kevin & katie spencer: Chinatown, Costco, Chaos

Some things in Japan are just down right hilarious, others are genius, and a few are awkward. Below are a few of the hilarious and awkward as seen from the store called "Homes" which is like our Home Depot, but has a lot more stuff, like shampoo, pets, etc.

When you buy feminine hygiene products they wrapped them up for you in paper to conceal them before you put them in your grocery bag; however, walking down the aisle this is their display which is just the perfect height for Cora to touch them all...awkward.

I'm sure you have heard that the Japanese where masks when they are sick so not to get anyone else sick, which is smart, and A LOT of people do it, but balloons displaying the different types of masks?? And this as just like a third of the selection...hilarious.

On Saturday we decided to hit up Costco as we had heard great things. I would say it was homey, but a little disappointing. They have a ton of American food/items along with the creepy. They had a bunch of taste samples but nothing looked edible. One I swear was seaweed crisps, another was a unrecognizable meat, and of course a tea one. We had heard that they deliver your items for 500 Yen; however it was 1,000 Yen and then they restricted the amount and weight. So we passed on the paper towels and tp and bought shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, Rootbeer (essential), baby wipes, juice, etc. And it isn't as a good deal when we can buy things at the commissary, but then getting anything home from there is a nightmare. We didn't know exactly where Costco so we just walked the streets until we found it. And we ate lunch there and it had the same food as in the states and I'll tell you that combo pizza has never tasted so good. Oh and they had pineapple smoothies!

Things they did not deliver. IN ENGLISH! Everything was labeled in English, that was nice.

If you thought Costco in Utah on Saturday was crazy, you should try Japan! It took us like 3 hours to buy those few things and maneuver around. We also thought we lost our card, forgot to bring our address for the delivery (guessed and it came right on time the next day even though I got 2 numbers wrong! Maybe they just know where the American's live!), and left feeling depleted. Chaos.

The Costco is really close to Yokohama which is the second biggest city in Japan so we decided to make our way to Chinatown (largest Chinatown outside of China!)! There are signs everywhere that say that!

These are the steps to the train station and they are everywhere there isn't an elevator. Nice to have a ramp, but super steep and skinny.

We got Cora a sparkly pink fan which was dropped on the ground and broken by the stroller about 10 minutes later. Good thing they have super glue here. Cora loves it still.

Lots of theses arches that were so ornate and beautiful. I think we will have to visit China sometime.

I had never seen dragonfruit with its skin on. I have eaten it I believe, but didn't know it looked like this. The name makes a lot more sense now. They also had a million booths where they sold these bean things that are supposed to be a treat. They gave us one to sample and it was pretty bland.

Cora loved this display. We thought about coming back next week during Chinese New Year, but I heard you can barely breathe there are so many people!

Leaving Chinatown

A street

Lots of these lions in front of stores. George kept trying to reach them so I decided to bend over so he could touch them and then realized as I was falling that I was a little front heavy! He didn't get hurt, but was a little scared, but stopped crying when he got to touch the lion!

More streets.

this was in the middle of a two-way street. Just in case you wanted to sit and read while hearing cars drive past!

Panda World! Awesome.

GEORGE AND KEWPIE! Not sure what kewpie is!

Landmark Tower which has the fastest elevator in the world! We went up to the observation floor and it took 40 seconds to go up 68 floors. You didn't feel it move too fast except my ears popped a few times. Weird sensation.

Just outside of Landmark Tower is a huge ferris wheel, this boat which is in a dry dock, and is kind of random in the middle of the city, and it has a bunch of rides and other carnivally type things.

Landmark Tower has its own mascot!!

Here are some photos of the views from the observation floor. It has 360 degree windows, but it was right at dusk so not all the pictures turned out as clear. This was the carnival stuff at the bottom of the tower.

If you open this picture bigger you can see Tokyo in the distance. Yokohama is about a 30 minute train ride from Tokyo (to the south).

This is towards Chiba across the bay.

This is Yokohama's main district.

This is to the southwest and you can kind of see Mt. Fuji in the back right. Just tall buildings and cities for as far as the eye can see!

More Yokohama downtown.

Next to Landmark Plaza is a big mall called Queens Plaza. Inside they had this car cut in half and lights and signs talking about all the cool features. Kevin was super excited and in this picture had just turned around and said so cool.

They had a little table next to the car that kids could write where they drive on a piece of paper and put it on the board and get a mini car. The car was a mitsubishi outlander or something and so Cora colored on the paper and Kevin wrote, "This is how I roll," and I wrote, "Katie Owns You." We think we are funny.

HARD ROCK CAFE! It was closed for a private event...who closes a whole restaurant?!

We also stopped by Krispy Kreme and got some donuts. $25 for a dozen! Delicious though, and I made Kevin come with me to go through the whole store until we found a penny smasher since I have been collecting them for a few years.

On Sundays we have to take the train to church as it is in downtown Yokosuka right by the Yokosuka-chou station. I forgot to take a picture of the sign, but I will one Sunday.