I felt very refreshed after a good sleep. I think this was a very effective way to change my body clock to Tokyo time (13 hours ahead of Eastern), but those two days with very little sleep were tough!
I went to Alan's apartment after my breakfast at the hotel and gave Kent the plastic helicopters that I got at Sun n Fun. They are the ones with a stick you spin with your hands. He loves them! We had a reservation to eat lunch with Yuka's parents, who rode the train into town to meet us. We were late leaving, so had to rush to get onto two trains, running in between them, and up a hill to the restaurant! That was a workout! We had a private room at the restaurant in an upscale hotel, and we each had a traditional Japanese meal...lots of separate little bowls. Yuka's parents and I managed to say a few things to each other...with some interpreting!
After lunch, while Kent napped, Alan and I walked through a Shinto shrine which is across from their apartment. Then, we all walked to a park which is adjacent to a high-end shopping mall. There was a Hawaiian Music and Life festival at the mall and the par, with entertainment and lots of people. This whole week is a major holiday in Japan and many people are off work, so everything was much more crowded than usual. We listened to some music groups and Kent played in the park with his helicopters. We saw lots of fru-fru dogs, most of them wearing clothes.
After our outings, we came back to the apartment, and Yuka cooked another great Japanese dinner while Kent and I played.
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| Waiting for the train |
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| I stopped for a second to grab a picture from a pedestrian overpass |
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| My lunch! |
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| Two grandmas! |
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| Kent getting a ride with Daddy |
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| This is the train station where we said goodbye to Yuka's parents. |
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| Saying goodbye to Yuka's mom. |
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| Looks almost like home: 7-Eleven and Subway! |
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| Entrance to the shrine |
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| Water feature inside Midtown Park |
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| More little fountains to play in |
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| Multi-story Midtown Mall |
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| Looking out on the lawn in front of the mall |
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These are gorgeous! They didn't have a price tag.
I guess if you have to ask, you can't afford them. |
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| Hawaiian Music & Life festival |
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| More of Midtown Park |
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| Playing with the helicopters |
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| Doctoring on Grandma |
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| Reading with Grandma |
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| Lovely dinner |
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| Just practicing! (Still have clothes on!) |
