Thank Yous

So much appreciation....

When preparing to take your family, so they can stay intact, and move around the globe for almost
three months there are several people that make that decision easier.  There are several people we would like to thank for making this adventure less stressful...and possible from home.

My Mom - We did leave a family member in the U.S., our cat Scout.  And Scout has been staying with my mom and they have been getting along and keeping other company.

Charlie and Carole - You also have to have great neighbors to be able to just leave your home for so long.  Charlie and Carole have watched our house, walked through it to make sure nothing is leaking, etc, went over and checked things out with the storms that came through a couple times (apparently our grill blew over and needs some repair because of one of the storms) and told me it was no problem each time I ordered more online items so when we got home Grace would be ready for school.  When our trip was extended I got nervous about getting everything done and went on a little buying spree...and all of the packages were shipped to Charlie and Carol and are sitting inside our house waiting for us.  Grace is excited to see her new backpack and lunchbox!
Tabitha - Tabitha doesn't even live in Florence, but every couple weeks she has gone to the Florence Post Office and picked up our mail, gone through it and emailed about any of our bills that have come and a couple wedding invitations too!  In addition to her own mail, imagine the three month pile of junk mail she has gone through that belongs to us.

Lori - My friend Lori offered to buy all of Grace's school supplies for us so it's one less thing to do in the days we come home.  Yay!

People who have sent mail - My goodness.  There are several of you who have sent the girls mail.  We didn't really want mail in the beginning - knew it was more expensive to mail and didn't realize the value it would be for the girls, but people have spoiled them to the point that when Sarah walks off the elevator each day she says, "Mail?:"  The girls have enjoyed the cards, letters, artwork, stickers, etc. they have received.  It seems that many times the mail came on a rainy day when we needed a pick me up too!

All of you who have read our blog.  If you have read our blog, you have been with us on this journey.  Thank you for reading....for caring.  For those of you who have commented on the blog, emailed me or simply "liked" a post on Facebook.  I cannot explain how much of a large impact that has been to me, although you probably feel it was a small one on your part.  By doing any of those things - letting me know you were reading - it helped me feel connected to my life at home.  Connection to a community is so important whether you are living in it or on a journey away from the community you call yours.  Knowing you were next to me...to us... has been so truly meaningful.  So thank you for reading and thank you for letting me know that you were with us.

Final Weekend: Osaka Castle

So, our first weekend we set out to see the Osaka Castle, but got distracted by the International Korean Festival.  So, it seemed only fitting that our last weekend we visited the Osaka Castle.

The Osaka Castle is one of the more famous castle's in Japan - it played a large role in the unification of Japan during the 16th century.  (Wikipedia)

We toured the inside of the castle, which was filled with artwork and models of the castle in the various periods in Japan history.  As we were leaving, we found the opportunity to dress up...

Final Weekend: Fireworks

The summer brings fireworks in Japan.  There are fireworks every weekend.  This past weekend, since we extended our stay about 5 days, we were able to go to the second largest display in Japan.  The fireworks can be seen from our apartment building.

However, we decided to make the 15 minute walk to the river where they are let off.  The girls had a wonderful time (they love fireworks).  And, the fireworks display was wonderful.  The fireworks manufactures showed off a little (haha) toward the middle of the show and blasted fireworks that were shaped as happy faces, perfect stars and a face of a kitty.  It was a great show.

We left about 10 minutes before it was over - to beat the crowds - and it was a good evening.

Weekend 11: Giggles

On our way home from the beach, we stopped and had dinner inside this really nice mall.  The restaurant we ate at was a nice open air restaurant that reminded me of an environment at a hotel (without walls).

Across from our table was this clock.  (This past week we have been reviewing telling time during our "school work").  As we were leaving this was our conversation:

Grace:  "Look!  That clock is in Japanese."

Me:  (laughing) "No Grace, those are Roman Numerals"

Grace:  "Those aren't Ramen Noodles!"

Weekend 11: Shirahama Beach

For one of our last weekends we decided to take the girls back to the beach.  But, this time a beach with beautiful clear blue water...and one that was 3 hours away.

We got up and left the apartment at 6:30 a.m. (so we could make the 8 a.m. train that connected about 20 minutes away).  It was 6:45 a.m. when I looked at my watch and noticed that the air was so humid that when you rubbed your hands together they felt wet - at 6:45 a.m.!

We walked to Osaka City Station, rode to the Tennoji Station (by subway) and then bought tickets for the 2 1/2 hour train ride to Shirahama.  The picture of Grace to the left is how she waited for the train to arrive.  We knew Sarah was going to love riding the train for this long! 

