I rarely watch movies let alone go to the cinema. On long flights and during the Christmas holidays are about the only times I see them.
Last night we took the kids to the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise, Rouge One. It was an enjoyable, action-packed war movie, but nothing life-changing and similar to the many Star Wars films in the series. It reminded me of World War II films. The raid on the kyber refinery reminded me of the Norwegian resistance assault on the Nazi heavy water refinery. The scenes of rebel soldiers running across beaches and under palm trees on the tropical planet that held the Empire’s data archive, was reminiscent of the War of the Pacific.
On the plane I watched The Hollars. A synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes below:
John Hollar, a struggling NYC artist is forced to navigate the small middle-American town he left behind when news of his mother’s illness brings him home. Back in the house he grew up in, John is immediately swept up in the problems of his dysfunctional family, high school rival, and an over-eager ex-girlfriend as he faces impending fatherhood with his girlfriend in New York. From a script by Jim Strouse that is at turns hilarious and heartbreaking, John Krasinski’s second feature is a poignant look at the bonds of family and friendship.
There are some good characters, especially John’s brother. It reminded me a bit too much of my mother’s death and the impact on my father. It kept my attention but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it.
I also watched Captain Fantastic, a story about a father raising his children in the redwood forests of California. The mother dies and he brings the family to civilization to attend the funeral. It has some uplifting moments, but the a bit thin on the portrayal of the pros and cons of such a radical parenting style versus the traditional suburban America lifestyle. I would recommend seeing it and there are some good performances.
I’ve enjoyed getting to know Singapore in the first few days of our stay on the island. Orchard Road is the retail and entertainment center of an island, I feel, that is devoted to shopping. It is amazing that every train station we disembarked is basically a shopping mall. These are not small or run down malls, but comparable to the best Japan malls. Stations are a natural place for businesses because of the high pedestrian traffic, but Singapore has taken it to a new level. Besides shopping malls, the other big impression are the numerous apartment buildings. There is a lot of people here!
Enjoying a Bank Promotion in the Kovan Mall
We are staying in the suburb of Kovan, in the north east part of the island. It is known for the high number of Teochew, 19th century immigrants from southern China. 77% of Singaporeans are Chinese, but I noticed lots of Indians, more so than in Kuala Lumpur. I have not seen as many Malays.
We went to Chinatown the other night (photo above). The traditional shop houses, which are buildings with a store on the first floor and the family residence on the second and third floor, have all been restored. We ate at a nice Thai restaurant, which was once an opium den in the 1800s when it was a popular recreational drug with the Chinese.
It is funny to see the graphic public service announcement signs in the train stations. Lee Kwan Yew’s strict rules are apparent everywhere, with $500 – $1,000 fines for smoking, eating/drinking on the trains, etc. After seeing other south east Asian cities, I see why he needed to be so Draconian to have a neat and orderly city. It is pleasant to walk and move around the city. The wide sidewalks are well-maintained, lots of palms and other trees planted for shade and beauty, and many little “national parks” interspersed throughout. It looks like Florida, but probably a little nicer because the lack of income inequality one sees in Miami.
Cargo Ship Going Through the Johor Strait While the Kids Swim
We escaped the city a bit yesterday afternoon and went for a swim on the far north eastern part of the island near the airport. Changi Beach park was quite pleasant. The amount of planes landing in Singapore from everywhere was impressive. There were several big ships coming through the Johor Straits, the body of water separating Singapore from Malaysia. I imagine between the heavy ship traffic and land reclamation projects, the environment is quite degraded. It made for a nice afternoon. Changi village reminded me a bit of Ada Ciganlija, the inland “sea” of Belgrade.
In anticipation of our 19-day stay in Singapore, I did some reading and thinking about the island.
Singapore will be a new country for all of us. It is more of a city-state than a nation-state. It is a small island, much of it reclaimed land (23%), off the coast of Malaysia. Due to its location in the Malacca Straits, a narrow sea passage connecting south Asia (India) with east Asia (China/Japan), it is one of the biggest trading ports in the world. For over 700 years, Malays have been trading in Singapore, but the island never reached a population over 1000. The British recognized this strategic position within its colonies. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived in 1819 and developed the with the British East India Company. The island’s population swelled to 80,000, over half being Chinese workers for the rubber plantations. The British controlled Singapore for 141 years total. That started its path to becoming an independent city-state of today. I am looking forward to seeing the Raffles’s legacy and have a Singapore Sling in the eponymous hotel from that era.
After WWI, the British built a naval base, which was taken over by Japanese in Battle of Singapore on February 15, 1942 The British military surrendered to invading Japanese forces in World War II. The Japanese controlled Singapore for 3 years, but not before killing between 5 -25 million Chinese, before losing the war and ceding the island back to Britain.I want to learn more about the battle for Singapore and the Japanese occupation, so will look it up during the holiday.
