LIVIN with Walmart and Healthy Diet Coke

Japanese stores close at 7. Except for LIVIN, which is on the way home from base. I would recognize Walmart brands on some of the items, but the grocery store was always a Seiyu (Japanese equivalent to Safeway/Dominicks/Fry's). But, I walked in the other day, and they had the black shelving up, and the lowest prices signs up!
I'm sure that sign says, 'falling prices' in Japanese. Or something like that.
Check-outs were like in the states, and they have the do-it-yourself check-outs here. I haven't seen these before in Japan (except on base). The line was long for the do-it-yourself novelty. They didn't have a WalMart greeter, however. And, you have to walk back through the store to get to the escalators to get to the parking. I would have designed the layout differently, but they are using an existing building where there is a parking structure on top of the store. Gotta make do!
I am a diet coke addict. I found this at the LIVIN (name of the store that is WalMart). You can get Diet Coke with Green Tea extracts in it here. You can also get it with your daily vitamins in it. Now you can get it with fiber!!! Double click and look for yourself. I had to take this picture at my doctor's office. I had to prove to my doctor that I am living healthier... :)

Contracting out the Holidays

Since we'd already bought an Anikan Skywalker jedi outfit for William's birthday, that is what he went as this Halloween. The day after we got back from China, it was October 30, and Tim and I went to see Joe Sample in Tokyo. Joe Sample is a jazz pianist. The show was excellent. Spendy, but a great venue (we saw him at the Cotton Club). So, William went to spend some time at the Strand's that night. They were carving pumpkins, and this is what William did without our help. Interesting big eye there...
Jowanzo's birthday is in November, but his mom had his party on Halloween night. That way, his Japanese friends could come on base and trick-or-treat. William, Shuto (who is great at soccer), ?, Masato and Jowanzo are pictured.

It was strange dropping him off, as we've always done Halloween with him, and he was off on his own.

They did a very traditional Japanese thing for Jowanzo's birthday. They went to an onsen and all soaked in hot water together. I imagine it was really late before they got to bed. But, I thought it was interesting: They all had to wear diapers. Usually, he doesn't when he stays at Jowanzo's. But, one of the kids obviously has an overnight incontinence issue, so to be fair, they all wore them! That is so Japanese to make everyone be equal.
I caught up to them for a brief moment at the commissary parking lot. They were having a blast, and I was having a little sting of not being a part of William's experiences here!
Thanksgiving was at the Strands. They put all the kids out-doors. William was late, as he had to go to school that day (Japanese Labor/Thanksgiving was on Monday). Liesl, Kaile, William, Charla, and Erin had a blast.

It was strange being the 'orphans.' We invited ourselves over. Our oven is a mini-oven, and not big enough for a turkey. Maybe a turkey breast. Strands have a place for an oven from base (base provides) and therefore were able to make a huge turkey! And, the stuffing was home-made and very good. All we had to do was bring pie, wine, cranberry salad (chopped fresh cranberries, mini marshmallows, cool whip, walnuts and grapes), and a relish tray.

For those who care. I made the Libby's classic pumpkin pie, and Paula Deen's Food Network pumpkin pie with cream cheese. Paula Deen's won hands-down. The pecan pie was good, as well. Burp.
This was the last picture taken before the food fight. OMG. These girls went at it. It was a total mess. And William didn't even holler when a fairly large chunk of turkey breast smacked him in the face! It was kinda funny to see the look on his face. Shoulda seen the candied yams stuck in the girl's hair, and the debris on the grass. I guess it will always be a memorable Thanksgiving for William.

Without football, we watched a Sumo competition. They're getting towards the end of the tournament, so it was interesting. William got to play his favorite game, 'Mille Bornes' (the Strands own this card game). Then, we went home. The past 2 holidays passed without much of an effort on our part. Kinda strange.

I missed my family terribly. They all got together at my sisters. My sister has new grandbabies to hold, and the pumpkin pie smack-down would have been fun to participate in... It is times like these that I ache for my family and friends. We are grateful we have good friends here.

Mikan Picking Field Trip

On the way to the next prefecture (or state) over, we stopped at a highway rest stop. Any crossings from the bus to the rest rooms were flagged by staff. On field trips, the kids are to wear similar outfits. Sure is easier to spot them!
I have to laugh... the eastern style toilets are remaining empty, as the people wait for the 2 western style ones. They usually have the icon on the outside at public restrooms to show which type it is. The floor ones I use if it is an absolute necessity. I notice that in newer places, like the airport, they have all western with one token eastern style. It did interest me that the Japanese will wait for a western style toilet.
This was the sign for the place we went. They even have a website, if you double click on the pic and look closer. The farmer studied agriculture at university in California and was able to speak reasonable English with me.

