Trading

Got up at 7:30 when the alarm went off. Spent the next half hour on e-mail. Then showered and had breakfast. I packed another mat in with the other two and set it by the door. Then packed cheese and bean salad for lunch. As I was packing my black fabric for the exchange, my back seized and I rolled onto the floor like a distressed cockroach. As I lay there, I went through my day envisioning what would happen if I stayed home the rest of the day. Not too bad, but I had promised three people that I would bring cutting mats to sell. I can't break a promise, so I said a prayer, and got up. I called Chris for help, but he didn't answer his phone. So I hung my blue bag on one shoulder, and the mat box on the other. Away I went, in baby steps. I was late for the meeting, but I made it. Cathy was there setting up already. As soon as a few other women showed up, we had show-and-tell, and the black-and-white fabric exchange. That was great. We each got 10+ fat quarters of b/w fabric. Next week we will bring ideas of fat quarter quilts. We also brought 2.5 inch strips to make fence rail blocks for the flood victims in Australia. We had a great turn-out for this. It was wonderful, especially at lunch. It was quite a buffet. We worked on baby quilts, too. Chris called to ask me to get cash at the bank, so after we packed up, I drove to the DHL and got cash for our vacation. I didn't want to carry that much money, so I went to Chris' office to give it to him. Then I went home. I considered laying down, but that usually makes my back stiff. So I stayed up, on the computer and in my sewing room. I spent a little time reading in front of the HappyLight. Around 6 Michele went to post to meet Chris to go to a movie. I of course stayed home. Helle and Cathy gave me charm squares today, so I integrated them with the ones I got at the quilt show, and started sewing. I put on the TV for some sound in the apartment. When they came home, Chris was carrying boxes. I got THREE today. Who-hoo! Most notable was my fabric from Japan. That box also contains Sue's fabric, so I guess I should let her know...

Gaming

I went to bed a bit early last night, but with the sounds of gaming in the other room, I did not get to sleep until after 11. Then in the wee hours, I heard Chris get up. I ignored that, but when I heard voices, I got up to see what was going on. It was 5 am and I was NOT wearing my happy face. He and Michele were starting another mod with the folks stateside. They offered to go into the computer room so I could go back to sleep. Hours later Chris climbed back into bed, cold. I tried to warm him up... It was 9:30 when we got out of bed. We showered quickly and raced to church. The minister spoke about how each person's reality is different and that God can change yours. We had the usual snacks afterwards. We gave one lady a ride to the DHL, before heading to the commissary. But we turned around towards E-Mart. We parked and walked. It was bitterly cold, and I had Chris tie my scarf around my face for the walk. We only got natto 'cause the eggs might spoil while we are in the Phillipines next week. The walk back was better. We did stop by the commissary and got groceries. Michele was still in bed when we got home. Too much gaming in the wee hours. I spent the afternoon clearing e-mail that takes time to peruse, like video clips. I also posted about our experience in Tokyo on Tuesday. I only have one thing left to do tonight and that is to cut two sets of 2.5 inch strips for fencerail blocks for the flood victims in Australia. Cutting is easy, but choosing? It could be a late, late night.
* pic from quilt show *

