Audiobook Year in Review: Part 2

I might have an audiobook addiction.  The review of the first 10 books of the year is here. 

I've kept on pace and even sped up a bit, such that it looks like I'm averaging just short of an audiobook a week this year.  At around $12/book it's an expensive habit, but we don't have any entertainment subscriptions other than Netflix and Amazon Prime, so I tell myself it's okay, and that it's not quite as expensive as buying actual paper books (but, of course, not as reasonable as obtaining books from the library).

Truly, my quality of life is so improved by listening to audiobooks while doing chores like driving, folding laundry, walking/running/working out, cooking, and more.  Things I used to consider drudgery are now welcomed and even longed for.

So, in case you're wondering what could possibly convince me to spend so much time on them, here are audiobooks 11-40 that caught my fancy this year:

	Title	Author	Review
11	The hypnotist's love story	Liane Moriarty	More Australian accents.   A fun jaunt through the little lies we tell ourselves that sometimes overwhelm us.  Light fun rom-com.
12	One plus one	Jojo Moyes	Classic best-selling love story with all the classic sappy elements of love and romance and loss and hardship and redemption that make a chick-lit escape so wonderful.
13	MaddAdam	Margaret Atwood	I'd read Oryx and Crake in 2004, during law school, and The Year of the Flood in 2011.  I'd seen MaddAdam pop up regularly as recommended for me by Audible (who, if I'm honest, probably knows more about my reading predilections than anyone in the world thanks to the Amazon overlord).  This book is a classic example (as would be the others in the series, no doubt) of how different the experience of reading can be versus listening to an audiobook.  There is quite a bit of verse in this series.  I'd written about my enjoyment of it earlier, and how to me, it was reminiscent of Blake.  Reading it, there was an internal rhyme, meter, and voice that I developed for my own enjoyment which is likely similar to the internal voice I use for Blake.  This time, listening to the last book in the series as an audiobook, I was so surprised that the voice and cadence the professionals selected for the performance was so different than what I'd heard in my head in the previous 2 books' visual readings.
14	Tiny Beautiful Things	Cheryl Strayed	See http://bitingtongue.blogspot.com/2015/03/you-better-work.html
15	I'm with the band: confessions of a groupie	Pamela Des Barres	Recommended by Kim Gordon in Girl In A Band.  Fascinating memoirs and history of the early years of rock.
16	Take another little piece of my heart: a groupie grows up	Pamela Des Barres	2nd act in Pamelaa Des Barres' life.  The groupie grows up and lives life the best she can.  More historical Hollywood and music icon memoirs, but also just a good tale.
17	Let's spend the night together: Backstage Secrets of Rock 'n Roll Supergroupies	Pamela Des Barres	An investigative look into the many manifestations of groupie culture.  Fascinating.
18	Torch	Cheryl Strayed	Ms. Strayed has a recognizable written voice between Wild, Dear Sugar, and this book.  If you like her writing and perspective in either of her other two books, you will enjoy this one as well.  If you enjoy her reading performance, you will enjoy this one, too.  The focus on drama here is larger than it is Wild, but it's very well done and a good story.
19	Live Right and Find Happiness	Dave Barry	Classic Dave Barry.  Lighthearted.  Fun.
20	The Girl on the Train	Paula Hawkins	Good Thriller.  Well done.  The alcoholic unreliable female narrator is an interesting twist.
21	When to Rob a Bank	Steven Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner	Excerpts from the Freakonomics blog.  Entertaining, but just okay.  I suspect this is one of those collections that is better visually read.
22	Blue Nights	Joan Didion	Her unique introspective voice.  On aging, life, and revisiting the loss, again and again through all of life's losses, of her daughter.  Painful.  But beautiful. Poignant.
23	Going Off Script	Guiliana Rancic	I just needed something light and enjoyable after Blue Nights.  I had no idea who Giuliana Rancic was, but the description of the content and the audio-excerpt led me to believe this one would fit the bill.  The initial hours were exactly what the doctor ordered -- hilarious tales of the early years of Giuliana's life as an Italian immigrant in America, growing up in roughly the same era as mine.  By the end, Giuliana's story becomes much more complex and difficult than I originally expected, but she never loses her hilarious sense of humor or perspective.  Over all, I enjoyed this much more than I expected.
