Howdy All! I just realized what a long hiatus that I've taken from this blog. After a long trip in the states to show off the new baby I'm back to keeping up with the blog. At least so that my Facebook feed doesn't get over run with pictures of Japan and Bea.

Last night I went out to Kappa Sushi (Two Turtles Sushi if you are an American) with the Davises because they are getting ready to leave Misawa for warmer climates. I will miss them so much! Ian couldn't make it because he's working ridiculous hours this week (14 hour shifts). Joy. But we had lots of fun without him.

Bea was captivated learning how to slurp down udon noodles with her fingers. I'm not really supposed to give her raw fish yet, but watch out when I do because that kid is a eating machine.

I took a little video as a tutorial to how a fastfood sushi restaurant works in Japan. You sit next to a conveyor belt and plates of sushi move past you. You can also order on a screen above the table and the food will be "shipped" to you on a mock train above the conveyor belt. Then as you eat you stack your plates and that is what the server uses to tally your bill. There are also fried foods, miso and udon soups, juice boxes, and deserts for order too.

So blogger is doing this retched things where I can't attach videos...oh well, I guess I will either try later or put them on Fb.

 After dinner we went to Universe, this big beautiful grocery store. Think the Japanese version of Wegmans or King Soopers. I needed to pick Ian up some dinner and believe it or not the Japanese do a wonderful deli experience. I got Ian a bun with a hotdog baked in it, some deep fried lotus root (totally delicious, a must have especially fresh from the Hachinohe fish market), some gyoza, an onigiri (rice ball wrapped in seaweed), and a pastry for my breakfast. How could I resist?

This machine is pretty much the coolest thing ever. You put your bags of groceries in the large square door and the machine will flash freeze them so they are still cold by the time you get home. Can you imagine if we had this in the states?

These are some pictures of the store. You have to bag your own groceries and pay for large heavy duty bags. Most people bring their own bags though.

Grocery stores are pretty much the coolest cultural thing ever. What's neater than how we package and present food?