Oh Tokyo - what a city

Sunday, March 8, 2026

We're off again - this time to a conference in Tokyo. W and I haven't spent time here, beyond transferring planes at the airport. 

We leave after speaking at the IES Bandung Gathering. We catch an Uber down the hill to the shuttle station where a travel van awaits. We spend a few hours in the airport until almost midnight, when our flight leaves. (It's a red-eye to save money.) As a bonus, we run into a young friend who's moved to Jakarta from Bandung. Some of the best school teachers are from the Philippines, taking jobs abroad to support family at home. Gold is one of those.

Monday
We arrive in Japan at 9AM. The flight is blissfully uneventful. The islands are surrounded by fishing boats, tankers, and cargo ships.

Instead of paying $80 for a taxi, we take the monorail and a bus to the hotel.

Signs are clear - it's easy to find our way.

I stamp my notebook at a subway stop.

We drop our luggage at the hotel about 10:30 and head to the streets. Here, people carry umbrellas with UV lining to ward off the sun rather than rain. Oh, but there are umbrellas on hand for rain as well.

Children on a preschool outing wear caps with wide brims to protect their skin frmo the sun.

Spring is coming. Roses bloom outside of shops.

We pass a new 2-storey gaming arcade, populated by men of all ages. A bouncer comes by and tells W he cannot take videos - but he already has pictures of the glitzy and immersive experience. What a way to waste your time and money.

W notices an 8-car parking garage in a 2-car lot. Winches haul your car up and down on platforms. A turntable-style base aligns you with the platform.

We marvel at the efficiency of Japanese toilets - the seats are heated, the bidets are mostly built-in, and the little sink flushes into the toilet as you wash your hands. 2-in-one.

The woodblocks are beautiful, a typically Japanese art form that requires precision and creativity.

We take a few buses to the Asakusa district. We find the tourist street and decide to walk back to the hotel. We pass a second temple/tourist area so we wander through. Dress-up is a favorite pastime; these young women may be wearing rented costumes but they scroll their phones in a non-historic manner.

The temple site showcases modern Japan. Construction is ongoing. The ancient buildings stand beside modern skyscrapers.

Men pull tourists (these gals also dressed up) in rickshaws. The streets are smooth, the wheels big, and the workers glide their passengers easily around the neighborhoods.

We pause for ramen at a little restaurant.

The markets are covered for maximum business, regardless of weather. We're a few weeks away from cherry-blossom time but the pink plum trees are flowering.

Everywhere there is parking for bicycles. Often, moms cycle by with 2 children buckled into child-seats: one chair is in front of the rider and another is fastened behind. Many bikes have big delivery boxes. 

Tuesday

Breakfast is at Matsuya, a chain recommended by Harun, a teen in Bandung. Yum. It is good! 

We're at a leadership conference, talking vision, values, and mentoring a new generation of leaders. The lunches and breaks are Western food, which is a real treat. We talk with leaders from Egypt, Thailand, Japan, China, Indonesia, and elsewhere. What different cultures we work in! Everyone seems to love their home area.

We walk to Gusto restaurant near the tech mall. Robots deliver food to the table.

I order spicy noodles.

After walking down 4 storeys, we see a beautiful flower shop in the nearby mall.

Wednesday

The breakfast is good - rice and meat with oysters.

It's a full day of training and exploration. The Q&A is helpful. Lunch is Indian food, the first time we've tasted that spice combination in about a year.

Unbelievable to have a hot bath in the hotel room, without trekking for hot water. Japanese tubs are deep - you climb over a higher sidewall to get in. W takes himself back to the tech mall but finds nothing he "needs."

Thursday
We try a new udon place - so good! It's a breakfast bar.

One of the servers helps us choose what we'll like.

The conference is a half-day and closes with a Q&A. W and I walk through the nearby university and admire its architecture.

The statue of someone famous (a Shintu monk?) sits by the lakes in the botanical garden.

Egrets stalk fish with cameras snapping their progress from the shore.

2-3'/30-60cm koi swim lazy circles, safely too big to eat.

Sweet-smelling bushes line the walking paths.

By 2PM, we're ready to eat. W leaves the choice up to me. I don't particularly like duck but we've tried many things we don't usually eat. Why not?

This place is full to the brim with people waiting to be seated. Going to be good, I think.

