Another Day in... Paradise?

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Another morning at Starbucks, but for lunch I decided to try Lotteria. I guess you could compare it to Burger King. I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda. Ketchup was nowhere to be found. The burger tasted like a raw onion and it was really light colored, almost like sausage. Come to think of it, I probably ate sausage. Looks like another place on my "never again" list.

On my way back to the hotel, I got an iced tea at the local café. When I asked for it to go, they literally gave it to me to go... in a bag. I wish you could have seen me carrying it. I probably looked like I was walking with a ticking bomb. 

When Zach got back from the field, we met up with Naru. While we waited for her, we got something to drink. It seems like all we do is eat and drink. Zach got an iced green tea matcha latte and I got the yummy chocolate float I wrote about before. Zach took one sip and had the worst look on his face. I decided to try it for myself. Oh gosh, poor guy, his drink was absolutely terrible. It tasted like bitter grass. I just slurped mine down. Good choice Linds. Who needs healthy?

Naru showed us around a little more and showed us the different gyms here. The first place we went to was a Tea Store. It reminded me of Teavana. I bought Sangria Tea, dried kiwi, and a Happy Birthday pack. No, it's not my birthday, but I wanted the strawberry tea and cookies. Zach just shook his head and didn't say a word. He's used to me by now.

After the tea store, we went to an international grocery store. You would have thought that I was a kid in a candy store. Nope, just an adult in a food store. An American food store. Since we are not yet in our apartment, I couldn't buy too much. I was never so excited to see Combos. I never eat Combos. In fact, I don't even really like Combos, but I still bought them... and everything else in the picture below.

The first gym we went to was Gold's Gym. When you walk into any gym here in Japan you have to change your shoes. Since we didn't have another pair of shoes with us, we wore their complimentary slippers. You are not allowed to workout in the shoes you wear in there. I guess they don't want dirt on their floors? I literally couldn't understand it. I probably asked 5 times, "Ok, so the shoes I wear here, I cannot wear to workout?" Wait, what the...? There were a total of 3 people working out. How do they stay so darn skinny? Blows my mind. Anyway, the gym was so hot I was sweating and didn't even workout. That gym was a big N-O.

On our way to the next gym, we passed Louis Vuitton. If you know Zach and I, you know we love to shop. We decided to walk in and check it out. We just had to buy a coin purse for me and a coin purse for him. Manly coin purse. That sounds so funny. Their money is a little different, which is why we have so many coins. Their 5's and 1's are coins, too. When we walked out the saleswoman told me she likes a macho man and pointed to Zach. Hands off hunnie, he's mine!

After we bought our much needed coin purses, we went to the second gym. Again, we had to take off our shoes. This gym was so much better. It was cooler and they played American music. There were about 10 people working out. It's definitely a hike from our place, so no need for cardio since I have to walk there, right?

Naru recommended a restaurant for Zach and I to eat at because she had to get home. Every table at every restaurant, cafe, and food chain has wet towels. Even Starbucks! I am a bit OCD with being clean, so I think this is the best thing ever! Your food orders are taken on a little handheld gadget. Smaller than an iPad, but bigger than an iPhone. When you are ready to order or when you need something, you just call them over. This would not go over well in the States. I am pretty sure the waiter/waitress would look at you like, "Do you think I'm a dog calling me over to you?" Not here. When we got our check, we realized refills are not free in Japan. Zach had 5 glasses of Ginger-ale. Next time we will just get water. However, the food was delicious. 

Zach

Tuesday, June 17, 2014 & Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Hey everyone, it's Zach. I had to practice at the minor league field for two days since my working visa wasn't ready. On my locker is the number 9 and Lutz in Japanese. When you walk inside you have to take off your shoes and put on sandals to walk into the locker room. When I got to my locker there was a huge bag filled with equipment for me. I changed into my full uniform and walked to the door in my sandals. I changed into my running shoes for warmup. Warmup is 10 minutes on your own and then we break up into 3 lines. The first line is the young guys who are 18-20 years old. The second line is the older guys who are 21-24 years old. The third line is the veteran guys, myself included. The young guys have it tough. The trainer blows the whistle and the first group does high knees for about 30-45 seconds, the second group for about 10-15 seconds, and the third group for about 1 second. Then, we do a light jog. Next, the young guys do tuck jumps, squat thrusts, high knees, and line jumps. The second and third groups do about 5 seconds of tuck jumps. Man do I feel bad for the young guys! After warmup, I played catch with Kaki. He is my new buddy. He is only 19 years old and he is a stud. Then, we did PFP (Pitchers Fielding Practice) and everything must be done to perfection. After PFP, Kaki and I did ground balls for about 15-20 minutes. When we were finished with ground balls, we did BP (Batting Practice). My favorite! BP is thrown directly in front of the mound. Back home when you take BP, the coach is right in front of you. The coach says Lutz "OP," meaning own program. I just hit and hit and hit. The fields are all turf so it takes a little to get used to. I do sprints and ride the stationary bike for my conditioning. My first experience here was great. I can't wait to get my visa so I can play and help the Major League Team. For lunch, I had a bowl of rice. On top of the one side of the rice was scrambled eggs and on top of the other side of the rice was ground meat. I also had a salad and chicken.
I like how everybody is so polite and how the younger players bow to the older players to show respect. My favorite thing about Japan is the atmosphere and my least favorite thing is taking the subway.
When it comes down to being so far away from the US, baseball is still the same game. You have to have fun playing. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love the game.
The pictures below are of my new luggage, backpack, and my translator, Yo. He is my buddy here in Japan.

