Bettina and Maximilian arrive in Spring

It was very difficult for us to say goodbye to our friends, family and sunny California. Everyone has been so supportive in so many different ways. While we appreciated the nice gifts, we will especially miss the support, advice and fun times that we have had together. Please continue to keep in touch and we hope to see you again real soon !

We were very surprised at how well behaved Maximilian was on the eleven hour flight from LAX to Nagoya (via Narita). He was talking a lot to the flight attendants and managed to sleep for a entire five hours without interruption in the brand new bassinett which was attached to the wall in front of our seats.

Here we are with all our extra carry-on baggage. The most challenging part of the trip was getting through security. We must have taken about 20 minutes passing all of our items (2 strollers, car seat and base, diaper bag, breast milk and medicine cooling bags, blankets, toys, etc.) through the scanner.

We were fortunate that mother nature decided to delay cherry blossoms until our arrival. Below are pictures (before and after) of the cherry trees that are located about one block from our home.

Before the arrival of Maximilian and Bettina - no blossoms.

Bettina and Maximilian are greeted by the cherry blossoms.

On the first weekend of our arrival we took a 20 minute walk to the local Yamazaki river which is lined with many cherry blossoms (sakura trees). We enjoy walking along the river on the weekends. There are small parks, tennis courts, baseball fields, soccer fields, a track stadium, and a horse riding school along the way. The weather is very nice in the Spring time.

As you can image, the first few weeks of our arrival were quite challenging. We had many bags to unpack and we also relocated our bed to the second floor. In addition we brought a carload of furniture and household goods from IKEA in Osaka. Visiting IKEA and Costco in Osaka on our first weekend made us feel like we were back home. We are now starting to finally settle in.

We were even able to sneak in a few hours of salsa dancing on the 28th floor of the Hilton Hotel.

We have also been able to enjoy a few nice dinners. We took Maximilian to his first Yakiniku restaurant. We ordered plates of raw meet and vegetables and grilled them at our table.

We say "Sayonara" for now and will be back with more news soon!

Tony, Bettina, and Maximilian
Nagoya, Japan

And Now A New Life Begins ...

Tony and Bettina are so very happy to announce the birth of their Maximilian Anthony. "Max" was born at 9:03 AM on 12/21/08 at the Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, CA. Max is 20 inches tall and weighs 7.8 lbs. Bettina had a c-section but is recovering well. She should be out of the hospital in a few days. Max looks forward to meeting all of you !!









"Maxi" taking a sponge bath

"OBAMA IS BEAUTIFUL WORLD!/エニワン・ブラザース・バンド"

This is a historic time for the United States. This is the first time a person of color, Barak Obama, was elected President of the United States. This signals real change. In celebration of change Tony headed out to Obama, Japan with some of his work colleagues. It took 2.5 hours to drive to Obama from Nagoya. Obama is located in the Fukui prefecture along the Sea of Japan. The views were breathtaking. Tony could even see Russia from the port of Obama. (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRB2wFhXIPs)

Fishing at the Obama Port.

La ..., la, la, la, la, la ... Obama (port). Isn't that Russia in the background?

On the city streets of Obama. Tony and Bettina's future son will have a friend in Japan.

"Fist bump" for hope and change.

This is the same store that was shown in the Obama music clip.

Ready for Maxi

And so... many of you may, or may not, know this but Bettina and Tony are expecting a baby boy, Maximilian, at the end of December. Tony flew to California this past weekend to spend time with Bettina and "Maxi." Tony was excited to see his friends and family who showed up for Bettina's baby shower. (Thanks to all who helped organize the baby shower: Salomon, Paula, Cristina, Brian, and Karen). Now Tony is back in Japan putting the finishing touches on the family nest that he has been preparing over the past few months. Tony will head back to California at the end of November to help Bettina deliver Maxi. Once the baby is strong enough to fly then Bettina and Maxi will re-join Tony back in Japan. Needless to say, Tony and Bettina are very excited and a little nervous about brining new life into this world.


The weather in Japan has finally cooled off. The hot and humid sweaty summer was almost unbearable. Winter will soon approach and the leaves will turn and change colors in no time, bringing new hopes and challenges. Below are some photos of the new nest.

Welcome to Tony and Bettina's home. The front entrance is shown here. The home is fairly large (~1100 sq ft, 3Br, 2Ba Town Home) by Japanese standards. The home has wood panel floors and is also brand new and is located about 4 minutes away from a major subway line.

The kitchen appliances are typically smaller than those of the U.S. The combo microwave and oven has many cooking options/settings but it is challenging to use because the display is in Japanese. Notice the small oven for cooking fish on the left side of the photo.

Here is a shot of Maxi's bed which is located in the corner of his future room down the hall from Bettina and Tony. This room will serve as an office until Maxi is old enough to sleep on his own.

Tony and Bettina's home has many electronic controls. There is a control on the 2nd floor for controlling tap and bath water temperature. With the push of a button the bathtub on the 1st floor will fill up with hot water. There is an electronic control for the heated floors. Tony's favorite control is the toilet control shown above. The toilet contains a bidet and spray and blow dryer. The lid automatically lifts when he hovers over the toilet. The toilet automatically flushes and closes the lid when Tony is finished taking care of his business. This is a nice feature which will prevent him from getting in trouble with Bettina for leaving the toilet seat up.

This is a shot from the attached two car garage located on the lower level. In the foreground is the loaner Harrier (Lexus) SUV that Tony was driving until his brand new Vanguard SUV (background) was delivered by car agent Uno-san. The SUV is not very eco-friendly but it does burn less gas than the Harrier and it does have plenty of room for Maxi's toys...

Bettina's visit to Japan

After Tony spent two months alone in Japan, Bettina finally came to visit for one week to help Tony find a home. They spent three days house hunting and finally decided to rent a little brand new townhouse in Yagoto. Pictures will follow after move-in in September.

While Tony was at work Bettina visited Nagoya's main attraction the Nagoya's castle.

The weather was very tiring: extremely humid and hot which made sightseeing less comfortable.

However Bettina still boarded the famous bullet train Shinkansen for a speedy short 35 minute ride to Japan's most visited tourist attraction: Kyoto.

Can you find Bettina in the train station crowd?

Kyoto has so many temples, shrines and beautiful gardens that Bettina's and Tony's Kyoto pictures were not duplicate but complimentary. See Kyoto's Golden Pavillon, Kiyomizudera Temple, Heian Shrine and Gion's winding streets:

Finally the weekend arrived and Tony had time for sightseeing with Bettina. They decided to take the train to Toba, a little harbor city where the famous Mikimoto Pearl Island is located. Tony and Bettina watched the traditional pearl diver women demonstrate their skills, helped a little and visited the very informative Pearl Museum. Tony offered Bettina even a beautiful pearl tiara.

After visiting Japan's largest temple area, the shrine of Ise, Tony and Bettina were up for a real local treat, a summer festival with 9000 fireworks displays at the river banks of Shima Nationalpark. The fireworks were going on for 2 hours while food vendors were preparing delicious snacks at hundred of food stalls along both sides of the river banks.

While Tony will be up for many more of these summer festivals while in Japan, Bettina had to return home to work.