Green Tea & Grits & Poi

What I have been doing.

Living in Japan is just different. For one thing, you're illiterate. And since you can't find anything in the yellow pages or on Google you must receive most information (like directions) by word of mouth. That presents another huge challenge: In Japan they don't use street names like we're accustomed to; rather, they use blocks and neighborhoods designated by numbers.  I really don't know how they do it. This guy Ted explains it well. Anyway, this system is very confusing for Americans. When we lived out in town I would sometimes be adventurous and try different ways to get home, which invariably added minutes if not hours to my commute. Several times I would arrive on the right block, and I'd have the right house number, but it wouldn't be our house! Apparently, I was in the wrong chome or neighborhood or something. To make things even a bit more challenging, the neighborhoods aren't always numbered consecutively. Crazy, right? Downtown Yokosuka is a little bit better because the Americans have named the main street, Blue Street - but not much better. 

Let me give you a couple examples:  Laser hair removal is super cheap in Japan, and my girlfriend gave me these directions to the salon: "Go up Blue Street and turn left when you smell the Indian food.  Then go a block or two and it will be on your right." No lie - this type of direction giving is very common. Another, for the French bakery: "Take old Route 16, you know the one by the water, not the new one. After the big light you make a U-turn where the palm trees start and then take your first left." It goes without saying that I didn't make it to either of these places on my the first attempt. Fortunately, some of the big streets have names, but not all. Less fortunately, sometimes the street names are written in English, but sometimes not. Even when they have English names and signs, however, sometimes the signs aren't consistent.  Take for example "old Route 16." There are two main roads that parallel each other and then convene. One is called Yokosuka Kaiagan Dori (Yokosuka Beach Street).  Easy enough, right?  Well, at some point it becomes Route 16, but before it actually convenes with another Routhe 16.  Then Route 16 becomes Route 208 (but I'm not sure exactly where). In summary: Confusing as all hell.  

Way back in 2008, I started keeping a list of places - restuarants, salons, shops, free parking lots (most you have to pay, and pay dearly), and how to drive to places toll free. Eventually, I started thinking about a book. Andy why the hell not? As a designer in New York City, I worked on lots and lots of books. Not from start to finish, mind you, but I had enough experience to give me the confidence that I could do it and make it look professional. And that is how Gajin Guide Yokosuka came in being. Well, it's now two years later and the thing is finally finished (at least this edition!) and at the printers in Tokyo. I'm still working out the minor details of how and when it will hit the market, but Takusan Treasures on Fleet Activities Yokosuka will start selling it in the beginning of May. Hopefully, I'll soon have an e-book version available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. (Keep your fingers crossed for me.)

Takusan Treasures is next to Sbarro Pizza in the food court and across the street from Beny Decker Theater. It is open Tuesday & Thursday from 10am-5pm and the second Saturday of each month from 10am-3pm.

Aloha! It's been awhile.

I know, I know; it's been forever. All is well here in Kailua, Hawaii. Brad is working crazy hours; Jude is enjoying 1st grade the second time around; Lucien is still pining for Japan; Anders is becoming a little less Honey Badger like; and the new dog is a jerk.  I'm too lazy to really write much more, but here is a photo montage of the last few months.

 

Sweet Honey Badger and Puppy moment.

 

Cub Scout trip to Schofield Army Barracks.

 

Christmas morning in shorts! Hawaii certainly has my kind of winters.

 

The President and his family, which you can't see at all, are being whisked into the back of our church (base churches have all denominations in the same chapel).  After the Catholic mass, Linda stayed for the Protestant service (not out of piety) and sat across the aisle from the Obamas! The secret service code word for the President was "Chicago." It takes a realy mastmind to crack that one.

Hoomaluhia Botanical Gardens. I've never seen a kid catch a duck before.

 

We were lucky to have Linda here for a few weeks over the holidays. Unfortunately, Kevin was too busy at the FBI Academy to join us; we missed him and the rest of our family back in the states and in New Zealand.

 

Cub Scout!!

