on living overseas

Food Fun Friday- Hanaya Yohei

2011-05-20T20:38:00.000+09:00

I have been meaning to post about Hanaya Yohei for ummm- since last October? Better late than never I suppose?

http://www.hanayayohei.co.jp/index.html (sorry the link function isn't working properly)

Hanaya Yohei is described a family style sushi and Japanese food restaurant. It is a chain restaurant, and can be found everywhere. The atmosphere is like Coco's in the US, very family friendly with large booths and no frills. the first time the kids and I went was when we first got here. It was a challenge to order our food and we were afraid to push the button on our table to ask for more water. I think I have mentioned it before- the waiters and waitresses in Japan will not bother you or ask you to take your order. You have to summon them. At first it seems like they are ignoring you if you are used to American style dining. But then you realize it is NICE. No one comes by to ask how your food is a million times- and every time you have a mouthful of food. And no one rushes you out with your check and a meaningful look that says "please leave" so we can clear this table. Here in Japan all of the places I have been to do not blink an eye if you sit around a chat for an hour after you have finished your food. I am sure part of that is because Japanese people do a lot of family and friend get-togethers in restaurants. Their houses are too small to host people, so they meet and socialize over meals.

Anyhoo- the last time I visited Hanaya Yohei was with my good friends Jaime and Jason. It was "Beer Garden Friday" and we usually liked to go eat before we headed to the beer garden. The menu involves many different combos and it is difficult to choose. There seem to be at least five different things in each selection on the menu. The sushi is very good, and my favorite thing to eat there. I did try fried octopus"fries" that night. They are so delicious! I would take them over french fries any day.

If you are willing to be adventurous and try things you have no idea what they are, this is a great place to go. And if you like sushi, this is also a nice change of pace from a sushi go-round.

my meal- cold ramen noodles (I think it is called "somen" when cold?) and tempura. Yumm!

fried pork or chicken cutlet

sushi- *nom nom*

chicken cutlets

Cheers!

~Nancy

Life is Good!

2011-05-18T22:06:00.000+09:00

We've been back in Japan almost 3 weeks now. It almost feels the same as before except so many people and services here on base are missing. Yes I know we are all lucky to not have been in the path of destruction as seen on March 11th. So I am not complaining so much as WISHING and HOPING. There is a difference, yes?

Hubby is home and working one hellacious night shift. But he is home nevertheless, even if we only see each other in passing. I am just glad we are all in the same country once again.

I have resumed my workouts and I feel great. I am down 15 pounds and have lost inches all over. I actually tried on a couple of bathing suits today and didn't walk out in tears. Like I told my bestie Jaime today- CrossFit is the shiznit! I recommend it to everyone (especially certain roller-derby superstars to-be)!

To sum it all up, LIFE IS GOOD. I am going to enjoy it all I can.

~Nancy

It's good to be an American

2011-05-08T12:18:00.000+09:00

I don't really really have anything to write today. Instead I want to share a blog post from an old high school friend. Alex is an amazing and inspiring person, and he has a way with words. He has three prosthetic limbs- both arms and one leg. He never feels sorry for himself and always exhibits the most positive attitude. To top that off- he has a great sense of humor. I look forward to his witty Facebook posts.

This blog post he wrote reminds me why it is good to be an American.

Read it here at Adventures of Being Alex.

Cheers!

~Nancy

nothing like sleeping in one's own bed...

2011-05-03T13:52:00.000+09:00

I am back home, and I am extremely happy to be here! The trip back wasn't as long as the trip out, thank goodness. The only snag I hit was when the airlines didn't want to let Brownie on the plane because her kennel was too big for their little puddle jumper we were about to board. I argued that we flew in on a similar sized airplane (albeit a different airline). They conceded and made an exception. The night before i was panicked because it was supposed to be 24 degrees that morning- too cold for Brownie to fly. So I was surprised about the size restriction. If they hadn't let her board- I WOULD HAVE DIED. Not to sound dramatic, but I really would have passed out on the floor right there. It was so much work just to get her "safe for flight" so we could get her back into the country of Japan.

The first flight we flew to Denver- an hour long flight. It was not so bad. Luckily, we had an hour to find our next gate- because Denver is HUGE. Our next gate felt like it was a mile away (which would fit the whole "mile high city" theme. I think we got on at least 5 walking sidewalks. The flight to Seattle was MISERABLE. Brother sat in the middle and he proceeded to elbow me the entire flight. It didn't help that we were in the back and everyone was lined up to use the bathroom. The flight attendant kept squeezing by, which meant his butt swept my beverage tray each time. Brother was getting irritated with Sister, and I was irritated with him.

In Seattle we had 3 hours to hang out before our flight to Tokyo. By that time I literally wanted to punch my son. I know. That sounds AWFUL. But you have to understand we were all sleep deprived and Brother is not very fun when he has no sleep. In fact, he usually does his best to make sure everyone else is as miserable as he. He is pretty skillful at that unfortunately. So he antagonized his sister every time he thought I wasn't looking. Good thing we were in public. I am just saying.

Being in SeaTac International Airport was bittersweet for us. We have so many friends in the PNW (Pacific Northwest). I wish we could have been able to see stay a day or two and see everyone. So I just posted to Facebook that I was waving at everyone.

Changing planes when your dog is flying in the cargo hold is a bit on the terrifying side. There are so many things that could go wrong- namely your dog could be put on the wrong plane and sent to Timbuktu. And since we were flying a million miles to Japan, that makes it all the more complicated. I mean, they lose luggage all of the time, right? Before the plane takes off, an airline attendant is supposed to bring you a little slip of paper the baggage handlers filled out to let you know your dog is on board. We watched her being loaded onto the first two flights, but forgot to look for her on the last. I did verify that she was waiting to be loaded, but that was one hour before our boarding time. Usually I will ask the attendants once I get on the plane to let me know if our dog was on board- if I didn't hear from them first. On our last flight that day, I totally forgot. That is, until the plane was taking off- and the attendants were all buckled down in their seats. Talk about a moment of sheer panic. And of course it was the LONGEST take off EVER. Ever.

There is a happy ending of course- she was on board. *big giant sigh of relief*

Brother fell asleep right away (he had an empty seat next to him), I enjoyed two small bottles of red wine, and watched Gullivers Travels with Sissy. It was an extremely long flight- but it was 100% better flying commercial than on the Patriot Express (military "airliner" we flew to Japan on when we first got here in 2009.)

The best part?- besides seeing my honey once again? We didn't have to ride the "prison bus" home! The base has a lovely tour bus they use to shuttle us back and forth to Narita airport. They normally do not allow animals. But with the evacuation- they decided to bend the rules (God Bless them for that.) That meant they brought out the white "prison bus" to put our big dog kennel on. They can't go underneath the bus, and they cannot be let loose on the bus. So we had to set our kennel on the back seat. The normal tour bus they use doesn't accomadate the big kennels, so they brought out the white buses that are used for shorter trips. I was very appreciative of them for this, I really was. But it was a cold and uncomfortable ride to the airport. I was not looking forward to riding on it again (that and waiting an hour or so to even leave.)

My honey rented a van and picked us up. That was the best present I have had all year. And now we are all home again. I didn't realize how MUCH I missed my home and missed Japan. It is like being given a second chance, there is so much I want to do and see. Now if I could just kick this jet lag in the butt, I can get started on that!

Lastly- here are a few random pictures I took on my iPhone of our trip there and back. Mostly it is our trip TO the States. They are totally out of order too, sorry...

"airplane food"- Sissy's lunch at one of the restaurants in Narita

Poor Brownie still locked up in her kennel at LAX- we were trying to find the dog park so we could let her out.

"Dog Park" at LAX- just what we needed! Poor Brownie was so thirsty- she drank for days. (She did have water in her kennel, in case you are wondering.)

"non-working" fire hydrant

They even provided poop bags.

riding to Narita on the "prison bus"

our good little traveler- just the beginning of our journey

inside view of bus

I was so happy to have one last Cherry Blossom Frappucino at Narita before we left!

Brother's hamburg lunch

Last one- a very tired and delirious little girl on the last plane to Narita. Almost home!

Now I will get back to my spring cleaning- so good to be home!!

Going home

2011-04-21T00:51:00.000+09:00

I am going back to Japan! I am very excited, but I still don't have tickets in my hot little hands. Until I get those tickets I will be anxious. Shoot! I will still be anxious because I have to get Brownie's health certificate so the nation of Japan will let me doggie in! And let me tell, when there is no military vet nearby, it is a PAIN IN THE BUTT!

Basically I will be relying on a couple of overnight packages and paying lots of money out the nose. I really was hoping to leave Brownie here with the in-laws, but they don't have dogs anymore and I think Brownie would be lonely without us. *sad face*

Taking a pet to Japan is no easy task! Even though we have only been gone one month- we have to jump through all of these hoops. Luckily, she already had her FAVN test (test for Rabies antibodies), and it is still valid (they expire after 2 years). She has all of her shots, microchip, and FAVN test. Now the vet must examine her, fill out the paperwork to be faxed to the USDA office for pre-approval. Once they get that, we have to overnight the paperwork to USDA, and include a pre-paid overnight envelope to send the certificate back. I just hope USDA works quickly. I would have done all of this already- but. But the certificate is good for 10 days. Make that 9 days seeing that we will lose a day traveling to Japanland. Oh- I have to let Japan know I am bringing a dog to the country. It is supposed to 40 days notice, but we are exempted this time around. :)

I am not looking forward to the actual flight. But I AM looking forward to seeing my honey again!! It will all be worth it when I am in his arms again...

Cross your fingers I receive my itinerary tonight (morning for Japan)!!

Can I go home now?

2011-04-12T07:11:00.000+09:00

We are on week three in Safe Haven land. Now that the jet lag is gone and we got to see family, I am ready to go back. Unfortunately, things don't seem much better in Nipponland. They aren't WORSE, but not much better either. I think things ARE better in Tokyo as they don't have so many rolling blackouts to put a stand still on everything. But as far as the Nuclear reactor problem, they have made baby steps so far. I know things will get better, I just need to be patient (take a cue from the Japanese.)
My in-law's pad is gorgeous- better than a hotel. In area it is bigger than the 4-plex we live in on base. But it is not my HOME. Know what I mean? I miss my bed, my things. I miss being able to make a mess and being able to pick up after myself at my own leisure. I miss running my own household. Here I feel like I have worn out my welcome. I know I haven't really, but you know how it is when you feel like you are "in the way?" I have interrupted the "flow" here and I hate that.
So after feeling sorry for myself- I see this. My heart is still breaking for Japan. I want things to get better so I can return. But more importantly- I want things to get better for the Japanese people who are suffering. I am sure they aren't whining like me. I am so grateful my family is well and safe.

missed my blogiversary

2011-04-06T03:38:00.000+09:00

I just realized that on April 1st, I had been blogging for 2 years. Geez, it feels LONGER than that. Happy belated blogiversary to me.

Looking back:
2 years ago I was trying to get TO Japan. The No-Fee ~~ASSport~~ Passport people were making me jump through hoops to prove I wasn't born in Mexico.

2 WEEKS ago I was trying to get OUT of Japan.

2 years ago I was missing my sailor terribly- knowing I wouldn't see him for another 5 months.

Today I am missing my sailor, not knowing WHEN or WHERE I will see him next.

2 years ago my kids were both in elementary school.

Today my son started middle school. (He was still in elementary school when we were in Japan. Here in Colorado 6th grade is MIDDLE SCHOOL).

2 years ago I thought GETTING TO JAPAN was the hard part.

Today my heart aches because I had to leave.

2 years ago I was determined to learn Japanese.

Today all I can do is order food.

2 years ago the only foreign countries I have been to were Mexico and Canada.

2 years later I have added Japan and Singapore to that list. I was hoping for more than that- but I am grateful nevertheless.

2 years ago I didn't think I will be able to keep up a blog.

Well, here I still am! I haven't been the most consistent blogger. I know some of what I post is pure dribble and a snoozefest. But I do have some good memories here. If nothing else- I have my Food Fun Friday posts to look back on.

One of my favorite pictures as of late:

This isn't really related to my blog post. But this picture just tears me up. It is a Japanese man hugging one of the Helo guys (I believe it is HS-4) who came out with relief supplies for the tsunami victims.

I hope that on my next blogiversary I will be able to report that all is well in Japan again. Ganbate Kudasai!

Missing Japan...

2011-04-04T02:05:00.000+09:00

It's a stormy and dreary day here in Colorado. The kids and I arrived safely a little over a week ago after traveling over 48 hours. I think the jet lag has finally worn off and we feel rested. And now that I am here I want nothing more than to go back. I miss Japan, I miss my friends, and I miss my husband.

There have been people who stayed behind that accused those of who evacuated of "abandoning" Japan and its people. That really upset me at first, and I felt like I had been put on the defensive. But now, in spite of a sham of an article in the "Farse and Lies" (ie Stars and Stripes)- that said that everyone who evacuated only did so for a "free vacation", I am at peace with my decision.

There will always be haters out there, who want nothing more than to make everyone as miserable as they are. I am a good person, I will not justify my decisions to anyone. My family and my country come first. Call me selfish, I don't care. That isn't to say that my heart isn't broken and I don't grieve for Japan and her people. At last count, according to NHK World, over 27,600 people are dead or missing. My brain can't process that number.

Eventually we will return. When that is, I don't know. Until then we remain in limbo, while trying to have some sense of normalcy for the kids' sake. They are enrolled in school here and are enjoying seeing their cousins again after 2 years. While we wait, I am trying not to break down and cry. I am afraid I won't be able to stop.

Mata Ne (See you later)

2011-03-23T17:13:00.000+09:00

I am leaving Japan tomorrow. I am almost all packed, just need to unplug a few things and put them in my bags. The kids have been ready since last Thursday. Things are actually looking better as far the threat of radiation, I really would rather stay at this point. But we are going tomorrow and the kids are EXCITED. I think if I didn't take them back stateside my mother-in-law would fly out here and get them herself.

I feel like I am giving up on Japan. At least, I am afraid that is what my Japanese friends think. My students all understand, at the same time they tell me that everything will be ok here. One of my students is very concerned and ready to head south if the sky starts to fall. She said she would have gone to her parents by now if her husband didn't have to work.

I met one of my students- Chizuko, for lunch today. When I dropped her off at the front gate and hugged her goodbye- she started sobbing. My heart just broke! I reassured I will be back, while choking back my own tears. I do believe that in my heart. I will be back, Japan. I love you too much not to.

If you don't hear from me soon, it is because I am either traveling, or having a hard time getting online.

Mata ne!

Only in Japan...

2011-03-22T14:38:00.000+09:00

Only in Japan would you see an explanation of the Fukushima power plants crisis explained this way. This has been going around Facebook- maybe you have seen it already. If not- check it out:

Who doesn't understand "poos and farts"? It is a very simple explanation for a very serious and complex problem. It's not Chernobyl- but there is potential for much harm. Let's hope and pray it doesn't come to that...

Got Iodide?

2011-03-22T00:05:00.000+09:00

Today the Navy started handing Potassium Iodide (KI) pills out to personnel and family members. It is purely precautionary and erring on the conservative side as seems to be the theme with the Navy lately. No big deal, I went down with a friend to go pick up pills for myself and the kidlets.

Guess what? I cannot take the pills. Apparently, if you are allergic to shellfish or have a thyroid disorder, you cannot take the KI pills. Well- if you have only a slight allergy to shellfish- you may be ok and it might be worth the risk. But me? I have a thyroid disorder- can't take the pills. My doc was there to confirm. He said I will just have to "shelter indoors". Soooo, if we are trying to evacuate should the sh-- hit the fan (which I don't think it will), I would either have to stay behind and send my kids off with someone else (and their pills), or risk exposure and go out with them.

But after doing a little research, I feel reassured I will be ok. And I understand why I can't take the pills. The KI pills saturate the thyroid with potassium iodide- which prevents radioactive iodine from being absorbed in the thyroid. Basically it is like filling all the hotel rooms with clean guests before the radioactive guests get there. Oops, sorry no room for you! People exposed to radioactive iodine (what is released in the event of a nuclear plant explosion)- are at serious risk for developing thyroid cancer. As I understand it- it is 90% treatable (though it would require a lifetime of care- I do know someone who had it.) The reason I can't take the KI pills is because one of the side effects is hypothyroidism, which I already have. So for me it would make it much worse and could cause serious health problems (think heart.) In my doc's words- "it would cause more harm than good".

I confess- after a day filled with defeats, this tipped me over to the panic side- but only for a little bit. I did a little research, and then I felt better. This is all hypothetical, right? We are not in immediate danger, it is all ok. I am ok, and so is my family. My friend tried to convince me to put myself on the "people with medical conditions" list (ie priority and first to go). Women and children go first- the youngest children and those pregnant are at the top of the list- along with people who have special needs/medical conditions. It didn't feel right to me to try and get out sooner. Children are at the biggest risk in the event of radiation exposure- the younger, the higher the risk. I don't want to bump someone with young children. Also, from what I read, those who are 40 and older are at the least risk. Well I am three years from 40, close enough! I talked to my hubby's boss today- who chided me and told me not to be the "hero" and get out of here. I am still not going to put myself on that "must evacuate" list. But I am going to try and get a flight out of Narita if possible. At the rate they are getting people out of here, I would probably make it home before them anyway!

