We went to Sunshine City near Ikebukuro to get on the Sunset 60 Observatory. There were many shops on our way from the station to Sunshine City and of course we bought some stuff even before we arrived. There were all kind of shops, a gift shop with a Hello Kitty entrance and a big Book Off where Joost could buy to all heart's content. And a big Tokyu Hands. The street was called Sunshine 60 as well, matching the name of the biggest building in the neighbourhoo...

Today was the Emperor's birthday so Dennis had a day off from work. First we went to Kappabashi to get a part of the our new year's gifts (yes ,we were too late for them to be Christmas gifts). We wanted to see the Christmas decorations because most of them will be gone after Christmas. We walked to Ueno and we even passed the neighbourhood were we stayed at a weekly mansion. We recognized the big red wooden tori gate at the beginning of the street to a small shr...

Just when Michelle was leaving a woman rang the doorbell. Apparently she was from Tokyo Gas and wanted to check all the gas pipes. It was great to see all the equipment she pulled out to do a reading if we had a gas leak. She was very thorough. She checked the stove (even underneath) and the elements that provide gas to the apartment. We passed the test and after she filled in some forms she left. Michelle could finally begin her hunt for homeopathic remedies....

Today Michelle had an appointment with Reiko to meet her friend Yukiko and go to a nice place for lunch. We all met at the station and went to a French restaurant in the neighborhood called POPHOT where we had very nice crepes. Mine was with cheese, mushrooms and bacon and was very delicious. The one Reiko and Yukiko choose looked tasty as well. I am sure I will visit them again in the future to try some of the other variations as well. Strangely, it was not allo...

Today we visited Maeda, a colleague of Dennis, his wife and son Soushi. They all live near Hioshi station in the region of Yokohama. When we were heading to the station we discovered we forgot the present we wanted to give (chocolate letter from Sinterklaas). So we were a little later than we planned. Luckily they did not mind. We met with Maeda at the station. There was a big globe in front of the station and Maeda told us it was some sort of monument for a univ...