Hacker!!!!!!!

Hacker!!!!!!!
Originally uploaded by ianmgrn.

Agent S. Hoy spotted hacking into the mainframe!!

Command Center

Command Center
Originally uploaded by ianmgrn.

Command Center pre-attack.

The Evidence!

The Evidence!
Originally uploaded by ianmgrn.

Evidence of Agent S. Hoy in the U.S.

P1000442
Originally uploaded by ianmgrn.

Agent Mr. TTT is on the case!!

Holiday Greetings from Cassandra 

Bathing Monkeys 

Nagano - Nov 2004

Monkey Paradise

On our last trip in September ‘04, we took a journey to Miyajima, which turned out to be Island of the Vicious Monkeys and Voracious Deer. In November, we traveled to Nagano and visited a delightful scenic area called “Jigokudani” or “Hell’s Valley.” Actually, I’m not out to visit every monkey haven in Japan. It just turned out that way.
After a five hour drive from the suburbs of Tokyo, we arrived at our cozy, mom- and-pop style Japanese inn, where we were greeted by the friendly proprietor, who explained to us how those hot springs bathing monkeys got so famous.
Several families of Japanese macaque live in the area around Jigokudani in Nagano, surrounded by the majestic Japan Alps, mountainsides ablaze with Japanese maple and bubbling with natural hot springs. About thirty years ago, a little baby monkey fell into one of the hot springs in the dead of winter. The mama went to retrieve her and discovered that it’s not so bad to take a nice hot soak – great way to warm up. Ever since then, families of monkeys have taken to dipping in the hot springs during the chilly Nagano winters. And curious people have come from all over to observe them. They were made even more popular with the arrival of the Winter Olympics in 1998.
Although it’s called “Hell’s Valley,” it’s actually a paradise for monkeys. They forage for food in the nearby mountains, have fresh abundant water from the river flowing through the valley, and next to the river are several hot springs to soak in during the cold season.
The signs warn us: “Don’t stare into their eyes.” (They might feel confronted.) “Don’t feed them.” (They’ll get aggressive and start grabbing.) “Don’t talk to them.” (They’ll interpret it as a sign of confrontation.) We heeded all the warnings – (Don’t have to tell me twice.) One large male monkey sitting in the path and blocking it held up foot traffic because nobody wanted to pass him. Yes, nobody wanted to be a victim of a vicious monkey attack. Selena thought it was quite amusing to take pictures of monkey rear ends. They can be quite colorful.
The “onsen,” or hot springs, are quite a popular attraction for people, too. The town of Shibu has a set of nine public onsens, which brings you good luck if you walk around town and dip into all nine. The cheery proprietress of one of the gift stores handed us a master key to use the onsens. We started out with the large one, divided between sexes. These are all free of charge, and since it was daytime, it was empty. The three of us (Selena, Cassandra, and I) took a nice, hot dip in the first stone-slab style onsen. Ian had to go solo in the men’s onsen and he reported no strange or unusual encounters. It was almost hot enough to peel the skin off my behind. (Then I’d look like one of those monkeys.) After trying one more onsen, I’d had enough hot water; it was time to throw in the towel. Cassandra and I found an outdoor foot-bath cedar onsen and we soaked our stinky feet while Selena and Ian continued on for more torture.
If you buy a special hand towel for this onsen tour, you can stamp the onsen number on the towel and keep it as a memorable souvenir. The stamps are available right outside each onsen door. Of course, the nice gift store proprietress got our business for lending us the master key.
This trip is highly recommended – see monkeys bathing in hot springs and bathe in one yourself, but not together. Don’t consider bathing with them if you value your privates.

