Our view from our home in Bountiful

to the view from our home in Tokyo.

Thursday, September 12, 2013
After living in Bountiful, Utah for 22 years, Kent and I decided to move back to Tokyo, Japan for a few years. We left our home in the good care of our daughter Rachelle, and we are so grateful to her for taking on the responsibility of keeping things in order while we are gone.
Before we left Bountiful, we sent Jeff on an LDS mission to the Michigan Lansing Mission. It was a bitter sweet moment for me as he is my last child. The emotions have been high as I try to wrap my brain around the fact that the past 30 years of being a stay-at-home mother with my children has come to an end. The book of life seems to end when the last child "leaves the nest" and begs the questions of, "What's the next chapter?" I am now left here to write the remaining chapters of this great book with more lessons to learn, adventures to be had, and love to share. And so it goes.........

Kent and I have either lived in Tokyo or been have closely affiliated with Japan for over 30 years. Because Kent's work is there and the children are grown, we decided that it was time for the two of us to be together on a more regular basis than what we have been for over 20 years. After sending Jeff off on his mission, attending my father's funeral, visiting Brooke and Carl in Seattle during their internship, helping Brittney and Mike with their sweet children as she recovered from giving birth to a beautiful little boy, going to Bountiful to hang out with Rachelle and greet Robby home from his job in Tennessee, I headed to Tokyo to be with my husband. We found a beautiful apartment in an area of Tokyo called Shiba Park in the county of Minato. We live in a high rise on the 27th floor, thus the incredible city skyline.

                                                                  This is our entryway

                            Kent with his smiling face in front of the lower part of our building.

                                                              And here is the upper part.

The inside of our apartment is very nice and I think that I can adjust quickly to my new interior surroundings.

This is our front door and our entryway.

Looking back at our front door from the inside of the apartment. Yep, we got family pictures up!!

Can I just mention that I have a great view out of every room including the kitchen?? This is a night shot......

Laundry room (which is very rare in Japan) and an alive toilet!! It opens up when you walk in the bathroom.

Living room surrounded by windows. I have the sheers closed because the sun is shining in making it rather hot inside. On cloudy days the sheers are wide open!

A different angle shot of the living/dining room. Not a whole lot of decor going on......

Guest bedroom. Looking for pillows still.......

                                       Master bedroom. Looking for king size pillows still......

                                                      Kent's office. Sorry, it's rather dark...

Our bath/shower room overlooking the city. Yes, people, I pull the blinds..... The vanity to the guest bath.

On the mornings that it doesn't rain, I try to go out for a run/walk around the neighborhood and here is what I have found so far.

                                                          Tokyo Tower is our neighbor

                                                     Beautiful parts of Shiba Koen (Park)

                       Haven't we all seen a Bonsai tree like this before? Well, this is the real deal!

                                             This is right smack dab in the middle of Tokyo.

                                        My version of mountain biking........without the bike.

                                   The bike less ride continues over bridges and unpaved paths.

                                             From the times of the Samurai to modern times......

Now for the food show. Kent and I have found some "diamonds in the rough" in our neighborhood and here is what we have found so far......

Our first meal in Tokyo was eaten at an incredible Thai restaurant directly across the street from us. This is a pork salad... Where are the greens? Okay, the greens are the green onions and the coriander. Get over it. Soooo delicious. 

Coconut vegetable chicken soup. Yummmm!

Black pepper shrimp to die for.

The next night we discovered an incredible seafood place. This, however, is not seafood. This is Japanese style scrambled egg. Tasty!

Scallops anyone? They were cooked right at our table. Wonderful!

You can't get a fish fresher than this. No, I didn't see nor eat the head.

Tempura topped off the meal. Not greasy at all.

The next night we discovered a Chinese restaurant that was fabulous. Gyoza (pot stickers that can compete with mine! Ha!), noodle/vegie/chicken soup, a fried tofu dish that I can't tell you what it is in English but it was great! 

This would be a grape......on steroids...... It tastes like you are drinking a glass of fresh squeezed grape juice. To die for!!

This would be grapes, white juicy sweet peaches, and nashi (Japanese pear). The US can't even compete with the fruits and vegies around here. So delicious. I will probably come home with about 50 extra pounds hanging on for dear life. The food is irresistible. 

So my next entry will include the neighborhood where these restaurants exist and you will get to experience Tokyo at its finest.

Sending our love to each of you.

Kent and Barb