Sea Paradise Aquarium in Yokohama Hakkeijima

6:30am and waiting for the 1.5hr train ride to Yokohama Hakkeijima

Markus' very first ride on the Merry-Go-Round carrousel.

Hanging in out with friend, Addison Haggerty.

Taking a little break.

The shark seemed a little too close for comfort for Markus!

Enjoying the view down the Ocean Panorama

We were mezmerized by the adorable baby belugas.


Heading home from a long day. It was definitely worth it!

Click the play icon below to view a short video of our visit to Sea Paradise Aquarium.

More pics

Cherry blossom viewing, or "Sakura" in April.

Check out the Japanese landscaping in our courtyard.

Walking toward Kami Itabashi Station from our apartment.

This little road, which may appear as an alley, is shared by people, bicycles, scooters and cars.

Still walking...

Admiring a little water fountain at a park outside Ikebukuro Station

Skype

We've registered with Skype. For those of you with webcams, we can communicate and see each other through this network absolutely free. We've also registered for a SkypeIn telephone number, which is (313) 406-7724, so you can call from your land line or cell and if we're online we can pick up your call. It would cost you the rate of calling a Detroit number, cheaper than calling us direct in Japan...try it out! You can leave a msg on our SkypeVoicemail if we're unavailable.

Click here to learn more about Skype.

More uchi snapshots...

Here are a few pics of our home...all the rooms aren't completely organized yet, therefore I won't post those photos yet.

Picture on the top right is a view from inside the kitchen

View of the dining area and kitchen...notice the tiny fridge in the corner and tiny, yet multi-functional microwave.

Here is Markus in the tatami room; his play area for now.

Our uchi (oo-chee); home

Thought you all might be interested in seeing pics of our home. Needless to say, it is smaller than our home, back home, however it's cozy and has a whole lotta storage. I am impressed by the space management of the apartment.

Our kitchen is small with only 3 stove-top gas burners and a very tiny broiler, where you would think the oven should be. In actuality, our microwave is more than just a nuker. It acts as a toaster oven where you could bake anything from chicken to cookies. It has many other features that I can't remember since it's in Japanese characters... I better learn, I guess. Here's Markus taking his first Japanese bath and playing basketball at the same time.The bathroom is pretty versatile. It holds the washer/dryer unit in the closet. The bathtub automatically fills up to whatever level you want and it remains at a constant temperature that you desire. The toilet room is situated in it's own tiny room across the hall...a bit weird to get used to at first...but I was aware of this difference from my previous visit to Japan. I think one of the bonuses to this apartment is the city view outside our balcony. On a clear day, you can see Mount Fuji in the distance, which is just a beautiful site amidst the hectic city.

A magnified view of Mt. Fuji, from our balcony. Rodney's first thought when he saw this view was that he couldn't believe he actually climbed the mountain. I hope to attempt it sometime this year...possibly with Markus piggy-backed...yeah right!!