When Hubby's Away. . .

Hi there.  Time is flying really fast here and we have already lived in Japan for one month! I can't even believe it myself.  A couple of weeks ago, my husband went on a business trip from Monday through Saturday to Europe.  He went to Rome, Madrid and Paris.  I was not pleased.  Many people have asked why I didn't go.  The bottom line is, I cannot go.  So, I had some new, dear friends that kept me busy while he was away.  I am very thankful for these girls that have reached out to me and included me in so many things.  This post is about only two days of excursions.  

First we visited an Premium Outlet Mall in a nearby prefecture.  The kids were off of school and the place was packed!! It was a great place to people watch.  This "interesting" sculpture was outside the mall.  

If you're interested, search Google.  I did and I still have no clue.  

My friend Sharon and I checked out the Wacoal store. I really like Wacoal bras and so I wanted to see it. Well, bras in Japan are nothing like they are in the U.S.  NOTHING. There are a lot of frills, lace, flowers and ruffles.  Sizes are much different as well, as you may be able to see. There was not a plain bra in sight. 

 There were several strange store names.

This vintage Nissan was parked in front of us. Pretty cute! The next day Sharon invited me over and we ended up running some errands. I was able to check out her grocery store, which is nicer than mine. These are more "normal" prices than some you've seen me post from the specialty food stores.

Four big apples for basically $3.32. They are delicious too.  But you only have a choice of two kinds of apples from what I can tell, yellow and red.

 I can't really tell you how much hamburger this was in weight.  I would guess that it was around a quarter pound.  I think it would've made one hamburger.  The cost is $4.55.

I took a photo of this bread because it had the largest slices I've seen so far.  Usually the bread loaves hold 4-8 slices of bread which determines the size of the slices.  I think it's a pretty great idea.  I have found whole wheat bread but it's pretty wimpy compared to ours. I'm missing my 7 or 12 grain bread.  

 Nope.

I took this photo of Sharon in an attempt to be sneaky and take a picture of these two guys in their huge pants.  Sharon thinks construction workers wear them.  Seems like they'd be in the way and super annoying.  I think he knew I was doing it by the look on his face. BUSTED!

 HUGE grapes!  I was told they taste like wine, and I would agree. 

1280 Yen translates to $10.68.

 $6.66 per cantaloupe.

 I loved the tablecloth (laminated) fabric they sold in the grocery store!  Very cute. 

I was really tempted to buy these cute crocks.  Really, really tempted.

 We then went to Daiso which is a 100 Yen store in Japan and they are also in Los Angeles.  Maybe they are in more places in the US as well.  This is the biggest one I've ever seen.

 Look at these monster hangers.  They are evidently for towels.  HUGE.  Kind of cute, though.

On Instagram I titled this photo, "one of these is not like the other". Everyone BACKS into their parking spaces in Japan.  It's supposedly safer when you leave.  Maybe so.  Either way you have to back up sometime.  Here you can easily see which car is Sharon's.  You may also be able to see that it has a green and yellow "new driver" sticker on it.  We Americans have to put these on our cars.  On that note, I'm taking my driving test this Thursday!  If you think of me on Wednesday evening, breathe a little prayer for me.  Thank you! 

Talk to you soon,

Karen