In 1959 it became self-governing within the Commonwealth. Four years later the British left and Singapore joined Malaysia, but was expelled shortly thereafter. Singapore leaders felt that it would always be at a disadvantage because of its Chinese-majority (77% Chinese), in a Malay dominated country. On August 9, 1965, Singapore became independent from Malaysia, and has stayed that way for the last 51 years.
No writing about Singapore would be worthwhile without a mention of the founding father of modern Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew. He was an autocrat who engineered the amazing growth of Singapore. He limited individual freedom greatly and quashed dissent, but because of his vision and a lack of corruption, he inspired others to work hard raise the standard of living for all citizens. He set an environment conducive to international investment and trade, and it is one of the great global cities of finance and business. My sister-in-law works at one of the many international schools on the island, thanks to this foreign investment.
This autumn I visited the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur and thought that this is what Singapore would be like if it wasn’t for Lee Kwan Yew. It was nice, but with its infrastructure, it felt more like Latin America than developed Japan. The stifling of individual liberties was justified if it meant long-term prosperity for the majority of citizens. As Lee Kwan Yew said of Singapore before he straightened it out, “people could make tapioca, make children and drink.” No one from that era would recognize a Singapore with a GDP of $82,000 US, good traffic flow, little self-generated pollution and no litter. I loved his maxim, “poetry is a luxury we cannot afford,” and his rule was ruthlessly pragmatic, enabling him to rule almost as a (mostly) benevolent dictator.
With the economic and military rise of China, I could see Singapore moving closer to China. Not like Hong Kong or Macao because it is far away from mainland China. However, there are 1 million mainland Chinese recent immigrants here. It is inevitable that they will have closer ties to China in the future.
I will be experiencing Singapore for a couple of weeks and hope to get a good feel for the place. I am curious to see if it feels crowded, as the 5.6 million people live on an island a little bigger than Guam, which makes it the third most densely populated country in the world. It is also nice to be 1 degree north of the equator in the middle of a Japan winter. I read were it is dull and authoritarian
I try to make a point of acknowledging those small moments in life that are meaningful, but happen so quickly or you think they are insignificant. Last night was a great example.
We were packing our bags our winter holiday in Singapore. It had been a super busy day at school and then a rush home and 2+ hours of cleaning packing. We were debating whether to take Christmas presents for the kids with us, leave them under the tree for when we get back in January or let them have them last night.
Oliver has been begging for a 3DS game system and the Pokemon Sun & Moon games for months. He eagerly anticipated the release of the new games on November 19. He was relentless, but we held firm. We don’t buy game systems for our kids because we feel they get addicted to them and do not do other things in their life. Since Oliver is absolutely obsessed with the Pokemon video series and cards, we broke down and got the 3DS and games. We were planning to take it with us and give it to him at Christmas. We gave Oliver and Ocean the books they wanted, for Ocean 3 books in the Dork Diary series and for Oliver, 2 books in the Magnus Chase series. When Oliver got the books, he was bitterly disappointed because he was expecting the 3DS. He was crying and saying that we didn’t love him. He wasn’t like a brat, but I felt, genuinely sad, thinking that we would never get him a video game. Yes, I am from the 1980s and still call them “video” games. He was on our bed inconsolable when I took it out of the suitcase and walked in the room. He sat up and I presented the game console, and the DVDs and he was in a state I never saw him like. I would describe it has half shock / half ecstasy. The look on his face and his reaction made all of the tears and months of hearing him moan and negotiate worth it. He was so happy, hugging us both! It was so cool to experience his total happiness!
So it was a Christmas miracle that “santa” came early and brought Oliver exactly what he wanted, and something he thought he would never get.
The Christmas season is upon us and with it the holiday traditions. Oliver is shown above in Friday’s winter concert held at the school. It was his final elementary concert as he will be a middle schooler next year (yikes!). The students were asked to dress in an urban/hip-hop style, but Ollie looks more like a Trump supporter than a city dweller. They sang “Hall of Fame” and he had a small duet rap part at the end of the song.
It also is the time of parties. Saturday night the faculty met at an Italian restaurant in Senri Chuo and afterwards we went for some drinks at a nearby “stand-up” bar. We had a lot of laughs with friends. Nadia is shown below with Nakae.
We hosted the global futures (boarding) students Sunday night for a traditional American turkey holiday dinner. Besides being beautiful, Nadia is also a really good cook and prepared an exquisite meal. Turkey, gravy, homemade stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, etc. The students in our school and especially the dorm are so nice, it was an enjoyable evening for us to host them.
