Going off Base

Zack came home from duty this morning and we got ready..and headed to the bus stop.  We rode the bus to the main gate and then walked off base into the city.  It was nice to get off the base...as I was starting to feel caged.  We headed to the mall and got there around 9:30...the mall opened at 10:00 so we walked around a bit.  Most Japanese malls/department stores have grocery stores on the bottom.  So...we decided to take a short cruise through the store and I'm almost 100% positive that we were the only white folks in the joint...Zack made a comment how sorta strage feeling it is to see yourself as a minority...just not used to it.  The mall finally opened and we visited a few stores on each of the 5 levels(including a movie theater, Bowling ally, gym, arcade...)...the mall was pretty big and had many hallways.  Zack was on a mission to look for bicycles so I am going to have to go back with Noah and check out the clothing and other "girl" things Zack wasn't into.  I was trying to just soak it in and Zack was on his own mission!  Just about everything was in Japanese and stores ranged from video games, portriat studios, formal rentals, electronic stores, to department store type...where they sell just about everything...sorta like a wal-mart.  We did find a good clothing store for a children's section.  Our belly's were getting hungry and this momma wanted a cheese burger and fries.  Yes, I know that we are in Japan and I wanted a cheeseburger and fries.  So we found a restaurant...and Noah had my hamburger(This immediately made us both think of sailors on deployment that don't go out into the city...they stick right next to the boat and eat Taco Bell!...My answer to that is that what's more comforting in a foreign country than eating some delicious American food?  And I'm telling you that this cheeseburger was beyond delicious!).  I rubbed a fry on his arm a few times and once on the cheek to check for a reaction..and nothing.  So...now we know that they don't use peanut oil(I tried to ask and there was a huge language gap...we haven't figured out the iPhone yet! And the instructional pages and certain things on the phone are in Japanese!).  It is so hard to find safe food for Noah with the language gap that we will probably eating a lot of American style food.  I am going to have to research nut use in Japanese food...and a lot of Asian countries use cold pressed oil(peanut oil).  We then headed back to the Lodge to snack and rest.  On the bus...on the back to the Lodge we ran into the family that sat behind us on the plane to Yokota.  They have a daughter entering the 1st grade this fall.  Noah just LOVES her and is excited to see her each and every time.  The momma, Kat, chatted with me about getting together sometime this week...so with my schedule either Wednesday or Friday.  They have been off base a bit more than us and she mentioned seeing a great children's store and she thinks they have maternity clothes there.  In the mall I didn't see any store or any section for maternity clothes...saying this though most Japanese women(not teenagers or young adults) wear loose fitting clothing tops and pants and many of the shirts could double as maternity clothes.  I have only seen one or two pregnant Japanese women and they both were wearing long summer dresses.  Teenagers and young adults dress more modern and not as conservative...wearing tank tops, short skirts and shorts, and just in general tighter form fitting clothing.  The mall was beyond hot...not sure if this was because of the amount of people or because of energy conservation.  There was a system of escalators going up and down the floors...I looked over the edge of a balcony looking straight at the escalators and it sorta reminded me of an ant farm!  People moving one right after another along the "tunnels"...a lot...a lot..of people.  Even though it was hot...none carried water bottles or even acted like the temperature bothered them...many men had sweat spots on their shirts.  We noticed quite a few people with severe disabilities and I am not sure if they are ignored or simply accepted or if it's a culture thing where it's improper to point out others faults.  There was a specific elevator designated for wheelchairs but that's just about it.  The bathrooms and entrances to restaurants were not handicapped accessible to wheelchairs/strollers/or even people overweight.  Speaking about bathrooms...I used the one in the mall...I turned towards the toliets and on the right side were American style toliets and on the left were Japanese hole in the ground toliets(more than a hole in the ground...I'll have to sneak a picture sometime when there arn't any Japanese people in the restroom).  There was also a urinal in the bathroom...I'm assuming that this is for mother's with small sons...but I'm not going to say that with 100% certainty! LOL  I've added a few pictures to an album on fb and this is the public link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.732399753333.2206263.47209158&l=d87dfa91e9

We plan on further exploring down the street more...soon! 
Then later we headed to find Zack a bike.  He's already tired of walking to work and will mostly likely buy a bike tomorrow.  Just about everyone rides a bike to work!  We also checked out the used cars on base and Zack is trying to find a van type vehicle that isn't extremely hideous or goofy looking.