 

Starbucks, Subway, and AMERICAN FOOD

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

We had Starbucks for breakfast. We couldn't do another day at the buffet. I had a biscuit with no butter. I asked for jelly and they offered me caramel or chocolate syrup. I just smiled and shook my head no. I also had an iced coffee. Ah, finally something from home. Wait, wait a minute. They only have regular milk and skim milk. No cream? Great. Such a good way to cut calories... and lack of taste. I do like their sugar here though. It's liquid sugar! I am stocking up on this to bring back home.

Zach had an Iced Chai and a bagel sandwich. It actually looked pretty good. I saw all of the melted cheese just oozing off. Oh wait, that was egg yolk. He was barely able to get the sandwich down. Maybe after 3 1/2 months we will be able to eat a fresh raw egg. Yea, highly doubtful. 

Zach headed to the field after breakfast and I farmed my crops and took care of my animals on Hay Day. I am not usually a gaming geek, but I have a lot of free time. Zach got me addicted to the game and each night we lay in bed and farm. What happened to us?

I had Subway for lunch, again. I got Zach 2 sandwiches because I knew that 1 would not be enough. I went to the convenience store on my way back and found Chip Star Potato Chips. They tasted just like Pringles. We finished the container in one day. I stocked up on some gum and candy, too. They have the best fruit chews here. That's another thing I will be bringing back home. 

 

After Zach got back from the field, we took a nap. Our life doesn't sound very exciting at this point. Sleep, eat, farm, repeat. We haven't ventured out too much yet because we aren't sure we will find our way back. 

On one of my walks I found a pub. It's really close to our hotel. We decided to check it out. Get the heck outta here... AMERICAN FOOD! We had pickles, chicken fingers, a cheeseburger, and fries. I honestly could have eaten 2 cheeseburgers. It was the best cheeseburger I ever had. Why do I have a feeling we will be eating there at least 4 times a week? I had Oolong Tea to drink. It's a very healthy tea, except for the fact that I added liquid sugar. They looked at me like I was committing a sin. No shame in my game. 

We finally got our Japanese phones today. We both got the iPhone 5S. We also got a little gadget that will give us WiFi wherever we go. They have the best technology here! 

Earthquake

Monday, June 16, 2014

In the wee hours of the morning I felt my bed shake and I thought I was dreaming. About 10 minutes later, the entire hotel shook and Zach and I jumped out of bed. We had no idea what was going on and we were scared. I quick texted my Mom and went on Google and sure enough we experienced our first earthquake. The sign on the building next to us is now hanging on by a thread.

Thankfully, there wasn't any damage outside and people just went about their normal business. Zach and I couldn't fall back to sleep and we were ready for breakfast by 5:00, but of course the buffet didn't open until 7:00. I was hoping this buffet would offer more than the last one. I was wrong. It was worse. Another day of rice. I used to love white rice, now I am beginning to hate it. Zach decided to have a salad. He was really missing those chicken nuggets from yesterday.

We headed straight to Starbucks. Luckily, there is one at the corner of our street. I had a Caramel Macchiato and Zach had an Iced Chai and a scone. We hung out for a little while and watched all of the people walk to work in their business suits. We even saw two little kids walking to school. Japan is really safe, which is great for a scaredy cat like me. 

Zach had to get a physical and blood work at the hospital at 11:30, which meant he couldn't eat anything after 8:00. I was starving at 10:45 (duh) so we walked to Subway. Unfortunately, they didn't accept credit cards. I had $15 in American money so we decided to go to the bank to exchange it for Yen. By this point it was 11:20 and Zach had to get back to the hotel to meet up with Yo. As much as he didn't want to, he had to leave me. I was in a Japanese bank, alone, blocks away from the hotel. I managed to get the Yen and I walked to Subway. Once again I just pointed and smiled. I like my sandwich pretty plain so it wasn't hard to order. Ok, drink and chips and I was ready to go. Chips? Where the heck are the chips? They only had potatoes, aka French Fries. French Fries at Subway? What would Jared think of that? Me on the other hand, I was loving it. I got my sandwich, cola, and potatoes. Off I went back to the hotel. The sandwich in the picture may look like a Subway sandwich from the States, but it was about the size of a hot dog bun. No joke. I guess I am ordering a footlong next time. That sounds terrible. 

