Branden's 8th grade, overnight class trip...

Sunday, May 10th, was Branden's over night trip. They were going somewhere near Mt Fuji. Now because Hakone (you know, the place we love to onsen) anyway they have been getting many earthquakes lately and the volcano (remember Hakone is an active volcano) has been steaming and simmering lately and they evacuated actual Hakone. And although Branden's trip is/was semi near-ish there...we wondered if their class trip would be canceled. However...where they were staying wasn't even near the mountain area of Hakone. So we all breathed a huge sign of relief, that #1 our kids won't be in any danger...and #2 our kids trip won't be canceled. : ) About 10 days before all the kids brought home a list of "stuff" needed for their trip. Including what you may NOT bring. @_@ Apparently someones camera got broke last year on their...7th grade class day excursion to the zoo in Chiba last year and so there was a "no camera" rule in effect for this 8th grade trip. No colorful raincoats, only clear (they need to see the uniform). You could bring a sweatshirt for the campfire BUT...it could have now words...such as GAP or Old Navy. No words allowed on said sweatshirts. @_@ Geeze Louise. So, Branden just took his school accepted/approved school uniform sweater. @_@  The list of what to bring and what not to bring was in Japanese, so Noboru quickly typed and emailed me this list of what Branden needed pictured here. Aww, what a sweetie. That way...I could make sure Branden is/was all packed up and ready to go. : )  So this is the note/list of what Noboru wrote for me. : )  Don't forget to catch...they want the snacks *not* go to over 700 yen. @_@ My kids have never gone over the set $ amount of snacks. But, from what I heard about last years zoo excursion...some kid (a boy from the other class) brought like a huge gigantic amount and the teacher took half of it and gave it back after the trip, with a call to the parents about him having too many snacks. @_@ LOL. So, I was very mindful about the 700 yen limit. About $7 US. 

Just to make sure, I packed the receipt in Branden's ziploc bags of snacks. That way if anyone said anything...he could go.. blammo and whip out the receipt (they didn't even question it though). : ) Hahaha. : ) And for what it's worth, his total was even cheaper because 2 of the snacks, we bought for Noah, since we was with us when we bought the snacks for Bran and he was watching us put all this amount of stuff in the cart for Branden, , he didn't even ask to have anything...which is so Noah...so at the end of shopping, I said "Noah go ahead and put 2 items in this cart" and he was very excited and he wasn't even going to ask, but I know he was wanting something. : ) So even though Bran's total was 640 plus tax, it was really a tad less. : ) But...no worries, still under the 700 yen mark. I buy my snacks from the cheap old school Japanese snack shop, that sells like 5 yen candy or 10 yen this or 10 yen that. : ) 30 yen mini pack of donuts. 

I bought many doubles... because I wanted Branden to have snacks going to his destination and the day they left and were heading home too. Also, Branden's final 6th grade trip...their bus was so delayed in traffic, like almost 1 and a half hours late. The kids were so hungry on the bus, that about 80% of the kids ate their omiyage. Branden did not though. Souvenir snacks for their parents. Many and I do mean... many parents called complaining, I heard all details when I picked up the kids at the plaza, lol. We did not complain obviously, but...it made me remember that and so...this time...I made sure Branden had some snacks for the way home too. 

One Ziploc for the way there.

And one Ziploc for the way home.

All nicely packed up. 

And put into this 1 random bag. 

Hand wipes...

Earplugs, because 1 of the boys Branden was sharing a room with, is the same boy Bran shared a room with in the 6th grade and while he is a lovely kid, he is a snore-er. Big time snore boy. You can apparently hear him snoring down the corridor of the hotel. : ) Hahaha. Sweetest funniest kid...good good friend of Bran's, but snore and snores as loud as you could ever imagine. He also apparently goes #2 for the longest time. Branden came home from the trip this time and he told me..."mom, I timed it, he didn't get out of the bathroom for 42 minutes!!!" "And the sounds mom...the sounds"...I told Bran..."TMI Branden, TMI." Hahaha. : ) So, this is why Branden needs the earplugs (snore sounds.) Branden however doesn't snore at all. Noah snores but it's so quiet, it's honestly like a kitten purring, I'm not kidding hahaha. : ) 

Moisturizer (by Korres) and Korres Shea Butter lip balm, this stuff is divine, this lip balm. They come in the Delta bags when you travel like... to the US from Japan, long overseas type trips in first class. Korres is really good. I figured, if B should get chapped lips, I really doubt it, but just in case, he'd have it. : )

Travel toothbrush, Crest & Scope toothpaste and some dental floss. : ) 

Tissues. We have character tissues, but he picked these plain ones. 

The 2 antibacterial hand wipes, just in case he gets sticky hands on the bus or touches something weird. Face wash on the left...

Body wash far left, shampoo, two kinds of shampoo and some face wash. 

Ear plus, we already know why those are needed. Also, do they turn off the lights on these over night trips? In case someone in his room, needed the light on, I packed Bran an eye mask. Again it's like 6 or 8 boys per room, so different personalities, ykwim. This way...eye mask...if you need it fine..if you don't...fine too. : ) 

Many things, but small travel size things, so double checked the list and packed them up. 

