Mo Ikai? One More Time?

My Japanese Breakfast at Shimoda

Day 5 and 6 in Shimoda: It rained a lot yesterday and last night but it was sunny when we woke up. It was actually a beautiful day. In fact, in the late afternoon, it reminded us of Northern California – which is saying a lot.

Another amazing breakfast…my husband and I just love the Japanese breakfast at the hotel. It might seem strange to many but we love rice, miso soup, fish, pickles and various vegetable dishes for breakfast. When I first met my husband he couldn’t really stomach eating Japanese style (he doesn’t complain much in general so he would eat it – just wouldn’t enjoy it) when we traveled to Japan but now he loves it. Our girls not so much but by their fourth breakfast, they were chowing down on grilled fish too…(although the promise of however many croissants they wanted to eat after eating their protein and fruit may have had something to do with it.)

Since it was our last full day and a nice sunny one, we decided to spend the day at the hotel pool. It was a good day for it, not only because of the reasons mentioned, but also since it was Saturday. Finally our girls would have lots of kids to play with! They weren’t disappointed. They met up with really cute sisters in the morning, 9 and 5 years old. They were really polite, friendly and energetic. Towards the end, the four of them were jumping into the pool holding hands together over and over again. They would say “Senno! (sort of ready set go)” and jump and then “Mo Ikaii! (one more time)”

This fun but strenuous activity did our younger one in and she couldn’t even eat lunch. In fact she just bawled herself to sleep. Our older daughter still had energy to spare and after some rest, she was back out. She met another set of sisters (this pair a lot more chatty than the pair of sisters in the morning). And play they did again in the pool. The girls had a lot of fun!

We are nearing the end of our trip and it’s a little sad. We’ve had a great time here in Japan. The older girl said to us today that she wished we could move to Tokyo. She thought Tokyo was a lot more fun and interesting than where we lived. It’s hard to compare Tokyo, a mega metropolis, to a small American suburb. I wouldn’t mind living in Tokyo again…I just need to find a good expat job!!

The train ride back to Tokyo on Sunday was a little more crowded than our train ride to Shimoda on Tuesday. Nearly all the seats were taken by the time we pulled out of Atami station. We still managed to find an extra seat however.

For our last two nights in Tokyo, my husband decided, for a change of pace, to stay at a hotel instead of returning to the fully serviced apartment I had booked. I was ambivalent about staying at a hotel. I wanted to return to our 2BR with washer and dryer. I enjoyed having the space to stretch out and having clean clothes to take back! He called around a couple of hotels and found a room at the Ritz Carlton for the same price as the 2BR apartment. (He is a good negotiator.) I am glad he did because our hotel room is probably one of the nicest I have ever stayed in. The girls love it because, yes the room, but mostly because of the access to an indoor pool!

The first thing we do when we arrive at the hotel from Tokyo Station…swim, with a view! Nice. Dinner was at the Tokyo American Club. One of my mother’s friends invited us out to dinner. It was a really good buffet, in fact much better than the one we had at the Imperial Hotel. Wow!