The welcome party for us was postponed due to the heavy rain and wind last night, so we stayed in. I made pizza, spaghetti, and salad for dinner. I was able to find frozen french bread pizzas at one of the grocery stores that taste normal, so when I say I made pizza, that's not really true, I heated it up :) Same with the spaghetti, pre-made kind, we don't have a pot yet, only a frying pan. Also, last night we had a little problem with the hot water -- there was none, so Nick called Amemiya-san, who called Leopalace and said they would send someone to fix it in the morning.

However, after Amemiya-san called us in the morning and said the repairman was coming, the hot water miraculously started working again.... hmmmm.... So after the normal breakfast of peanut butter toast, and after showers, we walked to the Uny, where we had lunch at our favorite Japanese family-style restaurant and did some grocery shopping. I am very proud of myself because I have always tried something new when we go to that restaurant. Today I tried something the Japanese call "pork fry", which is a piece of pork, roughly the size of a pork chop, breaded and probably fried, but I believe it is breaded in tempura batter. It is served with spicey mustard and some kind of sauce, which I'm not sure what it is, but it is delicious! My meal also came with the typical Japanese white rice and miso soup. I think it is my favorite meal at that restaurant so far. When we were paying, a Japanese lady, who was dining there as well, ran up and gave us a 10% off coupon! It's amazing how nice some people here are -- and she spoke English! I think that many people, especially in this area, are shy around Gaijin because they do not speak English. After grocery shopping, we caught the bus by the train station to see if it would take us back to the apartment. Thankfully it did! Just a few minutes after we got back, Amemiya-san picked us up. From the apartment, we went to Atsugi station to pick up one of Nick's co-workers, George, who actually works for Summit, and has spent a good deal of time here in Japan. That being the case, George knew a good place for us to get used scooters. The place we went to was incredible! I've never seen so many scooters and motorcycles in such a small amount of space! We found a few that we liked for our budget, but we won't be able to buy them until we get our alien cards.



After the used scooter place, we went to a Ducati and Harley Davidson dealership, which was really cool! This really seemed to me to be the motorcycle capitol of Honshu (the island we are on)! On the way to the scooter dealership we caught our fist glimpse of Mt. Fugi! Unfortunately, the peak was covered by the clouds, so I didn't bother to get a picture.

Instead of having Amemiya-san drive us back to Zama, we got out with George in Atsugi to check out his apartment and get dinner. His apartment is considerably smaller than ours, but he is a lot closer to where things are going on. George, Nick and I went to Hon Atsugi for dinner, and went to a steakhouse, that also served Mexican food (interesting combination!). Nick opted for a steak, while George and I both got tacos. The tacos were good, however what came inside them was not meat, at least none that I have ever seen. It looked like saurkraut, but it tasted like some kind of meat. It was just one of those cases where you turn a blind eye and say "I don't want to know". After a considerable time, and lots of conversation -- we found out George used to work for a toy company and designed Star Wars toys back in the day -- we parted ways and headed home. We went home a little early for a Saturday night, but we want to get rested up for our trip to Tokyo tomorrow, and we know tomorrow will surely be a full day!