2013 has been a wonderful year. We started the new year in Japan visiting mom and dad, and moved back over to Seattle upon our return. I hiked part of the Hoh River Trail, took the MCAT, applied to medical schools, started a new job that I love, and took another long-distance train trip.
Let's start with the happy stuff. First, the fun part: our Amtrak Coast Starlight train trip down to San Francisco!
Awesome wall art in Pioneer Square as we walk towards King Street Station here in Seattle
Departure: King Street Station in Pioneer Square/International District
Newly remodeled interior - all of the original molding and detailing was restored. Looks great, and really calls back to the days of train travel
Our superliner, double decker Coast Starlight train
On the other platform I spotted the BRAND NEW Amtrak Cascades route Talgo trains! Sweet! Eugene, Oregon, through Portland, Seattle, and up to Vancouver B.C.
The "Portland Car" of the Cascades route
Our dining car
Passing under the Tacoma Narrows bridge as we work our way down the coast ... so foggy
In the observation car
Lunch: Santa Fe salad....
... and a ciabatta turkey sandwich
In the afternoon, arrived at Portland Union Station and stepped outside for some fresh air
I love me some MAX trams in PDX
Couldn't figure out how this sun dial works.
Dinner: herb roasted half chicken with rice pilaf. It was actually very delicious, moist, and tasty! Dare I say better than roasted chicken at some restaurants?
Ian's short rib with three peppercorn sauce
All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing (albeit long) trip. I read halfway through Ender's Game, gently rocked by the swaying of the train with the gentle "click clack" of the tracks in the background. Although I grew up being accustomed to the incredible efficiency and speed of Japan's bullet trains, sometimes it's nice to be forced to slow down - no doubt the case with this 22 hour trip. We arrived in San Francisco to beautiful sunny skies and 60-degree days.
As I've been doing better with eating healthy and being much more conscious of my daily hydration (still need to continue working on this), I feel that I am now ready to add regular exercise to my routine. One step at a time, right? Having had a wonderful experience with the staff at Sports Basement in SOMA when we used to live in San Francisco, I returned with the mission of getting properly fitted for running shoes. Again, the staff was awesome and I found exactly what I (think I) needed. With laces tied up, the following morning, the cousins and I went for a jog from the Presidio over the Golden Gate Bridge. Why not kick off the year with one of the most beautiful runs in the world? Maybe this memory will keep me going throughout the year with these shoes ...
Ready to begin on the Presidio side! What an unbelievably perfect day
Where else can you go for a casual morning jog and look below to find Fort Point ... former battery ready to sink invading ships trying to enter San Francisco Bay?
Fort Point foreground, city skyline in the background
Made it back!
I was a little excited and went a bit too fast starting off, considering that I've never run before. But hell, with scenery like that it's hard to hold it all in :-p I ended up making the 1.3 mile run to the second tower in about 12 minutes. After a rest, we jogged much slower back to the start. Successful first day of running! I hope to continue this into the year, making it a part of my daily life. I feel good and enjoy it a lot (don't worry, I still enjoy sleeping in too).
Now it's time for the sad news ...
Dad had called ojiichan and obaachan (grandpa and grandma) in Japan to wish them Happy New Year last night. In Japan, new year's day is the biggest holiday when everybody is home and eating osechi-ryori (new year's dinner). Naturally, it concerned him when nobody was picking up the phone at my grandparents' house. Eventually when he was able to make contact, we received news that my grandfather had passed away the previous week. Dad was not able to get the message since his Japanese cell phone does not have international service in the US. The funeral and cremation had already taken place, and grandma was trying to figure out what to do next. Even worse, our uncle (dad's brother) was also hospitalized for inability to keep food down or eat. Despite clear head scans and liver/kidney function tests, he was continuing to lose weight. An endoscope/colonoscopy is scheduled for next week.
Mom and dad immediately packed their bags and rescheduled their flight back to Japan for early this afternoon. I expect they should have arrived right about now. They will head north to see grandma.
I'm very saddened by the news, although it was only a matter of time and was to be expected. Dad said grandma found grandpa the next morning with a very peaceful look on his face. He was able to pass quietly in his own home.
More than anything in the world, I'm so glad that Ian and I went to Japan last winter (beginning of this year, 2013). And we still pushed to see them even when mom and dad asked "are you sure you really want to go all the way up north to the countryside for Ian's first time in Japan when there's so much other stuff to see/do?"
I guess all of this is a reminder of what's truly important to me and what is so trivial. I want to continue to live for the now - traveling and experiencing new cultures, to learn new crafts or instruments or languages, to continue setting goals for myself. I want to be more patient, to listen better without assuming first, and to let things go more easily. I know I can occasionally get bitchy about little things (sorry Ian) for absolutely no reason, but my grandfather's passing is just another reminder that when it all comes down to it, such little things like sweaters on the floor are not life or death matters.
I remember when grandpa grew morning glories and named them after us every summer when Bryan and I would visit. He collected the seeds and gave them to me on one trip, and I have continued to grow those same seeds from that same garden ever since, in all the different places I've lived ... first in Phoenix, then in Seattle, then in San Francisco. Now when I grow them again, they will be the fourth generation that I've raised. While we all sat at the table and mulled over the sad news, Bryan asked me if I still had those seeds and if he could have some. I cried at that memory that we all shared. I will never forget you, Ojiichan. How you'd plan our trips down to the minute, and the schedule would be derailed within the first 10 minutes out the door. The way you tended so carefully to your small but beautiful garden every morning, cultivating moss on the old stones and Bryan and I tearing up that moss to look for pill bugs when we were younger. The way we begged to ride your little moped around town. The times we spent, sweating in the hot, humid Japanese summer while you tried to teach us calligraphy. The day we went to the fish market and I couldn't stop looking at the goldfish and you bought us some. How we made tea for you every morning and you gave us the verdict on our brewing technique. The way we'd jump up and down while your classical music records were playing and they'd skip around and make funny noises.
As 2013 comes to a close, I only know that there's much more life to explore - and you will be in my heart always. Here's to you, Ojiichan
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