Chiba!

Gary and I have spent the last 3 days in the Chiba area of Tokyo. It's a very active area of the city and we've been busy exploring and only getting slightly lost on occasion! Fortunately, I was able to ask the Chiba Bear for directions...

 

We've purchased our Suica Pass for the train and are feeling pretty comfortable with the train system. Of course we still need to learn the monorail and buses and some of the private trains but we're getting there!

Here in Chiba there were these posts that had giant gold peanuts on them.

What's with that?! I wonder if Chiba means peanut?

 

Tonight we wanted to get some dinner so Gary asked the hotel clerk for an inexpensive place to get some dinner. (she didn't speak English but we managed to get the idea across) She sent us across the street, to what I thought was a flower shop. Behind the flower shop though was a little eatery, not a place foreigners usually eat I think. There was a lady in her 50's and a younger cook . We sat at the counter and the menu was all in Japanese of course so we just pointed at the few pictures in the menu. I think the waitress was amused, but she was game to help us out and had Gary point at the things in the Big soup pot that he wanted in his soup. I just pointed to a noodle picture on the menu and ended up with a tasty yakisoba, and then since I was still hungry..lol..I pointed to a different picture and had a really nice what she called guudon. It was fried cabbage, onions, pork, udon noodles with sauce and other tasty stuff.  I would point to some of the fixings around the counter and she showed me what to put on the food. It was fun and tasty! Afterwards when it was time to leave it had started to rain and she gave us an umbrella. We tried to explain that we were from the hotel across the street and left the umbrella with the front desk clerk and tried to explain that the restaurant lady might come for it later. Who knows what anyone really understood though!lol

 

 

 

Some Random Stuff

A lot has been going on since we arrived here a week ago, lots of new experiences!
My quest for a decent cup of coffee for one. Finally today I managed to find a good latte at a coffee shop! Yay!!! Unfortunately, I can't afford to do coffee shop every day. I have been having fun trying different types of canned coffees from vending machines... some even come out hot!

                                                   (I have no idea why this coffee is called Fire)
Gary tried this one ...especially for men it said(I tried it too anyway!)

I think it's funny that this is the face for Boss Coffee's!

 

 

   This one isn't a coffee, it's tea, but I had to try it because the name cracked me up along with the proper English woman picture on the can!

                            

 

 

Another dilemma I had was washing laundry! Had fun figuring out the washing machine... Just kept jabbing buttons till I heard water lol!!!



And then there was The Toilet! Japanese toilets are in a class all their own! This one had buttons for kids, for washing, blow drying, water pressure and some I'm too afraid to push! I went into a department store restroom today and on the wall in the stall was a little white box with a hand symbol on it. I wasn't sure what it was, (I thought maybe it was a "help" button and if I pushed it someone would run into the stall to RESCUE me!!!! So I just waved my hand in front of it and suddenly there was a flushing, running water sound ...guess it's to mask any other sounds going on in the stall.

 

 

Anyway, those are a few of the random things I've faced in the last few days! More to come!!!

Atsuko

 

We have been very blessed to have a friend here in Japan already! Atsuko became a Christian in one of our churches in England. Through friend of a friend connections we began writing to each other before we left the States and she kindly took a long trip (2 hours) to Narita to join us for dinner at our hotel. The next day we headed to Tokyo by bus .

                                                                                          
 We went out exploring a little in Fuchu, Tokyo where she lives.

And then we ate...

Went to the 100 yen store and the grocery store:

(I remember when it was the 10 yen Store!)

 

After that we went to Atsuko's home and ate some more! She taught me how to make this dish! Yay!

After that it was bed time!

I was so tired and the futon was so cozy...I slept great!

 

 

 

 

Narita:Out and About

Since we knew we'd be arriving in the evening to Narita Airport, Gary booked us for 2 nights at a local hotel to give us a chance to recover from the trip . Narita is about an hour or so from Tokyo proper. Our room was quite small but clean and had all the amenities.

Day one we both woke feeling refreshed, we showered and decided to go out to see what we could find to eat and to explore  the neighborhood a little.

 

Across the street from the hotel we find a Bento box lunch shop, we both ordered a box. Mine was the pork cutlet in Japanese Curry, Gary had the smoked fish box with tsukemono. Next we went next door to the 7-11 store(they are quite popular here) where instead of hotdogs they sell all sorts of tasty Japanese treats and goodies. We bought some gyoza and Gary did very well using a bit of his Japanese and gesturing and after picking up a couple of promising looking beverages we headed back to our room to enjoy our first meal in Japan!

After eating, I adventured out on my own to do some exploring while Gary took care of business at the hotel.I crossed the train station and discovered Mc Donalds! I decided to buy Gary a soda ...tried to get a LARGE soda but didn't make myself clear because the girl charged me 100 yen and handed me a tiny child-size cup! I just took it and left...lol. I'll figure it out eventually!