24	The Girl Who saved the King of Sweden	Jonas Jonasson	My audible wish-list at the moment is populated with serious, difficult, heavy works.  And, I do enjoy them.  But even with the laughter from my last selection, I just didn't feel up for any of them.  So, when I saw that the man who wrote The one hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared had written a new book, I was intrigued.  The reviews quickly assured me that the voice and style were in keeping with the last book, which I sincerely enjoyed.  So, I jumped right in, and it delivered, as promised.  A great tale of coincidence and talent leading to accidental participation in great historical events.  Comical and fun.
25	Americanah	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	One of the best stories I've enjoyed in a very long time.  Due to the varied African accents, this was one where I think the audiobook brings much more to my own enjoyment than visual reading would.  I couldn't bring a Nigerian accent to mind before listening to this book, and I can now, which is a wonderful thing.  The characters were complex, as were the topics (racism, the African Black american experience as opposed to the African American experience, and the return of an expatriate Nigerian to Nigeria, all wrapped up in a multi-decade complex love story).
26	Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore	Robin Sloan	So Enjoyable!  A true SF read in both senses: Science Fiction/Fantasy meets San Francisco.  I suspect it won't age super well due to its commitment to modern day trends like Googlers and the current state of technology, but boy was it fun right now.  If you liked Harry Potter or any other Fantasy or Sci-Fi series and you enjoy technology, design, and modern day life in the San Francisco world, you'll be thoroughly amused at how clever and well done this one is.
27	Lock-in	John Scalzi	I very much enjoyed this book.  When you stop to think about the story, it's clever, cohesive, and well thought out -- tons of work must have gone into making the world consistent. But when you're reading it, it's just a great story that's very plot driven with well built characters. Interestingly, the main character/narrator, Chris Shane, is never specified as male or female. There are two separate audiobooks, one narrated by Amber Benson and one by Wil Wheaton.  I listened to the Amber Benson version.
28	Anansi Boys	Niel Gaiman	The critically acclaimed tale of Fat Charlie and his brother, set in a similar world to that of American Gods, but taking place in London, Florida, St. Andrews and the otherworld.  Excellent reading performance by Lenny Henry -- so many different character voices, all done consistently well.  An enjoyable escape.
29	Crash and Burn	Artie Lange	A very honest, sometimes cringe-worthy tale of hedonism, dysfunction, and comedy.  This seems very self-enforcing to me -- if you are already an Artie Lange fan, you'll likely appreciate this book and like him more once you are done.  If you aren't, you may become one, or you may fall on the side of many who find his behavior and humor depressing and vile.
30	The Storied Life of AJ Fikry	Gabrielle Zevin	Like most books set in bookstores, this is a book for book people -- with references to classics woven throughout.  A slow moving book-heavy book.  If you love western literature you will likely love this too.
31	I don’t care about your band	Julie Klausner	A fun pop culture romp through the memoirs of a young single woman being open and honest about her dating experiences in modern America (with a focus on New York).
32	The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry	Rachel Joyce	A lovely story of an older man who decides to make a pilgrimage for *something* and the chaos that ensues as well as the growth in his marriage as a result.
33	Modern Romance	Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg	Aziz is such a fucking nerd.  He decided to do some stand up about dating.  Then he got curious.  The next thing you know, he's hosting focus groups in major cities throughout the world and soliciting input from sociologists, anthropologists, and other impressively credentialed academics in relevant fields.  All, as far as I'm concerned, in an effort to string together an audiobook that fascinates me wth facts while making me laugh.  if you are interested in modern love culture, dating, and laughter, you will love this book.  Also, since it's read by Aziz, it's one of those instances where the audiobook, for me, is even better than the written book (even if I did miss out on the graphics as Aziz so often liked to point out).
