Last Days in Japan

The final days of our vacation trip to Japan were filled with excitement and wonder. We were fortunate enough to visit the Todajii or the "Great Eastern Temple" which resides in Nara. This is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples. The Great Eastern Temple in Nara was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples in Japan. As the center of the Buddhist movement in Japan it became very powerful politically and interfered with the capital politics in Nara. The capital of Japan was relocated from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 order to decrease the influence of the Temple on government affairs.







The Great Eastern Temple in Nara houses Japan's largest Buddha and is also the largest wooden building in Japan. It was reconstructed in 1692 in a smaller version but continues to retain that distinction.

Osaka

Osaka in Japan's third largest city with a population of 2.5 million people. It is also Japan's second most important city just behind Tokyo. The Kansai region of Japan owes its economic successes in large part to the powerhouse that is generated in Osaka.

In the 16th century, the Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a famous ruler, chose Osaka as the location of his seat of power and built a large castle here. The great castle which is surrounded by a moat has been rebuilt several times and stands now as a reminder of Japan's glorious past. Here is a photo that I took of the moat surrounding the castle grounds with a modern skyscraper in the background as a juxtaposition of the present and the past. I thought it was amazing!

New Friends

During our trip through the Japan's we toured with a group of people with whom we have since become friends. Here is our Pistachio Man and his beautiful wife who traveled from San Francisco to be with us on our tour. In Chinese, pistachio is literally translated as "open heart fruit".



Here is our group and especially the girls from Laguna Beach. See you all next time!

Mount Fujisan

Last night the weather conditions did not improve until after we were well asleep which was difficult due to the high winds and driving rain against the windows. I looked outside around 10 o'clock in the evening and the Japanese maple tree just outside our balcony was waving around like a palm frond in a hurricane. Wind speed must have been upwards to gusts in the 70's. The next day the weather reports indicated that these unseasonable winds were the highest is decades. What surprised us most was that when we woke up everything was quiet. No rain, no clouds and perfectly warm wonderful weather. Really amazing. Mount Fuji was visible from our balcony. Again, really amazing!



A hot spring bath in the morning followed by a walk gave us some great views of the mountain.





Mount Fuji (Fuji-san) at 3776 meters is Japan's highest mountain. It's almost perfectly formed volcano shape has inspired worship as a sacred mountain for centuries. On clear days, which number about 90 days per year or so, Mount Fuji can be seen from as far away as Tokyo and Yokohama. The best places to view the peak is during the winter months when the air is clearest from Hakone and Fujigoko (Five Lakes) regions. These are resort towns and also attract tourists for their natural hot spring baths. Climbing Mount Fuji is controlled by the government and only allowed during the summer months of July through August. This is usually a two day affair with a rest over at the top before descending the next day. This is something of a pilgrimage for many. Over 200,000 people climb Mount Fuji every year and many of these are foreigners. We drove up to the 5th level. This was as far as the roads were open.



The view from the 5th level up the mountain this morning afforded us a clear shot of the valley and lake below. There were quite a few tourists up here as well as vendors selling trinkets and food, Yes! It was a little chilly up here but no wind or rain, thank God.

Mount Fuji is best seen in the morning before 10 AM. After this the clouds move in and cover the summit. We were lucky to get such nice views of the mountain. Here is a picture I took as we traveled down the mountain later in the morning. You can see that the clouds were moving in. The day stayed nice and bright with warm gentle breezes. Such a nice day to be in Japan.

Bullet Train

Japan was one of the first countries to understand that cars were not the best mode of transportation for the masses. In high density populated areas such as Tokyo, cars and traffic move extremely slowly. Trust me when I tell you that Los Angeles freeways MOVE very nicely compared with the 3 mile an hour average speed of Tokyo's freeways. The Japanese government realized that this was going to be a problem and during the early 1960's developed the first Bullet Train. In 1964 the high speed trains in Japan were the fastest in the world moving at 210 km/h or 131 mph. Currently the US does not have any trains that approach this speed. Since then the trains have been designed along with the tracks to handle higher and higher speeds.

There are several train lines in operation over Japan. The Sanyo line developed in 1997 has 500 trains which operate at a top speed of 300 km/h or around 186 mph. That's fast, trust me on that one. Between Hiroshima and Kokura the Bullet train covers 192 km or 120 miles in only 44 minutes. The average speed of 262km/h is the fastest scheduled train service in the world.



