Saturday night we took a dinner cruise of Tokyo Bay. Some friends in our building are moving back to the States and this is one of the many things they wanted to do before they left Tokyo. As you might imagine, the scenery -- not the food -- was the highlight of the cruise. The food was Italian and was not actually bad, but not terribly good either. But the real delight was that we got a peek at several fireworks displays that were going on that evening. It seemed every time you looked out across the water there were fireworks off in the distance. After dinner we stood out on the deck and caught some refreshing breezes as we watched the lights of Tokyo twinkling along the horizon. We all agreed -- the cruise was much better taken at night than if we had taken it during the day.

Brad has never been to the grand depaato (department store) opening at the Mitsukoshi in Nihombashi, so we headed out there this morning. They open the doors everyday (except Monday) at 10 a.m. sharp. Before the doors are opened, a smartly dressed employee stands in front of the main doors addressing the shoppers gathered there. She announces what sales they are running that day and where to find them. When the doors open and you enter the store, you kinda get an idea of what it must be like to be royalty. All the sales clerks stand prim and proper by their stations and bow deeply as you pass by, greeting you warmly and welcoming you to the store.

I love shopping at that store . . . one of the grand old department stores of the world.

Brad and I went to the Shimbashi Koichi Matsuri last night. "Koichi" means "an hour or two" and "Matsuri" is "festival". We went to this festival last year and made a point to go again this year so we could enjoy the traditional folk dances performed as part of the Obon season.

We love the festive atmosphere created by the dozens and dozens of brightly lit paper lanterns strung over the square where the bon dancers, clad in colorful summer kimono and yukata, were perfoming. Even people off the street, dressed in suits or t-shirts and jeans, joined in on the dancing performed in synchronized motions around a tower-like platform. Taiko drummers took turns atop the tower beating out the rhythms that accompanied piped-in folk music.

It started to rain as we began to chow down on our yaki soba (fried noodles) and spring rolls and a Japanese man beckoned us to take shelter with him and his companions at a table under a tent. He also gave us each healthy portions of some delicious sake and the man sitting next to me gave me his fan to help cool down from the stifling heat.

Hello world. This is my first entry in my first blog. I'll try to keep up with this frequently. Since I find myself logging onto my computer more and more frequently and for longer and longer periods, maybe I will be able to keep this promise to myself.

Today they were calling for rain but it never materialized. Instead it was sunny and hot but we hear that a typhoon is on its way. If it comes it'll be the third one in as many weeks.

I met Brad for lunch today at a Turkish restaurant called The Harem. The restaurant was fabulous, every detail was superb from the decor to the background music and, most importantly, the food. That's one of the things I love about living in Tokyo -- so many fabulous restaurants. And there's not enough time to visit even a fraction of them. Especially considering that we will probably be leaving Tokyo next spring. Now you know why I call this site The Wanderers.