34	Tokyo Vice	Jake Adelstein	I like to educate myself before and while traveling in a place.  I was headed back to Tokyo this November, so I picked this audiobook up and found myself completely enthralled.  Equal parts cultural observation and journalist/detective mystery it's very enjoyable if you are looking for something written by a Jewish boy from the American Midwest who ends up as a reporter in the crime bureau of one of the major Tokyo press offices.
35	Japan took the Jap out of me	Lisa Cook	Again, in the interests of pre-travel education, I listened to this one with a goal of understanding the gaijin english teaching experience from the eyes of a Californian female.  I figured I would relate to her experience.  But actually, she's so self-identifying as a JAP (Jewish-American-Princess) that I found the whole book to be educational on both sides.  I listened to her do things I'd observed "JAPS" do in California with confusion, but she was in Japan, so then I listened to her explanations of why she was doing what she was doing and how it was received as so foreign in Japan.  Oddly, I think I learned more about the wealthy Jewish American female (Californian?) experience from listening to this book, than I did about Japan.  Regardless of the unexpected JAP education, there were several passages that really moved me -- in particular, I was so impressed that she took her time in Japan to speak out and educate about women's rights and teenage depression.  Specifically, there is a story of how she saw an old woman in the subway being verbally abused but her husband convinced her that they really couldn't do anything at the time (and she admitted he was right).  She was so upset that the next day, she replaced her senior female English class with an open discussion (where she cried) about the woman and her concerns about her students' self worth and how verbal and physical abuse is *never* okay and how they have to love themselves and walk away from abuse and know that they don't have to put up with it.  The response from the students (many of whom also cried), fellow teachers, and community to such a necessary message made it clear that while Americans are often brash, sometimes, we come strong to deliver important messages that are culturally difficult, but very important.  In case you couldn't tell, I very much enjoyed this one.
36	Tune In Tokyo	Tim Anderson	Yet another book in my "seek out cultural education on Japan" series.  Tim is a gay man from Raleigh, North Carolina.  He is a southerner first, and I could relate to many of his perspectives on the world because my husband is also a southerner.  His book was a hilarious summary of his experiences and a humorous take on Japanese cultural oddities, his *mistress* of Tokyo, Japanese gay culture (and wacky young female culture that is oddly parallel with gay culture in other areas of the world), food, language, music, and just general foreign hilarity was educational and enjoyable.
37	An Unwelcome Quest	Scott Meyer	I'm not sure what to say about this.  It was the 3rd book in the series and I accidentally read it after the 1st, but I didn't notice.  The reason I switched from physical books to audiobooks for this series is that E informed me he had no desire to read anymore in the series and physical books only make sense if I can share with others.  This series didn't make the cut for him, as he put it, because it was overwritten, oversimplified, too childish, and all sorts of other not-super-positive things.  And yet, I purchased this book, and ran my way happily through almost 12 hours of audio book.  What's more, I enjoyed it.  I even went back and got the audiobook for #2 that I'd skipped.  So clearly, there's something here that's enjoyable.
38	Spell or High Water	Scott Meyer	Same general comment as above.  I enjoy it, clearly, 'cause I came back for more.  There's time travel, and magic, and a reasonably well-constructed world.  There's gender and cultural awareness and sensitivity in a manner that is so out of line with the simplistic writing that it's a bit confusing.  But, overall, I enjoyed the almost 12 hours of this one as well (many good miles were run and walked).
39	Neverwhere	Niel Gaiman	This one had been on my to-read list for quite some time.  Very enjoyable.  Classic Gaiman in style.  Epic fantasy interleaved with real-world minutia and an unlikely hero protagonist.
40	Why Not Me	Mindy Kaling	Funny, thoughtful, introspective on feminism and race and success while cracking jokes, similar in tone to her first memoir.  If you liked the first one, you'll like this one as well.

