Sri Racha Tiger Zoo

I think one of the best things about Pattaya for families has to be the Tiger Zoo in Sri Racha. This is the kind of zoo that people want to go to, but for better or worse wouldn't last a day in the States because of the outcry of animals rights groups.

The attitude of the zoo is to give people a chance to get close to some of the animals and to interact with them in different ways. So, do you want to pet and play with baby tigers? Sure, $5, please. We did and it was amazing. We played with three baby tiger cubs for about 20 minutes. They were so cute. They were playful and like any other cat, liked to be held and pet. They certainly didn't mew like a cat. They gave out a raspy and high pitched roar when they were displeased with something. But it was so cool to interact with what will become fairly large and strong cats. Anthon loved it, Ella was more into the rabbits.

It's that way throughout the whole zoo. Want to feed the tigers milk? $1. Why not buy some bananas and feed the elephants and take pictures with them? You can feed the crocodiles...or have one sit on your lap (luckily with their mouths taped shut). There was an orangutan who was there posing for pictures with people.

Then there were the requisite shows - the tiger circus show where circus masters had tigers doing tricks - like jumping through fire and standing up and walking. The best was the crocodile show, mostly because these crocodile workers were putting their hands in the crocs mouth and sticking their heads in. As you'll see in the video below one of the crocs struck back and got a guy's hand.

Anyway, this is a wonderful zoo. If you're ever in Pattaya with the family this is definitely a place to check out.

Check out the video below or click on a picture to be taken to a small gallery of photos from the day.

Trip to Kyushu: Nagasaki

The family took a 9 day trip to the island of Kyushu, one of the four main islands in Japan's archipelago. It also happened to be the area where I served my mission. I wanted to show Shelley and the family where I lived for two years.

Our first stop was the city of Nagasaki, a town in which I didn't actually serve as a missionary.

Nagasaki is an interesting city that is as beautiful and scenic as it is steeped in history. The city sits on a peninsula where water and mountain terrain intermix to dominate the city's scenery. It is definitely a city built on a hill. This solid foundation must certainly be a metaphor for the resiliency of its citizenry who, over the centuries, have persevered through many trials.

Obviously, Nagasaki is most famous for being the site of the second atomic bomb blast on August 9, 1945, which effectively forced Japan to concede defeat and put an end to World War II. If it were not for a museum, a park at the hypocentre of the blast and another peace park close by, you would hardly know of this city's place in modern history. I think this is a credit to the city and its people's ability to reconstruct and restore the city to its natural beauty and charm. More on that later.

The city has a much more important ancient history, however, as a trading port. It was through Nagasaki that many new ideas were introduced to Japan from the outside world, including Christianity. When western influence began to be perceived as being politically disruptive, Japanese rulers effectively closed the country to foreigners. Christian influence was seen as subversive and Christians were persecuted. Followers were forced to renounce their faith or suffer death - some by crucifixion. It wasn't until centuries later when Japan was forcibly reopened to the outside world that it was made known of a vibrant underground Christian population in Nagasaki who were practicing totally unbeknownst to the government. Those centuries-old influences are still prevalent today. In our day and a half of touring the city we saw more Catholic priests and nuns walking around than we've seen in our nearly two years in Tokyo.

Being an American visiting Nagasaki can be a bit uncomfortable. While there are precious few outward signs that the city was decimated by a plutonium bomb, visitors to the atomic bomb museum are given insight into the affect the bomb had on the people of Nagasaki. And I really am not sure how local people, especially the elderly who could have lived through the blast, feel about what happened to their city.

I happen to fall into the camp of people who believe that this was a tragic event that cost the lives of tens of thousands of completely innocent people, but probably saved the lives of millions of other people in Japan and perhaps throughout Asia. The Allies were preparing to invade Kyushu after a long and protracted battle in Okinawa, while the Soviet Union was advancing into Manchuria. It seems as if the stage was set for a fierce and costly battle on Japan's homeland.

