The leaves on the gingko trees have begun to turn golden this week. They are usually the last of the trees to change color in Tokyo. I was admiring them as I walked Taffy in the park this week. We've had some unusually clear and sunny days lately and the gingkos seemed to positively glow as the sunlight filtered through. The big gingko in front of the library shed a carpet of golden leaves, to the delight of toddlers who shuffled through them. It wasn't until recently that I learned the Japanese use a different word for the name "gingko"; they refer to the trees as "icho" (the "o" is a long "o", so it is pronounced "ee-choh"). In September, we begin to see many Japanese gathering up the gingko nuts in the park. The nuts are surrounded by a soft gooey covering that has a really foul smell. I believe the nuts are used in some Chinese stir fry dishes. Today a strong wind created a shower of gold as the gingko leaves gave up their hold. The contrast of the golden leaves against the sturdy brown trunks is quite beautiful and, for me, will forever remain the defining image of fall in Japan.

Thanksgiving in Tokyo. Bound to be a different kind of holiday. Actually, several restaurants are offering up traditional turkey dinners, but Brad and I both celebrated turkey day earlier in the States, so we were looking for another way to spend the day. We started off bright and early at the Marunouchi Picadilly movie theater in Ginza where we saw the new Harry Potter movie. We were surprised at how many people showed up for the 9:30 a.m. show on a weekday (we had to keep reminding ourselves, Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Tokyo). The theater must have been two-thirds full. In the lobby before the show we perused all the Harry Potter paraphernalia for sale and then Brad purchased a "Harry Potter Combination" from the snack stand: popcorn, soft drink and a collector's card -- everything packaged in Harry Potter graphics. (The popcorn was surprisingly tasty, coke is coke wherever you are in the world, he got Hermione Granger.) Anyhow, we really enjoyed the movie; just as the critics said, it was darker than the first and had more special fx. I especially enjoyed the performances by Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart and the actor who played Lucius Malfoy.

After the movie, we strolled down the Ginza to the Ginza Lion restaurant. I had read about this restaurant a long time ago and have always wanted to go there but every time we stopped by, there was a line out the door. We had no problem getting a seat today, but now I wonder what all the fuss was about. The food certainly couldn't have been the attraction and the art deco decor was curious but hardly remarkable.

After our lunch we continued walking until we got to the no. 86 bus stop at Shimbashi station, but only after Brad had stopped in to peruse one of his favorite used golf club stores. We took the bus to the Tokyo Tower stop. We decided first to grab dessert at Il Pinolo cafe. Much more satisfying than our lunch had been. Delicious coffee and scrumptious cakes. Then on to the Tower. Today was an unusually clear day -- perfect for going to the top of Tokyo Tower for a bird's eye view of the metropolis. The view certainly was spectacular. I never stop marveling at the size of this city. It just stretches on to the horizon, nothing but buildings crammed next to buildings, as far as the eye can see. We managed to pick out a few landmarks. We can see Tokyo Tower from our apt. so we were curious to see if we could see our apt. from TT. With some difficulty (the sun was shining brightly right where our apt. is situated) we managed to identify Homat August, our apt. bldg.

Still trying to get over jet lag. I start to fade at 9 p.m. but have forced myself to stay awake to finish up some DigitalEve work. Brad and I had a wonderful day visiting Mt. Takao today. It takes about an hour to get there from Shinjuku station by train. After you get off the train you can catch either a cable car or chair lift up most the mountain . . . after that there are several trails you can take and apparently one of them takes you to the peak where there are two restaurants. We didn't make it that far today but did witness a wonderful taiko drum presentation. The drummers were all wearing masks: fearsome faces with wild scary hair. They grunted and groaned and bobbed their heads in unnatural ways as they beat upon the drum. A fascinating and thoroughly entertaining performance.

