lying if I denied feeling envious of Amber enjoying life in Japan while I stayed behind in an office, dealing with a seemingly endless series of bureaucratic trivialities, not to mention entitled expats and their First World problems. But at the same time I was overjoyed that she made it back safe, sound and happy for the experience. At the end of summer the group (including Amber, as well as someone Shu-E and I strongly feel is her boyfriend) will disperse for different universities and gap years, and in the case with one friend from Singapore, mandatory military service. I hope she created memories that she will always treasure, especially as she prepares to transition from secondary to tertiary education.

And now for the rest of the story, because May and June haven't been completely devoted to our daughter graduating from high school. What follows are just some of the other activities that took place, such as when I went bike riding on an overcast weekend day, and encountered a giant...something positioned next to a busy road:

Prince Jun's Mansion Hotel 北京君王府饭店, located on the fringes of Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园:

Lunch one weekend afternoon at a Thai restaurant located in the Grand Summit shopping center:

Clay pot rice with curry sausage:

A sampling of some of the offerings from Red Ears Brewing 赤耳酿造, procured from April Gourmet, an international grocery store popular with the expat crowd. The Red Ears Misty Cloud Tea/Belgian Wheat Beer 赤耳烟云龙井绿茶啤酒 (second from the left) and Oriental Jasmine 东方茉莉 (second from the right) were pretty good. The Lemon Tea Beer 柠檬茶啤酒 on the far right was a taste that was a bit too, um, lemony while the Mung Bean Beer 绿豆啤酒 (far left) was an ordeal that I had to force myself to finish. Each bottle had one of two inspiring messages on the back, either "After your face get red, please move on" or "Rise above your flushed moments":

Timi, the resident Siamese, has been demanding to go outside more often as the sunlight hours lengthen - here he is modeling his new harness, which he tolerates knowing he can't venture outdoors without some sort of restraint to prevent him from running off (though in practice he gets easily spooked by passing people and vehicles, and then wants to retreat back to the safety of the living room). While outside, he will roll around in the sun, chew on grass and look to see if the neighbor's cat (Meow-meow) is around:

Our close proximity to Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园 makes it ideal for walks, content with the knowledge we don't have to battle for the limited parking spaces on weekends:

Beijing's modern skyline looms over the park's lake:

Another weekend, another lunch outing, this time to a nearby hotel and its Peking duck restaurant. Also, it's unique tofu 豆腐 offering:

Peking Duck 北京烤鸭:

For most of May there was a "night market" set up outside of the SOLANA shopping mall, but these affairs are a far cry from what you find on any given evening somewhere in Taiwan:

Speaking of Formosa:

LeBron James and "Taca Tuesday", a no doubt legitimate business tie-up with the NBA superstar, the favorite player of the Chinese Communist Party:

"Shuwatch" シュワッチ! (Ultraman ウルトラマン):

On one of my frequent visits to one of the local international hospitals I discovered just how close the facility is to a noisy high school:

Outside the hospital:

Roses in bloom at SOLANA:

Lunch at 弓二居酒屋 Kyūni Izakaya, a Japanese restaurant in SOLANA. 帰らない酔まで "Until I get drunk and never go home" according to Google Translate; "Don't go home until you're drunk" according to me:

Gyoza and karaage から揚げ:

Chazuke 茶漬け, a favorite of my daughter's, though you wouldn't know it from the expression (or lack there of) on her face:

Unagi ウナギ:

Hatsune-no-ya 初音の屋 and Amahara 雨暗, or "rainy darkness" (G.T.), the names of the room in which we were seated:

On our way home following lunch, my wife noticed a sign inviting people to go inside an as-yet-unopened hotpot restaurant and have a look around. Which is exactly what we did:

An interesting choice of wall decor in a country the leadership of which is constantly going on about China's "rejuvenation" following a "century of humiliation":

Not far from the U.S. Embassy is this establishment. I'm not allowed to eat there lest my USG-provided RMB should end up in Kim Jong Un's coffers:

During the week I usually eat lunch in my office, checking out the latest baseball scores while dining on whatever the cafeteria is offering the day (usually chicken; lots and lots of chicken). But once in a while someone will suggest going out as a group, which is how four of us found ourselves at Laoshi Dumplings 老石饺子, located in one of Beijing's hutongs 胡同:

Zongzi 粽子, a traditional offering during the Dragon Boat Festival 端午节. These examples were made by none other than my wife:

The Chaoyang Joy City shopping mall 朝阳北路大悦城 is a favorite hangout for my daughter and her friends, bringing back memories of when I would while away those afterschool hours at the Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, California. And it was in Joy City that I discovered the hitherto unknown-to-me fact that you can eat at Muji (at least one of them, anyway):

(The story behind my shirt)

Amber's dinner - hamburg steak on rice. Looked more palatable than what I ordered: 

A CD shop. On the outside were displayed album sleeves of the likes of Nirvana, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Oasis etc. Inside, however, lame Chinese pop was playing. At least there was a resident cat: 

CHICHA Sanchen 吃茶三千, a Taiwanese tea chain. 1998 also happened to be the first time I visited Taiwan:

On another outing with coworkers (this time a farewell lunch for a departing officer) we went to Jing-A Brewing:  

The Airpocalypse. I wouldn't have ordered one had I know the alcohol content was 8.8%. I hope my decision-making on important purchasing requests in the afternoon following lunch wasn't affected in any way. Don't drink and procure!:

Timi and Meow-Meow, a sight that greeted me one afternoon as I returned home from work:

The Liangma River (actually a canal) on a late spring evening, with the pleasure boats out in force:

