Welcome back to the blog. We tried to have a little bit of a slow weekend, but something always seems to come up. We were invited to a Honda Bowling Event on Friday night. It is tough for the kids to be out late, but for 2000 yen ($20) we couldn't say no.
On Saturday, we had to go into Utsunomiya to go to the doctor. The pediatrician that saw Dennis would not give him medicine for his sinus infection. They kept saying it was allergies. So he's been a bear for about a week and a half. We finally went back to the doctor in Utsunomiya and he gave Denny a Z-pack. We noticed a difference within a day.
Today, we went to Green Park. It is a big park about 5-10 minutes away from the house. We really didn't know what was there, but we heard a lot of good things about it.
The family felt their first earthquake today. We have had a few times in the evening when we felt one quick shake like a strong wind hitting the house. Elin and I noticed, but the kids didn't so we left it at that. I also felt one at work a few weeks ago. I was on the third floor so I think I felt it more than everyone else.
Today's quake shook the house pretty good. I looked out the window and the powerlines were swinging from side to side. We had just finished lunch and Denny was in the TV room. It was about the fourth or fifth shake when he noticed something wasn't quite right. He sprung into action and jumped on the couch and curled up in the fetal position... Elin yelled to get under the kitchen table, but no one moved. We just kind of looked at each other. It was over in about 20 seconds or so. Savannah was a little scared and her stomach hurt a little afterwards. We talked about it for a while and joked about Denny's heroics.
It honestly is a scary experience. For a few seconds, I contemplated going outside because it seems like the right thing to do. The sun-catchers were clanking against the windows. It wasn't big enough to knock things off the wall, though. I am fairly certain that we are grossly unprepared for a big quake. We need to talk to someone about the right thing to do.
Oh... and by the way... I FINALLY passed my driving test. It took me three tries. The first time, I took my turns too sharp and I didn't look both ways at the intersections soon enough - even though I was sitting at a red light looking the whole time. The second time, I thought I did a lot better. However, at the blind turn (can't see either way and you kind of creep up through the turn) I forgot my turn signal... FAIL!!! I heard some angry X's being written down as I exited the turn. I figured something went wrong, but at the time, I didn't realize I forgot my turn signal. I was so rattled that I hit the wipers instead of the turn signal at the next turn (they are on the opposite sides in Japan - you use you right hand to indicate a turn). I am fairly certain that had I not forgot the turn signal, I would have passed. The instructor also mentioned that I drove too slow and looked around too much. Hmmm. last time I didn't look soon enough, this time it was too much looking. I was a bit frustrated and said a few bad words under my breath. But really, I think this one was my fault.
Anyway, the third time was the charm. I was told that I again, drove too slow and I turned from the middle of the lane too much. In Japan, if you turn right, you scootch over toward the right side of the lane prior to turning. Same for left turns. You scootch to the left side of the lane prior to making a left turn. Apparently, this wasn't bad enough for him to fail me.
Now it's Elin's turn. I hope she passes the first time. It is a really stressful thing to go through. I am told that it all depends on how well you do, how the instructor is feeling that day, what color blue the sky is, etc. Some foreigners have been through the routine upwards of 20-30 times - no joke. Remember, this is an all-day event and costs 2400 yen ($24) every time you take the test. Basically, you can take the test about once every week. Some people have been at this for about 5-6 months. I saw several of the same people the second and third time I went back. So to put it in perspective, if you have two days off per week - you will spend one of them at the DMV every week for 6 months. Seems harsh, but safety is stressed here in Japan.
You can see the disappointment and sadness in their faces if they did poorly on the test. It really is painful to see. One younger girl passed the test on the same day as I did. Their group spoke Spanish so I assume they are from Mexico or South America somewhere. You could not believe how excited she was. She was so nervous and happy that she was shaking. I was really happy that it was over...
TOYO BOWL - Toyo Bowl is one of the bowling chains in Japan. There is one in Utsunomiya. Honda holds an annual event here complete with an obento (boxed meal) dinner and door prizes. The economy is still questionable so the prizes have come down in value a bit. I heard that last year was a big screen TV. I think they asked for less money for the bowling fee so the prizes were a bit smaller. That's just fine with me... A $20 outing is super-cheap for Japan. I heard bowling can run you $100 for a family of four for 2 games. Not sure we will bowl much. Movie theatres are in the same price range for a family of four.
Denny "wanted to look good" so he decided to wear a tie. I have doubts now whether he is actually my kid. I hate ties. He did look spiffy though.