In here, not an attractive bag... but it was free from Delta on one of our trips, we received these, we get these each time we travel. Every time we go back to the US, we get 4 new ones of these, different colors each time though. : ) 

I highly doubt it...but you never know if someone said.."hey this is mine" This way you can go..."nonono, see, right here, here's my name"  I highly doubt that would ever happen, kids are so honest here as a whole, but you never know...it's just best for me to write B's name down. That way he's covered either way. 

Everything got a name written on it. 

I am not sure why Branden needed 4 chisai towels? 1 or 2, yes I can understand that. But 4? @_@ Lucky for us, we get heaps of these every "town undokai" so we have stacks of these and so I just made sure to pull out 4, jot his name down real quick, and so 4 chisai towels as was requested by the note sent home. Leisure sheet, check! And clear raincoat, check check! : ) 

The Friday before his trip, Branden said, "our teacher told us that since we were meeting up *so* early, if we want to bring a breakfast and eat it on the bus, we could." The meet up time was at 6am-6:10am. Roll call, head count. Getting settled on the bus and whatnot. The bus was LEAVING and driving away at 6:30am. as in...you do not want to be the 1 lone kid... where your mom is driving 90MPH because you're late and the bus has to screech their tires and everyone swivels their head and looks at you like..."shame shame shame, everyone knows your name!!!" Hahaha. LOL Anyone remember that old saying. Cracks me up! : ) So, knowing all that. I made sure I set my alarm at 5am. However, knowing how critical this day was for Branden and how I was packing him a breakfast that morning. I woke up...naturally on my own at 4:30am. I did wake up Branden. Noah was fast asleep in his room, Noboru was fast asleep in our room. Branden got dressed. I meanwhile had his 2 bags sitting in the genkan/entryway. I had the thermos right out near the hot water pot...so when I was making my coffee, I would see it and not forget Branden's thermos. I swear I live in fear of forgetting something, lol. : ) Which is why I sat the bags in the genkan. I had the thermos in a spot that I would see it for sure. And I had my hot coffee, meanwhile I filled Branden's thermos with tons of ice and some tea. And sat said thermos in the genkan. That way I would not forget. And I sliced, open 2 croissants. Pull out 2 slices of sliced American cheese. I meanwhile, fried up 2 slices of ham in a skillet. Set it aside, then I made a 3 egg omelet. Cut that in half.... half of the omelet went in each sandwich. Branden took 2 ham, egg and cheese croissant sandwiches for the bus ride near Mt Fuji. I got Branden all packed up. I double read the list again that morning, 2 extra times. And then Branden and I left, the house while the rest of the family slept.  I made sure he brought his wallet with 4,000 yen. The limit of what they could bring. And he had everything on the list. Phew. We left the house at 5:50am. I figured, I'll drive slow and we'll get there at 6am. We arrived around 5:58am. And there were a bunch of kids outside already.  

I parked a little away form the buses because it's just easier for my car to get out. I took one last look at my son. My first born. And I said very happily, "I love you...I want you to have fun and learn many many things. And don't forget I packed you a phone card too." : ) Phones are not allowed. : ( 

And off he went. Everything for his over night trip, toothbrush and chisai towels, extra clothes and socks, bath towels etc went into the Black Adidas bag. Only his day excursion stuff, I packed in his green backpack, "wallet with money, phone card, his name and address and phone number inside his wallet, lol, yes I worry"... his snacks, his thermos also in the green backpack. Leisure sheet also in the green backpack, because I was unsure if they were going to have lunch outside someplace, which is why I put it in the green backpack. I watched my baby...my big boy, my 13 year old...walk away and go in the crowd of kids right away. He's *very* popular. Superly popular. I knew he was going to be okay. I trust my son. He's got great judgement and has a fantastic head on his shoulders. : ) Would I miss him? Yes, of course...tons actually! : ). But it's only for an over night trip. It's not for a really long time. : ) I was feeling...more excited for him. Happy for him. : ) Remember when Branden went on his over night trip... his last year of yochien, remember that... I cried the whole night. Hahaha. Now I feel foolish. But...he's growing, I'm growing too. Learning to let go, bit by bit....as the years go by. Still hard. But getting a little easier too. : ) 

Bye 2 buses, take good care of our country kids now! : ) Come back safely all of you!!! : ) I love you Branden *so* much!

