Jackpot!!!

    I feel like I've won the lottery. Today my air shipment came. WOOHOO! I have kitchen stuff again. I can't tell you how hard it is to make a meal with foreign food with one pot, one skillet and a wire wisk. This should make my life a lot easier.
     My lottery win was, as I was adding stuff to my empty kitchen drawers, I stumbled across this little gem.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen it is a folder of manuals IN ENGLISH!!! This calls for a "Yippee Skippy," for sure. I turned off all the annoying beeps that my dishwasher and washer/dryers made. I learned how to use my washer/dryer better (no more wrinkled jeans people!). I figured out how to use my incredibly high tech shower to dry itself clean and the clothes I hang in it too. I am feeling blessed, better than Christmas morning! YES!

Disney Goof

     First I have to say the Disney store in Shibuya is the coolest one I've been to yet. Check it out: http://www.disney.co.jp/store/storeinfo_en/101.html The entrance looks like a cartoon castle but the building itself looks like Malificent's Castle. It also has 5 floors of shopping. Scott and I popped in here to take a look. Like any good shopper I went to hit up the clearance and this is what I found.

     It is a soft cloth to wipe your face. Everyone has one here, because it's so stinking hot you melt the second you go outside. Women carry them in their purses, men in their pockets. You can see people wiping their faces all over town with some variety or another. I was going to pick this one up for me. When in Rome and all that...I love Disney and it's pink and purple. Then I started looking at what was actually on the cloth. "Go Your Dream." Hmmm.  Not real sure what message they are trying to send but it's missing a word or two. Maybe Go Live Your Dream? I'm not real sure but it made me giggle at Disney's goof and I had to take a pic to share. 

Booger Mushroom

     The kids and I went to the grocery store together. I hate grocery shopping with kids, but I need the hands to bring bags home. Every time we go shopping there is someone there giving out food to try (just like the states). We have all been very adventurous and have tried everything that has been offered to us. Most of it good.
     In this instance, we were offered a small tray of food. It looked to have 2 different types of mushrooms, some bean sprouts and cabbage in a clear sauce. I knew I liked all the veggies so I put a big scoop into my mouth. Now for those of you who know me I can eat just about anything. I will give anything a try and if I don't like it I swallow and move on. This my friends was FOUL! It was so slimy I just couldn't even chew it. To my kids shock and horror I spit it back out on the tray. It's still giving me shivers just thinking about it. I was traumatized! Payton kindly offered her tray back to the lady saying, "Um no!" Lincoln, oh my brave Lincoln took a bite. He did manage to swallow it. I was so proud! "Mom, you know what it tastes like? (Now get those visuals cranking) You know when you have one of those really long slimy boogers (he is showing me how he pull sit out) that comes out of your nose? Yup that's what it tasted like." It took everything in my power not to hurl on the floor, the laughing helped. And so the booger mushroom was born. <Shiver> To Kaden's credit he did taste it with the tip of his tongue. He was a no go too.

    We piled all our trays on top of Lincoln's and gave him the task of dumping them in the trash when the sample lady wasn't looking. I treated the kids to pastries after. It was more a treat for me. I had to wipe the horrors of my booger mushroom experience away with chocolate. So, with backpacks, fabric and Costco bags full we tredged home in the semi rain. Living to try food again another day....

This is the Way We Go to Church...

   We walked to church today. I think this was the first time in the entire time I have been a member that I have walked to church. It has been so miserably humid out, but the rain and low temps were just too good to pass up. 

     The church building is a bit different here than the states. It's the big city so instead of building out they built up. It has 4 floors. The chapel is on one with a few rooms off to the side. The primary room is in the basement which Pay didn't like until she found out she could ride the elevator down. 

     We were late for a few reasons, one, I'm never on time, and two, little legs do not walk as fast as google says. :) Usually when you are late for church you end up in the overflow at the back of the room on the cold metal chairs. Here you end up in a completely different room watching a TV screen. LOL. At least the chairs were comfy.

