Tuesday, November 19, 2013

From Japan to Texas - It's good to be home!

Monday morning that girls woke up to find a letter from Hello Kitty.  Actually, Grammy helped Hello Kitty write her letter.  I thought it was really cool.  Hello Kitty originated in Japan, so it was fitting for us to give them a gift from her!  I did not know that Hello Kitty had a twin sister.  If you click on the picture it will make the letter larger and easier to read.
 
 
 

Carli & Ava took their new little friends out for a walk/ride Monday afternoon.  :)


We woke up early Monday morning and got packed to go home.  Apparently our hotel is very popular with the elderly folks that live around the hotel.  At 7 am, the breakfast buffet was packed!  I had my customary french fries, banana, little waffle donuts and orange juice.  :)  The Japanese are super polite and clean ppl.  But when it comes time for them to eat, you best stay out of their way!!


Our hotel was originally a Sheraton built by the Americans after the war.  At some point it was abandoned (perhaps after control of the island went from American to Japanese in 1972), and the hotel became a popular spot for young ppl to come park.  The Japanese couples would simply come and park outside but the Americans from the bases would actually go in the abandoned hotel.  It was rumored to be haunted.

B/c it was an American influenced hotel, the set up was very similar to what we were use to at home.  The beds were suppose to be double beds, but as you can see both of us would not have slept very well on just one bed!



I didn't take a picture of the light switch that was powered by your room key.  It was right in front of the door as you came in and you would stick your room key in it so that the rest of the room had electricity.  When you left your room and took your key, all the electricity would be turned off.

The bathroom was pretty normal.  The mirror had a square heated spot so that it would not fog over when you showered.  They had a fancy little toilet that is pretty common in Japan.  There were a lot of buttons and gadgets on it.  All in Japanese.  Nice.



I really liked the shower b/c instead of simply hot and cold you set the water to a temperature and the water was instantly warm!  No hot then cold shower for us!


We left our hotel about 8:30 on Tuesday morning in Okinawa.  We arrived in Dallas at 3:30 PM (that would be 6:30 AM on Wednesday in Okinawa) on Tuesday afternoon.  Not including our 2.5 hr drive home, we traveled 22 hrs today.  We are tired.  :)

Tuesday morning the girls opened their final treasure from us.  More play doh with American maps!




We were so blessed to get to fly first class on our Tokyo to DFW leg of the flight.  Our seats would literally lay flat so you could sleep if you wanted.  The first class rows at one at each window and two in the middle, compared to the 2-5-2 configuration in the back of the plane.  When we first got on the plane we had Bose Noise Canceling headphones waiting for us, a pillow, two blankets and a personal car packet that included toothbrush, toothpaste, lotions, eye mask for sleeping, socks, ear plugs and a pen.   We also were given pajamas.



I was so done tasting new food for a week.  I only picked at the lunch and declined the dinner they offered.  I just wanted a Dr. Pepper and some cheese!!


The flight was fine and we all managed to get some sleep.  It definitely made the flight go by fast.  We were anxious to get home to our girls.  We finally made it home at 7:30.  Naggy & Pappy had helped the girls decorate the house.  They had a fantastic six days while we were gone but we sure did get some pretty awesome hugs when we walked through the door!

Grammy & Pa brought the girls back a Hello Kitty dressed in a Kimono with her fan.  Carli got one with a red kimono and Ava got one with a pink kimono.  Now they have a Japanese Hello Kitty and a Texas Hello Kitty.  I'll have to get a picture with them all when we aren't so sleep deprived!

We bought the girls their own Kimonos and a couple of shirt with their names written in Japanese on the back.  Carli was very eager to try on her Kimono.  Ava was too busy picking on Pa!


That about covers our Japanese adventures!   We are so glad we went and had the wonderful experience of a different culture but we are so glad to be home too!!


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