Crazy huh? I wish someone could just wave a magic wand over the power plants and put them all back to together in perfect working condition. Japan has suffered enough. What we are going through here is 100, no- 1000 times worse in Sendai and the areas surrounding the power plants. So instead of KI pills, I'll take another dose of perspective- Vitamin "P".

Praying for good news and relief for those who are suffering.

Perspective? What's that??

2011-03-20T08:58:00.000+09:00

A Japanese friend (who is married to an American) said she felt selfish for being glad that she and her family are safe while thousands are suffering because of the earthquake and tsunami devastation. She intends to stay here until the sky starts to fall. She feels it is her duty to stay here and help.

That stopped me in my tracks today.

It has been over 48 hours since the word came for the Military Assisted Voluntary Evacuation. The key word being VOLUNTARY. I want to stay and help, even though I am happy to be able to see family again after almost 2 years. I am not panicked, and I am not afraid that there will be another bad earthquake. That is not to say I am used to the constant shaking. I am 90% sure that we will not be in danger of radiation. I spoke to a fellow Navy wife yesterday who is from Russia. She told me she went through the Chernobyl disaster and didn't feel the need to evacuate. She said matter of factly that it doesn't matter where we go- no one can control a radioactive cloud. I don't know enough to verify how it all works, but that made sense to me. But of course we are being evacuated to the US, she doesn't have kin there and therefore doesn't want to go.

So am I feeding into the hysteria? Do I think the "sky is falling"? Not really. But I have been wrapped up with the evacuation efforts, stressed to the core from trying to control rumors and comforting my kids because they don't understand why the "grown-ups" don't have their sh-- together. After reading my friends statement above I felt guilty. "Nancy, meet Perspective, Perspective, meet Nancy". Yes, this is stressful and travelling for what could be several days with my two cranky kids and 100s of other cranky people is not what I call a "vacation". But we are SAFE. I am not cold and starving with no home to go to, I haven't lost my whole family in a great rush of water. My children are safe, we have food and water and electricity. We still have internet for goodness sake. As far as I am concerned this is the lap of luxury.

So am I selfish for leaving? I don't think so. Actually, I think it is good for us all to go. The main reason being we (Military dependents) as a whole are a strain on Japan's resources right now. If we all leave that would save electricity and put less cars on the road (traffic is worse than usual.) And, the base will be able to conduct humanitarian efforts more efficiently without us here. One more thing, our military members- sailors, marines, soldiers and airmen- will be able to conduct their missions without worrying about their families being in harm's way. However, if I were Japanese, I would definitely want to stay. I understand where my Japanese friend is coming from.

I did need that dose of perspective. Suddenly, I wondered why the heck I was so stressed all day? (Well, besides the million phone calls, emails, and my kids getting upset at the uncertainty of it all.)

Speaking of perspective- this is a news cast my daughter recorded with her camera. It was an hour or so after the big earthquake.

The newscasters are wearing hardhats. You know things are bad when you see that.

Hopefully we will be getting out of here soon. And even more importantly, hopefully we will be returning.

One more thing- I understand even more why the Japanese love Ichiro Suzuki. I'll never forget my first Mariner's game. There was a big group of Japanese tourists shouting "Ichiro Ichiro Ichiro!!" every time Ichiro was up to bat. I hope more pro athletes follow his lead.

I'll try to keep everyone posted on my travel progress...

I should be packing...

2011-03-18T00:28:00.000+09:00

It seems I don't lack for anything to blog about. It is after midnight, I am drinking coffee, and trying to pack. Thank goodness for that nap I had today.

I started off with a killer Crossfit workout. I was tired to begin with, so it was harder than normal for me. I went home to a dark house (rolling blackouts), and goofed around until I could manage to get into a dark shower (no lights remember.) After that I decided to relax on the couch, and eventually my bed called so I went upstairs for a nap. I was woken up around noon with a call from the CMC saying the President signed the evacuation order and we are being evacuated. I didn't need coffee to wake up at that point.

12 hours later, a million phone calls, emails and Facebook posts (and one meeting with the ombudsman and the Base Commander), I am typing away with a severe knot in my neck. I have laundry going and sh-- strewn everywhere. What do you pack when you can only take one bag and you don't know if you are coming back, ever? And you don't know if you will get your stuff back, ever? Honestly, I don't care too much about STUFF, I just want my family to be safe. I think the hardest part of the day was worrying about my dog- would she be able to come with us? At first I was told no because she is too big, but later I was told yes. Oh thank Heaven!

I can't tell you how SAD I am right now. I don't want to leave Japan. I don't want to leave like this. Hubby told me it all seems like a SyFy movie. He is still away, and I don't get to see him before I leave. That just plain sucks. But he will know we are safe, and he will be moved to a safer place as well. That is what counts right? He told me to take lots of pictures so we can reminisce about it later. I don't know about REMINISCE, but I will have plenty to blog about!

Should I change the name of my blog do you think?

~Nancy

PS: Please continue to pray for Japan and her people. If you can donate to Red Cross, that would be great too. Even if you can only give $5, that will help!!

Keep Calm and Bake Cupcakes (what the earthquake is teaching me)

2011-03-16T20:24:00.000+09:00

I posted the other day on Facebook this statement: "Keep calm and carry on", in response to everyone's panic. My friend Crystal responded with "Keep calm and bake cupcakes!" Now that's what I'm talking about! Crystal has been great to keep everyone (especially me) grounded. Despite my appearance, I am not as calm as I seem. But I am doing my very best to set a good example for other spouses and families. I have been checking email non-stop and posting everything I can on our command's website (I am an ombudsman). When this is all said and done, I am going to take an electronic vacation.

Since Friday, I have learned a few things and have made a few observations:

1. ALWAYS be prepared! This goes for anyone, anywhere. You never know when the power will go out, when an earthquake will make travel difficult, or some other strange disaster or accident that could happen. And, for those times when you KNOW you will need emergency supplies (for example a hurricane or blizzard is headed your way)- you will rest assured that you are covered.

I am somewhat guilty of not being prepared. Mainly that was water and canned food I was lacking. I did have all of our passports, birth certificates, and my NEO packet in one place where I could easily grab it and go. But I had depleted some of our water supply and food. I had grown complacent, shame on me. Last weekend I bought a case of water and stocked up on canned food and a few snacks for the kiddos just in case. I bought ONE pack of D batteries (I already had a few extras in my emergency supply.) And- I made sure I picked up a bag of dog food for our furry family member.

Now people are hoarding supplies, which means a shortage for the rest of us. I would love to have the people who produce the show “hoarders” to come here and check out some of these people’s stockpiles. I have a feeling a few of these people have turned their homes into fall-out shelters. I can honestly say I spent maybe an extra $50 or less on extra groceries.

2. NOT being prepared means that you will have to drain precious resources (ie food and water at the store), in order to take care of you and your family. A friend of mine, who resides at Misawa Air Force Base, was without power for several days. They are in the Northern part of Japan- which means it is cold! She was very proud to report they were able to self-sustain without having to run out for supplies- and without draining any resources that could be used to help others that need it. She is awesome and so smart, that lady is.

*note- I am typing this in a Word document that I will later copy and paste to Blogger. We are currently having a power outage as a part of the rolling black outs. I just had to get up and take shelter in the doorway due to another earthquake/aftershock. Good thing I am prepared! *wink*

Not being prepared also means you might have to wait in long lines for bread, water, or even toilet paper. No one wants to have a Communist Russia experience, do they?

3. My father in law always wisely says- “always keep your gas tank over half full”. He doesn’t wait for the “E” warning to come up on the dash- he fills up when he gets down to a half tank. That sounds like an inconvenience or maybe one too many trips to the filling station. Think about it this way- if your car has a full tank of gas and there is a power crisis-slash-gas shortage- you have yourself covered. Once again you will not have to wait in a LONG line to get your ration of gas. Luckily my car was already full so I didn’t have to gas it up. But hubby’s car was on “E”- he is always running on fumes. I was lucky enough to be able to fill up the day after the earthquake. I won’t have to wait in line anytime soon- our cars both use very little gas and we don’t have to drive too far luckily.

I feel sorry for the poor gas station employees. People are not happy that they aren’t being allowed to fill up if they have over ¼ of a tank. But unless they live off base or have a medical appointment in Yokosuka (that will take twice as long due to the terrible traffic situation going on)- they really don’t need that much gas. If we were to evacuate- it would be by air. There is no way anyone would get anywhere by car! It is hard enough to do under normal circumstances in typical Japanese traffic.

*still shakin’!!*

4. Disasters bring out the best in some people. If you read my last post- you would have seen the pictures of all that was donated to the relief efforts. It felt like everyone in base came to lend a hand, donate clothing, buy supplies to donate, or all of the above. I gained a little more faith in humanity seeing and experiencing all the love and concern people had for our host nation.

5. (You have to know this was coming.) Disasters also bring out the WORST in people. And that makes me irritable. This is when you find out who are the panickers, who are the complainers, and who are just completely clueless, uneducated and/or willfully ignorant. See numbers two and three. We have been told that we will continue to receive supplies- but people are still hoarding as if we will be cut off from the rest of the world for two months.

Here are some other examples:

*We are being asked to conserve energy due to the Nuclear power plant crisis. I have unplugged anything unneeded and only using the lights when absolutely necessary. Yet I look out the window and see houses with every light on and another family with Christmas lights on their balcony in the tower apartments (they are referred to as “The Towers”). I took a picture of the Christmas lights and posted it on Facebook. All of my friends were livid at the inconsideration, except for one. A really sweet friend of mine (and very young), asked why I was bothered- was the light keeping me from sleeping? *sigh*

*I am hearing complaints about the power outages. Why?? The outages last 4 hours long and we are warned in advance. Is someone missing a favorite soap opera? Or maybe they don’t have iPhones so they are unable to check email. Granted- those who live in the towers and on the upper floors- they have to walk down and/or up many flights of stairs. But why shouldn’t we do our part to conserve energy by having a power outage? Are we more special than the local folk because we are on a military base? My advice? Make sure your lap top is charged so you can type up a blog post while you wait for the power to come back on. Or get an iPhone- then you can post your every complaint on Facebook and piss me off.

*Some people are volunteering only so they can receive special recognition and attention. That just burns my butt! At the town hall meeting last night one lady, while standing up to ask the Captain a question- first had to make mention how she has been a part of the relief efforts. Did she think our base Commander was going to jump up and down and tell her how wonderful she is to give up her time to help those in need? I can tell you that yes, she was there helping. But she also spent most of her time delegating work out to anyone that crossed her path. My favorite part was seeing her masticate her slice of pizza and task everyone in her sights at the same. By day three I was ready to throw a can of STFU in her face. But I was good and held my tongue.

*The negative people are more negative- that is to be expected. But they can get down right insensitive. Quite a few people want to leave. If I were pregnant or had small children- I would feel the same I ~~suppose~~ know. I don’t want to HAVE to leave. I want things to return to somewhat normalcy (things will never be the same as before regardless). I would like to not have to worry about the power plants leaking radiation into the air. I would like the ground to stop playing Dance Dance Revolution. Complaining and saying how much they hate it here is very insulting to the Japanese, don’t ya think? If we were in America, and had no other country to go home to, how would we feel about foreigners whinging about our country? I don’t like the idea of people packing up and leaving because I fear that will only cause others to panic. However- GOOD RIDDANCE! There would be more power, more food, more gas for the rest of us. Go ahead- max out those credit cards for a flight that may or may not leave. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

6. Japanese people are amazing, strong and resilient. I learned the term gaman from a Japanese friend. Check out this article- Mr. Kristof explains it well. They don’t complain or whine. They mourn those they have lost and rebuild as soon as they can. They know this is an act of Mother Nature, not something they can control- but something they accept fully. No one is wasting time blaming the prime minister for causing this, or thinking they could have prevented the earthquake. They pick themselves back up, and move on.

7. Japanese people don’t loot! See the article I mentioned in number 6. I have heard this from several other sources as well. I love their honesty and integrity!

8. The media can really really suck. I hate how they feed into mass hysteria and fear by over-sensationalizing everything. If you watch some of these reports you would think the whole world is going to die from radiation poisoning. I have had to tell family friends to turn off the TV, everyone was begging for me to go home. And as Jaime so keenly pointed out- you can't compare Chernobyl to Japan's situation. That would be like comparing a Ford Pinto to a Volvo. I don't know- maybe it is not THAT extreme- but you get the picture.

9. I learned today that even though I am staying strong for everyone- especially my children, a good cry can make everything feel better afterward. Today I was admonished for a simple and honest mistake I made. No big deal really- but that is what broke me. I sat down and had a good cry. I didn't even realize I needed to cry until the tears came. I had been too busy to think about it.

10. People all over love Japan, as do I. I found this today on YouTube- I think the flooodgates have been opened for the duration because this made me tear up as well. It is actually cute, no reason to cry. Check it out:

I will now leave you with a smile on my face.

~Nancy

Will someone please turn off the paint mixer? Earthquake in Japan...

2011-03-13T00:45:00.000+09:00

Imagine it is a Friday afternoon, the sun is out, and the kids just got home from school. You're getting stuff together for the sleep over your daughter is going to, doing some housework and thinking about the Pampered Chef party you are going to and how the food will be delish. You have that care free feeling that Friday gives you because you have a lovely weekend planned out. You sit down on the couch to fold some laundry and you feel the couch shake. Whoa! You stand up and call to your son, "do you feel that?" He was walking down the hall and stops, "yeah, I do!" This about the time the shaking usually stops and everyone carries on with their previous activities. After all, this is Japan, and you feel earthquakes all the time. Except today, the shaking doesn't stop, but intensifies.

That was how it all started for us at 2:46 pm, Tokyo time. When I realized that the shaking was getting worse I called to my daughter to come downstairs and we headed under our large kitchen table. My son called to our dog Brownie and all four of us huddled underneath the table and waited for it to stop. The shaking would ease up, we would think it was over, and then the shaking intensified once again. I realized I had left my iPhone on top of the table so I was reaching with one hand to try and grab it. I couldn't find it so I let it be.

It lasted for several minutes. That doesn't seem like a long time, but when it feels like Godzilla has picked up your house and is shaking it like a magic 8-ball, a few minutes feel like an eternity and then some. All I could think about was the recent New Zealand quake and how this might be the "big one" they have been talking about in Japan. My daughter started to panic and cry. She wanted desperately to go outside, but we held on to her tight. (On a side note this has been a topic of discussion here, which is better, outside or in?) I grew up in California, we were taught to "duck and cover", so that is what my family and I did. And no, Hubby was not home- he was in a different country altogether.

When it finally stopped I felt like throwing up. It was an 8.9 magnitude (this number varies according to the source). The epicenter was in Sendai, which is about 300 miles away I believe? In other words, what we felt was much watered down compared to those in the Sendai area. And check this out- there is a Wikipedia page already- I didn't realize they get set up so quickly!

After the shaking abated, we got out from under the table and dusted ourselves off. In no time we were shaking again, back under the table we went. My daughter was in full panic mode by then. By now I had my iPhone in hand and I was trying to get some info on what, when and where. The next aftershock caught me on the toilet trying to pee. There is nothing like a rockin' toilet! I finished as fast as I could and ran for cover while still zipping up my pants.

Like I mentioned earlier, I grew up in California, but I have never experienced something like this before. We continued to have one aftershock after another. And I don't mean some little tiny tremors, but movement that would cause the door to our kitchen to swing back and forth.

We turned on Japanese TV and of course they are flashing a big tsunami warning on TV. They are showing the shaking reported all over Tokyo and Chiba. People are running from falling debris outside, those inside are taking cover under their desks.

Taken from the Japan Meteorological Agency's website

If you look at the above picture you can see the widespread effect and how darn strong and powerful this sucker was!

This was the quake previous to the big one

So if you look at the quake that happened at 7:49 am, you can see the difference! This one was a 4.8 magnitude and its epicenter was out in the ocean.

Going by this website, here is the info I have gathered:
1st quake: 14:46 7.9 magnitude, depth of 10km (they have this one listed twice- not sure why)
15:06- 7.0 magnitude, depth of 10 km
15:15- 7.4 magnitude, depth of 80 km
15:26- 7.2 magnitude, depth of 10 km
15:41- 5.7 magnitude, depth of 50 km (this they listed three times)
15:49- 5.8 magnitude, depth of 10 km
15:57- 6.1magnitude, depth of 20 km
16:04- 5.8 magnitude, depth of 20 km
16:15- 6.8 magnitude, depth of 10 km
16:29- 6.6 magnitude, listed as "very shallow"
16:38- 5.9 magnitude, depth of 30 km
16:54- 5.5 magnitude, depth of 30 km

I could spend a couple of more hours and write down the rest (there are 100s more since yesterday)- but I think you get the idea! I was seriously feeling sea sick. After the third aftershock my daughter set up permanent camp under the table. She and her brother dragged all the pillows off the couch, grabbed blankets, snacks, drinks, and the portable DVD player with some extra books and movies. My son declared during the second one that he would "like to get off this ride now".