Putting aside the tactical or ethical argument of the bomb, and focusing instead on the physical impact of the bomb, I was left in total unbelief of its vast destruction. Video footage from the air shows a massive mushroom cloud shooting nearly 20km in the air after detonation. The bomb produced instantaneous heat that was several thousand degrees celsius, sending a wave of immense heat and radiation that destroyed buildings and killed people in an instant with two kilometers of the hypocenter. All told, almost a third of the population died due to the blast and subsequent fires, with probably half sustaining injuries and widespread radiation exposure.

It's hard to fathom that in one instant life can be normal, but in the next instant there is a flash and life has changed forever. Seeing the amount of death, destruction and suffering makes one wish that there was no need for war. At the very least it made me question what constitutes a war of necessity.

While in Nagasaki, we took advantage of having a car and drove south on the peninsula and were treated to vast views of ocean and islands. There were plenty of places to hop out and enjoy the rocky beaches and endless tide pools. We also drove to the top of Mt. Inasayama which provided 360 degree views of Nagasaki city to the north and east, the bay and islands to the south and the ocean to the west. A great place to see the sunset. If you don't have a car, there is a ropeway that takes you up to the top.

Video will follow, but click on any of the pictures to be taken to a small gallery of photographs of our time in Nagasaki.

All girl: Ella in High Heels

Sometimes you look at what your kids do and think that they were born with that disposition. Ella is showing an affinity for all things girly. She likes to preen in the mirror when you tell her she's pretty. She loves her toenails painted and she now has a fascination with Shelley's high heels. Ella will go straight for the closet and put one or more on and clog around the apartment. I'm sure it creates quite the distraction for our neighbors downstairs, but it is pure entertainment watching her act all grown up with her feet that fill barely a quarter of Shelley's high heel shoes.

Summer in LA

It's been a long time since the entire Cannon family gathered together in one spot. We're up to 20 (21 if you include my Grandmother, and 22 if you also include the baby that's due in November).

Vacation for the Tokyo Cannons was all about being with family. Shelley spent a month with her folks and then we both met up in LA and spent a month with my family. For me, being in LA was a stark reminder of the things that we lack in Tokyo: family, space, grass, a dog and good Mexican food - all hallmarks of our stay in LA.

Every night after dinner we would spent time outside in the backyard with my parents' poodle puppy Jack. We'd chase the dog, Anthon and Ella would hug and kiss the dog and then get promptly knocked down by the exuberant puppy. Anthon liked to spin aimlessly around the yard until he fell down. Ella discovered the moon and would lie on the grass for good chunks of time just staring at the sky. It was a really wonderful time.

Coming back to Tokyo we were greeted by the heat and humidity. Shelley and I have been reluctantly assimilating back into our lives. This is new for me since we both love it here - love our friends, love our community, love the culture. I think it's more about how great it was to see family and friends again more than anything else.

Naturally, we took a number of pictures. Click on the thumb below to see pictures from Shelley's time in West Virginia and Indiana, and our time in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, 2009

Indiana, 2009

It's going to be a boy

We went to the doctor last week and found out that we're having a boy. You obviously can't tell from this shot, but rest assured, we are. Anthon, of course, is excited. He told us, "I've always wanted a boy!" Ella doesn't know what's coming.

So this confirms what Shelley has thought all along - that there is something about being pregnant with a boy that really makes her quite happy. Unfortunately, her pregnancy with Ella was the exact opposite. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Visitors

In a really odd way, living the expat life can be like living on the frontier. Certainly it's much easier now that technology and globalization has shrunk the world and made almost every product available. Regardless, living in a place so removed from US-life, like Tokyo, can lead to a frontier mentality. Case in point, we've had family come and visit us twice in the last two months. And in a way we've used our visiting family members as our own Pony Express, carrying to us needed provisions, such as sourdough bread, Chex mix and other frivolous creature comforts of home that we absolutely can't get ourselves to live without.

