Tokyo!

While mom and dad were here, we spent 1 night in Tokyo- Sunday night. We drove to the New Sanno Hotel and stopped first at David's Deli for lunch. We passed a Lawson's convenience store and had to take a picture in front of it!
After lunch we checked in (gotta love $48/night in Tokyo!) and headed to Harajuku and the Meiji Shrine. We stopped at a few stores and did some shopping. Here Glenn is being a golden cat- they welcome you at most stores like the ones behind him.We went to dinner that night at a restaurant called Roy's in Roppongi Hills. Roppongi Hills is a giant shopping/business mecca. One of the tallest buildings in Tokyo. I forgot to take a picture of the few, but we overlooked the Tokyo Tower and all the beautiful lights of Tokyo. An awesome dinner and even better company.

The next morning we had breakfast with Glenn and then he had to head back to Atsugi for a uniform inspection (which because it was a holiday it took him 3 hrs to drive home! A normal drive from the New Sanno is 75 minutes. Bummer, baby). First we headed to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. The actual Palace is off limits because the Emperor lives there, but the gardens (kind of like central park of Tokyo) are open most days.Here is the Fujimi tower (which thanks to my Japanese classes I know means "Fuji-see or fuji watch" and back in the day you could see Fuji from this watch tower). Here are mom and dad enjoying the waterfall and beautiful gardens.After the palace we headed to another part of Tokyo called Asakusa. Asakusa has one of the most famous temples in Tokyo and according to dad, "looked like Japan in his head." Senso-ji was a humungous complex a temples and sub-temples with a long road of shops and vendors leading up to the temple. We tried lots of things along the way, but I'll save that for another post.I was happy to finally have found dad's picture of Japan and I think they really enjoyed it. After Asakusa we took the train home and had dinner at Gyoza House, Glenn's favorite. One of my favorite things about mom and dad's visit was having coffee and breakfast around the table each morning. Sometimes we didn't get going til lunch time because we were chatting so much.

I still have a few more posts to go from their visit so stay tuned!

A favorite

I'm bummed this picture turned out blurry because it is a fun picture of all of us. We were a little drunk and taking the train home and it was just a fun night. I think you can tell on all of our faces. Thanks for making the long trip over here Mom & Dad!

Happy Birthday Dave & Jen!

My brother and his wife have the same birthday today. Just a few years different in age. Dave is turning the big 3-0 this year. They are in Disneyworld this weekend celebrating since you get in free on your birthday this year. Lucky them- they get in free on the same day!Hope you are having fun! You should have a package from Japan waiting for you when you get home! (or maybe a few days later...). This picture is from Dave and Jen signing their marriage license at city hall a little over 4 years ago. Hope you guys have a great trip! Talk to you soon!

Sumo Tournament!

The Sumo tournament was far more exciting than I had anticipated it being. I knew it would be a new cultural experience and wanted to attend, but I didn't expect to enjoy it so much. It was a lot of fun! It might have also been the copious amount of beers we drank as well. It's a sporting event though, right? The picture above is of the arena. It looks like we are far away but we could see the action without a problem. We sat in the B section of the seats. The seats on the lower floor were cushions on the floor. I don't think I could have sat like that for 6 hours so I went with the chairs instead.
Before each round of wrestlers (they are broken in to categories based on skill and record) they all come out in their expensive outfits and get introduced. These robes start at about $20,000 and go up from there. Some had their sponsors name, etc. Kinda of like a driver's car I suppose. So they walk around the circle and then disappear back in to the waiting area til their turn.I didn't realize sumo had such a mental element as well, but I suppose when a typical match lasts 5 seconds you have to stretch it out some how. Each wrestler would approach his opponent and get in position, then stand up and get some salt and toss it around the ring to bless it. Then they would approach eachother and stomp like this (stomping out the evil spirits) then maybe go back to their corner and get more salt. They they would finally wrestle. They have 4 minutes for this mental game before they must start. I guess they're just trying to psych eachother out.Then the wrestling would begin. Like I said, usually about 5 or less seconds. Sometimes they would pull an "Ole!" move as we dubbed it and get their opponent to fall flat on his face out of the get go. I guess they can tell when they're too anxious on the line.

We bet on each match as anyone who has attended a baseball game with my Dad knows. I think we got pretty good towards the end! We also had programs in English and an English broadcast that helped us follow the action. I would definitely go again although tickets aren't cheap so we'll see!
After the tournament we headed over to Popeye's Beer Club that I had found on the internet. Inside was full so we sat out on the balcony and made our own makeshift table. The people inside probably thought we were crazy, but it was fun! We also discovered they had free appetizers with every drink you ordered! Success!Well, success until the keg of beer ran out. Our waiter brought me the last inch though and I had to switch beers. I wish I remember what it was though- delicious!

