TRAVELS OF ANN

Started this morning we started our day with the usual continential breakfast provided my the hotel, free. That a new service, was not provided in all the previous years staying here.

Chris took off on the train to sightsee. I stayed at the hotel and worked on my blog. We met at noon with plans to have Sukiyaki.

Sukiyaki is a dish our whole family grew fond of in the years going to Japan. Its paper thin sliced beef cooked with vegetables in a soy sauce type liquid. Now its difficult to find it unless its very expensive ($100. pp) with some rare special high fatty beef where the cattle live in a spa to give the meat lots of marbeling.
On our last visit to Japan we found thing ‘all you can eat Sukiyaki” place called Moo Moo Paradise. Its reasonable price and there is a big disclaimer sign out front that they apologize but they are using American beef. Heck we don’t care.

In years past, when we had lots of Japanese guests to our company, we would tell them that when they come to SA, we will have a Sukiyaki party at out house, with them bring the main chef. We would buy the meat, boneless rib eye, get it sliced as thin as we could get it. Take the Japanese guest to HEB Central Market to buy some of the ingredients. Then we would all cook at my house. I learned that each has their own family recipe with some variations. Fun times, my kids loved it.

So today we took the train to Shinjuku station, and walked to Moo Moo Paradise, only to find it closed. We were hungry and popped into a chinese chain restaurant. It was tasty and cheap, 1300 Y for 2 ( about $13.00)
Boy, the dollar is really weak on this visit.

Walked around and back to the hotel.
That evening we are going to Isakaia restaurant for dinner with Saako and Masumi. Isakaia is like tapas, you drink and have many little dishes. Typically it is really good. We went to this very local place, where everyone turns their head and looks when a gaijeen ( foreigner) walks in. Had our “Kanpai” toast with a beer. the atmosphere is interesting, but the food left something to be desired.

Akihabara is the famous electronics district. It is a few blocks from our hotel and one of Chris’s favorite places in Japan. Today, I am going shopping for some souvenirs for friends, a little momento of Japan. Chris wants to go to an area of japan that has old board games. We split up and I walk to Akihabara, visiting the shops. Most things are more expensive than the US, but I noticed a influx of some cheap Chinese goods, but that goes for wherever you go in the world.

My mission was for the cute and unusual. Found some things and headed back for lunch to meet Chris. He spent his time exploring around. He enjoys the freedom of taking the train. Sadly, I admit that of all my years of traveling to Japan, I never really learned the train system, except for the necessary places I needed to go. Chris is very good at it, some stations are in English, but for most you have to memorize the kanji.

For lunch we ate ramen, its so good on a cold day. There are 2 ramen shops right near our hotel. Upon entering the shop, you have to make your selection from a vending machine that dispenses a ticket, you give the ticket to the lady behind the counter that makes the ramen. It seems like a good idea, the cooks do not have to handle the money….good for me.

In the afternoon we walked around to see how the neighborhood had changed, if any. The hood is fine, few changes except for the restaurants. The 2 ramen places are new. Across the street from the hotel, one of my favorite Korean Bar Be Que, japanese interpetation, Yaki Niku, places closed. They had charcoal cookers and the most delicious sea weed salad. Now, it is a restaurant called “Chicken and Wine”, ???

Tonight we are meeting Masako, my first Japanese staff in San Antonio from 1992-1997 and her husband for the above mentioned Yaki Niku, japanese version fo Korean Bar Be Que. We met them at Shinjuku station and walked to the restaurant. Seated in front of a charcoal/gas grill in the middle of the table. Uncooked meat is brought out, lettuce leaves, raw vegetables, salad with sesame dressing, tasty, kimchi and other pickles, and that bowl of rice, “gohan”.

Had the traditional beer toast “Kanpai”, break your chopsticks “Ohashi”.
You cook your meat on the grill, wrap it in lettuce, like a taco, dip in sauce and enjoy. Its fun and social as well as tasty. Had lots of laughs and talk of old times with Masako and her husband.

The last plan of the evening was to video film the Tokyo night lights, Shinjuku is a great area, the buildings are lit up with neon, glowing with illumination. Walked behind Shinjuku station… ready to be dazzled by the lights….but who turned the lights out???? There were few…it seems that since the earthquake in Fukushima, and the nuclear breech and accident, there is a move away from atomic energy to importing foreign oil this caused the lights to dim in Tokyo to conserve energy.

This morning we went to Harajuku, the area where the young people hand out, frequently in Anime costumes, especially on the weekend. On the weekend, in one part near the shrine, there is a flea market. I love to look at old junk, it’s history, but in japan it is especially enlightening.

I once bought a photograph book filled with pictures during the WWII era. It showed a man in his military uniform, kissing his baby goodbye. Often wondered if he made it back. There are only foreigners browsing the remnants of others unwanted items, or the leavings of those deceased without progeny. Japanese like things new and shiny, no desire for the previously used and abandoned items.