 

Brad suprised me with a puppy to foster. Baxter charmed me and I am sucker for polka-dotted puppies with eye patches so I agreed to keep him and we renamed him Magee (It was supposed to be McGee but the boys insisted on Magee.) Looks sweet, right? Wrong. Once again my asshole filter failed me. He's as jerky as he is cute.

 

A stolen roll of paper towels - unfortunately I was cleaning up a puddle of puppy pee when he nabbed it. Double jerk.

 

 A nice tourist took our picture on Christmas Eve with the boys' Santa sandman. She didnt' quite get the centering thing down.

 

Christmas morning in Japanese pajamas and kukui nut leis.

 

The Holmes' had us over for Christms dinner. Here the boys are posing with their "sister", Ava.

 

Playing the tourists in downtown Honolulu.

 

How awesome is Shaka Santa?

 

Grandma!

 

Papa knows how to make a three year old boy happy.

Kainalu Elementary had spirit week which included a crazy hair day. I let Brad take Jude to the barbershop and now his bowl-cut hair barely needs help getting crazy. Brad did stop him from dying it blonde, though.

 

Releasing a monarch butterfly in our backyard.

 

Braces and much drama attached.

 

Lucien made this adorable flower bracelet for Anders. I have a feeling that this will be the first of many pictures with a blurry moving Magee in it. The ugly box above our cabinets is the air conditioner that only gets the kitchen and half of the living room. Most houses here don't have any AC at all. Our house certainly was not built with it in mind - no insulation whatsoever.

Jude's Halloween Not-So-Birthday Party

Yesterday Jude finally got his 7th birthday party!  Poor kid - his birthday is in July and he is just now getting a party. Sometimes we just roll that way. He really wanted a party with classmates. So he decided that he would rather wait and have a party with Hawaii friends rather than a party with his St. Cecelia friends who he probably woudn't see again. (He and Lucien finished out the school year in St. Cecelia's after we evacuated to Clearwater.) Halloween is his absolute favorite holiday so it worked out great. Not to mention that on top of house hunting and dealing with three kind of freaked out kids, I really didn't want to plan a party this summer.

 

History of Pitiful Birthday Parties: This might be the world's most pitiful birthday party ever. Jude's 4th was held in our room at the navy Lodge  Yokosuka. We had just gotten to town and had only met one other family, but I couldn't remember their last name or what room they were in. So it was the five of us in our hotel room. We couldn't even put candles on the cake because it would set off the sprinklers!

 

This year was better: We also had a witch, another ninja, a power guy, spiderman and a ghost bat show up after football games and soccer games were done. 

 

Jude and Ava. He is about to take his turn playing pin-the-head-on-the-zombie. Jude really wanted it to be pin-the-brains-on-the-zombie-mouth, but I didn't think that was such a good idea. Thankfully, I prevailed because the pink ghost was the nervous sort. Ava is a friend from Japan who moved to Hawaii right after the earthquake. We consider her family now and Anders even calls her, his sister. In Hawaii they have a great word - Ohana - which roughly means your extended family. Ava and her family are definitely our Ohana along with another couple from Yokosuka. In fact, it was Ava's mom, Katie, who convinced us to live in Kailua instead of the Pearl Harbor, and who put up Brad while he house-searched.

Mummy hot dogs, witchs' hats, bat & moon chips, bone breadsticks, and cheetos because if Jude gets a day off of his dairy free diet, he wants to go big time.

Anders in a recycled Peter Pan costume. At this rate we may never have to buy the kid a new costume.

 

Balance the balloon game.

 

Finish line at the mummy race.

 

Our neighbor Connor taking a swimg at the bat pinata. I never learn! Jude saw a homemade bat pinata  in a Martha Stewart magazine, and I thought: How hard could it be? Deep down I know that if it is in a MS magazine that it will be either impossible for me to do or a totaly-time-consuming-pain-the-in-the-butt. The bat almost the fomer and completely the latter.

 

Slightly crazed yet happy boy. This is not the Martha Stewart haunted house cake he wanted, because I'm not completely stupid nor delusional.

