Day 08

First full day at Grandparents'

    It was weird waking up and not hearing kids running around.  It was rather quite.  When I made it downstairs, both my grandparents greeted me with "Ohayou" (Good Morning) and naturally, I responded with "Ohayougozaimasu" (a  more polite form).  My grandmother instinctively get up from her chair to prepare me a warm breakfast.  My grandfather grabbed a DVD that was resting on the TV stand and handed it to me.  "You like this, don't you?  It's for you" he said-- in Japanese.  It was a DVD that he recorded from the TV of a show that I really like where people present a skit they made based on a selected theme in hopes of having the best one-- Winners get a cash prize and trophy.  What makes this show fun is the wide age range of contestants and the different ways people interpret the theme.

    For breakfast, my grandmother prepared me some onion & potato miso soup, white rice, mushroom mabo harusame (one of my favorites), and an assortment of other (optional) side dishes.  The mabo harusame comes in a packet, but my grandmother can never "just serve as is"; She always has to do something more to it to make it her own-- in this case, mushrooms and green onions.

    After the delicious breakfast, I gave my grandmother a drawing/painting I did of my sister and I (poorly captured above).  My grandmother was very surprised... a happy surprise.  Seeing her smile made me happy.  She held it against her chest to hug it and thanked me for it.  Some minutes later she ran upstairs and came back with a box.  When she opened it up, I found that it was full of papers-- all of which had been drawn on.  Over the years, she's been collecting scribbles and drawings from all of her grandchildren.  I was slightly surprised to see how many she had collected.  Slightly embarrassing, but all very sweet that she has all of these.  It's fun to see the growth of my artwork over the years. 

    The two of us had spent so much time talking and going through artwork that it became lunch time.  My grandmother made hiyashi chyuuka-- a cold summer noodle dish with a vinegar base flavor-- another one of my favorites. My grandmother added black and white sesame seeds, cucumbers, tomatoes, red ginger, shredded seaweed, and eggs to the noodles.  Truly delicious!

    For dinner, we needed to get ingredients from the store, so my grandmother and I walked there together.  As soon as we turned out of her cul-de-sac, Grandma asked me if I remember how to get to the store.  When I responded with "yes", she told me to lead the way!

    From their house, there are about 3 routes to take to get there.  The way I chose is the "middle" way as far as distance goes.  We spotted a few sparrows along the way-- I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of them.  I really do enjoy these small birds.

    From the store, we purchased some (more) Pokemon Bread for me along with apple juice (100% apple juice!), and miscellaneous ingredients.  Yum yum!!  My grandmother was surprised to see that Pokemon Bread still exists.  I was surprised she hadn't seen a commercial for it with how often the TV is on (mostly because my grandfather watches it as a hobby?).

    Dinner was marvelous.  Rich salmon, beef & potato koroke, rice, apple juice & tea, along with all of the side dishes~!  The salmon was GORGEOUS.  Beautiful orange color with white lines of freshness.  MMMMmm!!  The best!  Simple yet delicious, mouth-watering dinner!  Just looking at the picture of the salmon makes my mouth water ( ; v ; )  It was sooooo tasty!  Unless you freshly caught the salmon in the US yourself, it's nothing as amazing as this.

    OH!  I almost forgot!  My grandmother purchased chopsticks, rice bowl, and miso bowl for me!  They didn't have any Pokemon miso bowls, but they did have chopsticks and rice bowl~!  They both might be small, but I'm just happy to have them.  Grandma says I'm silly, but I've been in love with Pokemon for such a long time now~.  She always laughs at me when I take pictures of otaku things or food.  (^ _ ~ )

Day 07

Last day at Namba's for the week 

    Masami thought that we might be hungry after sushi, so she bought a bunch of instant yakisoba boxes.  None of us were hungry for it when she arrived home the previous night, so they became our quick & easy fix breakfast!  While I was eating, Masami and I were brain storming on where to go on my last day there for the week.  We didn't come up with anything then, but we did manage to get distracted by frogs!

    The night before, Namba-san bought a frog at the mall to add to his collection!  He enjoys collecting plushies of this character named "Pickles the Frog".  So adorable!  With the one he purchased the night before (not pictured), he's up to lucky number 7!