When Zach got home from the field, it was time for dinner. It was the first time going without the interpreter. What do you think we got? Italian! Zach had a pizza and I had pasta... again. Japan is very different from the States. You do not tip the waiter/waitress. They do not have diet soda, but they have iced coffee at every restaurant. 

After dinner we went to walk around the indoor shopping mall. I don't even know why we bothered to look, we weren't fitting in anything. I did, however, find a pair of shoes. I wear a Large here. 

To my girl friends back home... Why do we not wear socks with our heels? Almost every girl here in Japan wears heels and socks. I bet their feet never hurt. I am bringing this fashion statement back home. Who's with me? 

After dinner, we walked around the arcade. The arcade here is a bunch of little shops and food stands about a mile long. Zach wanted to go into ADIDAS to find a shirt to wear under his jersey. It took a while, but he found one that fit him. As we were paying, they asked us why we were in Japan. Zach told them he was playing baseball for the Eagles and you would have thought David Beckham just walked into that soccer store. They couldn't believe it. I just stepped back and took it all in. I am pretty sure Zach needs to get used to that.  

Back to the hotel we went and we were in bed by 9:00. The 13 hour time change isn't easy to get used to. 

こんにちは (Hello)

Saturday, June 14, 2014 & Sunday, June 15, 2014

When we arrived at the Sendai airport our translator, Yo, was waiting for us. I am pretty sure we were easy to find. Our taxi driver was waiting for us as well. Here I am, the American, thinking he's driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road. Nope, they drive on the right side of the car and the opposite side of the road. Good thing we are not renting a car here. We all know how I drive back home, could you imagine me in Japan? Ha! He took us to our hotel. We were staying in the hotel for one night because our other hotel wasn't quite ready yet. When I walked into the hotel I felt huge. I could touch the ceiling and we all know I am not very tall. I was checking everything out and I stubbed my toe walking into the room because everything was so close together. By this point I was hungry, tired, dirty, and straight miserable. It was a long day of travel. 

Yo let us settle for a few minutes until he found a place to eat that was open late. Mexican it was. We walked to the restaurant which was just across the street. We had to take an elevator to the floor and the 3 of us barely fit inside.  We walked into the restaurant which was no bigger than my living room. Oh gosh. Everyone in the place was smoking, which is very common here. I just about died. 

Yo ordered a bunch of food for us. I just stared at it. The food portions were very, very small. Now I am beginning to understand why Japanese people are so tiny. We had chips and salsa. We were given about 10 chips no bigger than the size of a Dorito and a scoop of salsa. Where was the rest of it? I had a beef taco. Beef? Not quite sure what it was. Let's just hope it was not beef tongue. I am gagging thinking about it.  I managed to get it down. Zach had a cheese enchilada and some kind of beef. I made him eat as fast as he could so we could get the heck out of there. 
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Finally, a bed to lay in. 

When we got up the next morning we were excited to check out the breakfast buffet. We saw a sign that had pancakes, so we were sure we would find something we liked. I walked around 6 or 7 times until I recognized something that looked familiar, white rice and toast. I managed to find yogurt and fruit, too. The toast in the picture looks normal sized, but it was about the size of my palm. Zach ended up with chicken nuggets, eggs, white rice, and some bread. 

Apparently raw eggs are common here for breakfast. The guy next to us cracked one open and slurped it down. That was the end of my breakfast. Yuck! 
Obviously, we were still hungry. We found a Starbucks. How the heck were we going to order a coffee? I guess just point and smile!

After Starbucks, we walked around for a bit and explored. 

The area reminded me of New York City, except much cleaner and the cabs actually wait for you to cross the street. 

At 11:00, Yo and another translator Naru, met us at the hotel to take us to our other hotel. Once our luggage was in our room, we went for lunch. I had the salad bar and pasta. Where the heck were the croutons? And cheese? And french dressing? They had coffee jelly (Jello to us) and some fruit. The pasta was pretty good except for the big slabs of bacon. What the heck?

After lunch, Zach went with Yo to the field and I went exploring with Naru. She is my new best friend here in Japan. She wants me to teach her how to dance and I want her to teach me Japanese. This could get interesting! She showed me the main place for public transportation, Sendai Station, which reminded me of the subway in New York, but it has stores inside. 

On our way back, I stopped and got a drink called a chocolate float. I think I may have this every single day. Notice how small it is. I might need 2 a day.

Once Zach was done at the field, we had some time to relax. Zach told me all about the stadium. He is really excited to start playing. His baseball shorts are a 5XL and his undershirt is a 3XL. I couldn't stop laughing when he told me. I do not even want to try on any clothing here.  

Later, Yo took us to dinner. We wanted Italian, again. Shocker. The food was really good. 

After dinner we went back to our hotel. We have to sleep in separate beds because the size of the bed is about the size of a cot. The only thing Zach and I can do is laugh. On a positive note, the toilet seat cleans your booty (which I will not be using, that's just weird) and it is heated! Where can I buy one at home? The heated seat, not the bidet.