I Do Not Want to Eat Doritos in Japan

But, I do want Tostitos. Today we ventured off the Island into Osaka. Guess where we went? Some beautiful historic castle? No. A neighborhood filled with traditional Japanese food? No. We went to Costco. Yes, Costco.

If you are not familiar with Costco it is a store very much like Sam's. It is a membership club where you go to buy ridiculous amounts of toilet paper, broccoli, and canned goods. So, we ventured out today in our car, traveling approximately 25 Kilometers, to Costco.

All of our neighbors that we ran into this morning warned us against Costco on a Saturday. We did not listen. After a 45 minute drive we found ourselves in the parking garage of a ginormous store with about a gazillion people. I have never shopped amongst so many. It is not enjoyable. Cart to cart traffic. The Japanese are similar to the Americans in the way the clog the end of the aisles where the free samples are.

It was a nice opportunity to see what food items they stock though. We ended up stocking up on some items, but I cannot say that it was a very necessary trip. We can generally buy enough American food to get our fix in the grocery stores where we live. Additionally, I want to take the opportunity, while in a different country, to eat different foods and I do not want to rely on Costco too much. 

When we got home I ventured out on foot to the local grocery stores. I have a Japanese cookbook and I was determined to make a Japanese meal. The grocery store was great. The only problem came when I needed to buy Miren and Sesame Oil. Easy enough right? Wrong. Most labels are written in Kanji or Hiragana (I think) and not in English.  So, the Mirin did not say "mirin."  There were at least 25 different bottles of what could have been mirin and sesame oil.  I stood in that aisle for a really long time trying to decipher the labels.  Finally, I made my selections. 

Once I got back to our apartment complex I took the two bottles to our reception desk and asked them to interpret what I purchased. Wonder of wonders---I bought mirin and sesame oil. 

Tonight, in a quest to embrace the culture, we had a Japanese recipe of Beef and Rice from this cookbook.  It was delicious (oishii).  

Back Tracking

Sean helping us pack.

First Morning Walk on Rokko Island

Sean and I took our jet lagged selves out for a morning walk.  Here we are pre-walk and then some of the sights we saw.  The tallest building is ours, the others just examples of housing on the island.  

Arrived Safely

All in all, the trip over couldn't really have gone smoother - despite lugging way to much stuff 1/2 way around the world. We were nervous about the Japan flight.

Sean was a real trooper. As we boarded the full flight we got many looks from the folks in the seats around us - "oh no, a screaming baby". During the entire flight Sean hardly made a peep, except to let us know when he was hungry or uncomfortable. The flight attendants fell in love with him, so he had plenty of attention. I actually sat in front of Tracy and Sean so every once in a while I would hear a ferocious growl from the seat behind.

Riley also did awesome. She stayed in her bag the entire time and barely made a sound. She did great but we know that it was very hard on her. Now that we have her here in Japan we think she will stay here until we go home. I cant see doing that again to her anytime soon. One of our biggest worries was getting her through customs in Japan - this is a process we started in January and it culminates with a review of paperwork and inspection of the dog at the quarantine office. We though we were hosed when the officer noted a difference in birth dates between two documents (we had the wrong date on one). Its not a big deal but Japan is a land of rules. It turned out that the inspector just changed the date on one of the forms. Riley is Japanese now!

The ride from the airport to the hotel was fun. Normally we take a bus but due to the kid, dog, and luggage we decided to try a taxi. Never again. First off it took three guys to load our luggage into one of the small cabs. The had luggage in the front seat, on our laps, and also had the trunk bungeed closed. I think we looked like Japanese shriners. Second, the price was crazy - don't ask.

The pictures below include 1) Sean in the cockpit of a 747 (cool, huh?) 2) The "tent" that Tracy built Sean on the plane

More to come on the move in tomorrow.

Bon Voyage

We are on our way - currently sitting in Detroit waiting for our flight to Japan. It has been quite an experience so far. We are traveling with 6 checked bags, 1 dog, 1 eight month old baby, 1 stroller, and 4 carry on bags. We must look like the circus coming to town. Sean and Riley did fine on the first leg, let's hope our luck continues on the second (and longer) leg. Right now Sean is crawling on the airport floor, Riley is scrounging for food (we have not fed her), Tracy is chatting her cell phone, and I am watching the Iowa/Iowa State game on the Internet (pretty boring so far).

We arrive into Japan Sunday evening. Once we get to Osaka we will find a ride to the hotel to stay the night. The hotel wont take pets so we found a local pet hotel. Monday morning we inspect our apartment at 9 am then the movers show up with our goods at 10 am. There wont be any rest for us for a couple days.

The adventure begins......