Posting for Tuesday in Tokyo

I got up at 6:45 even though I had been awake for awhile. We agreed to meet at 7:30 for breakfast each morning. So I showered and dressed. We met Sue in the hall, and Judy was already seated in the restaurant. I ate an omelet and two sunny side up eggs (in addition to some fruit, and yogurt). We talked over breakfast, then went upstairs to pack, etc. We left about 9:15 for the subway. After one transfer, our tickets stopped working, so we had to go to the adjuster for help. He gave us special tickets, and they worked. We did not have to pay more. When we got to the Tokyo dome stop, we took a different exit than last year - not that I know which exit it was. But we came out at a different place. We got in line with the tickets we each purchased online and printed out. The man scanned our print-outs and kept them. There was also a bag check, but it wasn't very thorough. As we walked past lockers (which I don't remember seeing last year), we stopped to store our coats and stuff. I kept my back pack for any purchases I might make. When we got to the main floor, we agreed on a meeting place and time, and then we were on our own. Last year I viewed the quilts first, and then the vendor section. So I decided this year to do the reverse - since most people were viewing the quilts and the vendors were wide open. I bought a small Japanese cake to take home for Michele. Then nature called and I had trouble asking for the restroom. The only one I could find was up at the top and around the other side. It was quite a jog. Then I went back to shopping. There was so much to look at, but I concentrated on charm squares so I could keep moving. I bought a bag of scraps that looked big enough to get 4 charm squares out of each one. Later I found two bundles of squares, but they had repeats. Still, it was a reasonable price, so I bought them and have some to share. We all met again at noon. We met Mary's friend Barbie. She came from Okinawa. Her group is having a quilting retreat over President's Day in Feb, and she invited us. The others seemed to like the idea, but I was not sure about going away again. Judy and Sue then went to eat at a small restaurant on the floor. I had snacks in my backpack, and Mary went to get some chicken. She and I were going to eat together, but couldn't find each other again. I went back to finish shopping. I found someone selling fruit fabrics. The price was outrageous, so I only got 4 fat quarters. Further on, a vendor asked me "Where from?". I replied "South Korea". She was speechless until I added that I was American. Having finished scouting the vendor areas, I turned to look at quilts. I didn't take pictures because there were so many people in the way. There was an Amish display and 3 Amish women from Indiana were demonstrating their quilting technique. No pics were allowed of their quilts. I wanted to speak to them, but they were always surrounded by a crowd.
For some reason I got out my glasses. I thought this would help me see better, but the extra details actually were more confusing. I got a better overall sense of each quilt without them. When I thought I had seen all the quilts, and it wasn't yet time to meet the others, I sat in the stands for a break. The people near me were very quiet. That is because they were signing to each other. I tried to a get a bit of it on video. I was also scanning the crowd for Americans. There were very very few. Occasionally I would see the back of someone's head with light curly hair, and think 'there's one'. But invariably she'd turn around and be Asian. Just before our meeting time of 4pm, two American ladies came and sat near me. I couldn't resist striking up a conversation. I told them about Nippori, and then took them down to meet my friends. I was surprised to learn that they are staying at our hotel. So we invited them to come with us to Nippori tomorrow. They went on their way, and we discovered that the crowd had thinned out. So I was able to take pics this time. Judy and Sue had found a good deal on obi (belt for kimonos) so they showed us where to find them, and I got one for Michele. They also got good deals on pink grab bags. Most of the vendors had them, but I didn't know what they were, so didn't pay them any attention. Each vendor fills hers with whatever she wants to get rid of, and sells it for a reduced price. Some vendors will let you look in before you buy, and some won't. We left about 6 even though the closing time was 6:30. It was very cold outside. We walked around trying to choose a restaurant. Finally we settled on an Indian one. I ordered the salad for two. The other ladies gave me whatever they didn't want from their dinners. That was nice of them. Then we stopped at several stores including "Treasure Island". Mary bought a special lunch container for her daughter. I took a pic of a character from one of Michele's favorite movies at the same place. Then we searched out the subway, and made our way home. We had a bit of trouble with our tickets again, but nothing the adjuster couldn't handle. We were very tired, but not too tired to have show-and-tell. Afterwards, I recorded all this in my notebook and went to bed.

Reading

It was almost nine when we got up. Chris jumped out of bed to get started gaming with his on-line friends. I spent the day alternating between clearing my build-up of e-mail, and checking batches of charm squares against the ones I already had to see if there are any repeats. Yes, there were. I watched Chris and Michele try to get the ice out of the washing machine hose while the washer drained water all over the floor. Romaric came over for supper. Chris made twice-baked potatoes. He even started my supper, which was ground bison with tomatoes and vegetable fiber left over from the juicer. The vegetable stuff wasn't particularly tasty, but I figured it was good for me and it needed to get out of the fridge. I also had some frozen blueberries for dessert. I read several chapters of a book near my HappyLight. I posted my notes from Wednesday in Tokyo. And now I am ready for bed. Here is a pic from the quilt show.

