Japan day 14, heading home

so, at 9:30am on sunday, tony went for a run - it was 88 degrees with 70% humidity.  yes, he's crazy.  i really wanted to walk to the neighborhood park before we left, though i almost chickened out with the heat - tony came with me, but the kids (probably somewhat wisely) opted to stay in air conditioning).  lots of people fishing and a nice little waterfall at the neighborhood park - luckily there was a bit of a breeze, so it wasn't too bad. we walked by a neighborhood police station on the way there - tiny little building with three police men, no air conditioning! they had all the doors and windows open. 

had to take a picture of this because though you often see 3 vending machines together - i had not seen this many! - there were 20!

japanese fast food. 

one of the vending machines we passed - it appears that you do have to put in some special card that tells the machine you are over 20 in order to purchase.  

so.... just two blocks away from tony's uncles house (but not in the usual direction we walked) was this store - tons of cards (like anime/pokeman kind of cards) tables where kids were trading/playing and lots of magaznies and cheap anime figurines.  and these - i was a bit shocked you could buy this in a culture where guns are quite frowned upon.  notice the realistic look and the lack of any orange paint on the muzzle etc.

had to take some pictures of the yen.

tokyo airport.  kaitlyn was really craving a burger and fries, though tony frowned upon her choice, she got it, though she did not get the megamac!

hello kitty store.  

flavored kitkats!! and psychotic model

the wasabi and melon ones are fantastic!!!

origami displays at the airport.

on our way home! a view of narita from the air - lots of rice paddies  - unlie us where farmhouses are scattered in among the fiels, here the houses are clustered in a communal area and you commute out to your fields.

ocean!  then eight + hours of movies!

kaitlyn and i in the plane - her just in her shorts and t-shirt, me with my jacket on and a blanket over my lap!

sunrise after a very brief night and we crossed th dateline - so it's still sunday morning!

matt fell asleep on the last hour of your flight (we landed before 9am, 1am monday mornign tokyo time) and he continued to sleep in random areas through the airport as we made it through customs and got luggage.

my favorite boy was happy to have us home! and we were very happy to see all our kitties and even the dog!

i took a few hour nap and got up so i could go back to bed tonight - problem is i had a hard time waking the kiddos - i have a feeling matt will be up all night and kaitlyn maybe most of it!!!  i have unpacked my favorite souvenier - a solar powered waving tail kitty that looks like TC baby!

overall a great trip.  happy to be back at home watching some early fireworks over the water!