Monday at 5:30pm was the set time they would arrive. However we got an email saying they were ahead of schedule and they just made the last stop in Makuhari to all go to the restroom and now were back on the bus and the new estimated time to get home was 4:50pm. Woohoo! I was doing my happy dance. I already had Noah home with me, I picked him up earlier already. I arrived to the plaza to pick up Branden at 4:30pm. I just brought my magazine and waited. Noah used his tablet in the backseat. I was the first parent to arrive, however more cars trickled in...and soon enough we had MANY parents all waiting in parked cars. And then...1 bus pulled in. Excitement. It parked and the bus driver was pulling luggage out from the bus storage area. Then the 2nd bus pulled up. Super excitement. All the kids were now off the 2 buses. But they all had to stand in lines, have a long talk by each teacher, this took a total of about 10 minutes. I spotted 1 head from the back in particular and I just *knew*...that head belonged to my son! That was Branden's...the back of his head. Glee. I locked onto that back of his head and watched from the distance of where my car was parked. After the 10 minutes Branden came to my car and we drove home. He had so many stories to tell me. His lightning the camp fire... was great he said. He had no problems. They danced around the fire...he did a comedy skit, which is why Branden took one of my dresses, his sunglasses and the colorful rainbow wig he wore last year for..."the haunted elementary school walk through and fireworks", think along the lines of a rainbow afro. Branden danced with a bunch of kids, they had the dance already memorized....the dance group was...2 boys total and 3 girls, they were all supposed to be parody of a Japanese girl AKB type band, all comedy of course. And apparently they were so funny and the 2 classes and teachers and even the principal thought it was hilarious. : ) He said also during another part of their trip, they walked half way up Mt Fuji. I asked him....what were your best favorite parts of the trip? Branden said...the soaking in the onsen with his classmates and good friends, joking, laughing and talking in there. The over night at the hotel...Branden said their room stayed up until 2am (ghost stories, talking about girls, teasing the boy who was in the bathroom for 42 minutes, hahaha etc etc). @_@ He said the buffets were so good. He apparently ate a very large lunch Monday and was so stuffed when he got home. Branden also brought home 1000 yen. I told him, "honey you should have spent it" he said, "I didn't need anything else, and didn't want to waste it, since I didn't need anything, so I brought it back" Aww, he is a very good kid, you guys. : ) Branden brought back coconut cookies. Mt Fuji cookies. Strawberry cheesecake Kit Kats. Some charms.  

These were the best cookies. : ) 

Branden, also made this all by himself. Each kid got to choose/pick an activity to do. They had glass blowing, wood work. Making something from clay. All sorts of choices. Branden wanted to make something with clay. He was given just a lump of clay and he made everything on his own. He also put his initials on here. B...C...and then our last name initial... which I blacked out the initial of our last name. But the B...C, is for Branden Christopher. : ) Anway, that is the long and short of Branden's 8th grade over night trip. In 7th grade (last year) they just went to the zoo. In 8th grade (this year) it's this 1 over night trip. And we hear the 9th grade trip for next year will be a 2 night trip to Kyoto. : )  

Anyway it's Friday, have a lovely weekend you guys. TGIF. So glad the weekend will be here as soon as the boys get home from school today. Almost time now. They both get out at 3:45pm today, so both will get a ride home, Bran rode his bike yesterday. Tonight's supper will be buffalo wings baked in the oven, with a side of ranch for dipping the wings in. I bought some really big potatoes yesterday, so we will each have a big baked potato with melted colby jack cheese and butter, salt and pepper, and some steamed broccoli. And we will have some garlic bread to go with as well. And, I have a Fanta orange 1.5 liter in the freezer getting super cold right now : ) Noboru just got home from work, he's about to go pick up the boys for me, since I am here watching the oven and stove with our dinner stuff cooking and whatnot right now. Have a lovely weekend everyone. : )  Our weekend plan for this weekend? Not much, just staying close to home. : ) 

Last day of Golden Week, spent hanging out in Shin Okubo...

The last day of Golden Week, was May 6th, a Wednesday. Our family did the same thing last year too and we had so much fun, that we decided, to do the same thing this year as well. : ) We went to Shin Okubo, located in Tokyo, Japan. Shin Okubo, is what folks in Japan, call Korea Town. Searching online though, I find westerners who do not live in Japan, call it Korean (with an N at the end)... Korean Town.  So either way. : ) Korea Town, Korean Town or Shin Okubo works too. : ) If you live in Japan though, they do call it Korea Town. : ) Or Shin Okubo. Phew. Longest explanation in history, sorry. : ) Usually Tokyo is jammed packed with people. Like seems... with millions and zillions of people. And millions and zillions of cars. Lots of traffic. Etc, etc. However while most Tokyo city dwellers are off enjoying the inaka (countryside) (where we live, hahaha) often at some onsen, resort in Japan, or maybe a small overseas trip to Guam or Saipan, or camping. So while they are off enjoying the inaka/countryside. Us country folks... like to use that time to go to the big city of Tokyo, for a day excursion. : ) Last year though we had lunch/dinner at Wendy's after walking and window shopping/sightseeing around Shin Okubo. This time though we had planned to have lunch in actual Korea Town. If you do not know, South Korea is famous for fried chicken. When we went to Korea one time, with the boys when they were super little, there was fried chicken shops everywhere. Smelled divine. : ) So, yep...plan #1 is Shin Okubo, and walk around, sight see and then plan #2 fried chicken! : )

This was very cool. Moving chopsticks in a big bowl of (fake) noodles. : ) 

So many shops and signs in Korean! Very cool! Felt like a little getaway. Hahaha. After buying Branden a new tube of face wash (he used the same one/type last summer and loved it) and a pack of "baby feet" type stuff for me. We went to lunch. We did stroll all along Shin Okubo first though before lunch. : )