Posting for Wednesday

The alarm went off at 6:45. I was awake before that, but I slept better than I had the night before. I took a shower and went to the internet room to skim e-mail. Faye had sent me a message that my mom broke her wrist. I was typing her a reply when the time ran out and I had to leave to meet the others for breakfast. I had 4 sunnyside up eggs and fruit. I realized I had left my credit card in the room, so I had to dash up there before I could pay. We lingered over breakfast a while longer, and then went upstairs to prepare to leave. Sue lent me her cardigan because I packed short sleeves, thinking it would be as warm as last year. When we left the room, we put up the 'Do Not Disturb' sign so they wouldn't change our towels and sheets. Better for the environment. We went to the shoppette when it opened at 9 to get snacks and a piece of tape (for my headphones). Then I had to run back to the room while my friends met Rosie and Estella in the lobby. I also hit the ATM for 15000 yen. When I finished, the six of us walked to the subway, took it to Hibiya, and got another line to Nippori. We went into the bank on the corner so E. and R could change their $ for Y, but that bank wouldn't take $.
We continued our walk into Fabric Town. We stopped at one place to look at kimonos and to secure a map for our new friends. Our next stop was our favorite place from last year. Judy and I went around back first. I forgot that the others didn't know about the bargains around back. So Judy went to get them. We bought packets of fabric ranging from a quarter meter to 2 meters. We each noticed different fabrics though as I was to find out later. I spent most of my money right there. I tried to select packets in coordinated sets in case I had to sell some as kits for a quilt class. Then we went next door to see their 5 floors of fabrics. But they didn't not have the same discount. They had a nice selection of American fabrics at what amounted to $12/ meter. I tried to take pics, but discovered that my freshly changed batteries hadn't enough power.
We then walked past a small Japanese grocery store. Mary and I found the natto display. Here at E-Mart your natto choices are buy or not. But there must have been 6 or 8 choices depending on the size of the soybean. I bought a 3-pack that cost roughly $1. Then we went to the big intersection and found a place to eat.
I tried to order something with veggies and w/o noodles, but under a layer of seaweed, it was full of noodles. I was hungry and ate them anyway. Then I ate one of the natto packs and a small Babybel cheese (from the shoppette). Then we walked East to find a kimono shop listed on our map. Finally we stopped a woman passing by and she asked around for us and helped us find it. Turned out to be a place where kimonos are custom-made. We were hoping to buy used ones. Anyway, we then went to the nearest train station to buy tickets back to the hotel. I tried to figure out for myself how to know which price ticket to get, but couldn't find our destination on the Japanese map display. So we guessed at the fare. We took that train to the Imperial gardens, and then walked to the subway to take a train to Hiroo. We slowly and tiredly walked back to the hotel from there. It was about 3pm I think. Mary and I showed each other our fabrics in our room, and that is when I realized that we'd noticed different fabrics, and missed different fabrics. Then we checked out the gift shop (which opens late and closes early). We did not buy anything even though they had obi's. Ours from the quilt show were better. Then we checked out the Nx (like the Px here). It also closes early so we just made it. We didn't buy there either. The deli was across from that, so we peeked at their menu. It was just ok. We went back upstairs to our rooms. Judy showed us her fabric and then we all went to Sue's room to see her purchases. She got some nice Japanese panels to sell on her website (Passion4Quilting.com). Then the two of them came to our room to see what fabrics we bought. Show and tell was over, so we went downstairs to see the menu at Wellingtons. Onion soup was the healthiest thing on their menu. We ended up eating at the Deli. I got the 8oz Greek salad. It was not enough, so I ordered a pickle, after seeing the large jar of enormous pickles on the counter. But the man took a small one from a container under the counter. I was a little disappointed, so he got out another container, and gave me the biggest one out of that. It was large like the ones on display.
Judy and Sue went to their rooms while Mary and I marked our fabric packets with our initials. Then we went to the pool. Since I hadn't thought to bring a suit, I was going to sit nearby and write down the events of the day. But then I learned that there was a sauna in the ladies dressing room. So I borrowed a towel from the pool man and went into the sauna. Half way through my 15 minutes, another lady joined me in there. She told me about her day and what she saw on the tour her daughter-in-law had arranged. I told her about Nippori and she decided to change her plans for tomorrow so she could go. My time was up so I got out, as two other women walked into the dressing room. They were planning a trip to Nippori tomorrow and had been to a different quilt show earlier today. They explained where it was and drew a map on my blogbook. It is in Shibuya, at the end of the #6 bus line. After taking a shower, I ran up to the fitness center to take a quick peek. All those machines made it look like a room of torture. It was bedtime so I proceeded to our room and Mary arrived soon after. We went to bed.

