I have actually been looking forward to having a chance to blog again....
so much has happened since last week. I am not sure where to start.
As you know we were really looking forward to making our "American" trip
to Costco, to stock up on some reasonably priced food, and IKEA for a few
things to make our place a home. All geared up, ready to go, we head down to
the car and the battery is dead. The last time we drove an interior light was left on! Bummer.
We knew we would not be able to communicate without the language to get a "jump",
and our neighbor who we knew had a charger was out of town. We were all so sad, not sure what to do next we came back upstairs - but then decided to try to make lemonade out of lemons.
Another neighborhood close to ours we had heard was a great place to visit. So we walked to "Azabu Juban". It is a great downtown type district with shops, resaurants, local vendors with produce, coffee shops, etc. We of course were SO HOT that we grabbed a box of popsicles and
ate them thru town. We found a toystore that sold "Bey Blades" - this is a toy that all the boys Landen's age are into, so the trip was a huge success for Landen. We even bumped into a new friend while we were there. That is so amazing to me that is a city so huge, and with knowing just a handful
of people that would happen -seriously!
Sunday, we were really looking forward to brunch with some neighbors that had invited us to join them at The New Sanno Hotel - it is only accessible if you are associated with the military. It was a wonderful surprise when we went up to the lobby to meet them there were also two other families joining us as well. It was a huge group, with 11 kids from the 4 families. We had a great American & Japanese style brunch while we got to know our neighbors a bit. One family moved here right at the same time as we did- so we instantly have a lot in common and a bond of some kind. They are from Conneticut, (which is also now close to my heart because of Susanne :)
After brunch, we still felt the nudge to try to make our way on our shopping spree. We are trying to push ourselves to learn to drive. Getting a much later jump, leaving around 3:30.... to begin the very frusterating & stressful experience. Let us tell you about our GPS.... I guess we have a love/hate relationship. We could not get anywhere without it - however so far we have had a hard time getting somewhere even with it. It is a Japanese- made in China- trying to communicate in English GPS. It tells you to take a left "soon" -(what does that mean) even when there is only a bend in the road. You have to mark your starting point, and your end point, and for some reason, it doesn't have much memory, so it will constantly revert back to your starting point, so you begin to head where you just came from. It was an interesting ride!! Oh, and then, we decided to take city roads, rather than the highway, (trying to avoid tolls...... ) which we decided wasn't the best idea either. Just a side note, next time you are driving thru Chicago, think of this, and the tolls won't bother you too much. You pay about $5-7 dollars for every few miles you drive - it's insane!
But the shocker of it all was we arrived, and hadn't killed the kids yet (for more reasons than just driving on the wrong side of the road!- ha!). We first found IKEA. It was a mad dash, but quite similar to the location in Canton, only with VanAndel Area style parking for all the people. Then off to Costco...again, parking structure type parking, and a multi-level Costco. You and your cart go up escalators to go from floor to floor. Then had some similar items that we all love at Costco, even the lil' cafe. But still so many asian items. I was complaining a bit - and then Jeff reminded me we are in Japan!!! (I guess I forgot where I was for a bit- it felt so much like home)
On the way home, it went much smoother. We took the expressway- in spite of the tolls, and we all made it home safe, sound, and with a kitchen full of groceries. Our food rationing has subsided since the trip a bit :)+
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