Sushi for Breakfast

 We made it to Japan.  One of the stereotypical things that we Americans do when we arrive in Tokyo is wake up early on our first day here and go to the fish market at Tsukiji.  So that's what we did!  In fact, we sat next to some Americans from California who had just arrived that morning at 5am.  But first, the striking conclusion to our journey to actually get to Japan.

We were supposed to depart from Dulles on Sunday, and we did!  But we turned around because of plane sensor issues.  We were rebooked to leave the next day and fly from DCA through Chicago.  But when we got home Sunday night, that flight got canceled.  So we stayed on the phone for about 3 hours to get rebooked again.  Some terrible options were discarded (such as waking up early Monday to fly economy through Los Angeles). We agreed to fly out Tuesday from Dulles thru Chicago and end up in Narita, the less close Tokyo airport.  After a day of resting on Monday, we cheerfully headed out to the airport on Tuesday to make the opposite trip from what we did 17 years ago when we took Will to the United States for the first time.

Back on the Metro to Dulles

We arrived at the airport, went through security again, and settled in with some coffee and snacks while waiting for our flight to board.  Then we get the text:  Your flight to Chicago has been delayed 3 hours due to lack of a crew.  Since our layover in Chicago was 4 hours, this was not great news.  Dan went to the customer service desk to sort through it and we ended up getting rebooked.  The customer service agents (yes, they sent him to multiple agents) were confused as to how many re-books were on our trip, but ultimately put us on the same plane we were supposed to take Sunday, direct from Dulles to Haneda, even maintaining our business class upgrade.

After arriving, we took a cab to our apartment hotel.  "Ah, the Kroboth Family.  You made it!"  We dropped off our bags and made the necessary journey to get food.  In order to ease ourselves into the food experience, we opted for burgers from a place called Crane .  They were amazing.

Kudos to our host, effectively posing in the background

There was much sleeping after dinner, then we woke up early the next morning to have SUSHI FOR BREAKFAST!  Alex got salmon rolls, quite typical.  He also drank the tea that I managed to successfully order, unintentionally for everyone when I meant to just order it for myself.  Dan, of course, is eating Chirashi.

Facing Fresh Fish

For Will, I order a sushi platter that featured some of the best, fresh, sushi options.

Deluxe breakfast omelet sushi included

How did we know it was super fresh sushi?  The fish behind the counter implied it.  He was the only one left in his tank. 

Lots of Space in the Tank

But there was additional evidence.  

Do you see the little tentacle at the top wiggling?  And the undulating!  It was a little unnerving.  It didn't seem to like being touched with chopsticks and also appeared to be trying to escape the top of the sushi.  Will opted not to eat the little guy, but of course, we have Dan-who-can-eat-anything-once with us. He said it was crunchier than he anticipated.

Finally, in conclusion, at the end of this post, here is the Chat GPT wrapup:  :)

Our journey to get to Japan might have been filled with twists and turns, but it only made our arrival all the more memorable. As we savored each bite of sushi and embraced the excitement of being in this vibrant city, we knew that our adventures in Japan were just beginning. Tokyo had already captured our hearts, and we were ready to immerse ourselves in all the wonders this incredible destination had to offer.

So, stay tuned for more tales of our escapades in Japan. The journey had been eventful, but it was only the prelude to the remarkable adventures that awaited us in the Land of the Rising Sun. Arigato for joining us on this incredible journey!

:) Not bad, but I'm really going to have to find the generative text tool that incorporates my tone and writing style.  It's what all of the kids are using these days... to complete their homework.

Trying to go to Japan... Again

Back in the summer of 2020, we had tickets to go to Japan.  We would take Will back to where he was born and show him around.  Alex had never been anywhere in Asia, so we were also going to take him for the first time.  The Olympics were happening during part of our scheduled trip, so we were going to experience them a bit as well.  But alas, that trip never happened.  

Now, after three years of the pandemic, in the summer of 2023, we are going to actually do it!  This morning we started our journey optimistically by parking near the metro to catch the Silver Line to Dulles.  Because the metro finally goes to Dulles!  