I digress from the mission that is Harajuku. It the past, indi bands played on the corners, until law enforcement ended it. It was home to anime costume shops. quirky accessories and a good place to but things for my kids, items popular now in Japan before it trickled to the US.

Now it is home to be biggest haku yen store (dollar store), but still a good place to buy things for your kids. It has a huge McDonalds, crowded with Japanese teenagers, Chris wanted to try it to compare. I said its just as bad as the US, but the burgers are a bit smaller. He agreed.

Early afternoon, it started to rain, and I resisted buying an umbrella, that I did so many times and brought it home to my children. We took the train back to the hotel. During the afternoon it snowed. Lying on my bed, listening to my Ipod, drinking a hot cup of green tea, watching the snow coming down, a rare sight in Texas.

It is so unusual to be in Tokyo without a packed schedule of business meetings, hospital visits, lectures.

Today is was just Chris and me, can do whatever we want. One thing I want to do it eat all the food that I missed. On other posts, I mentioned that I thought I would starve when they tried to feed me that fancy food. However, I discovered the “working man’s food” as I call it.

The hotel, St Hills, that I stayed since the hotel was built, until I left Japan in 2006. I was surprised that several of the front desk people remembered me. It was a comforting feeling. They now have a free continental breakfast.

For our first lunch, we had ramen. It’s the best here.

Saako came and I did an interview for my radio show on the social situation in Japan that lead to the declining birth rate.

We walked to Akihabara, the electronics district. Chris’s favorite. We walked and walked. Took an afternoon nap, such a luxury. For dinner we had Japanese curry.

Todays plan was to meet with the Japanese women that worked for me in San Antonio and would travel with me to Japan. In the early days of traveling to Japan ( 1989- 1992) I hired a translator when I came to Japan. It was the most cost effective, but soon learned that you are only as good as your translator.

In 1992, I hired the first Rann Med lady, Masako. then Rumi for 7 yrs, Madoka for 4 yrs and Kyomi for one year.

Another was Saako, she did not work for me directly, but for our importer. She came to Rann Med for one month for training and when I came to Japan, we worked together going to hospitals.

Today we were having abit of a reunion with their families. These women, came back to Japan and have all had children and are some of the rare, career women with children. Typically, women in Japan quit work when they get married for for sure when they get pregnant.

We met for a tempura lunch with their children and two with husbands.

For many years, I felt like a failure in Japan, and tried to seek if there was a purpose in all my hard work and investment. Maybe this is my purpose, to have influence in the future women leaders in Japan.

I did a short video interview with each of them and asked…..what did you learn while working at Rann Med and Ann Hardee that helped you be a careet woman in Japan. Each of their answers were surprising…I thought they would say that I taught them to speak up and give their opinion, but they all had different answers. For me it was so touching.

Today is Saturday. I will speak on Cancer Care in the US. Unfortunately, I am the next to the last speaker. I always prefer to get it done earlier, so I can then relax.

I listened to other sessions, they had 9 foreign guests, all doctors, talking about cancer care in Europe and Japan. I am the only one from the US. The person that was in my session was a male nurse, Per, from Sweden. He spoke about safe handling of chemo drugs. For the non medical person….long term handling of chemo drugs may cause the nurse, doctor, pharmacist to get cancer. I was glad he covered that, since I could just mention it.

Chris and I worked for months to develop some new software instead of using the old tired Powerpoint. We asked ahead if there would be internet available during my speech, for the short film clips, we were told “yes” several times, but on that day. It was only available in the lobby of the hotel, not the conference center.

I must say at this point that the conference/forum was excellent. The facility was beautiful, the planning and organization was perfect.  Tei and the Japanese staff that came from the hospital I visited the day before, took really good care of us.  It was impressive on many levels, there were 9 international speakers. I am honored to be representing my country, the USA.The conference was in English, with simultaneous translation, its very expensive. Everything was really top notch.

Due to having to remove the video clips and replace them with stills, my speech ran a little short and working with simultaneous translation, more difficult for me. I am used to sequential translation, you get more non verbal feedback from the audience.  Had more time for questions. Of course, I second guessed myself later, oh, I should have said this or that.  Although, I  got a good reception for my speech.

Afterward we had a party of the guest speakers and sponsoring staff. Before the party, Per, introduced me to his friend that accompanied him to Japan. We hit it off. When the party opened, he followed me and sat next to me. We had lots in common and I have not connected with another man like that since my husband.

The party hosts told me that since I was a radio personality, they would like me to be the entertainment. On the spur of the moment, I had to get up and tell something funny. I told the stories about when the first years of going to Japan, they would feed me, or try to, the fancy food. “creepy crawlers” stuff still alive, and I thought I would starve, till I found the convenie.

Next I told them about why they called me the Viagra Nurse at my last job. But I did the PG rated version. They loved it.