Two summers ago, we got to ride on the earthquake simulator at one of the bases' safety fairs. Let me tell you- that is EXACTLY what the real thing felt like, no joke. Except the real thing is not as fun. *frown*

One hour later we are feeling sea sick. My cell phone isn't working, but the internet is up still! I never thought I would be so grateful for Facebook. My friends and I were all able to check in with Facebook. We chatted with family back home and we passed on info- the freeways were shut down, the trains weren't running. Some people got stuck and used Facebook to contact friends to pick up their kids from day care. The street directly out of our front gate became a parking lot. Everyone was going nowhere in a hurry.

And while we worried about those trying to get back home, the images on TV were becoming more and more disturbing by the second. We watched in horror as people tried to outrun the tsunami in their cars, and on foot. It was all fire and flooding and sheer terror. I am sure the whole world have seen the images, utter horror. Mother nature is not a force to be reckoned with, and she knows how to humble us to our very core.

Suddenly it was a totally different day with the same date. My daughter, after I coaxed out from under the table (we were still getting aftershocks, just not as bad as before), decided she still wanted to go to the slumber party. I let her go, she would be a few blocks away, the worst had passed us (we were never in tsunami danger), and it was a good distraction.

The rest of the evening was complete nuts. I never made it to the party, I just couldn't leave the house, and leave my son at home. I would have been only across the street, but you know how it is! I was constantly chatting with people, skyping with Hubby, it was non-stop. My good friends from Misawa texted me asking me to call their family stateside, which I did. They had no phone or power, but somehow they could text. At least it was something. We finally went to bed, and I intended on watching something distracting- like Army Wives. But I couldn't tear away from the news stations. Luckily my son fell asleep pretty quickly (with a pillow over his face just in case), and I eventually did too.

4 AM this morning: my phone rings. I was so drowsy I couldn't make out what the noise was. I picked it up too late so I missed the call. I had a feeling I knew who it was (no number on caller ID). While waiting for a call back, I checked email and scanned Facebook. I wondered if we were still having aftershocks when the bed started shaking. Yep, it is still going on! The phone rang again, it was my daughter. 10 minutes later she was back home and cuddled up next to her brother in my bed. After calling my mom to let her know I was ok (I did send an email earlier just in case), I went back to sleep.

8 AM I woke up again to more bad news, now they were worried (and still are) about the nuclear power plants. A friend was asking for donations to be brought to the commissary. I scanned our pantry (which held not a lot of non-perishables I realized), and I headed to the commissary with my daughter.

What started out as a small group of wives asking for donations turned out to be a huge base effort. Operation Tomodachi was in full effect. Tomodachi means friend- referring to our host nation Japan. After buying groceries for my house and also some more things to donate, we hung out to help for a while. I had to go home and put away my food. I wanted to donate some blankets and what not, thinking I could fill a trash bag to take back over. I ended up with four. All those sweaters I have been hanging on to but never wore? And those extra jackets we don't need? How about those old towels? It never felt so good to purge before. Knowing that these items were going to be loaded onto a helicopter and taken directly to the victims really motivated to give all we could.

The rest of the day we spent helping with the donations. I have to say I am really proud to be a part of this community here at NAF Atsugi. Everyone was so willing to help. I think we all feel so grateful that we were spared, and so sad to see our Japanese "tomodachi" in pain. We started off in front of the commissary with a small box and some grocery carts. We ended up with tri-walls on pallets. I believe we filled 7 pallets with food, huge bags of rice, baby stuff, personal hygiene items, clothes, jackets, blankets, the list could go on and on. People would ask what was needed and we kept thinking of new things. Honestly, when your home is destroyed, don't you need just about everything?

I gave my daughter a new camera yesterday- just before all of this happened. Well today she brought her camera with her everywhere and took pictures and videos of our food/clothing drive. I think she is a budding photo journalist!

Rice was a huge ticket item today, probably one of the number 1 needs....

diapers, formula, baby food, even a stroller

5 of the 7 tri-walls we filled today.

Just a small sampling of all the people who came out to help today.

all clothes and blankets

No room left on the forklifts, we loaded the donated water on the truck bed of one of the trucks from Base Security.

The Nex made signs for the donation boxes.

Another volunteer picture- including our base CMC and some of the kids that helped out today.

The kids were awesome today. I think they must feel helpless during times like these, so being able to really help must give them a sense of control over their world. The boys were lifting boxes out of people's cars as they pulled up to donate. I think were all in awe at how much people were donating. The collection box in front of the Nex was full of brand new blankets, towels, pillows and all sorts of other things. A few times today I had to stop and just breathe. I didn't know if I was going to cry or if my heart was just going to stop beating.

Looking at how big the damage is and how many people are left homeless, I wonder how much we can really do. But even if we are only able to help a few people, at least we have taught our children what it means to be a part of a community and what charity is. I am going to take that as my silver lining from this horrible dark cloud.

We continue to shake, even as I type. I feel like we are living in a paint mixer. I finally got my daughter to go to sleep. I have a feeling she is going to be sleeping my bed for a while. My son was scared too, but my daughter is the panicky one in the family. I think she is a worrier like her great grandma was. I told them they can no longer watch the news, it has been too overwhelming for them. They totally get it, they know this is bad. My son even told me last night that this is history in the making. Indeed it is, I just wish it was a happier kind.

I have some videos to share, but I really must get some sleep, it has taken me a while to type this all out. I wanted to do this while it was all still fresh. Now I have a terrible kink in my neck and an early wake up call looming over my head.

Like I have told my family and friends back home- please don't worry about us, we are fine. Please keep the quake and tsunami victims in your thoughts and prayers. If you want to donate please contact your local Red Cross.

I am going to bed now, it is starting to shake again. I hope I can sleep through it!

It's Wednesday! (random nothingness)

2011-03-09T14:11:00.000+09:00

It's Wednesday, but I really wish it was Friday. This is one long week for some reason. If you are stateside- then it is still Tuesday- my apologies.

I always say I am half-Catholic. I say that because my dad's side of the family is Catholic (my dad used to tell me how he was an altar boy back when they held Mass in Latin), my step-dad was Catholic, and my mother and I attempted to become Catholics. I attempted because I went to CCD as a teenager (I was quite lost not knowing all the prayers for the rosary), and my mother met weekly with the monsignor of the church for her Catholic education. However, she could not become Catholic because she was "living in sin". She was "living in sin" because her marriage had not been blessed (?) by the Catholic church. Her marriage was not blessed by the Catholic church because my step-father was "living in sin". My step-father was "living in sin" because he was still "married" to his ex-wife, in the eyes of the church. In order to not be "married" to his ex- they had to go through some process that would require him to contact his ex. He did not wish to contact his ex because she had finally stopped harassing our family- probably because she didn't know where we had moved to. I never became Catholic because I thought they would find some reason I couldn't be Catholic either. Therefore I never went to talk to the monsignor as I was directed to do, if I wanted to go through the process. So that is why I am only half-Catholic, it's by blood and circumstances.

Now it is Lent and I was thinking of something my half-Catholic self could give up. But obviously I am not a true Catholic because I couldn't think of anything that was an actual sacrifice- only random silly things, like:

1. crack
2. bunjee jumping
3. body piercing
4. cigarettes
5. roller skating
6. hitch-hiking
7. liver
8. pole dancing
9. cannibalism
10. soap operas

Seriously, I applaud those who give up their true vices- like sugar and soda- or chocolate! They are better people than I.

On a totally unrelated note- I found something a couple of weeks ago that I thought had been lost forever! It was the CD with all of our digital pictures of my kids when they were really small. Not only did I find one CD, but two copies! I was practically in tears when I saw that the CD was actually readable (I had found a different CD months back- but it was damaged and it wouldn't read.) I must have spent at least an hour looking through all of the pictures. When hubby came home, I did the same thing all over again, except this time looking over his shoulder as he went through the picture files. This picture now graces his wallpaper on the PC monitor:

Brother enjoying a popcicle in our backyard- back when we were stationed at Ft. Huachuca, AZ, circa 2000.

He wasn't even two yet here. I love this expression, it makes my heart all melty and nostalgic and sad that he is growing up so fast! He will be 13 this year. 13! Like I said, we were so happy and relieved that these pictures had not been lost to this world! I promptly copied them to our external hard drive. Where is another good place to back up all of our pictures I wonder?

On another unrelated note- I am down 7 pounds!! It is not all due to Crossfit- I had lost 5 before I started last week. But I have definitely noticed a huge difference already since I started working out last week. I have had 4 workouts and I feel so much stronger already. I am sold, hook-line-and-sinker.

Stay tuned for more random thoughts and adventures.. or not. *wink wink*

Cheers!

Food Fun Friday- Peruvian food in Japan

2011-03-05T00:43:00.000+09:00

Besides the newly discovered Brazilian BBQ joint, Hubby's favorite restaurant is a little place in Yamato called Keimi. It is a Peruvian restaurant- their specialty being lomo saltado.

Essentially it is a dish of stir-fried strips of beef with red onions and tomatoes- served over French fries. (I think the rice is the obligatory nod to Japanese tastes). It is very good, and Hubby orders it each and every time we go.

I have no room to talk- I order the same thing every time as well. I am in love with their ceviche.

This ceviche is made with a white fish and pulpo (octopus). I am not really a big fan of octopus, because it is usually too rubbery. But I really think that octopus was intended to be cooked in lime juice and served up with red onions, cilantro and whatever white fish they use (I'll have to ask what kind it is next time I go.) The octopus is actually a little tender, and so tasty. The red onions and the octopus give the ceviche a little bit of a purple tinge. My mouth is watering as I type, it is that delicious. If you like fish at all, this would be the dish for you.

The restaurant is on a side street off of a side street. In the States it would be called an "alleyway"- but it is a bonified street. It is one of those places that you find out about from a friend- who actually takes you there. No one gets directions, but someone actually drives them there or at least shows them the way. We remember how to get there by landmarks: "turn left at the bicycle shop, and then left again at the dance studio." You can't park at the actual place, you will need to back track and park at the pay lots you passed on the way.

When you walk in, you may or may not be greeted by the restaurant's owners right away. Sometimes you will sit there and wait a few minutes before someone pops their head out of the kitchen. Keimi is owned by a Japanese man- "Caesar" and his Peruvian wife- "Mili". They speak Japanese, Spanish and English- but mostly Spanish. They know us by name and we are always warmly greeted as old friends. Caesar is very charismatic and extremely intelligent. His Spanish is perfect, and I believe he speaks more language then he lets on. He loves loves to chat. Mili is sweet and always has a hug ready for you. I was told she taught Peruvian grammar at a Peruvian university. Last time I told that my son was ill- she made sure to tell me how to make him feel better. She is one of those women that is everyone's mom. I adore her.

After being greeted, we usually wait another 10 minutes before they take our orders. The food is served at all different times. We once went with a large group, some people were done with their food by the time others were finally being served. At any other place one might get angry- but for some reason it just makes the place feel unique and "quirky".

It is very hard to leave the place, even after the bill has been paid. Caesar and Mili act as if they don't want you to leave. They will talk to you all night if you let them. If you want to go somewhere quick, this is not the place to go.

In addition to the lomo saltado and ceviche, they also make empanadas on the weekends. Wow, they are the very best. They make their own drink made from purple corn- "chicha morada". Hubby loves this drink, it is very different, but very good. Caesar and Mili say it is good for people with high blood pressure and it lowers cholesterol. It is probably true- but we drink it for the taste. And they do serve Inca Cola- it seems to be what everyone looks for when they eat Peruvian. It is good, but I like the chicha morada better.

This place has become very dear to our hearts. I don't think we will ever find another restaurant experience like this anywhere else. This goes on our list of things we will miss when we leave Japan.

Today I did not die

2011-02-28T14:35:00.000+09:00

Sounds pretty dramatic, I know. Today was day one for Crossfit, and I survived. But man do I feel it! My muscles aren't sore (yet), but I just feel so heavy and tired! But- I am so glad I went. Thank goodness Jes decided to go as well, or I might have wimped out seeing how I was sick with a stomach virus on Saturday.

I only had to do half the time (10 minutes), and that's a good thing or I might really be in the hospital right now! Just kidding, (or maybe not.)

I know this sounds funny- but I literally had anxiety dreams last about going today. In one dream everyone was mad at me for being the FNG and they were planning on working out for 3 hours. 3 hours! In other dreams I was just nervous and embarrassed at my out of shape self. Can you tell I was nervous about going? I literally felt like crying when I got there today. I am such a dork!

But it ended up ok and I wasn't too embarrassed. Everyone was very supportive and that really helps. I think if it was a group of un-supportive people I wouldn't go back. Shoot- I KNOW I wouldn't go back!

I can't go back until Thursday, so that's two days to recover- we'll see how it goes next time!

I leave you with my "before" picture. Sorry- I am not willing to get into a bathing suit- and you should thank me for that really.

"Before" picture- can't say when the "after" picture will be. And *ahem*, never mind the messy kitchen!

Ja mata ne!

Food Fun Friday- The Great Chip Adventure!

2011-02-25T08:52:00.001+09:00

Happy Friday everyone! I just love Friday. I don't have to work, and Friday is the day I go to eat Hot Caesar Salad with my ladies. If you haven't tried it- trust me it is delish. The lettuce isn't hot- only the toppings- which consists of (you actually fill out a ticket to say if you want all or some of the following items): green peppers, mushrooms, onions, bacon, garlic, chicken and/or shrimp. They stir fry it up and toss it with lettuce, croutons, and dressing. Sooo good! I even got fellow blogger Jes from Bleu Dress and Dress Blues to join our group every Friday. The company is even better than the food- I so enjoy chatting with my girls every Friday. When I am having one of those weeks- I have something to look forward to.

Today I don't have a restaurant review- but I thought I would show some of my favorite chips. I am on a low carb diet- so of course I am dreaming of chips- ha! Seriously though- Japan has some pretty awesome chips- in all different flavors, shapes and colors.

Yesterday I cheated on my diet with these lovely curry flavored chips. Japanese curry rice is a favorite of mine- so imagine my excitement when I found these lovely chips at a convenience store. I meant to only sample one and then pass it off to the children. But the children didn't eat them all- so I finished them off myself. *blush*

I originally titled my post "potato" chip edition- but not all of these chips are potato chips. I have found all sorts of chips- corm chips, vegetable chips and even chips made from bread (thinner than bagel chips and therefore qualify as a real chip in my opinion.)

These can be found anywhere and everywhere in Japan. They have mastered the art of snacking!

The sliced bread chips. They were thin and crispy- and quite tasty with the strawberry flavoring added.

The guy on the left is actually a box of creme filled cookies- they are quite tasty and I pick them up whenever I see a new flavor. The bag in the middle is lime and chili- very good! And the bag on the right is the front side of the bag of bread chips.

Wasabi chips on the left. On the right- butter and honey chips. Very unusal flavor for a potato chips- but these are my favorite. Unfortunately our dog Brownie found them quite tasty as well and stole the bag off the counter while I was out of the house. *sad face*

Ok- obviously the stuff in the bag on the left are not "chips"- but the little dried fishies are considered "snack food". I haven't been brave enough to try- but I sent them to my in-laws with the Christmas presents the year before last. The bag on the right I think is also a fish falvored chips- apparently it goes well with beer!

I thought I had more pictures than I do! I will have to take more. Stay tuned to Part II of The Great Chip Adventure!

Cults, Cameras, Cantankerous Posts, and InCarceration

2011-02-23T09:09:00.000+09:00

Hello! As you can see, I love me some alliteration. Life seems to be going in all sorts of directions, luckily it has mostly been good! I am a wee bit superstitious so I won't make predictions and say if this is going to be a good year- because that had bombed on me the last two years. I just plan on taking it day by day. You know- "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."

I have had some luck this year, which has surprised the heck out of me. I won a $200 gift certificate to New Sanno, I won a Coach wristlet bag, I won a lamp, and I have won a brand new PS3. We used the gift certificate the weekend before last and had a great time, I'll try to post some pictures soon. Because of the PS3, Hubby and I have a new TV in our bedroom. You see, we ALREADY owned a PS3, so we needed a TV for the bedroom. But it's ok, I can now watch movies in my room, that makes me a little happy. Anyhoo- I have tried that luck out at Bingo, so far nothing- but I haven't given up yet.

What does that have to do with my blog title? Well- nothing, sorry. I know you are curious as to what I means by cults? Well, I decided to drink the "Kool-aid". Next week I start CrossFit. And I have to say I am terrified! I just know I am going to look like the biggest wimp and be the most out of shape person to ever grace their presence! Several of my friends have been on me since last summer to join. Out of one side of their mouth they would say how wonderful it is, and out of the other side, they would talk about how they were dry-heaving during a work-out, or how they were falling down stairs because they were so sore. I kept meeting more and more people that were on the CrossFit wagon and I was convinced they were in a cult and refused over and over to join (even though a part of me was saying "do it do it!") Another friend of mine joined in January, and she already looks fantastic! That had me sold, so I set the date for March. Wish me luck. If I don't ever post again, it will be because I died.

