Rough day.....

Actually, it was yesterday.....

We decided to take a day trip out to Nikko to visit the World Heritage site....a beautiful site!  But, we had to change apartments that day, so decided to put our bags in locker storage at one of the metro stations we were passing through, and would pass again on the way home.   It was a long train trip, just under 2 hours, and we would arrive around 12:30.  Well, we got on the train, without grabbing any food....oops, especially for those of you that know our Joshua!!  He was starving by the time we arrived!!

We had a great afternoon in Nikko, definitely worth the visit; beautiful, tall trees and temples. One of the temples was under restoration, but it was still really neat to see!  We decided to head home around 4:30 in the afternoon, on the local train, which made about a thousand stops!!!!  It took us just about 2.5 hours, but we had stocked up with snacks, so no problem!!!

We arrived back at the station to retrieve our bags, with our claim slips in hand, but......we couldn't locate where we had stored the bags!!!  The station was huge, connecting several lines!  We wandered around for about 10 minutes, thinking we were getting close, but realizing we really weren't!  We then decided to retrace our steps, from the morning, backwards!  It was really interesting to see what each of us remembered from our walk through the station earlier that day!  Noah remembered a juice bar; Jacob recalled some pillars that were lit, and had a cool design to them; I remembered a coffee shop attached to a book store; Josh recalled climbing stairs.  Once we started on our path, we found the bags within a few minutes.

After retrieving the bags from the locker, we bought tickets and headed to the metro.  We got on the train, only to realize we were headed in the wrong direction, so off we got and caught the train back the opposite way!

When we arrived at our stop, in search of our new apartment, everyone was ready for a meal and to relax.  According to our map, we had a 10 minute walk to the apartment.

We started our hike to the apartment, with very tired kids in tow, each carrying their packs, which we officially weighed today as we headed to Osaka via plane, each of their bags weighs just under 7 kgs!  We arrived at the address Google maps led us to, only to find that it was not an apartment building, but a school!  Todd looked back in his emails, to find that he had a couple different addresses, some of them more complete than others! We had tried contacting the apartment owner a few times earlier on in the week, with no response, but thought we had everything we needed.

So, we enter another address, and follow it, only a few minutes walk away.  We ask several people for help, and they are very gracious in bringing us to the address listed, only for us to find out that it was not the correct address!

After one hour of wandering around a 10 block radius, we decide to take a break, and end up at the nearest McDonalds.  We do some more looking into Todd's emails, and on Airbnb itself, to see if we can find a different address.  We finally end up with something new, and decide we are going to give it one last try, and if it doesn't work, we'll grab a hotel!

So, we head to a completely different area of town, and feel like we are so close, but still can't find the building.  We had thought of taking a cab, but with six people, we really didn't want to split up, in case we ended up in different locations, as we have no way of contacting each other.  Anyways, we walked the 20 minutes to this new area, and feeling like we couldn't find the place, we hired a taxi.  He drove us 1 minute down the road, and pointed us to the left.  We had been right at that spot, but had gone right instead!  We ventured down the little side road to the left, and sure enough, there was the apartment--3 hrs later than planned!


Same address, in 3 different formats!  I think we have it figured out (kinda??) now!

〒100-8994

東京都中央区八重洲一丁目5番3号

東京中央郵便局

5-3, Yaesu 1-Chome

Chuo-ku, Tokyo 100-8994

1-5-3 Yaesu, Chuo-ku

Tokyo 100-8994

In the end, it all worked out great, but we are all tired today and have very sore feet!  We learned a lot about addresses in Tokyo.  We had incomplete addresses for the first area we were in, and therefore were in the wrong area of town.  The exact same addresses exists all over town, all that really differentiates them is their area!

I'm sure we'll have many more days like this, but I really hope they are well spread out!!!

Toyko

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We have had a great start to our trip!  Tokyo has been amazing, a place we could easily envision returning to.  The things I noticed the most; how clean things were, how nice everyone was dressed, no homeless people, and the people are very respectful of one another.

