Japan Highlight 2: People!

This is Baby Naho. She and I got to go to the
Camel Park together!

Well, yes, I know that people are the highlight wherever I am, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to talk about them--and how much fun it was!

Of course Grandma and GranTom were the biggest highlights (more on them in the next post), but there were lots of other people--kids, aunties, 'amos (that would be "uncles" in Arabic), and lots and lots of friends!

This is Auntie Satoko. We got to pray together when
she visited me. 

These are my friends from Sunday School,
Minori-chan and Sahori-chan. We read
Bible stories in Arabic by looking at the pictures
and figuring out the story!

This is actually Mommy's friend from when she was
younger. By this time of the day, though, I was
ready to go home and didn't want to get my picture taken!

This is Izumi and Misaki, Mommy's friend's two
daughters. We had ice cream together!

These are the kids from Grandma & GranTom's
"Mommy & Me" club. I have a cd of them singing,
and they once watched a video of me . . . so I
guess we already "knew" each other before this?

This is Tosei-kun. He really, really likes cars. But he also
likes animals, so we played with animals together. 

My favorite part of having all the kids over at
Grandma & GranTom's house: jumping on the bed!!!

GranTom, Ayano-chan and Yukina-chan
got to play violin together.

And of course, when Emi was willing to come
swing with me, we had a GREAT time!

Japan Highlight: Parks!

Swinging at the park next to
Grandma & Gran Tom's.

 Yes, I'll happily admit it: one of the best things about Japan was the parks. Yes, plural: PARKS. The one next to Grandma & GranTom's house, the one with the camel, the one over by the Ghibli Museum, and especially the zoo park. Wow!

Every morning (and at other times during the day), I went outside to spend some time swinging--it really is a great way to start the day, you know! Yeah, it was pretty hot and humid some of the days, but that's why swinging is so great: you get the breeze, you get to look around . . . and it can be pretty exciting at times, too!

Oh--and did I mention that Japan has a lot of water? A LOT. So the parks even have water in them: drinking fountains that squirt, and even a WADING POOL. I'm not sure life gets a whole lot better than that!

So . . . enough said: I bring you . . . the parks and me!

A little bit of "home"?

GranTom and I really liked looking at the fish in the water.

And speaking of water . . . !!!

Mom said I should call this "following in
GranTom's steps"

Sometimes Grandma & GranTom played with me,
and other times they just watched me :)

Well, OK, sometimes they also checked their i-phones!

Yep, more swinging!

This is Laila, the bunny

We looked for ducks and finally found them!

Grandma and a Guinea Pig!

There were LOTS of Guinea Pigs!

And still more swinging . . . 

I even got to hold a guinea pig!

And here's Laila again! She got to
come home to Jordan with me :)

Japan: Getting There

Play house in Queen Alia International
Airport (Amman)

OK, so choosing a small number of "favorites" from our time in Japan is not possible, so this will be broken down into a few different posts. Maybe I'll even have them done before we go visit Grandma and GranTom again!

The trip to Japan was long, but it was actually a lot of fun! Amman has a new airport, and their kid's play area is great: a little toy house, see-saws, coloring books . . . and kids! What more does anyone need? Our plane left late, so by the time we landed in Dubai we were almost late for our next flight. As a result, we got to ride in one of those cars that drive all over airports: pretty cool! But I can't tell you much about their airport.

Seoul airport, though . . . well, that's a whole different world. Wow! Play areas (yes, plural), a Charlie Brown cafe, more play areas. And, yes, kids. Mom and I actually booked a room so we could sleep a bit. We had had three seats to ourselves on the plane, but, well, bulkhead seats don't have armrests that pull up, and have you ever tried to lay down and sleep on one little airplane seat? Hello!

Kids to color with, kids to watch . . . 

And then it was on to Tokyo--and Grandma & Gran Tom. And, of course, puppy!

And AIRPLANES to watch!

Then there's the "morning" . . . 

Play area in the Seoul airport . . . 

My first Japanese friend:
we watched the blue airplanes together

Grandma and Puppy waiting for me in Narita

We made it!!

And they've got M & M's here too!!