Japan Trip Report, written by Nils Bertelson, typed up, edited & added to by Alice Bertelson

DAY 8 - Friday July 8th

Simple morning and that is the best. Cereal for breakfast except Mackenzie as she had her Japanese ice-cream sandwich. Made some fresh coffee and worked on the Jigsaw puzzle.

Off to Alice's brothers at 10 am to go to the dump as the trash is piling up. We are also going to try and go to a park today. We hung out at Alice's brother's for a bit (pic1 pic2 pic3 pic4 ) and then Alice's brother and I headed for the dump.  When we got to the dump we had to pull up on to a scale and they weigh the car with the trash in it and then you get weighed again after you dump. As long as the weight is less than 40 kg. you do not have to pay anything. So we were good to go.

Back to house and the girls had got lunch ready. We had curry/veg and rice. I ate mine with chop sticks against everyones advice. After lunch we sat for a bit while the children cleaned up the place. Set off for the playground/park that was next to the sport center.

The park had a couple really neat slides. Actually only one as the other one was way too sticky and you could not slide. We thought if we could get some cardboard it might make a difference but we couldn't find any.

The other slide was like an elevated roller system. Have you ever seen how semi tractor trailers are loaded?  They take the boxes and slide them down a conveyor system of rollers. Well the slide was just like this. Matt got the hang of it pretty quick and was going down standing up like he was skateboarding. (see pic)

The park also had this really cool looking croquet / golf course. It was like a mini golf course that you played with a mallet and a big croquet ball. It looks really fun. Hope the adults can come back and play. Alice and Alice's brother's wife managed to sneak off to the little bakery that was close and Alice got some goodies aqnd even some fresh slices of pizza that she was going to suprise Melanie with later. Melanie has been craving pizza since we got here.

There was other stuff at the park too - Here are more photos (pic1 pic2 pic3 pic4 pic5 pic6 pic7 )

After all the fun in the park we split up and went to the MAN and WOMAN stores. The man store was the hardware store and the woman store was full of clothing and shoes. I bought some really nice brushes and a screen tool for my friend that I build screen patios with. Melanie managed to find a really KOOL pair of sandals and a belt.

Last stop was the local grocery store for some basic stuff and maybe some sushi too. Tonight was the night for the BBQ and as soon as I got home I got the coals going. We didn't have any BBQ sauce so I decided to try and make some. Japanese noodles and carrots and the chicken on the grill and dinner was a hit. After dinner it was puzzle time for Alice. Boy when Alice gets going on a jigsaw puzzle, just get out of her way cause she is not going to stop till it is done. Not sure how late she stayed up but she finished it. Matt and I are going to try and play golf early tomorrow so 9:30 Night Night.
                                                                                                                                   DAY 9
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