After we arrived at the Shirahama train station we then got on a bus for a 10-15 minute ride to the beach (that's three modes of transportation Sarah has ridden on today!  She is so happy!)  Here we are on the bus:

Here are pictures of the beautiful (and very busy) beach:

While the beach WAS busy, we easily found a place to put our stuff down, spread out our blankets and really did not feel like we were right on top of the people next to us.

For days now Sarah has talked about how much she loved the floaties Daddy bought her so we didn't have to hold her in the water.

For some reason the girls made it a game to collect seaweed and put it in the sand castle bucket.  It was mostly Sarah on this mission, but they both took part in it.  For some reason I only got a picture of Grace with the seaweed.

And, of course, Grace made a friend.  And although they couldn't actually speak to one another, that doesn't mean they couldn't communicate and have fun together!

Somehow we left the beach without a family photo.  But, we did leave with a little sunburn and lots of great memories.



In the taxi

P.S.  Here is a funny story.  A couple of weeks ago the girls and I were talking about how Daddy takes a train and then a taxi to work every day.  (Now the funny-ness of the story is in how fast Sarah turned her neck around at that comment).  After she heard what I said, she snapped her neck around to me and said, "IIIII haven't ridden in a taxi."  It was a moment where she realized there was yet another mode of transportation...and she hadn't tried it out yet!!!  I told Jim the story and we had been laughing about it for a couple weeks.

So, on the way home from the beach, we were trying to figure out when the bus was coming we could take to get back to the train station - and also worried we may miss the train (the long one) and then would have to wait 2 hours for the next one, we saw a taxi.  Soooo, Sarah is now able to say she has also ridden in a taxi!

Weekend 10: Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is very famous in Osaka.  (o-konomi-yaki)  It is said to have originated here and people describe it as a pancake with vegetables and meat in it.  We had this for dinner at Spa World.  They mixed it up and grilled it right in front of us.  We had a pork and shrimp version and a beef and pork version.  The latter had noodles also added to it which is mentioned in the definition below.

From Wikipedia: 

Kansai- or Osaka-style okonomiyaki is the predominant version of the dish, found throughout most of Japan. The batter is made of flour, grated nagaimo (a type of yam), water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese. Okonomiyaki is sometimes compared to an omelette or a pancake and may be referred to as a "Japanese pizza" or "Osaka soul food".

In Osaka (the largest city in the Kansai region), where this dish is said to have originated, okonomiyaki is prepared much like a pancake. The batter and other ingredients are fried on both sides on either a teppan or a pan using metal spatulas that are later used to slice the dish when it has finished cooking. Cooked okonomiyaki is topped with ingredients that include otafuku/okonomiyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce but thicker and sweeter), aonori (seaweed flakes), katsuobushi (bonito flakes), Japanese mayonnaise, and pickled ginger (beni shoga).

When served with a layer of fried noodles, the resulting dish is called modan-yaki, the name of which may be derived from the English word "modern" or as a contraction of mori dakusan, meaning "a lot" or "piled high" signifying the volume of food from having both yakisoba and udon.

We had both okonomiyaki and madan-yaki.  Jim likes it with noodles better.  I prefer without.  The girls won't tell me what their preference was, but they both ate it.  So - that right there says alot...it was good!

If you would like to watch a few videos of how this is prepared, I took them for everyone.  And if we don't already look like tourists, me video taping them making okonomiyaki sure confirmed it!  I think it made almost all of the workers in the restaurant laugh a little...but not in a bad way.  Most Japanese people we find are proud to share their culture with westerners...even if it means their hands are on video!

 

This is the beginning.  They bring the mix in the bowl to the table, mix it up right in front of you.

Then they place the mixture on the grill....

And then they flip it...just like a pancake!

Add two special sauces...and it's ready to eat!  (This is just a photo, not a video)

Weekend 10: Tennoji Zoo

The Tennoji Zoo opened on January 1, 1915 and we visited it on Sunday.

The girls enjoyed seeing many of the animals at the zoo.  We saw seals, polar bears, reptiles, koalas, a kangaroo mouse, a crane and Mongolian Bears...and many more.  The Zoo was a nice little adventure and it was fun to see a few animals that we don't see at the Cincinnati Zoo.  For some reason, we were not allowed to take photos of the Koala Bears which I would have liked to have because we don't have Koala's in Cincinnati anymore, but there were many signs that said "no photography" and a guard stationed inside the Koala building - so I think they were pretty certain about this!