    As soon as we figured out what to do, I quickly packed up a small luggage (with some gifts for my grandparents) and we all hit the road! ...Well, minus Miina because she was at a study group with her upper classmen.  For a quick bite to eat, we drove to McDonald's.  When we got to the drive through, I was surprised to find two rows with a McDonald's employee at the end of each line.  They would pass out menus and take orders one car at a time-- kind of like a drive in!  Masami told me that they do this only when they're busy, but when they're not, people just drive up to the classic menu board like they do in the US.

    While we made our way towards our destination, I spotted this cool looking car-- a company car!  Why doesn't America have cool company cars like this?  The bright orange color was stunning and definitely eye catching!  My cousins and I were goofing off and taking silly pictures again when I noticed something odd about my little Moogle (a mascot of the Final Fantasy series by Square Enix) camera charm-- One of his wings went missing!!  He lost his pompom quite a while ago, so I used the excuse that he was still a Moogle (their pompom is a source of their magic and flight capabilities-- wings are just for steering!), but a Moogle from FFVII, since it's the only FF whose Moogles have no pompoms.  Now this Moogle of mine has a large battle scar-- lack of a wing!

    We made it!!  Namba-san and Miriya dropped Mireka, Masami and I at a (in my opinion) "Fashion Mall".  About four stories of clothing and accessory stores (along with a few others too).  I ended up purchasing a few clothing items myself~  Mireka took us to the fourth floor where we found a candy store!  I purchased some candy cigerattes that Masami said "tastes good".  Masami purchased my candy (; v ;) ありがとう！　As soon as we started walking out, Masami pointed out some unchi (poop) lollipops... Needless to say, I purchased one of every flavor.  Aren't they adorable?!

    The mall parking line was so long, it went off the mall property and down the street!  The three of us met Namba-san and Miriya at the convience store right across the street.  We all got drinks since Namba-san and Miriya were snacking already and it was well past lunch time-- 3pm to be exact.  I picked out a bottle of Ginger Ale... but I didn't realize at the time of purchase the "EXTRA GINGER" written on the bottle.  When I opened it, I could clearly smell the ginger from it.  Once I put the bottle to my lips and began to inhale, I chocked on air full of ginger.  It burned my nose like wasabi does.  I only managed to drink about a fourth of it. (; v ;) I tried finishing it!  (I still have it in the fridge though!)

    Right before we left the mall, Masami got a phone call from my grandmother saying that my great aunt (her little sister) and uncle (her sister's high school sweetheart) were at my grandparents house and would be around for dinner!!  I was very happy to hear this until I realized that I have gifts for them-- at my aunt's house!  Namba-san and Masami were very willing to go back to their place so that I could pick up gifts for my great aunt and uncle.  When we turned onto their home street, we saw Miina walking home from her study group!  What perfect timing!!  While I retrieved gifts, Miina (rather slowly), changed out of her school clothes.

    When I arrived at my grandparents' house, my great aunt Mieko was talking with my grandmother through the screen door.  My grandmother was retrieving laundry while my great uncle Koji was smoking.  The three of them were talking about the different plants that my grandmother had planted.  She ended up getting her brother-in-law to help her cut some branches off when he finished his cigarette.  My cousins were still in the house and managed to find ice cream to eat.  When Koji and my grandma made it back inside the house, they began pestering my cousins with their mother about how "poor Namba-san was out in the car waiting".  They managed to get a couple of minutes to finish their ice cream and steal some cucumber slices before leaving.

    It was nice to be able to eat one of my grandmother's meals.  "A grandmother's food is best"... is what I think.  She's the best cook out of my entire family (in my opinion-- my apologies to everyone else).  She always tries to make everything herself-- even sauces.  Her expertise in cooking ranges from traditional Japanese cooking to modernized versions of dishes (mainly for my grandfather's sake since he loves potatoes and tomatoes).  My great aunt and uncle kept asking me what kinds of Japanese food I liked and what foods I don't like.  When Koji heard that I didn't care for okra, he happily shook my hand in agreement.  They were both surprised by my Japanese which made me bashful/happy.  The both of them ended up staying until  8:Something pm.  <3

Day 05

    Right after I woke up, my cousin Miina was playing with her cell phone-- and her many Hello Kitty charms.  I never realized just how much she likes Hello Kitty.  I told her that this was a lot-- only to have her disappear to her room for a minute to return with a tray full of Hello Kitty charms.  NOTE: This is only her Hello Kitty Charm collection!  It's amazing how kids get addicted-- and big kids like me!