I arrived back in Tokyo last night. It was the worst flight I've ever experienced. Even though I've got some 80,000 miles to my credit, my ticket was not upgradable. I wasn't even able to get Economy Plus seating. I was placed in one of those incredibly cramped seats way in the back of the plane, but at least it was an aisle seat. I was so disappointed in the service I feel like writing a nastygram to United. I put my seat tray down to discover it was covered with crumbs. My head set (obviously used, since it was not wrapped in a plastic bag) had one of the foam ear covers missing. The movie was nearly unwatchable due to incredibly poor display and position of the screen. The food! God the food was horrible. Funny little curled up pieces of meat covered in greasy skin masquerading as chicken. Dried up rice. Soggy watermelon. Unripe honeydew melon. Blecch! Then to make matters worse, I experienced the worst turbulence ever! At one point the plane was shaking violently from side to side. We took stomach-churning dips. Of course, this is not the fault of United, but the captain (or at least the flight attendants) could have offered some words of reassurance. Instead, I sat there petrified with fear as we were jostled about. When the captain ordered the flight attendants to sit in their jump seats my adrenalin level shot up, but by then we were through the worst of it. I was never so glad to touch down in my life and hope I never experience another flight like that again.

The week has just flown by. Tomorrow I head back to Tokyo. Then a few days later Brad will head to the U.S. on business. We just never seem to be able to synchronize our trips back home. And to top it off -- he will be in the U.S. during most of the time that Brenda and Domenica will be visiting in Tokyo.

Our early Thanksgiving dinner was a hell of a lot of fun. The food was great (and plenty of it), plus it was so much fun clowning around with my siblings, cousins, niece and nephew. There were many gifts shared and lots of stories told.

That was on Sunday. On Monday I had an eye dr. appt. and a dentist appt. That evening Vince, Jody, Domenica, Brenda, JoAnn and I went to Paolo's in the Inner Harbor for dinner. On Tuesday morning I went into Hampden. Had breakfast at Cafe Hon, shopped the avenue and picked up some coffee at the newly relocated Coffee Mill. In the afternoon I did a little bit of shopping at Columbia Mall (didn't buy a thing), then stopped off at Vickie and JL's for a little while. That evening, JoAnn and I went out to Arundel Mills where I continued my search for omiyage . . . still didn't find anything I wanted to bring back to friends in Tokyo. We had dinner at Chevy's, a "fresh" mex restaurant.

Today, I'll do some more shopping and meet Becky and Theresa for lunch. Then it's dinner with Domenica and Brenda at Petit Louis. When I get home I think I'll need to go on a serious diet.

Just got back from a wonderful lasagna dinner at Vickie and JL's. almost the whole gang has arrived: Joe, Phyllis and Dawn arrived late in the afternoon. Tomorrow we expect Vince, Jody, Shawn and Liz.

We (Domenica, Tess, JoAnn, Vickie, JL, Mary Lou, Ed and I) started off the day meeting for breakfast at a bagel place in Annapolis. Then we all went to one of Vickie's favorite shops: a consignment shop that is chock full of all kinds of things -- furniture, knick knacks, paintings, china -- there was so much stuff crammed into every nook and cranny it was hard to take it all in. then we went grocery shopping first at the Whole Foods Market (fka Fresh Fields) and Trader Joes.

It was a busy day and once again I'm ready for some shut eye. Hope I'm able to sleep tonight. Haven't had much luck with that the last two nights. But I need to get some rest cuz we're getting up early to go to mass with Tess at St. Leo's in Little Italy.

After a long journey, I arrived in Maryland at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening. My flight left Tokyo at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening. I was actually on the road for over 24 hours. Because of the time difference, you gain a day when you travel from Japan to the U.S. I'll lose the day I just gained when I return to Tokyo next week.

It's 3:00 in the morning and I'm wide awake. Guess my body has not made the time adjustment yet. It's much chillier here in Baltimore than it was in Tokyo. I left mild mid-60s temps to arrive in rain and mid-40's.

All is fine with my sisters. Yesterday I ran some errands with Vickie and then had an appt. with the eye doctor. Today, Tess, Mary Lou and Ed arrive from Albany. The others (Vince, Jody, Caren [Jody's sister], Joe, Phyllis, Shawn, his new fiancee, and Dawm) will arrive on Saturday, I think. Vickie is very excited to be hosting what has turned out to be a reunion of the Genovese siblings.

Well I'm gonna try to get some shut-eye.