Hello!

150416-01Mr. Ojisan Ramen says hi!

Funny picture yeah? This was a cup noodle I had in Japan. I bought a nishime pack from the grocery store to eat with it. Their nishime is awesome – it even came with the half egg. And you know how much I love Japan eggs. Had a bit too much lotus root and they were a bit hard for me but I ate em anyway. But yeah! I put some of the nishime into the cup noodle and this is how it floated to the top! Do you see the ojisan like I do? Green bean eyes, a brown little nose and a shiitake smile. I swear I didn’t do this on purpose!

Anyway, I apologize for the lag time between Japan posts. Life happened and things have been quite topsy turvy for me, emotionally and professionally. Nothing crazy so not to worry. I was expecting work to slow down by now but it’s actually picking up again even though the semester is coming to an end. I can’t wait for summer. So I hope you are all doing well! I know my little updates are usually made of complaints so I wanted to share a good story!!

We all know how awesome Costco is but last night was another example of why they are even more awesome! It also serves as another reason why I should always purchase my contact lenses from them! So I had my annual check-up and my doctor shared that my brand of contacts (Acuvue) changed their policies and made it so that everyone had to basically charge the same rate or higher…I assume to help doctors get orders from their clients versus going through 1-800-contacts or people like me, who order through Costco.

Anyway, my contacts used to have a $10 coupon every couple of months so I would always be able to order my contacts cheaper. I noticed Costco stopped offering the coupon so I figured it was related to this new rule. I was almost tempted to order from my doctor but she mentioned, maybe Costco would have it in stock right away so I held back. I went in last night and ordered my contacts. And yes! They had them in stock and yes! They process your insurance claim right away so I paid the amount after the insurance coverage. So the person ringing me up is doing all kinds of typing and printing, etc. I patiently wait because well, I sorta went in at 8:20 (they close at 8:30) and I felt pretty bad! Anyway, he finishes up my transaction and hands me a Costco Cash Card and tells me it’s for $25. So I’m like super confused right? And he tells me all about how Acuvue put that new rule into place but Costco has been trying to negotiate with them to keep doing the $10 coupons but haven’t come to an agreement yet…so Costco is voluntarily giving $25 gift cards until they can get it resolved. I mean, how’s that for service right? It’s something they totally do not have to do but they are doing it because they care about the customer. It was such an awesome experience that I just had to share it.

I hope you are all doing well. I’ll try to get some more Japan updates scheduled this weekend.