Restaurants

Let's go out to eat!  We've been to a few restaurants so far.  Here's what it's like to eat out! 

At some of the restaurants you need to take your shoes off when you enter.  They have lockers by the door for your shoes.

You have a wooden key with your locker number on it so you can remember where your shoes are when it's time to go.  There are slippers located in the restrooms in the event you have to go to the bathroom.

One of the places we like to go is a Korean BBQ place, that is quite popular in Japan.  There is a hole in the center of the table for you to cook your own food on.

After you sit down and decide on what you want to eat, you push the button on the table.  The button is white on the left side of this picture.  When you push the button, the waitress/waiter will come by to take your order.  They do it all electronically, they have a little handheld device (reminds me of a calculator) and type in your order.  They give you a glass for your drink and you go fill it yourself.  If you need a refill you just get up and get some more to drink.  The kids love getting their own drinks!

If you need anything else during the meal, simply push the button and the waitress/waiter will come back.  They will only come by if you push the button.  It's really great, if you need something just push the button and there they are!  There's no trying to find the waitress and flag her down.  They need to bring this system to the States! 

We took the kids and my Mom here and they gave the kids balloons to play with when we sat down.  It was nice for the kids to have something to play with, but long balloons near an open flame?  Not the best idea in my opinion.  The kids had fun with them, but I didn't!

They have a few places to eat here that they have in the States, mostly fast food places ~ McDonald's (which according to an article I read, after the US, Japan has the most McDonald's), Burger King, Subway, and KFC.  It's a nice treat to be able to have McDonald's, especially since Killian can have the nuggets with his food allergies! 

They also have Big Boy here!  Jeff and I went there, knowing it would be different from home.  The menu was completely different!  As you can see in the picture above, the Big Boy is not holding the Big Boy burger.  The burger is not on the menu here, how is that possible?!?

Here is a picture of what I ordered.  My meal came with it's own little hot plate (upper left hand of the picture).  Why it came with it, I still don't know.  Look at how many fries it came with!  No wonder the Japanese are so tiny, they don't eat many carbs!  That's all the veggies that came with it too.  No, I didn't eat any of them before taking the picture.  I was still hungry when I left and have no desire to go there again.  Most of the menu had food like I ordered.  I ordered the steak, but there was chicken or seafood to choose from too.

Sushi Bar

When my Mom was still here, we went out to a Sushi Bar.  There is sushi going around on the conveyor belt next to Jeff and Katherine.  If you see something you like, take the plate off the belt and enjoy!  You can also order specific things on the computer screen at the table, which Jeff is doing in the picture above. 

After you place your order, a little train comes by above the conveyor belt with your order.  Katherine is taking the onion rings down that we ordered. 

We all had green tea to drink.  There is a hot water spigot at all the tables on the wall under the conveyor belt.  There is a little container with the green tea in it and you make it yourself.  The kids are not big fans of the green tea. 

The look on Chloe's face pretty much sums up how the sushi went over with everyone, except Jeff, who loves it!  I thought it was okay, just takes some getting used to.  I am proud of all the kids for trying it.  When we left, they were still hungry (and so was I to be honest!).

The night before my Mom left we went out to dinner at a different place.

We ordered some edamame to get us started.  It was really good!  I've had edamame before, but this tasted so much better, it was even a hit with the kids!

You have a little bowl to put the empty pods in.  Sometimes the soybean would slip out and end up on the floor.  Chloe is really focused on what she is doing!

Jeff ordered this fish for part of our dinner.  It was really tasty, even the kids liked it.

The fish came with the bones still in it, so Jeff is deboning the fish for us.  We also had chicken and shrimp.  Chloe was so hungry she ate the shrimp tail!  I told her not to and tried to get it away from her, but that girl would not part with it!  She's still alive and well, so no harm done!

Chloe loves ketchup too!  At the end, she picked up the ketchup dish and tried to drink the rest of it as you can see.

We also ordered pizza, and yes, Jeffery is eating his pizza with chopsticks!  You can see how thin the crust is and how tiny the pieces are.  It was good, but it's nothing like pizza back in the States.

Sometimes we sit on the ground at restaurants.  They do have booths too, but this time we sat on the floor.  There are little cushions to sit on and your feet fit under the table, just like in a booth.  Jeff's giving my Mom a hand to get up.

The last time we went to the Korean BBQ place, they gave Chloe a little chair to sit on.  It squeaked everytime she sat down, so that kept everyone entertained while Jeff was cooking the food. 

The same waitress also gave the kids bowls with a spoon and fork which was much easier for the kids at the BBQ joint.  Typically they give you a divided plate, like the one in front of Jeff with chopsticks.  Oh by the way, the kids were drinking green Fanta, which is tasty!  Fanta is pretty popular here in Japan.

