I woke up at 7 o'clock this morning. Although it was bright in the very early morning these few days, the sun was very strong only on the 6th June.

After taking a simple breakfast, we walked to the Tokiwadai Station at 8 a.m. We arrived at Ikebukuro Station by 8.30 a.m. We transferred to the Subway Yurakucho Line to get to the Shin-kiba Station. It was very crowded in the train from Ikebukuro to Shin-kiba. Many passengers alighted at the Lidabashi Station. It was then not very crowded.

We arrived at the Shin-kiba Station at 9 o'clock. We had to transfer to Maihama Station by JR Keiyo Line. When we were waiting for the train, I asked a young lady who was in the queue for the direction. She spoke English fluently. She was going to work and would pass the Maihama Station. She asked us to follow her. Few days ago, Mrs. Toyoda told us that we needed to travel one station from Shin-kiba to Maihama. The young lady explained that if we took the express train, it would bypass the next station and stop at Maihama Station. But the train approaching the station was the local train. It would stop at the next station and we should only get down after the next station. It was lucky that I asked her for the direction, else we would alight at the wrong station and might not find the way to Disneyland. We were also very fortunate that we met a helpful Japanese who spoke good English.
The train was crowded and we could not talk too long, therefore I did not ask her about her name. We would like to thank her for her help and friendliness.

Moral Teaching - Bits and Pieces

We managed to enter the Disneyland by 9.30. There were not many people at that time. We enjoyed very much at the Adventureland and Westernland.

By 11 o'clock, I was hungry as we took breakfast early. I suggested that we went for lunch before it would be too crowded.

When we visited Tokyo Disneyland last year, Solomon enjoyed so much that he did not think of his lunch. When we were too hungry, we found that it was very crowded at every restaurant and cafe. We could not find a restaurant suitable for the family because I was a vegetarian. Finally, I did not have my proper meal.

Although we love our son, but we should also train him to have loving care for the parents and not just taking care of himself. If we do not teach and train, he will probably become selfish. Just before retiring in January 2002, I realised that my son had developed many bad habits. During those few years, I was busy in the Year 2000 Project and did not have much time with him. He was almost spoilt because of lack of moral teaching.

When we were taking our lunch at 11 o'clock, Solomon was not very hungry. But I wanted him to stop playing any game and accompany us. He was also hungry by 1.45 p.m. He took some chips and breads.

Forgetting to Return

In 1997, it was the first time when we visited Tokyo Disneyland. We visited Disneyland again last year (2004). And the visit in 2005 was the third time. Solomon was still very fond of the games. He liked the Pirates of the Caribbean very much. He also liked to take the Roller Coaster and Bumping Car very much. But I could not take those games and he was too young to take them by himself, so he was disappointed. I promised him that if we would come again a few years later. He should be able to enjoy them.

After taking his lunch, we continued to wonder about. Some of the houses started to stop people to queue for the games by 4 p.m.

We went to the Pirates of the Caribbean again. After that, we went to the souvenir shop. By 5.50 p.m., I told Solomon that we had to leave for Tokiwadai. We saw there were people queuing outside the Disneyland, they might be the night visitors.

When in Rome do as the Romans do

When we were at the Maihama Station, we found the train was very crowded. We did not follow the passengers squeezing into the train. We were the only three persons left at the platform. A Japanese man saw us and waved to us. He wanted us to aboard the train. He pushed the crowd and cleared some space for us to walk into the train.

When we arrived at Shin-kiba Station, it was not crowded because it was the terminal for the JR Keiyo Line. There were seats for us. We arrived at Ikebukuro Station at 7.30 p.m.

At Ikebukuro Station, we followed the sign to look for the Tobu Tojo Line. Solomon said that it was at the same level according to his memory. But I told him that we should follow the sign of direction. We finally found the Station at the upper level. Solomon was intelligent, but he was sometimes lack of wisdom. Cleverness may overreach itself.

Meeting Good People Here and There

After alighting at Tokiwadai Station, Solomon and mama got their lunch at the fast food restaurant. I went to the small Japanese restaurant. I tried my best to use the food coupon vending machine. I got the coupons for white rice and Natto. (Natto is fermented soybeans that is a traditional Japanese staple.) When I presented the coupons at the counter, the waiter who was from China told me that I might get the wrong coupon. I told him that I wanted to buy white rice and Natto. He said that there was no coupon for white rice on the vending machine. The one I got was the sauce for food. Actually he knew that I wanted white rice and tried to confirm with me. It was lucky I met him, else I would be taking natto and sauce for my dinner.

When we were at our apartment, we thought of getting some more foods, so we walked to Tobu Store to buy some dumpling and Sushi.

Thinking of Home?

At 8.30 p.m., I tried to call Mr. Toyoda and could not get through the line. Later on, I realised that I had to add "03" in front of the telephone number as the area code. Mr. Toyoda had set up the one-touch button for me to call him at home. But I forgot how to use his handphone.

I finally got through the line after dinner. Mr. Toyoda was not in. Mrs. Toyoda chatted with me through the phone. After a long chat, I checked the record. Oh! the 26 minutes and 20 seconds' chatting caused 1600 yen. It was expensive.

Mrs. Toyoda said that she would come and visit us at the apartment tomorrow evening. On Friday early morning, Mr. Toyoda and her would meet us at Tokiwadai Station. They would bring us to the Nagoya World Expo and we would be back very late that night.

After the phone call, I was very happy when I knew that Mrs. Toyoda would come and see us the next evening. After staying in the apartment for a few days, I did not see Mr. Toyoda everyday. I was suddenly thinking of home, although our family was together in Tokyo.