Soup #2, and healing

Soup #2 turned out pretty darn well, despite the fact that I actually burnt some of it and still need to scrub like crazy on my pot to get it back into a functional state.

Carrot leek garlic onion soup leftovers, just as good the next day.

1 leek, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 T olive oil
1 bunch green onions, chopped (I had 'em lying around, I figured why not)
1 shallot, chopped
3 garden chiles, minced


1 bag baby carrots
6 cups water
3 cubes boullion

1/2 cup white vinegar
2-3 T lemon juice
garlic salt
turmeric
cumin
black pepper

1. Sautee first group of ingredients until the onions, leeks, and shallots are translucent
2. Add carrots, quickly sautee and then add water and boullion, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so and adding water (don't get on a conference call and forget to add water for 15+ minutes or you will burn the bottom layer of the soup).
3. Turn off the heat when the carrots are tender enough to easily break with a spoon.  Puree with a stick blender.  Taste.  Add spices from the last group of ingredients to taste.

In other news, I worked in the garden today to start taking down plants (since it's California, they are still green, just greedily sucking nutrients from the soil even though they are no longer producing much fruit due to short days and cold).

Lo, the final harvest of the year:

In running news, I can walk without pain.  I did end up with some purple bruising below the outside of my ankle, but with the daily icing and elevation it's been getting better.  I've been adding a mile a day and drawing the alphabet with my toes (still sore, but not terribly so).  Today, I've got one more walking mile to hit 4+ and tomorrow, for thanksgiving, I'm going to try some jog/walking.  Wish me luck. 

Runner, Interrupted

Yesterday, I accidentally put on a show for Market street.  I'd just left our hotel and was headed out towards the Embarcadero for a quick 3 mile run.  I'd successfully dodged people by zig-zagging between them for about 400 meters or so.

And then, that sickening quick crackle and pop of my ankle turning over -- this one hurt quite a bit, and my leg immediately buckled to get the weight off the foot.  I, of course, still had forward momentum, and stumbled to get my other leg under me, but it was not enough.

I careened forward, and before I really knew what was happening, some very old instincts kicked in.  My hands hit the pavement, but I had already started to roll so they just absorbed some of the impact before I rolled diagonally over my shoulders and back to arrive seated, in a pike position, facing forward.  I was actually a bit stunned -- that part of my brain is fairly deeply buried and hasn't been accessed in a while.  Even so, thanks to 10 years of falling in gymnastics, somehow my body knew how to bail out without scraping any skin despite how much my ankle hurt.

My first non-self-related thought was that I had definitely heard gasping.  I looked around to see a bunch of people stopped and staring.  One guy looked at me inquisitively, hands in a pre-clap as if to say "Are you okay and would you be offended if I clapped?"

Next day swelling, no bruising -- not too bad, but it's definitely a real sprain.

An adorable woman knelt down next to me and started talking to me.  "Did you roll it?  Oh, man, it looks like you are in pain.  Here, let me help you up.  I'm a runner.  I do this all the time.  I mean, not all the time, but I've rolled my ankle, I know how you feel.  Here, let me help you up.  Where are you going?  I'm not in a hurry, I'll support your side while you walk there.  You know, sometimes, these seem bad when they happen but they heal very quickly.  Can you take the time to ice and elevate today?"

What an angel.  She was so kind and concerned and supportive and she escorted me away from the gawkers quickly and efficiently.  I never even got her name.  I thank you and looked her in her sweet face as she said goodbye, wishing me a quick recovery.

So, yeah.  My plans are going to have to change a bit.

I'd been headed in the right direction, increasing my mileage, and I even made it to the track group on Wednesday for the first time in almost 3 months.

But, currently, it hurts to walk, and I can't go down stairs leaving my left leg on the step - so no running until that goes away.  There's no way I can balance on the one foot, so no yoga this week.  I'd started a 4 week tabata challenge, and I don't think I need to drop out, but I am going to have to avoid the lower body options and modify the core and upper body ones to avoid jumping or anything ankle-mobility related (no burpees for sure).

Since gymnastics instincts treated me so well on the fall, I'm going to take another page from that book.  Turns out, gymnasts are *always* injuring something.  So, whenever we'd get injured, my club coach would say, okay, you broke your [INSERT BROKEN STUFF], but this means you can spend the next 3-8 weeks focusing on [UNBROKEN STUFF].  What's a skill you've been wanting to master or something you can accomplish that relies on [UNBROKEN STUFF]?

Well, I can still make soup, so the soup challenge is still on.  I can also do most core work, pushups, dips, boxing moves, handstands, and other yoga arm balancing poses.  I can stretch, which is definitely something I've been neglecting.  I can clean and organize the house.  And I can probably work in the garden in a few days.  I should be able to figure out a way to do at least an hour of this stuff every day to replace the running until I can start running again.

So that's the new plan.

Baby Steps (and Soup #1)

It's soup season and leftovers mean tomorrow night's dinner is done!

Last week's mileage?  20.02.  Woo Hoo.  Back Over 20.

Portion ran (no matter how slowly)?  46%

Portion sub 9 min/mile?  9%

Other fitness efforts?  I made it back to the yoga studio after 13 weeks away.

IT HURT.

Not so much *during* class, but afterwards, I was sore in places I'd forgotten I have muscles for at least 3 days.

So, the hope is to average one visit to the studio a week for the next 5 weeks since I've got very little travel lined up.  Wish me luck.

