This past weekend, I experienced the first time away from the grind in years. This is not to indicate that everything in life is a "Grind." But it was nice to have the opportunity to step away from everyday life and get a taste of what life is like without certain responsibilities. March was our 6th Anniversary. The plan was, with grandparent accessible, to take a one-on-one trip away. Leaving the kids with the elders. For one reason or another, time away just continued to elude us. The final plan was to take a weekend getaway somewhere within travel reason. The location that was decided upon was Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is probably one of those hidden gems on the east coast where you don't fully appreciate the convenience offered. For one, it is a territory of the United States which means that you are not really traveling international although it feels like it. The other benefit is that there is no currency conversion needed. U.S. Dollars are the coin of choice. Finally although Spanish is the primary language, everyone speaks english, so the stress of trying to communicate basic needs in a foreign tongue are not an issue.

The trip was spent mainly relaxing. No kids meant more sleep. The beach meant even more sleep. It also meant snorkeling which is one of my great pleasures of the tropics. The trip for me was also about taking pictures as I always do on any trip. I love photography and trips like this amplify that desire. Especially given the history of Puerto Rico. As with many locations in the world, the influence of the spanish on this small island are profound. The architecture and design carry with them today the style of the Spanish.

This all came to me last night as I was going through old pictures I had taken in Denia, Spain, Barcelona and even the Philippines. The most striking comparisons were the design of their military forts and castles. What I saw on this trip in a fort at Old San Juan gave me stunning flashback images of the castle in Denia, Spain. I would say that I am a definite fan of Spanish architecture.

This was a short weekend trip, and one that I know was limited in its experience of Puerto Rico. There is the Rainforest the famous observatory and so much more left to explore there. Despite the brevity of this trip, I will say that the decision has been made to return. If not for the sheer beauty of this tropical isle, then at least for the convenient 4 hour flight from the NY, NJ area.

Over the years, I have spent time in New York on and off, and am beginning to understand. For business, I stay in the Times Square area, where there are plenty of lights and people milling about during all hours of the day. This area is where the term"The city that never sleeps” had to have been born.

New York is an amazing city. I used to get sick listening to New Yorker's brag about their city and how great it is, or the individuals from New Jersey who say they are from New York because they are a bridge or tunnel's ride from Manhattan. However, unless you spend time here you really do not get it.

The best part about being in the city is that you can walk almost anywhere. Whenever I can find the time to do so, I always spend hours walking around the city. This is due in part to the fact that you really cannot get lost. All roads cross to form perfect squares. Four right turns get you right back to where you started.

It is refreshing after learning to navigate Tokyo. I have not been able to put my finger on it yet, but I think I am beginning to catch the"NY fever" There something about New York that is historical and hysterical, busy and businesslike, gritty, but somehow smooth all at the same time. The air of loyalty and pride fog the streets with a aura of energy that I have not experience anywhere else in the world.

I think that is about the best way I could come close to explaining it. You just have to spend time there to understand.

There is so much that I need to write about from this trip. Mostly from the past two nights. Needless to say this trip has been one hell of a vacation. Despite the perils of this trip, it ended rather nicely and on a very high note. With food.

Tomorrow we depart Tokyo once again en route back home to New Jersey/New York area where we will finally be able to rest our weary bones. But not without first unwinding two very confused and worn out children.

From the blogs, and there will be a couple more coming, you know it has been a trip full of sickness, jet lag, work and most importantly food. The first few days saw a night out at Yakiniku with good old friends. Then came the sushi. It didn't end there.

I am glad to announce that another couple we went out to dinner with turned me on to a secret in the very neighborhood where I spend the better part of 7 years living and working around. It is Yakiniku (did I say I can't get enough of it?) and the restaurant name says it all "Yakiniku Champion." More on that later.

Tonight, our last night in town we went back for an old stand-by.... Ramen. Not just any ramen mind you, Cheese Ramen. Woo Woo. I can't wait to tell you all about this place. In the meantime, it is late and I am going to run upstairs not to the 11th floor to hit the hay. LOL What the Fizuk is he talking about upstairs? Well, that is another story a bit of last minute drama here at the hotel for our last night.

Catch you all later and wish us a safe, peaceful, non-dramatic entrance back into the real world.

Catch you on the other side of the world.

Well, hopefully the worst is over. Yesterday (Friday) Tyler was released from the hospital. I wanted to say that he came home, but that is hard to say when you are almost 7000 miles away from home. All of his blood work came back negative and he got the o.k. to be released.

He still has a wet cough, but the Doctor said that is normal and that we should just be careful when taking him around town. We have decided to limit his exposure outside for a while until his checkup on Wednesday. If all is good then we will be able to head home on Friday as planned.For now, it is an exercise in scheduling things around who is going to stay behind and watch Tyler. For now, I am on duty while the Mrs. and Mina headed out to the local Japanese baby store to pick up some supplies. I would have loved to have gone, because it is a unique experience to go to one of these stores. They are like Babies 'R Us, but done Japan style. There are many cool baby gadgets that are unique to Japan that do not exist in the states. But that is for another blog. For now, I have to get his medicine ready as well as his lunch.

