I went shopping and my new skill.

I feel like I have to get out of my house at least once every day. Our kids are used to that—they are not home buddies either. Mark, especially, loves going places with me. So, on Monday, the commissary was closed (it’s always closed on Monday which makes it tricky to make sure we have everything we need on Saturday). We decided to stop by one of the Japanese grocery stores to pick up some mandarin oranges which are the sweetest right now.

We went to Asahi Drugstore at the Veedol Plaza “mall”. Don’t hold your breath, nothing crazy happened:).

 

But I wanted to share one outstanding skill that I have started to acquire while living here. Notice the way the cars are parked. Somehow, all these car manage to always back into their parking spots so it’s much easier for them to get out from the parking lot.

Now notice how I am parked:) That is one of the few times that I actually manage to do that easily. What you cannot see is that the row of  cars across from where I am parked is really close, so it is quite challenging to back into that parking spot. Anyway…I know people in Ukraine do that all the time….but since I learned to drive in the states, learning how to parallel park and back into a parking spot were not on top of my list.

Finally, here is a picture of what I bought. Mandarin Oranges are tucked in in the middle. As you can see, one of the packages on the left is open—that is my favorite puffy chocolate treat…and Mark’s too.

Now, any guesses of what those cookies might taste like in the package with a grandma? Here is a closer look at them.  

I am sure you have noticed the shrimp cracker-fries-hahaha. Yeah, Mark loves them. I am not sure what’s in “grandma’s” cookies, but they smell like squid, although they are sweet. And all of our kids love them. When I go to Japanese stores, I can never remember which flavor/brand we have tasted because they look a lot alike to me. I hope I remember these for next time.

Finally, how much do bananas cost where you are? I paid $2 for 5 bananas off base. On base, they are around $1.10 per pound right now. We go through two pounds of bananas a day, it seems:) No wonder our grocery bill is twice the amount what it used to be in the states….BUT I get to live in Japan:)

Sayonara.