In running goals, I've got a trail run coming up in 2 weeks with some local running ladies.  The stated goal is 8 miles, but frankly, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to pull that off.  I'll just rebuild fitness as best I can and go join to enjoy the activity as much as possible.  In terms of actual race events, I've got a few potential trail runs on the calendar in 2015, but the only thing I'm registered for is the SF Chocolate 15K in January.  Most likely, I'll use that as a springboard to prep for Kaiser, and then Oakland. 

Other random fitness goal?  Soup. One of my favorite things about fall is soup.

So, I'd like to make a healthy soup from scratch at least once per week for the next 5 weeks.  The first offering?  Tofu, Bok Choy, Mushroom soup.

It was good, if a bit spicier than expected due to some extra-hot peppers from the garden.

2 T cooking oil (I used saffola)
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ginger powder (didn't have any root in the fridge)
2 insanely hot garden chiles  (next time, I'll likely taste each chile)
1 cup carrot match-sticks

soy sauce 1-2 T
mirin 1 T
rice wine vinegar 1-2 T
sesame oil 2 T
4-6 cups water

1 bunch bok choy (adult), chopped
1-2 cup(s) sliced mushrooms
1 package firm tofu, cubed

salt

1. Sautee first group of ingredients together until the onions are translucent.
2. Add second group of ingredients to the sauteed veggies and bring to a boil.
3. Add third group of ingredients, stir, lower to a simmer, add a pinch of salt.  Come back in 5 minutes and taste broth, add more salt if appropriate. 
4. Turn off heat after the tofu, bok choy, and mushrooms have been simmering for 10 minutes.

(Serves 4 -- or dinner for 2 nights for 2)

Enjoy!  (And if you have a favorite soup, please recommend it!)

Starting from (essentially) Scratch

Thanks to some poor toe management decisions coupled with tons of travel, work (and if I'm honest, general laziness) I've had the mellowest several weeks of fitness effort in years.

While I've generally averaged ~20 miles/week for the last decade or so, the last 5 weeks totaled 58 miles.  Less than 12 miles/week.  Most of it walking, often as a tourist (so stopping and gawking and not getting much in the way of cardio).

Yes, I've experimented with some alternative fitness options, but truly, fitness has been low on my priority list.  So, I'm looking forward to getting back to my regularly scheduled 20 miles per week, while cringing at how annoying it is to rebuild fitness when you've lost it.

You know what?  When you've been light on mileage, even after years of regular effort, it's actually hard to get moving again.

Last week, I totaled 11.46 miles, running 1 mile by myself and another 3 miler with E and doing the rest walking.  I was so sore after the 3 miler (and lazy with being at home after so much travel) that I scrapped my Sunday run and slept in before brunch with the inlaws.

Because, of course, E's parents visited, and there was much food and wine debauchery, which contributed to my laziness.

A beautiful day in San Francisco with E's parents.  Couldn't ask for better weather. 

After perfect weather in SF, we retreated home to a pub dinner on Saturday while watching college ball (Alabama won, so E's dad was happy. Cal lost, so I was sad).

Sunday, we shared a stereotypical "we are actually home" weekend treat of farmer's market, ramen, a lazy unplanned afternoon including a visit to the De Saisset Museum followed by winetasting at Pichetti and finally a light vegetarian dinner of farmer's market bounty with an oldie-but-goody from the wine cellar.

First Raid of the Wine Cellar.  

Monday, E's parents enjoyed the rainy day while we worked before we met up at a local steakhouse for our final meal together, complete with the second wine-cellar raid, a *delicious* 1999 Tignanello (the inlaws ordered the A. Rafanelli when it ran out, which was also awesome).

2nd Raid of the Wine Cellar. Plus Ice Cream Pie with Whipped Cream. Heaven.

And now, it's the middle of the week.  I've yet to run.  But I have plans for several easy "just get 'em done" miles this week and I've purchased a new 12 class card at the local yoga studio and signed up for a class on Friday.  I've also committed to a local trail run with friends in a few weeks, a 15K in January, and a half marathon in March.  I'm hoping I can fit in a few 7 minute workouts.  And, I'm even looking at the track and weekend run schedule for my local running group with an eye towards when I can get back in the habit.  So there's some momentum.  It's building.  So let's hope I can move back towards (and past) my 20 mile per week average sooner rather than later.

Happy running and fitness to all!

Japan: Navel Gazing

Travel to a particularly foreign place is one of my favorite things.  It's so educational.  Not just about the place (which of course it is), but also about yourself.  It's also very hard.

