Tokyo Heart

She fell and couldn't get up

 

We were driving along Itsukaichi-kaido (the road that leads to Fussa) today and as we passed by a side road I noticed an elderly lady half sitting, half lying, at the side of that road with a bicycle lying on top of her. I made the first possible U-turn and drove back to the side road. She was still laying there so we stopped to lend assistance and call an ambulance if necessary. She didn't want an ambulance, and she didn't want us to call her house, but she could not get up or stand unassisted. We helped her up and she wasn't even able to move for a few minutes. She was in obvious pain. Eventually we got her into our car and while I drove her home my wife followed on the injured lady's bicycle. Fortunately, Mrs. Kikuchi (the injured lady) was clear of mind and she was able to give me precise directions to her house. We got there and figured out why she didn't want us to call her husband. He was wearing a back brace and unable to lift anything. Between the three of us we managed to get her into her house and seated on the step in the genkan (entry). Her husband said he would call an ambulance because it was clear that she was going to be immobile for a while and he probably wouldn't be able to help her. Hope she let him call that ambulance.

I do wonder, though, how many people may have passed by in their cars, saw her sitting there and didn't stop, or how many passed by on bicycles and just looked at her without stopping to help. The reason I wonder is because Itsukaichi-kaido is a busy road.  And, while we were helping her, at least half a dozen people road their bikes by us. The only thing all of them did was stare until I finally called out to a couple of them to ask if they knew her and if she's from the neighborhood. No one knew her, but one lady I stopped asked if she could help by riding the bike to her house, but my wife was doing that so we were all set on that point.

Mrs. Kikuchi told me she was on the way to tend to her garden and as she got off her bike she somehow fell. We're guessing that she grabbed the bike for support and pulled it over on herself. So, it wasn't a bike "crash" as we first thought, which could have caused more damage, but as it is she was - and is going to be, I imagine - in pain for a while. But, even in pain, she wouldn't let us leave her house without giving us a gift of a box of tea that she had her husband bring from one of the rooms in the house. We didn't get her address or phone number, and they didn't ask for ours, so no way to call later and see if she's okay. Just hope she is.

A Jindaiji Sunday

A sunny August Sunday.

10 km bike ride to Jindaiji temple & botanical garden park (the temple was founded in 733 - second oldest in Tokyo after Asakusa's famous Onarimon).

Lunch under a canopy of trees in a soba restaurant that is "hidden" behind the cemetary. Okay, not very well hidden since there is a sign (in Japanese only) pointing to it.  Cold soba dipped in a light soy sauce broth with a side of lightly battered tempura and a plate of oden (normally a winter dish, but good most any time of the year). A cold Kirin Lager for me and bottle of Jindaiji Beer for Madam Wife to chase it down (well earned beers after the bike ride!).

Smoke wafting from the firepit on the trail just above the soba restaurant helped keep the mosquitos at bay - only had to shoo 3 of them away. I refuse to share my lunch - and my blood - with these little bug(gers).

The cicadas serenaded us throughout lunch - the cicada's "song" is the true sound of summer in Japan. The cicadas in Tokyo this year are said to be "kuma-semi" - or "bear cicada" - the largest of the species in Japan. I've seen a couple of them lying on our balcony - they fell out of the trees that front our property - yep, they're big this year!

Took a bit longer route home through Mitaka and Inokashira Park and a stop-by in Hamadayama to sample a couple of Baskin-Robins 31's flavors - also well deserved after the 10+ km bike ride back (at least, well deserved in MY humble opinion!). Oh well, there goes the calories lost in the bike ride.....

Not a bad way to spend a few hours on a sunny Sunday in August in Tokyo.

Golden Week - Day 2 - means 2 Scoops

Golden Week - day 2 - out & about & enjoying a warm & sunny wonderful spring day:

> Bike ride through Wadabori Park & along the Zempukuji River - well, many years ago it was a river - now it's lined in concrete like a canal - but still a great place to walk / ride / jog. Lined with sakura trees, plenty of grassy areas, many people picnicking along the river today.

> Circled the ponds that are the source of the Zempukuji - folks with tripods & cameras hoping to get shots of the birds that nest in the reeds of the ponds

> On over to Kichijoji for a cruise through a very crowded Inokashira Park. Musicians, magicians, story tellers, flea markets, and more - something for everybody.