Savannah with her pink bowling ball. They also had a Hello Kitty ball but it was a little heavy for her. The pink went well with her shirt.
They had these neat bowling pin hats and I could not resist getting a picture. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Japan, plan on looking stupid at some point. Believe it or not... this was a sober event for us.
I took this picture of Savannah just as she was completing a spare. At the time I didn't know it, but I caught the ball just before it hit the pins. Good job Savannah!!!
Notice Denny at the ball return. He spent the whole evening here. We were afraid that he would smash his fingers, but he would not stop. We had words a few times and he cried about it several times, but could not pull himself away from it.
Elin and Mori san. He talked with Elin early in the event and they became best friends before the night was over.
Elin beat me the first game. I really could not figure out what I was doing wrong... My ball would go left every time. I could not get it to hit the head pin. Elin could not resist taking a picture of the scores. Unfortunately, they are a bit blurry, so I am not even sure I lost... The sun was in my eyes, there was grease on the ball, my shoes didn't fit right...
Let's just say I figured things out by the second game. I put a hurtin' on Elin and had to take my own picture to patch up my pride a little. It still stings a little.
Even after all the sugar the kids ate, Denny passed out in the car. It was about 9:30 or so. They were wiped out. They even slept in on Saturday - for the first time.
Denny was still hanging onto the tube of sugar water until the end. He ended up slumped over in the car. It looked so uncomfortable that we had to take his picture.
Green Park - We traded in our rental car and picked up our lease car. We went with the sweet minivan with the chrome rims, hood scoop and fog lights. It is one bad machine...
Just kidding. we saw this van at the park and I could not resist taking a picture. I want one, though. We ended up with a light blue Honda Fit. It has a three-panel sunroof that takes up most of the roof. It is really neat. It also gets TV reception but the picture turns off when you hit about 5 km/h.
The 'crew' walking through the parking lot at Green Park.
At the park, they had bikes that you can ride. 300 yen ($3) for 20 minutes. We paid for three of us to ride. In hind-sight, I should have just gone the whole $12 because they looked so fun. Essentially, every bike had its own personality. For those of you who remember H.R. Pufnstuf, I thought this looked like Witchy-poo's broom. For those of you who don't know Pufnstuf, look it up. Your local library might have some DVD's. Ours did.
Savannah on the dolphin bike. It is a three wheeled bike and she just about managed to tip it over. We are still working on a 2-wheeler at home. She almost has it.
Elin on the tea cup bike. I think she was looking for a rider, but didn't get any takers. I wasn't volunteering either. Check out the movies below for more of the bikes. I tried several times before to add movie to the blog, but they kept giving me an error. I was so frustrated. I just realized today, that I was trying to insert a picture instead of a movie. OE (Operator Error).
The kids and I on the see-saw. I sat forward and tried to get Savannah to scootch all the way back. I was still too heavy. For those engineers out there... you can almost see the free-body diagram on this one.
We saw what we think will be a wading pool with sprayers. Typically, Japan doesn't open the swimming pools until July and close them up by the end of August when the kids go back to school. They only have off about 6 weeks in the summer.
They had paddle boats at the lake. We were looking at them and the person running it said that we could go on for free. We were not sure why, but hey, free is free. I called it the gaijin discount (foreigner discount). I felt a little bad accepting a free ride when we weren't thinking of paying for one in the first place. Earlier in the day, we stopped by a friend's house to pick up some fans they were giving us. They mentioned that 30 minutes was plenty for the paddle boats. Actually, 20 minutes was plenty for us.
We saw some ducks and a few swans.
For some reason, crows are everywhere. At least we think they are crows. They are in the city, they are in the country, they sit on the top of our house at 5:30 in the morning and caw... We really don't like them much. They also tear up the garbage like dogs do in the U.S. I tried to get a picture of this one, but my zoom wasn't powerful enough to get a good shot. The humidity is so bad that you can see it in front of the mountains. It actually blocks some of them out.
At the boat stand, they sold small snack size bags of 'shrimp sticks' to feed the animals. They are like cheese puffs, only shrimp flavored. We bought four bags and fed the carp. Well, everyone but Denny. He decided that he wanted to eat his. We weren't really sure if they were 'people food' or not, but there was no stopping him. We called him 'bait breath' afterwards. The bag had nutrition content on the back of the bag so we think it was OK.
Savannah jumped in front of the camera just before I took this one . She is losing another tooth. She has to basically break up her food now to eat it. If she loses more, she might be in trouble.