W quickly figures out how to order. Many restaurants have a vending-machine style of menu outside or just inside the door. You press what you want, feed in money, take the ticket in (unless it goes directly to the kitchen), and it's delivered to the table. You bus your tray and dirty dishes afterward. No tips given, except by Americans.

The main dining room is full when our turn comes. We are taken across the lane to a second room under the monorail. Clatter clatter! overhead when the trains run by.

My choice is delicious. Noodles with thin slices of duck in an outstanding broth.

Of course we try the sauces and spices. The combination of citrus and hot peppers in the lemon-shaped bowl is delicious. The server nods, "No, you can't buy it to take home. It's made exclusively for the restaurant."

There are many eateries, including this bakery that briefly tempts W.

It's still cold and most trees are bare.

If you have big feet, you go up sideways. This multiple-storey staircase has 6"/14cm wide treads. Most staircases are outside the building with an elevator inside. But some are wedged at inside, like this one that turns to go up a second or third storey. It's a tight squeeze but that feels normal after we run a few stairs.

We pause at a grocer, where the strawberries are the size of plums. I remember the first crops of berries were that size in the Frazer Valley fields, where students like me could earn pocket money by filling the flats with plump strawberries.

Friday

We take the monorail to the airport with only one transfer. It's crowded,with riders headed for work. The dress code is similar to Seattle: black with occasional blue or tan. For the most part, men and women wear black trousers, black jackets and coats, black shoes, perhaps with a white shirt or blouse. NO JEANS, apparently. Clothing is tailored and fitted. You know the rule-breakers - they have colorful anime-inspired outfits. 

W' frequent flyer status gets us into the Garuda lounge. The meal options are available with Japanese efficiency, compressed to a small counter and island. There's curry, rice, chicken, and other options.

I am almost "noodled" out (is that possible?) but check out the ramen. Clever: they suggest that the sauce packet sit atop the lid to heat, while the duet of noodles and boiling water does its magic inside the cup.

There's Häagen-Dazs ice cream, along with pastries and tea for dessert. I rarely eat on the plane so I fill up for the 8-12 hours ahead.

W's status also gets him empty seats in our row. He stretches out on the pair near the window and offers me the middle row. Yes please! I lie across them all, listening to a book most of the way. After posting the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the screen, I'm only tapped once by a flight attendant. I guess she can't believe I am refusing their gourmet supper. Thanks, but I'm ok without it.

After an 8-hour flight, we zip through Indonesian immigration and customs with the online forms. We retrieve our luggage about 7PM.

Then comes the most dangerous part of travel: the Jakarta to Bandung journey of 100 Terrors in 110 Miles/170km. We dread negotiating Indonesian toll roads in the airport shuttle vans.

Weaving in and out and driving on the shoulders to pass, our Jackel Holiday driver makes sure he has at least 1'/30cm between him and the car ahead. I sit where I mostly can't see the road ahead and read for +4 hours to the Bandung outskirts. Friends of ours are praying for our safe journey home. Thank you, D, K, and T. Those living in various parts of Asia have even more hair-raising tales of travel.

The lights of an apartment complex look a bit creepy,  like "many heads watching you" from across the freeway.

Finally on the overpass in our town, we have to slow to a stop. Traffic piles up ahead and behind us. Fans of the football team (USA soccer) hold up traffic. They wave flags and flares, shoot off firecrackers, chant and sing, and stroll between cars and motorcycles. It takes almost an hour to go 2 blocks. No one honks or rolls down their window; it takes only a slight trigger for violence to erupt. We all look away and hope nothing goes wrong.

We normally avoid town on the weekends for just such reasons. We are relieved when that roadblock is behind us. 

We catch a taxi at the shuttle station and are home by 12:30 AM. After unpacking and showering, we fall into bed after 1 AM. It feels good to sleep in our own bed.

Read more:
* The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it—you founded them. The north and the south—you created them. Psalm 89:11-12

* The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 

Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory. Psalm 97:1-6

From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth. Acts 17:26

Moravian Prayer: It feels chaotic around us, God! We know you brought order out of chaos at the beginning of the world; show us how to bring your peace and healing to all that you created. May we be instruments of your peace to help clear the chaos and restore your shalom. Amen.

Feeling the seasonal change

Thursday, March 5, 2026

I do a loop with the dogs. Before we head out the gate, they are calm and obedient. If not, that dog gets unclipped from the leash and doesn't get to walk. Later, they can walk with PakG. Anton got left behind 2 days in a row.