Noboru had been researching what the Japanese feel... is the best fried chicken shop in Shin Okubo. He had read many reviews and widdled his list down to 2 shops. Then he asked my opinion. After we both checked the menus.. both out online, we decided on this place. Do not quote me on the name. But it is called, Chicken 456. Chicken 567. or perhaps... Chicken 678? @_@ I am sorry. I have totally forgotten the name. But it does have 3 numbers/digits in the name. Should be easy to find. First off, they gave each table of customers some cabbage salad and some daikon in a silver bowl to nibble on, while waiting for our food. I love cabbage, cooked or raw, any kind, is fine with me. So, we 4 munched the cabbage salad, Noboru munched the daikon. Each table had forks (I am assuming for western tourists, lol) and also chopsticks. There were 2 westerners sitting next to us, on the left of us. : ) Very nice young couple (mid 20's if I were to guess). : ) 

Noboru went to this fried chicken restaurant you guys and ordered soup! Kimchi soup. Yes, that is so funny.... he went to a chicken restaurant and did not order fried chicken at all, lol. However he *loved* the soup. He said it was so good. However only thing he mentioned was the soup had onion in it and he said he had never seen that soup, made with onions...like EVER. And ya'll know he hates onions, with a burning passion. : ) LOL. So, he just picked the onions out. But he still loved the soup. But, the onions being in the soup gave us a laugh. I tell ya, you got to keep your sense of humor in times like this. Meanwhile, the boys and I ordered get ready for this. It said, 16 sasami, which means chicken tenderloin in Japanese, basically 16 chicken tenders/tenderloin.  If you have ever had a fried chicken tender...you know 5 is plenty enough for an adult. So, we ordered 1 of those platters, since it had 16 chicken tenders. We figured, 5 for Noah, 5 for me and 6 for Branden would be plenty. Well enough to fill us up, for lunch. 5 whole chicken tenders. Anyway...so we were all excited. All waiting. And 10 minutes later...the kids and I had no food. @-@ Noboru was half done with his soup... so he ate slowly. Even though I asked him to eat it, while it was hot. But he felt badly about us, just watching him eat. @_@. We tried not to look. : ) It wasn't his fault of course. I'm a very chill...type person. I'd seriously NEVER need an anger management type a class, if you know what I mean. And Noboru neither but...his fuse is a tad shorter than mine is. And he felt so badly for us....and so at the 10 minute mark, he was getting a bit upset. Anyway...at the 12 minute mark...he starts looking at the menu. And right there... in the menu it says...to make it fresh...it can take up to 15 minutes on the fried chicken meals. Alrighty, mystery has been solved. Now he was relaxed. No more worries. All very normal now, that we know. Good thing he did not complain or anything. : ) Anyway...so the food finally comes and see this picture? The portion was like really REALLY small, you guys. If you reading this... are the family cook. Or if you have ever gone to McD's or The Hard Rock Cafe or anywhere and ordered 5 chicken strips. You will know...16 strips should have been a huge size platter. This was...and I am not kidding you...about the size of a Popeye's Chicken and biscuits combo for 1 person. Maybe could be enough for 2 people, if they weren't super hungry but 3 people, forget it. I am kidding you not, you guys. Noboru and I look at each other. @_@ Like...whhhhat?! Now he's like saying..."this is like, half smaller than what I was thinking."@_@  And then he said..."but this took so long...if we order another...I imagine it'll be another 20 minutes!" Okay the 2 other westerners are still waiting for their food, we are speaking in English since we only speak English for our family and are tables are quite close to one another...now I can see Noboru has made that sweet young couple now worried about their meal. Hahaha. Sorry, you two. : ) Now...I cook chicken a lot at home...you guys know that. And I can safely tell you... that this was a chicken breast, but sliced into strips. I looked very closely at this. And some pieces....strips were so small...that they were McD's chicken nugget size and a few even smaller than that. Nope, not kidding. I did remind Noboru..."it is what it is"...And there's no need to make anyone nervous (the wait staff, the young couple next to us, etc etc, ykwim). The kids are having a good time...I am having an incredible time. We did not know...their true portion size of the strips. Since this was our first time to this restaurant. But...now we do. So we got much smarter for next time, right? : ) He said..."you're right baby and I'm sorry." : ) I know Noboru just worries about the kids...meaning, did they eat enough..about me meaning, did I eat enough...so yeah he was honestly just really worried about us. So he had good intentions too. So, Noboru asked me, "do you want me to order another platter of this?" I said, "honey don't even worry about it..it's only lunch" And that was it, we ate.... the kids and I shared 1 of the tiniest chicken strips platters, that you have ever seen. Hahaha. : )  Oh and for what it's worth...the cost of the chicken strip platter. $26 US. 2600 yen. @_@  Oh and..it did come with a few fries mixed with the strips. It did not mention that on the menu *however*...the fries were ice cold, must have been fried that morning. Hahaha. : ) The flavor of the chicken was super delicious though! Very delicious. Will we go back? You know what...for the price and the amount you get? Honestly maybe not. But we'll see. : ) Oh forgot to add this... though...all the waiters were young 20 something guys and they were all gorgeous and looked like members of a Kpop boy band. : ) I much prefer my husband though. But yes, the waiters were very easy on the eyes. : ) 

Yep, told ya. You can see Noboru reading the menu over again/once more in this picture (gosh was he worried about his kids and wife or what, lol)....and that's when he found it said 15-20 minute wait. : ) Noah waiting at the restaurant, but you can see his nice summer hair cut, pic here. Sorry, I didn't even give Noah a chance to look at the camera. Just a quick snap and put the camera back in my bag. : )

Perfect view of Tokyo Skytree, while leaving Tokyo and heading to Costco Chiba New Town.