It was hot, but everyone did well (aka Sarah).  Going in the air conditioned buildings helped, but also this zoo was pretty shady - and not hilly like our zoo!  And, Jim also caused shouts of glee when he disappeared and then showed back up with two large cups of shaved ice for all of us to share.

Being honest, there were a few things that were maybe a little less clean or kept-up with than what we may find at home.  Or maybe we just noticed because we go to the Cincinnati Zoo alot during the year and there is a reason that it is nationally ranked among zoo's in the United States.  Either way, we had a nice time at the Tennoji Zoo and have a little more appreciation for our own Cincinnati Zoo.

After the zoo, we went back to Spa World - a perfect way to cool off after spending time at the zoo...and it was a block away!



Watching the seals and listening to them bark!

 

Polar Bears





Mongolian Bears

 

Out to Dinner

The other night Jim got home "early" (7 p.m.) so we decided to go out to dinner (he had emailed before he left work).  One night this week he got home after the girls were asleep and we were needing some "get out of the house and be a family" time.  So, we decided set out to eat somewhere we had not eaten before, somewhere that was close by (because how cool is it that we can just WALK to restaurants???) and somewhere that had availability - you will find here that a lot of the local restaurants are full by 7 p.m. because they don't have the seating capacity that we may be used to.  You will also find that these little places have wonderful charm, a quaintness that is inviting and unique AND more compelling than a chain restaurant...

Anyway, our waitress did speak some English (which helped because this restaurant did not have many pictures in their menu - which is uncommon here).  Jim loves to just point to something on the menu and order it.  I, however prefer to know what I'm eating before it arrives on the table. (wink)  So, we settled upon asking our waitress, "What's Good?"  And these are the items we ordered.  Unfortunately, I do not know what any of the are called.  Maybe I'll ask Miyuki to help me with that...but, until then pictures and my descriptions will serve us nicely.

This was kinda like a pizza - in the sense that it was round and flat and had cheese baked on top of it.  Inside was a creamy white sauce that I'd say was the consistency of cream cheese or something.  It also had "leaves" in it which Sarah would not eat until it was picked out.  I think it was spinach, but she is funny about "leaves" these days - which she defines as anything green and flat.  Jim and I liked this appetizer dish.






This is what we ordered for the girls.  Jim said that he has this quite frequently in the lunches the company he is working at orders for them.  He thinks it's maybe a sweet potato dipped in batter and fried.  I'm not sure, but it was something fried that was mushy inside.  The girls didn't eat it.  But, kudos to Grace because she tried it.  That's big for her.  It was okay, but I probably wouldn't order it as a main dish.





This was our main course.  I was excited when I saw it because it reminded me a little of the dish we ordered on our Anniversary.  We cooked it at the table (which is always fun).  But, it ended up being more like a soup.  Grace ate the carrots off the top before it was done....more kudos for her!

It also had beef in it, which you can't see because it was under the cabbage.  There was also a mild soy sauce in the pan in which everything cooked.  In all, this was okay too.  I think we would have liked it better had it been served with rice - and it probably could have been if we had ordered some (or known what we were doing).  But, it was good.

For this meal, we also got some fried noodles but the girls ate them all before I could take a picture!

And finally, for our entertainment - Sarah took the hand towels they give you before the meal to preform a magic trick - where she asked where her glass was and then pulled them off and said "Here it is!"

Weekend 9: Universal Studios Japan

Saturday we took the girls to Universal Studios Japan.  It's in Osaka...four train stops away!  It was a hot and humid day here in Japan and we tried our best to stay cool and hydrated.  Sarah literally could not take the heat and I ended up leaving with her after about 4 hours.  But, before that she had a good time and Jim and Grace stayed until the closing parade and really enjoyed the rest of the park.  We only have pictures of the things we did while I was there since it's usually me taking the pictures and Jim wouldn't have been able to take pictures and ride the rides with Grace at the same time.

As you can tell the younger child area of the park is Sesame Street themed.  Sarah really loved driving the cars.  Of course, it was one of the only rides she rode (although she rode them three times).  Before she left she also rode the merry-go-round, watched a couple shows and slept through lunch.  Gotta remember, in an amusement park you stand in line for a while to ride a ride for 2 minutes...

She was still talking about driving the cars the next day!
















 They had this little water section with Ernie in the bathtub with his rubber ducky and then water trickling out down a stream in which the duckies could zig-zag through.  I guess I didn't get a picture of that, but Grace is picking up a duck at the bottom.