We walked past some dogs. Looked like they were breeding dogs, too. Puppies and kittens run $800.00 and up here in Japan. It is probably far more lucrative than mikan producing!
The buses couldn't go down the steep switch-backs, so we got to walk down. Japanese students have to hold hands with a buddy.
This is William's best friend, Jowanzo. Jowanzo is going to move away in December. We are not looking forward to this, as it is going to break William's heart.
The trees were laden. This place had a great view of Sagami Bay.
Right before the grove, they made the kids line up by class. This is William's class, Lily (they are all flower names). Sensei Taniguchi is holding the sign, and you see Jowanzo's mom, Mayumi in the pink at the back.
The Japanese ladies wondered why I was taking a picture. This is a grave marker in the grove.
The little offerings were mikan. Appropriate!
The mikan were fairly sour, and it was hard to find a sweet, ripe tree. I showed everyone the trick I'd learned from American citrus farmers. Look for the tree that the animals are going to. That will be the sweetest tree. And it was!
William picking his own mikan. He loved to pick, but didn't want to eat. It was the rule that you could only pick what you would eat. And, like American farmers, they wanted excess in a bin, to control the pests from eating fallen fruit.
Traditional picnic under the mikan trees. William and I had sandwiches, but I was amazed at how amazing some of the food the Japanese brought. They spend a lot of time preparing their food!
William posing for mom. This is rare, he usually won't.
The boys found some old stumps, rolled them over and tormented the bugs they found.
These boys insisted on showing me all the grubs, and tried to gross me out. I grew up on a farm, laddies. NOT going to happen!
Then, it was time for exercise! They brought the big player all the way down to blare the music from. The kids had to do their little exercise routine. I thought that they had gotten enough running around just coming down the kilometer of steep hillside switch-backs!
Oh goodie, we're done! On the bus, there was singing. I didn't videotape the funniest one. There's one song they sing, and also play on melodians (blow through a keyboard). When they got to the part where in the melodian version there's a little musical ditty, they SANG the musical ditty! It was unexpected and cute and made everyone laugh.

Mikan Picking with Dad

After our PSNS group got together for a potluck, Tim and William headed off with good friends of ours, the Strands, to go Mikan picking. Mikan, or maybe better known in the US as satsuma, are small, seedless citrus. They are very sweet, and there are groves near to us.
Tim has some advantage in his height, to get the fresh ones at the top.

William's coat came back filthy. He had a lot of fun. Apparently, there's a cover charge to go into the grove and eat all you want.
They give you a basket, and it says ¥400. Well, that's per kilo, not per basket. Well, you live and learn here in Japan!!!
I think the best part of Mikan picking is getting out in the fresh, sunny air that we're experiencing at this time of year! Our fridge is now packed with Mikan that need to be eaten!

Raining Disney In

We have always wanted to go to Disneyland on one of those days the lines are short, and you can ride all the rides your stomach can handle. November 11 is an American holiday, thus Tim had it off. We pulled William out of school, saw the forecast was for rain, made sure we all had raingear and umbrellas, and went to Disneyland.When we got in the car to leave, we were soaked from dashing to the car in the pouring rain. I said, "Tim, are you SURE?" And so we set off. We got there at 9, and there still was a line to get in. This is looking towards the park. They were supposed to be fully decorated for Christmas, but they're running behind.
William and Tim walking towards the park. I should have put boots on William, as his tennis shoes are soaked at this point. And we've only walked from the car parking garage to the front gate, and waited to get in.
Tokyo Disney's downtown and shopping area is covered. No umbrellas were supposed to be up at this point. The big tree was up, however!
But as soon as we stepped out of the covering, we were back in the pouring rain. If you click and look, you can see how big the rain drops were. There was already a line for Monsters, Inc., a new ride here at Tokyo Disney.
So, even though we got there at 9 in the morning, and immediately went to the fast pass, by the time Tim got up there, we got 1:40 tickets.
I loved the Tiki guys all decked out for Christmas. Too fun! We got soaked on our first ride, the rocket ships. Where usually your legs are dry directly under the rain jacket, we had to sit down and lean back, and then the cloud burst happened. We were drenched. So, we went to Splash Mountain next, as we couldn't get any wetter. There was no line, so we rode it a couple times.
We finally got to go in Monsters, Inc. Woo hoo! It's called, 'Ride and Go See,' and you get flashlights. They don't do anything special, but your flashlight makes a character on the wall.
But, after about the second turn in, our cars STOPPED. Broke down! NOOooooo... We got to wait for them to show up with a step-ladder and escort us out.
We were stuck in front of this guy. Normally, Boo pops out from one of these containers. We just got to watch him deflate a bit. They gave us special passes to get back in, as soon as the ride was fixed. So, we got to see the rest of the story. Tim loved the trash compactor the best.

We rode so many rides over and over, that Tim's stomach stopped being able to do Space Mountain (I didn't even go, I know better). William was the roller coaster monster. We rode Thunder Mountain as many times as we could. That one never went below 15 minutes wait, but that isn't bad at all!

We ended up staying for the fireworks, and the rain became light enough a few times to not put up umbrellas as we dashed to the next ride. It was a great day, and we got our fill of Disney rides!

Rites of Passage

To be 6 in Japan is to be someone.

One of the things that happens when you're 6, is that you have to start paying to ride the trains. It's only 1/2 price (I've noticed that it rounds up to the nearest 10 yen/cents... so, if the fare was ¥170 for me, it is ¥90 for William), but now you have to pay.