It was difficult getting a picture of these babies because they move so quickly. These things are scary to the uninitiated. They really move down the track.



Hitching a short ride on the Bullet Train was really an experience. This was something better than Magic Mountain to tear down the tracks so smoothly at such speeds. After a while you kinda get used to it, but it takes awhile. This suckers really move.

Geisha Girl

That evening we stopped by a famous night club and picked up a Geisha for our entertainment. These beauties sing and dance as well as play music.



I think that I will take this one home. What do you think?

Rainy Day

The day was a windy and very rainy one. Even so it was terrific! Traveling to the Mount Fuji area and the surrounding lakes gave us an opportunity to see some beautiful countryside. Even though our plans to visit the great mountain were put off for a day due to the weather, we were afforded other opportunities that I am so glad we did not miss. We started the day eating breakfast from a great look-out over Tokyo.



After breakfast the weather turned a little nasty as we traveled towards the other side of the island towards Mount Fuji. We passed through Fujigoko (Fuji Five Lakes), a little town that bordered a lake and spent lunch there. Our little outing on the lake was really fun. We arrived just in time for a ferry to take us across. The drizzle made it even better. I just love the rain sometimes. The air was so fresh and sweet. The hot tea tasted even better after this ride.



The little Town and then the lake

Hot Spring Holocaust

Due to the increasing wind and strength of the rain, our plans to visit Mount Fuji were definitely put off. What we did try was a neighboring foothill/mountain that sported active small geyser and hot springs. There is a legend that if you eat the eggs that are cooked in these hot springs your life is increased by seven years. We just had to climb up this little mountain to get these eggs. Never mind that they sold them down in town, the ones fresh out of the sulfur hot springs seemed to have a greater allure. We were able to drive most of the way up but the last mile we had to hoof it. Maybe a mile is an exaggeration, it was maybe 400 to 500 yards up this winding trail. The climb was not too bad. It was the wind across the top of this mountain and the increasing rain that soaked us to the bone and we had good rain jackets on too. Anyway what is seven years of healthy living worth anyway? Actually, I ended giving my sulfur hot spring eggs away to an elderly couple that could not make it up the trail due to the weather.



Those eggs better be worth it. It took the rest of the day to dry out.

Dinner and an indoor Hot Spring soak

After this adventure we tried to find a clothing store where we could find some dry cloths. We would not be able to get to our luggage until the evening and it was now getting cool and of course our pants were completely wet. The rain gear that we brought did a good job except for below the thighs and the wind which peaked around 50 MPH wiped all that wet on every thing below really well. So we were wet and getting cold. A change of cloths and an indoor natural sulfur hot spring bath was just the ticket. This trip to the Mount Fuji area hot springs was a day I will never forget. In Japan, natural hot springs are very popular and the number of them is very large due to Japan's geography lying in a region of tectonic plate movement. That also means there is earthquake and volcanic activity. Because of the minerals in the natural hot springs, they are believed to have the powers of healing. As a matter of fact, in Japan, it is more usual to bath in water than to drink it! We both relaxed in an indoor/outdoor sulfur hot spring this evening. Afterwards, dinner with Jennifer was really sweet.

Tokyo Imperial Palace

Our first day here in Tokyo has been a busy one. There is so much to see and tell about Japan that it is impossible to get any thing but a glance. Our first visit in the capital city of Tokyo was to see the grounds that surround the Imperial Palace.



These grounds are located on the former site of the Edo Castle which is now a large park area surrounded by moats and massive stone walls in the center of Tokyo. It is the residence of the Imperial Family and not open to the public except for January 2nd which is Japan's New Year's Greeting day as well as December 23rd which is the Emperor's birthday. The rest of the year, guided tours of the palace are offered in Japanese, with an English pamphlet and audio guide provided.



From the Koyo Gaien, the large plaza in front of the Imperial Palace, visitors can view the two bridges that form an entrance to the inner palace grounds. The stone bride in front is called Meganebashi or Eyeglass Bridge because of its looks. The bridge in the back was formerly wooden with two levels but has been rebuilt.




This Imperial Palace of the Emperor and family formerly was the Edo Castle. From the looks of the moat surrounding the grounds the Japanese took security very seriously. These grounds are massively guarded by the stone walls and water. This is truly a beautiful and awe inspiring residence. The white swan lives here and can be seen daily if you are lucky.