Cameras! or I should say camera. If you have been an avid reader of my blog (isn't everyone one? *giggle*) , you will know I have been dreaming and dreaming of a DSLR. Last weekend I finally got one!! I felt really guilty asking Hubby if he would mind buying one with our tax return funds, but he was all for it. I even ended up buying the pricier model. I LOVE IT!! Now I just need to learn how to use it. Obviously I can "use" it, since it has the wonderful automatic mode for non-knowers like me- but I have been reading about apertures and shutter speeds and want it all to make sense! I ordered what I think will be the most beautiful camera bag from Epiphanie. It was pricey, but seeing how I have NO camera bag, I went for it. I ordered the grey, since I can't afford to buy another one should I get tired of pink or turquoise.

Isn't it beautiful? It even will fit a MacBook in it. I don't have one, but it's good to know...

Cantankerous posts... I am referring to Facebook. I know, one year ago I gave up Facebook (but that mostly because I was hooked on Farmville). But it seems that Facebook is the way we all communicate these days and how I keep in touch with my friends. It gives me a certain amount of pleasure to laugh at funny posts or pictures, and to hear good news. There is also sad news from time to time- I found out a guy I went to high school with had passed away just before his 39th birthday. Seeing how we are military- Facebook has improved my life in that I am able to reconnect with long lost friends- that is a good thing in my book. But there is also a down side, and I need to just learn to move on. Some people insist on posting every single aggravation in their life! Every. one. I feel like screaming at all the "FML" posts. I am not going to say that what the person in question is experiencing is "not that bad" (although I do feel that way at times)- but is it really necessary to post it ALL? I have been guilty of the bitching and whining on FB, I do admit that (and now I reserve that for my blog post- ha!) But I came to the realization that it serves little purpose- unless it is something friends can help with- thereby making it a "productive" rant. Now- some people are just funny when they rant- that doesn't bother me. A little snarkiness and sarcasm go a long way, I always say. (No, I really don't say that- but it works for some people.) Have you read Snarky in the Suburbs http://snarkyinthesuburbs.com/? She has a Facebook page as well- I double heart love her! She IS snarky, but it works for her. My complaint is about the ones that get all worked up the minute life doesn't work the way they want it to. Ok- I digress....

InCarceration - no I am not going to jail. But a guy I went to elementary school with IS in jail. He was a very very popular guy on campus and quite the ladies man, back in the say. We "went out" for maybe two weeks in the 6th grade, before he dumped me for someone else. I was devastated, but I got over it. I think he went to my junior high as well, but fell into a bad crowd and I didn't see much of him after 7th grade. In high school I found out he had been sent to jail for manslaughter. He shot at someone's feet with a gun and the bullet ricocheted off the ground and ended up killing that person. At least that is what I heard. Anyway- one of the girls that went to same school "found" him. She had thought he was dead (I was pretty sure he was in jail.) Come to find out, prisoners can get onto Facebook! He is serving a life sentence for manslaughter, but can still get on the internet. I mentioned that fact to a fellow Navy-wife friend and her reply was "Oh- that's nice. Our husbands can't get on Facebook on the ship- but prisoners can!" She has a point, ladies and gentlemen. Not only did my fellow classmate "find" this guy- but she even suggested through Facebook that I be "friends" with him. She must have sent the same suggestion to him, because he sent me a friend request. I doubt he even remembers me, I really do. Morbid curiosity took control and I did peek at his page (it is not private). I even considered "friending" him. Some of my old classmates did, but not a lot. I don't have anything to say to him, so I am not going to do it ("friend" him on FB). I feel a little mean, like there is a slight chance I am hurting his feelings. But he IS in PRISON! What would YOU do?

I will wrap this up with a picture of my dog Brownie- taken with my new camera (Canon Rebel T2i).

She is getting all grey on her chin! I love her to pieces, even though she has taken to eating food off the counter whenever we leave the house (bread, cake, butter, crackers....)

Cheers!

Food Fun Friday- at long last!

2011-02-11T09:27:00.001+09:00

Gasp! A post from me, the as of late reclusive blogger?? I was just looking for inspiration! (and I will keep telling myself that too).

Last Friday I joined Hubby on a night out with his fellow co-workers. So imagine riding the bus and train to Yokohama with 11 sailors. We weren't exactly what you would call "inconspicuous". Lucky for me, two other wives showed up.

Where did we go? We went to Chinatown in Yohohama.
To eat Chinese food, right?
Wrong!

We went to a place called Travesso Grill. They serve Brazilian BBQ. So yeah- we went to Chinatown in Yokohama, Japan, to eat Brazilian food. Makes PERFECT sense!!

http://www.mizunobubrooks.com/en/travesso-en.htm

I have to say, it was worth the trip. It is all-you-can-eat, so come with a very hungry and empty tummy. You start with the buffet- which offers all sorts of fruits and vegetables, salads, beans, even tortillas chips. My favorite was the pumpkin salad. I can't begin to tell you what was in it, I think it was squash, and not actually pumpkin. They have English labels on everything- but I think there are a few mistranslations.

I picked up a wide assortment of things to try out- salad, mushrooms, heart palms, squid, squash, tomato with basil, chips and salsa...

The fried banana was really good. But due to the unfortunate proximity of the ketchup to the fried bananas- I didn't realize that it was indeed ketchup (I thought it was a sweet sauce to go with the bananas). I do not recommend eating fried bananas with ketchup. Just trust me on this one, ok?

After we had settled with some num nums and our drinks (we paid for the all you can drink along with all you can eat)- the men with the meat came. They have meat on long metal stakes and come to your table and slice it and serve it to you. They started off with sausage and chicken legs. While they were good, I would skip it next time. Seriously- what follows will make you wish you had more room.

They bring out what must be 7 or 8 different kinds and cuts of meat. There is pork, beef, and lamb. It is all delicious! Hubby was in man-heaven. You know- he is the meat and potatoes kind of guy and this restaurant was a dream come true for him. At one point he told me it was "so good that he felt like crying." This is a man who doesn't cry. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!

Look how his eyes sparkle- he is waiting for his meat to be cut!

one of our waiters. I think he has chicken hearts. THAT I did not try!

a Caipirinha- Brazilian for "holy sh##!" Seriously- it is a Brazilian "mojito".
It has Brazilian rum- but it tastes more like tequila (read- ta-kill-ya).
Make sure you stir and stir, before you take that first sip.
Pretty tasty after you get over the slap in the face it gives you on the first sip.

We had two hours to eat, last call for drinks was 30 minutes before that time was up. The restaurant does not disappoint- they keep the meat coming! I had to send them away after a while- I seriously felt like I would bust a seam if I ate any more.

feeling "fat and happy"

The best part of the night, besides the food, had to do with two giant rib bones. One of the guys asked the wait staff if he could take them home for his dog. After a lot of hand language and broken English and Japanese- it was determined that the restaurant has a strict policy about NOT taking food home (because it is all you can eat). That makes sense, but they wouldn't even allow the bones, already stripped of any meat, to leave with the customers.

So what do they do? One of the guys grabs one of the bones for his dog and proceeds to roll it up in a napkin- just as one of the waiters is bringing drinks to the table. The other guy follows suit and they hide the bones in their jackets. My friend Michele laughed so hard at this I thought we were going to have some sort of intervention. On the way out everyone joked that they (the wait staff) were coming after us- looking for bones. It doesn't sound so funny typing it out- but trust me- "you just had to be there", it was funny.

What about dessert? Well first off they have grilled pineapple they bring out- sprinkled with cinnamon. So good. And then next to the buffet table they have all sorts of desserts- mini cheesecakes with different fruit toppings, creme brule, lychee (not to be confused as "chocolate covered strawberries as one of the guys did), chocolate-mocha cake, and even an ice cream machine. I didn't think I could eat any dessert- but I did!

The restaurant is a bit pricey, so I wouldn't recommend bringing your kids, unless you know they will eat their fill. Also, if you have people in your party who want to drink, then everyone has to pay for the all-you-can-drink (2,000 Yen), regardless if everyone is drinking alcohol or not. I chalk that up to too many people sharing drinks with those who didn't pay to drink- sad face.

I am sure we will be returning to this place, I don't see Hubby staying away too long!

longtimenoblog

2011-01-24T08:45:00.000+09:00

WARNING- this blog post has little point and is really just me babbling away...

I'm alive! It seems like FOREVER since I last made an appearance. In actuality- I have gone longer without blogging before- but for some reason this time feels longer. Maybe it is the whole, last year/this year thing? I dunno. Confession? I was considering dropping the whole blog thing altogether. *gasp!* I know, what was I thinking? Could I really stay away? Of course not!

I did make a couple of decisions. First- I am going to post my crafty stuff here instead of my sewing blog that I just couldn't get off of the ground. It wasn't feeling very organic to me- probably because I am just not prolific like the ladies who have the happening sewing blogs. If and when I get to that point- I will switch to a sewing only blog. Honestly I was thinking that some of my readers here would be turned away if I talked about sewing and what not. That leads me to my next decision. I am going to blog for me, and not what I think people want. Unless, of course someone asks for something specific (ie if they ask about Japan, or something else I might know a little something about.) What I mean is, that I am not going to worry that maybe one of my readers might not be interested, so I shouldn't post about it. Mainly I am talking about the sewing stuffs (ok- and my babbling nonsensical thoughts).

So did you make any new year's resolutions? I didn't really- I never accomplish anything with them. I always want to lose weight and get into shape. But who doesn't? After all- we eat to the fill during the holidays- and we are left with a food hangover at the beginning of the new year. I mad resolutions last year- I totally bombed. These past couple of months I have been dealing with an internal struggle- one between trying to motivate myself and giving up in disgust. It is a true love/hate relationship I have with myself. I think positivity is winning right now.

One year I have left in Japan- it makes me sad and happy all at the same time. I think if Japan was closer to the states, and I could come back whenever I wanted- it wouldn't be such a sad thing. But honestly- will I ever return? It doesn't seem likely. Hubby won't get orders again- he'll be retiring. So unless my kids end up here- I won't return in all likelihood. But you can bet I will encourage the kids to come back here in their college years to teach English- I wish I had known about that when I was that age!

So I will continue the Food Fun Friday for your reading pleasure. I have pictures ready for my post this Friday- from a Peruvian restaurant we absolutely love. This last weekend I went to California Pizza Kitchen in Kawasaki. Not very Japanese! I wasn't really excited to go- but just wanted to get out of the house and off this base. But Oh-Em-Gee! My Thai chicken pizza was the bomb! And the mall in Kawasaki (right outside the train station of course)- is HUGE!

at the Kawasaki train station. It's funny how when we stopped to take a picture we were immediately surrounded by a Japanese family who wanted to help take our picture!!

On the positive side of things, I have made new friends. And that is a good thing seeing how I miss my Jaime! AND! I found a book club! I was never more excited, an actual book club IRL! I had the BEST time talking about books I have read with other people who actually read some of the same books. That was the BEST. It is a genre bookclub- since getting multiple copies of books (unless everyone had a Kindle)- here in Japan can be a pain. So for February we are to read a book written by a comedian. So now I am trying to decide if I want to read David Sedaris again, or try out Chelsea Handler...

If you are still reading (this rambling blog post), bless you!! I hope to have some more interesting stuff next time- and maybe it will make some sort of sense. Until then...

CHEERS!!

new neighbors, guilty pleasures, and my sexy sailor

2010-12-05T22:51:00.001+09:00

Happy Sunday! Nothing too exciting to report today. I took the opportunity to sleep in this morning, which was delightful.

Today I made cookies for the new neighbors (the Chocolate heath cookies I posted the recipe for previously.) The townhouse next door has been empty since last July after my chemically imbalanced neighbor moved to a new unit. I feel bad for her, I truly do. I also feel really bad about being insensitive to her problems. Unfortunately, the issues I had with her were not an isolated event- her new neighbors are having the same issues. It is truly sad.

So, as you can guess, I am crossing my fingers these neighbors are nice and normal! So far so good. They were very friendly and delighted that I brought them cookies. I will be so very happy if they DO turn out to be good neighbors!

My new guilty pleasure- The Vampire Diaries. I rented the first disc out of total boredom with AFN. I just watched the last disc of Season 1 today. I checked out CW online to see if I could catch the new episodes. This is what I got:

Sorry, this content is not available in your location

Boo-hoo!! I wish we had someway to get past all of that being that we are on a military base. *sigh* Anyway, I am totally in love with Damon on the show. Normally I find his type to be creepy, but I just love the thing he does with his eyes. *swoon*

I totally judge myself ~~because I am too old to watch this show~~ for liking this high school show, but I just enjoy it. So who cares?

Speaking of vampires, I watched Eclipse today (I went out and bought my copy last night.) I know how it ends, but I still keep hoping that Bella will choose Jacob. Now if they had Zac Efron playing Edward, I wouldn't be saying that! hee hee

The highlight of my day was receiving this picture from the very talented photographer who took our picture at the Khaki Ball. Doesn't my sailor look handsome? I heart this picture!!

I am wearing my new favorite shoes here. This is the only good picture of me from that night. I was in a total bad mood and stayed clear of any pictures. The only other picture I got caught in and was unaware of, I look like someone had told me my dog had just died. I was so embarrassed! I also felt uncomfortable in the dress, it was too big in the top and I was afraid of giving everyone a 'show'. My two other dresses were ruined by the dry cleaner (story for another day.)

But at least my honey looks good. The photographer had him take off his glasses, I think that is what did it.

Have a great Sunday (and good night for my fellow Japanese residents.)

~Nancy

Food Fun Friday- Gyoza

2010-12-03T08:38:00.003+09:00

Know what the number one thing (besides sushi), that we looked forward to eating when we arrived in Japan? Gyoza!! What is gyoza, you ask? Basically they are little pot stickers filled with meat and veggies. They can be steamed or fried. They are to be eaten while still hot, and dipped in a combination of soy sauce, garlic, oil and red pepper (or any combination thereof.)

The reason we looked forward to gyoza was because Hubby had made several trips to Japan before we moved here, and each time he brought home packages of frozen gyoza. It was simply delicious, and we knew it would be even more delicious when eaten fresh. We were right! The favorite go to place around here for gyoza is the Gyoza House (also called Mankin) in Sagamihara. There we order gyoza by the dozen and they bring it out scalding hot and mouth watering. The gyoza here is a little different here than the typical gyoza sold in other restaurants. Instead of being pinched into a crescent shape, these are folded into little bundle-like balls. They cook them in a frying pan and come to our table all stuck together and cozy like they were cooked. Usually we commence to poking holes to let out the steam so they can cool enough for us to eat. The first couple are eaten with open mouths as we are trying not to burn our tongues, it is too hard to wait!! If I could take back three food items with me to the States, it would be gyoza (from Gyoza House), curry rice, and sushi (like they make it here.)

There are several different options for dining, and three floors I believe. Downstairs they have tables and a long counter. Before heading upstairs one must remove one's shoes. Upstairs- they have the low tables where you sit on the floor. I think the kids enjoy it more. I still can't get my legs to appreciate sitting on the floor. Women don't sit cross-legged in Japan. They demurely sit on folded legs or delicately folded to the side. It hurts my American legs!!

We sat at the counter for the first time at our most recent visit. We were too hungry to wait for a table!

It's 8AM and I am already thinking of lunch!!

we had to wait outside, it was Sunday night, a very busy night for going out to dinner!

someone was grumpy- he needed FOOD!

little balls of goodness! See the cokes? I normally don't like regular coke (I am a diet coke kind of gal)- but the cokes here are delish. I think it is because they don't use high fructose corn syrup in Japan- sugar tastes so much better!

I wish I could get a better picture than this. Did I mention I am hungry?

where the magic happens. The guy in the back in steaming the gyoza in a pan. The red and white stripped package in the forefront is how they wrap the frozen gyoza to take home. They even give you little miniature bottles of dipping sauce with it.

One thing is for sure, I always end up with garlic breath after eating here! But it is SO worth it!!!

Crystal Anniversary

2010-12-02T16:35:00.000+09:00

Can you believe I am old enough to have been married for 15 years?
Me neither! *wink*

Fifteen years ago I married my Sailor and became a Navy Wife. Did I think for a second we would be in Japan 15 years later? No chance! I had no idea what life would bring, I just knew who I wanted to spend my eternity with.

It hasn't been easy. The Navy makes it hard (like not being together on our 15th anniversary), but I also think it has all made us stronger and more dedicated to each other. It's true what they say, absence DOES make the heart grow fonder. I think out of our 15 anniversaries, we have spent 10 together. It's funny, because last year we didn't really make plans for our anniversary and Hubby apologized. I told him- that's ok, we will do something big NEXT year. Here we are, and he is on a big steel box out in the big blue ocean somewhere. Maybe that was a lesson to us to grab the moments while we can.

I woke up to a really sweet email from him, wishing me happy anniversary. Sometimes when I think he doesn't have a romantic bone in his body, he surprises me. As for next year, who knows if he will be home? But you know what? That is ok, I still feel loved, and he knows I love him. That is what counts.

