Moving day!
We were off to Tokyo.
Get outta bed, kids!
We decided to fill up at the breakfast buffet at the hotel.
We didn't have to check out until noon, so it was a relaxing morning.
Katie made herself a big cup of tea.
I'm not sure she actually drank any of it.
Mikey filled up on bacon and pancakes.
After finishing breakfast, we returned to the room to finish packing.
We decided to check out before noon so that we could walk through Osaka Castle park one last time.
Mikey, ready to rock.
Because I was busy lugging suitcases through the park, I handed my camera over to Katie.
The next few pictures (and a video) are hers.
She thought this miniature poodle playing in the fountain was cute.
And here's a not-so-cute cicada molt.
(They shed their skin when they grow)
Huzbend took the heavy suitcases.
I took the kids carry-on rolly suitcases.
Here's the tourist train that we encountered our first day in Osaka.
We made it to the Lawson/Fountain!
Phew.
The kids took a seat in the shade while Huzbend went to find an actual place to sit down.
Mikey liked this leaf he found. Guess he had never seen one like it before.
Huzbend had no luck.
There wasn't anyplace to sit down that wasn't in the hot sun.
He did spy a playground nearby, so we headed over there.
The playground structure was pretty big. It was up in the air with lots of tunnels to climb through.
It also had a giant slide.
Wonder if you'll notice one big difference between this playground and typical USA playground?
There are no wood chips.
There is no padding of any kind.
Just hard packed dirt under the structure.
Oh, and stone stairs!
The kids ran off to climb.
Katie just barely fit.
It was actually painful to watch her make her way through the tunnels.
Ow.
Katie spotted a "big dog" across the playground.
Most dogs we had seen were the small, yappy kind.
She made a bee line over to ask if she could pet it.
So soft.
She missed Ralph.
Here's the big slide.
It had metal rollers in it to keep you moving.
Like the ones that you put your bags on at the airport when going through security.
You would NEVER see this here.
The rollers scooted you along, but also numbed your butt.
Katie and Mikey went down the slide about a million times.
No exaggeration.
They convinced Huzbend to try the slide as well.
WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!
DOUBLE WHEEEEEE!
TRIPLE WHEEEEEE!
Yep.
I tried the slide too.
It was very butt numbing.
Mikey ended up burning the side of his thigh on the slide.
Notice the ice pack....
It was time to head toward Shin Osaka station to catch our Shinkansen to Tokyo.
We had a great stay in Osaka.
Here's one last shot of the castle in the background.
We made it to the station with plenty of time and purchased some snacks to go.
It was a three hour train ride from Osaka to Tokyo.
Mikey was my train buddy this time.
Sigh.
I wish they had Shinkansen here.
Once
we got to Tokyo station, we had to transfer to the Yamanote Line to get off at
Ikebukuro and then find our way to our rental condo.
We arrived at Ikebukuro Station at
about 5 or 6pm.
A little about train stations in Japan.
They are SUPER BUSY. Almost all the time.
Some just have one platform and some are very, very large with platforms everywhere.
Train stations are also very noisy. Listen here.
There are always announcements.
There are chirping noises that alert blind passengers to stairs and bathrooms.
There are chimes/songs that announce when trains are arriving, departing or when doors are opening or closing.
Stations are always crowded and are always moving.
If you'd like to see what walking through a station is like, check out this video.
The owner/rental company
had given us step by step directions from the train station to the condo that we were staying in.
Here it is!
There was a small area when you entered for you to take off your shoes - normal practice in Japan.
To the right was a very small bathroom with just a toilet and sink (the sink was actually IN the back of the toilet tank).
Downstairs there was also a small bedroom. This is where Katie slept.
Spiral-ish stairs led up to the main floor that included a living room/dining room/kitchen area.
The kitchen had a "hot plate"/stove top, sink and a small refrigerator.
On this level there was also a shower/bath room and a washing machine.
Side note: Japanese showers are fantastic.
It's essentially a shower ROOM.
The drain is in the floor.
The shower head is movable and there's a bench to sit on and relax.
We all really, really liked the whole concept.
The bath is purely for soaking in AFTER your shower.
You do not wash in the bath.
Want to learn more? Visit this link.
Up another set of spiral-ish stairs led to two bedrooms that could be one room or two, if you wanted.
Mikey took one side and we took the other.
There was a sink in the hallway and a small toilet room.
Each floor had its own air conditioner unit.
The unit was very clean and cleverly laid out to use all available space - which was not much.
In order to have hot water to wash dishes or take a shower, you had to turn on the hot water heater.
The
kids immediately settled in and turned on the television.
Huzbend and I decided to head
out to a grocery store.
We were going to get some food to eat while we were at the condo as well as pick up something to make
for dinner that night.
We figured we'd give the kids a break and left them home.
We used Google maps to find us a grocery store.
It was a few blocks away.
I'm not sure what was going on at the local
fire station.
All the firefighters were lined up out front. Maybe for
inspection?
Most were standing a certain way – hands clasped behind their
backs.
It
was a small grocery store in comparison to what we normally have back home.
It was super fun to look around it.
We spent a lot of
time trying to translate stuff to make sure it was safe for Katie.
Check-out was done by a cashier.
You left your basket on the counter.
She scanned everything and then put it back in the basket.
The payment machine was behind her.
After you paid, you took your basket of stuff to a counter at the front of the store to bag it yourself.
We headed back "home".
As we unpacked our groceries, we realized that we had bought a small package of grapes for the equivalent of thirty US dollars.
We DID look at the price at the store. It was 3,000 Yen per pound. But, I guess we were distracted and just didn't do the math right.
Yikes.
$30 for grapes.
Huzbend made beef and broccoli.
We used GF soy sauce packets that I had brought along in our luggage to flavor the beef.
The kitchen had all the equipment we needed to cook and eat.
We also made rice. We could not figure out the rice cooker. All
the buttons were in Japanese and there was no instruction booklet. It took
about an hour to make two cups of rice.
It was delicious.
Nothing quite like home cooking even if it's almost 5,000 miles away from home.
After dinner, we sat and enjoyed some TV.
We managed to figure out the hot water heater deal. The control panel spoke to you in Japanese.
I was able to do the dishes.
We all took showers, after figuring out how to use it.
I threw in some laundry and we all went to sleep.