 

Our Honey Badger can eat a swiss meringue ghost in one gulp and look what he did to the frosting. By the way: real buttercream - score!

 

We'll see how washable Disney costumes are.

 

Ava got Jude a punching bag and a picture of Lucien's face to pin on it. Jude has a nasty temper and Lucien has had 7 years to hone his skills at bringing it out. Ava figured this would be a good way for Jude to let out his "power."

 

Naked punch bag boxing! Watch out beer pong, Anders invented a new game.

 

I hope Jude had a great day. He deserves it. But before I finish, I've got one final brag on him: I met with the school this week and he is not eligible for any special services, including speech or reading! It's hard to believe how far he has come from the little 4 year old who couldn't articulate and who had to hold a pencil with 2 hands.  No one could understand except for Lucien.  But now, after years of hard work, Jude has become a confident, talking, and reading seven year old.  Many thanks to all of the people who helped him out especially our parents, Dr. Agin, Lia Stormer (his Yokosuka speech therapist) and finally to the late Wendy Wrucha (his Florida therapist).

Diamond Head with Honey Badger

Everyone who comes to Oahu goes to Diamond Head Crater. It's kind of like the Empire State building of Honolulu, a tourist must do. So today we finally went. The boys had a great time climbing up and Anders was delighted with stairs and more stairs going straight up. We must have started our asent with a tour bus or two of Japanese visitors. The whole way up it was sumimasen, konnichiwa, and gomen nasai. Anders even got a few kawaiis (cute). Although we told the boys that there was no fire, smoke or lava, Jude I think was a bit disappointed in this volcano. 

 

Diamond Head Crater - that is Waikiki on the left

 

Jude taking a break in a rock seat. We were so proud of him - he ran up almost the whole volcano. Not a big deal for other 7 year old boys, but for him it is kind of huge. Brad and I were thinking of the small hill we had to climg in Nagano 3 years ago to see the snow monkeys and how we had to carry Jude up it. It was before his apraxia diagnosis and I was terrified that he had something seriously wrong, because every 4 year old boy should be able to run up a hill to see snow monkeys.

 

You had to go through this tunnel to get to the top. I think Anders has been to Disney World and Disney Land a few too many times, beacuse he wanted to know where the ride was after we exited the tunnel.

 

View one way.

 

View the other way. I thought this would be the money shot - you know the Christmas card pic, but atlas Jude looks weird and Anders might be picking his nose and isn't looking at the camera. I wore my Yokosuka Sushi Roller shirt in support of my derby sisters in Japan who have their first bout this weekend. Go Sushis!!!

 

Aaahhh, the after-climb-shaved-ice.

 

Not a great picture, but I actually got Anders smiling in a picture. Major accomplishment.

 

View on the way home.

 

 

This video has nothing to do with our weekend, but it cracks me up. Brad and I now call Anders, Honey Badger. Do not watch, if cussing offends you because Honey Badger don't care.

An Evacuation Story.

Of course this is a way way old story by now, but life has been trying since we evacuated from our home in Japan to Clearwater, FL and then moved to Hawaii. Note to self; never evacuate half way around the world with three kids, a big dog, no Brad and PCS (permanent change of duty station for you non-military folks) simultaneously.

On March 11th when we realized that we had made it through the day with no damage from the earthquake and no tsunami in our area, Yokosuka as a whole exhaled. Food and clothe drives were beginning to materialize and we were all fielding anxious calls and emails from friends and family around the world, but we were safe and thankful. The next day Brad left for Hawaii to take a class and to start our house hunt. Although the many aftershocks were nerve racking and we all felt sick about what was happening to the north, life went on as per usual until Tuesday the 22nd. While I was sitting in my traffic safety course that I was obliged to take for a speeding ticket, it was announced not to panic but the children had been kept inside during recess and PE and that we should go home and shut our windows due to possible plumes of radiation that could be headed our way. On Thursday Jude's field trip to Sea Paradise in Yokohama was cancelled and upon school dismissal their was announcement that school was cancelled until further notice. A collective WTF came from all of the parents. If we are safe, then why cancel school and keep everyone indoors? I promptly went home and made flight reservations for Hawaii for the four of us. Might as well get our new life started while Brad was in Hawaii. Our trusty dog sitter who made a perfect 800 on his math SAT was still in town to take care of Radar. Around this time I noticed that all of the Japanese people on base were wearing face masks and the grocery stores in town didn't have milk, eggs or bread. Rolling electrical black outs were beginning. On top of that sailors could be seen walking to the aircraft carrier with their seabags although they weren't slated to leave until the fall.