That aside it was great to take the sacrament and feel the spirit. It was a little bit of peace in a world where I feel like I'm in a blender half the time trying to outrun the beaters. The people were welcoming and kind offering help and advice. I don't think I have ever appreciated the church as much as I did on Sunday.

Temple trips are probably not as big of a deal here. All you have to do is walk next door.  It's going to be nice having a temple only a 25 minute walk away. 

NOTE: No, I didn't wear shorts to church. This picture was from another day. 

That's One Busy Crosswalk

     Every morning bright and early the kids and I head over to Shibuya Station where they catch the bus for school. In the morning, it is quiet with minimal traffic and few people. However, during rush hour and evenings it is the busiest crosswalk in the world.

     No lie! Look it up. Over 2500 people cross this group of crosswalks every time the signal changes making there way to and from the busy train station to a plethoria of shopping and restaurants. It's a sight to behold.

     We brought the kids over at night so they could see how crazy it was. They were a little surprised because it is so quiet in the mornings, maybe 50 people or less.  

The Starbucks behind us has some of the most sought after seating in town. You can enjoy a nice cup of joe and watch the chaos below. Yet another cool thing in Tokyo.

Weightloss Motivator

    Sometimes I wonder about people who design the interiors of homes. In this instance, I am confident it was a man who was in impeccable shape. May I present my evidence...

     Yes, my friend that is a mirror in the middle of my shower at waist height. I don't know about you but after 3 kids (one set of twins) my belly is not something I like to dwell on for any length of time. I surely don't want to stare at it while I'm in the shower every day.  On the flip side, it is quite the motivator to put down the donut (I say this figuratively, because I haven't found donuts yet). 

Bugs as Big as Texas

     Cicadas! I know they have them in Texas but they are typically heard and not seen. These noisy little buggers stick to the trees and annoy you from a distance. For whatever reason in Japan they have taken to the skies. They fly around flittering from tree to tree.

     And they are BIG! This is one of the smaller ones I've seen. It's a good one though because it's dead. I swear to you the ones that jump off trees to terrorize you are the size of small birds. Evil pure evil!!!

Bread It's Whats for Lunch

     Now that's a piece of bread! We went and bought lunch stuff for the kids. This was the standard loaf size. I think we are going to do half sandwiches. LOL! My kids said no one eats sandwiches for lunch but them. I asked if they wanted me to find a different lunch option they all immediate declared, "NO!" Apparently they like this little taste of home. Let me tell you how excited they were when they had peanut butter and jelly. You would have thought I'd given them a fresh donut from Krispy Kreme.  Here's to finding happiness in strange places!

AND We Have a COSTCO!!!!

      From previous posts you would know food has been a bit of an issue. Two train rides and a 13 stop bus ride we made it to COSTCO. It took an hour. We were so excited. It was like two kids in a candy store. I'm pretty sure I did a happy dance in a few of the isles. OK I'm not going to lie I actually jumped up and down, clapped my hands, and may have squealed.

       The food was still expensive compared to American standards but a little more doable. Except for the Tbone steaks. This Texan is going to have to live without her steaks for a bit. $88 for two not very great looking steaks is a bit much. We kept loading the cart and loading the cart. We kept saying how are we going to get this home, but it didn't stop us from continuing to pack the cart.

     Those bags were heavy! You can't see the full duffle bag Scott has strapped to his back. We did make it home. We struggled through bus and train stations lugging our goodies, laughing and huffing and puffing all the way. I'm pretty sure the crazy American comment got said at least once or twice. We ended up caving on the last part of the walk home and took a cab. The best $7.30 we have ever spent. We are going to have to figure out a better way to get to CostCo. 

Need American Washer and Dryer ASAP!