The bill is put on the side of the table when they bring out your food.  When you are done eating, you are good to go.  You just take the bill up front by your shoes to pay.  Also, there is no tipping in Japan.  Once you pay the bill, you put your shoes back on and you are on your way! 

It's always an adventure eating out, especially with kids!  Until next time!

Kyoto Zoo

Yesterday Jeff took the day off.  He spent the morning drafting his Fantasy Football team.  While he was busy working, we heard the doorbell ring.  I checked the camera in the house, and it looked like one of our neighbors.  I went and answered the door and it turns out, it wasn't a neighbor after all!  There were two ladies there who seemed surprised to see me answer the door!  They started speaking Japanese, but after a minute, the one lady opened a book, found a page in English and handed it to me.  It turns out, they are Jehovah's Witness ladies!  The other lady spoke a bit of English and asked me some questions, how long we've been here, why are we here, etc.  She saw the picture of our wedding sitting on the little table and wanted to see it.  They were very interested in the American wedding. 

The kids were also at the door with me and were entertaining the ladies.  The ladies thought they were cute, but we must have been a sight!  It was still morning and I hadn't gotten Chloe dressed yet, so she's just running around in a diaper and Killian is wearing Katherine's old bedazzled orange tank top!  Katherine was presentable at least!  The ladies were really nice and didn't seem to mind, who knows what they must think of us crazy Americans!  When they left, they said they hoped to see us again!

We debated if we should take the train or drive to the zoo.  Since the zoo closes at 5, we would be leaving for home on the train along with the work crowd.  We were afraid the trains would be too crowded to take with three little ones and a stroller.  We decided to drive, since the zoo is only about an hour away by car or train. 

We loaded up the kids and hopped in the car.  We made a quick stop at McDonald's, I just ran in to get the food.  When I first moved over here, I thought there is no way I can order!  However, after watching Jeff a few times, I am able to do it on my own.  Thankfully they have a picture menu on the counter next to each register.  I've watched and all the locals look at that menu and point to what they want, so I do the same.  I just point to what I want and hold up my fingers to show how many.  I haven't had any issues yet!  How much I owe is on the register and the numbers are just like at home, so no problems there either! 

Since it's lunchtime and nap time, Chloe is already asleep by the time I get out to the car with the food.  She had a nice nap on the ride to the zoo, I am happy about that, we don't want a crabby Chloe!  On the car ride, I saw this sign on the expressway, watch out for monkeys crossing the street! 

When Chloe woke up, she had her nuggets waiting for her.  Here she is, just waking up and looking like she is pondering something!

We arrive at the zoo!  You need to purchase your ticket from a machine, then hand it to the person at the gate.

You are able to get nice and close to the animals! 

These cats are so big, you forget how large they are until you are standing next to one!  When Chloe saw the tiger, she said "Big Cat!".

There was a little pool area for the tigers.  The kids were standing on the side of the fence when the tiger was getting out.  The tiger shook some of the water off and splashed the kids! 

The Kyoto Zoo has a Japanese deer that was laying down until we came.  It got up and came over to see us, which was very nice.

This is the sign posted by the Brazilian Tapir, I made sure the kids and I didn't get too close!

I decided to stop for a picture with the flamingos!

It was a nice day, but hot!  We took a little rest before continuing on.  While we were resting, we were joined by a bunch of pigeons.

The kids had fun chasing the birds around, like they were herding them!

It looks to me like they are sizing each other up through the glass!  I think it was afraid Chloe was going to take it's food, she probably would have tried too!

Jeff and Katherine are showing Chloe how to walk like a penguin as we make our way over to the penguins.

It was nice watching the penguins outside, without having to be in a stinky penguin house!

Jeffrey and the giraffe!  Of course we had to stop and see them.

Killian did not take a nap on the car ride out, so he was tired.  Good thing he has his sisters to help him out!

There's a very tiny amusement park inside the zoo.  We stopped in after checking out all the animals. 

I rode a Ferris Wheel with Katherine and we took each other's pictures.  There's a shot of Jeff with Chloe and Killian down on the ground.

Katherine rode the Ferris Wheel and loved it! She says it's her favorite part of the zoo! 

Katherine and Killian went on the boat ride next.  During the ride, I think Katherine talked Killian into going on the Ferris Wheel because when the boat ride was over he asked Jeff to take him on.  Before the boat ride he didn't show any interest in riding it.  Katherine can be very persuasive!

There they are, father and son enjoying the ride!  How cute!

What a fun time Killian had on the ride!

The kids and I stopped for a picture before heading home.  We had a wonderful time at the zoo!