Not long before the trip to Japan we spent the afternoon at Leo Carillo Beach (north of Malibu and Zuma). Not sure why we didn’t post this before, but here it is. It was great weather… not too hot and not chilly. Rika and I got a little sunburn action, but overall it was a great day. We put our folding picnic table and parasol to good use too… love that thing!
Today, we felt like we were on the bus all day long. 
We did a little shopping at D2. Then had a lunch at Honmoku Shokudo with Baba. Baba had a crab cream croquette, papa had a humberger steak dinner set, and mama had a “taco rice” (?) lunch set. We all shared ours with Amelie.
We decided to go to see “Bernard Buffet” exhibition at Sogo Museum today. Amelie was playing with Baba at the children area while mama and papa were inside the museum. Exhibition was very impressive.
We met with Jiji at the bus station and headed over to Isogo for revolving sushi restaurant. There were so many people already in line and waiting time was 74 minutes. We said no way and turned around, this time, headed to Inase Sushi for the second time. After we stuffed ourselves, we took a long night walk on the way home, since it was a very cool night. Boy, we’ve walked and walked and walked a lot on this trip!!
Today was exceptionally hot and humid day. You’ll get sweat by just standing still…but it didn’t stop us. We headed over to Kannai area for some yummy pork cutlet at Katsuretsu-An. It was delicious.
We wanted to take a “Sea-Bus” from Akarenga to Hakkeijima. We went all the way to Akarenga to get on that boat but it was too late. The Sea-Bus was fully booked! Oh, well, we turned around and took a train. We got in Hakkeijima Sea Paradise after 5 pm with Twilight discount ticket. That was totally enough for us. We watched the sea animal show, the aquarium, and dolphins, plus the fireworks show. We had the best seating for the fireworks show at the restaurant on the pier! Although it was super hot day, we had a great time at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise especially meeting a white dolphin at the end was amazing.
We had a lunch at Mimatsu in Motomachi and rush to Yokohama Studio for Amelie’s Shichigosan photo session. Amelie has tried one pose with dress and two poses with kimono. She seems to be really enjoyed the dress but by the time she wore kimono, she looked tired. Overall, I think we all enjoyed.
However, this is also the day we’ve received a bad news from my father. He just came back from the hospital and he was told that he has a stomach cancer. The level of his cancer is 3.5 out of 5. It’s not too bad but not good either. He will be hospitalized on 17th (the day after we left.) My dad stays pretty positive about everything will go well…I hope so, too.
After the photo session, we went to see a new Harry Potter movie. I thought the movie is just okay. Oh, the movie theater was so nice with lots of leg room and hooks to hang your purse and umbrella. Seats were comfy as well. We visited play area in MyCal afterwards for a short while.
We had a very relaxing morning…did some laundry and organized few things. Since “Tyhoon #9″ has gone away, we decided to do something else rather than just staying at home. We went to Honmoku Shimin Pool (public pool.) It was totally right thing to do. Amelie had a great time as you can see in these photos. She tried this water slide over and over all the way to the closing time. We took a nice walk through the park. Dinner for Mama, baba and jiji cooked home made Futomaki Sushi. (Amelie and Shawn are not that crazy about it.) Mama fully enjoyed it. Again, 3 of us has decided to take a nice night walk. Maybe because it was after the tyhoon, outside was very breezy and cooler than any other nights we had since we get here. We were hoping to catch a new Harry Potter movie at the movie theater near by but we were politely refused at the ticket counter since the movie ends after 11pm, we cannot bring our young children…huh, okay. We did some grocery shopping at Saty and came home.
We “wanted” to meet Megumi at Ginza Mitsukoshi (department store in Ginza.) BUT, we actually went to the wrong location first…we made Megumi wait for 2 hours. It was truly amazing for her to wait for us in the rain for that long with smile on her face. We thought she is an angel!! In the pouring rain, we got to her sister’s Teuchi Soba (hand made Soba) restaurant “Kunisada.” We had a nice welcome with super yummy hand made Tofu and Dashi. And main course “Teuchi Soba.” It was very very yummy. Megumi’s sister kindly showed us this impressive process and we caught it on the video. The restaurant is a small but very nice place hidden underground and down an alley. It has become a cult-like place for high society to eat at night before going out to the clubs because it is not only one of the best soba shops, but also because they like how hidden it is. It isn’t likely you’ll see tourists in there. Thank you for treating us really yummy lunch, Megumi and her sister!
I also got to see the new Nissan Skyline Crossover in Ginza 4-chome, which may or may not come to the states. If it does, it will most likely be under the Infinity brand. It is a nice car, but still, not for me.
We also stopped by Harajuku area and walked around a bit. Takeshita Dori was a full of teenagers and we felt like a little out of place.
Another earthquake late this night while we were in bed. Not quite as big as the last one, but a little scarier because we were in this old house, rather than a modern building.
We met with Ayako in Shinbashi Station. It was a super humid and hot day. She drove us to Odaiba area and we’ve walked around with “Soft Cream” (we call it like this but it’s like a frozen yogurt in the US.) After that, we went to Akihabara area. In Yodobashi Camera, we experienced Amelie and Shawn’s first Japanese Earthquake! We were on the the 7th floor of an 8 story building so it wasn’t violent, but some good bouncing and swaying. Dinner was at “Kamakura Pasta” Japanese style pasta restaurant. It was so nice of her to drive us home. (In Japan, driving is not cheap. High Way is not free. Gas costs 4 or 5 times more than the US.) We had spent a very nice day with Ayako.
Today, we went to Honmoku Shrine for Bon Odori (Bon Dance) and En-Nichi. Amelie tried Kingyo Sukui (Gold Fish Picking Game) and got 2 more gold fish. Mama had to wait in the line for 30 minutes to just buy one Okonomiyaki. Crazy! After Jiji and Baba have retired for the night, Ame and Mama started dancing. We danced to the several traditional Bon dance songs. And…we stopped by at Denny’s on the way home. (Japanese Denny’s is completely different restaurant from ones in the US.)…by the way, one of the gold fish has passed away in very next morning. Amelie has decided to release the other gold fish to Mama’s uncle’s pond (next door) so that the gold fish could live longer. We all hope it could make it.
Today we visited Rika’s long time friends Takayuki and Christine. Amelie had a blast playing with their two girls, Erina (10) and Kanami (4). We went to Field Athletic Park in Ichikawa. That place was super fun! After played there for hours, we visited their home and had a dinner. Later a thunderstorm rolled in and we ended up spending the night. So, day 8 actually takes up part of Day 9. Thank you for letting us stay, Christine and Taka! Amelie had a great time with Erina and Kanami.
Today was almost totally spent with Yoko and Kazuyo and her two children Kana (16) and Kei (12). We went to eat at the local revolving sushi place in Kamakura and went to Il Chianti in Enoshima. I haven’t seen Kazuyo (my cousin) for at least over 25 years. It was nice to see her and her kids.