Japan is the approximately the same size as California, but with three times as many people. Space is an issue in cities of Japan. In my neighborhood of Onoharanishi, which is one of the more expensive suburbs in Osaka where people have more space than the average Japanese dweller, space is still at a premium. This family solved the “we have two cars but only one parking spot” problem. Rotary parking systems are common in cities, especially the big parking garages downtown. They are so much more efficient use of space. I wanted to wait at this house until the owner wanted to drive the silver car to find out how it works. I think you would have to take out the bottom car and then lower the silver car.
Taxis here have automatic doors as you can see in this video. This is a good idea because it prevents people from having to open the door when carrying lots of bags or children. It also prevents damage to the door if clients slam the doors too hard. I also noticed it is only the left side door that opens automatically, which in Japan where people drive on the left side of the road, it is a safety measure. People cannot open the door into the street and must exit the taxi curbside.
Owen’s middle school basketball team finished third in the season ending Western Japan Athletic Association (WJAA) tournament last weekend. They lost to Canadian Academy of Kobe in the semi finals and came back to defeat Nagoya IS in the consolation match to finish in third place out of eight teams.
The team finished with 9 wins and 5 losses on the season. They defeated every team in the WJAA at least once. The low shooting percentage in the tournament weekend held them back from reaching the finals. The WJAA is a nice middle school league and the basketball season runs from October to early December. A 14-game season is a good number, although I wish they had more games during the week and less Saturdays. I felt Owen and his teammates Ren and Henri were three of the best basketball players in the league. As they grow and mature in high school, I am expecting to see continued success if they stay together.
Owen’s trademark running shot
Owen had a very good season and I was proud of him. Left handed people look unconventional in the sport to me. In Japan in middle school basketball, at 5-4, Owen is solidly a position 3. His strength is a running mid-range shot. He is continuing to develop an accurate outside shot and is pretty good taking it inside for layups. He is not quick or fast, but has good defensive instincts that translate into lots of steals and rebounds.
The soccer season begins in January and I am already looking forward to watching him play.
I wanted to learn more about the American president-elect, Donald Trump. Our school library had a copy of Michael D’Antonio’s Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success. The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author did some long interviews with Trump and people close to him before losing access because he interviewed an enemy of Trump. He supplemented the interviews with research and the book is a very good and even-handed biography. The New York Times reviewed the book in September 2015 when it was published. I also recommend listening to the two podcasts the NY Times did with the author on the podcast, The Run Up.
Trump is so different from people I know. He has devoted his life to making money and more importantly, being a celebrity. In this pursuit of, which the book title and Trump calls “success”, he has lied, exaggerated, cheated, insulted, bullied, and hurt thousands of people. I wouldn’t call this success, but I have much different values than Donald Trump.
Trump’s father Fred, was similar to him, getting his big break in real estate by exploiting loop holes in a government housing project, enriching himself to the detriment of American taxpayers and residents of the housing projects. From there, he continued to develop real estate. As a conservationist and lover of wilderness, I have a dislike of “developers” to start with. Fred Trump’s fathering style is also much different than mine. He bullied his son, sent him to a harsh military academy for grades 8-12 but reached his goal of instilling in Donald, an intense greed and ambition. Donald set his sights on building on his father’s developments by purchasing property in Manhattan. His father’s properties were mostly in Brooklyn. Donald is a third generation German immigrant, and Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich Drumpf, was also into real estate, getting his start by running a hotel in Alaska for gold miners in the late 19th century.
Trump has lived an incredibly full life. As you list his accomplishments, I am amazed that one person could do all that he did. From building huge towers in one of the most expensive cities in the world, to owning casinos in Atlantic City, developing golf courses, owning an USFL football team (New Jersey Generals), starring in a highly rated reality television show, owning an airlines, being a motivational speaker and “educator”, three marriages, father to 5 children, to now being president of the United States. Any of these in isolation would be considered a full life. However, all of these endeavors were marked with harming and destroying others, legal battles, bankruptcy, cheating, all because he wanted to “win”.
Despite appearances of fame, fortune and luxury, I think he is a sad figure. I don’t know how he can live with himself knowing the harm he has done to others. His lack of reflection I think is a defense against this. Some may argue that this is the kind of ruthless person we need as president, but I disagree. He is a man with no inner life, he is crass, rude and childish with his insults, I can’t believe that enough people voted for him to win. I do hope he goes crazy and shakes up our political structure which is needed, I just hoped that it would be a better person doing it. I also fear an over reaction to world events that might harm the country. I keep faith in our democratic institutions
D’antonio’s book does well in explaining such an unusual person and some insight into the way he operates. It will be a fascinating four years of his presidency.