    My cousin Miriya is enrolled into Karate.  My uncle Namba-san was too for a while and was an assistant for a dojo a couple years back.  Namba-san was having Miriya practice in the morning to keep up with his training and even get ahead of the rest of his class-- what a great dad!  Miriya however, didn't want to do it and kept doing goofy kicks, poses, and other silly things.  The two of them would pass off the target racket and Miriya would swipe the target out of my uncle's reach when he would go to kick it.  That little turkey!

    As soon as they finished, Namba-san glanced at the clock... Then quickly exclaimed: "AH! FAIRY TAIL!"-- It's the Namba family's favorite anime. ( ^ o^ )  He quickly reached for the tv remote and switched all the speakers on.  Unfortunately, the main speakers weren't working so well-- they were making an odd buzzing sound.  At least the tv itself has speakers so we were still able to hear what was going on.  Their tv has subtitles set-- which are super cool in Japan!  When there is kanji, they also put the hiragana reading for it above it so that those who haven't learned the kanji can still read it!  The main characters for tv series have their own subtitle color too, making it easy to follow.

    Masami and Mireka ran to the local store for Mireka's ballet class snacks and everyone's breakfast.  Mireka missed Fairy Tail because of it, so we ended up watching the same episode of Fairy Tail later around dinner for Mireka's sake.  Not that anyone minded watching Fairy Tail again~  Once Masami and Mireka returned home, everyone ate pizza bread, salad with crab, side (optional) pastry, and youkan (also optional)!  Of course I tried all of them.  Masami remembered that I love youkan (a pounded, red bean jellied dessert in a block form)-- Aside from myself, only Miriya (if I remember correctly) ate it among the kids.  The pizza bread was actually interesting-- I rather liked it, and I am sure that "my boys", Adrian & Luke, and Lyon & Dachi would like it.  Soon after breakfast, we all left together and met up with two of Mireka's ballet friends. All eight of us hopped into the car for about 40 minutes worth of driving!

    Once we dropped the kiddos off, the remaining group made a run to 7eleven!  Miina and I got delicious citrusy drinks. When we were finished there, we drove next door to the book store.  This bookstore is a lot like Powells where you can buy new & used books-- they also had a collection of CDs and movies.  I saw some books of interest, but didn't purchase anything.  Namba-san purchased some manga volumes for Mireka, Masami purchased a home decor & recipes magazine, and Miina purchased a manga full of pandas.  Pandas EVERYWHERE.

   Mireka's class was only an hour long, so once they finished up, we drove another 40 minutes home to drop off Mireka's friends.  Masami had a meeting at 7pm and by this time it was about 4:45pm.  We decided to drop Masami off at home from there.  From where we were, it was a walking distance of about 5 minutes, but with traffic and crazy roads, it took about 15 minutes, putting us at 5pm!  After taking Masami home, Namba-san, the kiddos and I drove another hour to dinner.  The kids were very rambunctous in the car.  --OH!  And in Japan, not many people wear seat belts.  I was a little out of place since I wore it for most of the ride (until I got restless and decided to change seats).  Miriya kept trying to lay down across mine and Miina's seat, and even climbed around between the left and right side of the back row.

    Miina ended up reading her Panda manga and Mireka read part of one of her new mangas.  I kept taking pictures with all of them making different faces and even let them try to take pictures with my camera.  They're so adorable when they're not throwing a hissy-fit. (^ v ^;)

    It took us about an hour to get to our dinner location where we engulfed on a sushi dinner!  The fish was SUPER fresh.  Everything tasted wonderful!  In the picture on the upper left, you can see a green power on the table-- That's from Miriya trying to make me a cup of green tea (haha).  There is also a dispenser in the wall for sushi trays.  When you get five plates, you can put them in one right after another!  When you do so, the tv-screen menu plays a mini movie starring the mascots of the restaurant.  If the main mascot wins (at whatever activity he might be doing such as a basketball game or swimming race), then you win too!  There's a machine above the menu (pictured lower left) that has a gatcha gatcha machine!  It will release a capsule with a sushi charm or mini sushi tray car!  The main character is the little guy with the bushy eyebrows.  I was lucky and won-- none of the others managed to win, but Miriya did manage to run around the restaurant while waiting for a seat and collected to capsules that people left behind.  That boy.