Today he runs to the potty area, then sits down and obeys the "wait" until I'm out the gate. Then he trots along on a loose leash without pulling. Is this the same creature that yanked W all the way around the block 2 months ago? 

It's a day of editing. I need to whittle off another 200 words, though new information is still coming in from around the globe. I can't decide what else to jetison - so I'll leave it until the next day.

The dogs are easily bored and their digging is hard on the yard. Yesterday, I froze water containing a few pieces of kibble and sweet potatoes. Today I cut off the bags and the dogs work their way through the "popsicles" - it drains off a lot of energy. I find a plastic basket with a lot of holes and tie long scraps of fabric through the holes. Tomorrow I'll toss in some food in for a snuffle mat.

Madelyn drops by for a chat, taking one of my books with her.

There are many DVDs in a box, left over from our daughter's visit years ago. I advertise them in the Yard Sale group.

The wind picks up and there's a crash. A 4m/12' limb has fallen off a tree at the back of the yard. Luckily it didn't hit anything.

Which reminds me: a tall tree is leaning toward the house, with two long branches stretching over the roof without balancing weights on the other side. When that falls, it will crush part of the roof. I send a note to the owner.

Friday
After an uneventful walk, IbuS comes to give me a massage. "You are sore today," she notes. True. I've been sitting for hours between walks and hard physical work.

I'm finishing off leftovers from the week - some eggs in 1/4 of a takeaway rösti from Ethnic is breakfast. Lunch is the rest of a pizza that's been sitting in the fridge. Eva comes by to deliver a stuffed duck from Robbie. It's 3X the size expected, so it becomes a seat for kids studying English at the Project, instead of a dog toy as expected.

W has been presenting his new book along with other work in the USA and Canada.

He hands out advance copies provided by the publisher.

He texts just after midnight. His flight from Seattle is delayed. He'll have a long layover in Singapore Airport before boarding the final flight for Jakarta. That's not the worst place for a layover: they have good rest areas and he has a lounge pass. Good thing he enjoys traveling: 13 flights in 3 weeks is not my idea of a good time. He arrives home in the early morning hours.

Saturday
It's a quiet morning. W lets the dogs out at 4AM when he gets back. He sleeps for 2 hours before a hearty breakfast on the Porch. I get to sleep in for 20 minutes until my body says, ok, you're done.

Off to one side, mushrooms sprout from a tree stump. We keep stripping off the young shoots that emerge from the trunk. It's too close to the house to let it branch out again. But in Indonesia, everything wants to grow.

W has brought a suitcase full of treats and an old-but-good cover for our Beddinge sofa. I must have 20 covers for the thing. It's how we mark seasons: from Christmas and Valentine's reds...

To the gentler colors of fall (southern hemisphere) and spring (northern hemisphere).

The kids arrive in force, despite the rain. The first arrivals show up 1 1/2 hours early, at 12:30. The dogs let us know they are at the gate. The kids are terrified of the dogs. We ask the volunteers to remind the kids, "We tie up the dogs at 1:30. That's a half-hour before it starts."

The dogs don't mind the yard: they get a bone to keep them busy under the trees. They snooze between the hard job of chewing. It's wet and rainy so they look like dirt-toys after frolicking and digging in the back. Juno offers her happy face - she loves the mud.

With W back home, supper is back. I'm rarely hungry in the evenings but I eat to accompany him. His choice is Homeground and spicy food.

Someone planted sticks of "crown of thorns" a while ago to keep people from parking in front of their house. It's worked. Now the sharp-thorned stems are adorned with blooms.

Sunday
The weeks at IES Bandung are counting down. This is our fourth-last Sunday as team leaders. We don't have a replacement pastor yet . We're asking our friends to pray with us about who should come.

We talk about loving the way God loves - by praying for others, but noticing their needs, and helping out.

Oh, look - they've repaired a huge pothole in the asphalt with cement, except that it wasn't properly roped off and set before several vehicles put their permanent imprints on it.

The orchids continue their months-long splendor. They're just starting to lose some blossoms.

Read more:
* The righteous know the rights of the poor. Proverbs 29:7

* When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Luke 18:22

Moravian Prayer: God of abundance, all we have is yours. Help us to rid ourselves of the excesses that lead us away from you and from your call to serve. Help us relinquish that which separates us from seeing others’ needs and rejoice in all you have given us. Amen.