And gosh, since our family has come all this way to deliver us this food, why not stick around for a while. Shelley's sister Pam, and her youngest son Gary Jr. visited us in March. This last week we hosted Shelley's parents and her newly minted MD younger sister Katie.

As is often the case, our visitors seem to stay only long enough to acclimated to the time change before heading home to suffer yet another week of jetlag reacclimating to the home time. Then there's the sadness of having to say goodbye. It was appropriate that the day Shelley's family left it rained from morning till night. We were reminded that while living in Tokyo does have its advantages, one of them certainly isn't "easy access to family." Summer time seems to be when we get to gorge ourselves with family time.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the Daetwylers trip through Tokyo. Most of these photos were taken by Ed...I can't take credit for any of them. Lots of good pictures of our kids, too.

Dad's Visit to Tokyo

We've truly been blessed to have so many visitors to see us in Tokyo these first 10 months. Last month my father came to visit for 10 days, something we've been looking forward to for a long time.

Anthon and my Dad have a special relationship. And right now that relationship is based on watching Snow White together which started over the summer when my Dad began showing movies outside. Anthon is obsessed with Snow White, now, especially the character of the "old heg"...not hag, he pronounces it "heg". Don't ask us where he got it. We don't know. In the hours and minutes leading up to my Dad's arrival from the airport, Anthon was literally bouncing off of the walls. He couldn't contain his excitement. (As a side note, I think any comprehensive energy policy by our future governments should include research into the inner motors of young children. If there is a way to tap into that seemingly unending source of energy we would all be better off!)

But I digress. The reason for my Dad's trip was to watch the LA Philharmonic play at Suntory Hall. Some of your may not know this, but the acoustics at Suntory Hall were done by the same guy who did the acoustics at LA's Disney Hall where the LA Phil plays now. Consequently, Suntory Hall, while bigger than Disney Hall, has an eerily similar look to it.

But I digress yet again. We saw the Phil play both nights, and they brought the house down. I've never seen such adulation thrown at an orchestra and its conductor. Each night, we're talking 2-3 encores and 8 curtain calls before Esa-Pekka Salonen, the soon to retire conductor, led the concertmaster off stage, both nights, signalling the end. Even as the Phil disassembled, the crowd cheered and Esa-Pekka came out once more for a final curtain call. Crowds of people gathered up front to snap one last shot with their cell phones - girls calling him "so cool!" as they ran off. We met the maestro back stage and upon leaving saw a line of 100+ people waiting to meet Esa-Pekka and get his autograph. Truly an awesome experience.

We spent one day in Hakone - visiting the Open Air Museum. This is a contemporary art museum with lawns filled with sculptures for the adults and some interactive art/play-structures for the kids. You certainly can't miss the Chia Head that's one of the first things you see. Interestingly enough, there's also a permanent exhibit of Picasso's pottery - something he took up late in life. There's also a hot spring foot bath, and a lot more.

And of course, it wouldn't truly be time spent in Japan without spending time eating at good restaurants. We focused our time on local eateries that we hadn't tried before and came away finding new favorites. All in all, it was a wonderful time to have my Dad around. But good things come to an end and literally Anthon was in a funk for about a week after his Papa left. MAJOR FUNK.

As with everything in the Cannon family, there is some video documentation. Click on the picture below for the brief video:

Good Day

Last Saturday was one of those days where you just are grateful to be alive - and for no other reason than you spent fun time with family doing really nothing at all. Fall is here and the leaves are starting to change colors. The air is crisp. There was a slight breeze which caused the fountains to spray us - leaving a beautiful rainbow...as you can see from the picture below. Anthon and I ran around playing hide and seek, hitting plastic golf balls and throwing rocks into the pond.



We met up with Shelley and Ella at our favorite burger joint, Arms. It's here that we realized that Ella loves strawberry milk shakes. Click on the video below for a quick video.



For those of you in the Tokyo area that know, and love, Arms...we hear they're opening a new takeout and delivery only restaurant near Yoyogi Hachiman - good news indeed.