Optimistic Kroboths 

Now, Alex may look a little tired.  This is because two nights before our trip, we had the kids stay awake until 11pm.  Will normally goes to bed like clockwork at 9pm.  Then, the night before, Saturday night, we told the kids that they could stay up as late as they wanted.  This would help them adjust a bit to the time change of +13 hours and it could help them feel like sleeping on the plane.  Alex may have gone to bed around 3am.  

We got to the airport, walked a few thousand steps to get to the airport lounge, and had some food.  When it was time, we went to our gate and boarded.  For the 13-hour flight, we managed to do an upgrade to Polaris.   Here are the boys getting settled in their window seats.  Dan and I were in the middle row next to each other, but we gave the boys the windows so that they could look out as we flew near the north pole and over Alaska.  Alex pushed every button to make sure he knew what they all did and Will got set up with his inflight movies after reading the safety card and finding his life jacket.  

Beginning of the Exciting Journey

We had just pulled away from the gate when the pilot comes on with an unusual announcement.  We had to go back to the gate.  Apparently, they had loaded someone's luggage, but that person hadn't quite made it on the plane.  So we went back and the guy got on.  Lucky guy, right?  We left the gate again, and had more announcements.  Next, we were told that someone had to do a weight calculation for us.  Then we were in line, but there was weather over Wisconsin, so we had to wait for a flight route calculation.  And finally, we took off!  

About an hour and a half later, the pilot comes on with yet another announcement.  Still in his somewhat pessimistic, slightly incredulous voice.  The sensor for one of the waste tanks was not working and claimed that the tank was already full.  This means that the toilets connected to that tank automatically stop working.  This means that the remaining toilets likely won't have enough capacity for the hundreds of passengers on the 13-hour flight.  Conclusion:  We are going back to Dulles.

We made it as far as Canada

It took a while to coordinate the return.  We were too heavy to land at Dulles, so we had to drop some fuel.  Then we had to coordinate a flight path in.  About 4 hours after departure, we finally returned to the ground and ended up back where we started, rebooking at the lounge customer service place.

No Japan today, but we will try again tomorrow.  Flying thru Chicago in the morning and then on to Tokyo.

But hey, in the meantime, we have decent sushi here in DC.  Here is our evening snack after returning back to our house:

Lots of Dots

Dan took an early flight Saturday morning, departing for a week-long work adventure.  While I have been trying to travel with him as much as possible, I stayed home to hang out with the children this time.  (More to be back-posted later on some past adventures that we reported in our Christmas letter but haven't expanded on yet.)  

But what to do alone with the children for a whole week?  

The Kids and their Practically Adult Activities

Saturday started out with the idea of figuring out the Project Of Will Getting University Logistics Going (POWGULF).  While initially an overwhelming concept, after some research and thought, we determined that we are smart people and can figure this out together.  So many parts of Saturday were spent creating a plan on a marker board and researching deadlines.  We determined that with his current grades and SAT, Will has a 5.38% chance of getting into Cal Tech, a 50.94% chance of getting into Georgia Tech,  and a 95.16% chance of getting into Virginia Tech.  So really, there is a good chance he can find a school to attend that works well for him.  We identified our three greatest concerns: Essay writing and editing, finding merit-based scholarships to apply to, and determining the calendar of application deadlines.  

What about Alex?  We broke out his passport and SSN card and took him over to his new job to complete his onboarding paperwork.  On the way, we listened to NPR (learning that Weird Al made a move about himself starring the actor who played Harry Potter) and stopped off at one of the rare automatic car washes in our area to try and get the encrusted pollen removed from the car.  The work paperwork part was successful, but we felt a bit silly after the car wash when a torrential downpour commenced.

Continuing the Tradition of Forced Art Appreciation

Sunday after church, we hopped on the metro to go downtown.  You see, I still have lots of metro dollars left over from before the pandemic when I rode the metro daily to work.  We went to the Hirshorn Gallery, which has a Kusama exhibit.  We saw one of her giant pumpkins but weren't able to take photographs in that section.  However, we did get to take pictures in two different infinity rooms.  The infinity rooms are both rectangular rooms that you can physically enter.  This is a picture of the outside of the first infinity room.  