Nobuko in front of the dome destroyed by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima 

Hiroshima - Sept 04

Hiroshima - September 5 + 6, 2004

Cassandra and I were worried about reaching Hiroshima in time for the big typhoon headed to southern Japan, but we beat it. When we arrived at Hiroshima Station, it was drizzling lighly and we headed directly to the A Bomb Dome. On the very top of the dome sat a heron, rather majestically--it almost looked like part of the dome. We then headed to the A Bomb Museum. It's hard to come away from there without shedding a tear. As we left the museum, we came across the Hiroshima Citizens' Stadium, and there was a baseball game going on, so we went in during the 4th inning. It was the Hiroshima Carp vs. the Chunichi Dragons (No.1 this season) Carp beat the Dragons 8-4. All the Japanese baseball teams have corporate sponsors, except for the Carp which is sponsored by the citizens of Hiroshima. So they're the team with the least money and the smallest stadium. But they're popular, because of or despite that fact. If it was hotter and the sun was shining, I would not have been there. But fortunately it was nice and overcast, but not raining. Perfect.

After walking around all day, we were dog tired and took a long bus ride on the wrong bus, then got on the right bus to the hotel which was down by the bay. Ironically, two foreigners asked us if this was the right bus to the Prince Hotel. But this time, we confidentally said, "Yes it is!"
Incidentally, the famous local foods are oysters, "okonomiyaki" - which is an assortment of meat or fish and/or vegetables in a batter, pan-grilled, with a sauce on top, and "momiji manju" - a sweet confection with assorted fillings like cream, chocolate, bean paste etc. The only thing we tried was the momiji manju. Pretty good.

The next morning we got on a ferry to Miyajima, a beautiful little island, 20 minutes away. At the ferry terminal, We were greeted by tame deer which decided to eat my newspaper right out of my hand. Miyajima's considered a world heritage site, principally because its the home of the Itsukushima Shrine, which was originally built in the 1100s. It's built right on the edge of the bay, with its support pillars in the water. The shrine is famed for its floating "Torii" shrine gate in the sea. We were just in time to witness a bride and groom in traditional wedding kimonos proceeding down the halls of the shrine.

There was a choice - walk three hours to the top of the mountain or take the cable car. We chose the cable car, but thought we'd walk down (one hour). The cable car runs up a long hill densely covered by forest. At the top is Monkey Park, an open natural park with trails and overrun by monkeys and deer. It's recommended that you put your belongings in lockers before walking around, because the monkeys will tear your packs or bags away from you. We headed out and found monkeys grooming deer, picking parasites out of their fur. Cassandra got a little too close to a monkey mother and baby, and the mama monkey threatened to decorate Cassandra's ankle with its teeth. Cassandra backed off as she apologized, "Sorry-- I didn't mean to piss you off!" There was one boy of about eight who had a plastic bag with snacks, and a big male monkey decided to confiscate the bag. Well the boy with the bag ran for his life, down the hill, with the monkey in hot pursuit. The boy's father was trotting behind them, yelling "Drop the bag!!!!" We watched in horror and decided we better not walk down the hill with our backpacks, because we didn't want to be helpless victims of a major monkey attack.
OUr trip home on the bullet train was interrupted by an earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale in Kansai. As I was sitting at Hiroshima station, I wasn't sure if the ground was shaking, or it was just trains rumbling by. The earthquake delayed our arrival in Shin-Yokohama, and we were lucky to catch the last local train home.

Two days later, the typhoon swirled through Hiroshima and flattened Itsukushima Shrine.

Selena is 午年？未年？

I was just looking at Selena's profile. Mom thought she was a sheep! But it says horse...
Incidentally, 2005 will be the year of the bird...

鳩の巣渓谷

This is also near Okutama. The place is called "Hato no su keikoku" or pigeon's nest gorge. I think it was only about 2 hours and 15 minutes by train from where we live in Naruse.

奥多摩

Here is a picture of mom and Selena near Okutama. We went to this area northwest of Tokyo to see the fall foliage.

長野県の地獄谷

Here is Selena and Mom next to a sulfer shoot in Nagano Prefecture's Hell Valley. Selena, Ian, Mom, and I visited Hell Valley in November.

see what i mean? 