And it wouldn't be fall without gathering up leaves and throwing them at each other. If you click on the picture below, you'll see a short video of Anthon trying to throw leaves on everyone.



It's easy to appreciate these great days...especially now that I'm typing this in bed, sick.

Outdoor Movie Night at the Cannons

You honestly can't beat summer time in Los Angeles. The days are hot, but the nights are cool and pleasant. As a treat for the grandkids, my Dad bought a video projector and decided to have outdoor movie nights. I guess it's all the rage. What started out as an impressive logistical feat - with my Dad lugging all of his AV gear outside running long extension cords - has become quite a fun and easy gig to set up. The retractable screen gives us an 85 inch wide screen picture. Throw in tons of blankets and chairs and popcorn and candy and drinks and it's movie night at the Cannon home. So far the theater has featured Indiana Jones, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs and Empire Strikes back, among others.


Last week it was Jaws. I was somewhat nervous to see my son's reaction to a shark that dismembers peoples limbs. But Anthon seemed to keep the movie in its proper perspective. In the end, Jaws is blown up by a bullet being fired at a scuba tank Jaws is munching on, sending shark bits everywhere. Anthon and four year old cousin Peter have the following conversation:

Anthon: Jaws blew up! His mouth exploded (making explosion movement with his hands)
Peter: And, before that they stabbed him in the head.
Anthon: Yeah...Jaws went to Heavenly Father!
Peter: Yeah, in pieces.

Over and over and over this conversation was repeated. Two days later, Anthon is still talking about the exploding Jaws. He is similarly obsessed with poison apples and wicked queens. We might need to cleanse his mind with a little Mary Poppins or Cars or something like that.

Family Trip to Florida, 2008

We recently got back from a Daetwyler family vacation to Florida. This is an annual event in the Daetwyler home. Much to our delight, at the last minute every eligible member of the family was able to make it. I say eligible, because Elder Mike, the missionary in Spain, could not make it...for obvious reasons.

Anthon recently had a scary experience with water, so he was reluctant to get anywhere near the pool or the ocean. He was so anti-beach and anti-pool that Shelley and I really began to question our future beach/resort vacations possibilities. I mean, he hated the beach. Hated the sand, hated the waves, hated the pool, hated everything. He only wanted to be inside. Over time, and thanks to a huge blow up Shamu toy given to him by his Aunt Diana and Uncle Danny, Anthon ventured into the pool and ventured into the ocean and eventually had a lot of fun - diving and swimming and braving the waves. It saved our vacation...and perhaps future ones as well.

Click on the picture below to see a number of photos taken by me, Shelley or Shelley's father, Ed.



Or...click on the picture below to see a short video of Anthon dumping sea water on my head, jumping into the pool, swimming and driving a boat...all in one family vacation.

We're back in LA...

...and Shelley and I have the following conversation.

Me: "So you're happy to be back in LA?"
Shelley: "Yes"
Me: "Happy enough that you're not going to want to come to Tokyo?"
Shelley: "no........not yet."

So while it looks like I might get my wife and family to come back with me in August, I've already been put on 12 month notice that she will more than likely revert to full ex-pat-wife status come next summer. That means as soon as school is out, I get to be in Tokyo and Shelley and family get to head home for the summer.

Let me tell you there are a lot of downcast American dudes walking the streets of Tokyo right now.

But we're glad we're back in town. We'll be here for about a month.

Daytrip to Odaiba

Before jumping into this post, first some background. a few months ago, Anthon choked on a chocolate covered ice cream bon bon. The babysitter knew the Heimlich maneuvre and got him to cough it up...thankfully. Anthon's love for this babysitter has reached saint-like status. Every Sunday at church Anthon, without fail, will go up to her and say something along the lines of, "I was chocking and you saved my life." It's really cute.