Unpacking

I woke up about 9, sorry I hadn't made Chris a sandwich last night. I started unpacking and found a bag of scraps that I had bought at the quilt show. Each piece was supposed to be big enough to cut 4 charm squares from. None of them were. Most were only big enough for one. But I cut what I could. The rest will have to be scraps for the baby quilts. Then I had breakfast and tackled my e-mail. I got rid of all the e-mails that require only a cursory reading. I posted what happened yesterday to my blog before I forgot it. During that time I ate a bag of frozen blueberries since there was no fresh fruit in the apt. Cathy called to say she'd be at the AnC center. Since I had bought her some fabric in Tokyo with money she had given me, I decided to go over there later and give it to her. I finished unpacking, then tackled trying to put everything in my fannypack and purse back the way it was. I had taken out stuff that I didn't need in Japan, but I can't find it all to put it back. I also wanted to sew up the coat pocket that tore in Nippori, but can't find my dark green thread. I had nuts and eggs for lunch, then took out some recyclables on my way over to the AnC center. I got talking to the gate guard, told him I had been to Tokyo where it is warmer. He wanted to know why I went, and I had a heck of a time explaining what a quilt was, even with the pics on my camera. When he came up with the word 'textile', I accepted it and went on my way. It was very cold and I was glad for my super heavy coat (which I hadn't brought to Japan). Cathy was there with Helle quilting a double wedding ring. I showed her what I bought for her and she seemed pleased. She had some charm squares for me and I took the charm squares that I had bought in Japan and put them into 4 piles (because each fabric appeared 4 times in the stack). I kept two stacks, and gave one each to Cathy and Helle. We all talked for awhile, and then packed up to go. They will come back tomorrow to finish Helle's quilt. I drove to the gate and walked home. Chris was already home. There was no mail for us today, but he gave me an envelop from my parents containing Ken-Ken puzzles. Thanks, Mom. He wasn't feeling well and thought he might be contagious, so he asked Michele to heat up leftovers. I had presented Michele with an obi that I bought for her at the quilt show. She found a Youtube video on how to wear it, and dressed up for a picture. I took several, but I like this one the best. We all spent the rest of the evening on our computers. Chris went to bed early.