広島の鹿

These "shika" deer are everywhere. In Hiroshima, the deer are vicious and hungry. This deer is going for the newspaper under mom's arm. Apparently, they love the taste of paper.

厳島神社

Mom and I went to Hiroshima in September. Here is Mom at Itukushima shrine.

news from naruse

Hi. Who is using this thing anyway? I thought since you called it "The Hoy Clan" that all the Hoys would be on it but I only see Dad and Selena. Anyhow, the Christmas get together was nice. Grandpa, mom, Asako, Jung, Masayasu, Satoe, Arisa, Pudgy and I were all there. All these pictures were taken by my unskillful hands, so I didn't really get any of me. Mostly I took videos, and I have tons of mom, but I haven't figured out how to put them on DVD's yet.

Next week Mom and I are going to Okinawa. We won't be there long (2 nights and practically only 1 day) but we are looking forward to the vacation anyhow. We'll take pictures.

School starts for me on January 11th. I'm going to Temple University here in Tokyo. I'm a senior (again), but I hope to graduate after summer term (by the end of July). I've been moving to different cities and transferring to different Universities so much that graduating has become a distant dream almost (I started University in 2000 and since then have been to Portland State University, Toyama International University, Kyorin University, University of Maryland, and finally Temple University). I will be majoring in Asian Studies.

I work part time at Isuzu Motors teaching English conversation, business English, and preparation for TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) to the employees (mostly mechanics, designers, and engineers). I teach at the factory so it is quite an experience what with all the noise and people driving around in monster trucks. I've been teaching for them since May of 2003 and I'll probably stay here part time as long as I am in the Tokyo area. Because I can teach evening classes it is easy to work there and do other things like go to school. I also teach private English lessons at home.

Mom also teaches English part time. She works for a small company that contracts with big companies like Toshiba. She works in the office once a week (dealing with clients, answering phones and emails, managing the teachers) and teaches two English classes for Toshiba. She also does translation and interpretation. Sometimes I help with that too, but translating is so strict with deadlines that what with school and being as lazy as I am, I just can't manage to get up off my ass and work that hard. Maybe some day...

Mom is busy without going to work though, because she also takes care of grandpa here at home. He's doing OK but we have had some complications. He has osteoporosis and recently had a crushed bone (I'm sorry, I don't know what this is actually called) in his back because of the weakness. Now, it seems to have healed though. Seeing as the weather is so cold right now, it might be that things will improve and he will be more active once it warms up in the spring.

Yesterday it snowed! I'm pretty sure it didn't snow last year... It's really cold here! But I hear Okinawa is practically a tropical island!!! I don't know, I guess Dad and Selena have both been there before? I haven't.

If anyone wants to plan a vacation to Tokyo, let me know!!! I'd love to see everyone and I can show you the sights!

And finally, the cat in the hat. Pudgy. Sorry my photography skills leave much to be desired. 

Here is uncle Jung (Asako's husband). I'm just saying this stuff in case anyone is reading who doesn't remember the Takigawa family. Jung is in Seoul right now visiting his family. 

Uncle Masayasu in the hat

Everyone must wear the hat. Here is Masayasu

This is Aunt Satoe (Masayasu's wife) and Arisa. These pictures came out really blurry because they were taken with a video camera. Sorry.  

And it's granpa in the hat. Seeing as I'm in the spirit of giving out stupid facts, let it be known that grandpa was born in 1918.  

We had a little Christmas buffet and exchange of gifts at grandpa's in Naruse. Here's aunt Asako (she's just 4 years younger than mom).  

There is a funny story about the hat. Uncle Masayasu (8 years younger than mom) was out drinking at a Christmas party until late. The next morning Aunt Satoe found him on the couch sleeping (drunk?) with this hat on. It became Arisa's (13 year old cousin) by default.  

Blaine's Thoughts

Ok, lets get going on this new sight. Everyone contribute. Thanks, Selena for getting it started.

kaleigh and mary 

debbie and selena 

Hi guys

Here's a space where everyone can read and post information.