Anthon had another brush with danger this weekend at Odaiba - a beach and resort area in the Tokyo Bay. He was stripped down to his diaper, throwing rocks, shells and wet sand into the water, while walking among dead jellyfish and sand crabs. As he walked into the water to wash himself off, he went in a bit too far, lost his footing and tumbled into deeper water. Had he realized it, he could have stood up and been fine, but the water kept him off balance and he struggled to keep his head above water. We were right there and it took a second for both my and Shelley's brain to register that what we were seeing was our boy drowning. He was no more than a few feet from me so I walked into the water and pulled him out. So now at home Anthon will come up to me from time to time and say, "I couldn't get out of the water and Dad saved my life!"

So if Anthon were a cat, 2 of his 9 lives would be gone by the time he's 3 years old. Here's a video.





I've done this once before with my Dog, Lexie. She was hounding my little niece who was walking with a plate of french bread outside. One piece fell off and the dog choked on the french bread. One of you (not naming names or anything) mocked my dog for not knowing how to chew. But I did the doggie heimlich and out popped the french bread.

Anyway, Odaiba is kind of a cool place. It's built on reclaimed land, so you're pretty sure where it's going to end up when the big one hits Tokyo (read: underwater). But in the mean time, there's a replica Statue of Liberty, a giant Ferris Wheel, lots of restaurants, shopping and even a Toyota store where you can test drive cars around the showroom. We took the family there, including Shelley's sister, Rachel, and spent a nice afternoon. Click on the picture below for more pictures.

Realities of Ex-Pat Life in Tokyo

You know how you have friends that move - perhaps within driving distance - but are just far enough away that you make promises that you'll get together all the time but never do? Maybe some of you reading this are victims of my over promising. And for that I'm sorry! (Sam, I swear, we'll play golf next time we're in town. I promise. I really mean it this time.) It's funny, though, when we moved we didn't get many "we'll come see you in...uh...Tokyo." And rightfully, so.

Despite a desire to show people around our new home, Shelley and I have to face the sober fact that we won't be getting many visitors while we're in Tokyo. But that's Ok. Shelley and I have been really blessed nevertheless. We are starting our second month of a six month period where we get to see a lot of family and friends. In May, Shelley's Mom came for two weeks, followed by two weeks with my parents. We're picking up Shelley's sister Rachel at the airport on Friday and she'll be with us for a whole month. Then we head home to LA and Indiana and probably Utah for a month before coming back to Tokyo. And to top it off, in October my parents are coming back again for a week.

Just as an aside, I consider myself TREMENDOUSLY lucky that I get to visit LA for a month. Tokyo in the summer time becomes a three-month male pity party. All the women and children flee for their mother lands the very minute school lets out. The men are left behind to endure Tokyo summers alone. But I digress.

These visits have been special to us not because we're out seeing things, but simply because we're spending time with each other. The pictures in the gallery I've linked to are simply that - pictures of us spending time at the pony park, the aquarium, at restaurants, on the train and at home, etc.

Ella's Baby Blessing

Last Sunday at church we had Ella's baby blessing. I think cool that most cultures and religions have a rite they perform to celebrate the birth of a new, precious life. Even in Japan, you will see babies, dressed not unlike Ella here in these pictures, blessed at one month after birth in the shrine by a Shinto priest.

Certainly to us as Mormons, the blessing not only has meaning to the child, but it has tremendous meaning to her family. It's one of the great blessings of being a father to be able to hold your child in your arms and pronounce a blessing on this life that is so new and full of hope and promise. And to have my parents there, and my father to help me bless her, was a great thing. What a great reminder of the importance and eternal nature of families.

I should say a few things about the dress...because that too has a significant family tie. The dress was made by Shelley's Mom, Sally. As legend has it, the dress was made from 37 yards of lace. That's a lot of lace. And it was beautiful.

Here are a few pictures from that day. Click on any of the pictures to see the gallery.