Grace wasn't allowed to ride the cars that Sarah rode.  But, here she is riding the cars for the bigger kids!

It was an "okay" day at Universal for our family.  Universal itself was fun, but Sarah needing to go home did put a damper on the experience, especially because Jim and I were a little worried about her.  (Now, mom - this doesn't mean she was passed out and we weren't taking care of her so don't get worried, she's fine!). 

But, on the positive side...we took a train to get here.  I left with Sarah.  Had we went to Kings Island for the day - the whole family would have needed to leave in the car we used to drive there.  Grace and Jim were able to stay and spend the rest of the time there together and came home smiling.

Weekend 8: Mommy & Sarah Afternoon

Grace started crying when Erin was going to leave, so Jim let her ride the bus with he and Erin to the airport.  This left me and Sarah with the afternoon together.  And, what did we do?  Well, just ride the train in a circle, of course!  I know by now you should understand this would be a perfect activity for Sarah...

So, here she is in the train station...waiting for our train.  Sarah was happy to look out the window on our hour train ride.  She was very excited to see where the trains were parked...and especially wanted me to show you the BLUE one on the left of this picture.












After our hour train ride we came back to the apartment for a little while and then went across the street to the restaurant in the Westin where you can see the waterfall out the window.

We had a nice little dinner together and then we played some games at a little festival they have to celebrate July 7th here...a fairy tale about two lovers crossing paths once a year in the sky.  I'll post on that more later, but I wanted to share the pictures with you and also brag on Sarah just a little.  Before she played her first game she was looking at the prizes she could win.  (They had some nice stuff!)  One of the prizes at the first table we stopped at was a package with some Elmo Stationary, envelopes and two pencils inside.  Sarah saw this and said, "if I win, I'm going to pick this prize so I can share with Gracie."  (because there were two pencils).  She actually ended up winning two prizes at that booth so she was able to share with Gracie.  And, really she ended up sharing everything with Grace that she won at the little festival.

Weekend 8: Crepes

So for dessert after the Ferris Wheel, we decided upon trying crepes.  As you can see in the widow they have a large selection of choices (this is just two rows).  This is very common here, for restaurants to have plastic samples of their dishes outside for you to see.  It's also a large help to us!  You can also see, that in Japan, they place a heavy emphasis on beauty of the food on their plates.  Below is an example of crepes not for dessert, which include a hot dog (on the right) and some other non-dessert foods made with crepes.

So, our crepes ended up being rolled into a ice cream cone shape, making it much easier to eat.  And I think everyone has caught on to how happy this makes our "sugar monster."



Grace chose to get a grape flavored ice cream instead of a crepe.  Below is a video of them making the crepe dough...|



Weekend 8: HEP 5 Ferris Wheel

One of the things we have been waiting to do is ride the Ferris Wheel at HEP 5!  The girls have been wanting to do this, but we knew it would be a nice thing to do with Erin, so (mean parents that we are) we made them wait a bit.  Here is a picture of our family from almost the top.  Osaka is in the background.

It turns out, Erin has never been on the Ferris Wheel.  And here she is near the top.  As you can also see, Grace is beginning to fit in here - making the peace sign in many photos.

I was close to Sarah and she was turned toward the back window of the seat, but here is her being excited about seeing the train tracks out the window.  (I know I've mentioned before that she loves the train system here...)  You can see this picture below (what Sarah was looking at) - several of the train tracks going in to the Osaka City train station.  This is the rather large train station that is a central point for connection between a variety of train, subway and bus lines near our apartment.  The girls and I prefer the another train station - which is significantly smaller, but we have used the Osaka Station (without Jim).  Cheers for us!

This is one of my favorite photos from the top of the Ferris Wheel.  This is a main interstate that goes through Osaka.  I think I enjoyed this view so much because we just don't see lots of traffic here.  So, for us/me, it was just a reminder of traffic and somehow...of home.

People DO drive cars here, but where we live the main road reminds me of the equivalent of well...125 in Amelia (not toward Beechmont) and maybe US 42 on the strip from FUMC toward Union during the day.  In other words, maybe a 4 lane road, but really not significantly busy as compared to 125 toward Beechmont or US 42 toward the Interstate.

And for those of you Crystal Lakers...hmmm...maybe a bit busier than the road you take to turn back in to Rich & Heather's neighborhood???  Maybe a bit busier, but I think you get the idea.



Just the girls