Japan and the Search for an Open Wireless Network

Well, my daughter left for Japan 4 days ago, and has yet to find an open wireless internet connection. The place where she is staying advertised free WiFi connections, but for some reason she is having trouble connecting. So for all our careful planning and plotting-- downloading and testing Skype, creating blogs in which we update each other-- we are reduced to communicating the old-fashioned way: by telephone. I supplied her with an international calling card before she left, hoping it would only have to be used in emergencies. Her cell phone is too old to accept the sim card that makes it work overseas, so we have to rely on land lines.
The upshot of all this technology disappointment is that I have only been able to talk to her for a couple of minutes, and unless she can get hooked to the internet, the fun blog she created for her Japan postings will go unused. All this tech stuff can be great, but equally as frustrating at times.

Technology Blog

My daughter showed me a blog about Japan's cutting edge technology: pinktentacle.com. Most of the entries have to do with technology, but there are also entries about biological advances, art, and architecture. Very cool stuff.

Time for a Theme

So I have decided that I am going to focus the topic of this blog on writing- writing I enjoy, writing I have done, writing I find intriguing.

Right now I am reading an excellent book called "The Secrets of Mariko" by Elisabeth Bumiller. Bumiller spent 14 months interviewing a "typical Japanese housewife." During that time she learned intimate details about Japanese families to which Westerners are rarely exposed. Even though the book is now 16 years old and many of the family dynamics in Japan have since evolved to mimic Western ways, it is a still fascinating read.

Zen and Cookery

So my daughter and I spent some time on Sunday at the Como Zoo Conservatory. Since she has a long trip (2 months, very jealous) to Japan coming up in a little over a month, we are doing all things Japanese this month. We walked around the Japanese Garden, then headed over to the Bonsai room. She took a couple of nice pics.

Afterwards, we tried our hand at making Okinomiyaki. She sent some photos of it to her friends in Japan, and they told her it looked very good- so we must have done it right!