May 18th Nakamichi Dori

Had a good day today, the weather was in the 70's but there was enough breeze to keep it coolish.  Gary was able to get our netphone service working so we were able to call our parents! I haven't spoken to Mom since we returned here in March so was anxious to hear her voice again. We had a very nice conversation and it'll be nice to be able to stay in touch!
Later, Gary and I decided to check out a couple of second hand shops that are nearby the apartment. The first place we stopped at was closed, but the second shop had several new items. We ended up getting a VERY good deal on a trastero to hold dishes so I can use my limited cupboard space for food. We also found a  kitchen cart for my appliances so I could get them off of the dining table...yay! Also, we found a nice solid wood cabinet for Gary's office.. it looks really nice! With those purchases the kitchen/dining area is set except for my microwave!
While we were waiting for the furniture to be delivered the earthquake alarm sounded. Apparently there was a 6.3 earthquake off the coast of Fukishima. We waited and had a little shaking but nothing hardly noticeable. 
Afterwards we went walking on the street behind our apartment Nakamichi Dori.

After a couple of blocks it turns into a really neat shopping district. There is shop after shop of neat little stores of different types. Some sell curios, other dishes, flowers, clothing etc.  I will have to go back with my camera to get some photos later. It was a very pleasant walk though and we found the neatest little coffee shop where we had a delicious latte (for me) and a cappuccino (for Gary) as well as a wonderful cheesecake. The shop owner also had a coffee roasting machine and we purchased some of his delicious special blend for our home espresso machine.
On the way back we passed a neat little shop that was selling Giant Nikuman  (in China they're called Hampao)  

Nikuman are hot, soft steamed buns surrounding a different fillings. Ours' had a delicious pork and veggies mixture!  We also bought the biggest Gyoza I've ever eaten! Gyoza are a type of dumpling that look like this:

Usually they are manageable with chopsticks, the ones we bought today however were so big that we took them home and just picked them up with our hands and ate them!

I've been experimenting with different food lately. Sometimes it works out well, and sometimes we're like "what is this?!" When you are buying stuff and trying to figure out how to cook it from little pictures on the packets it can be risky! ha!  Fortunately, we haven't had too many mess ups.

Well that's it for today! Until next time!