Day 05
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!
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.
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!
