The one where Hotel Yamaguchi is now open!

We have our first visitor! Kelvin is here and will be staying with us until he and I fly back together on August 2nd.  It's so funny how time flies.  When I first met Kel he was 9 years old! Now, he is flying across the world to hang out with me (Puffin too, I guess)!

I was so excited to see him and so happy he is here.   Not only because he reminds me of home,  but also because I now have someone to talk to. Murphy was starting to get mad that I was interrupting his afternoon nap with all my questions. Pookie and Murphy were also happy to see someone they know. Murphy jumped in his arms like a big baby and talked to him all night.  Pookie would not come to bed with us and stayed with Kel!

Poor Kel had to drag an 83lb suitcase with him full of stuff we didn't think to send with us.  I made fun of him at first, but after going through everything I am so glad I made him be a pack mule!  We can get everything here that we need, but there are a few things we have not found at the store that bum us out.

What we can't find and be glad to accept:
Ice trays
Garlic salt
 coffee creamer
Hot wing sauce
Degree deodorant
Lettuce Wrap seasoning
Sazon seasoning
Winter clothes...clothes are crazy expensive here and locals tell us they don't last
Lipton iced tea
Honey mustard


I am sure there is more that we haven't found we can't get here.  It is hard to stock a kitchen when not only do you not know the grocery store layout, but you can't find brands you know, and they call things something else.  For example, they don't used Tide, Snuggle, or Clorox here.  Surf is their big brand laundry detergent.  They don't have Cascade, Dawn, Hefty, Glad, Kraft, etc.  Some brands they do carry, but they have different names.  WalMart owns ASDA which carries ASDA or "great value" products. Lays potato chips is Walkers...no sour cream and onion or BBQ though.  Here they eat Prawn Cocktail, Cheese and Onion, and of course Vinegar chips! It gets overwhelming when you are looking for something and you can't find what you are familiar with.  It also gets annoying when Puffin calls them by their names here, and I don't know what hes talking about! lol For instance, ice cream...of course there is no bluebell...not even blue bunny or dryers.  Unsure of what to get, I grabbed a random brand and Greg grabbed the store brand ice cream.  The store brand was horribly sweet...like eating chilled cake frosting!  The brand I grabbed, Mackie' was much better. It was no bluebell and tastes more like cream than vanilla, but still pretty good.

Tonight we venture out to the store to stock up again.  It is VERY expensive to eat out here and there is no such thing as a quick bite!  Obviously, I have nothing else to do so I don't mind cooking a lot.  My next challenge - finding something Kelvin will eat and keeping him full!


PS- wash cloths are face cloths!! :)