Outside the Infinity Room

The guy standing outside is responsible for crowd control.  He lets you in for 45 seconds, then kicks you out.  I shall call him, The Infinity Room Bouncer.  So the Infinity Room Bouncer tells you the time rules, the photography rules, checks to see if you are in a group together, and then lets you in.  

To this crazy place:

Which Way to Look for Photograph?

Yes, That Way.  But What About Will?

There We Are, In a Row

Alex Wondering What Those Things Are

Alex and Will are Wondering about Their Infinite Doppelgangers

So it turns out that the red-dot-covered things are soft, phallic sculptures, and the room itself is called "Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field."  Apparently, the artist experienced some trauma as a child.  Her mother would ask her to go spy on her philandering father.  This influenced her art.  The other aspect of Kusama's experience and expression of her art is that she experiences hallucinations which she then translates into art.  She has been experiencing these since about age 10 and finds it therapeutic to create art of infinite dots to cope.  She has lived in a mental institution since the 1970s and walks to her studio each day to create art.

Another of her infinity rooms is called "My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe."  Like a never-ending nightclub, the dots are glowing here.

A little difficult to photograph; we had to get really close to one of the lights to be illuminated.

This Time We Didn't Lose Will

Food Truck?

After our dot adventure, we departed from the Hirshorn and contemplated shwarma.  We walked up to the first food truck that had shwarma on the menu, but Alex was unsure that they would be able to produce a plate of rice, fries, and meat without other ingredients like tomatoes and onions.  We walked by two more shwarma food trucks.  The offerings were more of a gyro sort of sandwich containing other ingredients.  He suggested that we try a restaurant.  Of course, there are few restaurants on the mall, so we found the nearest "shwarma" on google maps and started off on an adventure to find the restaurant called Zaytinya by José Andrés.  Of course, we didn't think it completely through.  Obviously, if a restaurant name has "by Fancy-Chef-Name" after it, it's going to be different than "Shwarma Guys."  Alex was wanting Shwarma Guys or Lebanese Taverna.  We arrived to the fancy Mediterranean restaurant, and indeed there was no plate of rice, fries, and meat.  In fact, they had zero fries at all.  

The pita was lovely.

And look, the water glass even had lots of dots, just like our museum visit.  Throughout the whole experience, Alex kept saying, "This was not what I expected."  But hey, we had a new experience at a new place.  And we all ate delicious, unexpected food.

Once Upon a Time... At the Paris Police Station

There are many stories in our lives. This is just one of them.

November 2, 2017 Friend of ours visited us when we lived in Toulouse, France during August of 2017. The couple and their son spent some time with us in Toulouse, then continued on to Paris where the husband unfortunately lost his wallet. It was possibly stolen on the metro. They filed a police report, but nothing was resolved before they returned to the United States. Weeks later, the police contacted him and said it had been recovered. We fabricated a letter in English and French to authorize us to retrieve it.

Then, during the kids' school break in October/November, we initiated a trip to Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Munich-Paris (as you do). Dan joined us in Budapest. The Budapest-Vienna-Prague part of the trip included my parents. The Munich-Paris leg was just me and the boys. I know there is a Dracula story in there that should be told as well, but that is for another time.

When we finally made it to Paris, we stayed at an AirBnB that was a bit off the beaten path, but located near the police station where we needed to retrieve the wallet. We went to an amazing restaurant for breakfast while waiting for the police station to open. As it was off the beaten path, there weren't tourists, so the proprietors of the restaurant were actually nice to us:) And the food! It was the best French breakfast we have ever had. It was necessary to get this picture out into the world to show you the amazing breakfast. I apologize for inducing drooling.

After breakfast, we went to the police station, put our bags through the metal detector and found that Alex was carrying like 8 bottles of water. I have no idea why. For those of you who know Alex now, this will not surprise you. The police officer who was on metal detector duty just kept pulling water bottles out of the backpack. I shrugged, made incredulous hand geustures, admonished Alex, and tried to say, "He is a crazy child." in French. It probably came out, "He is fire."

