Kamakura Adventure Pt. 2 (Saturday Afternoon, Nov. 1)

So the first full day of my Kamakura Adventure was spent with my cousin, Hiromasa. On my father's side, I have 16 blood-related 1st cousins. On my mom's side, I have 2 cousins. I see my dad's side fairly regularly since we live in the central nexus of the family but I rarely see the Japanese side of my family. So this job has made a GREAT opportunity to spend time with them.

So Hiromasa works as an accountant in London, but he got transferred for awhile to the Japanese branch of the company (please correct me if I'm wrong, Hiro, who is probably reading this) for awhile. And the company set him up with a great apartment in Tokyo. His rent is more than my monthly salary!!! Of course, Hiro says this has more to do with the apartment being in Tokyo, but after I got to look (enviously) around his place, I think it kinda makes sense.


This is Hiro's living area. Notice the A/C above the windows. It's a bit empty because he's going back to England at the end of the month and has been packing up. Oh, and he also has an A/C unit in both his bedrooms too. That's THREE A/C units in all...talk about luxury...



His bedroom has nice inset ceilings.



And because Japan is the land of electronic amusement, I had to take a photo of the toilet controls. BWA HA HA HA! On the very top, there are two buttons: small flush and big flush. Then the buttons from left to right (stop, light mist, mist, bide, and something I can't read). Oh, and did I mention that the seat is heated?



For those of you who know my family, we tend to adopt people. Sonja McNeir has been a lifelong friend because both our mothers are Japanese women married to American men and we live only 30 minutes apart back in the States. Regularly (about twice a month), our mothers would meet up with other Japanese women in the area since we were little so we saw each other often. Then Sonja came to the JET Programme. I really have her to thank for encouraging me to apply and look where I am now! Since she has been here 2 years, my mom shared all her contacts with Sonja, including my aunt, uncle, and cousins. So Sonja came with me on this Kamakura Adventure and her presence made the trip all the more enjoyable! Here we are at the lunch at a really good (yet very impersonal) ramen shop.



Never give your camera to a guy-cousin. He will always catch you at the most unflattering moments. ;) Here I am upholding a Japanese custom of slurping my ramen noodles. It's polite to slurp the noodles because it is a compliment to the chef that I am thoroughly enjoying the meal.


Not all restaurants are this impersonal where I do not even see the server and have "Jeopardy boards' separating me from my company. I'll mark it under "quaint Japanese situations".