Guam - Our Summer Trip To "America"

So, we did make it to the States this summer...just not the mainland. For our short summer vacation we flew to Guam for four nights and five days, relaxing at the Westin. From our pictures you can see we did not do much. Our days consisted of eating breakfast, swimming, eating lunch, resting, swimming, bathing, eating dinner, watch a movie on the Ipad, and head to bed with the kids. We debated on several different places to go this summer for vacation as we really want to try to see more of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, while we live in Japan. However, after a large trip to the mainland over Christmas, even 8 months later, I did not have the desire to go very far with the small kids. Even Thailand seemed too far. And I really did not want to go anywhere with jet lag with the kids, so that ruled out Hawaii which is a 8 hour flight. We decided the best option for our family this year was Guam. Even though it is only a 3.5 hour flight, it is still an eight hour travel day for us by the time you take a taxi from the apartment to Tokyo station, take the train from Tokyo station to the airport, go through ticketing and customs, board, fly and do the same thing once you get to your destination. All of that to say, Guam was the best choice for us. We rented a car because the husband just needed to drive. :) And it offered us a lot of flexibility. We ate at American restaurants like Outback, Wendy's and some local Mexican place. I find it funny because I can count on one hand how many times we have eaten at Outback and TGI Friday's in Tokyo, but in Guam it just seemed like the thing to do. The water was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the Caribbean...that blue/green water that is so clear you can see your toes at the bottom. And it was super calm, like a lake, so the kids could enjoy the ocean as well. The white fluffy sand was like snow powder and easily brushed off your clothes. One day we drove around the island and stopped along the way to take pictures. As we were driving the 1.5 hour route, the husband said, "Well, you do not get to see this in Florida." It was breathtaking. We also enjoyed K Mart. We joked that it is probably the most moneymaking K Mart in all of the US. The night before we left we went in for cough medicine and it was as if all of Japan was in K Mart...every Japanese tourist was stocking up before heading back to Japan. I could have spent 8 hours in the store...seriously. I forgot about all of the board games out there for kids. My husband reminded me if I forgot about them, we probably do not need them, but we still bought Hungry Hippo and the farm Uno game for kids. Plus, I got some good birthday ideas for Miss M in November. The one negative thing we noticed is the service. Within 48 hours of being there, twice my husband did not receive his food. We were okay with that because the kids never ate the HUGE portions from the kids menu and we were on vacation and relaxed. But as we experienced it, we were trying to remember if this has ever happened to us in Tokyo after living here 3.5 years. No! We do our fair share of eating out, trying at least once every six weeks to go out on a date and try a new place, and also having lunch with friends occasionally, and not one time have we ever had to complain about not getting food or lack of service. The service in Japan stands heads above the rest. It truly is something you have to experience to believe me, but in a city of millions of people, you still get fabulous service. Whenever God chooses to move us somewhere else, I know this will be one of the many things we will miss about Tokyo. As you can see from the pictures, the kids had a great time in Guam as well. We just enjoyed our family, and got lots of rest, going to bed with the kiddos in the hotel room and staying away from the internet for a few days. If you live in the area, I highly recommend it for a vacation with young kids. It was perfect.