Letter From Las Vegas: July 2007

Doves

The other day Trudy noticed a bit of odd bird behavior. A Mourning Dove, which we usually hear in the tree next door, was picking up twigs from our yard. Then he was delivering them to his mate right outside our office window.

So we now have a new family in the yard. The nest is just high enough that I cannot see if there are eggs yet but there should be two. The doves usually take 14 to 16 days to incubate the eggs and another two weeks of care in the nest.

The male sits the eggs all day and the female all night. They switch at dawn and dusk. Looks like the Mom spends all day shopping and at the spa while Dad wings it down to a club on the Strip all night. I heard there was a new topless place called "Birdies."

Mourning Doves range all over North America and nest up to 6 times a year. There are estimated to be about 130 million of them making them one of the most common birds in the US.

The male and female can be identified by the color of the feathers on the top of the head. Unfortunately the angle I have to view the nest hides the cap feathers color.

More as it happens
Bob

The Wedding

Finally, the (almost) end of the Japan Odyssey, The Wedding.

The ceremony was absolutely spectacular. If "National Geographic" had been there it would have been a full pictorial cover and article. The only downside was that I was asked not to take pictures. I have located a video that shows a wedding procession and music so similar to Rob and Tomomi's that it might even be at the same shrine.

Tomomi changed from her wedding gown to a red kimono for the reception.

Held at at special facility on the same grounds as the shrine it was quite similar to an American reception except for the food.

There were a few "kids" at the party and what a sight they were.

Transformers and Power Rangers come from Japan

Flowers and food held our attention quite effectively

Tomomi's uncle plays a classical Japanese "guitar" called a Shamisen and provided entertainment while we ate.

The reception ended on a high note with a "French Pastry" table for desert.

More as it happens
Bob

Before the Wedding

Several events were arranged for us before the wedding. Rob and Tomomi wanted to give us westerners a practice run to travel from the hotel to the Togo Shrine. Good thing too because Ann and Trudy had to face the fantastic crush of humanity and auto traffic that rules daytime Tokyo.

And then we had to cope with the Tokyo subway a demanding process that involves elbowing your way to the head of the line, knowing the name of where to get off, finding the button marked "English Language,"

slipping in a 1000 yen bill, taking a ticket and walking to the train. Actually the Tokyo Metro is right up there with NY, Paris and London.

Actually the practice run was great because it got us to Harajuku and to "Fruit World."

Think very high end coffee, excellent French Pastry and platters of exotic fruit.

We met at the Togo Shrine, and the practice getting there got us all together reasonably on time.

Our first look at the gardens in the rain. The actual wedding day would be clear and dry.

Tomomi's parents invited us for a classic Japanese meal. We were served a series of dishes who's beauty and taste was rivaled only by the meal served at the reception.

At several places on the table heavy cooking bowls were placed and in a very mysterious (at least to westerners) way the tofu in broth began to cook.

When the dish had changed in color and texture we were instructed to serve each other.

Serving friends and acquaintances is an important custom. Although Japanese restaurants pride themselves on a tradition of fine personal service, each meal includes places where guests serve each other. Tea, sake, beer and coffee are much better poured for you by a friend.

I have always suspected that the tofu my cooking produced here in the US was a pale imitation of what tofu could be. I was correct.

Tokyo at Random

Everybody needs a trip to King Kong's "Zen Mall"

As a Westerner in Japan one is constantly faced with what appear to be social contradictions. Actually they make as much sense in Japan as most contradictions in the US make sense to us here – usually they get more confusing the more we analyze them.

Here are some random shots of Tokyo mostly in the Harajuku District. Anybody who follows Gwen Stefani is probably more familiar with the Harajuku subculture than I am. We just blundered into Takeshita-dori on the way to the wedding. You can start checking out the phenomenon at Japanese Lifestyle

True Japanese sweets might not be much to western taste but luckily everybody loves French.

And just to finish off a hard day of walking one can take a quick foot massage on the acupressure track in the park.

Tokyo Fish Market

Tsukiji

The Tokyo Fish Market is listed in the tour books as a don't miss attraction. It has more workers (who all seem to arrive on scooters and cycles) than a small city. A fish auction and a fruit/vegetable auction supply to wholesalers who in turn supply to the entire city. About 1000 small shops process an incredible variety of seafood for Tokyo's 12 million densely packed residents.