I found it a bit amusing that they made us bring ID for him before they'd issue a PASMO card. It's a debit card system (there's also the SUICA card system) for riding trains, getting sodas, and taxi fares. What? I'm telling you my kid needs to pay, and he's obviously not an adult, issue me the card! So, when Tim and William went to the Ueno Museum, they took William's passport, and got him a PASMO card.

If you can read the Katakana on this card, you'll notice they mis-spelled Putaansuu. We're used to that in English, so it's no surprise the Japanese have the same issue. They have all the correct sounds to correctly say it, at least. The PASMO card is issued to a particular child. That makes sense, as you don't want adults getting a card and swindling the system by only paying half-fare to get through the ticket wickets. Yes, they're called wickets.

William loves trains, and I noticed this was something Tim and he saw the day they went to the Ueno museum.

That little 'purse' around his neck is a custom-made Shinkansen coin purse to hold his PASMO card, some cash for emergencies, and I'll bet you'd find some other flotsam in there.

When we needed something like this, the stores had nothing. So, I found a cloth zipped bag, bought a shinkansen patch and some shinkansen clips, hand-sewed them on, and viola. And then I bought a break-away neck lanyard. Total cost: ¥700. Bleeding fingers, priceless...

Sure enough, about 2 weeks after I made it, they had the perfect little train money purses on strings at the ¥100 store. Grrrr. At least we know which 'kurse' (kid purse) is his!

Another milestone for us was him learning to tie his own shoes.

I'd seen somewhere that it helps to make the laces 2 different colors when learning to tie shoes. It helps them not get confused on which goes under or over, etc. So, I got some laces and made our own tying trainer. Tim showed him how to tie on it, and he aced it in a few hours. It's nice, because he can now tie his own shoes. Woo hoo!

I've been trying to upload the video for 8 hours. I give up. Trust me, the boy knows how to tie a shoe! :)

China Days 5 & 6

Our last full day in China was a bit more relaxed. We got back on the overnight train and were picked up by the tour guide and driver and driven back to our hotel. We ate breakfast, checked in, showered, and collapsed. The overnight train is a great way to get to a location while getting a night's sleep, but we also felt like we'd been on the move for 3 days straight. William and I needed a break from the travel and Caroline wanted to try her hand in the markets. So, there isn't much to report for most of the day. For dinner, though, we had one check-mark left on Caroline's list. Peking Duck! Caroline had the name and address of the best Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing and it happened to be a mere block away.

There are some nice blocks in the neighborhood. This French styled hotel was an eye catching landmark that we used to know that we were getting close to our hotel in a taxi.

The restaurant was just across the street in this mall. I was feeling a bit underdressed as we walked past the GUCCI store...

It is a very nice restaurant with quite a bit of style. The duck kitchen is in the middle of the restaurant in the middle of a goldfish filled moat. As we waited for our number to be called, we watched them cook ducks in the wood fired ovens. They'd pull them out with a long hook and then several of them would look it over and tap on it to see if it was the perfect golden crispiness before being taken away by certified duck chefs to be artfully carved up at your table.

Not knowing much about Peking Duck, I was kind of worried that I'd have a fully intact, but cooked, duck on my plate that I'd need to figure out how to eat (do I eat this part?!) But they carve off the really tasty portions and take the rest away. You get two of these plates full of duck meat with the crispy gold skin. The waitress took pity on us and gave us a lesson on how to eat it. First off was taking a strip of the duck skin carved from the back (that you see laying on top) dipped it in sugar and placed it on our plates. We used our chop sticks to stick them in our mouths and quickly understood the draw of Peking Duck. Sandy, you would love this. It is the developed and perfected end game version of snacking on the fried chicken skin stuck to the bottom of the pan! Mmmmm!

Most of the rest you place on thin unleavened bread they provide...

Add a few condiments they provide, wrap it up in an open faced burrito, and eat. It was VERY GOOD. A nice ending to our China vacation.

The next morning we had some adventures getting to our flight. They had recommended getting to the airport three hours ahead of our flight. I set the alarm on my iPod for 4:30 to facilitate that and then woke up at 6:03 to find that I never un-muted the external speaker on my iPod. Poor start! We scrambled to shower, dress, pack and head to the airport in a cab. As we are getting into the cab, the door man and the taxi driver are asking us which terminal we're going to. Our paperwork didn't say and they couldn't find Northwest on the list, so we agreed that we'd go to one and look and if it wasn't that one, we'd go to the next. The cab took a little extra time since he was avoiding tolls and when he pulled up to the first terminal, he was already closing out the ride and printing the receipt. We were on our own!

It was a beautiful airport terminal. But, of course, it was the wrong one. So...

We caught the shuttle bus that took an honest 20 minutes to get to the correct terminal. I almost think we drove to a completely different airport! We got to the terminal and through the check-point, check-in, immigration, and all they way to our gate with 10 minutes to spare before boarding. Whew!

Some of William's video showing the Peking Duck restaurant