Trips to Japan

Day 12 & 13 – a trip to great grandma's

We decided to take an overnight trip to Saitama, just outside of Tokyo, where my grandmother and the family of her oldest son lives.

We rode Shinkansen (bullet train) for 100 minutes from Nagoya to Tokyo. Evan was not a happy rider, bored just about the whole way, and always fidgeting. I used to love these trains, and it used to take 20 minutes longer back then. One kid’s joy is another kid’s torture.

This is their current family situation: Teiko, my grandmother, lives on the first floor of the house. Iwao, my uncle, and his wife, Yuko, lives on the second floor. They have 1 son and 2 daughters – Katsuhiko, Yukiko, and Eriko, from oldest to youngest. Yukiko is the only married one of the three, and in fact, she’s expecting a baby this December. Her husband is from China, and his name is Chou.

Teiko came to the Omiya train station, our train ride destiny (2 trains after Tokyo station). After we met, we had a lunch, then we decided to get something to snack on. Er… that’s an understatement of the week. We stopped by at a cake shop, and bought some personal sized cakes, cheesecakes, etc. Boy, were they decorated so pretty, so meticulously, so… wasteful! I mean, they were going to be eaten. Sure, they really look pretty. Do they look delicious? Sure, but more delicious than something that’s not as pretty? I have my doubts on that one. Anyway, they were very impressive cakes.

Once we got to her house, my cousins, Yukiko and Eriko were there to greet us too. Evan, as expected, was shy at first. Yukiko and Eriko took us out for a short walk to a nearby grocery store. Evan was still quiet. Once we got home, it was about time for Eriko to leave for her aikido class. She’ll have to miss the dinner with the family – and with us.

While we were waiting for other family members to come home, Yukiko took us out again, this time to a playground. It’s been a few days since Evan has been to a playground, so she was excited. And that helped to break her ice of shyness.

The family took us out to a shabu-shabu restaurant. I seriously overate that night. And on top of that, this was the first night I had beer in Japan. It’s likely that it’ll be the only time in this trip. My family has gone from almost dry to completely dry.

By the time we got back from the restaurant, Evan was really getting along with everyone, getting everyone’s attention. She drew a picture each to everyone who were there, plus Eriko, who came back from her aikido class eventually.

The second day was just a day to hang around. We left there close to noon. My grandmother took us out to a department store. She treated Evan for more presents she can take home for everyone… which came to haunt me later.

The train ride back to home was a bit more fun. Since the distance between Omiya and Tokyo isn’t very much, we took a local train on our way out. But my grandmother bought us Shinkansen tickets to Tokyo as well. That really was a good idea – we got to ride a double-decker Shinkansen. Also, for the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya, we were able to sit on the right side of the train, relative to the direction of the train’s movement. That allowed us to see Mt. Fuji directly outside of our window. Our trip back felt shorter for all those various reasons.

And that was the good part of the past 2 days. The day ended on a somewhat sour note.

I’ve been telling my family that I wanted to perform some piano pieces for them at their church. That means most family members should be free, and the church should be open. The church is the only place we have access to a piano. They planned this family concert for tonight. But once we got there, the church was occupied. An event was planned for tonight there, but Keizo was not involved, which made him forget that the church wasn’t free tonight.

When we found that out, I was tired, and I was getting cranky. And knowing that we have another full day tomorrow, we had to pack as much as we could tonight. I was cranky and somewhat snappy. I’m sorry, my family. I didn’t mean to be snappy tonight.

At least most of the packing is done, and we’re pretty much ready to head home. We have one more full day before flying out. Like I said, it’s going to be another greatly busy day…

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