Sayonara Tokyo

On the evening of July 11 the 4 of us ate dinner at Suginoko, an izakaya inside Haneda airport's international terminal 3, a few hours before flying to New York, this time for good, or at least for the foreseeable future. Terry's been reassigned, job wise, so we're repatriating. For how long is anyone's guess, but there it is. Home! Very happy that upon our departure, the immigration officer did not confiscate our gaijin ID cards, only punched holes in them before handing them back, officially terminating our temporary-resident status and giving us one last souvenir of the past 4.5 years.

Couldn't have asked for a better culinary send off than this:

tofu salad

 sashimi

grilled pork

 veggie tempura

I did not photograph the edamame, karaage (fried chicken), assorted pickles, onigiri (rice wrapped in seaweed) or udon noodles, but we ate it all, each dish fresh and delicious and expertly prepared.

So we've left Japan for upstate New York, until we find more permanent digs closer to the city. The boys were in rock climbing camp last week, gymnastics camp this week, while Terry toils away inside our little cabin in the woods (we're in the sticks, but we've got Internet) and I hide out in a wifi cafe in town, trying to figure out how the heck I will ever catch up. So much to post about our final months in Asia. Watch this space! And thanks for reading. 'Tokyoblog' ain't finished yet....