We went took the local train into Hiroshima today. JF will have get the pictures to me so I will be able to share them with you. We really enjoyed the trip. MDF did good & Abigail slept the whole time. It was a full day of walking & more walking. We walked through the Peace Park & through the museum about the A-bomb, and did some window shopping in a covered mall (not like our malls though; more of an plaza type with dome ceilings & streets all around. Very interesting. We ate lunch at a place called “The Garlic House”…I ate Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce (it also had tons of garlic in it & eggplant cut up), JF had spaghetti & bologna–same as mine pretty much. Some type of soup & salad came with it…and I also had buttered garlic bread that was sweet & delicious!!! I will admit I’m trying new foods & doing the best I can with it..but I’m ready for some good American food–cheeseburgers, steaks, fries, junk food…but some good ole fried chicken would be nice too. Something I know & that I’m used to. But I keep trying foods.
Tomorrow, Easter Sunday, we are planning on going to chapel here on Base. Later in the day, they are having a brunch meal & Peter Cottontail is stopping in for a visit. We may try to go & see Peter Cottontail…today we were in a store & there was a Winnie the Pooh–knowing that MDF likes Pooh I thought she would like to see him. I was wrong. She was fine until Pooh touched her head & then that was the end. She cried if he waved at her…I wonder how she’ll do with Pooh later on.
While window shopping we went to an electronic store that has multiple floors. On one floor they have massage chairs. They are around $2000–but man they feel good. I sat in one that did my legs, back & shoulders. I was about to go to sleep. There were others that massaged your feet, arms, and legs, back & shoulders. They have various massage chairs. It would have been nice to have been able to get one of those shipped home–especially for when I get pregnant again. That would relieve JF of a lot of rubbing. J
I suppose I will go for now. It is getting time for MDF’s bed time (as well as mine) and I’ll try to send pictures & e-mail more tomorrow.
We went to the Fish Tank restaurant for supper last night. It had traditional Japanese seating: a low table on a raised platform with cushions to sit on. As an American (and a tall one at that), I found it rather cramped, and almost got claustrophobic one time when I had trouble shifting positions.
The food was good though. We ordered meat and other food grilled on spits, such as chicken, mushrooms wrapped in bacon, asparagus wrapped in bacon, fried battered shrimp, fried battered octopus, fried rice, and noodles. They brought the food on individual plates, and then everyone got what they wanted.
We went driving yesterday afternoon, around Iwakuni and down to the famous Kentai bridge. It’s one of only eight bridges like it in Japan. It was almost too cold to be out, so we spent most of the time in the van. We did get out and walk in the park by the river. The cherry trees are just about to bloom — only have started, but they’re supposed to be in full bloom next week. We’re also hoping for warmer weather so we can walk the in the park.
Kentai Bridge
Too Cold to be Out
After walking by the bridge, we headed back. In the parking lot there were a number of Japanese cats hanging around the cars.
Japanese Cat
I didn’t get close enough to the cats to see if their eyes had the Asian slant too.
After walking around, we went driving through more of the river park. There were a lot of shrines, bridges and buildings. It will be very pretty when all the flowers start blooming. Hopefully we’ll catch the begining before we leave next Sunday.
Building in the Park
MDF is quite taken with her baby cousin. She’s able to say Abigail’s name, and likes to watch Stephanie take care of her during the day. Yesterday CDF took some pictures of MDF and Abigail interacting.
Cousins
It has been in the 50’s for the past few days, but last night it started snowing! It didn’t stay long this morning, but it was pretty to look at on the mountains.
Yesterday we went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant downtown. It was on the ground floor of a multi-story building. We sat at a large round table that had a large, marble Lazy Susan in the middle. We all ordered lunch specials. CDF got a beef and vegetable stir fry and I got ramen noodle soup. The special came with salad, rice, vegetables, fried squash, fried pork, and a peach/tofu desert.
My rice was mixed with eggs and vegetables. MDF liked it a lot and ate half the bowl. The ramen dish was spicy, but good. MDF also liked the desert. I think she ate most of Vasco’s dish.
Yesterday afternoon we went off base to the town. CDF had wanted to go to the 100 Yen store. We drove downtown and parked at a parking deck a few blocks up. The streets are narrow and the buildings are very close together. The Yen store building is not very wide, but it’s four stories tall. We rode the escalators all the way to the top floor and then began working our way down.
Heading downtown.
The clerks at the store are very polite. Every time one came out from the back, she would call a greeting to whoever was near by. Of course I couldn’t understand what she said, but I got the meaning.
Another building on the way back home.
We spent most of Tuesday (which was mostly still Monday back in the States) laying around, tired from the trip and feeling the effects of jet lag.
MDF and I walked around the building a while, exploring our surroundings. Stephanie and Vasco’s place is on the 4th floor. On the first floor is a community room. We walked around in it and were on our way back up, when we ran into a man who asked us if we were there for the playgroup. I said no, but we’d like to join. So we spent about an hour from 9:30 playing with the kids that normally come to the playgroup. We played with toys for a while, then had a snack, sang some songs, and had craft time where the children colored a bunny picture.