We all had a super long drive back to Chiba and Costco, so we all stopped for drinks at 7-11. Noboru picked this drink. I picked a jasmine tea. However, I tried a drink or two of Noboru's Lemongina. I know this drink has been getting lots of buzz for the past couple months. 1 of my friends says it tastes like dirt/soil. @_@ Hahaha. Another says it is straight up gross. Another completely disagrees and says it is totally delicious...like lemonade with fizz. So, I finally had 2 sips of this. My thoughts? I didn't like it. I'm really sorry for saying that. But, it wasn't my taste at all. To me it tasted more like grapefruit versus lemon. Coming from America...we know lemonade. How many of us grew up selling lemonade on our street/block as children? I know, I had a lemonade stand every summer, growing up. I know what lemons taste like, I love them. And I know what grapefruit taste like, I dislike them very much. To me...this tasted way way more like sparkling fizzy grapefruit soda. I would never buy this. Noboru hated it. : ( In fact to him, he also said it tasted like dirt.  What's up with that description, you guys. He is the 3rd person, who mentioned dirt. @_@ To be fair...I don't taste any dirt or soil type flavor at all. But it does taste like a grapefruit soda to me. To me, it does not taste lemonade-y at all. Not even 1 dot. Not even remotely lemonade-y. The kids each picked an orange water. 

I really dislike going to Costco on holidays or weekends, you know how I prefer quiet weekday mornings instead. However...since we were going to be driving past there anyways...and considering I was going/planning to go to Costco the next day anyway. We figured, we might as well go there. Also we were thinking about dinner. What we should eat for dinner. We were stuck between Jolly Pasta or getting a giant whole already cooked pizza and bring it home from Costco. Plus we picked up the few things we were going to get. So it saved us a trip the next day. : ) Tissues were super cheap. Antibacterial wipes, these are the best. Mozzarella cheese (for pizzas or baked ravioli etc) and huge hunk of colby jack for Mexican food night) And frozen pizzas for emergency dinners. : ) Like if Noboru is working at night... we can throw in a pizza or two and have some salad to go with. Easy dinner. : ) Costco was busy, but not as full as I imagined. We easily zipped in grabbed our stuff and paid and grabbed the pizza and left. We were in there, no longer than 20 minutes tops. : )

The stuff we brought back from Shin Okubo.

Branden's face wash. He loves this face wash especially in summer/hotter weather. And I picked up another foot treatment, since it's flip flop and sandal weather now. : )

Also, Noboru picked up another First Treatment Essence for me from the Missha retailer chain store/shop.. for one of my Mother's Day gifts. It was on a slight sale there...Golden Week sale. And about 5 Japanese women were picking up a bottle each of it, when we first entered that store before lunch and about 3 different Japanese women were picking up a bottle each, when we swung by the store after lunch. Noboru was like...super surprised by the extreme popularity of the product I am currently using...he said.."that stuff is so popular", he knew I just purchased that bottle online and have been enjoying the essence a lot. Anyway, now I am well stocked with that stuff. It's good stuff. : ) 

They gave us so many samples. Shin Okubo has an official Missha retailer, The Face Shop free- standing store. All sorts of beauty and cosmetic shops. : ) Missha also is available to order online for us, in Japan. Which is nice for me to know, because since I live way out in the middle of nowhere, I can at least order online and they can ship to me here at home, if ever I need it. : )

After going to Costco, we swung by the drugstore to pick up some essentials, shampoo and conditioner refills. Some face wash for Noboru and 1 for me. And some pineapple popsicles for the boys/kids.

Branden's on the left, Noboru's in the center and mine on the right (Noah uses whatever I use, since he has very sensitive skin). I am using Hado Labo cleansing foam at the moment.  It's very gentle for my face... which I need a gentle cleanser and I also like foamy cleansers, not cream ones. So, I am liking this lately. Only thing I wish, is it had a better scent. It has no scent...but I can smell a slight something. Wish it smelled like green apples or bananas or green tea or something fresh perhaps. Oh well. : ) It is a great basic cleanser. I wash my face twice a day, morning and night so my cleansers go quickly. : ) Will, I repurchase it again...maybe yes, we will see.... I like that it does not dry my face out at all. But...on the flip side, I do like a nice light scent of something. Hmm, we'll see. I am enjoying it a lot, for now though. Anyway that's how we spent our last day of Golden Week.