Sensoji Temple

The Sensoji temple otherwise known as Asakusa Kannon Temple is located in the central part of old downtown Tokyo. The legend of two brothers fishing a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida river is the foundation of this temples history. The legend is that the two brothers fearing Kannon's displeasure returned the statue to the river but it kept returning to them. As a consequence the Sensoji temple was build to honor the goddess of Kannon. This temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.



The Emperor Meiji was the first emperor of modern Japan. He was born in 1852 and ascended to the throne in 1868 at the peak of the Meiji restoration when the power was stwitched from the feudal Showgun government to the emperor. During the Meiji period, Japan modernized and westernized herself. By the time that emperor Meiji died in 1912 Japan had joined the world's major powers. The Meiji shrine was completed in 1920, and rebuilt after beding destroyed in World War Two.

Shopping in Toyko

What would a visit to Japan's capitol city be if we did not spend a few moments shopping around for a few goodies. We found most of Japan to be wonderful to foreigners even if there was not one who spoke a lick of English. I think that it is part of their nationalism that they refuse to learn other languages. Maybe that is going too far but for the most part in Japan there is NO English anywhere except the 5 star hotels that cater to people from the West. Shopping was fun regardless of the language difficulties. We had our guide Meharu to help with the transactions. No bartering took place really. This is not China.



More goodies for the folks back home.



After today we deserve a rest. No such luck. Check back again tomorrow for the next episode of David and Jennifer in Japan.

Japan

Jennifer and I arrived in Japan last night. After the 12 hour flight we were both dead tired and went to sleep right away. The only problem with coming to the East is that it takes a day or so for you to get used to the switch in time. What do they call it, Jet Lag? Anyway we both woke up at 3:00 AM and spent some time reading.

Tokyo

Our itiniary includes a small hour drive up to Tokyo this afternoon. This morning will be spent looking around at the gardens in Tokyu a small little town close by the air port. By the end of the week we should be in Osaka after visiting Mt. Fuji. The weather calls for showers this afternoon but this morning is absolutely beautiful.

I will download some pictures when I can get to an internet connection that will allow me USB port access. This is a public Internet Kiosk located in the Hotel where we are staying. Wild isn't it.

I will be answering any e-mail while we are away so don't hesitate to send.

The Last Day before Vacation

This has been a long stretch of working this last month. After working most every day for the past 30 either at UCLA in the Cardiothoracic ICU or in the Acute Dialysis Unit, I AM TIRED! Sorry to all of you that were growled at these last couple of days, it should be better when my eye-balls don't stick to the inside of my head like they have been these last couple of days.

Traveling to Japan

My wife Jennifer and I will be "leaving on a jet plan, don't know when we'll be coming back again, Oh babe I've got to go." Japan Airlines is a partner of American Airlines and all of those frequent flyer miles will add up. By tomorrow evening we will be in Tokyo enjoying a hot tube and sake with a little sushi. How does that sound! We have never been in Japan and this is going to be very interesting. After visiting most of the Asian countries these past couple of years the largest industrial country has only been flown over. Last year when I visited Thailand and China we flew over Japan. From the air the Japanese islands are amazingly mountainous with densely populated small delta areas on the coast. For the most part the Japan Islands look like very open nonpopulated forested mountains. That is quite a different picture most of us have of the country. My experience is from the air and to think of it flying over the United States is interesting too. Most of the South West looks pretty God forsaken desert you know. Pretty bleak stuff. But Japan is amazingly green from the air and mostly steep mountains. It seems that the only habitable regions are the relatively small deltas formed between the mountains where streams and rivers collect all that rain water and flow to the sea. The coast in these deltas are very heavily populated even if they comprise a small area in comparison with all of the Japanese islands. Well that is just what it looks like from the air. Now we get to see the cities and the people.

Friends at UCLA

These are the faces of people that I will miss while we are away. I will think of all of you and remember the compassion and care that you provide on a daily basis to the sick and defenseless people that you serve.









I will try and keep this log going while we are away and keep updating regularly. This will depend on computer access while traveling. For the most part I will be able to do this. As far as uploading pictures I will try. At any rate I will have them and be able to fill them in when able. To all of my friends please keep in touch and stop by from time to time to catch up with me. I answer all e-mail regularly at davidgodden @ hotmail. Talk to you soon and farewell for now.

New UCLA Hospital

The new hospital that will be the UCLA Medical Center is located on Westwood Blvd just east of Le Conte Ave. When the hospital will be up and functioning is still a question but rumor has it that the new hospital will be open sometime next year. We'll see.

