Arrived in Japan!

Narita (NRT) Airport, Japan | July 2013

My flight arrived at Narita (NRT) airport around 4pm on Friday, July 12.   Since I had to wait until my mother's flight arrived at 7pm, I took my time getting through Japanese Immigration.  My cousin, Reina, came to pick us both up. I didn't think she would be there when I exited the gate, but she was! What a wonderful reunion. I have not seen her (or anyone in Japan) for three years.

Reina is the most outgoing member of our family. She is the first grandchild. She is warm and cares for all the rest of us like a young mother.

My mother adores her since they share a lot of similar interests (motorcycles, cooking, shopping).  My name is a combination of hers and my mother's (Eri).

She has a younger sister named Saori who couldn't make it to the airport, because she has a small child at home.  I'll see her at the funeral tomorrow.

We decided to get some iced coffee and pancakes at a restaurant inside Terminal 1.

Cupcakes from JFK Airport | July 2013

We caught up on major points in our lives.  My three children, her new job, my new job.

Guess what? We both work with Centrifuges. I know that's really strange. She works in a laboratory analyzing blood from donors.  I work as a purchasing agent for a medical instrument company. Enshinki (遠心機).  

 A strange thing happened to me between the time I deplaned, met my cousin, and ate pancakes.  I lost my box of specialty cupcakes that I bought inside JFK airport. They were so big and beautiful AND EXPENSIVE. I'll never know what they tasted like.

The Japanese don't have cream cheese frosting, so I picked up a carrot cake and red velvet cake to eat after dinner.  Is it possible that someone took them? They were hanging on my carry-on's hook.  So strange. I paced around the entire airport twice retracing my steps, but I never found them.

Starbucks Chiba, Japan | July 2013

Finally! It was time to wait for my mother's airplane to arrive. She came out in a wheelchair and started crying as soon as she saw us.  Her sadness for her father's death overwhelmed us all.  But, soon, she did take comfort in having us with her.

We decided to stop at Starbucks on the way to my aunt's house where we would eat dinner and sleep that night.  When we arrived at the house (about 45 minutes from the airport), my aunt was standing curbside waiting for us.  My mother laughed; their mother / my grandmother used to stand outside just like that whenever we would come home.  She was so anxious to see us.

Chiba, Japan | July 2013

My aunt and uncle are very quiet, reserved people. They love huskies.
If you look around the house, there are photos of them everywhere.

I got to meet their newest one Shu2 this trip. I instantly made everyone jealous by becoming the favorite visitor.  Their former husky, Shu, unfortunately was struck dead by a motorcycle during a normal walk. My uncle is now crippled and cannot play his beloved golf games anymore, but thankfully, he survived the accident.

Finally, the moment I was waiting for. Food!  There is nothing better for me than to eat a home-cooked Japanese dinner especially one made by my family.  All the women are excellent cooks.  Japanese food is not the most flavorful. Some may think it's bland, but I think it's so wonderful. So many choices. So healthy.  We had broiled mackerel and cucumber salad which my entire family knows is MY favorite dish. Sides included miso soup with wakame seaweed, real crab, boiled kabocha pumpkin and fresh baby ginger sticks. Heaven. Doing the dishes is not fun though! Too many.

Broiled Mackeral "sanma", wakame soup, Japanese kabocha & crab.