Brad calls from Hawaii to say that he had been in touch with his office and their plan was to put his entire command on a ship if things get worse. He arrives home the next day. 

People were beginning to panic and leave. I had a few criteria in mind as to when I could panic: 1. if the admirals' wives left  2. when the nuclear engineers panicked  3. when the nuke doctor put his wife and kids on a plane  4. when the base said to evacuate.

Now that Radar couldn't stay at home with Brad, I had to make arrangements to get him out of the country. The next morning I got to the vet's office super early and was the 20th person on the "oh shit we need to get a health certificate now, but don't have an appointment" list. Number one on the list was an admiral's wife. Later that day I went to the hospital to pick up our health records and ran into a friend who was so scared she was practically catatonic - she is married to a nuclear engineer. The base was now talking of evacuating us, or as they called it a voluntary departure. Somewhere around this time the nuclear aircraft  attached to our base had a meeting with senior officers who started sending their families away. One of the wives hysterically calls me and begs for me and the children to leave.

By now rumors are just flying wildly - being put on a ship and sent to South Korea was my favorite. And apparently there wasn't much else going on in the news because the US stations were all Japanese death, destruction and nuclear catastrophe causing many frightened relatives to call all of us. 

I call Hawaiian airlines and am told that they don't transport dogs. Insert expletives here. Although I had a friends in Hawaii to help me, the thought of moving there by myself with 3 kids, a dog, , no military orders, no house and no car in the middle of the school year just became too much. I cancelled our tickets and decided to wait it out. A few days pass and finally there is word that we will be evacuated. A bus could be coming around to pick people up in as little as 24 hours and we must have mountains of paperwork done and be packed. However the information changes on a daily or sometimes hourly basis - pets can go, pets can't go, 1 bag per person weighing 50lbs or less, 2 bags per person weighing 50lbs or less, 1 bag per person weighing 70lbs or less, 2 bags per person weighing 70lbs or less. We receive a form to log the contents of our home, you know in case we never see our stuff again, and it was last updated in the 1960's. There is a list of household items including - chifforobe, davenport, mangler, black & white tv, fernery stand, steamer trunk, typewriter, record player etc. A perfectly useless piece of paper other than a much needed laugh for all us. *A mangler by the way is a clothes ringer.

Days pass and no buses have left, no planes have left, no boats have left. The nuke doctor's wife and children leave, however. The final straw for Brad and I. He books us tickets on Delta for 1 adult, 3 children and 1 60 lb dog. We leave at 5am 3 days later departing with a van of other families from comsubgru7. Narita - JFK - TPA. If only it was that simple. When we get to the airport we have 6-7 hours to kill before we depart - I would never have done this to myself during a normal time, but the earthquake had damaged roads and other infrastructure making travel unpredictable and Brad was so busy now that he couldn't take off work. Thankfully we were in Japan and not the States and I can send Jude and Lucien off safely to get breakfast and go the restrooms by themselves while I stayed with Radar. Finally we can check Radar onto the flight and are able to move around freely. To conserve energy the airport is very dark and a bit creepy. We run into several other families who are leaving and the kids are able to play a bit and we get in a few goodbyes and hugs. I had been promising the boys Mc Donald's chicken nuggets for a much deserved reward for being well-behaved, so we make our way there for lunch. McDonald's is on a limited menu due to the earth quake - no nuggets! You know that it has hit the fan when McD's food supply chain is damaged. 

