Costco

That's right, we finally made it to Costco. The Japanese pronounce it Costoco. Not surprisingly, it looks pretty much like what you'd find in the US.


This store had great conveyor belts for us to ride with our carts.

Note Ian is covered by the ergo carrier in the picture. This was our unsuccessful attempt at trying to get him to nap in Costco.

Our main mission at Costco was to find decent wine, but I also managed to sample quite a few things. We went on a Saturday, which was definitely busy, but not as bad as you'd imagine. Japanese people have a 6 day work week, so Saturdays are typically not too bad. Sundays, however, are a different story...

This cracked me up. In one aisle, I found Calvin Kline underwear and just below there were packages of nori. (dried seaweed)

Ah, Costco...

The store is actually not too far from our house if we take the Yoko-yoko. (the Yokohama Yokosuka toll road/super highway)

Kit kats

I recently heard that the words for 'good luck' in Japanese sound similar to kit kat. Apparently parents buy their kids kit kats before big tests, competitions, etc. I'm not positive that this is true (I haven't learned good luck yet in my Japanese class), but it does explain why kit kat has developed a ton of flavors in Japan. Some flavors are seasonal and some are regional. We have a friend, Denise, who has been traveling this month and bringing us back kit kat flavors to try. So far we've tried:

tea (it was ok)

coffee (love it)

lemon (my favorite)

corn (nasty. leaves an awful corn after taste)

melon (ok)

maple (ok)

flan (pretty good)

wasabi (surprisingly good)

dark chocolate raspberry passionfruit (not a fan)

citrus (tastes like a creamsicle, but in a good way)

I heard there is a ginger kit kat, but I believe it's seasonal and won't be out until the fall. I do find myself running into convenient stores quickly to check their selection.

Here are a few that we've recently sampled (maple, strawberry cheesecake, wasabi, citrus):

If you're curious about some of the more wacky flavors, here's a website to look up. (or, you can look it up on wikipedia for a longer list)

http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_kit_kat_chocolate_bars_5324

The views from our home

We're not quite organized in the inside yet, but figured we'd give you some views from the outside of our house.

First, here are a couple pictures of the front of our house (and note our minivan in the driveway):

We're less than 1/2 mile to the ocean. (Tokyo Bay, to be precise) From our windows in the back of the house you can see all of the huge ships coming in the bay.

On a clear day, you can also see Tokyo and Yokohama in the distance.

We're also located right above a train station, so if we look down we can see trains. Luckily, it's not too loud. This is a train station with only local trains (no express trains), so all the trains that go through have to stop. I think Ian is going to love this when he gets a little older.

We also just figured out that on a clear day we can see Mt. Fuji from our balcony in the front of our house (or if we lean our head out the windows in the back of the house). I don't have a picture of it yet.

Also, from the front of our house, we can look into our neighbor's window and see Lassie in his upstairs window.

The neighbor never actually opens the blinds, so Lassie is always longingly peering inside. I haven't figured out yet what is next to the dog.

About 2-3 blocks away from our house is our new favorite bakery. Reason #75 for why you should come visit.

The Japanese bathroom

Now that we've moved into our new home, we've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out appliances and other features of the house. If you're not familiar with Japanese toilets, you may not realize that there are a lot of options to memorize. Japan has really perfected the toilet.

With our toilets, we have the option for a small flush or a big flush. But even better...the seat is heated. It took a little getting used to a warm seat, but I pretty quickly realized how great a feature it is - especially in the winter. We can also adjust how hot we want the seat to be. There are also various bidet options. (reason #43 for why you should come visit us in Japan - ha!)

Our toilet downstairs has a sink above it. When you flush the toilet, the sink automatically starts running so you can wash your hands. That same water then refills the tank. It's brilliant! It's also incredibly cold water, but I imagine I'll appreciate it in the summer. Based on a trip to a local home store in Japan, Ryan thinks this toilet is close to $900 - $1,000.

Here is our control panel for this toilet:

A couple weeks ago I went to a restaurant where the toilet seat automatically rose as I opened the door. (which made for a little confusion - do I close the lid upon leaving or assume that the lid will close when I shut the door? I chose the former choice, which I think was incorrect)

I've also heard of a toilet in a restaurant that has a button you can press to create some noise to - ahem - cover any noises you may be making.

The other great feature about our bathroom is the soaking tub. This is the real reason #43 why you should come visit. (at least in colder months) I didn't take a picture, but the tub is essentially like a hot tub without a jet. With the push of a button (either from the bathroom or from our kitchen), we can fill the tub. Once you're in the tub, you can push another button to reheat the water. Again, brilliant!

Food, glorious food

Ian will eat anything you put into his mouth...or so we thought until we tried avocado recently. I made the mistake of not adding water to it, so he kind of gagged as he tried it. Here are some pictures of our second time trying avocado. This time I added water to help with the consistency.

Here he is prior to his first bite...

His initial reaction...and my reaction as well. I'm not sure whose face looks scarier! Notice I already have the spoon ready to see if he'll try another bite. He actually kept taking bites - I think he was somehow hoping that it was something other than avocado.

His next reaction...I don't understand how this kid can eat nasty smelling green beans, but not like avocado!

Still trying to get it down...

Despite the trauma of avocado, Ian is still able to smile for the camera.

Roller Slide

Several coworkers had mentioned a fun "roller slide" at a local park. When I heard that one coworker flew off the end of the slide and couldn't walk straight for two weeks I asked how to find the slide.

In the US there would be lawsuits due to injuries on this slide; in Japan it's just "fun at your own risk". Here is a video of the ride, enjoy!

Ian didn't go down the slide but he did enjoy being outside and watching the action.

Mt. Nokogiri

We headed out on a beautiful, sunny morning for a day trip across Tokyo Bay to Mt. Nokogiri. We took a train, ferry, and finally a cable car up the mountain. I'm pretty sure it was mid-50s outside. If this is typical January weather in Japan, I'll take it! The view was great from the top. On a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji, but it was too hazy for us to spot.

After getting off the cable car, we walked to see a Bodhisattva carved into the stone. Ian woke up from his nap in time to get his picture taken.

The Japanese have named this rock outcropping "Peering into Hell." Ryan and Ian went up and looked off the edge. It's a great name, but I'm not quite sure what it's referring to as the views are gorgeous.

After stopping in the sun for lunch, we then headed down a ton of stairs to see the Buddha. Along the way there were 1,500 stone figures of Tokai Arhats. From what I have read, arhats are people who have achieved nirvana. Each of the 1500 arhats are rumored to have a different expression. We didn't see all 1500, but they did have some great expressions. Here is my favorite:

Here we are at the 2nd largest Daibutsu (Buddha) in Japan. It was worth all the stairs.