Oh! Southern Comfort Food!

The food is great here in Tokyo, but every once in a while I want Mama Penn's.  If you are not from Anderson, SC, you probably don't know about Mama Penn's.  Mamma Penn's serves good, simple southern food just the way I like it.  One of the best things that they give you with your meal is a buttermilk biscuit.  If you are my age or older, you probably remember this ad on tv.

My 2nd grade daughter

My daughter makes me laugh in a good way almost everyday! As school was starting recently, I found her to-do list that she had printed out to help her remember what she had to do that day.

Our shipment from America!

Count the crates, 1,2,3. We shipped a total of 8 crates to Japan, but only 3 arrived. The other 5 crates were forgotten in the U.S. We have been in Tokyo for 9 weeks now and wee so anxious to get our stuff. Now, we will have to wait another 4-6 weeks! Still, things could be worse.

Beautiful day for touring around the mountains.

I took a ride to the mountains west of Tokyo today.  They are beautiful and remind me of North Carolina and Tennessee very much.  This picture was taken at about 4,100 feet above sea level and it was considerably cooler than in Tokyo.

Here was a cool dam that I saw in the mountains.  This lake is about 3,200 feet above sea level.

Peaches

If SC farmers could sell their peaches for this much, they would be happy for sure! This is 580 yen for a 2 pack if really nice peaches or about $3 each.

Mother-Son Date night

Well, I have recently taken out our two girls on father-daughter dates and I guess that our son was a little jealous.  Last night mother and son went to a restaurant that specialized in fugu, a poison blowfish that if not prepared correctly might be your last meal!!

Beautiful, Expensive Fruits

These grapes as well as many different "nearly perfect" fruits can be found for sale in the bottom floors of the nicest department stores in Japan.  Today, the exchange rate is about 98 Yen to 1 Dollar, so this is a $32.00 bunch of grapes!!  You can buy more reasonable, but still expensive fruits that are "less than perfect".   For example, you could buy a different variety of grapes that are good for about $5.00 for a bunch.

Fwd: Yokohama summer fireworks

Here we are on the Yokohama waterfront, waiting for the fireworks to start.  Our Japanese friends say that summer fireworks are a tradition in most Japanese cities.  This one is especially nice because they light the fireworks "hanabi" (fire flowers) out in the bay, so they can reflect on the water.  Tanoshii desu ne.

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Sent from my iPhone

Fireworks in Yokahama

Traditional Japanese Yukata

Today, we are headed to Yokahama, Kanagawa after work to enjoy the fireworks over Tokyo Bay.  Apparently, it is tradition to show up wearing the Yukata for the fireworks display.  The Yukata in this picture was the one that was given to us during our day at the onsen last month.  Since then, the girls have all bought their own and plan on wearing them for the first time tonight.  R will be taking the bus with people from her work, but the kids and I are taking Japan's wonderful trains!  They are cheaper and much more fun than the bus!

The Heat!

When we arrived in Tokyo on June 26th, the weather was rainy and warm, but certainly not hot!  Cloudy, 75-80 degree weather continued for a week, and I began to doubt the rumors of a hot summer in Tokyo were "just rumors", but last Saturday the weather cleared and the temperature skyrocketed!!  This is like summer in Columbia, SC!  We are hoping the temperatures moderate soon.

Today:

Sun and clouds mixed. Hot. Heat index near 110F. High 97F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

Its A Small World After All

We have been in Japan for just over two weeks now, and the jet-lag is finally gone.  Thank goodness!  I thought I had experienced jet-lag before, but +13 hours is a mountain of change for our bodies.  We have quickly become familiar with our immediate surroundings, but if we venture further than a 10 minute walk, we are still totally lost.  It will just take time to grasp the enormous size of Tokyo.

Even in the largest city in the world, 7,000 miles from home, it really is "A small world, after all".  To begin with, we met a colleague that grew-up in Duncan, SC and believe it or not, worked for a competitor of CFS in the vending industry many years ago before joining the foreign service.  A few days later, while visiting an english-speaking church in Tokyo, we met a man from Greenville that works for Michelin and is TDY here in Japan.  Just a day or so later, we met someone else that had a brother in grad school at Clemson!  We just can't escape our southern roots, and honestly, I am so glad that is the case.