Soon it was time to catch the Shinkansen, bullet train to Tokyo. Rumi, that worked for me for 7 years in San Antonio as a manager.  During her employment she also  traveled with me to Japan for translation and business. She now lives in Nagoya Japan. She came and attended my speech. The plan was to all go together to Tokyo.  There were memorable times together. No matter how bad the Japanese businessmen were to us when we met with our distributor, we could always find something to laugh about when the stressful meetings were over, It created a bond for life.

I did want to stay and talk to the Swedish guy some more, but time to move to Tokyo. There we would have a reunion of the Rann Med ladies that worked for me.

Upon waking up in Japan, you are hungry. To your stomach, it feels like 3:00 in the afternoon and you haven’t eaten all day actually it is beacuse their time is 13 hrs ahead. It worked out well for working in Japan beause I could do a day’s work here and then  at the end of the day, I would send a report of that day to my office by fax ( seems such old technology now, at the time, it was almost a miracle for international business). But in the 2000s my daily report from Japan was by email.  It’s  waiting at my office in San Antonio when everyone arrived.

Today we plan to sight see and visit the hospital that is sponsoring the conference that I am speaking

We went to Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases. We had a tour and did some video filming. It’s always of interest to see the differences between US and Japan. The last time I gave a speech at that hospital, I walked in thinking, I supposed to lecture on hospital infection control? I think they need some soap, water, and a coat of paint. The hospital had been remodeled.

Patients are in 4-6 bed rooms and no private bath. There is one make and one female bath on the floor/ward.

The person that invited me to speak, Tei a pharmacist.After saying our goodbyes at the hospital, one of the doctors, Dr Itoh, walked with us to the Osaka Castle.

Osaka Castle “Osaka Jo” is the most beautiful ancient castles in all of Japan. I have seen most of them.

It was late in the afternoon, so the sun was just above the castle, not a good time for pictures. We walked and walked all around the grounds. There’s not much to see inside the castle.

Chris and I left San Antonio on Wed, Jan 29, 2014 for the flight to Osaka, Japan.

It was what I always dreaded, the long torturous flight. From San Antonio to San Francisco it was 3 1/2 hrs, and from SF to Osaka 11 1/2 hrs. You are so tired upon arrival. The immigration line too forever, they are now photographing and finger printing every foreign visitor.

After a $120.00 taxi ride, ( I forgot that Osaka had a new airport outside of the city) made it to the hotel.

It was a large, new, “tourist class” hotel, unlike the “business class” (tiny rooms) hotels, I usually stay at. Had dinner, “steakee”, Japanese small but tasty steak.

The time change is significant, Japan is 13 hrs ahead of the US. You are so tired, it feels so good to finally get to stretch our your bones in bed. The days and night are reversed, so part of jet lag is waking up every 2 hrs. Finally at 4:30 am, its time to get up.

Upon arrival, I recalled all the negative things I did not like, such as the hazy sky and poor air quality. After dinner, I was reminded of some of the things I really like about Japan…. I asked one of the workers at the restaurant where a convenient store was near the hotel? He gave me directions. I was outside walking down the street away from the hotel….when one of the young waiters came running after me, he had the map to the “Convenie” on his Ipad and gave me directions again. The Convenie was just on the corner.

It was surprising to me that my Japanese language was still there, tucked on some remote corner of my brain. I had rarely used it, except occasionally at the station.. there is no better way to say an ernest “thank you: but in Japanese.

When I left Japan in 2006, I was sure that I would never return. After 17 years of traveling to Japan 3 or 4 times a year, some years I went 6 times, I was done.

My beloved husband was diagnosed with cancer, I now had another focus. I didn’t keep up with my Japanese friends. Generally, I felt that after all the medical education, lecturing I provided, not one really cared. That was my other life, and I moved on and found fulfillment as a radio host.

This summer of 2013, I surprisingly received an email from a Japanese pharmacist I knew. I had given a lecture at his hospital on hospital infection control. He asked me to give a speech on Cancer Chemotherapy in the USA. I said thank you, but no. I don’t do that anymore.

He sent me many emails with the same request. I continued to say no, but offered to find them someone. With encouragement from my adult son, Chris, who loves Japan, and wanted to go with me, I began to consider it.

I thought of other nurses, but they would have no knowledge of the Japanese system. they would not know the key points to address such as the lack of informed consent and little awareness of the cancer diagnosis patients are provided in Japan.

What finally changed my thinking, is a email from Tei, saying ” we don’t care what you talk about, we just want YOU, Ann San. I said OK.

Another lesson of never say never.

As I have said, its fun to go, but great to get home.  Overall, it was a fabulous trip. Loved the diving and beautiful, clear, blue water.  I think my underwater photography is getting better, regardless, it was fun taking them.  Photography gives a purpose to diving, instead of swimming along looking at the beauty.

In regards to traveling alone, I found a place where I feel safe, beginning to know some people, its not too expensive, I will continue to return there for now.  I really enjoy diving with Splash Divers.

Considering returning to Belize, in January 2014.