Yes, we have felt earthquakes. Our first "major" one was on January 28 at 7:43 am. It measured a 5.5 and yes the building feels like it is swaying. It was scary, but we didn't panic. I looked out the window (silly me...one of the rules for safety is stay away from windows!) and life looked normal. Cars were still traveling, no buildings collapsed, and people were walking! 5.5 is so very minor to the locals. We have felt many little quakes. I check Japan's earthquake website whenever I feel a movement to see where it was. You can follow along with me by checking out the website: www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html Click on Earthquake Information which is in the middle of the column on the left. You will then see a map of Japan. The epicenter is marked with a "x" and the circles show where the quake was felt and measured. It is divided into prefectures which is similar to our states. Tokyo is one prefecture with many different areas (similar to townships).
I'm also posting a couple of photos. One is a sunrise as seen from our apartment and the other is fog and light snow approaching.
Next post I will discuss a few of the "holidays" that have occurred since we have been here.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Weather, food & shopping
I'm going to answer some questions that have come my way. Tokyo is experiencing a colder than normal winter. We've had several days of snow flurries and one day with a 2 inch snowfall. On your news in the US you probably heard about the heavy amount of snow that Japan is getting. You have to go quite north and west of Tokyo to see that.
Tokyo is very diverse with their restaurants. We have had a wide variety including Japanese, Chinese, Italian, British, and American. Their are McD's here, although we have not gone. Subway, Fridays, Outback, and Hooters can also be found. Our plans are not to try those unless we get a craving. I personally can't think of a time that I craved going to Hooters. :) One Friday evening we did have a craving for pizza and asked at our front desk for someone to deliver. He pulls out the menu for Pizza Hut! So we had Pizza Hut deliver us a $40.00 pizza! Pizza will not be a weekly item on our menu!
Most of the restaurants have a specific lunch menu that they offer for an average cost of 1000 yen which is equal to about $13.00. Some restaurants have an English menu if you ask for it. We do a lot of picture looking and pointing. So far we have not had anything too outrageous. We did have an appetizer that had cold potatoes and something else in it, but we couldn't quite figure it out. Finally, one waiter spelled it out for us...SQUID. Oh! But it was very good. Our routine is that I cook during the week and on Sat. and Sun. we explore a new place to eat. Since lunch prices are more reasonable than dinner, we combine the two.
We have found our closest food market. Some of you have heard the story of our one hour search for this market and then find out it is about a 6 minute walk from our apartment! Streets are not marked with nice street signs. The market is called Hanamasa which means meat market. Besides meat, there are many other products. Bill's boss's husband, Dave, has a car and has taken me to Costco (yes, just like home!) and the international market, Nissin. Grocery prices are high in Tokyo. On average 3-4 times higher. But as budget minded as I am, I did find a good cheap wine! 400 yen which is about $5.00.
Tokyo is very diverse with their restaurants. We have had a wide variety including Japanese, Chinese, Italian, British, and American. Their are McD's here, although we have not gone. Subway, Fridays, Outback, and Hooters can also be found. Our plans are not to try those unless we get a craving. I personally can't think of a time that I craved going to Hooters. :) One Friday evening we did have a craving for pizza and asked at our front desk for someone to deliver. He pulls out the menu for Pizza Hut! So we had Pizza Hut deliver us a $40.00 pizza! Pizza will not be a weekly item on our menu!
Most of the restaurants have a specific lunch menu that they offer for an average cost of 1000 yen which is equal to about $13.00. Some restaurants have an English menu if you ask for it. We do a lot of picture looking and pointing. So far we have not had anything too outrageous. We did have an appetizer that had cold potatoes and something else in it, but we couldn't quite figure it out. Finally, one waiter spelled it out for us...SQUID. Oh! But it was very good. Our routine is that I cook during the week and on Sat. and Sun. we explore a new place to eat. Since lunch prices are more reasonable than dinner, we combine the two.
