June 27-28 in Tokyo...
The place I work hooked us up with a hotel in downtown Tokyo and we headed up. Our brother-in-law Mike was in town on business so it worked out well. We met at the Tokyo Tower and had crepes and ice-cream from a street vendor. There was also a monkey show out front to watch. The trainer spoke Japanese, which we were unable to follow of course, but we tried to laugh when the crowd did to seem less "touristy"!
Tokyo is an amazing city, slightly larger than NYC. Also amazing, something we've noticed all over Japan, is that small kids manage to get themselves from home to school and back without parents or adult supervision. Trains, buses, subway, streets, everywhere! Some look to be about 6 or 7 years old. Even in Tokyo! I would never let them do this New York, but here it is the norm and very safe. We still aren't use to that part with our kids, but we still feel very safe out and about.
The view was incredible from the tower, even though it was somewhat cloudy. There was also a glass floor that you could stand on and look down at the people a few hundred feet below. This was funny to watch since few people were willing to actually stand on it. They would walk up and just peer over! A Japanese woman and her teenage daughters very slowly crept out, holding on to each other, looking almost terrified...this glass had to have been 12" thick...and then their Dad ran over to them and jumped dead center in the middle! They all screamed and lept back to "safety". Very funny...
The next day, we took the subway up to Ueno park to a museum. The kids loved the interactive displays and exhibits. We also ate at a cool little place that had little grills on our table where we cooked our own food. It was a little pricey, but worth it!
July 4th
The base had lots of events for the 4th...a live band, kid games, lots of food, and fireworks in the evening.
July 12
We got word on July 7th that a house would be ready for us on July 10th! The moving company was able to move our stuff in the same day, so it all came together. This is a picture of our view out the back, building (Sakura Heights), and the family room and dining/kitchen before our furniture was delivered. We put the flooring down to offset the dorm-style white walls and white tiles... :)
July 26th
Last Sunday, our cats arrived on a plane from Seattle. The trip up to Narita airport, NE Tokyo, was not bad...about $45 in tolls, each way!!! We spent about 2 hours at the airport getting them through the animal quarintine and customs. The airport was giagantic and extremely busy, but luckily a security guard saw our obvious confusion about which of the many buildings to go in to and volunteered to be our tour guide. This made it much easier! We followed him around from place to place, getting all the paper-work signed and endorsed. It is a real challenge to get animals into Japan and we now know why! It is great to finally have them here....
Other random stuff...
One of our favorite places to eat is Pepper Lunch in downtown Yokosuka. You start by putting Yen in a vending machine and it prints a ticket, which you hand to the waiter. They then go prepare it for you on a hot plate (like fajita cast iron skillets), where we get to add sauces and stir it while it cooks. We all love it.
Another great place we found a couple nights ago. Thank goodness there was one waitress who spoke English to tell us what some of this was. Never ate raw crab before...and probably never will again! It wasn't bad, just strange texture.
Apparently it is legal to own owls in Japan. Notice the price on this guy! This works out to be about $2000!
Lastly, we spent an afternoon at the pool with our neighbors. Alex, Katie, and her friend Marissa jumping in on another hot and humid day!