Once we got inside and were actually able to wait in line, it was so slow that the guy in front of us a few places actually fainted! Emergency services had to be called. Turns out we were in the wrong line on the wrong floor, which we found out after we left the crazy line to investigate elsewhere. We got the wallet back, minus the cash, obviously, and saw the ambulance leaving when we departed. But at least we had been fortified by the earlier amazing breakfast!

If you can be a well-behaved tourist, I highly recommend the restaurant Café Arthur et Juliette in Paris. It looks like it is still there. And, according to recent pictures, they have other meals beyond breakfast!

The Great Resignation - I quit my job, too

Like millions of Americans who are quitting their regular, stable, income-consistent jobs, I joined "The Great Resignation" and quit my job as well.  It was a great job, I had been there for 2 years, 9 months.  I implemented data analytics to enhance many fraud investigations and a couple of audits as well.  I will greatly miss my awesome coworkers.

Awesome Coworkers!

More Awesome Coworker and Former Coworkers!

However, I will not miss:

• Commuting
• Spending fifty percent of my time in meetings or preparing for meetings
• Taking annual leave so that I can help Alex get his school work done.  

I also have the opportunity to chart my own path and perform my own goal-focused strategic planning.  

Commuting!  

It's a thing.  Does anyone remember it?  During October, I ended up needing to PHYSICALLY GO INTO THE OFFICE to try to reset the network connection on my desktop computer.  I had been using remote desktop to connect to it for THE ENTIRE PANDEMIC and didn't have any trouble except that one time when I accidentally chose "Update and Shutdown" instead of "Update and Restart."  Fortunately, one of my awesome coworkers happened to be in the office and went over to my desk to push the restart button.  However, this time, my computer completely disappeared from the network and wouldn't come back.  So I WENT TO THE OFFICE.

The metro looked like this:

Masked Metro Men

Most people were wearing their masks as required by federal law.  They distributed themselves as far apart in the seats as space allowed.  The few individuals who did not wear a mask were also flaunting another metro law, the one that prohibits eating in the metro.  So yes, they removed their mask to eat on the train.  <sigh>

After surviving the trip to the office while employing the tactic we all use now when we walk by people... you know, the one where you exhale as you pass close to a person, I found myself in the nearly deserted building with very few others.  

Yes... I remember... working in a cubical

I had forgotten that everything takes longer in the office than it does at home.  The coffee is in the breakroom and I have to walk all the way over there to make it myself, waiting for the brewer.  At home, Dan makes coffee before I wake up and I just have to refill my cup as needed.  The bathroom at work is outside our secure area and down the hallway, not down the short, unlocked hallway from my home office.  Even replacing batteries is an issue in the office.  Because you see, all of the batteries in my wireless keyboard and mouse had started to corrode during the past year and a half.

In offices across the world, batteries are dying

I had to raid the long-abandoned office supply cabinets, which were devoid of batteries.  I then had to Teams-message a colleague to learn of the secret stash of AA batteries.  Then I had to search for the secret stash and retrieve batteries to bring all the way back to my desk and install.  Even after getting the computer peripherals working, I still couldn't get the computer to connect to the network, so I had to do the full commute again later the next week.  Unfortunately, there had been a metro train derailment on the day of my first trip  to the office which resulted in all of the new train cars being taken out of commission.  This meant that normally when there would be trains every 11 minutes at my origination point, they were only coming every 45 minutes or so.  Also, during my transfer at Metro Center, I ended up waiting for an additional 30 minutes for a crowded train which is less than ideal during a global pandemic.  

No commuting?  Definitely an improvement over commuting.

Now What?

So no more commuting.  What do I do now that I am not commuting?  Well, I don't have any pictures of me sitting down with Alex arguing about how he can, in fact, write if he would just stop arguing.  But, I did take the time to bring Will to the DMV one early morning for him to apply for his driving permit.  And I took a photo.  

When the pandemic started, he was only 13, now he can get a driving permit!

