Happy Birthday Ryan...and the Japanese Denny's experience

Happy 7th Birthday Ryan!!!!

So, Ryan asked to have pancakes for dinner tonight for his birthday. With the moving fiasco, I did not have a skillet or griddle that would cook pancakes easily, so Gale and I agreed that Denny's might be an option. Connie had even mentioned in one of our conversations that her colleague really liked the Denny's in Japan! After stopping by the ATM for some yen (many places don't take credit cards), we once again ventured off-base in search of this Denny's that we had spotted on the map. We looked, and well, no Denny's. Instead it was some steakhouse. Luckily there was supposedly another Denny's not too far down the road, according to this map. So, off we go again, searching for this elusive Denny's and some good ole American food. And we find it!!!! Yay!

So we walk in, and greeting us, is a Japanese waitress/hostess speaking to us in Japanese. All we could do is say we don't understand and nod our heads. We slide into our booth and are handed the dinner menu....in Japanese....with no breakfast menu!

A sample of the menu...note the top right corner...Historic Menu...?????

We had to laugh!!!! Everything was in Japanese, with only some recognizable foods like udon and soba noodles, and french toast. No eggs or bacon or sausage in sight, although there was sausage on the kids menu (see below). 2 selections of pancakes were visible, though one looked more like a crepe. Hmmmm....what to eat????

The kids menu

So we resorted to just picking what we thought looked interesting. Gale said his looked kinda meaty. Turned out pretty good...some kind of salisbury steak with a Japanese curry sauce, served over rice. I picked something that looked good, with udon noodles on the side, and that Gale would share. Yum! It was like a fried porkchop with fried egg and onions served over rice. Tim ended up choosing udon noodles and what seemed to be pancakes. The pancakes sounded like honey pancakes by the way the waitress repeated Tim's order. It was REALLY GOOD! And it was served with ice cream! He ate so much he said his tummy hurt and felt like puking! Yet, he still had a cupcake afterwards at home.

Ryan, the birthday boy, chose what turned out to be salisbury steak and shrimp tempura, served with rice, broccoli, carrots, potato wedges, and some weird jelly drink. We ordered Kira the same thing. The kids' food was really good, and Ryan devoured it!

Ryan chose the above meal...

This is actually what I ordered.

While we didn't get the pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon we were looking forward to, we found some good Japanese food. It was quite the experience picking out food by pointing and nodding our heads, hoping that what we ordered was gonna be good, and not something strange. Gale said I need to get on the ball and learn Japanese....Easier said than done! But it was a fun experience and we hope to continue to venture out and experience the area around Yokota AB. Next stop... Cainz...supposedly like Home Depot (so people have said), but with bikes, clothes, and puppies and kittens.....

ARGH!!!!!

Ok. It's official. This is the worst AF move ever. After the fiasco with Gale's orders, here's the lastest. Supposedly our unaccompanied baggage (our 1st shipment) with the rest of the kids clothes, most of our clothes, Gale's pro gear, our bicycles, many of our kitchen appliances, dishes, etc, and our blankets and sheets, has been sitting at TMO for the past 2 to 3 weeks. Gale was told it was highly encouraged that we call TMO to see when the shipment arrived. Well, he was told it would not arrive much earlier than a few days ago, so why would we call?

Anyway, Friday, the shipment arrives at my door. I signed a paper saying the crate, with his name written on the outside, was still sealed. The guys open the crate, and my jaw just about fell off! The crate was almost empty. They started to pull boxes out and bring them to the door. I stated that the crate was not ours! First off, I didn't recognized some of the stuff they pulled out. Second, the first box wasn't even on my inventory list!

I walked over to the crate, and sure enough, no bikes...and very short of the amount of stuff that we had packed in the crate. Ours was completely filled!!!!! So phone calls were made to TMO. They would ask the carrier to track the shipment. UGH!

So, I called again yesterday. Carrier still searching. ETA? No idea. Sigh....Our shipment is somewhere in the world with who knows whose name on te crate. Someone we talked to at Tim's soccer game told us that with one of the their shipment was a crate of someone else's goods. And they were asked if they didn't just want to keep it!

Gale's gonna call again today. I'm thinking I will need to make a trip to the shopping mall and buy my kids some clothes.

And...
Happy Birthday to Ryan!!! He's 7 today. Already opened presents from his grandparents and aunt this morning!