This was our waiter at Popeye's. It is the only picture I have of our server and I had to include a picture of him because he is a fellow Iowa Stater! He got his masters from Iowa State and was thus named Cyclone all night because I did not know his real name. Such a small world.Sumo night was a success! Such a good time had by everyone! Thanks for joining us Laura and Tyler!

I really wanted to buy these...

but I had a feeling that neither Connor nor Baby B would ever be allowed to wear these childrens' clothes. Why not, Laura? Are you worried Connor's preschool teacher would be concerned about what you are teaching him at home? Load up on guns! Bring your friends!We found these near a temple we were visiting with mom and dad in Asakusa. This onesie was equally as good. Shit happens to everyone when your life is not boredom.Today I went to a store close to base called the Sexy Miser which sells all sorts of these clothes. Good times! On a completely unrelated side note, I hope you enjoy your birthday presents Dave and Jen.

Friday

We took it easy on Friday while Mom and Dad were here. I think Dad appreciated it because he got an extra long afternoon nap to help him adjust to the time change. We went to the squadron picnic and watched the khakis vs. blues (officer and chiefs vs. enlisted) softball game. Khakis won 33-14 with only one injury. A success for the officers since they usually lose.

Saturday night we took them to our favorite Izakaya in Ebina. An izakaya is a food/drinking establishment. They usually have as extensive a drink list as they do food list. This particular place serves small tapas type dishes that we all share. Dad decided he wanted to get adventurous and ordered dried ray fin. I wish I had taken a picture, but it was like fish jerkey but impossible to tear and chew. Japan 1 Dad 0. The rest of the dishes were much more successful.

Afterwards we stopped for crepes and a visit to the arcade. Crepes may seem french, well..which they are, but they are everywhere in Japan. Crazy Crepes is my favorite stand. Probably cause I love their sign.Ordering strawberry-custard-choclate-creme deliciousness.After hearing about this from several people, Glenn and I had to try the taiko drum game. It's like guitar hero meets Japan. Just for the record, I beat Glenn but I think that's only cause I figured out first that the blue dot meant you hit the side of the drum- yay for being functionally illiterate and not understanding the directions!We made a stop at the O'Club on the way home to show them our favorite watering hole. You just can't beat $2.50 wine!

Kamakura & Shin's

I have visited Kamakura before back in February but it is considered one of the must see places near us so I decided to take mom and dad there. Here they are riding in their first train in Japan. They've been to London and Paris so I wasn't too worried about them on the train, I was more worried about losing them in the train station. Good thing we are all 5 or 6 inches taller than most people- makes following someone much easier.Kamakura is an area along the Pacific Ocean, south of where we live. We checked out three places while we were there although someone could easily spend all day hopping from town to town on the train. We went to Kamakura, the Big Buddha and Hase Temple.
Dad is inside Big Buddha here. You can pay 20 yen (about a quarter) to go inside. I hadn't done this before and it was pretty neat! You could see how they cast and built him hundreds of years ago. Ok, I'm an engineer, I thought it was neat. Buddha is made out of bronze too so he was hot when you touched the inside. I also learned that Buddha's head is too big for his body but it makes it look proportional when you look up at him from the base.Dad asked lots of questions about Buddhism and Shinto so I had to do a lot of reading out of our Japan books, but I learned a lot too. I guess I've just gotten used to all the torii gates and random temples and shrines. Here he is reading his fortune we bought at the first temple we went to. It was a good one so he kept it. The bad ones you tie to the temple for the gods to take it away.
Mom at Hasedera. Look familiar?After we got home and Glenn was finished with work we headed over to what is quickly becoming my favorite sushi restaurant- Shin's. Glenn had never been there either. We tried unagi (eel), toro (tuna), negitori (tuna and onion), yellow fin and some delicious lemon drinks. Dad liked the crab in the plastic container on the counter because they were still alive! That's some fresh sushi. They were for deep frying which we didn't try because I'm not sure I could just eat a whole crab shell and all.Mom was having a hard time with her chopsticks so Shin wrapped her sushi in seaweed and even cut it for her so she could eat it in two bites. We called it her "training-wheel" sushi. :) PS. It's ok to use your fingers when eating sushi.A wonderful first day in Japan!