The streets are kept immaculately clean.  You will see workers out sweeping outside store fronts.  There are very few garbage cans, and yet no litter is left laying around.  We didn't notice people smoking in the streets, this seemed contained to restaurants (a change for us!) and smoking rooms (a room where you can buy cigarettes, sit and smoke).

Everyone seems to be well dressed here.  Most men were in business suits, and ladies in suits or very nicely dressed as well.  Some outfits were more "traditional" Japanese, with frilly skirts, bows on socks, etc.  And we have definitely seen people in the very traditional kimono, mostly around temples.

We have not seen a single homeless person.

Given that Tokyo has a population of 38 million, more people than the entirety of Canada, everything flows seamlessly!  Everyone has such respect for everyone else, it is fantastic.  Everyone follows in line, no pushing through crowds, and generally just polite to one another.  They do not worry about locking up bikes, or leaving personal items outside a door; it is just a given that is will be fine.

Todd and I have been amazed with the kids!  We have walked, on average, around 17 km a day.  They do this without whining, but are definitely tired at the end of the day!  At this rate, we'll need new shoes every month!!

The boys have also tried a variety of new foods, and found some new favourites!  We have been to Sushi Bars, Noodle Restaurants, and Japanese Curry Houses.  The favourite has become the Japanese curry!!  It certainly doesn't look appetizing, but even Jacob loves it!  A favourite quick snack is ramen (cup of noodles) from the Lawson, a store similar to 7-11.  You buy the noodles, and they have a canister of hot water to cook them up!

Big bowl of sashimi for me...which is not my fav!

tsukiji fish market

Trying to use google translate to figure out what we were ordering!

Homework time!

Subway Map

Noah enjoying Japanese beef curry--doesn't look too appetizing.....

Off to Osaka

First of many train rides (this doesn't include subway trains!).  Day trip out to Nikko. 

Rice Fields

In Nikko at the World Heritage Site.  So many interesting temples. 

A very tall pagoda

Jacob enjoying (that's right, picky eater right here, eating it up and loving it!!!) pork curry!

Packed, and almost ready to go!

Monday is quickly approaching--our imminent departure is bringing many emotions for us!

For the boys, I'm not sure they can describe, or even realize, how they feeling, but I have noticed a definite switch in the behaviours.  Josh has stopped listening completely, and challenging everything (a fairly typical response for him when big changes are coming).  Nathan is not sleeping well, again, fairly typical for him.  Jacob is questioning everything we are going to do when we return, typical Jacob, always wanting to know what is next!  Noah is just a bit more emotional! Todd is looking forward to this grand adventure, but still trying to figure out the last bit of work, and last minute logistics for us leaving!

For me, I am sick to my stomach, as I try to fit in one more visit with my fabulous peeps that I will miss dearly.  And, even after that one last visit, I'm still wanting one more. I don't feel too nervous, I know we'll enjoy our year away, finding new favourite destinations, new foods, and lots of time together (ok, we'll have to figure out ways for everyone to have a few breaks from each other!!!).

I feel like we have school sorted out, as I have met with our fabulous, amazing teachers at Percy Pegler, and have set out a plan to connect the boys' classes to our adventures!  We also have a French Math and Science workbook that we will be using, along with some online programs.

Our bags are packed, and we are travelling light!  The boys still have space in their packs, so we can pick up a few small souvenirs!  Each boy gets 1 hoody, 1 rain jacket, 1 pair of pants, 1 swim suit, 3 t shirts, 4 pairs of shorts, 1 long sleeve shirt, 1 pj pant, 4 pairs underwear and 4 pairs of socks! Noah's pack is the blue school pack pack and the other boys will take the bigger yellow/gray day packs!   My bag is also packed, the big green one with my blue day bag (I can't refer to it as a purse, or no one else will every carry it for me!).

Here we go.....