Tokyo Visit Sept 2010 - Final Day

This trip to Tokyo was too fast but I enjoyed every minute, even in the sunny, humid 35C heat! I was fortunate to be able to meet up with many friends and eat a lot of great food. Near the end of the trip I had a lovely evening with Sayoko and Toyo a couple I first met in San Francisco. They attended a free English class I was teaching to get my ESL teaching certification years ago. We ended up living in Tokyo at the same time and have kept in touch since I moved to Scandinavia. When I left Japan their little girl Lanna was only about 4 months old. Now she is 3 and a darling! Here she is singing to me while I wait for my okonomiyaki (a delish type of savory Japanese pancake) cook on the grill.














I also was lucky enough to have an evening with the Kikuchi's. The Kikuchi's were the host family to my Rotary World Peace Fellow colleague Ryan. They are in their 70s and are amazingly warm, sincere, and caring couple. They helped Carys, Cherine, and I out a lot when we moved into our apartment in Mitaka - lending to us bowls, glasses, plates, so we would not have to buy things. They even gave us a refrigerator!

One of the best things about being able to see them is just how at home you feel at their house, how they make you feel comfortable and taken care of - a home away from home. A great amazing coincidence about the evening I spent with them is that one of Zare's friends was also invited to dinner the evening I would spend with them, so he came too! Its a sort of tradition in the Kikuchi house that after a meal with a bunch of guests to take a photo, like the one below. If you look in the background (behind Zare) you can see a bulletin/cork board loaded with photos from previous international dinners with ICU students and Rotary Peace Fellows.














I couldn't help but also put in this picture of me and 'Mama', she is so sweet, she is often a bit quiet but she is a strong lady. Many of us also call Mr. Kikuchi 'Papa'.



















For better or for worse the Tokyo tour had to come to an end. As I had the chance to visit with so many great people, I ended up with very little time to re-explore Tokyo itself. But I did get a chance to take this sort of classic Tokyo photo of the crosswalk at Shibuya. It was a great trip, thanks to all of you who made it so!