Our first encounter with the Japanese police....

was wonderful! Long story short - OK, you all know I'm not capable of that :) Anyway we went to the zoo today, and as we were leaving, decided to ride the monorail. We paid our money, leaving just enough to get back on the subway. Weeellllll, I don't read Japanese yet, so I didn't know that the monorail only took you to the other end of the park. So, instead of walking back to the entrance, AGAIN, I thought we would exit at this end and "find" a subway. We walked and walked, and yes, the girls were griping at me the whole time. They didn't appreciate the work-out. Oh, did I mention the guy gave me directions when we left the park, but they were in Japanese (apparently I don't understand pointing as well as I thought I did). So, we came to a work place with a guard. He was even so nice as to give me a map (in Japanese), and marked on it, again, some pointing, and AGAIN, we were lost. BUT, as we are making our way back to where I think the subway is (and I think it would have taken me there), we meet the nicest policeman. He turns us around, and is personally going to escort us. Weeellll, he gets us lost, too. He keeps apologizing, and I'm telling him it is OK. The girls....are still griping, except Izzy, who seems to really like him. After at least 30 minutes of walking, he does get us back to the subway, and was the sweetest thing. I asked him if he had children, and he said no - he wasn't married yet. He told me he wanted children, looked at the girls, and said, "but just one." And they were actually being good. He spoke very little English, but did really well, and I finally had to tell him that I see the subway and that we would be OK. Such a nice guy!!!!

The zoo was fun. I was prepared for the worst, but overall, it was pretty nice. They have a lot of animals that I've never seen in the states. I felt sorry for the elephant, because she is all alone. No other elephants. Some of the cages were small and lacked decor, but some of them were really nice. I took some pictures of the animals and the food - not at all what we're used to, but the girls had ice cream cones :) We played with lots of Japanese children, and I was very proud of my girls. They had such a good time. Again, I'll post videos and pictures.

Finally, we took the subway from Higashiyama Koen to Sakae, where we "live." I got lost, again, trying to find the #12 exit. I've never missed it before - done it several times. The girls and I were exhausted by the time we made it back to the hotel, but today was another amazing adventure.

Love and Hugs to all!
~Michelle