I had to look this up on YouTube, it has been in my head all day. It totally shows my age, but I don't care, I love this song!

Enjoy!!

best sugar cookie recipe

2010-11-29T19:56:00.000+09:00

One of my favorite Christmas memories is making and decorating sugar cookies with my mom. I could spend hours meticulously decorating each cookie with icing and the little sprinkles my mom gave me to use. One time the little girl upstairs was hanging out with us and wanted to decorate cookies as well. I wouldn't let her, I was that stingy with the cookies. So she found the salt and pepper and decorated her own. I was furious! Now it is a fond memory of mine.

And then there was the year when I stayed at my Dad's for Christmas and I went with my step-mom to her mother's house and we made sugar cookies there. Those were THE best cookies, big and thick and tasty. yummmm We ate so many, my dad was disappointed we didn't have many to bring home for him to eat!

Once I grew up and started my own family, I began the quest for the perfect cookie recipe. I tried the refrigerated ~~crap~~ stuff, yuck! Everything was hard to roll and too thin. But 5 years ago I stumbled across this recipe, and have been using it ever since for my sugar cookies. It is the BEST recipe, I swear. It makes a lot of cookies, and calls for a pound of butter and 6 cups of sugar. I wouldn't recommend mixing this by hand, unless you have arms of steel (which I do not posses.) I really think this recipe was what my KitchenAid was made for. I use almond extract instead of vanilla (as recommended in the recipe), it is delicious. You can ice the cookies, or go without- either way they are delicious. Delicious. Yumm

One of my prized possessions, right up there with my Janome.

my transformer- I plug the KitchenAid in this big heavy box so it works properly

A word of advice to those moving to/living in base housing in Japan- even though the houses are wired so we can use our American appliances- the current still does not flow the same (I forget the technical terms). Therefore- things like clocks will not always have the correct time, microwaves may not heat food as fast, and things like your KitchenAid may have to work harder. A long time spouse who has lived many years in Japan (on different bases), warned me that my KitchenAid may even be harmed if I don't get a transformer. So I bought this big bad heavy thing for $20 at the base thrift store when my sweetie bought me a new (and more powerful) KitchenAid last year for Christmas. I am just grateful I don't live off-base- then I would have these boxes everywhere! Hubby told me how as a kid in Germany they had these all over the house, and what a pain it was.

Back to the cookies. Here is the recipe, you can also find it here at KitchenGifts.com (I don't know these people and have not been compensated for sharing this recipe.) If you go to the link you can find the printable version as well.

NO FAIL SUGAR COOKIES

This recipe is GREAT when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking. Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking these or any other cookies.

6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)
Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes.  Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350
degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.  This recipe
can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies.

HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to
chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.

Bake away my readers, bake away!!

if you can't say something nice...

2010-11-29T00:35:00.000+09:00

I have been MIA for the last week, I didn't even do my Food Fun Friday post (and I had pictures!) It's not that I had something bad to say, I just didn't have any happy or positive to say. I have been in a major funk, folks. It started with Hubby coming home earlier than planned. Earlier usually means 'happier', right? Not when that means he has to leave again- earlier than originally planned. The result being- he left three days before Thanksgiving, a day which also happened to be my birthday. Knowing this was going to happen (and my plans were ruined) put me in a big funk. That, and finding out some people weren't the friends I thought they were. And- knowing the one true friend I have here, is leaving me next month. Put that all together and you get one big pity party.

Honestly, I have dealt with being without my hubby many times (deployments) during my birthday/Thanksgiving time. But I thought he was going to be home this year, and I had made big plans. When I get let down, I fall hard. Maybe that is a lack of maturity on my part, I don't know.

I know my readers will be shocked to hear this, and will probably stop reading my blog when I say this: I really don't like Thanksgiving. I know! It's so un-American of me. I have my reasons, I won't get into it. Anyway.... I tend to get all moody and feeling sorry for myself-ish every November.

I started to blog about it last week, but I didn't because it sounded even more ~~pathetic~~ whiny than what I am writing now. I know- how can that be??

Let's focus on the positive (and the funny) now- shall we?

1.
My honey made me a birthday cake before he left. He took Brother with him to the commissary and they bought strawberry cake mix. Brother said that was my favorite. I am not sure why he thinks that? I have never made strawberry cake nor professed any love for it. But I pretended it was my favorite, they looked so proud of themselves! They used two boxes of cake mix and three, three- tubs of icing- which they colored a greyish lavender with my Wilton gel food color. Sissy got to write 'Happy Birthday' on top. Since there was left-over batter- there were some extra little dome cakes (a pan my Hubby made boob cakes with a couple of years ago- don't ask).

We went out to dinner and had some lovely gyoza (stay tuned for Friday's post). We came home and found out Brownie (my chocolate lab) also LOVES strawberry cake! She got the little dome cakes off the counter and ate them! Hubby was so mad, but I thought it was funny. Brownie had never done that before, not that I know of anyway! She had food in her bowl, so the cakes must have been too good to resist! The good thing is that the main cake was in my pretty glass cake stand, all protected.

The 'cake'. I could have done without the big '37', but at least they didn't actually put 37 candles on it!

2.
I finally found a new car! I even bought it all by myself. If you live here you know that is a big deal. So let's hope it lasts me the 15 remaining months we have here.

3.
Brother's football team finally got a touchdown last week. The whole football/cheer/youth sports issue is another reason for my funk. I will spare you the drama of that one except to say the poor kids have been totally robbed. Needless to say, Brother's team rarely has enough players to even make a team and has had to borrow players from the other team to even have a game. So it was great news when they finally got a touchdown!

4.
The tree is up- I did that all by myself as well. Sissy helped too. Brother wasn't interested in the tree this year, so Sissy and I went at it. The excitement in her face when we got out the ornaments was just priceless. I love that little girl!

Yeah, I know it's got a gangsta lean, but it was the first time I put up a live tree by my little ol' self!
We'll just say the tree has 'attitude'!

not a very good picture (as usual)- but here is one of the ornaments I bought last year at the bazaar.
Something else to be happy about- bazaars!!

Here's to being cheerful and positive. Here's to Christmas carols and cookie baking. Here's to hoping my honey gets home in time for Christmas!!

Food Fun Friday- Yakiniku

2010-11-19T09:09:00.001+09:00

Happy Friday lovely readers! I am so so happy for Friday! Happy even though I can't go to the Beer Garden. This has just felt like a long week. How about you, how was your week? Of course, if you are stateside (or a different part if the world), you are thinking- "Hey, it's only Thursday!" That is one of the pleasures I take in being in Japan, I get to brag when Friday comes early for me! But I also spread the joy with my Food Fun Friday, right? *smiles*

Last week Hubby took us to his favorite restaurant here, called Great Viking Restaurant. Now what kind of food would you think they serve? {Here is where you discuss amongst yourselves.}

There she is, on the second floor. Hey, do you see how everyone had backed into their parking spot? That's how they roll in Japan. I am learning the art of backing in, though I do get nervous if someone is waiting on me.

It is a yakiniku restaurant. I thought originally that it was a Japanese thing, but it turns out to be Korean! I also found out that many Japanese people love Korean food. I equate it with American's love of Mexican (I am a big fan anyway).

So what is yakiniku, you ask? It is a "cook it yourself" kind of place. You get your meats, veggies, and fish, and take them to your booth where a grill awaits you. It's right in the middle of your table. Hubby LOVES this place!

The grill on our table. We've got corn, beef, pork, onion, mini hotdog and yes- that's a baby octopus! I do not recommend the octopus, by the way. I do like octopus, but not this way.

I forgot to take a picture of the meat and veggie spread they have, where we go through buffet style to pick out what we are going to grill. Ok, confession- it was really crowded and I was too embarrassed to take pictures.

They also have plenty of already cooked food to choose from. They have sushi, ramen, rice (of course), salads, french fries, and a bunch of other things that tend to vary. And the desserts and ice cream- yummm! Oh, there is a large assortment of different sauces for the meat as well, very delicioso!

It is "all you can eat" at this place. Basically you pay for the amount of time you plan on eating, if you go over you pay extra. If you waste food, you pay extra (we did not waste food of course!) We paid for 60 minutes, which is the smaller amount. If you have a lot of people, 90 minutes is better since you are sharing a grill. You can add all you can drink beer as well. But honestly, I don't know how anyone could drink beer with all that food, where would you find the room?

This place is always busy when we go, sometimes there is a line going out the door and down the stairs. It is a great place for families to go out to eat. Last time we saw a table of only kids. The older kids were helping the younger kids cook their food. It was very cute, but a little scary too!

Sissy brought her Littlest Pet Shop animals with her. She had to hide the octopus, however. She couldn't let him see his brother being cooked on the grill!

Have a great Friday and weekend!!

Cheers!

Better By The Dozen

2010-11-18T16:40:00.000+09:00

Someone asked me for this recipe, so I thought- "Hey! I should put this on my blog!" It's because I love all my readers and want to spread the joy and calories!

The picture doesn't do them justice, but they are yummy! I adopted this recipe from Gold Medal Flour's chocolate chip cookie recipe. My mother in law taught me the trick of adding cocoa and I came up with the Heath bits, so yummy!! On a side note- I normally use real butter in my cooking. But for cookies like these I use the Crisco baking sticks, they work really nicely. And honestly, I never can think to set the butter out to soften in time! *wink* For my sugar cookies and spritz, I always use real butter!

Chocolate Heath Cookies

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1 stick of butter flavored Crisco and 6 teaspoons of water (or 1 cup of real butter, slightly softened- do not add water)

1 egg

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

2 ¼ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt (I use Kosher salt)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup Heath milk chocolate toffee bits (you can find them in the baking section)

Preheat oven to 375°

Mix butter, egg, vanilla, unsweetened cocoa, sugar and brown sugar in a large mixer bowl. Set mixer to stir and gradually add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well, the dough should be stiff. Add chocolate chips and Heath bits, stir to combine.

Drop cookies using a cookie scoop or tablespoon on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. The cookies should be hard around the edges, but soft in the middle.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

I don't always bake all the dough- sometimes I will refrigerate to make the next day, or freeze for a rainy day!

Colors of Fall

2010-11-17T20:03:00.000+09:00

Autumn has finally made an appearance in the land of the rising sun! While I would rather have warm weather year-round, I do enjoy the beautiful fall colors. When it isn't raining, it has been beautiful these past couple of weeks. I thought I would share the joy...

Cherry Tree

Fountain in Hikichidai Park in Yamato

Found these ginormous mums at the park as well. They were all potted and on display- maybe it was some sort of a competition? I don't know- but they were beautiful and HUGE! I am talking as big as a large cantaloupe.

more mum beauty, did I say how BIG they were?

Older gentleman playing shuffleboard (at least that is what it looks like.)

same park, I love how the leaves carpet the ground.

I will be sad when the leaves are gone and winter rears its ugly head. I am apologize to those who adore winter, but this girl only likes snow on Christmas morning and mountain tops.

BBC book meme

2010-11-15T08:24:00.000+09:00

The BBC believes the majority of people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Put a "/" next to those books of which you have read part.
3) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen /
reading it!

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien ()
I never will- I am satisfied to have seen the movies, sorry...

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte x

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling )
Only the first one, sorry again...
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
I will as soon as I get my free copy from Military One Source!!

6 The Bible /
Well, not ALL of it...
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (X)

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (X)
Fond memories of my 7th grade teacher, Dr. Ogden, she rented the movie after we read it, for us to watch. she should have previewed it- too funny when she tried to fast forward through the sex scene- we just saw it (breasts and all) in high speed!
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman /
Only the first one, but I LOVED it

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (X)

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (X)
My fave author as a girl

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles X

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare /
I'll get to that when I decide to major in Shakespeare...

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier X

I think?
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien ( )
see number 2
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (X)

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (X)
love this book

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (X)

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams ( )

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck /

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy X

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (X)

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (X)

34 Emma - Jane Austen ( )

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (X)

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini X

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

I have not heard of this one...
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (X)

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne ( )

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell ( X)

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (X)

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez X

In Spanish too!
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery ()

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood ( )
It's on my TBR list...

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (X)

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan X

NOT my favorite book, ugg
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel ( )

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen ()
The British love their Jane Austin, don't they?
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon X

GREAT book
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens ( )

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I have My Melancholy Whores on my bookshelf- does that count?
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck ( )
Why not East of Eden? It was an Oprah pick after all... *wink
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
How about Reading Lolita in Tehran- I read that one and WISHED I had read the actual Lolita beforehand...
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (X)
FREAKED me out.
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
I think I read a Reader's Digest version... anyone remember those books?

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
It's on my shelf!
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy X

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
Really? While I am sure it is enjoyable, I don't think it belongs on this list. If you want a British author- why not Jasper Fforde? At least he extols the virtues of good English literature.

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville ( )

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (X)

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker ( )
It is on my shelf too...

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (X)
Loved this book and the Shirley Temple movie...

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
??75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens ( )

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchel

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker X

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (X)

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ()
It just doesn't sound very interesting to me, sorry again!
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
Who, what?
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad X

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (x)

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas ( )

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare ( X)

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (X)

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I think I remember the song from French class...

A strange list for sure!

tired of it all...

2010-11-10T21:35:00.000+09:00

When does it end? Or does it ever end?
Are we as humans doomed to forever finger point, blame, and bad mouth each other? I am so tired of it all. I am tired of feeling like I have to defend my beliefs and views. I am tired of feeling like my beliefs and views are being trampled. Or where I am from, or who I associate with, or what my ethnic background is. I consider myself a liberal conservative. That means I lean to to the right in the way of supporting the military and a smaller government, but I believe in a woman's right to choose and gay marriage. I also am in favor of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. I'm a Christian, but I don't believe it is right to instill prayer at school. If you want your children to pray, send them to private school- OR pray with them at home!

Democrats and Republicans share responsibility in all this mess we are in (economy)- yet they are too busy blaming each other to work together for a solution.

When I was a kid, people went around saying that if you didn't go to church you were a heathen and going to hell. Now, if you go to church, you are an idiot sheep and are probably from Texas. By the way, I was born in Texas. And you won't find me running around screaming "get a rope!" every time someone says or does something I don't agree with.

Somehow it feels like if you take one stance- to the far left or far right- then you have earned the right to judge the other side. We are all about free speech until someone says something we don't like. Or, people will abuse their right of free speech to trample on other rights. For example, the lovely people from that ~~cult~~ church in Kansas who like to protest the funerals of fallen troops. Yes, they have a right to say whatever they want- even if they are protesting the very people who have defended their rights to say what they want. But do they have a right to interfere with the right to grieve in private and with respect? What if people decided to stand outside of schools (but not on school grounds) with signs saying "drinking alcohol is cool!" or "School is dumb, your teachers don't like you." Are they merely expressing their opinion, or are they interfering with our rights to encourage our children to be good citizens? How far do we take our rights to free speech?

I read a quote today (sorry I can't remember who said it)- it went something like this:
"A satiated man will look upon a loaf of bread differently than a hungry man."
Are we so satiated that we forgot and/or take for granted what rights we do have?

And then there are the women who bad mouth each other. One camp says women should stay at home with their children, don't let someone else raise them. The other says women need a career, only women who are dumb and useless stay at home with their kids. How about we do what's best for our situation? How about we support each other? It's like breast feeding. I whole heartedly agree that breast feeding is a wonderful thing to do for your child. But the pressure that is put on women to do so is simply ridiculous. I don't care how many solutions you can come up with- it is just not going to work for every woman and family. I think it is lovely that some women nurse for two years, that's great. But don't judge others because they don't follow suit.

What else can I bitch about? I know, this is not my usually kind of post. I try to stay away from politics and anything too controversial. But is it just me, or have people lost all tolerance for those who don't think the same exact way? Every time I hear or see someone say "I hate Republicans, or I hate Democrats", I just want to scream. Know what I hate? I hate all the energy that is wasted bashing the President- regardless of who holds that position. How is that productive I ask you? I am not saying that if one disagrees with the actions and/or policies that President has set forth- that he or she should not say anything. But let's not take things out of context to suit our own political agenda. I know- that is the nature of the political beast, isn't it? I am just wasting strokes on the keyboard, aren't I?

I really don't like it when people get so judgmental. I suppose that makes me a hypocrite- since I am judging them back? Maybe I am wrong, maybe it is a good thing to judge each other? What do you think?

Food Fun Friday- Crunky Nude Balls

2010-11-05T18:04:00.001+09:00

I'm going to start this post off with a picture- so ya'll don't think I am being dirty:

I found these at Lawson's (it's a convenience store like 7-11). The title alone said "buy me because I have a funny name and you can put this on your blog". (Isn't or is it sad that I am always thinking if I can put this or that on my blog?)

"Nude" actually refers to the color of the inside of the little cookies- which is a beige-ish color. So what else could we call these- "Beige-ish crunky (or crunchy as I believe they were going for) balls"? Honestly, I couldn't think of a better name than Crunky Nude Balls.

