Stephen & Anh Family Pictures
in Japan and back home

August 2005
This page was last updated: 9/5/05

At Tomoko's (Yoko`s younger sister)
in Mie prefecture near Nagoya

Nagashima Spaland amusement park

Lake Yamanakako, at the base of Mt. Fuji

Back in Tokyo

Kimono time

Hi all,

I have to admit, Tokyo is way TOO expensive. We went to Mt. Fuji a week ago and it cost $380 for 2 nights (a dinner and 2 breakfasts were included.) Of course, we never made it to the breakfasts because they were at 8am. The room was very small and all it had were 3 little beds. A room like this would only cost us $10 in Saigon. I really miss Vietnam now.

All the amusement parks have an entry fee of $20, but then you have to pay for all the rides. The kiddie rides usually cost $2-$3 and the adults cost $5-$10 and this is per person by the way. They would tell us kids under 3 are free but we always have to go on the rides with them so of course we have to pay.

Am I complaining too much? It's just hard to accept the reality since we were in Thailand and Vietnam a month ago. We were living on $100/day there like royalty. Here in Japan, it would only buy us food and some entertainment. We might have to take donations by the time we get home.

Of course there are things to rave about Japan. For one thing, the toilets here have many features and buttons. The seat can stay warm for the cold days and raises up and down with a button. The lid automatically opens when you enter and shuts when you leave. Kayla and Ryan think toilets are magical here.

We are currently staying with Yoshitaka and his family in Machida. It is an hour west of central Tokyo.

The family gives us a car to use every day. Stephen loves it because it's an Audi A6. The only thing is it costs us $70 to fill up the gas tank. Gas is $5 a gallon here. I will not be complaining about that $2/gallon when I get home.

Kayla and Ryan of course made themselves at home right away. Kayla still remembers Kaito (their 11 year boy) who had visited us 2 years ago. They all play really well together.

Is this e-mail long enough for you? We hope to see everyone when we are back in the US on August 25th.

We love you.

Anh
Aug. 10

We have a few more 'upsides' to add about Japan. For one thing, they take their bath time very seriously. They have a tub full of water that stays at 40 C and is shared by the whole family. There is a tiny seat near the tub and a shower head to wash yourself before you enter the bath. Stephen usually takes a long time when he goes in there.

Another upside is the wonderful food. Like the Vietnamese, they have all types of noodles. Some noodles are served cold and some are served hot. Either way, we love it. We also love yakiniku, another similarity to the Vietnamese, where they cook the meat and vegetables on a grill in the middle of the table. The kids go crazy when it comes to yakiniku. And we can't forget the sushi. We can buy the fish (shashimi) pre-cut from the store and it's also nicely decorated. All we have to do is make the rice.

Most of these meals are eaten at home so it's very relaxing for us. The kids just play with the other kids.

We also love the arcades here. The kids went to bed early yesterday so Stephen and I went on a date. We spent 3 hours at the arcade playing token games (the ones where you put tokens in and win tokens back). There were many types of machines and all were very well designed. We spent $70 dollars in 3 hours ($1= 10 tokens). These token games were cheaper to play than the other arcade games which were $2 each. We also went to eat and got home at 2 AM. That was the first in a long time. We went over budget yesterday.

The one big problem we are going to have is to get the kids into their car seats when we get home. We haven't used one since February. We thought that Japan has a strict law with children using car seats, but apparently it's not. They don't even use seat belts. We are not looking forward to the ride home from SF airport.

We love you and can't wait to see you.

Anh
Aug. 14

We really miss the attention we were getting in Vietnam and Thailand. The Japanese don't gawk at us or try to pinch our kids' cheeks when we go out. We are sure the kids are more than happy about it, but we miss seeing the expressions on the Thai and the Vietnamese faces.

Yesterday we went to visit a friend, Soness, who lives near the beach. We met her 5 years ago in Railay, Thailand when Stephen and I were vacationing and rock climbing and kept in touch with her. She was originally from Florida. The kids really enjoyed themselves because she teaches English and entertains children for a living. Her house was filled with books and children's games.

We also went to the beach at 7pm with her and her friends to a bar called Sputnik. There was loud rave music and people dancing on the sand. Lucky for us, there were also other children. Kayla was dancing all night and met a 4 year old girl.

As we watched our kids dance and playe with their sand toys and their new friends, we thought how they had changed. Seven months ago, they didn't even like crowds and the sand. Here we were partying away until 11pm on a beautiful night with the full moon above us.

Here is a thought for everyone - we can't figure out why everyone in Japan backs into their parking spaces. We were even told to do it in a parking garage.

We miss you and can't wait to see everyone soon.

Anh
Aug. 19

We left Yoko's house in Japan at noon for our 4pm flight at Narita airport. It took 2 hours to drive 50 miles. Anyhow, I forgot to mention that freeway tolls in Japan can be very costly. We didn't even have time to play at the 2 playgrounds at the airport.

Everything went smoothly with Kayla and Ryan. We discovered the secret of traveling with children. We had a new toy for every hour, a lot crayons, and a DVD player. They slept 5 out of the 9 hours on the plane.

Marcia and Joe picked us up from the airport and they brought 2 cars. We couldn't fit all of our luggage in one. And of course, they both had to come because they missed Kayla and Ryan so much :-).

My mom, pregnant sister Mai and my niece Sydney came over and surpised us after we got home. My mom brought pho over for us. I really MISSED her cooking. Anyhow, the kids were really excited to see them. They played with Sydney for a long time. I guess they did really miss her too.

Now I am just waiting for that one phone call that my sister is going into labor. I am looking forward to being there to watch my nephew come into the world :-). She is due on 9/5.

We will be in California for 3 weeks and then go to Washington, Atlanta and Memphis for 5-6 weeks. Currently, we are staying with Marcia and Joe. If you want to reach us, please call us at (650) 941-7512.

Can't wait to see everyone.

Anh,
Aug. 26

WE'RE HOME !

Total # of countries we visited	3
Total # of cities we visited	19
Total # of hotels and houses we stayed at	21
Total # of times we packed and unpacked	25
Total # of boat rides	12
Total # of massages each of us got	20
Total # of hours we flew	44.5 hrs
Total # of water parks, amusement parks and playgrounds we visited	24
	24

Favorite city	Railay Beach, Thailand for the scenery
Favorite place we stayed at	1. Sand And Sea, Railay Beach: for the pool and the scenery. 2. Nikko in Hanoi: for the breakfast & dinner seafood buffets