This trip to Japan, I kept finding myself amazed at just how *wrong* I got everything.  I felt as if I just couldn't fuck shit up more if I tried.

No idea what people were saying and wrong most of the time I thought I did know?  Check.

Walking on the wrong side around a hallway corner and straight into someone on the *correct* (left, in Tokyo) side?  Check.

Can't read most of the signs? Check.

Getting lost?  Going the wrong way?  Every. Damn. Day. Check.

Incomprehensibly wrong metro ticket and exasperated service agent who just waives your gaijin ass through the special gate because clearly you can't be taught?  Check.

And then, there's the signage in English (ostensibly). 1500Y Eye Blow.  Super Million Hair. Etc. I have no idea what any of these things are, and yet they proclaim their existence in words I supposedly understand.  Talk about feeling completely and totally foreign -- even my own language doesn't work the way I think it should...

And yet.  I can't help but be appreciative of being forced to think so very much.

Every day is so difficult because all of my assumptions are wrong.   I must start from first principles (which I fail to do again and again) and try to learn, appreciate, and exist.

After meeting my goal of being able to read Hirigana, I arrived to learn that Katakana would have been much more useful (typical).  And yet, I did get lost once or twice where (thankfully) the train station information was in Hirigana, which saved me, and got me off the train and onto the correct route.  So there's that.

Overall, we had a wonderful trip.  We absolutely love this country.  The language is fascinating and fun (I squeaked by my study goals re: being able to read Hirigana with 44 Japanesepod lessons, 100 hirigana flashcards, and half my Japanese 1 workbook -- overall, I did get quite a bit of language acquisition in compared to last trip, and it was relatively helpful in cabs, restaurants, and while in transit, so I was happy.  But, of course, I wish I had done more.).

The food is unparalleled.

The people are, in general wonderful (except for the one asshole taxi dispatcher in Hakone who flat our refused to send us a taxi over the phone -- not pretending to misunderstand, just straight up refusing, likely due to my busted ass Japanese and the fact that we were staying at a Hyatt, which is know for foreigners.  Refusal in Japan is like "Fuck You" and we'd been there long enough that I was actually a bit shocked at his blatant "IIE!"  Thankfully, I called the hotel and they sent a very perky female cab driver to pick us up and bring us back.).

Plus, if you are me, the fact that it is *so* quiet (no cell phone talking public, only texting, *how civilized*!), with ambient calm music and tons of areas for quiet meditative walks, is one of many things you just inherently love and feel comfortable with -- YAY! QUIET!  All the while feeling uncomfortable with everything you don't understand and are doing incorrectly, which is most of it.

E and I are in agreement.  We had a wonderful time.  I'll keep studying the language and we'll go back some day for a proper train-heavy tour of the entire country.  Until then... 

Japan: The Culinary Trip Report

So, one of my favorite games is to maximize travel points.  It's like gambling to me.  This trip, we stayed 4 nights in hotels on Hyatt points.  The first 2 nights were at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, which has  such amazing views.

Because of my travel reward obsession, one of the perks we get at the Hyatt is free breakfast.  Which, at the Park Hyatt on the first morning was all of this:

Japanese breakfast!

My favorite thing about japanese breakfast?  Pickles!

Thanks to the gigantic Japanese breakfast, we actually didn't gorge ourselves at the Robata that night, which was a first.

Robata with friends.

To date, the ramen bowl count is 2.  Once as a shared late afternoon snack in the work hotel basement.  And once for me with a friend in Shinatatsu (aka Shinagawa Ramen Alley).  I wish I could have had more ramen, but then I would have had to have less other stuff...

Of course we had sashimi and sushi -- often just a small course in a meal.  There was a very fancy sashimi and sushi business dinner at a historic restaurant in Roppongi, which was awesome.  The next night, we went with friends to the local kaiten-zushi (conveyor belt sushi) and stuffed ourselves silly for less than $10 per person -- I'm probably a bad cultural appreciator, but I think I preferred the chaos, craziness, and fun of the conveyor belt experience to the traditional one (where the sushi was, of course, better, but it's not like the kaiten sushi was bad).  One day, I treated myself to basement chirashi as a study break from work.
  

If only chirashi was this reasonably priced at home (less than $10)

Japan is a great country for snacks, but we didn't really snack very much this trip.  The one snack we did enjoy was sugar crystal coated rice heart crackers, a gift from my childhood Japanese exchange student (eaten on the Romance Car train from Tokyo to Hakone).