>Then, on to a soba lunch at Yoshimura along Inokashira Dori - as they say on their card, "proudly serving fine soba and sake for three generations." And yes - it is very good soba (and the cold Heartland draft beer goes well with it)

> Wheeled on down the road to Hamadayama for two scoops at the recently opened Baskin-Robbins

> Figured after that late soba lunch I'd be too full to do dinner - but Madam Wife knew better - she did up a nice cheese & light foods dish that went well with the glass of La Cabotte (courtesy of our favorite wine merchant Eric Dahler - you can find him here on FB if you want a good wine merchant)

> A bit of 'puter time & that's the day. No traffic jams to fight, no reservations to worry about. Yep - a pretty good Golden Week day!

Spring biking along the river

Today was a continuation of the great spring weather we've been having in Tokyo so we broke out the trusty steeds (our bikes) and headed over to the Kanda River for a ride to Inokashira Park.

Sunshine in our faces, a gentle spring breeze at our backs, as we pedaled along the river we were assaulted by hundreds, if not thousands, of gently drifting sakura (cherry tree) blossoms making their way down to earth to join their pink friends on the path and in the river. Have you ever been bruised by a sakura blossom? Oh, the pain. And, if you believe that, I have this wonderful bridge for sale on the Kanda River..... 

Along the way I spotted this small island flanked by the reflection of a majestic old sakura tree. You can see that the little island is almost covered in delicate pink blossoms.

Following along the river we came to this rarest of creatures, found mainly in Japan, known as the fence panda.

Lots of roadside and riverside fences have these sort of pictures painted on them and as you move along you see the animal, or fish, or flower, etc. slowly change from a picture to just paint on the fence rails.  Here's another one that is carefully watching Madam Wife as she gets ready to ride by.

After about a 30 minute ride we found ourselves in Inokashira Park where we stopped to have our picnic lunch and watch the happy rowers & paddlers, and as you can see, many people were out on the park's pond in the ubiquitous Swan Boats.

I used to think that only Japan has Swan Boats (and almost every pond & lake in Japan has them - from small ones for 2-4 people to huge floating mega-swans that hold a hundred or more). Imagine my surprise when I saw a movie a while back (can't remember the title) that was filmed on a US lake and lo & behold - Swan Boats!

It seems that last weekend was a bit cool in Tokyo (we were in Hawaii - Aloha!) and I understand that though many braved the chill and had their hanami (sakura viewing) parties many more decided to wait for the sunnier skies of this weekend. As you can see from the photos below there were thousand, literally thousands, of folks in the park today, parked on their blue or green plastic grounds sheets, bottles of wine or beer at the ready, food in hand, cameras clicking, enjoying the last blossoms.  With this warm weather the trees are greening up fast and the blossoms are falling quickly.

Heading out of the park we made our way over to Mitaka to see the sister-in-law's "in progress" condo. Construction is coming along nicely and looks like she'll be able to move in on schedule. Great location, only about 3 minutes to the train station, with plenty of shops and facilities near at hand. And, in line with the "dream" of many Japanese as they age, the place will have a floor dedicated to a variety of medical clinics, a supermarket on the first floor, and even a gym for what I imagine will be mainly gentle workouts.

Wending our way back we stopped at a little shop in Kichijoji (about 5 km up the road from us) to buy nikuman (meat filled Chinese buns) and anman (sweet red bean paste filled buns) for our dinner later in the evening. Can't tell you the name of the shop, but it's just past Kichijoji Station, on Inokashira Dori, and on the left - next to a parking garage. Just had the buns and yep! They are good!

From there we wandered off to the side streets to get away from the heavy pedestrian traffic. Lucky we did 'cause we ran across this interesting house.

This Makoto Chan house (click the link to see a video) was built by a well known manga (cartoon) artist, Umezu Kazuo, and his neighbors actually sued him for creating a public nuisance. We thought the house was pretty neat - and fun to see - but I guess if you're a neighbor with lots of people coming by to take photos all day long it could be upsetting. 

Not to be outdone the neighbor across the street has done a wonderful job of planting a good variety of colorful flowers around their gated garden entry.

A fe more kilometers of back streets later and we were back to our own Tokyo Heart abode. Still a bit of daylight left and still warm enough to sit out on our little balcony enjoying some tasty Manchego cheese, those excellent manju I mentioned above, and of course a glass or two of a good red Bordeaux.  After all, red wine IS good for the Heart, you know!