Elin thinks these are Azaleas. I don't have a clue about flower names so I'll have to go with her on this one.
They also have two obstacle courses. One you have to pay for - it looks like it is more geared toward adults. There was also a free one for kids. We tried the free one. Next time, we might go for the other one. This is Denny cresting the rope ladder.
As we got deeper into the trees, there were bushes with spider webs covering them.
There were spiders living in the bushes. They made little hollow tunnels that they would scurry down to get away from me. I saw one that had a dragon fly or something and he was dragging him into his tunnel. Check out the video below.
Crossing the obstacle course bridge.
Picture of the cedar trees in the park.
Savannah goofing for the camera as we waited for Elin and Denny to finish the course.
Bamboo growing in the park. We tried to get a picture, but the kids kept walking away. It was nearly lunch time and we were just about 'parked out'.
Spider Video
Elin and Savannah on a bike. I keep picturing the wicked witch of the west when I see her pedaling this bike. Da da-na da-naaa naaa, Da da-na da-naaa naaa...
Savannah on the spinner bike
Elin on the spinner bike
Denny on the Witchy-poo bike.
This was our hotel room for three nights. You can see the three beds and can imagine the kids jumping from one to the other to the other... all weekend. Needless to say, Elin and I were happy to get out of that room as much as possible. There was also a child crying every night in the next room so our loudness should have been accepted in trade.
This is a picture at one of the main shrines in Utsunomiya. It is right on the main street and an easy walk from the train station.
We walked to Hachimanyama Park from the hotel. It was quite a hike. We also walked back trying to tire the kids out. It didn't work. This was a small rest area with a fountain on our way.
We actually spent Saturday and Sunday at the park so I lumped those pictures in below. This was later in the day when we walked to the Hyaku Yen Shop (100 yen shop = Dollar Store). Most of the Honda associates call this the 'blue bridge' since it is lit up with blue lights at night.
We ate dinner at the Samurai 2. This is one of the most popular hangouts for Honda business trip associates. I have spent many a night in the Samurai and the Samurai 2.
The family on the rather large couch outside the restaurant.
Denny had on my favorite shirt in the world. It is true, he really is a Chick Magnet here. The kids had yakitori (chicken on a stick), yakisoba (fried noodles with vegetables and pork) and rice. I had maguro (raw tuna), yakisoba and some beef dish that Elin and I shared. Elin also had some kind of salad.
Savannah and I at the restaurant. Kampai!!!
The kids received a dish of ice cream for dessert. Denny proceeded to lick the bowl clean. The ladies at the restaurant LOOOOVED him.
This is the famous Samurai 'BIG BEER'. It is a lot of beer at a reasonable price. The last time I looked it was well under 1000 yen ($10) - maybe 700-800 yen, not sure. There is a credit card next to the glass to show some perspective.
Elin's first attempt at a big beer. Strong start...
This was the point where she said she wasn't sure if she could finish... Still early...
Feeling the burn... Almost there...
SUCCESS!!!!
Somehow, the kids ended up with additional treats. Denny has a "Chip Star" package. This is another brand of chips like Pringles.
Hachimanyama Park -
View from the bridge.
This is a view of the kid play area. The slides and playhouses start on top of the hill. There are water stairs and a small river that the kids can play in. They also have go-carts to the left. For some reason, we were allowed to ride for free on Saturday - "Gaijin (foreigner) discount" is what we call most free stuff.
Denny and Savannah at the top of the water stairs. We asked them to not get wet... after 5 minutes, we gave up. It was supposed to rain all weekend, but we actually had really good weather.
Kid's play area.
This is looks like an actual intersection, but it is actually part of the go-cart track. We were really impressed with the length of the course. It went all around the park.
Utsunomiya Tower from the suspension bridge.
Flowers that we saw at the park.
Looking up at the tower. We went up to the top on Sunday.
View of the suspension bridge and Utsunomiya from the Tower.
Quick Mashiko Trip -
Statue in the pond. Again, I don't know the meaning of tossing money onto statues, but it is common. I have to guess it is similar to our wishing wells back home...
This was the funniest thing we saw all day... They have a tanuki 'fountain' in the fish pond. For those of you that remember the tanuki, he always has a phallus. This guy was going to the bathroom... Too funny.
Before we went to Mashiko, we stopped at Kainz Home. We promised the kids scooters on payday. Friday was payday so we went shopping. This is Denny's Anpanman scooter. Anpanman is a popular cartoon character here in Japan.
Scooter action shot.
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