Weekend Update

The week ended well with me finishing a complete week of work and Kelli and Louis surviving their first week at home. This weekend we went on a few excursions from the apartment around the city.

On Saturday we went to find a party with other English-speaking parents and learn about some daycare/babysitting options. Unfortunately, we never found the place that the party was at. Fortunately, we found a lovely restaurant and had a tasty lunch :)

This morning we took the subway to pick up a bottle sterilizer from someone who was giving it away on Craigslist-Japan. It was a nice walk to get there from the station and the weather was great for walking.

In the afternoon, we went to meet one of Kelli's childhood friends, Harry, who has been living in Tokyo for the past 2 years. We had coffee and caught up with each other, took a walk through a busy shopping area (Derek purchased a nice scarf to keep warm on his walks to work), and walked through a nearby park. The park was especially fun today as there were several groups of rockabilly dancers doing their thing. It's very fun to listen to their music playing and watch them dance. They look like they're having a fantastic time!

It was a good weekend in Tokyo and we're looking forward to another busy week...

All our stuff arrives

On Tuesday our 1,000 pounds of 'stuff' arrived. While I was busy unpacking, Louis found his stroller, climbed in and passed out. Believe it or not, most everything fit...sure we are using a safe for a coffee table and the baby swing is stuffed into the pantry, but hey, it works.

I went out Wednesday night to have dinner with other moms in the Tokyo Moms Group - an English speaking group for moms. It was great to get out and have some "adult" time with other moms in similar situations (from U.S., England, Canada, and the Philippines).

First Day of Work

Today was my first day of work at the Tokyo office and it went very well. It was also the first full day of Kelli and Louis being home alone and they did very well, too! I spent the day trying to remember names while Kelli and Louis were out and about in Tokyo meeting other kids at the playground and running errands.

We heard from our shipping company and they will be delivering our household goods to the apartment tomorrow afternoon! Hooray for all the things we've been missing! That also means we will be able to set up the VoIP phone soon, so anyone wanting to call us at a local Raleigh number should get ready to dial.

One last thing, Kelli and I decided to open the blog up to anyone who would like to read it. So, if you want to send a link (http://superbrandons.blogspot.com) to anyone you know who you think would be interested, it should work fine. Let us know if there are any problems viewing our posts.

Louis exploring Roppongi

Here are some additional pictures of Louis exploring our neighborhood during the weekend I thought you'd all enjoy!

This is a fountain in a courtyard of a building across the street from where we live. Louis had a great time running around it this morning while Kelli checked out the bakery and the Italian restaurant nearby.





There is a Shinto shrine near our apartment through this tori gate. Next to the shrine is a cute playground that Louis really enjoys.






Here is Louis on the teeter-totter at the playground.








And Louis next to his favorite spring-ride motorcycle.








There is a TON of walking involved in getting anywhere. After a long day yesterday, Louis settled down on the couch to read his new book.

Our Roppongi Neighborhood

We have been exploring the area around our apartment the last few days and are getting comfortable with finding everything we need. Our relocation assistant helped us register as aliens living in Japan and opening a local bank account, we've found several local groceries including some that sell tons of foreign (American) foods, I've found a barber who does excellent work (although there's not much to work with!), and we've become comfortable with the subway system. Yesterday we took a trip to Yoyogi Park and to a very nice forest area around Meiji Jingu. We've also found several playgrounds for Louis within walking distance and discovered that there are more places to eat than we could have imagined.

Tomorrow will be my first day at the GSK Japan office and Kelli and Louis' first day at home alone, so wish us luck!

This is the veiw from our apartment living room.








Here is a street near our place, where we've spent a lot of time so far. There are restaurants, groceries, drug stores, car dealerships, and anything else you could possibly need.






Kelli and Louis on a path in the forest near the Meiji Jingu shrine.








A large tori gate near the shrine.








A display of laterns near the shrine.

Jouney to Japan

We're safe and sound in Tokyo!

Tuesday was moving day: We started out around 6:00 AM Tuesday morning in Raleigh and ended up in our apartment in Tokyo around 7:00 PM Wednesday evening. We had a pretty uneventful travel day; thanks to Louis behaving exceptionally well. Our itinerary went from Raleigh to Chicago (2.5 hours) and then a direct flight from Chicago to Tokyo (13 hours). When we landed in Narita airport in Tokyo we took a bus to a hotel near our apartment and then a taxi to our new home. It was almost 27 hours from when we started out until we finally got into bed and it was especially disorienting because of the sun never setting - We flew west with the sun all day, so we didn't see it set until after we landed in Tokyo. Today we are exhausted, but very happy to have the move behind us!

Below are some pictures of us on our sojourn. We'll post another update soon!

Here are Kelli and Louis settling into our comfy seats! Our UAL flight crew were excellent and took really great care of Louis!

Look! I can see Russia from my window, too! Why wasn't I VP?

Our first view of Japan (Hokkaido)

2009 NC International Auto Show

We took a break from all of our packing today and went to the auto show in Raleigh. Louis had a great time "driving" the sports cars and also climbing into a fire engine.

Bon Voyage Party

This evening, one of my best friends from work hosted an open house for us. The food and the company were wonderful. Thank you for a great party! We're going to miss you all while we're away!

Moving Day

The movers came yesterday to pack up and send our 1000 lb allotment of air freight to Tokyo. Hopefully it will get there by the time we do, so that they can deliver it next week. Here are some pictures of the extra bedroom full of the things we decided we couldn't live (for 11 months) without, and of the boxes ready to take out to the truck.

Fingers crossed that nothing "falls off the truck" on the way there...


1000 lbs. of stuff in a room.








1000 lbs. of stuff in boxes.

Innagural Post!

Welcome to our family blog. In addition to our facebook pages, this blog will be where we post updates about what our family is up to, what we've been doing, and what we're planning next!

Kelli and I are both set up as authors, so you will see updates from both of us. We plan to post updates frequently, and we'd love to hear your comments!

Please send us an email if you have trouble reading the posts or seeing our pictures (when we post some) and we'll do our best to help you out. Also, the blog is locked to only allow members we have invited. If someone else would like to be a reader, please have them email us!

I christen thee, the SuperBrandons Blog!