We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo... (and to Costco, too, too, too)

What a great day.

One of John's colleagues, Mark Matsune, a Japanese Canadian who grew up in Edmonton, has family in southern Alberta, and has lived in Sapporo for more than 20 years, took us out on the town.

Of course, our version of out on the town involved a winter trip to the zoo... and (at John's request), a trip to Costco.

First... the zoo. We were a bit worried that the snow would keep us from seeing much, but it turned out to be great. There were probably a dozen visitors to the whole place (Jack pointed out that there were more monkeys than people at the zoo) and it was sunny and bright. We heard a surly hippo, saw very cold tigers, lions, cheetahs, and other cats enduring what looked like their 15 minutes of time outside, admired flamingos, laughed at monkeys, grimaced at gators and -- thrill of thrills -- got up close and personal with wolves.

Although it feels like universal knowledge, you might not know that Jack loves wolves. We've read a lot about them this last year, and he was quite disappointed to only see a lump of a wolf sleeping at the Calgary zoo on a sweltering day last summer. But at the Maruyama zoo, an alpha pair were quite active and seem especially drawn to Jack. We wondered at the wisdom of the exhibit placement (the deer were on one side of the building, the wolves on the other... did that make the deer nervous?) and Jack could have stayed there forever.

But we eventually pried him away, and after lunch and more exhibits (include an inside play area at the Monkey House that was SO much fun), we took sleepy girls and headed to Sapporo's Costco. I have to admit, this was not high on my list of "must-sees" in Sapporo. But John, who loves Costco, was eager and Mark said he loved any excuse he could have for a trip there, so off we went in his minivan.

The girls napped, and so Mark, Jack and John went in first. John came out glowing, saying it was WONDERFUL. He stayed with K&O while I went in... and it WAS wonderful. They had cheese -- good cheese -- that didn't cost a fortune (only a small investment). They had cute clothes and good prices -- mostly. Jack found his dream Star Wars set (only $200! ummmm.... sorry, buddy). They had books in English and that familiar KIRKLAND brand everywhere. And, hidden deep in the recesses of a freezer, they had...

TORTILLAS.

Soft, fluffy (well, once we defrosted them), delicious tortillas!

I told John later that I didn't even look at the price -- for all I knew the two-pack was $40! But no... the 20 tortillas cost a reasonable $8 Canadian (and compared to the time, effort, and frustration -- to say nothing of the taste -- of making my own tortillas, this is a fine price to pay).

We ended the visit as every good Costco visit should end -- with a hotdog and some pizza to share.

To top it all off, Mark thought our kids were incredibly well behaved! It has seemed to us since we got here that Japanese children are the ones who are so well behaved (and certainly much less noisy than our gaggle)... and we've had our share of less-than-stellar-moments in public (sleeping in the president's office, refusing food left and right, public nose picking) But it was nice to have someone say, unprompted, how great they were (because despite these less than stellar public moments, we think so too).

I should now help John get these happy kids to bed -- with warm quesadilla in their bellies (imagine -- cheese and tortillas at the same time!).