All in all, I think we had a pretty fantastic Golden Week. 2 days before Golden Week kicked off, the kids and I flew to Guam for the weekend, we got to see the movie Home. What else did we do for Golden Week. We hit the Gap outlet and Old Navy for summer clothes for the kids. We had a nice backyard family BBQ. We also had many good eats here at home, we played the family board game Sorry! We had many family movie nights with popcorn and snacks. And we ended our Golden Week sightseeing and looking around Shin Okubo/Korea Town. All in all, it was a pretty nice Golden Week for us here. : )

More Golden Week Shenanigans. Korea Depart order came in. Innisfree, Nature Republic, Missha. Robots wandering the streets of Tsukuba, Japan? BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with slaw on top and a side of baked beans for Boy’s Day...

These posts are still from Golden Week. I need to move a bit faster with the posting, so I am lumping 2 of the Golden Week days, in this 1 post. : ) This post was the next/following day from the last post, the playing a family board game post. This post is from Monday and Tuesday, during Golden Week. May 4th and May 5th. Monday morning, my order from Korea Depart arrived. Also, I was a bit disappointed about something with my order this time. Will, it stop me from ordering from them in the future? No. But, it really disappointed the heck out of me, so I feel, I have to mention it. I hope some of you remember that I ordered that Vitamin C20 deal. I got it on a sale. Buy 2 serums and get 1 cream. The total for the 3, was just $22 US or around that. Anyway, Korea Depart has always shipped things to my house in orders of the past... at lightening speeds. However this time...it had been a full week and I had not got any email saying..."hi we shipped your order, you can track your package and here is the tracking number, etc etc" You know what, I mean, I hope. 7 fulls days and nothing, not a peep. I was patient. I didn't want to be a hot head...jump to conclusions type a person. And one morning, I wake up and sure enough there is an email. Not a good email. : ) Saying basically, sorry but we have to cancel your Vitamin C 20 part of your order...we are out of stock. Yada yada yada. Not really believing that at all. I go to their website and sure enough it is in stock. I am unsure if they realized that deal was too good/too cheap or what. But for whatever reason, they no longer wanted to HONOR, the deal we had. Meaning they made the deal, and at that price, I threw it into the cart and paid. They were now essentially taking the deal back. I emailed them back immediately and said, as nicely as possible...because honestly...there's no reason to be a jerk! The person opening the email doesn't deserve that. So, I say..."if you can't sell me the 3 in 1 set. That is fine, but please send me 1 of the serums if you can." And they emailed back and said, absolutely no problem. Though they did ship the other stuff but they'd ship it separately and give me the refund or money leftover. I think they paid me back, about $13 US. About 1380 yen or so. Since I was no longer to get the 3 for 1. : ( But fine...I was disappointed about that, yes, but...they were polite and professional and so was I. But yes, I felt it important to at least say it here. So, anyway Sunday morning, Kuroneko (black cat) delivered my first package of stuff from Korea Depart. I was happy. : )

I double cleanse, my face and have ever since I moved to Japan. Only when I wear makeup though. It's just gentler on my face. I like oil cleansers, whether, they be cleansing oils, oil sorbet type textures. But I do like oily base cleansers, as my first step. It wipes off... all my makeup off. And then I clean with a normal regular face wash afterwards. This YouTube person. Gorgeous Korean lady, who is so funny. I enjoy her vlogs and she recommended these cleansing tissues/wipes for travel because they have olive oil, same type of oil you'd find in a cleansing oil, but they are in a tissue form. She uses the Innisfree brand. And I have bought quite a few things, from Innisfree before, and like the brand very much... so since she rec'd them, I figure worth a shot. Especially if I am on a long flight for our summer vacation. I can use one of these and then a normal cleansing wipe after. And put on some moisturizer for the flight, since long flights make my skin so dry anyways. These were just $5 a pack, so I picked up 2.  

Two Innisfree olive oil makeup wipes on the right. And my Missha essence in the center. And brow mascara to the left. And samples on top.

I researched the heck out of this essence. I know, I already mentioned this before that, Missha made this to rival SK2. SK2 is the Japanese brand and original, it also is about 20,000 yen ($165 US) for this 150ml bottle. The 330ml bottle is $290 US dollars, I just checked their website in the US. @_@ This was like $24.68 US on sale at Korea Depart and is 4,000 yen at Missha in Japan. This has fermented stuff too. 80% of it. Plus this has niacinamide and licorice root. Which does a ton for making your face white, bright and clear. Sk2 doesn't have those ingredients, where as this does. Korea Depart also gave me a travel size of this, which of course I will surely use. I have been using this for a week and I seriously *love* this. This is so good. I read so many reviews on this and so many people said...it completely changed their skin, this 1 bottle of essence. And I admit, I was skeptical. But it really makes a huge difference on my face too. I love this stuff. 

I love the Nature Republic eyebrow mascara. The wand size is perfect for a brow. The color is nicely pigmented and the price is the best! : ) 

I picked a natural brown color, this color I had the same color last year too. And I also picked a red brown color, because I am toying with the idea of coloring my hair, a tad lighter and brighter for summer. Nothing too dramatic. But, in case I do, I want my eyebrows to be spot on too. : ) 

Am very happy with these. 