Going for a ride on a short stretch of the Chaoyang Greenway 朝阳绿道:

Timi was surprised to wake up and find himself grasping this cuddly toy, a gift that came with some cat food ordered by Shu-E from Taobao 淘宝. He would attack it soon after:

Amber's return to China from Japan happily coincided with a pair of celebrations: my birthday and the American Father's Day. For the former we went out to dinner at Jinguan Restaurant 槿官餐厅, a Korean eatery:

And for the Father's Day, the lunch spot of choice was one of the local branches of Saboten さぼてん, a Japanese tonkatsu 豚カツ chain that is actually better known outside of Japan than within. It's been a hard series of days at work lately - forget the glass, I'll take the bottle:

My birthday haul of goodies. The CD player and striped dress shirt came courtesy of my wife. From Japan Amber picked up a couple of CD's (Queen's Innuendo, and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the debut from Pink Floyd), and a book in Japanese on the Beatles, all purchased from the Tower Records タワーレコード store in Shibuya, a place where I had spent so much money and time back in the day. She also got an ema 絵馬 votive tablet for me from the Nikko Toshogu. I love my family:

(In a D'oh moment, while creating this post I realized I had photographed the back cover of the Beatles book. Here's the front:)

And now that I'm reunited with my daughter, my little jet-setter will be off again. Tomorrow she and her mother will travel to Taichung 台中 to spend time with the Formosan side of the family, leaving me to fend for myself for the next couple of weeks at least. At least I'll have the cat. Normally he just tolerates my existence, but if the past is any indication, once it dawns on him that I'll be his sole source of nourishment (as well as provider of clean litter boxes), I will supplant both Amber and Shu-E as his best friend in this world. 

At least temporarily.

Until the girls return I can always occupy the time with work:

"We are heading to Central America, just heard that the housing there (and city), doesn’t allow for TP to be flushed down the toilets. You have to put it in the garbage? How does that work? Does GSO supply you with special bins/buckets for tp? How do you deal with the smell? Sorry, but kind of eww. What if you have problematic #2? It’s not like Asia where you have wet rooms with hoses. Again sorry for TMI. I have never heard of this before. Anyone have any experience with this and what are the best solutions."

The above question(s) recently appeared on an unofficial Facebook group for Foreign Service officers and their family members. As someone who spent years placing used toilet tissue into lined wastebins instead of flushing the disgusting contents down the john while living in Taiwan, it was only by exercising maximum restraint that I didn't reply with a snarky comment (though I did point out that in many parts of the world even this scenario is a luxury). I understand that people come into the FS world from different backgrounds and experiences, but I was surprised to hear from one of my colleagues that this very subject was a serious topic of conversation among his classmates when he was in A-100. As one of my experienced General Services Officer friends pointed out when I accepted my current position, I would soon discover that there a lot of folks in this line of work who have never previously lived outside of the United States. And many of these people seemingly assume it's my job to replicate an American lifestyle for them while they're overseas. But the answer is still no, GSO will not supply special bins or buckets for the used toilet paper.

"Anyone have an Ayi* that wants to work 3 times a week for 3 hours each time and is okay with either working on Chinese holidays or willing to accept not being paid for days she does not want to work?"

I don't know why this question posed in a local WeChat group rankles so much. I understand what the person is looking for, but there's something about the expression "have an ayi" as opposed to "know of an ayi" that in my mind conjures up images of colonials lounging about on chaise lounges, while one native slowly waves a large hand fan overhead, and another plops grapes into the expat's mouth (and articles such as this one do little to dissuade from the colonial mindset). For the record, we do employ a housekeeper who comes in one day a week to help out with the chores (and who will also take care of the cat while we're away), but she approached my wife for work, rather than the other way around. In all our time in the Foreign Service, we've never employed a domestic worker on a full-time basis (we did hire a full-time day guard while we were living in Addis Ababa, but that was for security purposes), and never expected one to cook our meals and look after our children. On the "plus" side there are many small children in the community who have become proficient in Mandarin thanks to all the time spent in the company of ayis and nannies while the parents are pursuing their careers. 

Moving on from work, I'll end this post with the admission that I should leave people to their fantasies and illusions, but when it comes to those seemingly endless social media Japan fan groups, it's very difficult to resist the urge to tweak a few nerves. The following is a typical post:

To which I commented "I've already done so but with better grammar". In response I was excoriated by a recent high school graduate from rural Oregon (at least according to her Facebook profile) who seemed completely oblivious to the irony of piling on agist slurs while simultaneously lecturing on "decency". Unfortunately I won't be able to enjoy further such witty banter as I was unceremoniously booted from the group after the following exchange:

A post on 3D billboards in Tokyo is uploaded with the claim that "Japan is living in 2050". In response I comment with (as anyone who has ever banked in Nippon can attest) "Japanese banks are living in 1950". 

And just like that I was out. I found myself blocked from another FB group around the same time after someone shared this obviously enhanced photograph:

I found the spot on Google Maps and shared the Street View image:

Bob's your uncle. Perhaps a project to keep me busy until the girls return from Taiwan is to get banned from more Japan-related social media groups. It's only a matter of time before this image gets shared again:

As this video points out, this is largely a myth. If and when it happens, I can happily share an update on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's 東京都庁 efforts to cut down thousands of trees in the Meiji Jingū Gaien 明治神宮外苑 district in central Tokyo. 

I'm sure my contributions to the debate will be greatly appreciated. 

*Ayi 阿姨 "a nursemaid in a family" according to Pleco, but a better definition would be "housekeeper"