We have found our closest food market. Some of you have heard the story of our one hour search for this market and then find out it is about a 6 minute walk from our apartment! Streets are not marked with nice street signs. The market is called Hanamasa which means meat market. Besides meat, there are many other products. Bill's boss's husband, Dave, has a car and has taken me to Costco (yes, just like home!) and the international market, Nissin. Grocery prices are high in Tokyo. On average 3-4 times higher. But as budget minded as I am, I did find a good cheap wine! 400 yen which is about $5.00.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Welcome Joan and Bill and farewell to Chikako party
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Updates
This will be the start of an update on the last two weeks.
First, a description about our apartment complex (The Prudential Tower Residences). We are located in a business district of Tokyo. Our area is called Akasaka and our ward is Chiyoda. Tokyo is divided into many wards. There are many government offices near by. Our complex has 38 floors and we are located on the 26th floor. The view from our apartment is spectacular. The first 25 floors are business offices and retail shops. There is a very pretty lobby area with tables and wrap around sofa for enjoying the view of the courtyard. Daily, there is a new flower arrangement on the coffee table in the lobby. All have been beautiful. I'm thinking of taking photos of them. The front office staff is extremely friendly and all can speak English. Some of course, better than others.
Bill takes the subway into work. There is a subway station entrance (Akasaka Mitsuke) right outside of our building. He rides the subway for about 10 minutes into another ward called Shibuya. There he has about a 10 minute walk to work.
Our first full day here was very busy. We had a lot of legal work that had to be done. We had to register as legal aliens and temporary residents. Which meant registering at 2 different places. Plus we had to get reentry permits so we could go back to MI and return to Japan. Thank goodness for our relocation aids, Eriko and Kyoko. Without these two lovely women, Bill and I would still be trying to get to the first location!
I will stop for now. So much more to tell, but I want to get some pictures posted first. Remember, that my posting dates and times that are listed are for MI time. When I actually posted it, it is 14 hours ahead of Michigan in Tokyo. Sayonara!
First, a description about our apartment complex (The Prudential Tower Residences). We are located in a business district of Tokyo. Our area is called Akasaka and our ward is Chiyoda. Tokyo is divided into many wards. There are many government offices near by. Our complex has 38 floors and we are located on the 26th floor. The view from our apartment is spectacular. The first 25 floors are business offices and retail shops. There is a very pretty lobby area with tables and wrap around sofa for enjoying the view of the courtyard. Daily, there is a new flower arrangement on the coffee table in the lobby. All have been beautiful. I'm thinking of taking photos of them. The front office staff is extremely friendly and all can speak English. Some of course, better than others.
Bill takes the subway into work. There is a subway station entrance (Akasaka Mitsuke) right outside of our building. He rides the subway for about 10 minutes into another ward called Shibuya. There he has about a 10 minute walk to work.
Our first full day here was very busy. We had a lot of legal work that had to be done. We had to register as legal aliens and temporary residents. Which meant registering at 2 different places. Plus we had to get reentry permits so we could go back to MI and return to Japan. Thank goodness for our relocation aids, Eriko and Kyoko. Without these two lovely women, Bill and I would still be trying to get to the first location!
I will stop for now. So much more to tell, but I want to get some pictures posted first. Remember, that my posting dates and times that are listed are for MI time. When I actually posted it, it is 14 hours ahead of Michigan in Tokyo. Sayonara!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Arrived
So much has happened since I last posted. We had our belongings shipped and today is the day they will be delivered. They are arriving between 10 & 11. It will be so nice to have our things from home.
I have had trouble with being able to post, I tried a couple of things that were suggested and it works for now.
It is 4:50 am for me and I'm not awake enough to post what I would like, but felt I better get a note out at least.
After today, I should be ready to post some pictures and give you an update of what Bill and I have done.
Sayoonara!
I have had trouble with being able to post, I tried a couple of things that were suggested and it works for now.
It is 4:50 am for me and I'm not awake enough to post what I would like, but felt I better get a note out at least.
After today, I should be ready to post some pictures and give you an update of what Bill and I have done.
Sayoonara!
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