Del & Kathy Do Japan

I kept Mom and Dad busy while they were here. Not too busy, but wanted them to see the sights and get to taste lots of Japanese food- they did fly all the way to Japan. Glenn was able to join us on most of the days they were here and had to work a few days, but it worked out pretty while. Here was our itinerary so I don't forget:

Wed night - arrived
Thursday - Kamakura and Shin's sushi for dinner
Friday - Command picnic and hanging out and our favorite Izakaya for dinner
Saturday - Sumo tournament in Tokyo and Popeye Beer Hall for dinner
Sunday - Meiji Shrine/Harajuku/Tokyo and Roy's for dinner
Monday - Imperial Palace/Asakusa/Tokyo
Tuesday - Yokohama/China Town/Baystar's Baseball game/Mr. Navy for dinner
Wed - left for the airport

It was a great trip and I miss them already. When they left they asked when they would see me again and it was hard to say when exactly. Probably not til next summer when Glenn is deployed again and after baby B is born. That's a long time from now!

I'm looking forward to Tim, Cheryl and Blair's visit as well as Dave and Jen's during the beginning of next year. I'm going to start adding things to my list of places I want to see in Japan so that all of the visits are different for me too!

Pictures coming soon!

I'll be back soon...

I know it's been a week almost since I have posted but mom and dad have been here and we've been having a great time. I'll post about our adventures in Japan soon! They head to the airport tomorrow :(.

I'll be back soon!

Mom & Dad!

Mom and Dad are coming to visit today! They are on a plane right now and land at 5 pm tonight. Glenn and I are driving to Narita to pick them up. I can't wait! We have lots of fun things planned for them including the annual Tokyo sumo tournament. :)

Mt Takao

Glenn had Labor Day off of work and I purposely scheduled my classes around that Monday so that we could do something together. We decided to go somewhere we've been wanting to go, but didn't require a lot of money (aka Fuji Q home of the world's tallest and fastest rollercoaster was out...til another day). We decided to head north and hike Mt Takao.

It took us 5 trains to get there, but only about 80 minutes. It was a beautiful area and it felt great to be out of the concrete jungle that is Tokyo and the surrounding area.

We hiked up trail #6 that was 3-4 kilometers. It followed a stream that had waterfalls and gorgeous, tall Octopus Cedars (so the sign said).We reached the top in about an hour and a half and even had a view of Fuji-san (Mt Fuji) and the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Can you see Fuji poking out of the top of the clouds? You'll probably have to click on the picture to make it bigger.
The hubby and me at the summit of 599 meters. Thanks for carrying the water, love. You're the best.
We packed a Japanese lunch in true Japanese fashion and enjoyed it at the top. Ok, I didn't bring the ice cream; just a sandwich. I always love seeing what the other people bring in their packed lunches. Usually a boiled egg, a rice triangle, some veggies, etc. My favorite though was the guy that packed his camping stove and boiled water for his cup o' ramen noodles.On the way down the mountain, we hiked trail #1 which led us down the Pilgrim's path. We went through several Shinto shrines. I know it's a religious site and a place for prayer and I always try to be respectful, but I just love taking pics of these fat little guys.The obligatory torii gate picture at every Japanese locale.Glenn and I had a great day together and great weather. I was glad we decided to do this day trip on a Monday because all my students said this mountain is extremely crowded on the weekends.

It sure is nice to have the hubby home!

Congrats Missy & Ben!

First of all, nice work Megs. You really made this picture.

Missy and Ben got married this weekend. I really wish I could be in two places at once.

Missy and I met at Gamma Phi in college and were roommates before she transferred to the University of Iowa. Missy knows what I am going through over here in Japan because while we were roommates, Ben was deployed to Iraq with the Army. I would wake up every morning at 5 am to his phone calls from overseas and a sleepy, "Hi, B" from Missy. At the time I didn't know how she did it; now I am living it.The girls called me twice today. Once while they were waiting to walk down the aisle and again from the reception. I got to talk to Miss Miller and then Mrs. Tvedte and all the other girls. It was wonderful. I may have been crying girls, but it's just cause I miss you so much. You know I hate missing things. I like to be there for my friends. Thanks for being there for me today, too.Thanks for the live updates too, Brian! Missy is talking on the phone to me in the picture (in the link, not the shoe). :)

What's for Dinner? Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos and Spicy Black Beans

A few nights after Glenn got home, we tried this recipe for Sauteed Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos with Mango Pineapple Salsa and Spicy Black Beans. I don't think I really need to include the recipe because holy cow, that title has almost every ingredient in it.

We made a few alterations, like omitting the mango because I would have had to go to the Japanese grocery store for that and they're expensive this time of year. Second, we only used 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes in the black beans and I'm glad we did because they were crazy spicy as it was.We ate the black beans in the taco unlike the picture on the website which was better in my opinion because the pineapple cut the spice factor in the beans.

Overall, very delicious. I would make these again!

