More Days in Paradise!

Well after the exciting trips to Hakone and Tokyo, we decided to take it easy on Wednesday and stay local. We took the family to Sankein Garden to look around, Motomachi to shop and then to China Town. We ate lots of good food, the family bought some souvenirs.

Us girls took part in a Japanese tea ceremony at the Sankein Garden. It was a fun experience.



Thursday we all went to Kamakura to see the BIG Buddha and some shrines and temples. We went to an island call Enoshima to eat lunch. Some of the local cuisine included grilled squid and grilled conch shells with the critter still in it of course (which we didn't eat), hot dogs, potatoes, grilled corn, curry and rice, and many other interesting things. We also went to the beach and was able to watch the sun set behind Mt. Fuji...we all had a really good time.

Me and Teresa

This is an ancient Samurai Warrior uniform. It's amazing how small it actually is!

These are the Big Buddha's shoes that are on display.


Austin just about got licked by the COLD ocean waves at Enoshima beach!

Can you see Mt. Fuji?

Yummy huh!?!?!

Today we took it easy and just did some local last minute shopping. We even had some down time to watch a movie at the house. It was quit relaxing.

Tomorrow, we make the journey to take them back to the airport. We really hate to see them go, but we take comfort in knowing that our months are numbered here and will be able to return to our friends and family in the states real soon..... Feel free to come visit us if you want....we have become quite the tour guides!

What A Day!

Yesterday we took a LONG trip to Hakone. I lost count but I think we took about 5 or 6 trains, a cable car, and rope way to get there. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

This is us at the active volcano in Hakone. The smoke you see behind us is from the sulphur springs that occur here. Hmmmm...smells good too! There are natural hot springs that occur and we even saw a sign next to one of them that said the temp was about 200 degrees F. Anyone up for a swim!?!?!

This is the warning sign posted before you climb up to the springs! Encouraging huh?

You can buy black eggs (as you see above) to eat. Legend has it that for each egg you ea, you add seven years onto your life. I only added about 3.5 years onto mine because I only ate half of mine. Ok...so why are the eggs black? They boil the eggs in the sulphur springs and it turns the shell black. The inside is a normal egg.

We are getting ready to bored our pirate ship to the other side of Hakone. Argh Matey!

Avery standing in one of the ancient cedar trees in the cedar tree forest in Hakone.

Today we spent the day in Tokyo. We started out by going to the famous "scramble" intersection to watch all the people scatter in different directions at one time. I think about 2 million people cross this intersection per day. Next we went to do some shopping at a place called the Oriental Bazaar....it was difficult to drag Teresa out of there without spending all her money. All that shopping made us hungry...so we were off to a place called Shakey's Pizza. Here we tried all different types of pizza. Teresa got one that we thought just had some cheese and seaweed pieces on it...when what to her wondering eyes should she see...a small fish starring back at her. And yes....it was after her first bite!

Leave it to Phil to find 2 young girls to have his picture made with....at least we got free drinks out of it!

After filling our bellies...we went to see the imperial palace where Avery and Austin had to pose for pictures with some of the local tourist there. They love having their pictures made with American children.

All of us at a fountain on the imperial grounds.

Us in front of one of the gate entrances to the palace


Do you see part of the palace in the background to the right?

Then the boys went there way to look at some guitar shops and us girls ventured on our way to the famous Tokyo Tower, but not before we found some interesting temples and shrines along the way.

Avery in front of a koi pond at the temple we found.

This is a monk ringing the bell at one of the temples we passed on the way to the tower.


This was one of 4 statures placed inside the entrance of the temple where we saw the monk.

The Tokyo Tower in the day and at night!


This is a view from the Tower during the dusk time.

Then I navigated us home from Tokyo...I am so proud of myself for doing it without Curtis. Maybe I know more about Japan than I thought!

So Far....

Well, yesterday we took the family on a local tour of Yokohoma. We road the huge ferris wheel, took them for their first Japanese meal consisting of tonkatsu, and Curtis's dad and Austin road a couple of roller coasters. We were all exhausted at the end of the day.

