Well it has been an interesting week. Since we have the car, we decided that we needed to have a GPS (like I said earlier, it is a neccesity in Japan.) We decided on a Sony "Nav-u" portable unit, since we will have to junk the car more than likely when we leave here. At least we can sell it for a $100 or so then. We ordered it on Sunday night (actually called and talked to someone at 7PM at on online store.) They sounded nice, so we bought it. It actually got here 9AM Tuesday morning. I am amazed how fast the service can be in Japan for these types of things.
Note:
Credit cards are really not that popular in Japan. There are many times that I can use them, and many more that I am shocked that I can't. This online store would not take any cards, and we ended up using COD. At another restaunt we went to they had the logos all over the place for every card one might want to use, but when I gave them an Amex card, they said they don't take any cards. Even Shiho was puzzled at this event. Lucky that we had cash.
As anyone who knows me would expect, I opened the GPS up immediately and started to play with my new toy. After a whole morning and afternoon of playing I gave up and had Shiho call customer support to help getting it to work. I will just summarize that it was a very frustrating day for me.
I will have to improve on my kanji, before I will even try to play with it again.
We went to the Tokuyama Immigration office (in Yamaguch prefecture) to get my reentry permit, so that I will be able to leave and re-enter Japan for any trips I want to take. This was actually the first real trip in the van, and it was very comfortable. We think it was a good choice. Very interesting going through the mountains in the rain and fog on the way there. It was interesting the use of land there. Right in the middle of the forest we would see a little area that was cleared and a small rice field planted. And then everywhere you go, there are the elderly working the rice and vegetable fields. Very hard work, and it really shows on their faces and posture. Highly respectable people.
Went shopping for cell phones, but they did not have the phones we wanted, so we are going to go back next week. Both of the models we are getting are the "older models", but they have built-in music players, GPS-navigation, 3.2Meg-pix cameras and global service in case we want to travel and still get calls. I hate to get stuck with last years model, but this is the one that I liked the best. The only thing we don't have is TV service, but I don't need to watch Japanese cooking shows all the time.
I planned to get a hot plate for our apartment whenever we end up moving, but I saw this one really cool cooker I had seen with lots of accessories on sell for about 65% off. What can I say, I love a good bargain. This thing will bbq, fry, make takoyaki, or a combination of the 3 at any one time. It is not teflon coated, but something else that you can use steel cooking tools and it will not scratch at all. We have used it twice in 24 hours of ownership, and it is amazing.
Here is the link to see the whole thing... Check out the storage rack it came with. http://www.zojirushi.co.jp/syohin/kitchenware/EACT.html
I also received a care package from my father in way of a wireless router with English firmware. Working with technology that I can understand is like heaven to me. I know, just a little pathetic... (*8 THANKS AGAIN POP!!!
Kids are getting bigger and Hanano is crawling around and standing up while holding on to anything she can find. She is getting to be in that "keep the parents really busy stage." Well it is fun, as well as busy.
Joe had a rash on his arm and chest, so we thought we would try out that insurance that we have through Japan. It is a little different here. There is a small slot every day (1hr) in the Dr. schedule to make appointments, but not for this type of thing I guess. So it is a first come, first served basis for the most part in Japan. This actually worked out pretty well though. We only waited 15 minutes and the kids seemed to really like him. The office was really cool and had a bunch of Totoro toys, as well as most the stuff kids would want to distract themselves with as they wait for the doctor. He gave us a prescription for an ointment that they called into the pharmacy for us. Joe is fine by the way.
I was a little interested to see how much this would cost us, since for the whole family our monthly premium for insurance is about $200. I was amazed when I asked Shiho and she told me it was about $5 co-pay at the Dr. office and then the ointment cost us less than $1.25 . I am quite impressed.
On the other side of the coin for Japan though, is that in talking to Shiho's cousin about the little outpatient surgery we had on Hanano before we left (they used a instrument the size of a paper clip and when from her eye to nasal passage to clear a blockage), and it is done without anesthesia in Japan. I guess the insurance we have will not pay for the anosteciologist, and they just hold the child down as they do the procedure. Not really sure how much it hurts or is uncomfortable, but does not sound fun to me... there are always plus and minuses with everything though. Makes us really appreciate how lucky we are, especially that we decided not to wait to have the surgery done in Japan.
We also finally decided on an insurance company for our secondary car insurance. The whole buying a car experience is different in Japan. When you have the bi-yearly mandatory inspection done, part of the money you pay gets you a very basic level of insurance. This really now makes more sense to me, since this bi-yearly inspection cost is $1000-2000. So you have some level of insurance through this. The problem is if you are in an accident, and especially if I cause an accident. In Japan people seldom go to court, and the police almost always just decide who is at fault and decide you will pay this percentage of the damage, fines, etc. The police also have the power, they use it, to just access your bank accounts and take what they want. This is not a 3rd world country, but I just really don't like someone being able to just go into my accounts to take what they want. Especially when you have a local police officer judging the circumstances of an accident between a neighbor and this foreigner who just got his Japanese drivers license (next few months anyway.) Now they will have to talk to Sony Insurance Company too... Here is my rant for this post.
Some new pics at ..... http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/JapanLiving21
Enjoy,
Steve, Shiho and the kids
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