raising gamblers

scott and i flew into japan from the philippines, and this helped us see the chasm of contrast between the two cultures. in the philippines, everyone wanted to look at us and talk to us. people were smiling a lot and very open. the cities were concentrated with exhaust and trash was put into piles when gathered. in japan, everything is very clean and orderly. people are straight-faced and focused; few will make eye contact with us. when we ask anyone for directions, however, they may go so far as taking us in the direction we want to go. it's amazing how countries develop such unique and fascinating differences.

we hopped on a few trains and headed toward yokota airforce base to stay with our sister, cindy and her family. they've been living here for the past four years, and all that time they have never had a cell phone. we don't understand how they can survive. cindy uses skype to talk to her husband, currently stationed in honduras, but it's difficult for us to get in contact with her. the base doesn't accept calls from payphones, so the only way to reach her is from a cell phone. japan has a unique cellular network; so you can't just buy a sim card at 7-11 like the rest of asia, and slip it into your current phone. we have to find someone that seems nice, hope they speak english, and borrow their cell phone to call our sister, and have her meet us at the train station. getting clearance to stay at the base is an entirely different issue.

arcade games are big in japan, competing with karaoke for popularity. some common games for kids here involve putting coins into machines, giving you a chance to win more coins if you do well. if you win a lot, you can keep playing on the same tokens. the machines are also pumping out obnoxious repetitive music, and flashing lights, so the whole experience is one of a kind. my nieces and nephews love the games, so we all went to a nearby mall called diamond city, which is where they usually go. once we got there, we changed out some yen, and were given buckets of tokens. scott was keeping hunter, the 2-year old, under control. cindy was keeping track of the girls. and mason, 12, got me started on a fish catching game that kept me busy for an hour.

there's a food court upstairs at the mall. all the kids like something different for dinner, so it works out well to minimize the fighting. order a pile of food and everybody grabs at what they want. great tempura, udon, and pepper steak served on a hot griddle with bean sprouts. the kids love the bright green melon soda, so everyone gets a swig from the glass. forget the swine flu. then, each kid was given their own filled crepe for dessert, and it was a coveted posession. even hunter had one, his toddler hands squeezing out the cream and squishing the pancake between his fingers. i was impressed by how much he ate, even after a full dinner.