Japan does a lot of things well. I mean ALOT! Somehow they have missed the technology out there in washers and dryers. This is what my jeans and towels looked like coming out of the dryer. To answer questions no I didn't over pack either of them. In fact I did smaller loads just in case. Yes, mom I shook out all the laundry before I dried them. (I hate this and never do it at home but was skeptical after seeing the washer/dryer combo (yes combo one machine does both wash and dry)




So here I am with incredibly wrinkly jeans, towels and everything else. I will have to admit I laughed pretty hard when I pulled them out. Clearly I'm doing something wrong. Thought I'd read the instructions, another thing I never do. Oh yeah, they are in Japanese and I can't read that yet (the 5 characters I've learned don't go very far) O'well back to the drawing board. Prayers people!!! Send them my way, no one should ever have wrinkly towels!

A VERY long day!

     I don't think we could have done this on our own. No one spoke English. NO ONE! Luckily we had help (cute girl named, Ae) from our relocation company. We spent all day yesterday registering our address with the city ward office, getting a bank account and setting up my cellphone. (Of course his works everywhere, even worked in Cambodia when we went there in May, annoying!) Those three things took us almost 7 hours. The wait at the city office was pretty typical.  Most of the time was spent at the bank, for only a saving account! They don't do credit cards here. It is primary a cash system. Let me tell you how annoying it was that they didn't even need my signature. My husband actually had to fill our the form to add me to the account and he signed for me. My feminist self, was clawing to come out. You would be proud I refrained,(barely)! Well if you don't count the "You don't even need my signature?" comment with my eyebrow raised, I made to the bank associate. 

This is Lincoln trying to perfect THE eyebrow raise. Not quite there but close!

     The day ended well. We picked the kids up from the bus stop and walked to our new home. It's a bit empty. They have a furniture rental place that gave us the basics. (I do mean basic). It's home so no complaints here. We can start setting up some routines. This mom is in some desperate need for stability. All of the utlitlies get hooked up tomorrow and we are set!

School was a Success!

    The best part of dropping them off that morning was Payton's face upon seeing the hard hat in her cubby for earthquakes. She looked truely distressed. Then she shrugged pushed it to the side deciding to ignore it and loaded her cubby with her supplies burying it in the back. Out of sight out of mind I guess. 

     The kids had a great time at school. Everyone made new friends. The boys love having a male teacher for home room and PE. I asked them to spy and see what all the other kids were eating for lunch. My agents came back and reported Japanese food. Very helpful these agents of mine. LOL.

     Payton of course made friends. When I asked her about her teacher she scrunched up her face. After some prodding I found out that lunch time is a quiet time. Talking is for during class participation and out on the playground. My social butterfly was none to thrilled about this. Strike one for Ms. B in Payton's eyes. LOL. She'll get over it just like she does everything else or she'll ignore it in true Jones fashion and do what she likes.

First Day of School

         Nothing like wake up to typhoon warnings while trying to get kids ready for their first day. When I say wake up I do mean sometime around 4am because we are still adjusting to the time and my kids are incapable of forcing themselves to sleep. We braved the storm with borrowed umbrellas and trudged to the subway station. 

       It doesn't look very wet out in the pictures but it was pooring.  It was that lovely soaking rain that drenches you to the bone in 2 minutes. Pay didn't care she loved carrying her own umbrella and splashing in the puddles. Note to self: buy rainboots for the family. I hate wet feet.

          45 minutes and two train rides later we made it to the school a little wetter than we wanted. Next time I'm digging out the raincoats I brought. By the time Scott and I made it back to the house I was soaked even in a raincoat. (I'll spare you the drowned rat selfie) We decided to by bigger umbrellas for the journey to get them from the bus stop. Good thing to the rain had really picked up by then.  We sat in a cubby safe from the rain watching people struggle with inside out umbrellas. Some just gave up pitched the umbrella and made a run for their destination. The others continued to struggle not realizing the amount of time they struggled to right their umbrella they could have probably made it to their destination. It was entertaining to watch though. Loving my new umbrella. 

Food - It's a problem!

