A pretty domestic Sunday today. It was cool and rainy in the morning so I spent time tidying up the house and watching the NBA playoffs. Nadia had a list of places (the famous Honey Do list) to go so we rented a car from the local Toyota Rent-a-Car, about $35 for the day. We went grocery shopping at Takenoko, the budget supermarket in the neighborhood and Kansai Supermarket for some specialty items. I dropped Ocean and Nadia off at Q’s Mall so they could buy a dress for the upcoming grades 4-5 student/parent dance.
We have been going to the Suita Catholic Church lately. When my family came and visited over Easter break, we started going because they were faithful Catholics. Both Nadia and I enjoyed going to mass again, it brought back memories of our childhood. Going to church reminds me of my parents and it is nice to be part of a community. Despite the boys complaining, we made them go. The 2:00 PM English mass is a good time for us on Sundays and with a car, it was an easy drive.
The majority of parishioners are from the Philippines and so the English of the priest has an accent. It has a totally Latino feel, however, with a bit of late start and disorganization and warm feelings all around. We are considering getting the children First Communion and Confirmed in the church, but will see how we go.
On a personal level, I do not believe in anything supernatural, but the weekly quiet reflection time, the sense of belonging to a community, the rituals are relaxing and it does bring up some good discussions with our family about how to treat others and live our lives.
After church, we had a couple of more places to go. I had a few laughs near the end of the shopping trip. When we got to a stop light near our home on the way to the last supermarket after church, Owen, followed by Oliver, bolted out of the car and sprinted home. They had enough shopping for the day and with our consent, they took off running! Then we rewarded Ocean for staying with us by going to the drive-through at Starbucks. She ordered a chai latte with ice, but instead they sent a cold coffee latte. Nadia selfishly wanted the first sip so took a deep drag on the straw, thinking it was chai latte. She hates the taste of coffee and almost threw up. It was so funny to watch her struggling and watching the stunned employees in the drive-through window. Nadia is always entertaining, being so animated! After explaining the situation, we got a chai latte. This time I took the first sip when it was passed into the car and I faked vomiting like Nadia did to give the women working at Starbucks a hard time.
It was then back home to finish packing my bags for two days of meetings in Tokyo, returning the rental car and getting to Shin Osaka trains station to take the Shinkansen. I arrived safe and sound in the lively Ikebukuro section of Tokyo and my hotel. I went out to buy a razor and stopped for a meal at a pretty good sushi restaurant.
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