Wednesdays are for English! Maylin had some computer troubles this morning, but managed to fight me the entire way through her section on Active Listening… Téa worked on Paying Attention (listening to a speaker vs reading a text).
Our AirBnb host shipped another shelf for the kitchen, so I built that and left it for Joe to “move into”. We needed to get our cups and plates out from under the stove, and it fits so well in the corner of the kitchen.
After “school”, the girls and I headed to 7Eleven for some simple lunch items, and I challenged myself to keep it under CA$10/¥1000. The girls decided to share a macaroni salad and some chicken nuggets, I chose an onigiri for myself, and picked an egg and bacon on rice for Joe. ¥973 in total, so that was a success!
After lunch, the girls and I set off to explore, and decided to bus it to the mall we went to back on Monday. I’d seen it had a Disney store, but we didn’t get the chance to explore that with Joe in tow. So off we went to find the bus stop, only to figure out that the right bus only comes every 40 minutes, and we had to wait for 20 before it was due again. (Thank goodness it wasn’t a 40 minute wait!) 10 stops and 20 minutes later, we’re at Abeno Q’s mall.
Once at the mall, we took a thorough look through the Disney store, then decided it was time for a snack break. One crepe with almonds and chocolate (me), one vanilla and chocolate sundae (Téa) and one vanilla mango sundae (Maylin) later, and we were all recharged to continue on our explorations. Of course there was also an entertainment area, with the claw machines, gachapon and video games that entails, and Mommy has a really hard time saying a strict NO, so I gave them each a ¥100 coin and said they got to do ONE thing. They chose the drumming game again, and as much as I don’t like waiting around in these entertainment areas, they really have so much fun with this particular game! I liked it as well when I tried it, I see why they like it!
Game done, we headed for the grocery store. This is the one that had even Joe spending more time than expected the other day, and we were hunting for snacks. Tomorrow is Expo day, after all, and we cannot afford to buy lunch, dinner and everything inbetween at the park, so we’re packing snacks! I have been seeing these “Baumkuchen” everywhere, in all the convenience stores, bakeries and grocery stores. I have been skipping them, believing them to be crunchy and crumbly, so we picked up a package, I have to try everything I’m not familiar with! (Except for chicken sashimi, we skipped that the other day…) We grabbed some salty chips, and Maylin found a Pokémon cupcake she really wanted, so that was it. Oh, and the bag of chocolate macadamia cookies we found by the till, I couldn’t resist.
Then the trek to a new-to-us bus stop, this different bus is only three stops and 15 minutes. The ride home is quick, and we stroll back through our neighbourhood streets in the after school hour. Kids are playing in the streets, bikes are speeding by in all directions. In fact, there’s a factory close by where we’re staying, and they don’t have an enormous parking lot. They have bike parking. As does the grocery store. It really makes me wish I had a bike here too, although the way they weave through busy intersections really freak me out!
While we were out, Joe has been grocery shopping – unsupervised! He cooks a delicious dinner with pork for the girls, and a pack of marinated raw sushi for him and I. The smells coming from our kitchen when I’m taking down this morning’s laundry makes me think the neighbours must be jealous! Laundry – pretty much daily, Japanese washing machines being much smaller than what we are used to from home. There’s no dryer here, nor one of those modern all-in-one shower/bathtub/drying room like we had in Tokyo, so we line dry and hang things up inside all around our bedrooms upstairs.
But now – it’s bedtime. Busy day tomorrow!