Posting for Thursday

The alarm went off at 6:45 as usual. I took a shower as Mary dressed. Then I went down to the internet room to check e-mail before breakfast. My dollar did not last long there. Then we met at the Emporium for our usual buffet. This time I ordered 4 soft-boiled eggs. But the yolks were solid. Oh well, at least I know no additives or preservatives were added. We lingered over our meal. The ladies from yesterday were at a table nearby and wanted to take our picture. Se we gathered in front of the fireplace and I took their picture too. Then we went to our rooms to get our purchases and took them downstairs to the pack-and-wrap. We had thought to MPS all in one box to Yongsan, but the man said it would be too heavy to carry. So we used two boxes. One is going to Mary's addy and one to mine. Then we went back upstairs to pack for the plane. I put all my stuff in my duffle bag. After checking out, we left our luggage in a special room at the hotel and took the #6 bus to the end of its line, where there was a quilt shop nearby. We were told there were discounted fabric packs in the basement, but they were not comprised of fat quarters, but 10 inch squares - so not the bargain we were expecting. We did have fun looking. They had other floors of knits, fancy fabrics, and craft stuff. We also saw Hachi, the statue of a dog from a famous story. Then we caught the bus back to the hotel. Did I mention it cost $2.50 each way? Travel in Japan is expensive.
The others stopped at the cafe for coffee and I went to the ATM for another 5000 yen ($62.50). We snacked a little at the cafe instead of lunch. We collected our luggage at the hotel. I decided to MPS my duffle bag because it was so heavy, but the APO desk was on a 90 minute lunch break. (They open late, close early and they get 90 minutes for lunch). Pack-and-wrap was open though. Heavily loaded, I walked with the others to the subway. We took two lines to Nippouri. Yes, we came back even though we had too much to carry already. I did not find my gloves there, although that must be where I lost them. We asked at lost-and-found. They were able to show us where to find lockers, though. Sue picked a big one, and we got all our luggage in there. We were near the Skyliner, so we bought tickets for the 3:45 train to the airport. It was a high-speed, high-tech train, and the tickets were $30 each. Then we headed out for the discount stores. I think we all bought more at the place where I spent all my money the day before. This time I was buying for Cathy and I picked brown and teal fabrics so at least she would have a coordinated set. I even bought a few others for me. Since our tickets were paid for, I could spend all my remaining yen on fabric. It was insane to buy more when I was already having trouble carrying what I had, but I did it. Mary and I went next door to the Tomato place and she found some more fabrics. We saw the cutest little kids, must have been quadruplets. Like ducks in a row, running through the aisles of fabric rolls. When we all met up again, we picked up our luggage and went to the waiting room for the Skyliner. We hadn't stopped for lunch, so I ate my two remaining natto packs. A Japanese man eyed me strangely then asked if I liked it. I told him yes.
When the train came, we boarded and put our luggage up front, then settled in. Mary and Sue at the cakes they bought at a bakery near the lockers. We enjoyed our train ride to the airport. We alighted and carried our baggage through a security check that was only for passports. But they had to check both of mine for some reason. Then it was up numerous escalators to find the check-in desk. Last year it was a fiasco. But this year check-in was smooth as silk. I checked my duffle because the other ladies checked stuff too, so we would have to go to baggage claim in any case. Then we went through security and I had to drink all the water in my steel water bottle before I could go through. No problems there. We found our gate and waited to board. By then I had a raging headache from carrying all the weight. It had been cutting off the circulation in my shoulders. When we got in line to board, we were instructed to scan our tickets like we do our subway cards. (So I still have my boarding pass.) There was no extra bag check for boarding the place like when we left Korea. We were seated in the same row as on the other flight, second to last. I closed my eyes, and tried to think of pleasant things to lessen my headache and pass the time. My Sudoku book was in my checked luggage. After the plane took off, they passed out the customs forms. I wished they had them in a large print version. Judy read it to me so I could fill it in. Then I closed my eyes again. It wasn't very dark, so I asked for a eyemask. But they gave me a light tan one. It wasn't very effective, but I did get the rest I needed. By the time the plane landed, my headache was mostly gone and I didn't have any trouble with my ears. We took the passenger train to the main terminal. We went through immigration, baggage claim, and customs in record time considering the crowd of people we followed to those places. The immigration man looked at both of my passports, then told me to only use the brown one in the future. Then we split up. Sue and Judy went to catch a hotel bus. Mary and I checked the USO desk for the next bus to Yongsan, but it was almost an hour away. So we took the commuter train. It was housed in a new building next to the terminal. The train itself was new, too. We were able to use our subway cards. And although it cost more than the typical subway ride, it was only like $1.20 to the brown line, and another $1.20 to the Noksapyong station. The train was heated, but the stations were cold. Cold enough to see our breath. I was wearing Sue's sweater in addition to my shirt and coat. Thankfully she did not need it back right away. When we got out of Noksapyong station I was wishing I had put on all my dirty clothes instead of carrying them. Snow everywhere. I stopped to call Chris when we alighted from the train, and he drove up just as we came in the gate. He brought me gloves as I requested. Then we came home. It was good to be warm, good to get in my own bed (quiet sheets) and good to be next to Chris. I thanked him for making the trip to Japan so enjoyable. He is such a good provider that I didn't have to worry about every yen I spent. I was able to do all the things the other ladies did. A few years ago I would have fretted terribly over all the incidental charges.