Samples. I love that they always give me really good samples. Skinfood BB cream, etc. Anyway, we all got dressed and we hit the road to Tsukuba. Reason being, we wanted to hit Nishimatsuya. There is a WAY closer Nishimatsuya, in the small city nearest our town in fact. However, they had slim pickings already. The moms around here.. buy their kids summer stuff really early. They beat me every year. Hahaha. I think I am fast and yet they are always faster! : ) lol. No worries, the one in Tsukuba has sizes up to 150cm. And their regular shops only go up to 140cm. Noah's size is barely 140cm right now. But, it is nice to be able to buy both sizes, if need be. So that's the main reason we went. 

We were in Tsukuba city on our way to Nishimatsuya. And saw this sign. Robot zone. The words near it basically say..."there are robots that go along this road, so if you pass one, please be careful, when passing the robots" And no, I am not kidding. : ) Hahaha. : ) The Terminator movies are probably some of my favorite movies. A robot relentlessly tracking you down... trying to find you and terminate your very existence. So...hmm. I think if I personally would be walking or strolling this street, my heart might be palpitating seeing one walking towards me. Sweat beads forming near the top of my hair line. : ) Nice robot...please be a nice robot! LOL. : )

Yep, this particular Nishimatsuya has the larger size of 150cm. There are a few shops like this around Chiba and I imagine in other parts of Japan too, just check their online website...if you should need the 150cm size. : ) We only need the 140cm size this year, but it will be helpful next year though. : ) 

We did buy Noah, 1 pair of shorts in size 150cm though. Given he's so super skinny though, we had him try them on and they fit. I did wash them and threw them in the dryer though...hoping for slight shrinkage though, but they fit fine. : )

I like that Nishimatsuya has very cute clothes. Very nice quality clothes, not cheap quality and very fair prices. This is under 1000 yen. So under $10 bucks. Given the exchange rate, this would be about $9 US. So very fair price on a pair of shorts. : )

We loved the print. Really happy and summer like. Really reminded me of Hawaii. Very beach-y. : )

Tee-shirt about $4 US. Fantastic price. 

Is Noah going to go out to a fancy shmancy dinner in this? No, of course not. But he can most certainly, bop to school, in this and cruise about town with us. Go riding bikes with his friends from the neighborhood. Go fishing with his dad or searching for crawdads/zarigani with his friends in this. : )  

Noah's real size. : ) 140cm.

These are so preppy! So cute and will go perfect with that navy blue Gap tee shirt, he just got the week before at the outlet. And this is a Target brand shorts. I have mentioned it on here before twice, that Nishimatsuya has/carries Target brands.  

I have never seen a pair of shorts at Nishimatsuya over 1000 yen. : ) I like that in Japan, the waistbands are soft and stretchy for kids. It's comfortable for kids waists. And they can pull up and down their pants with ease and we as mom's don't have to worry our child just pulled off a plastic button. : ) And the price, I love the price. You really don't have to spend a fortune, to be a cutie patootie. : ) At least, I don't think so. : ) 

Target brand yet again. Again the quality is something, I trust. Since I come from the country that invented Target. : ) I trust Cherokee. And I *love* that price. 

Again, a cute comfy pair of shorts, with comfortable stretchy waist band. 

Final pair. Also a trusted Target brand. Thank you Nishimatsuya. : ) 

Cutest jeans shorts ever! Love the cantaloupe orange color waist band. 

4 adorable and cute pair of shorts for Noah, with 4 comfy waist bands. Noah is now like 95% done with summer clothes. I think he might get a few extra tee shirts. But he's pretty much all set. Now, we just have to concentrate on finishing up Bran's Summer shopping. : ) 

Target brand simple tee. Love this color. Love the $6 US price. 679 yen.

Preppy stripes.

Two preppy tee shirts that will go perfectly with a pair of jean shorts. So 4 shorts this day, plus the Gap pale orange shorts the week before, that makes 5 total. Plus Noah has 3 jean shorts already from last year in size 140cm, that look like brand new still and are nice and big still. So, Noah has 8 pair of shorts total, for this spring and summer, 2015. 8 pair is more than plenty. : ) Noah will probably get a few extra tee shirts and perhaps 1 extra pair of PJ's and that's it. : ) He already has his new swim trunks and rash guard already. So he's just about set. : ) Anyway that was stuff that happened Sunday. 

Tuesday morning, May 5th. Boy's Day. Sorry, but I don't know, if it drives anyone else with boys crazy but it drives us nuts around here.... I know it's technically Children's Day but...we must be fair and even Stevens about things, right. And if we are going to have Girls Day in March. Then it be only fair, that we have Boy's Day. It's not fair for girls to have their own special day, in March. And then make the boys share their day in May. Just sorta seems like the boys get the short/crappy end of the stick. So while technically it is "Children's Day" I am keeping it fair...and even Stevens and so...it will stay/remain Boy's Day. For my blog and for our household. Come on though...we do have to remain fair. For Boy's Day, we just stood home. I did run to KFC in the afternoon to pick up some coleslaw. : ) But that's it. : ) Tuesday morning, I rubbed 2 pork loins with the pulled bbq rub. I preheated the oven very low and slow cooked this pork all day. I should have put it into the crock pot, but, I didn't. However it came out so good. I will use the oven next time too. : ) 

Also, the doorbell rang and it was yet again...Kuroneko (black cat) the delivery man, think along the lines of UPS. : ) He was delivering the tiniest little cardboard box you ever did see. It contained my one and only vitamin C serum. I had badly wanted this. Wish they would have honored the deal they offered. but...oh well...what can ya do. : ) I have 1, and I'm fine with it. : ) They did give me a huge mega ton of sample though. 1 package of samples was exactly of what they sent me last time except it had 1 extra sample inside and the other set of samples had totally and completely different samples inside. I do love those samples. : ) We use them up...perfect for travel, etc.