Awesome.and.delicious Oh yes they were! They were especially delightful to eat in the inebriated state I was in after another wonderful night at the Beer Garden. Have I mentioned the Beer Garden? We go every Friday night- Jaime, Jason and I. It has become our weekly ritual. It gives us something to look forward to every week. And tonight I am especially excited. My hubby will be going with us as well (because he is home)!! Yay!!

Oh- I thought that was all I had for you- but here is a picture of the delicious Chu-Hi's I bought that same night (but did not drink THAT night- honest!). Chu-Hi's, not to be confused with hi-chu's- are delightful little cocktails in a can. They are kind of like wine coolers, but with a little carbonation. I especially liked the orange whiskey- which I drank at a later date! Oh- hi-chu's are are little chewy candies- like Starburst- but bigger with more flavors. I'll get a picture for you next time. But for now- Chu-Hi's:

Gotta go- Beer Garden is calling...

I don't know much

2010-11-04T16:03:00.001+09:00

But I do know:

1. If you have children in school- it is wise to invest in a good quality pencil sharpener. The cheap ones break easily and kids always need to sharpen their pencils.

2. Also, be sure to have a good supply of No. 2 pencils on hand, WITH erasers.

3. Stainless steel bottles are better for our health because there are no plastic chemical watchamacallits that cause cancer. However, they should ONLY be used for water. Why? Because stainless steel bottles make the perfect dark environment that mold likes to grow in. So if they aren't washed out completely, which apparently I did not do, you will be sure to find mold growing inside when left to sit in the cupboard for a month.

4. Drinking water out of a stainless steel bottle containing mold in not a good idea. It tastes horrible. Sissy actually swallowed some of the mold by accident. She is ok, but we were both extremely grossed out and pukey feeling after that.

5. Always inspect the inside of your drinking bottles before using them, no matter how meticulous you were about cleaning them last month. Why? See numbers 3 and 4.

6. NaNoWriMo is fun, and I wish I had tried it before now. And it also makes me think about how many words I am writing. For example, I was just wondering what the word count is for this post- as if it would count towards the 50,000 required to "win".

7. Homecomings are always wonderful. Homecomings when your sailor is wearing his dress blues- that is even better!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T00:02:00.001+09:00

While Hubby couldn't be here, we still had a pretty ok Halloween. This year I was well prepared with oodles of candy. Last year I ran out in one hour, I was so not expecting that many trick or treaters!!

I asked- and you said you would like to see my sewing projects, so here you go. I made Sissy and her BFF matching costumes. Well- I made them skirts. They were super easy and super fun. At times it is good to do a simple and fun project. There is something to be said for enjoying the completion of a project. Am I right?

I was inspired by the tail and ears that we found in a Japanese department store. The little witche's hat is too cute.

I made the fur piece as a belt- but with the sweater (needed to keep warm), we decided to tie it around her shoulders instead.

Sissy's skirt was orange and black, and her BFF's skirt was purple and black. I originally planned on doing two different fabrics with the same colors. But Jaime and I saw the polka dots and I knew they were "it"!
The fur pieces were made from a boa I cut up and sewed ribbons to. I didn't get a very picture of the girls together unfortunately. I should have taken a moment and made them step inside where the light was better...

And Brother... Well he is past the point where he will let me make costumes for him. I tried to order something for him, but he wasn't inspired enough to tell me what to order. Today he just grabbed some black capes out of our costume trunk (ie an orange Rubbermaid tote). He asked me to make him look like a vampire. I don't have any costume make-up, so I grabbed some powder and black eyeshadow and eyeliner. I added a little green under his eyes as well. It wasn't too bad for not having the right tools!

Tonight he cracked me up. He totally got into "character" and made our front porch into our own haunted house of sorts.

want some candy?

He thought of this all on his own. The Japanese visitors were so freaked out! He scared a few people by suddenly opening his eyes and sitting up. I think next year we will get him a job at the haunted house! ha ha

These guys were taking all kinds of pictures, at first they weren't sure he was real.

Braaaaiiiiins!! Not to be outdone by the vampire get-up,
Brother discovered that the make-up I put on him doubles as zombie make-up!!

I think next year we are all going as zombies. We have the walk down and everything!

Hoping you have a wonderful and sweet-filled Halloween!!

help.me.please?

2010-10-30T19:27:00.000+09:00

What did I get myself into? Brother is having his birthday sleep-over tonight. He has only two friends over, but that is two too many boys in my house. How do people do it that have more than one boy? I know, I am being silly and I would love to have more than one boy. (I'll keep telling myself that anyway.) Not that it matters, the baby factory is closed. Forever.

Stupid typhoon prevented Dad from being here for it. Stupid typhoon put trick or treating on hold and ruined all kinds of fun. Actually, the stupid typhoon isn't really all that bad either. But 'just in case' everything has been cancelled. But not our sleep-over. Yay me!

Now there are three 11 and 12 year old boys running around the house, sounding like they are breaking everything in sight. My son? He has lost all of his "mom" hearing. All of the sudden, I no longer exist. *sigh*

I'll be good, I will smile and enjoy his fun. This night is about him. I just need to survive, and then I can look back and ~~shudder~~ smile.

Right????????

Help me!

Food Fun Friday- There're POPROCKS in my ice cream!

2010-10-29T13:26:00.001+09:00

Sissy and I enjoyed a little sushi at our favorite (and cheap) sushi go-round last week. We decided to top off a perfect lunch with the perfect dessert from Baskin Robbins. Yes- my dears- we have Baskin Robbins in Japan! I don't know why- but I waited all this time to finally try them out.

We ordered a Halloween Sundae to share. The two flavors we picked were Halloween Lantern (had white and chocolate swirls with little candy pumpkins) and Magical Mint Night (purple and blue ice cream with candy bits.)

The sundae was topped with the requisite whipped cream, nuts, brownie bits, some lovely little sugar cookies and chocolate bats.

The best part was the ice cream. I bit into the Magical Mint Night- so delicious. And then, surprise!! All of the sudden there was a popping in the back of my mouth! I had no idea there were Pop Rocks in the ice cream! Who knew that was even possible? Apparently if you carefully coat them with more candy- they won't "pop" until you bite into them.

Best. Ice Cream. Ever.

This is a true work of art- and it tasted as good as it looked.

see that green piece of candy? that's a candy coated POP ROCK!!

Japanese Halloween pumpkins are much happier than American pumpkins!

I am going back this weekend to get Brother an ice cream cake for his birthday party, can't wait!!

Land of One Million Bicycles

2010-10-27T13:23:00.000+09:00

I took these pictures outside the entrance to the Tsukishima subway station, near Shibuya (Tokyo). As opposed to forgetting where you parked your car- at least the walk through the 'parking lot' is shorter when you are in bicycle parking!

I myself have not been brave enough to ride my bike off base- it is way too crazy for me! Plus, I need to get a bell to ring at people on the sidewalk so they can get out of my way. I am not joking, when you are walking on a sidewalk and hear a bell ringing, you step to the side so as not to get run over.

Next I must get a picture of someone riding their bike holding an umbrella- as I have seen on many a rainy day. Now THAT is dedication my friends! (illegal apparently- but still dedicated...)

Sewing projects? Yay or Nay?

2010-10-26T14:03:00.000+09:00

So I have another blog. I started it a year ago to showcase my projects and try to delve into the sewing blog community. It really hasn't turned out so hot. First of all, I need to actually SEW things and complete them. I can't do that all the time like I would like to. I have changed the name many times and given the blog many jump starts. It is still flat lining. Sometime one has to know it is time to throw in the towel, right?

So I was thinking since I still would like to show off my creations, sporadic as they may be- I might just post them here? I think if I just present a couple of pics and not get too heavy into the hows and whys, it will be OK? Or you do you think it would be a total snooze fest?

Eventually I will be leaving Japan (some days I wish it was sooner than later). I will need something new to blog about at that point. At that point- maybe I will start a new sewing blog?

Okay, well thanks for reading. I'm off to clean my room now...

taking the leap

2010-10-25T21:51:00.000+09:00

I must have bad influences because I signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month.) I have never written anything longer than a term paper! What in the H was I thinking?

To be truthful, I have been writing novels in my head for quite some time. When I was a wee lass I used to write my autobiography in my head- in the style of Mommy Dearest- ~~I thought I had it really rough~~ I was a tad dramatic. But as I got older I started writing different (fictional) stories (still in my head of course.) A few times I started outlining my ideas and story plots. I even wrote a few lines one night, I got no where.

So for me- this is a way to get the novel writing out of my head. If I enjoy it- so be it. I'll sign up again next year. If I hate it, then I can put that idea away and move on to better things.

At first I was going to keep it on the down low- figuring if I didn't follow through no one would notice. But I got excited and told people. I grabbed one of those story plots I wrote down a while back- and started my outline. I really don't know what I am doing- but who cares? No one has to read what I write- and I probably won't care for anyone to read it. 50,000 words? Sure, I can do it, right? 1,667 words a day... yeah... I can. *gulp

Wish me luck!

My Baby is 12- a late night pondering

2010-10-25T01:27:00.000+09:00

I tried to go to sleep, I really did. But I feel too out of sorts to do so. So instead I am up making cupcakes for my son who just turned 12 according to Tokyo time. I want to say I can't believe he is 12, but that wouldn't be honest. I recognize that 12 year old/pre-teen/goshdarnjustaboutateenager behavior. I remember being twelve, it wasn't THAT long ago (almost 25 years to date- I still remember ok?)

At night, he is still my little boy- wanting my love and attention. During the day- his friends are around and he couldn't care and probably prefers me to be elsewhere. We fight. We fight all of the time. It sucks and I cry from time to time (but not in front of him.)

So yeah, he is 12. He looks like he is 12 and he acts like he is twelve. I 'know' this, but my heart doesn't want to accept it. I am so sad and worried and scared. I am sad because I miss his little chubby baby cheeks and how he would lay his head on my shoulder when he was sleepy. I am worried and scared because I doubt my ability to help him to succeed in life. I feel like I have failed him in so many ways. I know- I am not the only parent to feel this way. Regardless of what people say- I still feel responsible for the issues we have had to face with him. I just know I could have done this better. Regret is a nasty bedfellow, isn't it? I just need to move forward. He is a wonderful boy. I know that. I don't think he does though. And that is what I need to change.

Back in August at the Monkey Park

Cupcakes are out of the oven, I am going to try to get some sleep now...

Food Fun Friday- how NOT to eat your curry rice...

2010-10-22T23:14:00.002+09:00

See this dish folks? This is curry rice- or karai raisu as said in Japanese. Usually it comes with the curry sauce/gravy already on the plate (in this case it is in the gravy bowl.) The breaded pork shown is tonkatsu. It is all VERY delicious. This is what I ate for dinner at the Royal Coffee Shop in the Narita airport on my way back from Singapore back in August. Delicious food and great service (which is the norm in Japan- and there's no tipping!)

Today Jaime and I went to my favorite store in the world (yes WORLD)- Yuzawaya! If you aren't sure what Yuzawaya is- see this post from last year... Shopping five floors of awesomeness makes one hungry- so we found a noodle shop on the corner and upstairs. We both picked a couple of pieces of tempura (I got shrimp, acorn squash, and sweet potato)- and we both ordered curry rice. It was similar to the above picture- except ours came with big chunks of potatoes and carrots. The food was mighty tasty and we were enjoying ourself immensely- our stomachs were no longer growling and our treasures from Yuzawaya were neatly stashed beside our chairs.

Out of no where this older Japanese woman stops at our table and hands each of us a spoon.

A spoon? I didn't need a spoon, neither did Jaime- we were rockin' the chopsticks man!

She insisted on the spoons. While I know very little Japanese, I understand the words 'Japanese' or nihon-jin (as in a Japanese person) and 'curry rice'- karai raisu. She was telling us that JAPANESE people DO NOT eat curry rice with chopsticks, they use SPOONS for goodness sake! She repeated herself a few times- yes I know this for a fact. She was obviously on her way out the door, so as she was backing away and heading to the exit- she continued to admonish us for eating our curry rice the WRONG WAY. All the while her friend was covering her mouth as she stared at us and giggled.

I have never seen Jaime's face get that red. My face was pretty hot as well. EVERYONE in the restuarant had stopped eating/talking/picking their nose/whathaveyou- and were staring at us. EVERYONE. I had my back to them, so I didn't see them staring, but I could FEEL it man!

So of course neither of us could pick up the damn spoons to finish our food. Luckily we had some tempura left- chopsticks are ok there! Damn if I was going to pick that spoon up right away so everyone could watch! Eventually, after I felt everyone had lost interest- I picked up the darn spoon and finished off my curry rice. That stuff is tha bomb- and the spoon was easier to use. All the same- the chopsticks were doing their job too!

So people- learn from our mistakes! Use that spoon for your curry rice!

Consider yourself warned...

before the image uploads are disabled...

2010-10-21T08:56:00.000+09:00

Blogger image uploads are going down for maintenance so...

I thought I would hurry and share some pictures of Sissy from her modeling job last week. I think this is my favorite photo shoot so far. It was held in the coolest and most beautiful studio. I could have lived there- all it needed was a full bath and maybe a bigger kitchen. I am not hip on all the deco speak- I am not exactly sure what one would call the decor style. It was sort of European/shabby chic. The walls were bright white and it had huge windows and the most beautiful doors. Sissy's agent commented that the studio would be a great place for a party. I want to have my next party there now! Of course I couldn't afford the price tag- I know the hourly rental fee was mighty high.

The other models (all adults), were from the US (NYC), England and Australia. Being around the models and the Japanese photography crew- I felt so big and fat! I know- the models don't count because they don't eat and Japanese are naturally thinner than Americans. It sounds good in theory- but I still felt out of place.

They were all so good with Sissy. She was the only child there and they just doted on her. She did so well they took some extra shots. My only disappoinment was that she didn't get to wear designer clothes again. We brought her own clothes to the shoot. Luckily someone had handed down a bunch of velvet holidayish dresses to Sissy a couple of years back- and they all still fit. She did get to wear a fur scarf of sorts- real fox fur. I think it creeped her out. It did me too to tell the truth. I have never been a fur person- I don't see the intrigue to wear a dead animal's fur on my body. Now if you are talking leather- I am all for that! ha ha

I got some great pictures. The lighting in the studio was just perfect- so even my click and shoot did a decent job...

loved these doors- I want a house with these doors...

forever my goofy girl..

Engrish anyone? Her (Japanese) agent suggested she take the picture pointing to the bad English.

That's all for today!! Maybe tomorrow I will have another post for Food Fun Friday- I make no promises...

Life is Good Award

2010-10-17T21:22:00.000+09:00

I think this is award No. 3 for me. Thank you Kristina! You didn't think I noticed, did you? It just took me a couple of days to get a moment to sit down and reply. Love you muches and bunches!

Kristina, a fellow bibliophile (who reads 50X as much as I do), writes many book reviews and posts some yummy recipes on top of it all. Check out her blog at Kristina's Favorites.

Rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave this award.

2.Answer the 10 survey questions.

3.Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic.

4.Contact the bloggers you’ve picked to let them know about the award.

Questions:

1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?

I started out anonymous and for the most part have stayed that way. Since my honey is a sailor and we need to pratcice good OPSEC, I try to keep some things on the "down-low". But I do have friends who know who I am and know about my blog. I also feel the need to protect my children. But I do understand that in order to really protect us all, I should stay off the internet completely. Since that is not going to happen, I try to at least not give everything away.

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side:

I refused to postpone our wedding. Hubby and I were engaged after knowing each other for maybe two months at the most (can't remember now.) We planned to for a December wedding. So many things went wrong leading up to the wedding date. The church we wanted ended up saying they couldn't give us the date we wanted (after I had ordered invites), and we had a heck of a time finding a new church. There were no hotels available for the reception, we ended up at the airport. Two out of three bridesmaids couldn't make as well as Hubby's best man.
I should have postponed for the spring- when travelling to Colorado would have been snow-free and we could get a hotel for the reception. But so many people were telling me that we were moving too fast and that it wouldn't last- I HAD to prove them all wrong!

This December we celebrate 15 years!! It was all worth it!

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

My mother! It is scary sometimes! I never thought I looked like her growing up...

4. What is your favorite ~~summer cold drink~~ fall warm drink?

Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbuckys. But here in Japan *sniffle*, I can't get them!

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

I sew, read, watch TV and play Angry Birds on my iPhone.

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?

I want to be successful at NaNoWriMo next month! I signed up, I am just a little bit nuts I think!

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?

I just wanted the heck out of high school- I wasn't any of the above. I did ok, I wish I had tried harder though.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see?

I really suck, I can't think of anything right now!!

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

I think I write about myself for the most part, I find it easy to talk about me. I don't share all of my true self- somethings are just private and perhaps disturbing.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Read of course!

15 newly discovered bloggers....

I am sorry- I don't really have too many newly discovered blogs. I have been ~~stalking~~ reading the same ones for a while now. I love you all!

I don't get it...

2010-10-12T14:56:00.000+09:00

Why are women so catty? Is it in our blood, is it the hormones, is it the excess of plastic products that is seeping into our systems and messing up our DNA? I guess the last one doesn't count since women have been catty since the dawn of man I am sure.

