We Finally Made it! February 15th 2010

Well, we finally got here, after an incredible week of wandering the Caribbean and Florida, in an attempt to get home and pack to fly to Tokyo. We took four days to get home and despite 40" of snow, power cuts, freezer meltdowns, flat batteries, downed trees, unplowed driveways and much more, we got back to Fairfax on Thursday night and then flew to Tokyo on Saturday. The fourteen hour flight was uneventful and we staggered into our hotel on Sunday evening (Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of the USA EST and 9 hours ahead of the UK). Our Valentine celebration was in the form of a glass of sake and a bento box.....and (for me) falling asleep fully-dressed, until chased to bed by Tony.

We are staying in the Westin Hotel and at the moment all our luggage (6 suitcases ++) is squeezed into a bedroom, with the promise of a suite next week, so we can spread out for the next month or so that we will be here. Our shipment is due to arrive at the end of March and apartment-hunting is in our future for the next few weeks. Tony has already gone in to the office today, so I am about to make a new best friend of the concierge and I am going out and about exploring and finding the basics.

Later the same day:

As always, the devil is in the details....

ATM machine was-guess where? In a nearby Seven Eleven. Always a small piece of home to be found. Not that there was anything recognizable sold there. With an ATM machine that started out speaking Japanese, there was, initially, a lot of guesswork and random key punching. I have also to master the exchange rate, so was unsure if I was taking out $20 or $200. Since I was also in search of Scotch for Tony, (a miniature bottle in the hotel mini bar is $12) I found good luck here also. In Seven Eleven, I found a small bottle (1/5th?) and felt like the local lush, when I purchased it with my newly withdrawn yen. Then on to the department store nearby in whose basement I found a glorious food hall, where I was able to buy myself lunch and life's other essential-Earl Grey tea. Everything is so beautifully displayed and the people working there were very patient as I tipped the coins in my purse onto the counter for them to select whatever I was paying. Everybody's worst nightmare of a tourist. Not sure what I was eating, so am grateful that I have no food allergies. Tony and I have memorized the word for scallops-'hodategai' in order to avoid a severe reaction from him.

We miss you all very much, but intend to keep in touch by Skype, email, phone, chat, IM, whatever your preferred method!

Big hugs to all of you,

Love Julie and Tony