Today, we took everyone to the church we've been attending here. Afterwards, we braved the horrendous rain and went to a baseball game all bundled up in coats and ponchos...unlike in the US, the Japanese will still play ball even in the rain...that's dedication.

We came back home to warm up and dry off before heading out for a fabulous meal of Shabu Shabu. This is a technique of cooking meat in a boiling pot of water. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and we all left STUFFED!!!

Tomorrow we head out for the day to Kamakura...so check back to see the adventures!

They're Here!

They finally made it!!! We have our first visitors! Curtis's mom, dad, sister Teresa, and nephew Austin came to visit us today. We are so happy to have them here and we plan to drag them all over Japan showing them all the things we love and don't understand about this place we call home (for now). There will be many exciting posts this week so...hang on and enjoy the ride! Oh!!!! and don't forget you can keep up on their blog as well...see the post below for the link.

Curtis and Avery waiting on the observation deck.

Here they come!!!!!!!!!

Touch Down!!!!!

A cheerful greeting from Aunt Tessi!

What a Beautiful Day!

Today was such a beautiful day. It was sunny and about 70 degrees! Avery and I decided it was the perfect day for a picnic and we should go to the park, so we called some of our friends to join us for some fun in the sun. We were joined by Karen and her daughter Macalah (I'm sure I misspelled her name...see bottom picture), Michelle and her daughters McKenzie and Lydia, and Irena and her daughter Polina.

On a different note, Curtis's mom, dad, sister, and nephew will be arriving tomorrow for a 1 week visit with us here in Japan! We are so excited about their visit. As we will be keeping up with our blog, we have also set one up for them to post their adventures on. Please check out their blog and feel free to comment on their posts as well.

www.yokohama-or-bust.blogspot.com (click to go straight to the site)

Lets Eat!!!

Sunday afternoon, we went to some friends of ours house for a FABULOUS Japanese dinner. Check it out!

Meet Steve, Mayumi, and Arisa.... Arisa goes to Avery's school and they actually live across the street from us!

Mayumi made cheese dip, Japanese style fried chicken, and Nabe (shown above). YUUUUMMMY!

Monday, Avery and I went to a place called Borne Land to have a play date with another one of my Japanese friends. Riko is one of Avery's school mates and dear friends.

Avery and Riko at Riko's house doing arts and crafts

Stay tuned for scenes from our visitors!!!!

Avery's Big Day!

Thursday Avery's class went on a Spring Field Trip to Sea Paradise. Sea Paradise is like a Sea World located beside the ocean. Each child had to carry their own money to pay for train fares and their lunch. The purpose for this was to teach the kids self confidence and independence. She was so excited about being able to do this on her own like a "big girl".

The students wear colored hats to indicate that they are with a school anytime they take a trip or leave school grounds. Here are a couple of pics...isn't she cute!!!!

We also went today to a place called "Book Off, Hard Off, Off House". Yes...you are reading correctly...don't adjust your bifocals. These stores seem to be pretty popular in Japan. It is a used goods store. It came to us on recommendation by one of my Japanese friends. Usually we only see "Book Off"...we had never seen all three before. Some of the items in the store were used Louis Vitton and Coach bags, clothes and Ohhh Curtis found a $2000.00 Rolex watch there too. The store had some good things but still toooo pricey for our taste.

Tour Guides

We didn't do very much this weekend. Saturday we went out on a hunt for some 2nd-hand shops or "reuse" shops, as they are referred to over here, that we can take Curtis's dad to. We had a recommendation from one of my Japanese friends on a shop so we set out to find it...with no luck.

Saturday night a man came from the Decherd plant on a house hunt/ business trip. Curtis met him at his hotel and took him to get a meal and to show him a couple of stores in town.

Today we took David, the new comer, to church and then to show him around the area. He will be moving here for 18 months with his wife and 2 kids at the end of this month. He had never been to Japan before now and his wife has never been here...so we are excited and anxious to show them around and to help them get settled in.

Stay tuned...maybe we will have more interesting things to post this week. Who knows...I might get slapped in the head with a fish hanging from a tree or something.