    Namba-san ordered some non-alcoholic beer!  I have never heard of this-- have any of you?  Apparently it's "the new big drink" in Japan.  He ended up having two before we left while all the kiddos and I enjoyed dessert!  I had a slice of chocolate mousse cake while the the kiddos had grape & tangerine ice cream.  Very delicious!  Thank you for the meal, Namba-san!

    After dinner, we stopped by the mall which was just down the street from the sushi-ya.  Miina picked up a birthday present for a friend and I went crazy for gatcha gatchas!  Pokemon, Hitman Reborn, Ao no Exorcist, and Fate/Stay Zero!!  Mireka was being a little sweetheart and helping me find the machines that exchange bills for 100 yens and even looking for the gatcha gatchas with the things I like. <3  After I finished my frenzy of collectibles, I gave each of them 200 yen each (about $2) so that they could spend it on gatcha gatcha or on a game at the arcade.  They all chose arcade and only Mireka ended up winning something-- Two adorable Tony-Tony Chopper key chains!  Miriya managed to get another 100 yen from his dad, so the other two managed to play the "be fair" card-- Not that Namba-san is strict or anything.  He really is like a big kid himself.

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    When we finally arrived home for the night, we managed to beat Masami home.  All of us relaxed and watched a new tv show called "Ghost Mama Sousasen" (Ghost Mama Investigation).  It's a story about a mother of two who is a well-known police officer in her town.  In the beginning of the first episode, her youngest child, a boy by the name of "Tonbo" (meaning dragonfly) has his entrance ceremony for elementary school.  Tonbo (who has poor eyesight), struggles with having an "embarrassing name" but is always strongly reassured by his mother who isn't afraid to stand up for her family.  Later that day, she passes away in a fire while trying to save a child.  While the child survives, her kids and lovey-dovey husband come in to the hospital to see her body.  Just as she's about to walk into the light, Tonbo pleads to his mother's body not to disappear and Mama decides to hang around as a ghost (even though her family can't see her).

    The story jumps ahead 3 months into the future where Tonbo tries wearing his mother's glasses which are on her shrine.  Through these lenses, he's able to see and converse with his mother!  From here, the story of Ghost Mama truly begins!

When in Yokohama...

Day 04

    ...YOU GO TO THE POKEMON CENTER, RIGHT?  The night before, my aunt Masami told me that she will be taking me to the Pokemon Center, Studio Ghibli's store, AND Jump Shop in Yokohama!  For those of you who don't know what "Jump Shop" is, it is Shonen Jump's (yes, the manga company) store!  The building that I am standing with is called the "Landmark Tower"--- the same very spot where my aunt Masami married my uncle, Namba-san about 13 years ago!

    As I made my way through the mall (that I have been to a couple times before in previous visits), I had forgotten that the escalators there are curved to form half circles.  They are very pleasing to look at and are a nice change of pace.  I even spotted a beautiful piece of glass at the top of the 3rd floor-- the same one with my "otaku" shops!  Japan's malls are so much bigger than the ones in the US.  I found this interesting shirt-- who doesn't want a little rascal like Bart Simpson in their family?

    Masami and I didn't realize we were on the 3rd floor at the time and were surprised when we saw the numbers for "4th floor"-- Apparently we entered the mall on the 3rd floor!  We turned right back around on the escalators and made our way to the Pokemon Center!!  While my aunt went to check which side it was on, I kept walking towards the shop of Nintendo's great profit-- I had remembered from 4 years ago.  I didn't even realize that Masami was checking the map. (^ o^; )

    I kept taking pictures on the outside-- You can't take picture from the inside, but Masami helped a lot with taking pictures of me with the store.  Once I made it inside, I was happy to see that there were only a handful of people in there-- I could run around left and right without bothering other people!  With a big smile on my face, I turned to my aunt saying (in slightly broken Japanese) "Ima, watashiwa shindara mo OK desu. Ureshii!", translating to:  "If I died right now, I'd be okay with it.  I'm happy!"  Masami laughed in response as we began meandering through the store.