I don't know. What I do know is that I can't ignore it when it comes to OPSEC. Too many wives are adamant about posting information they shouldn't on Facebook. And they try to say it doesn't have anything to do with deployment- but come one- we ~~aren't stupid~~ weren't born yesterday- and neither are the people hacking into Facebook to get that info. I sound like such a broken record these days- I am even sick of listening to myself!

Obviously these 'girls' don't read any of my fellow milspouse blogs. These ladies (milspouse bloggers) get it.

I may lose a couple of 'friends' today or the next. But to quote Battlestar Gallatica vernacular (yes I have become a big BSG nerd as of late)- "frack 'em!" I love my sailor more any day!

And to all my fellow milspouse bloggers- I HEART you too! Keep up the good work! :-)

Having a Ball, Navy Style...

2010-10-10T13:54:00.000+09:00

This weekend I got to go to my very first Navy Ball. I have been missing out! Hubsie never wanted to go in the past, and I never pushed it too far. I think if I had realized they give out awesome prizes I would have gone before now, hee hee.

We were all a bunch of "single" gals. (meaning our husbands are deployed) so we went as a group. I had a blast. It was fun getting dressed up, hair done, the whole nine yards. And seeing everyone washed up and dressed nicely was a bonus. I love the "Cracker Jack" dress blues- the guys look so cute in them!

The unique thing about being in Japan is that we also had guests wearing kimonos, so pretty!! And the best part was seeing them out on the dance floor...

I know, not a great picture- but her kimono was so beautiful!

This man was so much fun!

Dinner was great, the speeches not TOO long, and the dance floor was packed. The only bad part was standing for the presentation of colors- I broke out in a cold sweat, my stomach was hurting, and I thought I was going to pass out! As soon as it was over I ran outside for some fresh air. So weird! The good thing is that it passed. I am inclined to think it was the tight shoes. But they were cute shoes!!

A good friend who is leaving next month...

I almost knocked this "Torii Gate" down earlier. I was trying to catch up with a group photo and almost tripped. I was admonished- warning me that it was only being held up with fishing line.
I know they thought I was drunk- I wasn't- I SWEAR!!

back view of the dress- and weird "cat eye"- I tried to fix it- I look like an alien!

I can't wait for next year! And I am hoping my sailor will be home for 2011- I have told him he is going if he's home!

Food Fun Friday- Singapore Style

2010-10-08T08:17:00.001+09:00

Yes, it's October and I went to Singapore back in August- sorry. Sometimes these things take me a while. I am a busy lady!

Singapore is an awesome place to go if you like to eat. There are so many different cuisines to choose from. You can get Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Italian, Turkish, and Singapura style foods. really there are more kinds than that- I just didn't see them all (or eat them all.)

The prices ranges vary too. If you eat at one of the places on the river at Clarke Quay- you will pay premium prices for the view and atmosphere. If you want cheaper food (but still good), one only has to duck into one of the train stations and find the food court. We had some lovely Korean food at the train station at Clarke Quay. I tried kimchee for the first time- not too bad!

Korean- very delish

Now I don't know if I mentioned this before- but one of my favorite things to eat in Singapore was an ice cream sandwich. Hubsie had told me about it. It is a slice of ice cream wrapped in bread. Literally- it is a 'sandwich'. I have to say it sounded a little weird and I wasn't sure I would like it. Let me tell you now it is DELISH! The bread is sweet, with pink and green swirls. I have no idea what it is called. Not only are the delicious with many different flavors of ice cream to choose from- but they are cheap (one dollar) and can be found everywhere. The vendors literally pedal them out on wheels and set up shop on the sidewalks, complete with an umbrella for shade. We ate them for breakfast and whenever we were starving and couldn't decide what restaurant to eat at. It is one of those things you have to try for yourself.

Ice cream vendor making my ice cream sandwich- this was right oustide the Youth Olympic Park.

My very first ice cream sandwich- mint chocolate chip- yummmmm!!

I don't have pictures- but our favorite place to eat was in Little India. The best Indian food I have ever had. The first time we ate there, the waiter (who has quite THE salesman), had us ordering all kinds of food. We had way too much! I felt so bad when we left food on the table. They wanted to pack it up to take back with us. but honestly, we didn't have a good place to put it and it would have made our hotel room smell like Indian food. It is a good smell, just not for the place you are sleeping, ha ha.

Some other notable eats were the shwarmas (sp). I believe they are Turkish- kind of like a thin tortilla with yummy meat filling. We also ate at Hooters. I know- not a very 'cultural' experience. We were just craving some good American food- and we were not disappointed.

One thing we learned was that you have to be assertive about getting your check from the waiter. They will let you sit at your table all night if you don't pipe up! On one hand, that is nice if you want to sit back and enjoy the company of your friends, without having the waiters breathing down your neck trying to get you to leave so they can clear the table for new patrons. But one night I literally had to go track down the waitress, we waited at least 30 minutes or more just so we could leave. She had taken my credit card and I was worried she was never coming back with it! But all in all, eating in Singapore was a grand experience, can't wait to go back.

I am really hungry now- where should I go for lunch today??

A Sweet Moment in Time

2010-09-28T16:48:00.000+09:00

Today we picked up Hubby from the air terminal. Brother knew we were driving to pick up Dad, but we kept it a secret from Sissy. Lucky for us, she was clueless and lost in her own thoughts in the back seat as we drove (2+ hours) to pick up Hubby. Brother accidentally mentioned picking up Dad several times, but Sissy never caught on.

Her face was too precious when she saw her Dad finally. I wanted to get a better picture of her expression, but she moved faster than I had anticipated!

I just had to share- doesn't it make you smile?

I had her play in the kids' room while we were waiting.
She thought I had a meeting and we were just taking a break there.
So here she is running to her Daddy when she saw him walk into the room.

SO happy!

Call me!

2010-09-27T11:28:00.000+09:00

I have to tell you I am dreading, DREADING what my cell phone bill will amount to next month. Trying to to get a hold of Hubby while he is stateside was a nightmare- and we had to use our cell phones. That means international roaming, meaning beau coup bucks! We have Softbank, a Japanese cell phone carrier. They bill in Yen of course. Have you seen the exchange rate lately? Yuck- it is bad all around. I guess I should be grateful that his phone WORKS in the States. Weird because our Stateside phones don't work here.

I am adding calling, using the telephone, cell phone, etc- as one of the challenges to living in Japan. We didn't sign up for a DSN phone because I figured we could save $30- we have our cells after all. But.

You can't call a DSN number from your cell phone. You have to use a different prefix. That is just fine if you know what that prefix is!! The bases here all have different prefixes, some more confusing than the others. and unfortunately- many times places on base will only give their DSN numbers- and do not tell you what the prefix is if you calling from off base or your cell. Let me you tell you folks that is mighty frustrating!!

Oftentimes you can look up the number on the Internet, and they will give the DSN number and the commercial overseas number- that doesn't work from my cell phone. Thank goodness for Facebook. I will just ask my local friends- what is the prefix for.... Someone usually has it written down somewhere.

Then one tries to call Navy Fed. Hmm, I tried the local bank in Yokosuka, but the machine says to call the toll free number. Again- that number only works from a DSN line. So I got online and searched Navy Federal's telephone directory. There are several (read like 8) different toll free numbers to call in Japan- it depends who your land line or cell phone carrier is! How crazy is that? So after a couple of tried I finally found the number that works. (When is doesn't work I get a recording of a woman's voice admonishing me in Japanese.)

You would think there would be a telephone directory they give all of us stationed here. You would think...

I think I am going to go sign up for that DSN line now.

Time warp

2010-09-23T00:01:00.000+09:00

Just an update- Hubby made it back to his parents', but missed his grandma's service by an hour. He travelled for three days, only one of the nights did he actually stay in a hotel. I was a nervous wreck for him! And in the end, we just couldn't find a flight that would get into the town he is from- any earlier. It is a case of a small airport due to being located in a small valley surrounded by flat top (mesa) mountains. At one point he said he would get a rental car and drive. I am so glad I talked him out of it. Not only would he probably still miss the funeral, but there was a high probability his exhausted self could fall asleep at the wheel! I have to say, when he puts his mind to something- he drives straight ahead!

Let me tell you one of the big issues with living overseas is the time difference! I was trying to get tickets for Hubby stateside- but since we are 14 hours ahead, I couldn't get the internet sites (Expedia for example), to let me buy a ticket for the previous day! FRUSTRATING. Soon, Hubby, my MIL, and myself had a call triangle going on. I called her via Skype, but had to call him via our cell phones. My MIL ended up buying the ticket for Hubby. On a side note- I am Very scared to see what our cell phone bill is going to look like with international roaming charges, ugg!!

I have had to stay up late every night just so I can call my MIL. That equates to staying up until midnight for me. While I tend to be a night owl- lately I have been so tired I just want to go to bed early.

All this trying to buy tickets for the day before and staying up late to talk to family early in the morning got me singing the Time Warp song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. We actually did this dance in 7th grade for our "Future Fair" we put together. Now I need to find this movie on DVD...

Enjoy- now that I got to talk to the Hubby, I am going to bed!!

One of the benefits of living in Japan...

2010-09-20T21:02:00.000+09:00

Is that my daughter gets the opportunity to model- something not accessible (and frankly- not desirable), in the States. My daughter has the blonde hair/blue eye European look to her- and that is something the Japanese love (or like). The modeling agencies actually come to the different bases (to a 'modeling fair') so one can sign themselves and/or their children up. Last year we attended one of those modeling fairs. We handed out Sissy's info (name, height, weight, etc), and the agencies took her picture.

So now we get calls and/or emails for different auditions and jobs coming up. We have gone to 4 auditions- with no luck at any of them. However, she did get three jobs just from picture selections (no need to audition). She probably would have had more jobs by now, but often times the auditions and jobs are at the same time as school events and/or sports that Sissy is involved with.

I have taken her out of school a couple of times and have picked her up early. I anguished over it at first. But a friend told me something that I think is very true- "don't let school get in the way of your children's education". Now- don't think I am saying that MODELING is a replacement for school! But, the times I have taken her out of school have always involved seeing new parts of Tokyo and Japan. I take the time to look up the area and we find unique and new things we haven't seen before. And frankly- we would never have been to some of these places if it hadn't been for a job or audition.

I made it sound worse than it actually is- I have only taken her out early or for the day 6 out of those 7 trips. She is also a good student, so I am not worried about her falling behind. (In other words- Brother wouldn't be a candidate for modeling- EVEN in he wanted to.)

Sissy has had a great time at the three jobs she had. I know I have blogged about it before, so I will stop there. I have, however, decided, after the last audition, to stop going to auditions. If she happens to get a picture selection, that is great, but we don't have time for all of the auditions. If we were closer to Tokyo, it would be easier.

That said- her last audition was for a famous American clothes company. To give you a hint- they told us not to have her wear Ralph Lauren, because [insert designers name here] hates Ralph Lauren. That cracked me up. She didn't get picked- too bad- it was good money and I am sure the pictures would have been awesome. Speaking of which- that is my favorite part. For your viewing pleasure here the pictures she did for a jewelry designer at the beginning of the year. They were shown at an exhibit- I wish I could have been there!

This was on the postcard invites to the exhibit

If anything- she will have some great stories to tell of her 'modeling days' in Japan!

A Red Cross Message

2010-09-18T10:11:00.001+09:00

Perusing Facebook on my iPhone yesterday at the Food Court while enjoying my iced vanilla latte, I stumbled upon sad news. Hubby's step-grandmother died the day before. Since we are in Japan and with the time difference, his mother hadn't been able to contact us yet. So from his brother and sister's status updates on Facebook, I found out about Grandma's death. Finding out those things in a Food Court, a busy crowded Food Court, is not a good thing. I threw on my sunglasses and left as quickly as I could without bursting into tears for all to see.

This is where living overseas really just sucks (sorry that is the most suitable word). I can't just hop on a plane, fly a couple of hours and then be there to support our family. I don't think they warn you about these things when you move overseas. While you might be able to get home, it is a huge ordeal. Brother asked if we were going home for the funeral. I feel terrible. I know our family understands, but I feel so helpless here. This is the same as I when my grandmother died last year.

My first response was to call my in-laws. Well- it was 1 am back home. I waited up until midnight here, 9am there. They were on their way to the mortuary. My father in law sounded so sad, so torn up, it broke my heart. I absolutely love that man. He is Hubby's step-father, but he has never treated my children like step-grandkids, and my kids don't know the difference. My own father and step-father passed away about 5 years ago, so I am grateful for my father in law.

The other reason I called was to get the specifics on where Grandma passed away (name of the hospital for example). My next call was to the Red Cross.

Many people might not know this (or maybe everyone knows this), but the Red Cross will send a message to your service member to notify him and his command/unit, etc, of a family member's death. What they will do is verify the information and then get the message out to wherever the service member may be. They do not send emails, but will relay all information by phone. This is important if a service member is deployed and needs a legitimate reason to go home.

To initiate a Red Cross message, you can call the stateside toll-free number: 877-272-7337. You are going to need your service member’s name, social security number, rank, address, unit's address and name, and any other information such as they are deployed to Iraq, or they are on a ship, etc. Whatever information you have to help them locate your service member is helpful.

Also- find out the name and number of the hospital where the family member passed away, or the name of the doctor and his number- an official person who the Red Cross can contact. I didn't have the number to the mortuary and nursing home, only the names. But as I talked with the Red Cross rep on the phone (via Skype may I add), we both Googled the names to find the phone numbers.

They will ask you if the service member is aware of the death, so they know to specifically state on the message to NOTIFY the member, not just request them to come home. Once they have obtained all the pertinent information, they will give you a case number. Write it down so you can check on the status later on if need be.

Red Cross more than likely has a local office if you are stationed overseas- you can also call them. Since it was midnight, the people here would have to be called in to the office to send a message. Since I have Skype, I figured it was just as easy to call the 24 hour stateside number. If the family member that passed is in a foreign country, for example The Philippines, sometimes you would need to contact their Red Cross people. That is not always the case, but I am sure your local office would tell you if need be.

I hope someone finds this information useful if need be.

Rest in peace Grandma, you are loved and we will miss you dearly.

Tired of being the "bad guy"

2010-09-16T21:20:00.000+09:00

I want my mommy! I want my husband! I want a spa day!

I think the third one I might be able to do- at least a pedicure?

I have had an amazing/exhausting/frustrating week. I am surprised I am still able to sit upright and type. Why you ask?...

Amazing- I got to meet and work with some awesome Navy wives through Compass this week. While I did do some teaching and feel like the participants learned something from me- I learned so much from them and the other Compass Mentors. If you are a Navy wife and haven't done the course yet- DO IT!! (and I say this in hopes you have a Compass team at your duty station.)

Exhausting- Compass, school, errands, Compass, school, errands, kids, kids, kids, kids (get it?)

Frustrating- I hate being the bad guy all of the time. I feel like I am still at the same place with Brother. I thought there was an improvement way back when with school. It feels like 2 steps forward and 1.999 steps back. We still have the same issues with school, only now he is pre-pubescent. And as you can imagine [insert sarcastic tone here]- that is just a whole lot of FUN!

He IS a good kid. He doesn't get into trouble at school, doesn't fight, doesn't swear in front of adults (as I have seen other kids his age do.) He is generally is a good and respectful child. But getting him to care just a little about doing his work, completing his work, and the quality of his work- that is like trying to push a Mac Truck up a hill in San Fransisco. He pushes back when I push him- and he pushes hard (not literally, mind you.)

I feel for him, he has a lot going on. His hormones are starting to act up, he is growing like crazy (so he is having growing pains), and his dad is deployed. It is an emotional rollercoaster- one that I am not handling so well.

The other frustrating part is that I can't share this with Hubby. He is deployed and needs to be able to focus on his job. If he knew how frustrated Brother and I are right now- he would then be worried over something he can't do anything about right now. And if he is worried about home, then he can't have that focus he needs.

I have seen other milspouses discuss what should and shouldn't be shared when our service member is deployed. It is really hard when your spouse is the one you usually share everything with. I do share certain things- and he knows these are things that I can handle (and I usually can.) But the whole getting homework done and helping with studying for the spelling test. Well- he can't do that where he is at.

Back to the topic- I am just tired of being the bad guy. I am so ready for Hubsie to come home and take over! Well- the control freak in me doesn't really want him to completely take over. But you know what I mean!

Thanks for listening, I feel better now...

I took my monkeys to the monkey park

2010-09-13T16:51:00.000+09:00

One thing they have in Asia that you don't see in North America (the zoo doesn't count), are monkeys! In Japan the Macaque monkeys are the ones you will find by the hot springs (onsen). They call them "onsen monkeys" in the summer, and "snow monkeys" in the winter.

We didn't make it out to see the snow monkeys last winter as planned. When MWR offered a tour to see the onsen monkeys this summer I decided to jump on the opportunity.

We left at 5:30 AM, and headed for Nagano. I have to to admit to you what a dork I am. First of all- all I knew is that we were going to the monkey park, but didn't take the time to research excatly where it was that we were going. So after several hours on the bus fast asleep- I was really surprised to see the sign for Nagano. Nagano, Nagano,... why does that sound familiar? Duh! 1998 Winter Olympics, perhaps?