After a long (13 hours) and uneventful flight to JFK I am told by two different Delta employees that Radar is indeed checked through to Tampa and we don't need to check him through customs. After a few hours of killing time we make our way to the boarding gate and I am promptly paged. This can't be good. The abrupt (we are in NYC) person on the other end tells me that I need to collect my dog and get him through customs. Our flight leaves in 45 minutes and we have to take a bus that runs every 15 minutes back to the international terminal, collect Radar, go through customs, and get take the bus back. I immediately go to the desk and beg for help. Maybe an employee can check him through, maybe they could put us on a golf cart, maybe a later flight out. No, no and no. I totally lose it and am a sobbing mess. 45 minutes later after walking through the bowels of JFK airport, I find Radar. I then find a Delta representative and tell her that she needs to get us to Tampa or all of us will be going home with her that evening. There are no more flights out, there are no taxis big enough to take Radar in his crate, and no I can't leave the crate at the airport. She finally finds us a hotel that will take Radar and has a transport van big enough for his crate. As soon as we get to our room Anders pukes on me. Truly the cherry on top of my long long day (or was it two days).

The next afternoon after a stop in Atlanta, we arrive in Tampa stinky, exhausted and sad. Sad to have left our home, but really more sad for Japan our beloved host country. Ganbatte Japan!

 

Epilogue:

The boys and I (and Radar) spend two months in Clearwater with family. They finish out the school year and then we are off to Hawaii. This time I send Radar ahead of us. Good thing too since we had an unexpected night in Denver en route. While we were in Florida Brad found a rental house in Kailua. We spend 3 crazy weeks buying cars, getting our household goods from Japan and our storage from Mississippi, getting the boys enrolled in school and setting up house. Because I'm a complete knumbskull we go back to Clearwater for our regularly scheduled 3 week Florida vacation. We start our new life in Hawaii 3 days before the boys start school on Aug. 1st. Aloha!!!!!

 

 
Our first morning at Kailua Beach we are treated to a rainbow. Note: neither of these houses are ours but you can buy the one on the right for a mere 14 million.

 

Finally reunited with Brad. (the dog is a loaner). We were behind our friend Katie's house looking for sea turtles who spend the night in this canal.

 

One deliriously happy dog.

 

Our beach house! Which is perfectly suited for a family of 5 on a week long vacation, but we can walk to the beach and not even cross the street.

 

Four days after receiving all of our shipments. Believe it or not there is a huge pile of empty boxes in our front yard. Our move was particularly rough because NONE of the furniture hardware was actually with the furniture.

 

Made even rougher because our loaner "aloha" furniture wasn't picked up before the movers came.

 

Aaaah. Much better.

 

The tile is dated, the vertical blinds are abominable, there is no garage, and the layout is a bit wonky, but it's ours and it really could have been much much worse. The houses here are quite expensive and qute crappy.

 

Last night at Kainalu Elementary's outdoor movie night - the mountains in the background are stunning and you can see them from almost every place in town.

To Hanami or Not to Hanami?

Sakura (cherry blossoms) season in Japan is one of the most magical things ever. It is going on now and I am so sad to be missing it. This week we were supposed to be in Kyoto staying at this amazing machiya with my mother-in-law. Instead we are hanging out poolside in Clearwater, Florida not under the fleetingly beautiful cherry blossoms but under a haze of oak tree pollen and palm trees.

Brad however is still in Japan and last weekend he and his friend Tom went to Tokyo to have a hanami of their own. Hanami simply translates into flower (hana) viewing but really means sitting under the sakura in a crazy crowded park on a tarp eating lots of food and drinking lots of beer and or sake. There is nothing quite like watching the usually very reserved Japanese people cutting loose in outdoor debauchery. This year however signs were posted in the parks asking people not to hanami due to the tragedies in Tohoku. Thankfully Tom's wife Amanda had somehow seen these signs from her exile in LA and was able to warn Brad and Tom before they showed up in Ueno Park looking to party. I had visions of the two gaijin (stupid foreigners) sticking out like sore thumbs in their big bodies and casual dress (most people who are in the parks in Tokyo come from work wearing their black suits) and behaving, well like drunk Americans. Cultural embarrassment was averted and the partying was kept to minimum, thanks to Amanda.