I was the last man standing in this trip of illness. Notice I said "was." It appears as if I fell victim to the Novo-virus which is part of the reason why I have not been on-line for the past day or so. It was not a good feeling I can tell you. The stomach was just not in the right place. And I paid the price overnight. Mina was crashed, Tyler was still recuperating in the hospital and the Mrs. was with him.

It was a long uncomfortable 24 hours compounded by the fact that I thought my back had gone out as well. If you go back through my earlier blogs here you know that I have a problem with my disk in the L5 vertebrae. Depending on my weight, stress and what not, it can get inflamed and pinch against my sciatic nerve. A truly debilitating form of pain, for which there is really no cure other than surgery to fuse the spine or replace the disk, both of which were not recommended last year by te specialist I went to see as my problem was note that bad.

It usually starts with a "twinge" I feel as if striking a guitar chord. Pain slowly sets on until I can hardly get up to walk around. Fortunately, this time it was a different feeling after waking up. It was higher up in my back and in the dead center, not to the left or right as it usually is. I also know that when this feeling comes on I need to start stretching my hamstrings immediately. I began the regime of stretching and being VERY aware of my movements and heavy lifting.

Long story short, the pain has gone, stiffness is still there so stretching continues and as for the stomach, well thank goodness it is only a 24hr bug. I am back to normal, if anything about this trip can be considered normal. Tonight though (Saturday night) I will be going to my favorite Gym here in Tokyo to soak in their 3 hot baths, partake in the Sauna and steam room to help relieve some of the stress and tension that may be the cause for this latest adventure in my back.

The day ended with a trip back to the hospital to drop of some things for the Mrs. and to check in on Tyler. The one thing that sucked, was that on the Pediatric in-patient floor you could not take anyone under the age of 14 in to the room area so Mina and I had to meet the Mrs. in the elevator lobby.

Mina, obviously confused with everything going on in the past few days was visibly happy to see her. I then took my turn to go in and see the 'lil guy. The thing about Japanese Hospitals is that they are not big on the whole private room thing. To get one costs some Yen. We got one. But to get to it, I had to walk past that ward, and that was both depressing and reminded me of my time in the same hospital with Meningitis. I was in a room with 6 other men who were seriously ill. This was different, much more depressing as they were all kids.Nothing sinks the soul more than seeing rooms full of sick children. I just tried not to look too much and made my way to Tyler's room. When I got there, the doctor as in the picture, was administering medication through myst directly to his nose/mouth. He was a bit lethargic, but then I told the doctor that I wanted to see if he responded to my usual way of getting him to smile.

I know this sounds wierd, but he loves it. I basically take his feet in my hands and squeeze them as if I am milking a cow. When I did that he turned his head to me and began to coo and smile. Then got a bit excited. The doctor was very surprised and pleasantly optimistic about his condition. But nonetheless it was not a good feeling to see him like that.

So for the next 5 minutes or so, I got him to smile and forget his condition for a bit. Then the Doctor finished the mist session and had to then clear his sinuses of all of the mucus with a vacuum tube. This was the really hard part. He wasn't happy about that at all. I am glad Mina wasn't there, she is quite the over protective big sister.

When the doctor finished, I tried to make him smile again, but he just kept looking at me as if he was begging me to get him out of there. I had to go. Went back out, said the goodbyes to the Mrs. who will be standing vigil over him while I took Mina back to the Hotel.

She is doing better, although I couldn't give her any dinner as she was still throwing up. So a bit of medicated water and her anti-biotics for her ears were administered. Gave her a bath and put her to bed by 7:45. She crashed hard. I am not far behind and we will have to see how tomorrow turns out.

Well for the most part, today was a good day. I say that in relative terms of course. What it actually means is that there was no significant drama unfolding before this vacation. It was a day with no more health issues rising.

Mina's tummy seems fine now, she made it through a day with no hurling. She actually ate rather well. Tired, but doing fine. The Mrs. is still concerned about her stomach situation. As for Tyler, well, his temperature went down and his oxygen levels are rising as his breathing is becoming less laborious. He is still not out of the woods yet as the Doctor says he is still severely congested in both his nasal cavities and chest, but doing well with his breathing in general. They still have him in a quarantined room with medicated vapor being injected into the room. They are also treating him with direct mist followed with a liberal vacuuming of his sinus cavities with a nasal tube.

When I went to see him, he was very alert and brightened up when he saw me, which is amazing for a 3 month old. He was a bit cranky though, but that was due to the fact that they have reduced his formula intake from 6 oz. to 3 oz. due to the fact that they don't want him to have a full tummy because that would restrict his lungs from fully expanding. They do have him on an IV so he is getting the fluids and nutrients he needs.

The only thing that could be considered drama, is that even though the optimistic release date is this Friday and we are due to fly back to the U.S. on Saturday, the Doctor has informed us that she does not recommend us flying with him for a week. That meant that we have had to now extend our time in Tokyo by another week. OUCH, that cost another $450 for moving the flight date and who knows what that will do for the cost of the Hotel. But it doesn't matter. his health does.

Besides, the hotel is across the street from my companies Tokyo office so I can go there to work next week. Just waiting for word from my boss in NYC on that plan. That will actually be kind of good since I worked there for 7 years before moving back to the U.S. and it will be nice to see everyone again.

So, being the eternal optimist, I will say that I think we have hit a turning point in this trip. All seems to be going in a positive direction finally.