4EI The Cardiothoracic Unit at the old UCLA medical center

Today I was able to catch a few of the staff off guard while we were taking report. Here are a couple of photos.

Ramblings about Stuff

UCLA Cardiothoracic ICU

As many of you know I have had the privilege to work in one of the most dynamic intensive care units in the country here at the UCLA medical center. The Cardiothoracic ICU at UCLA is world famous for its doctors and nurses for the care that patients receive under their watchful eyes. It has been a tremendous privilege to part of this great group.

The support staff here play an important role in the overall wellbeing of our patients. Without these dedicated folks none of the doctors or nurses would be able to do their jobs as well as they do. Our support staff are really talented being able to comfort families when they are stressed as well as assist the caregivers and lighten their load. Thank you.

Administrative Assistant Day at UCLA

Friends at UCLA

I have so many great friends here at UCLA. Here are just a few of them.

Vacation and trip to Japan and China coming up

My wife Jennifer and I will be taking a long over due vacation at the end of this month. We will be traveling to Japan for week and then to Shanghai, China to visit her parents. We will be traveling in South China for several weeks visiting some of my favorite spots in the middle of the greatest Green Tea growing areas. I will try to keep the Daily Blog going while in China. Jennifer's brother has on-line access and I will be able to make regular posts to keep this up to date.

USC Anesthesia School

Oh my God! School will start very soon. After this trip to China it will be all business from now on out. This will become the major theme of these posts. I plan on developing an on-line resource for CRNA students and welcome any input. Some of the topics that I will provide research and data on will assist potential students in their quest on becoming nurse anesthetists. Wish me luck. See you all soon.

Thai Paradise Restaurant

After a short nap, traveling takes it out of OLD people, we went to a fabulous Thai restaurant in San Gabriel. Mom had the better part of a nice bottle of wine and enjoyed herself fabulously.



The owner of the Paradise Restaurant in San Gabriel, Ca is originally from Chiang mai, Thailand in the Northern part of Thailand. Mom and I had a wonderful meal there at the Paradise and caught up on so many old stories. Only a few days and we will be off on our trip to Japan and China. My wife Jennifer and I are so glad that she is coming along with us. This trip is going to be a blast.

Mom at Bean Town in Sierra Madre

Picking mom up from LAX after she arrived from Denver, we took a leisurely drive home passing through the sweet little town of Sierra Madre up in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. A must see stop is the world famous Bean Town and Expresso Bar, a happening place on Friday and Saturday nights let me tell you!!



Inside the Bean Town Expresso Bar you will find the nicest people, especially if you want something out of the fresh pastry shelf. Bean Town has its own bakery on the premises and I promise you if you are ready to come off of your low carbohydrate diet this is the place to do it. To top it off, their coffee isn't bad either.

Just watch out for the help. They really get into their work. After hours on Fridays at the local theatre they stage act during the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" just for fun.



Just another pleasant day in southern California.

Wake Up World, Here I am!

The WWW is Totally cool. Did you ever think that there would come a day when you could sit at your type-writer and compose stuff on the screen that minutes later could be read the whole world round. What a day we live in! Well I still can't get use to it. What a life this is. Just another reminder that we need to wake up every day shake the sheets and say, "Wake up world, here I am!"

HaloScan

It is now possible to add comments to these little posts if you should so choose to. I will get back to you if you stop by. This service comes complements of HaloScan, a wonderful internet company that has several cool projects. Ok, I admit it, if you don't leave a comment my feelings will be hurt.

Nurse Anesthesia School at USC

The future of these posts will certainly entail the struggles to get through nurse anesthesia school at the University of Southern California. This is going to be my focus for the next few years and my thoughts will be enmeshed in this pursuit. There are a couple of things that I would like to share about my experience that I think may prove helpful to any one interested in becoming a nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Some of the topics that I will be covering in the next several weeks will include: How to select a school to apply to. A pretty important subject and not as simple as it may seem on the surface; Preparation for the study of nurse anesthesia; Book list and editorial on which books should be in your library. This is one of my favorite things; finally, The Question of the day as it relates to the practice of anesthesia.

TheAnswerPage

Anesthesia/Pain Management question of the day by TheAnswerPage.com is such a valuable tool. I can't say enough about this service. The anesthesia question of the day is available both to your e-mail box and down-loadable to your PDA! Not only is this great information but CEU's are available as well. Check it out, you will not be disappointed. There will be more on this later.