Nagano is absolutely beautiful and green. We stopped several times at various fruit markets. They are famous for apples, but also have delicious peaches and plums. Oh- and grapes- GIANT purple grapes. I really should have taken pictures of the fruit.

No pictures of the fruit market- but here are some apple(?) trees that lined the roads.

We headed for Jigokudani Yaenkoen- the Jigokudani Monkey Park. Jigokudani translates to Hell's Valley. It is called that because of the steep cliffs and the hot springs coming out of the ground- it resembled hell. But actually people and monkeys alike enjoy the onsen. Generally people stay out of the monkeys' onsen- though the monkeys have been known to invite themselves over to the "people side". It sounds pretty funny to me since many people "take onsen" in the buff. Now add a monkey to the mix... get the picture?

We thoroughly enjoyed the monkey park. Now, before we went in (read- hiked 20 minutes to the top), we were warned not to bring food, and never "eyeball" the monkeys- they see that as an aggressive act. They also warned us that while the monkeys LOOK cute and cuddly- they in fact can be quite dangerous.

So we walked in and I expected to see a few here and there. But instead, there were monkeys walking everywhere, even in between our legs! One had to be careful where they stepped because little baby monkeys were walking underfoot.

I LOVE baby monkeys. Brother and I discussed how one of them would fit in his backpack. Both of the kids really dug the monkeys. We were a little nervous at first, being in such close proximity. After a while we relaxed and laughed at the monkeys antics.

A few pictures for you to enjoy:

There was a park employee (Monkey Ranger), that was cutting fruit and feeding the monkeys- here is one of the smaller ones enjoying his snack.

LOVE LOVE LOVE baby monkeys!!

The hot springs water (onsen)

Monkey Ranger man throwing nuts or seeds to the monkey. I think they had done this before, the monkey never missed...

just in case you aren't sure where to go...

They said no dogs or cats allowed- but it's ok to bring your own monkeys...

Cheers!

-Nancy

Singapore!

2010-09-12T23:18:00.002+09:00

Hello lovely readers. Finally! I have pictures for you from my most awesome trip to Singapore. I flew out a month ago to meet my sweetie in the most awesome (excuse my redundance) country of Singapore. Honestly, Singapore was never on my so to speak "bucket list", but it should have been! I had the opportunity to meet Hubby during a port call and my most awesome friend Jaime agreed to watch the kidlets. Because of that, Hubby and I enjoyed a true "second honeymoon." AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!! Did I say how awesome it was?

Singapore is about a 6 hour flight from Tokyo. To be honest, I didn't realize how close it is to Australia. For people coming from the States, Singapore is one long trip! I sat next to a kid from Louisiana, he had already travelled 14 hours just to get to Tokyo. He and his mother were so tired looking travellers.

I arrived in Singapore about midnightish. Getting through immigration and customs was a breeze, and not scary like I thought it would be. After all- Singapore has some strict laws. I was scared to bring gum- for goodness sake! A side note to my SOFA sponsored family members in Japan. Be sure you have your military ID and a valid SOFA stamp in your passport (No-Fee OR Tourist passport) before you travel out of the country. I know a few people who have had a hard time getting back to Japan because they didn't have their SOFA stamp.

I hopped in a taxi- and weee!! I was cruising through Singapore to my hotel room. I felt like such a grown-up, taking a taxi all by my lonesome in a foreign country to stay in a hotel room all by myself. I arrived a day before my honey so I was on my own. He laughed at me when I told him later how I felt like the big "world traveller". I know there are people out there that have done more travelling before they hit 21, but just let me have my moment, ok?

Travel mistake number 1- booking a "cheap" hotel the first night because Hubby won't be there and it doesn't seem necessary to have a really nice room for the first night. Wrong! First of all- I was BY MYSELF. Therefore staying in a nice hotel would be better just for the sake of feeling secure. That hotel I stayed at had people walking up and down the hallways at all hours! There was no shower stall- just a shower head mounted on the wall by the toilet. Gross! There was still water on the floor from who knows when, and sooner or later the ceiling will fall down as the giant ring of mold is surely going to win eventually. The pillows smelled like cigarette smoke and cheap cologne. I truly thought I was in one of those "hourly" hotels. The next morning there were families in the lobby, however. I felt a LITTLE better at that point. Lesson learned- not only was it a bad experience- but I had to pay extra cab fare to get to the new hotel and spend the extra time checking out and then checking in to the new hotel. Silly me!

The picture looks nicer than it is, what you don't see is the giant black circle of mold directly above. ewwwww!

Hubby and I stayed at The Swissotel Merchant Court, located on Clarke Quay (pronounced "key"). I LOVE The Swissotel! It is right across the street from the MRT (train) station, so convenient. And Clarke Quay is chock full of yummy restaurants and great night life. We spent one evening at the Crazy Elephant and enjoyed the live house band. Hubby saw them last year when he was in Singapore and was excited to see the band again with me. I was so touched.

Swissotel Merchant Court- I HIGHLY recommend it!

The video is from the house band at the Crazy Elephant Bar. Check out "Osh-Kosh" in the front. He was the band's biggest fan- but he was the smallest guy. With his striped polo shirt he looked like a kid wearing Osh Kosh B'Gosh. He provided us with endless entertainment.
We visited Little India, Arab Street, Marina Bay, Universal Studios (Sentosa Island), and went to the Night Safari. We actually hit the same restaurant in Little India twice. They had the most delicious curry! I am STILL full from all that food! Universal Studios was a slight disappointment. I think it is still fairly new and so not all of the rides were open yet. I think the kids would have enjoyed it though. If we take the kids to Singapore next year- we will most likely hit up Universal Studios again.

Universal Studios- the Shrek 3D movie was a hoot!

I love Arab Street- it is chock-full of fabric stores! Plus hearing the call to prayer from the Mosque was mighty cool too.

Foot eating fish, or is it fish eating feet? (Jaime?) Whatever way you want to put it- I just call it TICKLISH!! I was laughing so hard I had the girl who worked there asking me if I was ok. This was at the Night Safari, by the way.

The hardest part of the trip was when Hubby had to go back. I cried all the way on the train ride back to the hotel. Lucky for me, I found a couple of other girls who's hubbies just left as well- in the hotel lounge where I went to get a glass of wine. So we spent the night chatting and enjoying some cocktails. We also met for breakfast and dinner the next day.

Singapore felt so different once the sailors were gone! It was really quite lonely, to tell you the truth. My last night I stayed near the airport in Changi. I stayed at the Changi Village Hotel. The name doesn't sound like much, but I HEART that hotel! My room was awesome- totally fung shui. The pool on top (8th floor)- was just gorgeous. I enjoyed happy hour in the lobby while perusing Facebook on my iPhone using their Wi-Fi (I had to catch up you know.) Also I was able to email my Hubby as he was back underway. Happy Hour's special was 'buy one get one'. So I had two lovely glasses of red wine on an empty stomach (I couldn't decide where I wanted to eat.) I was quite buzzed and felt so silly! I decided to go Italian and ate at the restuarant upstairs by the pool. I sat outside and it was absolutely lovely. After dinner I enjoyed another dip in the pool. Did I mention how awesome the pool is?

My camera lens fogged up everytime I went outside- it was on the humid side. Isn't it beautiful though? Those are plumeria trees, or something close to it- so pretty and serene! On a side note- all the jacuzzis in Singapore do not have hot water- same temp as the pool, only with bubbles. Weird!

You know you enjoyed happy hour a little too much when... I loved that room though...

I was happy to go home, I missed my kiddos. They missed me too! I think maybe Brownie, our dog, may have missed me the most. She was so darn cute!

A month later and it all seems like a dream. Hubby says the same. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. No schedule, we did what we wanted, stayed out late and slept in every morning. ( We missed breakfast every single day because we slept in.) This was his 4th time in Singapore- he was just happy to show me where he had been before. I can't wait to go back. I can't wait to see him again even more. I miss my honey!!

Before I sign off- here are some more pics for ya...

view from the Swissotel

The first Youth Olympics were being held while we were in Singapore. Here I am with the mascots- Leo and Merly!

Cheers!

-Nancy

100th Post- Here's Your Sign!

2010-08-26T11:08:00.000+09:00

Yay! I made it to 100 posts! While I have been consistently inconsistent, at least I have something to show for it all! I was waiting to download pictures from a fantabulous trip I made, but that might take a couple more days. So instead I thought I would share some funny signs I have seen around Tokyo. I have posted many to my FB page, but I don't think I have shared them here? For those of us have lived in and/or visited Japan, you know that the signs written in English can be pretty funny. They can be funny because of the way the Japanese is translated to English- lovingly dubbed "Engrish", or just the subject matter and illustrations will give one a chuckle or two. I hope you enjoy!

From Ueno Park by the entrance to the toilets. "Please understand it 'beforehand'"-
meaning before you realize you have no tp and have to use your...?

From the Narita (Tokyo) Airport. They have the lovely electric toilets with all the gizmos. They are all over Japan. Narita is very thorough to explain the system to its visitors.

Ok- it's not technically a "sign", but it just cracks me up. Dog Freaks is a dog grooming business.

I know, that's only three (or technically two) signs! I thought I had more- I just can't find where I put them- probably on Hubby's computer (Brother is hogging it right now and the network is not cooperating).

But- stay tuned- I will have more in the future!! I promise!

Here's to 100 more posts! *throwing confetti*

Check Your Facts People!

2010-08-07T13:01:00.000+09:00

I know, I never post twice in one day, strange. But I just did a little internet search to do a little fact checking on a disturbing email I received. I am not an extremely political person, nor do I want to use my blog for political purposes- unless it is something I feel will benefit the military and military families. I am a little biased in that respect. I did not vote for Obama, nor have I written him off to be a bad president. The jury is still out on that one. Just because I did not vote for him does not mean I am totally against him. I just liked the other guy better. So I really take issue with emails circulating around that are written to discredit our president, by using personal and sometime even racist, attacks. To top it off, half of that crap isn't even true!

CHECK YOUR FACTS PEOPLE!

Just because someone typed it up all pretty and clicked "send", doesn't make it true. And how is easy is it to cut and paste to make something sound so terribly different than it should have?

What spurred this post is an email I received from a loving family member. It claimed that Obama called veterans selfish- referring to the opposition veterans voiced against the proposal for veterans to use their own private health care to pay for combat injuries. The quotes in this email were not only sensational- but totally false. You have to be smarter than the average bear to make it to be president, I just don't see the President saying such things. The said proposal was withdrawn, by the way. There is more to it, of course. Reading the details, I did not agree, and I am glad it didn't come to pass. Oh, and this was all from last year. That goes to show you how long these emails float around in cyber space.

So how do I get my point across to said loving family members, without ticking them off? Any thoughts?

It's hot out there, but not I am not complaining (much)

2010-08-07T11:32:00.000+09:00

Baby, it's hot outside! I swore I wouldn't complain because I complained so much about the cold last winter and spring. I was mighty disappointed in the winter here in Japan, I thought we would have a more tropical kind of winter. Instead, it was cold just like in Washington. Well, maybe not AS cold, but still pretty darn cold, with some snow to boot.

It is hot here, with high humidity. When you step outside- it is like going into a sauna. But we have AC, so the hot weather is much more bearable.

However, did you catch my mention of a little car accident a while back? The car I bought from my neighbor back in April is now totalled. Well, technically, it could have been fixed- but the cost to fix it was more than the car is worth. Basically I was driving to my house and a guy came out of nowhere (having run a stop sign), I didn't have enough time to stop and couldn't get out of his way, so he hit me. He didn't see me until the impact either. No one was hurt, we were all very lucky in that respect. I was lucky too, that this was on base. Getting into an accident off base is everyone's fear I think. But I can say this was my first international incident, seeing how the other guy is a Japanese national. I had one of my ladies' groups I teach English to, in the car with me. So the guy I got into the accident went over to them and told them in Japanese that the accident was MY fault. They knew better of course! He even tried to lie to the liason (the interpreter), and said I was turning and he hit me in a different part of the street. But she saw the tale-tell signs of skid marks and pieces of my headlight where the accident actually ocurred.

Like I said, no one was hurt. I realized later that the guy was obviously distracted, and it could have been so much worse. What if a kid had been riding his bike or someone was crossing the street? I did feel awful about my poor ladies, they were a little shaken up, but so supportive and concerned about me. They are so sweet, I love them all.

it's smooshed!

My lovely Japanese ladies I teach English to (and who were in the accident with me).
Check out the doll- it was a gift from them. It is so beautiful!

So that was back in June. Here it is August and I still don't have a new car, nor have I received any compensation. It is still in the works. It didn't help that security botched the first report and then took over a week to correct it. It has all been a very frustrating experience to be sure. I have Hubby's car, but it has NO AC! It is just a two door little hooptie, it is like driving an oven on wheels. I rented a car for a couple of days so we could drive to Brother's ortho appointment and do some other things that required being in the car more than 5 minutes. The rental is a little Nissan, nothing fancy, but it felt like a luxury car when we blasted that AC! I felt a little sad turning the keys back in. Wish me luck on getting a new car, I am so dreading the whole process.

A little note about Japanese traffic laws and such. For us Americans, we will get at least 10% liability even if the accident is really 100% the other party's fault (for accidents that are off base.) Someone told me it was explained to him that it is because we are in the country, therefore we have 10% fault. If we are not here, there wouldn't be an incident. If you get into an accident and the other party is injured, you have to bring gifts and money to them when they are in the hospital. It is called gomen-nasai (I am sorry). And be sure you don't bring an inappropriate gift. A potted plant is a bad choice- because has roots and you don't want the person to "grow roots" in a hospital and therefore never leave.

Drunk driving is no joke either. I can't remember what the blood alcohol limits are, but they are extremely low, and even lower on base. If you have just one drink you are done for the night. If you have many drinks, you are done for the night and the next morning too. I seriously will not drink if I have to go somewhere in the morning, it is too risky. If you are in a car with someone who is drinking and driving, you will go to jail with him if caught. The penalty for drinking and driving in Japan is prison with hard labor. Though I did hear that the US government helps provide better prison quarters, I am sure it is still no trip to the park.

I totally understand the strict rules on D&D here. The roads are too narrow and too congested with not only cars but pedestrians, bikes and scooters. One must be at the top of his or her game to drive. Actually, I think maybe the US could do with some stricter laws. It would probably save more lives, what do you think?

Food Fun Friday- Ramen Baby!!

2010-08-06T21:56:00.001+09:00

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Food Fun Friday. It's already 9PM here, but for you state-siders it is still pretty darn early. I am sad to say we only got off base to eat once this week. Today I was on a mission to eat sushi, but unfortunately the whole dang town had the same idea and the line was out the door at our favorite "cheap" place to eat sushi. Instead of driving to the nicer (more expensive and probably crowded as well) sushi joint, Sissy and I headed to the mall once more. This time we hit one of the little restaurants, instead of eating in the food court.

In Japan you'll notice that most of the restaurants either have big colorful pictures of their food, or an actual plate or two (and sometimes many many plates) of "display food". It is like they prepared the dish, but then preserved it somehow so that it can be on display. It reminds me of the fake fruit bowls back in the 70s and 80s. Except of course everyone knows better than to try and take a bite of the food dispplays here.

So we picked by looking at the food display- a little ramen restaurant. Here they have the ticket machine where the customer places his or her order. Usually they have the menu items in English, but not this place! Lucky for us the waitress spoke very good English and she helped us place our order. A kids plate for Sissy, pork ramen for me, and some gyoza to share. Sissy's plate had fried rice, orange Fanta, and peach Jello. Of course it was all very delicious (oishi).

entrance to the ramen restaurant at the mall

food display in front of the ramen restaurant, kind of weird, but it is very helpful for those of us who can't read sticks!

"kids' set"- they don't say "combo" they say "set" here, so I always ask for the kids' set for Sissy. She got a toy as well.

My delicious pork ramen. The white thing with the pink is a slice of boiled egg with a design done with food dye of some sort. Did you know that slurping your noodles is totally acceptable in Japan? In fact, it can be considered a compliment to the chef. The men are much more boisterous than women in their slurping. I have to say it always make me giggle.

GYOZA! If you are unsure of what to order (read- scared), then order the gyoza, I haven't seen anyone mess it up yet- it is always TASTY!

For desert we stopped at the crepes place. I LOVE CREPES. Yum. I have always ordered the dessert crepes, with ice cream or whatnot. But next time I think I will try one of the savory crepes, for example the teriyaki chicken looks mighty delicious.

Atlanta Crazy Crepes, these guys are everywhere- very popular (and yes I have a punch card.) Their motto is "Hold it in your hands, Love it in your Tummy!" Yes indeed!

our crepes, best food invention ever

My final mention for food is a favorite of mine we discovered in one of the millions of convenience stores. (I plan on devoting a post to 7-Eleven in the future.) We thought it was just frozen fruit- but when you bite into them you not only get the fruit, but vanilla ice cream on the inside. So yummy!

fruit/ice cream balls, what more can you ask for?

Itadakimasu!