My First Purchase

We went to the mall to purchase a curling iron, since my 1st one burned up, after I plugged it into the 220 outlet.

The mall is huge, with a lot of small stores and very limited options, but since none of them had curling irons, my very smart and cute neighbor, Treasure, took us to Rustan's, which is kind of like a high end Wal Mart. The 1st sales person we asked conferred with a co-worker and decided we should try the 2nd floor. The 2nd sales person also conferred with another, and was pretty sure we needed to be in cosmetics on the 1st floor. After searching cosmetics and speaking with a 3rd sales person- yes she conferred as well- told us that curling irons are sold in the electronics dept on the 3rd floor!

The electronics section of the store is a self contained store within the store, and they have about 25 people working in an area the size of a Jack-In-The-Box. We finally located the curling irons, which are kept behind the counter, in a glass case along with the hair dryers. I found the one with the largest barrel, and asked to see it. The man behind the counter found the correct person with the keys for the door, and proceeded to hand me the most expensive curling iron, not the one I asked to see. I decide on the cheapest one, at a mere 2,350p or $53.40 U.S. and asked to purchase it. I was then asked to give my full name and address, phone number and all this information was taken down by one sales person to be entered into the computer, while the original salesperson proceeded to remove the curling iron from the box, set up an electrical outlet, plug it in and let it heat up, so that I could confirm that- yes indeed it did work.

He then returned the outlet extension, repackaged the iron (with great care, taking time not to rush it) and gave me a carbon of the original information, and told me to claim it at the register.

I proceeded to the register where apparently several of the workers were trying to decide whether or not a person with only a temporary address and no personal phone number was allowed to make this purchase, even though I would be paying with cash. After assuring them that they would be able to contact me at The Fraser Place for the next 2 weeks, if they decided that they wanted the curling iron back, they printed out an offical receipt and took my money.

Only then was I allowed to show the receipt to the security guard, who was standing 4 ft away at the door, and had been watching the entire process, to exit the store. All in all it only took a little over 20 minutes to make a purchase that would have taken about 5 back home, and that's only if I had to stand in line.!

Our First Movie Experience

Since some of the male members of the Weintraub household were tired of shopping everyday.....we decided we would take in a movie. There are cinemas everywhere here. We selected Journey to the Center of the Earth as our movie. Of course, this required us to go to a mall. The ticket counter is out in the mall, not in the theater itself. Tickets are only $2.50 each. Loved that! Also, you actually get to purchase your seat. All the seats are numbered and assigned and there are ushers to take you to it. Because the ticket counter is outside, there are food vendors everywhere to choose from with a wide variety of choices. The biggest one had many flavors of popcorn....sour cream and onion, Texas BBQ (?), Strawberry and Wasabi to name a few. I stuck with "Natural". Popcorn is a dollar bag!

The movie starts at the assigned time. Meaning that previews are before the time on your ticket. We walked in about 20 minutes before it started and the previews were already going. We must have sat through 10-12 previews. They show everything. Downside is the previews they show are not tied to the rating of the movie you are seeing. So we had to sit through numerous R rated ones.

Other than that, it is just like watching a movie at home, only much cheaper.

Confusion In The Tokyo Airport.

Well this was a big help.

So, we arrive at Tokyo.

My Dad was right when he told me this place was weird.

When you see things like this in a convenience store, you know you're not at home.

eeew, this scares me.

Anyway we hung out for a while at a nice area in the airport, where you can hook up to the Internet and eat and other stuff. Although, I did see some type of toilet object, in the restroom there no idea what that was.

I have many other gross photos, but I'll save them for when I get back this winter.

As I heard some American lady say at the IBM building,

Ciao!

Shakey's Pizza

We decided last night to order pizza instead of going out. I haven't been to a Shakey's Pizza since 1974 when I lived in Baltimore. Wasn't sure what we were going to get in the way of quality. Surprisingly, the pizza was quite good. We each ordered a regular size expecting leftovers. No such luck. A regular is slightly bigger than an individual size would be in the US. Shakey's also offers a "solo" size. Can't imagine how small that would be. The most interesting piece to this dinner was the condiments they delivered with it. Usually, you would expect some parmesan or pepper for your pizza. Nope. We received over 10 packets of hot sauce with our order. We opened them up and it was regular hot sauce. Different tastes.

Fun with the Makati Police

Here is something that I have never experienced. We were driving through the business district of Makati and were asked to pull over with other vans and trucks. When he approached, he informed our driver that he and his team was conducting an "emissions check". Just like in the US, vehicles have to have their emissions checked and they receive a certificate if they pass. Of course, this is ridiculous as the pollution coming out of trucks is heavy with lots of black smoke coming out the back. Anyways, our driver gave him the certificate. After a few minutes, our driver got out and spoke to the policeman and came back to inform us that he would let us leave for 300 pesos (about $6). Paid to the policeman of course, not the city. We were informed that this is how the system works and the policeman just needed money for lunch. Not sure how often this will happen, but very fascinating.

16 Bags

I will not bore you with every detail of all the things we are doing each day. I will try and only provide you with things that have occurred that you might find interesting.

All 16 of our bags arrived with us on time. Amazing! The fun of course was loading them all on one huge cart and wheeling it through the airport to the van that will take us to our temporary living apartment. The van they brought out was huge. One of those people movers with 6 rows of seats, all of which were filled up with our suitcases.

Still learning about tipping. Not sure who to tip or how much. The going rate for anything is 50 - 100 pesos ($1 to $2). So with 5 people handling my bags, everyone gets a tip. So far it doesn't look like anything happens here without multiple people getting involved to provide a service. Of course, I feel like I am walking around with Monopoly money so it doesn't seem painful. I need to give over that quick.

The Flight Over

Sunday was an exciting and emotional day for all of us. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. So many families go through this, but it is tough when it is you and your family doing it. We had some very nice parties beforehand. I had many of my Baylor friends and their families in town last weekend. We also had a going away party at the church. Saying goodbye to family was the toughest, but everyone stayed strong and no one cratered. Or at least they haven't told me about it.

I surprised the boys at the airport when I informed them that we were flying first class. I was able to use my upgrades to do it. Helpful when you are on flights that last over 20 hours. The flight attendants were very interested in what we were doing and offered endless amounts of advice on how to make it easier and successful.

Once I understand how to upload pictures, I will add them.