Golden Week

I always felt that in the U.S. I got ripped off for not having enough national holidays...real national holidays...not like Columbus Day. We don't even get one a month there. It seems as if everyone else in the developed world gets far more days off. And it's true. In Japan, on top of getting about one national holiday a month, there are two times a year when there is basically a week's worth of holidays right in a row. One happens over the new year and one happens in the last week of April / first week of May. It's called Golden Week. This isn't to imply I don't like working. But I just like having time off more.

Our Golden Week was a bit early and a bit short, since our baby girl is hopefully due any day now. Shelley's Mom is en route and we have a backstop date to induce Shelley in case it gets to that point. So the end is near. Stay tuned, we'll post pictures and let everyone know when Ella arrives.

Anyway, we spent the time off doing things locally - zoo's and parks. In retrospect, a very animal-centric long weekend. You can see pictures by clicking here. My favorite of these pictures is of Anthon trying to feed the goat and the goat getting too hungry and nipping at Anthon's fingers. The look on Anthon's face is priceless.



In other updates...
I've uploaded a few more videos from recent outings - mostly of Anthon during cherry blossom season.

Family Night

One of my goals for 2008 has been to have family night (or just some family time) - something where we can have fun, even if it's just for a short period of time before Anthon has to go to bed. I think it's having the desired effect, certainly on me. I think I naturally fall into the mode of parenting Anthon, which means limiting what he does because I'm tired or annoyed or whatever. Certainly that doesn't make for a fun Dad. But in the context of family time I find myself being more patient, tolerant of Anthon being a little boy and the result is we all just have a lot of fun.

Our family outings have consisted of trips to the zoo, trips to cultural spots within Tokyo, dinners out and letting Anthon run around. We have a Mac and we decided to have fun with the Photo Booth application.

Merry Christmas from the Cannons

It's been a great year for the Cannon family. Tony finished grad school, Shelley is 4+ months along in her pregnancy. We're moving to Tokyo, Japan in January. Anthon is growing like a weed and keeping us laughing every day.

We hope that you all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The Cannon Family Christmas Card

The First of Our Lasts...

Today was our last home football game before graduation and before our move to Japan. In a way, this marks the beginning of a lot of "lasts" for us. These games have been fun because we've been able to do it as a family and I think Anthon loves it more than Shelley and I do. This morning, as Anthon was waking up, he called out from his crib, "Hey guys, I'm reeeady!" When we went in there to ask what he was ready for, he replied, "SC Game...eat nachos." Yes, he was ready...and yes we did eat nachos. He was giving bones to the kids around us and showing off his two finger "fight on" skills.

Anthon also has impressive skills at listening and repeating - much to our dismay sometimes. Upset at a certain call that went against USC, the student section began to yell in unison, "b***s***" - many times over. Anthon, ever the student of things that come out of my mouth that I say in haste, starts saying, "ullshi, ullshi, ullshi!" Though he doesn't know what those words mean, for the most part people are actually pretty respectful when Anthon's around. He's pretty interactive and animated at the games so people tend to watch what they say a bit more...so that has made the environment around us a bit better.

Poor UCLA, they couldn't even put up enough of a showing to keep my son awake, however. UCLA's 12 yards of total rushing offense lulled my boy into a good 45 minute nap from the second quarter into half time. The USC win means another Rose Bowl game and maybe one last game before we hit the road. Shelley and I thought that maybe our second child would be a bit disadvantaged because he/she wouldn't be in on all the fun we had at USC's football games. Maybe we have to become Tokyo Giants fans.

Merry Christmas!

This has been a terrific year for Shelley, Anthon and me. We are grateful for the many blessings we enjoy in this life - not the least of which is the blessing of our family. As you can see from the posts and pictures below, Anthon is becoming a cute, curious and fun-loving little boy. It wasn't long ago that we could fit him into the crux of our arm, now he's running rough-shod over us. We are grateful to have a steady income, a chance for me to further my education and to be surrounded by family and friends.

I've attached a link to our family Christmas card. We wish you a merry Christmas, and all the best heading into the new year.

The Cannon Family Christmas Card