Perhaps one of the most memorable meals of the trip was Friday night's izakaya splurge.  E & I were both done with work for the week, so we headed out for a night of drinking and dining in the local style.

Pickled Vegetables & Tako Wasabi.

The ordering system and seared tako (E has a tako problem).

Mushroom skewer.

Miso Eggplant.

Horse sashimi and sake.  Yes. Horse.

"Chinese" dumplings.

A fitting caption for the end of the night with the empties.

There were also 2 other very memorable meals.  The first one is very special to me because I had a reunion with my junior high foreign exchange student after 27+ years.

Reunited!

She took me out to a very traditional fancy kaiseki meal on the top of a tower with 360 degree views of Yokohama.  When it came time to argue over the check, she stopped me cold with, "This is my parent's card.  They insist."  I got a little teary eyed over that one.  Her parents, whom I've never met, insisted on treating me to lunch -- so touching.  Totally something my dad would have done, too.

The beautiful meal I enjoyed with my exchange student.  Delicious!

Our final memorable meal of the trip was Halloween night.  After another free Japanese breakfast (with pickles!) at another Hyatt, we spent the day sightseeing in Hakone.

For the afternoon, we braved the cultural craziness of a local public onsen to access a private bath we'd reserved.  2 hours of nothing but naked relaxation in hot running mineral water (and a couple of vending machine Asahi beers).  We left the building more relaxed than we'd both been in a long time.  The exit of the onsen caused you to walk through a local shrine, which was a perfect way to end the long soak.

Unexpected shrine.

For dinner, our hotel had made us reservations at a local teppanyaki joint.  Teppanyaki is one of E's favorite styles of food, so we were looking forward to this (and hungry from our day's adventures).

We arrived and were very surprised to learn that the local teppanyaki joint was actually ITOH Dining by NOBU.

Edamame with Truffle oil?  Hell yes.

So, E decided to take advantage of the situation and actually ordered the Kobe beef (a first for both of us).  I stuck with Wagyu so that we could compare.  Guess what?  I like Wagyu better than Kobe!  Win for me.

Wagyu on the left, Kobe on the right.

The entire meal was sublime.  Definitely the best Nobu experience we've ever had (compared to San Diego and Las Vegas).  The steak was seared simply in small cubes with salt and pepper, served with a different sauce for each steak and roasted garlic chips on top. 

In addition to the set menu, they spoiled us with a few amuse bouches (including the truffle edamame), and some bonus courses of a sweet potato soup with a purple sauce garnish, and fois gras.  The fois gras wasn't served with any acid, and I was apprehensive, but I shouldn't have been.  It was at the right point in the meal where our palates were perfectly primed for it, and it was the best melt-in-your mouth fois gras I've ever eaten.  We loved our chef.  He was friendly and so precise with each of his movements.  He presented us with his card at the end of the meal, so we gave him our cards and told him we'd take him out to dinner if he ever came to the bay area.

And with that, after today's free hotel breakfast, we're starting the long trip home where we'll just eat whatever the travel gods (and possibly vending machines) throw our way.  Just a shuttle bus, a shinkansen, the Narita express, a trans-pacific flight, clearing customs and immigration, a 4 hour layover, and a local flight 'til home...

Running Game? Back On!

Yesterday, I'd tried to stake out a potential running route on the Meguro River Path.  Previous ridiculousness every day in Japan had warned me.  I was guaranteed to get lost and mess up a bunch of stuff.  So I figured I'd spend one day getting there, walking as much of it has I had time to do to scope it out, and then head back today to actually run.

A view of the Meguro River

It's a long boring story involving confusing metro issues, construction, traffic lights, and a reminder that what passes for "running" facilities in Asia often is not what we'd consider to be the same thing in the U.S. (or western Europe).  So, after almost 45 minutes to arrive at the path (that should have taken 10 minutes) and 1 mile of walking in about 25 minutes due to obstacles, I had to turn back to meet a friend for lunch.  Verdict?  I would not be running the Meguro path.  And, since it was ranked as the number one outdoor running route in the local area (at least in English), I would not be running outside in Shinagawa.  Period.  