Presento

The Japanese are huge HUGE on presentation. From how your food is prepared on your plate, to being decked out in the exact appropriate attire for an event and my favorite in packaging a purchase.

Last week, I bought a scarf for my student Keiko. Her birthday was on Sunday and I gave it to her at lunch on Thursday.

Whenever I get something gift wrapped, I always think of this scene in Love, Actually. In the case of this scarf, the saleswomen placed it in to a cellophane bag sealed with a store sticker. Then rolled this up and placed it in a fabric bag with a bow on top. Then this bag was placed in a handled paper bag and lastly, my favorite part, since it was raining outside, my paper bag got its very own plastic raincoat of a bag. This bag was upside down on the paper bag with a whole on the bottom for the handles to come out and then the opening was taped to the bottom of the bag. This whole process took like 10 minutes and I couldn't dare stop her because you could tell she was proud of the wrapping job she was doing.After all this, I gave the scarf to Keiko, who loved it, and I told her the gift wrapping was so impressive in Japan. She said it was not very ecological and was a waste! Cracks me up that the Japanese are all about recycling and reusing, but when you give a gift, this all goes out the window. At least I know the multiple gift bags will be passed on to someone else!

1 year down, only 2 left!

As of Tuesday, Glenn has officially been a Liberty Bell for 1 year. That means we only have 2 years left in Japan! I can't believe we are already 1/3 done. There are still too many things left on my list to see and do and so many people left to visit! If you are planning on coming, you better book your tickets soon, we already have visitors planned for this month, January, and February. It's going to be a busy winter I think!

SDO Stella

Glenn had duty the two days after he got home last week so Stella and I went and visited him since he was the only one at work (one day was the day of the fly in and the next was the day the boat pulled in).

Stella decided she wanted to be the SDO (Squadron Duty Officer) for the day:She's getting angry now. Get back to work Glenn!

Lunch with Keiko

One of my favorite students, Keiko, invited me over for a traditional Japanese meal in lieu of our typical class. You may remember Keiko from the awesome tempura dinner she made me. She is a genuine and sweet person. Whenever I have a strange question about Japan, I know she will answer it for me.

Glenn was suppose to come to lunch but of course work got in the way, so my friend, Lauren, came with me instead.

Keiko did not hold back when making lunch. All of it was delicious!

• Tempura (eggplant, green pepper, sweet potato, lotus with nato filling, carrot)
• Miso soup
• Eel with sweet sauce over rice
• Green tea and mint tea
• Inari (sushi rice wrapped in fried tofu)
• Cheese cake (not really Japanese, but even better, she made it in her Magic Bullet :) )
  

Here is a picture of Keiko and I in her living room. I'm glad she decided we should sit down because otherwise I am over a foot taller than she is.

Family Day on the USS George Washington

A few days after the ship pulled in to port, I got to go on my first Tiger cruise! Here they used to call it Friends and Family Day and it was renamed to Family and Guest Day (someone didn't pay attention to that acronym) but it was a fun day!
We woke up at 3:30 in the morning because the brow went up at 7 am and it can take 45 minutes to 2 hours to get to Yokosuka. Leaving at 4:30 am though only took 45 minutes, but then another 40 minutes to get through the gate because of all the people coming on board. We had breakfast in the officer's mess (dining room) and took a tour of the ship. Many of the things Glenn had told me about in the past were always locked up or closed because no one was working, but on Saturday, the whole ship was working so I got to see the radar room and catapults and things that I haven't before.Oh and we got to ride the elevator- much faster than I expected! This is the elevator that takes the planes from the hangar bay to the flight deck. There are 4 of them on the carrier and people usually don't get to ride them so it was a fun experience. Here's a picture on the elevator-One of the highlights for me was seeing the E-2C launch from the catapult. The video seems pretty slow, but the thrust really hits you when it gets towards the end of the runway.

After the planes launched, they did an air show. One of the jet squadrons has a former Blue Angel so he did some pretty neat stuff including a sonic boom. I thought the plane exploded for a second cause I didn't hear the announcement of what he was going to do! Here is a picture of one of the F-18s and the Prowler showing how refueling happens midair. The helicopter was demonstrating a search and rescue.






After the airshow, Glenn and I had lunch and watched a movie in his state room. Since he hadn't been on the ship for about a month, we had lots of packing up to do as well. He had to bring the rest of his uniforms and the playstation back home. Since the ship will be in port and things will get fixed and people are living aboard, we also had to lock everything up. You never know what will go missing on the ship.



We headed home right after the shipped docked at about 5 pm and this time it did take about 2 hours to get home. I love Japanese traffic! Glenn and I were exhausted from such an early start to our day.