You know, I have the Shu Uemura Brightening cleansing oil. So, I was excited to see a similar brightening cleaning oil from It's Skin. Because I love It's Skin. My banana face cleanser was that brand last year. I like that brand. I have since used this sample of their cleansing oil...it is lovely and exactly like the Shu brightening cleansing oil. I also tried the Nature Republic Snail cleanser, I felt this was too overly drying for my face. It smelled good though. Which surprised me, I was thinking it might smell snail-y. lol. Granted, not that I'd know what one smells like, I haven't smelled any lately, (or ever) hahaha. But it smelled normal. : ) 

I use this vitamin c 20 every night. I use the Missha essence first though after I double cleanse of course and every morning I wake up, my face looks amazeballs. Noboru told me this morning...and I am not kidding you...I was drinking a cup of coffee, standing in the kitchen with not a stitch of makeup on at all and gabbing to Noboru (I just drove Noah to school and B's on his over night trip though, he gets back this evening at 5pm) and he was staring slightly and I said playfully..."what?" And he said..."I know you're into some skin something or other lately and I really don't know what's up with that, but I must tell you...your face...your skin looks gorgeous...it's all one color and is so white...you're glowing." For the record my skin didn't look bad before, but it did have a spot or two like most folks. I admit, my first gut reaction this morning, was to blush, then roll my eyeballs and joke and go..."oh gosh" But...he isn't one to give compliments unless he REALLY means them. So..I just said simply..."thank you", this morning. It is true...I do not have not 1 spot on my face...it is all even in texture and color. My skin...I shouldn't say it... but it's true...it looks amazing. It's not me. It's the Missha essence and that c20. My skin tone looks better today... then it did 5 years ago. That's really something. Anyway...And no, I am not suggesting anyone to buy those. I have never been compensated to mention a product, although I have been asked before by a few companies to try their products. I have always said no. Because, I would never do that. I feel when people do that...they are no longer a review I can trust 100%. Because what if getting the free product swayed their opinion. I know..they always say their opinion is their own, but I often have to wonder. So, no...on here...if I like something, I say I like it. If I don't like something...which has happened on here many times too, I say it. And no, I am not suggesting anyone to buy either product. I am just mentioning what I am using and that...it is working for me...like crazy! I love it. : )

This pork came out so tender. I took all fat and funky bits off and shredded it with 2 forks. The rub made the pork taste so good. 

Just a little bbq sauce. From a bottle. Noah wanted some pork at first without the sauce, which is why you see a little bowl with pork minus sauce. However Noah tried the one with sauce and loved that even more, so I ended up putting sauce on his too. : ) 

1 container of coleslaw from KFC. Dinners can be made easier by buying ready made slaw versus making your own sometimes. Or using bbq from a bottle, versus making your own. It just makes dinner time easier. : )

Bush's Baked beans. 

Dinner Tuesday evening. Boys Day. Pulled pork sandwiches should be put onto a hamburger bun. But, you know what...in the inaka. Finding hamburger buns is pretty hard. My 1 store in my town happened to have hot dog buns and I was proud of them for even carrying those! Hahaha. So, there you go. It all works. We had a nice causal Tuesday dinner for Boy's Day. We had a very American dinner. Slow roasted pulled pork sandwiches topped with some coleslaw and a side of baked beans. Branden had 3 sandwiches. Noboru had 3. Noah had 1 sandwich and an extra helping of baked beans, Branden and Noboru also had some extra baked beans too. It was a very nice supper. I am glad I bought extra packs of the buns, because I knew we'd need them. We were all nice and stuffed. Dinner clean up was a breeze, since I only used 1 roasting pan for the pork and 1 sauce pan for the beans. And some utensils and 4 plates. So dinner clean up was done in a snap. : ) Noah took a fast soapy sudsy shower. Branden went afterwards. I went after that. Noboru wanted to go last. Sometimes he'll go first. Just depends. After we all showered and I blow dried my hair and put my Missha essence on and vitamin c20 on. It's all clear so you can't see it. I said...anyone feeling like icecream? The kids said...yes! I said me too. Noboru wanted to come too. And so, I drove us all to Mini Stop and we each picked an ice cream, we were all in our house clothes. We were all clean, but we all looked...well... we all looked like... we all just took a shower. : ) Oh well...it's the inaka (countryside), we all know everybody else and vice versa. So it's okay. : ) We weren't in PJ's though. Just comfy clothes. We each picked an icecream and went home. 

I picked choco banana inside a waffle. It was pretty good. The other one that looks like a banana in shape, is best though. : ) Everyone else picked different flavors of ice creams. Anyway that's how we spent Boy's Day. Close to home. Just relaxed and hung out. : )