While we were down in the community room, CDF was sleeping. She got up after a while, and we had lunch. In the afternoon we rode around the base to see where everything was. By 6:00 PM though, we were ready for bed again.
After we got through immigration and customs at the Kentai airport we had to find a train to take us to Iwakuni. We needed to take taking the Haruka train from the Kansai airport to the Shin-Osaka station, board a Nozomi Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Hiroshima, then transfer to a Kodoma Shin train to get to Iwakuni.
We found the platform for the Haruka okay. It was already there and waiting for the crew to finish their clean up before everyone boarded. Once on we found our seats and the train left soon after (all the trains are kept on schedule). MDF wandered up to the next row and made three friends. She spent most of the time on this train sitting with a Japanese lady and playing with the lady’s cell phone.
At Osaka we had ten minutes to find our next train. We found out that the Shin lines run above ground and we’d need to go several floors up to board… unfortunately the elevator only went up half way and we had to take the stairs the rest of the way. It wasn’t easy. Three Japanese ladies help CDF carry MDF and the stroller to the top while I lugged the luggage, one step at a time. We made it to the platform about 30 seconds before the train rolled in!
Hiroshima was easier, we had time to wait and rest before the Kodoma arrived. CDF talked to a conductor, trying to make sure we had the right platform again — it wasn’t clear on the tickets. After that CDF called her sister to let them know we were on our way.
For the first time navigating the Japan Rail system, we did pretty well. Still it was a relief to arrive at the Iwakuni station without having gotten lost or having missed our stop.
Well, the morning started off at 2:30 a.m. with MDF waking the adults up in the house with “Down” –she was awake & ready to get out of the play pen. We attempted to keep her in the room with us & as quiet as possible. We ended up in the living room with cereal snack & the door to the hallway shut. We stayed up for a while & then thought about giving her benadryl to help her sleep; we were able to make it back to the bedroom & watch some TV & finally ended up putting her in the play pen awake & just let her cry it out. It didn’t last that long. However, we were up for almost an hour & half to 2 hours. We were all able to go back to sleep & I ended up awake around 7 a.m. MDF got up with me & we started breakfast.
Side note: Up until now MDF has preferred JF. She really didn’t want to have that much to do with me–which hurt my feelings but today is better & she likes me again. I suppose it is just a stage & will pass. Then again it may get worse before better & I will cry many more times.
So, MDF & I were up & ate breakfast with Vasco. Then again with JF & again with Stephanie (that was just MDF & Steph). The morning was uneventful. We did go out to the playground & play for a short time. MDF started off on the fat, metal slide & ended up on the curved, tall, covered slide. Alone!! Ahh..how she is growing. She really enjoyed that. Came in because it was starting to sprinkle & was time for lunch.
After lunch & naptime, around 3 p.m. we headed off base & to the Hundred Dollar Yen Store. (Our Dollar Store) It is 3 stories & full of this & that. I know we have dollar stores in every town & plenty of them but this is very nice. You can buy dishes there (and I’m talking nice dishes), you can get just about every shape & size of plastic “Tupperware” container you can imagine, organizing baskets, toys, stationary, CDs, but it also has some cheap plastic things–plastic tiara, etc. We spent big money there–$14.70!! Big spenders I tell you! J We really enjoy the Japanese CDs that are instrumental so we bought another one of those & we got MDF some foam Alphabet letters for tub time, among other things. After the Yen Store, we walked quickly through what is called Iwakuni Grand. From what Stephanie said, it is like a department store with a grocery store on the bottom floor. We walked in, went up to the 6th floor, walked around & stopped in the elevator & looked from there to see what was on each floor. By this time we were tired, Abigail was doing good but had a dirty diaper, & MDF was getting a little restless.
Back at the apartment, Stephanie was nursing Abigail & MDF (bless her heart) climbed up on me; pulled at my shirt & clearly asked to nurse. I calmly explained to her that she is a big girl & she eats big girl food. I took a breath & she asked again. I repeated the above & added “Momma has no more milk” she climbed down. She did this 2 or 3 times. She has really taken to Abigail. She says her name, likes to watch her, likes to be in the same room with her, talks to her some, etc. I think she’s gonna miss her when we head home. It is very sweet to watch. And MDF is told to be gentle & she is. She, so far, has only touched Abigail’s feet & hands. But she likes to be around her & close. Not a problem though.
Tomorrow we are heading to story time at the library (yes, I find these things out & keep to our schedule. For those of you who do not know my “weekly schedule” every Thursday that we can we go to story time at our library. ) We are doing that from 10-10:45 after that I think we are going back in town & meeting Vasco for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Go figure we’re in Japan & eating Chinese food. But hey, we love it & aren’t complaining. Friday night, we are meeting with some of Stephanie & Vasco’s friends (this couple is the one that took Stephanie to the hospital when she had Abigail–they also have family in country for a visit) and are going out to eat at “The Fish Bowl”. Don’t really know what to expect other than you order food individually rather than by plates. I’ll keep you posted on that.
Well, I suppose I will go for now. I do hope to hear from some of you soon. Hope all is going well with everyone.