We really didn't have a lot of energy left this week to generate exceptional content for the blog. Work has been busy and the weather is just now breaking. I think soon we will get some energy back and get out to do things. The plum trees are already blooming, but the cherry trees are not yet. There is a noticeable difference in the trees, but no blooms. The cherry blossoms are typically the sign that you have lasted another winter.
Last week we made a trip to Yamada denki (electronics store) to get a phone. Our wireless from America no longer works. It must be about the same time we went last year as Pikachu was there again for a photo opportunity. There is actually someone in the suit, but they must be tiny. You can see in the picture that Pikachu is not much taller than the children. We stopped for the picture and were successful in purchasing a cheap working phone for the home.
This week there were two very noticeable earth quakes. The first was on Friday night while we were sitting watching the office on the computer. The intensity was low, but it lasted for what felt like 2-3 minutes. The second was today (Sunday) while we were at the grocery store. This one was very noticeable. The racks and lights in the store were shaking and we could hear bottles clanging together. The people around us stopped in there tracks and waited for it to stop before continuing their shopping. Liam said he saw they were cleaning up a broken bottle that fell from the shaking and when we got home some things had fallen in his room. After getting home I checked the internet to see the intensity. This is an article taken the internet.
After an earthquake there is always official information available from the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The information is given in the form of a map with dots indicating the severity of the quake in different locations as well as the epicenter marked with an X. Below is from todays relatively small quake.
In our area it was ranked at a Shindo 4. This is not the same as the Richter scale ranking. I attached the description of a level 4 below. If the image is too small you can double click it to enlarge it.
Also if you are interested to see the other rankings and descriptions you can click this link.
When an earthquake hits it can be a little unnerving. In the states we had a number of tornado and bad storm warnings. The main difference is that with a storm you can tell from the news where the storm is and how intense so you can prepare a little. With an earthquake you don't know when it will come or how intense it will be. They always seem to start soft and build in intensity. You have to wait to see how bad it will get and that is the uneasy part.
Now in Japan there is a Big America campaign.
Every month they have introduced a new burger that is supposed to be the taste of America. Someone at worked asked me if we had these burgers in America. I had to tell him that we did not. He was a little surprised. They all have a huge beef patty and bacon but from there the ingredients vary. The only one I tried out of the four was the Hawaiian burger. It has a disk shaped fried egg, brown gravy, bacon, and cheese. When I ate it I did not get that Hawaiian feeling. Maybe it needed a slice of pineapple or something...anyway if you come to Japan in the near future you can give one of these a go.
While out today we stopped at a store called Joyful Honda (not affiliated with the auto manufacturer). There is a pet store inside and the children asked if we could look around. We agreed for fun, but warned them that we were not coming home with any pets. It was fun to look around but the pets in Japan are really expensive. The typical dog is usually over $1000.00. Pictured below is a toy poodle from the store coming in at around $2100.00
What is even more surprising is the price of the cats. In the US with little effort I could get a free cat, but here they can be quite expensive. This one is a Scottish Fold cat and it can be yours for a mere $1660.00 US. These prices make it really easy to say no to purchasing a pet while in Japan. It is even more expensive if you want to take a pet back to the states with you.
Finally I have not grown while in Japan even though I look giant in the picture below. Some of the doorways are not the same as the US standard door, they are much shorter. Actually for me it has never been an issue as I am a bit on the short side, but some of the other Americans have been caught off guard and smashed their foreheads on this style of door.
That is all for this week..have a good one..
No comments:
Post a Comment