This is from another gaijin blog tinyplasticfood:  

Ueno Park 2011 - "In the wake of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Disaster, please refrain from cherry-blossom viewing parties"

"Even though it's 花見 (hanami, cherry-blossom viewing) season, there are only a fraction of the usual amount of people in the big city parks like Inokashira, Yoyogi and Ueno, due mostly to the general bleak mood and for respect of the Tohoku victims. The local governments in some areas of Tokyo however went one step further and put out so-called 「花見自粛」(o-hanami jishuku) boards in the most popular parks, including Inokashira and Ueno.

Jishuku is an extremely Japanese word among Japanese words, meaning essentially"self-restraint", but also the old custom of going into self-inflicted exile/social retreat when caught in a misdemeanor or faux pas. (E.g. All Japanese politicians who quit when the going gets tough; pop stars/idols/"talents" who drop out of the limelight for a few months when caught doing something unsavoury)."

 

Too bad Jishuku isn't practiced in the USA! 

 

Anyway Brad and some friends did go to the park and people were there having their hanami, but it was much more subdued and less crowded than in previous years.

 

Ueno Park hanami 2010 

 

Night time hanami - yozakura

A few years ago Brad and I found a park in Yokosuka, Tsukukayama Park, that had night time sakura viewing. It will remain as one of my favorite Japan memories. We climbed and climbed up a mountain (yama means mountain, so the name of the park told us to wear sensible shoes) following lit pink lanterns to this lovely park that overlooks Yokosuka Harbor and had our own yozakura amongst thousands of better prepared people. Later we learned that the park was a memorial to Miura Anjin (Miura the peninsula we live on and anjin means pilot) who inspired the character in Shogun! He had been given that land as a fiefdom from the Shogun.

 

Sakura decorations in Asakusa, Tokyo. 

 

Special sakura garbage bins. These are special not only because of the blossoms on them, but the fact that they are there at all. Usually parks do not have garbage cans as you are expected to carry out your own garbage. During sakura seasoon bins like these start showing up in the bigger parks.

 

Sakura man hole cover

 

 

Sakura Scooby Doo

 

Seasonal sakura dango (smooshed sweet rice balls on sticks)

 

Sakura KitKat - people don't really eat sakura in fact the trees are completely decorative and don't even produce cherries so this isn't sakura flavored but it's actually matcha (green powdered tea) flavored.

 

Keep praying for my beloved host country!

 

An Earthquake Story

This has taken awhile to get to this, because we have evacuated from our home in Yokosuka and now are in Clearwater. 

 

On March 11 at 2:46 pm as I was loading the kids into my van in front of a friend's townhouse, I felt woozy. I told Lucien that I was going to faint and he said "but Mommy the car is moving." I wasn't woozy, the earth was. Standing there felt like being on a boat at sea during a storm. We rolled that way for several minutes. I saw one lady running out of her house with 2 wine bottles and a kid in tow. Priorities. After it stopped I checked on my friend and they were fine. We agreed it was the biggest one we had ever felt, but had no idea that we were hundreds of miles away from the epicenter. I was on a mission to procure sakura KitKats for a girlfriend in Honolulu, Brad was leaving the next day and heading her way, so off we went to hit every Family Mart and 7-11 until we found them. Driving by the gym on base we noticed that a river was running down the outside steps leading from the second floor pool. It had had it's own tsumani.

At the convenience store the lights were off and the attendant was ringing people up on a pad of paper. The kids scattered looking for their favorite things (totally ok to have small kids scatter in stores in Japan). While I was looking for the KitKats the place started shaking. My mind registered aftershock and I tried not to panic, but panic I did. Yelling and scooping up children under my arms as I ran outside. Soon followed by the noticeably calmer Japanese patrons. This felt entirely different from the first earthquake - a shake not a roll. The man added up our purchases which didn't include sakura KitKats on paper and we left. I decided at this point that home was where we really needed to be. Although we were just about 2 kms away from base it took us forever to get home. Traffic was at a standstill, policeman appeared out of nowhere and calmly directed traffic, no panic. Soon the sirens started and a big voice filled the air. Lucien sounding a little shaken asked me if everything was alright. I lied. I told him they were giving an all-clear when actually the only word I understood was "onegeishimas", please. I figured it was a tsunami warning and they were politely asking people to clear the coast, but wasn't certain. When I passed a street crossing and saw the the coast street was empty except for a lone police officer and a bullhorn, I knew. As we sat there in traffic we watched the traffic lights swaying back and forth from the aftershocks.