Friendship

Friends are rare. They should be taken care of and nurtured regularly. In my life there have been many acquaintances but only a few true friends.

Jennifer is my best friend and my wife. Check out the Daily Blog.

New Web site DavidGodden.com

After talking to Ruben at Rsquared and finessing the route for posting the blog pages, my new web page is up and running at DavidGodden.com. Welcome to the 21st Century! Actually, the index page has been up for a while but nothing has been done to modify it since it went up. Today, with Rubens help, I was able to start posting a "Daily Web Blog" to the site. Interesting isn't it. Well, if no one looks, the tree still makes a sound when it falls in the forest. Its my tree you know.

Financial Aid from USC

Another letter came in the mail today notifying me that there are still missing documents to be filled for my Financial Aid package. Great! You know, after all that I have done for those people you would think that they would give me a little slack but NOOOOOO! So I may have to actually go down there and stand in line at the Financial Aid office. These documents must be in their hands before May 6th. The problem with this is that Jennifer and I will be out of the country visiting China at the end of the month. This stuff will have to be done pronto at the beginning of next week. Oh, Jennifer has all kinds of little projects for me to finish up before we leave. Now isn't that sweet and thoughtful of her.

Japan and China

This vacation will be a welcome retreat from all of these days of working. I am going to have to get that camera working before we go. I will just have to post pictures of Jennifer Parents wedding anniversary. Its their 50th. We are planning to stop in Japan for a week before we travel on to Shanghai for the remainder of the month that we will spend vacationing. My step-mother will be accompanying us which will be a real treat. It has been a long time since we were able to spend any time together at all. This trip will be great!

Ordering books Online Take one

Everyone knows that books can be costly. I don't have to tell you that text books for any academic pursuit are ridiculously expensive. This lesson is one that is being taught again and again with every course of study that we choose to pursue. To give you an example. The major text books for the field of Anesthesia which I am beginning to study range in price from $298.00 dollars for the new Miller's Anesthesia text to something less than $100.00 for most of the ancillary paper back books. After totaling up 8 or 9 of these various textbooks, the price tag went over a G note! This is for the first semester of study at USC. Out comes the World Wide Web search engines!!

The searches for decent prices for college text books started with Amazon and Barnes and Noble Books. I get a fairly nice 5% discount from BN.com which is not bad when you factor in the NO state Tax and NO shipping idea. All in all a good deal buying on line from Barnes and Noble in New York. However, a crafty friend at work today mentioned to me that there was another On Line purveyor of books that I should check out namely Books A Million.

BOOKS-A-MILLION

Looking at the web site for Books-A-Million, is a bibliophiles delight. I have just begun to check them out but so far what I see is a straight 10% off the retail price of all of the books I need to purchase. There is a "Club Membership" fee of $10.00 yearly but this seems reasonable in the face of spending several thousand dollars for books. This is great news I think. The prudent thing to do is a test, a scientific experiment as it were. The experiment in purchasing an inexpensive text book or two before a large purchase is something that seems prudent but may lead to something out of "The Sting". Maybe I am just being melodramatic. Coming up next is news from the front lines in the on-line book purchasing thing.

An Anesthesia Library Listing

Clinical Anesthesia by Lange Appleton
Anesthesia by Miller
Anesthesia Secrets by James Duke
Basics of Anesthesia by Robert K. Stoelting
Anesthesia and Co-Existing Disease by Robert K. Stoelting
Pharmacology & Physiology in Anesthetic Practice by Robert K. Stoelting
Clinical Anesthesia by Paul G. G. Barash
Understanding Anesthesia Equipment by Jerry A. A. Dorsch, Susan E. Dorsch
Anesthesiologist's Manual of Surgical Procedures by Richard A., Md. Jaffe (Editor), Stanley I. Samuels
Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massachusetts General Hospital by William E. Hurford
Practical Approach to Cardiac Anesthesia by Joseph P. Ashton, Frederick A. Hensley

The Home of David Godden on the World Wide Web

The future of this site is being designed by the best minds and the brightest young talent that is available here at such late notice. If all goes as planned we may have a web site up here before, oh lets say 2006 or so. Hold on to your seats and get ready to RUMBLE. Check back frequently for the daily updates.

Thanks for stopping by.

Suggestions are welcome. I will leave instructions for leaving your brilliant ideas at a later date.