Although I woke up a few times to use the restroom, I miraculously slept in until about 9am...and I was still the first one up between us three girls. After catching up on my facebook and having a conversation about recycling with okaasan, breakfast was served at 10:30 and I again enjoyed a fabulous meal. I usually eat breakfast first thing in the morning so it's weird for me to wait so late in the day, but it is definitely worth waiting! Scrambled eggs, ham, yogurt, granola (bought especially for me), miso soup, orange juice, and green tea were on the menu. We cleaned up around the house...but it actually ended up as me serenading the others on the piano and taking requests as they cleaned up the house. Hey, whatever brings you joy I'll do it.
In the afternoon we were scheduled to meet okaasan's family. Her parents live with her sister about a 20 minute drive towards Tokyo. We dropped off Yuko-chan at her university on the way. We all sucked in air to make the car smaller as we squeezed through the alleyway. That's what we'd call it in America, but here they call it a "road." All the homes here have cameras and doorbells right next to the front gate. You don't really need it for this house because as soon as we approached the premises the dog started barking. Yay! A dog!
Okaasan's sister ordered out for lunch....which means some poor fellow brings you lunch in a huge styrofoam box on his moped. You eat out of the dishes from the restaurant, then wash them and bring them back (or he picks them up later). We had tenpura shrimp with rice...so good. Ojiichan ordered katsudon which is a friend pork cutlet with raw egg cracked over the top. This is done when the pork has just finished cooking and is still hot so the egg cooks just a little bit. Even though I'd tasted it before, ojiichan insisted that I "try it" so I did...and it was still very tasty :) I figured out that okaasan's mother and father live with the sister. Otoosan's father lives with us. We topped it off with a nicely ripened mikan (tangerine), took pictures of the whole family, and chatted about things that I didn't understand. Takae's cousin came in to join us, along with Yuko-chan after she had finished her class. Turns out that Takae's cousin is trying to become a famous author and publish some of her manga that she'd written. Before leaving she gave us one of her favorite manga books, though it's old enough to be considered a classic, and I read a few pages with Takae's help in the car.
We hit the grocery store, ticket store (for Tokyo Disney Sea), and gasoline station on the way back. The guys there not only pump your gas, but wipe down/buff ALL your windows on the car. They also give you a cloth so you can wipe out the interior of your car for dust etc. if you so desire. There were two fellows attending our vehicle, and one in particular who negotiated all the transactions with okaasan. Sitting in the back seat and not understanding the dialogue I was at least able to read his nametag through the window: Taya. He seemed very nice and eager to help. As we pulled away, everyone was talking about how nice he was and how his demeanor was so appealing...Yuko-chan especially took notice and stood up for him when okaasan thought he wasn't very good-looking. I leaned towards Yuko and said, "His name is Taya, if you want to know." Everyone got a kick out of that. Even more so when I suggested driving around all night to run out of gas, then she'd have a reason to visit the gasoline stand in the morning :)
We didn't get home until 8pm. All us girls hastily made dinner and served it to a very hungry hoard of papa bears! After telling a few more stories I realized that I have to get up at 5:15 tomorrow...because we're going to Tokyo Disney Sea!!!
I hope it's not too hot and I hope it doesn't
Goodnight.
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