Oliver is pictured at USJ with one of the many mascots.
I had a delightful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. For the first time in many years, we didn’t have school as our fall break coincided with Thanksgiving. We have 6 luxurious days off, including the Wednesday before and the Monday after. Just what the doctor ordered after a busy fall trimester. Wednesday November 23 is Labor Thanksgiving Day here in Japan and a national holiday. It was established after World War II as a day to commemorate human rights and honor rights of workers. It also dates back 2,500 – 1,500 years ago in Japan to the various harvest festivals under different emperors. A mental note to have the kids make drawings next year to give as gifts to the local koban (police box) as is the tradition here. We celebrated the day with a big thanksgiving dinner with friends (photo below).
It is “peak” autumn foliage color right now in Osaka. My bike ride up to Katsuoji temple in the Minoh Hills National Park was stunning. Although it is cold in the mornings, it quickly warms up to make it comfortable biking weather.
On thanksgiving day itself, which is not a holiday in Japan, we organized winter clothes and closets and did some long overdue projects around the house. With both Nadia and I working and the kids being quite active after school, we needed a day or two concentrating on the house. I hope to finish today (Saturday) with putting up the Christmas stuff and continuing improving our home.
The ubiquitous “selfie” at USJ
Because this is not a holiday here, we took the kids to Universal Studios Japan (USJ), which is one of the four Universal Studios (Orlando, Los Angeles, Singapore, Osaka) theme parks. During holidays, the park is absolutely swamped with people causing long waiting times for rides, but during the off season and during the week, it is reasonably crowded. I think our longest wait time was an hour and most attractions were 15-30 minutes. Seeing the popularity of the Osaka USJ, which averages 8 million visitors per year, the owners, NBC Universal, are opening parks in Beijing (2019), Seoul (2020) and Moscow (2022). The Japanese especially love cartoon characters, Harry Potter and other universal movies, and so even with other parks opening in east Asia, I think USJ will be fine.
As you might know from previous blog posts, amusement parks are not my “cup of tea” and I loathe the crowds, consumerism and artificiality of it all. However, riding roller coasters is one of the things kids need to experience so I am glad I went yesterday. I loved watching their reactions to the rides and spending the day with them. It was a good way to spend “Black Friday” and we saw other Osaka International School families taking advantage of our school holidays being different than the local schools. It was a full day as we finished off our USJ experience with a decadent meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. We are planning a trip to Tokyo Disney before we leave Japan to round out our amusement park experiences.
Reflecting upon Thanksgiving, I have so many blessings. Healthy children, a beautiful wife I enjoy being with, even after almost 20 years together, an interesting career that allows me to follow my passion of teaching and travel, what more could a guy ask for. I am truly grateful for all of it!
Oliver and Ocean performed again with the Yamamoto Noh theatre troupe in the beautiful NHK (Nippon Hohsoh Kyokai) Hall in downtown Osaka. NHK, the biggest television company in Japan, Hall is home to the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and theme of the concert was “East Meets West”. The idea was for the noh play to be backed by a full symphony orchestra. It was combining major art forms from the 1300s (noh – Japan) with the 1700/1800s (classical music – Europe). The mix was absorbing: the sparse sounds of the drums and flute of noh with the sumptuous full orchestra. The play is about conservation of the rivers and bay of Osaka, was backed by pieces dealing with water, culminating in Strauss’s Blue Danube.
NHK Hall is stunningly beautiful. It is located on the third floor and the escalators taking patrons to the entrance goes through this fantastic foyer with high glass ceilings and luxurious bannisters. I was surprised at the almost capacity crowd of 1,400 people for a Monday night. In the video above, Oliver’s speaking part comes at the 4:45 mark.
The crowd was loving the children’s role in the play. With the seriousness of the noh players and the sophistication of the orchestra, the kids made it accessible for everyone. I loved the director of the orchestra putting on one of the children’s hats for the grand finale piece and asking the audience to participate. It was a really nice for the kids to be on stage with both professional noh actors and the Kansai philharmonic. It is an experience they will never forget.
A huge thank you to all the parents who helped in getting the kids ready. Also to the Yamamoto troupe and the Kansai philharmonic.
Yamamoto is working to make noh more accessible to a modern audience. After the performance I spoke with Petko Slavov, a Bulgarian PhD in ancient Japanese theatre, and his company, Okina makes digital content, like apps and games that teach ancient Japanese culture. They also help Yamamoto make school visits and noh workshops. We hope to have them come visit in the spring.
I try to make a point of acknowledging those small moments in life that are meaningful, but happen so quickly or you think they are insignificant. Last night was a great example.
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