We stopped at McDonald's for some energy food and beverages (orange juice and coffee).  We arrived before the DMV opened. Even so, all of the parking was full, but we found a spot on a nearby street.  The line of people was 3/4 of the way around the building!  So we hung out and reminisced about the other times that we stood in line to get documents.  

Will and Alex were with Dan and me when we got our driver's licenses here in Virginia.  I showed Will my driver's license photo with the super frizzy hair because on the day we went to get the licenses, it was very humid Virginia summer day and I had to literally run over to Staples and print an additional document to verify my identity.  

We thought back to our time in France where I would bring the children along to get visa paperwork as well as my French driver's license.  This was similar to standing in the line here at the DMV before the office opened along with many other people trying to get in first thing in the morning.  

I told Will about when I was pregnant with him and needed to persuade the officials at the Japanese prefecture to give me the mother and child health handbook book, the boshi-techo (母子手帳) even though I was not Japanese.  Surely acquiring a learning permit for Will would prove more simple than the bureaucratic challenges of the past.  

Alas, no.  After standing in line for quite a while, checking in, filling out paperwork, waiting some more, and passing the eye test, Will went off to do the written test.  He returned later with the news that he had not passed, disclosing that the questions on the test were not covered in his school-sponsored driver's education class.  So when faced with questions such as, "What do you do if you accidentally damage someone's car that is unattended?" he stated "Wait until they return" instead of the correct answer, "Leave a note with your information."  He will be reading the Virginia driving booklet before his next test!

Getting Started on Being Self Employed

Well, I am making progress.  I set up my desk, did paperwork with the government, and have everything I need ready to go to start helping others with data analytics.  Best wishes to everyone as they reconsider their employment and contemplate launching out into other endeavors.  I'm ready!

Drinking Peppermint Tea out of a mug gift from another (not pictured) Awesome Coworker

Batteries at work

Corroding in devices

Will workers return?

Take the Train to Philadelphia

One of the perks of my former job was the ability to take the Amtrak train anywhere.  While I only ended up taking a single long trip during my tenure there (from Chicago to Minneapolis), we did take advantage of the ability to travel the Northeast Corridor as a family.  We took multiple trips to Philadephia and New York.

In November 2021, Dan and I took a final free train trip to celebrate our 19th anniversary.  For those who do not follow the traditional anniversary gift guidelines, the 19th anniversary is the "Bronze" anniversary.

Obviously, this meant that we needed to go visit the Rodin museum.  No, not the one with the really cool secret wall door... 

You might not have noticed the door if it weren't for the green light and signs.

...the Rodin museum that we can travel to by train from Washington, DC to Philadelphia.  

We saw this Thinker...

Thinking in Philadelphia

not this one...

Impressive Statue?  Non!  The children were unimpressed.

I have to say, after dragging the kids to the Musée Rodin, it was a relief to have willing travel companions for this particular adventure.

Unwilling Participants - January 2018

We accomplished this by convincing/telling our friends Hillary and Kevin to accompany us on our train adventure.  

Happy Travelers - November 2021

We set off on our adventure on Saturday morning, taking the train to Philadelphia.  Besides a grumpy single passenger who wouldn't let the four of us sit together, the train ride was great.  We quickly sipped coffee by removing our masks, then, as per instruction, put them back up in between sips.  We learned that this was the proper protocol when we took the kids to Philly back in the summer.  After arriving at the station, we walked over to our hotel and dropped off our bags.  

Philadelphia Train Station

Having worked up a bit of an appetite for lunch, we wandered over to Gran Caffe L'Aquila, of course.  They had pleasant, covered outdoor seating.  This was helpful because it started to drizzle partway through our meal.  The wine was good, and the food was organized by Italian region.  Unfortunately, we did not get to try the gelato after dinner as we were completely satiated.

Next was the Rodin Museum.  I originally visited this museum with my dad back when I was 17.  Dad had taken me on a trip to visit some colleges.   We went to DC, Philadelphia, and Rochester.  

Proof of First DC Trip

Dad Thinking at the Rodin Museum
when he was My Current Age

Now, I was visiting the Rodin museum with Dan, Hillary, and Kevin.  It was pretty much the same and still impressive.

