We were so excited to take Mia Kai on her first trip to Japan! She loved it and the people there loved her! She made instant friends as soon as we arrived in the airport.
We stayed in an apartment rather than a hotel so we learned quite a bit more about Japan than we did last time. For instance, they have an incredibly strict and organized trash system. They are serious about recycling, and we are now an official recycling family because of it. It was stressful at first but rewarding once we got the hang of it. Here's a sample of what our trash schedule looked like:
MK ate her first bowl of udon noodles (mine and JD's fave!!). Each restaurant provides tiny bowls, silverware and noodle grabbers so that parents can give their kids food from their plates. Germany was like that as well. We LOVED it and it made Mia Kai feel like such a big girl!
Check out the construction cones in photo #4 below. Aren't they adorable? In an entirely different city, we were walking past a construction area and saw an excavator. Mia Kai was fascinated so we stood and watched for a couple of minutes (photo #5). When the operator saw us standing there, he started doing "tricks" and "waving hi" with the claw. It was so cool! Even construction is exciting in Japan!
Vending machines are everywhere. Literally people stopped on the side of the road just to grab a drink (photo #6). We spent a fair amount of time at the malls for our quick grocery day trips. MK loved the arcade areas and we had fun letting her try on masks and hats. We bought the bear hat pictured below and can't get enough of her in it this winter (photo #10)!! I was obsessed with the stationery stores in the malls. I wanted allll of the pens, pencils, markers. So many great quality choices!
Stay tuned for our adventures to see temples, Lake Towada, festivals and more!
