Grandpa arrives, Yellow belt, Hanami (kind of)...

This week the weather has continued to steadily improve.  We are now consistently in the 60's and next week looks like we may just creep in to the low 70's.  The cherry blossoms are just starting to bloom in Tochigi.  I headed down to Narita Airport to pick up Warren (Kate's dad) at the airport.  The ride down on the train was nice and it looks like Tokyo is in full bloom now.  I had to change trains at Ueno and it was crazy with all the people.  From the train I could see many beautiful cherry trees.  Grandpa brought a lot of luggage, mostly packed with assorted things for us.  It was fun getting the luggage through all the trains, but we made it with no real concerns.

From now Grandpa will have the opportunity to get to enjoy daily life in Takanezawa Japan.  We have already dragged him along on our journey to acquire  the elusive McHotDog.  This time we had success.  Now we may not go back to McDonalds for the rest of our stay in Japan, unless we see advertisements for something else new and exciting.

Here is a picture of the McHotDog Set.  It comes with the hotdog, a hash brown, and coffee.  I think this was the first time I have ever had this combination before, and for breakfast.

So what does it taste like?  Well....like a hotdog for breakfast.  The dog has a skin on it, a little like a salens (sp.?) New York hot dog.  It has ketchup and a light relish on it.  Pretty much a regular hotdog, but with coffee and a hash brown.

This week Liam had a test at Karate to determine if he would be allowed to move up in his belt.  The participants have a set routine that they do.  The routine is different depending on the level you currently are and the belt color you are trying for.  Liam did fairly well.  Everyone starts out as a white belt and then progresses from there.

After the routine the participants are judged and it is determined if they are at an acceptable level to move up.  Liam was able to move up to a yellow belt.  He was awarded a very nice certificate, and one of the other boys that moved up in rank gave him his old yellow belt.  It was a very nice gesture on his part.

Originally we thought that the cherry blossoms would hit our area this week.  Maybe due to cooler weather that was not the case.  Tokyo is now in full bloom, but it looks like next weekend will be our big Hanami (cherry blossom festival)  Yamase san recommended go to work to see the flowers.  There is a park next to our office that is very nice.  There are some trees blooming now, but they are not all blooming.  Definitely a good spot.  There are many cherry trees, easy parking, nice play area.

I will have to take more pictures next week and in the day time to show what it really looks like.  There is a great playground at the park.  The children really enjoyed playing on.  I also joined in a little.  It is all made out of metal, the way it should be..huge and with a variety of ways to get hurt.  The kids loved it.

Here is Liam and Colleen on top of it.

The vendors are already set up and ready to go.  They are just waiting for the people to come.  I asked the tako yaki vendor when they will finish and they said next sunday so we can go back next weekend and enjoy the festivities under full bloom.

We did decide to have a few of the treats since we had stopped.  The children had Choco Bananas.  Kate and Warren had something like a pancake with cream or chocolate inside.

I decided to have the ika(squid) on a stick.  I have had the squid before in a number of different ways, but this was the first time I have had it on a stick.

 

Here is a closer picture of it.

It was just OK.  This one had a bit of an oder to it.  The flavor was mostly like the other squid I have had, but the sauce on it reminded me of the taste of ocean water.  I am not a big fan of ocean water, so it was not my favorite.  So far I think my favorite way for the squid is in curry sauce.  At work sometimes you can get a seafood curry that has the squid in it.  It is quite tasty.  Next week we will go back to enjoy the flowers in full bloom and the festivities.  I will probably skip the squid, but I plan to tear up a few tako yaki balls.

Finally for this week.  The children's school collects the used juice box and milk containers that the children use during the school week.  The boxes are sent off to a recycling center and is then turned into toilet paper.  Then rolls are sent back to the school as gifts to the children.  This is a great way to show the children how recycling works and that something beneficial can be made from their trash.  You can see in the picture on the roll that juice boxes and toilet paper are good friends.  In case you were wondering the toilet paper feels just like any other...

OK, next week should actually be cherry blossoms...