Smooth Lines out of Rock

That evening, we watched the sun set from the top of our hotel.  We had views of the nearby Basilica, and we got to stay warm-ish around a rooftop fire pit.

The fire will keep us warm!

Tasty Pink Drink

After drinks, we found our dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Amuse that served French food but was in the lobby of a hotel.  The steak frites were good.  The poor waiter was also the bartender and was utterly alone.  It was still a good experience.

The following morning, after a filling breakfast at a busy cafe, we headed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  This is the museum with the "Rocky Stairs," so you see many people posing at the top in triumph after running up the stairs.  This is also a museum that my dad and I visited back during our college visit trip.  However, we got to the museum right before it closed and somehow convinced them to let us go in.  Unfortunately, we were only able to see the armor exhibit.  It was still there.

Dan looking at Armor

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Philadelphia was the special exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum.  I've been a fan of Jasper Johns for a while, and since Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors, I have the book he wrote on Johns.   

Jasper Johns' approach to the use of stencils in his work reminds me of the way Will approaches a lot of things.  Crichton asked Johns how he selected the particular number and letter stencils that he used in his art, and he replied that the stencils that he used were the ones that were available.  

Seeing so many of Johns' works in one place was fascinating.  Of course, there are always a few works in DC at the National Gallery, but this collection was quite extensive.

We saw tons of other art in the museum as well.  On the top floor, they had even rebuilt whole buildings inside the museum and had a french courtyard with a fountain.  There were even some French people speaking French (But I think they were museum visitors like us).

Hanging out in the French Courtyard

Fountain!

And here is some non-building-based art.

Van Gogh, Miro, Monet, Mondrian, Magritte

After the museum, we returned to grab our bags from our hotel and then continued to the train station to go home.  We arrived to a still-standing house; the kids had survived without us overnight.  

Overall, we saw tons of art and had great food with willing friends.  Philadelphia is a great city and I will miss traveling there for free by train.  

The Amazing Shower Curtains

 We now live in the largest house that we have ever inhabited as a family.  Our house in California had two bathrooms, one with a tub/shower and one with a shower.  Our apartment in France had two toilet rooms, one bathroom, and one shower room.  The house we were renting when we moved back to the United States had only one full bath and an additional toilet in the basement.  So, when we bought our new house in Virginia, we ended up with an excessive number of showers (3).  This meant that we had to acquire some shower curtains.  The only curtain we had was a random white one.  I do not know when we acquired it, but it was quite old.  We might have used this when the kids were little in California.  

Bathroom Number 1: Old White Shower Curtain, New House Bathroom

White Sink, White Shower Curtain

Fortunately, Dan's sister, Angela, saved us from the monochromatic design trauma with this beautiful Japanese sakura-printed shower curtain.

Bathroom Number 1: New and Improved Shower Curtain

Feel Happy Color

This is not the only shower that was decorated with family assistance.  Dan's mom brought over some shower curtain options that were left from when she and Dan's dad recently moved to a smaller home.  We picked this one for our downstairs bathroom.

Bathroom Number 2: Gray and Blue Growing Flower

Growing Flower Pattern

But we had one final bathroom to equip with a shower curtain.  The main floor of our house, in the hallway, had a third bathroom.  This one is the primary bathroom of the house.  It is the one that the kids use since it is near their bedrooms.  It is also the one that guests would use if they were visiting on the main level.

Should we continue the theme of colorful flowers on shower curtains?  

No.  We thought we would be cool parents and let the children choose their own shower curtain.  However, they aren't very good at interior decorating yet.  Or shopping on amazon for something to decorate with.  Here are the options they came up with:

This Guy

AMARE-I-CA!

Space Cat Llama Unicorn Pizza Burrito

My sister, Robin, also participated with some space-cat options.

Real Shower Curtains!

In the end, we overruled all of them and purchased a shower curtain that demonstrated Alex's love of cats, his favorite weapon in Minecraft, Will's birthplace of Japan, and everyone's love of narwhals.