        You wouldn't think finding food would be an issue. However, going into a grocery store when you can't read and don't speak the language is something of a challenge. You buy off visuals because you really have no idea what the package says. You can only hope your eyes aren't deceiving you because you can't smell anything through a plastic wrapper. (Trust me I've tried) I've had some good luck and bad. Bought some tomato sauce to make spaghetti. It was tomato sauce (Jackpot!) that's the good news. Bad news it smelled and tasted like the stuff you find in a can of Spaghetti Os. We randomly picked out a bag of treats. They looked cinnamon sweet but ended up being some bizarre type of pork rind, I think. We all spit our bites out in the trash. We decided to tempt fate a picked out 4 things in the deli that we had no idea what they were. We each tried a bite. One was tempura shrimp, that was a Winner, Winner Shrimp Dinner. One was some type of tempura hard boiled egg. The eggs were so tiny I'm guessing maybe they were pheasant? Grasping at straws here. Another looked like a corn dog. It was basically a corn dog, but the sausage inside was a bit different. The last one was a squishy fried something. Lincoln took a huge bite. I thought he was going to hurl. LOL! I believe it was some sort of scallop creamy something deep fried. Next time we will give some others a go. Ever grateful for adventurous kids. 

Back to the grocery store. The fruit here is outrageously expensive. Not big city expensive but you need to be a sultan expensive. We found a 3rd of a pound of grapes for $12.80. An apple (yes one) for $2.98. Watermelon was $9.70 for a quarter slice. It's just crazy! I'm hoping to find a farmers market or something. Otherwise my kids will be pounding the gummy vitamins to get what vitamins they lack in their diets. Don't get me started on meat. <Shiver> I'm pretty sure we are going to starve here because this coupon clipping, sales watching girl can't swallow full price food. Do you see the box of Frosted Flakes in my basket. $4.75 for a small box. Dying a very slow full price death as we speak. 

On a bright note Payton has found her all time favorite drink. Green Lemonade. Who knew it was her favorite? Not I, but there is only one vending machine that carries her favorite brew and we have been known to make a special trip to just to see this smile. 

Japanese Toilets are cool

      This little gem isn't one of the more high tech of toilets but lets face it folks these are far superior to our American toilets. Before we brought the family Scott and I told the kids on numerous occasions how cool these toilets were. Apparently the hype was too much as we were causing them some distress. Payton was the first to use one of them at the airport. The giggles that came from the stall were tempting to record. She was sold. Kaden was the next to try. He asked what buttons did what. I left him to his business only to hear from the darkness a good 2-3 minutes later, "Mom, when does this thing stop spraying?" I forgot to mention the STOP button. ROFL I could have died with laughter at that point. Lincoln on the other hand is my skeptic. He didn't want any part of these new contraptions. After much cajoling he caved and has become a firm believer. What can I say, America is missing out.  The one in my apartment has heated seats and the lid is motion sensored and raises up and down as you come and go into the bathroom. To the say least, "I'm in love!"

Let's Rewind

       2 months ago my husband got offered a job in Japan. Being the world travelers that we are we saw it as a great opportunity. An adventure we could share with our kids, that would help us all grow as individuals, maybe expand our current world views. We could learn a new language, press the reset button on our current lives and start fresh. Our kids are such troopers they jumped at the chance to move somewhere new. Secretly, I think they were excited to not have to learn Spanish anymore. Anyhow, we packed up our stuff, said goodbye to friends, family and our new puppy, Tucker and were off.  

*I have to give a shout out thank my Mom and Dad for taking Tucker for us until he is out of quarentine.  We are going to miss him like crazy but know he's in great hands. 

       We made it to Tokyo. The kids and I were patiently waiting while Scott scrambled around the airport trying to figure out how we were going to get the 5 of us plus our 17 bags (literally) to our temporary housing an hour and a half across town. We ended up taking the Airport Limosine. It sounds really fancy but it's just a bus. Poor Payton didn't make it 15 minutes into the ride.

          The Airport Limosine only dropped us at the closest hotel so we had to pull our luggage and tote all our bags 2 blocks down the street. So, grateful we didn't have to go any farther. I don't think the boys would have made it. LOL! Did I mention it was raining???