Greetings!
We are having a wonderful time here in Japan. We were having a great time exploring local sites here in Sasebo when a typhoon (a Pacific Ocean version of a hurricane) decided to ruin our plans. Jason was actually called out to sea for four days, because the Captain of his ship was worried that the storm would do more damage to the ship in port than if they were in the open waters. Even on the other side of the world, natural disasters just follow us around. The storm turned toward Korea, and it missed us completely.
My mother-in-law, Michael and I made the most of a bad situation. We took cabs everywhere, since I do not have my driver's license, and explored a little on our own. We felt like true tourists taking pictures of everything. We ventured one day to Arita, which is known for their beautiful pottery. We found such amazing things, and of course bought a few souvenirs. The next day we went down to the Ginza, which is the local market in downtown Sasebo. I had to buy something in a cosmetic store, so the three of us ventured in. Big mistake. The little cosmetic ladies just surrounded Michael. At first I think he was scared of the attention he was getting, but in just a short amount of time he realized that getting attention from four women is not a bad thing. While we were at the Ginza, a little girl about two years old approached Michael and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It must be good luck to kiss the little blonde hair baby. The third day we went on a tour of the 200 islands that surround Sasebo. It was hot, but it was a beautiful boat ride.
Jason finally returned from sea, and we planned a trip to Kyoto city. We left last Wednesday and took the bullet train up to Kyoto. We were going about 250 mph. It was a five hour trip from Sasebo, and Michael was pretty good. Thank god for the little dvd player I borrowed from my sister before we left the states. We went on a half day tour of the city. It was four hours and we toured a palace, a temple and a shrine. It was so hot. Michael was the ONLY child on any of the tour buses, and he was an angel. Everyone commented on how amazing he was. Afterwards they dropped us off at this shopping market where we got lunch and then shopped a few hours. We came back around 3:00pm and relaxed a bit. We then went out to a nice dinner. We left the next day.
Last Saturday we went to the Noritake China factory which is about 45 minutes from here. They were having a sale on some of their more popular patterns. Friends of ours invited us to go, so we took two cars to the factory. Oh my God, they had such beautiful things. We found a such a beautiful set. It was $150 for five full place settings. Usually you pay $150 for one place setting at Macy's. We got service for 10 and then got all the coordinating pieces like the serving plates, bowls, coffee server etc. Even Jason had a good time. We even got Christmas dishes. Let's just say that we got pieces for an average of 80% off retail price. That is my definition of a sale.
We miss all of you so much. Please write when you ge a chance.
Love,
Jen, Jason, and Michael too!