  I actually ended up spending a little less than I thought I would on gifts for friends and myself-- under $200! I thought I would hit $200... Deheh..  Guess I get to spend more the next time I visit!  I might even make it to the Tokyo Pokemon Center or even the Osaka one if I get lucky!

    Next was the Ghibli store!  Time to hunt for my little sister's gifts since she LOVES Totoro to death and back (probably)!  I picked something out for her and Masami happily took it so that it could be a gift from her-- made it hard to find another Totoro gift that she would like-- It took me a while, but I found them!  I also got gifts for some other people like my "other imouto-chan" and whatnot~ ( ^ o^-)  The ladies at the register were so nice-- they individually bagged all of the gifts and put little "official" stickers on them!  It took them about 10 minutes, but they were very happy to hear that my "Friends in America will be very happy".

    Right next door to the Ghibli store was the Jump Shop!  One Piece (to no surprise), took up most of the store.  It's #1 in Japan as far as anime and manga goes.  Even if you don't care for it manga/anime, you know what it is and might even like it in Japan!  unfortunately for me, they probably had the least ammount of Naruto stuff. (; v ;)  I did find Katekyo Hitman Reborn (*cough*Luke*cough*), Ao no Exorcist, and GINTAMA stuff to buy~  I managed to pick a poster for Naruto that is slightly see through.

    Afterwards, Masami and I went a grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's since we wanted to catch the 3o'clock train for home and it was already after 2.  I had a "Crispy Chicken Burger"-- a lot like the McChicken in the US.  The burgers here are actually prepared to look the way they're advertised! (excuse my small chubby hand~)


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    Around dinner time that night, Shonen TV was on (yes, Shonen Jump has their own show~)!  They were reviewing a Toriko game (hints the silly cosplayer on the right) and discussing how there are secret monsters to fight (and eat!).  They even challenged two of their celebrities to find a Giant Wood Panda creature.  It took them more than one try, but they managed to do it successfully after receiving a hint through a man singing on a wheelie cart with a giant squid painted on. XD

    After Toriko, it was time for NARUTO SHIPPUUDEN. SO EXCITE.  They voice over a chapter (from the manga) from a random Shonen Jump series and this week was Naruto-- How lucky for me (it's my favorite)!  They did the chapter/flashback where Naruto is born and where "The Masked Man" villain makes his first true appearance in the timeline.  It was fun.. but sad since right before Naruto's mother, Kushina dies. D,:

   B-But!! After they finished the "Vomic" (voice + comic), they showed the artist for Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto!!! I was super happy and fan girly all day~.  He was drawing, which made me even happier.  I love watching people draw, so being able to watch Kishimoto-sensei draw was a treat!  Masami laughed at me because I recorded the Yomic section and the Kishimoto Drawing section. (>//v//<)

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    For tonight's dinner, Masami prepared Teriyaki chicken!  The side dish on the right is an egg pudding-- When I was younger, I had to practically bite my tongue to eat it, but this time I was able to eat it without making any faces!!  Funny how taste buds change over time~  My cousins and I all ate together and soon after, watched Miyazaki's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (lit. The Spiriting away of Sen and Chihiro), or as known in the US: Spirited Away.  I honestly hadn't seen this movie since I first saw it when I was in 4th grade or so, but it was nice listening to the voices!  I was compairing the English and Japanese voices in my head-- I actually enjoy Haku's (male lead) English voice over his Japanese voice.  The English version actually did a good job at finding a voice match for Kamajii, the Boiler Room Spider-like operator.

    Namba-san didn't make it home until 1am!  I felt really sorry for him as everyone else was passed out before he got home.  Masami passed out during the movie.  Mireka clung to me like a baby koala during most of the movie-- so cute!  Miriya was watching the movie/playing games on his handheld game system.  Miina's eyes never left the tv screen XD  She slowly crept to and from the tv screen while sitting though.  I managed to make myself hop into the shower before bed.  It was a long day for everyone!