Why yes.  Those *ARE* Hello Kitty construction markers.
(Shinjuku, not Meguro River Path)

Despite not running anything more than 1 mile in the last 3 weeks (YIKES!), I had done some fitness work on my feet.  I'd done several 7-14 minute HIIT 30/10 workouts, a good hike in Alaska, some walking at home, and in Japan I'd been fitting in a decent amount of sight-seeing walking.  Finally, my toe seemed to be healing (the hole is still discolored, but flush with the rest of skin now, and not sensitive at all).  After it held up better than the balls of my feet on an 8-mile day of tourist walking, I decided it was time to pull the trigger.

In preparation for my first big run back, I've been carb-loading with Ramen.

And amazingly cheap and delicious Kaiten Sushi.

Our 4-top did *amazingly* well.  We stuffed ourselves for 3600Yen total (minus beer).

I am egregiously happy to report that I'm finally able to run.  After asking a million people where I could find a gym (our hotel didn't have one), figuring out how to get there, and paying the fee at the local Tennis & Golf club (that thankfully had treadmills), I was greeted by an adorable older man finishing up his calisthenics -- Konnichiwa!  He smiled and bowed to greet me, very happy that he would not be the only person in what apparently is the dregs of the racket and golf club.  I was very happy to greet him back with an enthusiastic Konnichiwa and bow (after several days, they are kind of automatic now) -- it made for a very fun official feeling welcome to my running comeback. 

And with that, I finished more than 5K on the treadmill at 0.5% incline, including a 1.7 Km at 9 km/hr (10:42 mile pace) warm-up; and 4 X 2 min intervals with walking recovery at 10.5 (9:12/mile), 10.6 (9:07/mile), 10.7 (9:02/mile) and 10.8 (8:56) Km/hr. 

This was the best running infrastructure I could find, in a *baffling* private Japanese Racket/Golf complex.

Yes, it's a super easy workout, and less than 2 miles total running.  But I sweated.  I worked hard.  I got my heart rate into the 170s a few times.  AND I GOT A MAD RUNNER'S HIGH.

I'm quite glad I couldn't see the paces in miles on the 'mill.  I was so pleased with the workout that I bounced the whole walk back to my hotel and didn't bother to do the conversion 'til long after the high wore off.  I'm sure there's some lesson about running by effort and being pleased in the moment buried in that experience, but I can't take the time to figure it out right now.

Right now, I need to go get some delicious Japanese lunch.

Tokyo

After all my studies, I can read Hirigana as it scrolls on digital signs.

But seriously, Hirigana is useless in day-to-day interactions...

Warning: Toe Update

If you are squeamish, this may not be for you.

It's not terrible.

But the cut did devolve into an actual hole into my toe, which is what I was trying to avoid.

Oh well.

No running.  And even more core and body weight intervals, here I come.

So Quick To Zero

This week, I can honestly say I only did 2 verifiable miles on my feet.  1 mile walking.  1 mile running (and confirming that the toe injury was legit).

2 miles for a week.  Seriously.  When my average over the last 10 years has been 20+.

I did fit in and push myself through several other interval workouts with a focus on core and upper body like I haven't since I was a proper athlete on a team with competitions to compete in.  It's been ages since the push-yourself-with arms & chest and back and core focus happened like it did this week.  Probably more than a decade.  So that was a positive.

And I've got at least another week of this to come.

While I'm surprised or even shocked at how quickly it can change, my life is more than happy to fill the time that used to be taken by hours running (or even walking).  Work expands.  Washing machines die.  Laundry still has to be done.  Emotional demands to my family and friends and E expand.  AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS.

Life, it turns out, will take up all of the open spaces in your life.

Today, the second weekend day in a row where I had a minimal todo list and otherwise spent the  day physically relaxing, reading, studying foreign languages, and not demanding anything of my body, I couldn't help but feel decadent.  I couldn't help but wonder if I may never go back to the other side.  Perhaps I'll just dedicate myself to reading and thinking and working and feeling.

A little voice in my head kept pointing out that there's truly no need to schedule and struggle through physically demanding things just because...

Except. of course, that's crazy pants talk.  I know I need physical engagement to stay sane.  There's a reason why in the face of this silly toe, I've pushed myself more on interval training and fasting (aka "other physical planes") than ever before in the last 10 years.

I know I am one who likes some cadre imposed discipline, even if I am actually the leader of the cadre.

So, keep me in your thoughts while I try to find some balance while doing myself some semblance of good as the hole in my toe heals.