I wandered up and down little streets ...there were no square blocks..everything is diagonal with streets that vary in size from very narrow to more normal size..I loved it! I ran across a vending machine that sold Coke Zero and bought Gary one to accompany his tiny soda! On the way back to the hotel I stopped and bought more gyoza...those 7-11 gyoza are VERY good!
Here's a clip of some of my wandering around. I never did find that temple...

Back To the Future!!!

After a trip that took us from leaving Las Vegas, NM at 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 30th, stepping into the Tardis, until we arrived, having gained hours and lost hours and crossing time zones, all very confusing... at Narita International airport at 6:30p.m. Oct. 31st, I am finally conscious enough to catch up with myself! We did our best on the flight to sleep as little as possible, our goal being to arrive at our hotel and sleep through the night, hopefully to trick our bodies out of jetlag. So far it seems to have worked maybe, too soon to tell for sure but we did both sleep a full night from about 9p.m. to 6 a.m.
Apart from a little confusion in LAX (Los Angeles, how about posting a few signs pointing to the international airport?!), our trip went incredibly smoothly! Narita airport was easy to traverse (LOTS of signs and arrows!), our luggage was waiting for us and the friendly airport lady directed us to our waiting hotel shuttle (the last one of the night!).

The Flight- Singapore A380
Hands down the Biggest and most comfortable flight I have ever had!

 

A double decker plane that is so HUGE, it's incredible!  Compared to our first connecting flight that were still equipped with ashtrays! How old was that plane??!

 

We were greeted by very polite stewards/esses with hot towels to refresh ourselves before the plane even took off. I assumed, being such a LARGE plane that it'd really have to get going before take off, but apparently the four huge engines were more than enough and our plane lifted so smoothly that I was surprised to find us airborne!
The rest of the flight was filled with meals, snacks and beverages! Keeping us hydrated on the long flight was clearly a priorty! Since we hadn't had a chance to eat all day before boarding and because I must of had the face of a very hungry person, when I asked the stewardess how long till meal time, she brought me chips and a candybar to hold me over. A little later our first meal was served!  Gary had the seafood tray.

 

 

I chose the Japanese tray.

 

 

Getting bored during the flight wasn't going to be a problem either, each seat came equipped with it's own entertainment center allowing us to follow the flight path, listen to music, watch stuff or play

video games!

Soon we had landed at Narita International Airport and were in Japan!

 

 

More to follow!

 

Ode to Las Vegas New Mexico!

Twenty-five years ago my husband, two yr. old son and myself drove into a small southwestern town called Las Vegas, Nevada New Mexico. Everything we owned fit in the back of our van. From the first, the sleepy old west town on the Santa Fe trail welcomed us with open arms and we felt at home. We made lifelong friends who over the years have helped us load and unload moving trucks many times!


Whenever we have popped into Vegas to live between assignments I've always preferred Westside. Eastside is more modern, but Westside has character!


 I like being able to walk to Plaza Drugs soda fountain to get the best cherry-lime in town.



It was also nice to go to Plaza Park at the Gazebo and listen to bands play music!


Though I admit to being a little creeped out when thinking about how many were hung from the old windmill there back in the Old West days!

Across the street is the historic Plaza Hotel, where the likes of Doc Holliday and his girlfriend Big Nose Kate frequented. Rumor has it that the hotel is haunted, I slept in one of the "haunted "rooms once, guess no spirits were dumb enough to bother a pastor and his wife!

It was also in this town that Pat Garrett escorted Billy the Kid to the local jail and rescued him from a vigilante mob.

One of our buildings was built by the man who killed Jesse James.



Our stay in Vegas has been all too short, only 6 months this time. No matter where we go however, it's comforting to know that our home away from home is here waiting to welcome us back and help us recharge! Sayonara Las Vegas...until we meet again!!!

Cowboy Fable!!!

So I headed to Santa Rosa, New Mexico this weekend! Gary had just returned from his trip to Ky. and was headed there to preach a revival so I decided to tag along for a couple of days. Santa Rosa is on Historic Route 66! If you're ever in the area I highly recommend a meal in The Comet Restaurant! For $9 I had a large chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad, posole, the most delicious melt in your mouth buttery homemade biscuit ever and apple crumble for desert!!! Yummy! Delicious home-style cooking!!!

It was a nice break but I had to head back to LasVegas, N.M. this morning to continue the packing and sorting for our move. The drive takes about an hour and for any gamers out there the scenery is like riding through Red Dead Redemption..I kept missing my horse and pistol to shoot coyotes!!!

Cowboy Fable!!!