Japan April 2008 – Day 1 & 2

( ^_^)／ やぁ！

Ah, it has been a long time since I last visited Japan.  8 months to be exact!  That is where I and Ai met, and we traveled together all over the big island.  This time Ai came with me, from our Burien suburb to the Tokyo metropolitan, where we stayed and explored.  We took 750 pictures total along with about 10 movies.  I shortened it to 170 pictures for anyone to see.

日本おさひぶり。八か月ぶり！去年、八月に愛に会いました。今年、日本へ帰りました。

Day 1:
一日

After arriving, we took a bus that took us close to Ai’s Mom’s restaurant.  I took some pictures along the way.  Above are party boats.  They can be rented out for large parties.

We stayed at Okaasan’s condo for the first couple days.  The first day, we left Seattle at 1pm and arrived at Narita airport at 3pm.  Then we took a bus all the way to Okaasan’s suburb and ate dinner at her yummy onomiyaki restaurant.  After, we fell asleep watching my favorite kind of Japanese TV:  the silly kind.

Day 2:
二日

We had a traditional Japanese lunch with Ai’s Family. Ai’s brother’s family: Maruyama family: Takeshi (Ai’s brother), Akiko (wife), Kana (daughter), Marina (baby daughter). Me, Ai, and Okaasan in the back.

私と愛と愛のかぞく　は　昼ごはん　そ　食べました。(^～^)モグモグ。　後ろ：愛、ジエフ、お母さん。前：まるやまかぞく：たけし（おとおさん）、みりな（あかちゃん）、かね（おねえちゃん）、あきこ（おかあさん）。

The lunch was very, very good.  So many kinds of seafood and vegetables, and so many different servings.  We ate so much that at the end of the meal, both me and Ai were saying “ooooh, onaka wa kurushii!!!”  (stomach hurts)  But it was worth it.  Ai’s mom used to work there and knows some of the employees, and they were nice to give us a free giant cooked tuna neck.  Very delicious!

昼ごはん　は　とても　おいしかった！　愛　と　ジエフ　の　おなか　は　くるしかった！

Kana was provided a kids meal.

The lunch was great. Thank you again Takeshi for such a great lunch!  たけし、 ｻﾝｷｭｩ♪(o￣∇￣)/

Photo after lunch. しあわせ。

Ai holding baby Marina.  愛　と　まりな。　あああああ Marina looks a lot like both her mom and dad.

We headed back to the Maruyama apartment and spent some quality time with them.

Kane and Takeshi playing ramen chef with an Anpanman ramen play set.  Lots of “here you go, thank you, that was yummy”, and then having the cardboard food disappear to underneath the table.

かね　わ　あんぱんまん　の　らめん　そ　あそびました。

Kane likes to do puzzles.  After everyone has put down a puzzle peice, we would do rock-paper-scissor to see who goes first.  いつも　じゃん、けん、ぽん！　いつも　かな　わ　いちばん　 ﾆｺ(*^_^*)ﾆｺ 　  Kana always chose scissor, so i would chose paper to let her win   We were also watching horse racing on TV; its very popular in Japan.

Their neighborhood was a mixture of modern and traditional buildings.　まるやまかぞくのきんじょ。

We walked to the local department store Ito Yokado, owned by the 7-11 corporation.  It seems that 7-11 is very popular among the Japanese, so they bought it.  I just discovered that myself recently.

7-11　デパート　へ　いきました。大きいよ！

The department stores aren’t how American’s know them as.  Rather then having only clothes to sell, Japanese department stores have a little bit of everything to sell; kind of like a compact mall.  Every floor has something different.  If I remember correctly, the basement level was full of bakery’s, little food kiosks, and anything yummy you’d ever want to eat in your life, ever, which is true for pretty much any Japanese food.  The first level was a grocery store which had the best food and ingredients you’d ever want to take home and eat, ever.  The second and third floor had clothes for men and woman, electronics such as TVs, home appliences, ect.  The fourth floor had a camera shop, a photo-sticker machine, many other shops I can’t remember, a book and manga section, a kids play area, and a Sega World arcade section.  Seriously, if I wanted, I could get an apartment close by and just live the rest of my life off that department store.  That is something I greatly miss.

The top floor of the department store, with the book store and the Sega World arcade.　　セガー　アケデ！　ヘ(^_^ヘ)(ノ^_^)ノ

A grab game for snacks.  About $2 for 1 try, or $3 for 2 tries.  I bit expensive seeing that I can just go downstairs and buy the real thing for about the same price.　きかい　わ　ちょとたかい。２００円　オリオ　チアンツ！？

This caught me off guard.  The mannequins in the clothes section have anime faces.  Haha!  　アニメ　マニケヌ、ヒヒ　 (=^_^=)

The Japanese bakeries are the best i’ve ever had.  I made sure to browse through each bakery I saw and buy something.　　日本　パンや　だいすき！

This particular bakery had condensed milk melon pan!  Its by far the tastiest melon pan i’ve every had.　このメロンパンはちょうおいしい！だいすき！

Here is the bakery from a farther view.  Mmmmmm…..　　さようなら、パンや。。。

We did some grocery shopping too.  Its much more colorful and appealing compared to the oh so hum-hum grocery stores in Seattle.　日本のかんぶつや　は　はでね！　シアトルのかんぶつや　は　はでじゃない。

We have left the department store and are on our way to an onsen:  a traditional Japanese hot springs.  On the way we ran into a KFC and McDonalds right next to each other.  I only take pictures of American fast food restaurants; my stomach can’t handle eating them.　アメリカンのファーストーフード　ぜんぜん。

We also stopped by a local Mister Donut; the best donut chain store on earth.  Seriously, you’ve never had a premium donut until you’ve been to a Mister Donut. 　ミスタードヌト　だいすき！

They have many, many different kinds of donuts.  My favorite by far is Pon de Machi:  Green Tea ring donut.  Its chewy, yummy, and great with coffee.  20 please!  Okay, not that much 　　ちょうおいしい！　ヘ(^_^ヘ)(ノ^_^)ノ

From www.mister-donut.com.  Now that i just read the mister donut website, i had no idea that it was started in Boston.  What I don’t understand is how could Dunkin Donuts be more popular than Mister Donuts in the States?  I’ve had a Dunkin Dohnut once, and thats the last time I ever ate there.  However, the standards in Japan are much higher than the USA, so I guess I can understand that…. just another example of how the USA is falling farther behind the times.

We finally arrived at the tradition Japanese hot spring.  It was very relaxing.  I met a middle-aged Japanese IT worker who travels around the world to teach other IT businesses.  The conversation was very hard because of his heavy accent, but he was a nice guy.

おんせん　へ　いきました。　だいすき！

After, we went home and fell asleep to more funny Japanese TV.  　日本のテレビ！ ヽ(^◇^*)/ ﾜｰｲ