Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Mom in Tokyo / 母が東京に

My mother came to Japan on a Thursday and would be staying with us for a couple of nights before heading to my grandmother's house in Kyoto Prefecture in a town called Maizuru.  As I had a day off from work, my mother wanted to go to the Yokota Air Base in Fussa to buy souvenirs for her relatives (and for us!).  She was originally going to be staying with us for 3 or 4 nights but her sister (my aunt) suggested meeting in Kyoto on Saturday, which means spending only one day with Mom.  Ah, my father is retired military so my mother still can use the benefits such as shopping on base.

お母さんが日本に来たのは4月26日(木)。最初はうちで三日か四日間いるはずだったが、お母さんの妹(僕のおばさん)が土曜日に京都で会いましょうと言って、一緒にいられるのはたったの一日だけ。その空いてる日に福生にある横田基地に行きたいとお母さんが言った。家族と私たちの為にアメリカのお土産が買ってあげたいからです。 自分のお父さんは元米軍だったので、お母さんは今でもアメリカの基地で買い物などが出来るの。




Mom's first night in Tokyo.  We took her to a neighborhood ramen shop called "Jin" for some niboshi ramen.

お母さん日本来日。最初の夜はうちの近くのラーメン屋「Jin」に連れてあげました。店の自慢は煮干しラーメン。




I decided to skip the scenario of riding the bus to Shinjuku, then catching the train to Tachikawa and transferring somewhere before getting off at Fussa.  So here we are at the Main Gate to Yokota Air Base.  We are only going to the commissary and the BX.

渋谷から福生までの移動の話は別に良いと思って、ここが横田基地のメインゲート。目的は基地の中にあるスーパーとデパートみたいな所。



Of course we had to stop at the visitor's center to check in.  Although my mother has an I.D., I had to get a visitor's pass.

お母さんはI.D.(身分証明書)を持ってますが、私はゲストなんで、パスを申請しないと。




Being an army brat and spending my elementary years in Japan, I remember going to Yokota a couple of times but not enough times to remember what it used to be like.

小学校時代日本に住んでましたが、お父さんが米軍でもちろん基地育ち。横田も二回位行った覚えはあるけど、40年前の話なんで、多分昔の面影はありません。




A slice of America in Japan / 日本にあるアメリカ


Our destination.

目的地。










Only I.D. holders are allowed inside the commissary and BX so I hung out at the food court.  So America with Popeye's, Taco Bell, Cinnabon, A&W, Charley's Steakery, etc.

I.D.持ちの人たちしかスーパーに入れない為、僕はフードコートで待機。そこがもう超アメリカ。タコベル、ポッパイズ、シナボン、A&Wなどのアメリカの名店ばっかりがあって面白い。



While my mother was shopping in the BX, I treated myself to a Cinnabon cinnamon roll.

お母さんが買い物してる間、僕はシナボンのシナモンロールを食べてました。



It was just around noon time when my mother finished shopping so we decided to have lunch at the food court.  I was debating about Popeye's but settled on Charley's Steakery and ordered me a BBQ cheddar steak with a plate of gourmet fries.

お母さんが買い物終わったらちょうど昼食の時間だった。フードコートでポッパイズに迷ったけど、決定した店はチャーリーズステーキサンドの店。食べたのはバービーキューチェダーステーキとグルメポテトフライ。



Is that American or what?

アメリカぽいでしょう?





I told my mother we had to be back in town by 4:00pm because I made reservations for us at a restaurant in Ushigome Kagurazaka for dinner at 6:00pm (another place which takes about an hour to get to from our apartment).

お母さんに4時位まで帰れなけらばならないと伝え、なぜなら夜6時に友達のレストランで予約を入れてるから。場所は牛込神楽坂。ここもうちのアパートから一時間くらいの距離ですわ。

4 comments:

Rurousha said...

You're an army brat! :D

What is a BX?

I'm glad you've started your "mom in Tokyo" series. I'm still waiting for photographic proof of that, I dunno, 200 km that you covered in Tokyo in one day! ^^

Aomori Ern said...

Yep, I admit it, army brat and proud of it. Shrine, temple tour soon I promise.

BX = base exchange, it's like a mini department store where you can buy clothes, shoes, household appliances, etc.

Rurousha said...

Oh! Base exchange! You mean you can buy stuff like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? I have no idea what that is; I just know all my American colleagues start acting weird (drooling and lamenting) whenever somebody mentions it! :)

Aomori Ern said...

Here is my little anecdote about Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. As an American, it was one of my favorites. They're chocolate cups filled with peanut butter.

And yes, they sell them on base and at the New Sanno Hotel in Hiroo (a hotel for active duty military personnel).

A few years ago when my mother was staying at the New Sanno I was so excited that I could buy Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. However, I took one bite into it and nearly had to spit it out!! It was just too damn sweet!!

Its times like that when you realized you've been living in Japan too long

(^v^)