When we returned home, Brad was watching the live footage of the tsunamis coming ashore and wiping towns away. We looked at each other and said Katrina. You see almost 6 years earlier we had evacuated our brand new home in Biloxi, MS for Katrina. But that is another story all together. He had just come home to check on us and soon left again for the office. Outside people were starting to head up the hills on base. My neighbor had come home and said we should head for higher ground as well. I got Anders in the stroller and Radar on a leash and we headed across the street to go up the hill. Luckily I ran into a neighbor who had just received notification that the tsunami that would hit Yokosuka would only be 1.5 meters. We went home and watched tv until the kids were good and freaked out.

Our base had minimal damage. Here ares some videos from that day. The aftershocks still continue.

 

 

 

 

A video my friend Jennie took in her apartment in Yokohama which is the next city north of Yokosuka, but still very far from the epicenter.

 

People asking me how they can help and really the only thing to do is send money and pray. Here is a facebook page of girlscouts in Camp Zama collecting comfort backpacks for children affected by the disaster.  https://www.facebook.com/backpacksforchildrenofjapan

Big L On My Forehead

I swear my book is almost done and then I won't be so neglectful of this blog. Anyway, here are some of our latest pictures.....

 

Brad running the Yokota Frost Bite Half Marathon with a few bizillion of his Japanese friends. This was on an Airforce base, but you would have never known because 95% of the runners were Japanese.

 

Check out this guy running in full samurai gear including the tabi shoes. He finished in full get up. Brad was a little bit miffed that the woman dressed in a bowling pin outfit beat him.

 

I read a website wrong and we ended up at the train museum on a day it was closed. Thankfully, we hadn't talked it up to Anders and we billed it as a train zoo. He was happy to see the engines through the fence.

 

Lucien and Jude's Taiko drum instructor, Tom (not his real name, but the only one the kids can pronounce), had a performance at a local venue so we took the big boys. His group put on an awesome show and were nice enough to pose with J & L.

 

Grinpa - Sledding Trip. A small hill with fake snow on the foot of Mount Fuji meant a day of fun for all of us. Luckily our southern boys aren't too familiar with snow and weren't disappointed in the least, which they probably should have been.

 

Jude!

 

Anders decided that his day of sledding was over when he found this room with 5 train tracks.

 

This just cracks me up. At any amusement place we have ever been to in Japan, we have seen people napping in the oddest locations. These two, whom I hope don't actually have any kids, were completely sacked out and snoring in the little kids train and truck area. I understand napping on the train maybe even a restaurant but here?

 

I like this kind of thinking - massage chairs parked in front of the world's biggest bounce house. Talk about a win - win situation.

 

Brad was nice enough to get the kid's out of my hair for a day so he took them to this enormous roller slide in Yokohama. These are way too dangerous to have in the states where people sue like crazy so Parker boys need to get their fill now. Anders is sitting on a booty sled designed for these slides while Lucien is going down squatting. If you go down just on your butt it reminds me of the cellulite jiggler machine my grandmother used to have. You know the old school kind that looks like a treadmill but instead walking on it there is a huge band that goes around your backside and shakes the bejeezus out of you.

 

SNOW!! We even had our first snow day ever last week which was ironic because the snow had melted before school started. 

 

Some fruits and vegetables you can get year round here, but some are strictly seasonal. Strawberries are in the latter category and they are divine. I have never ever had such amazing strawberries in my life. I honestly don't know how they taste and look so good. We can easily eat two containers of these a day. There really is something to eating local produce in it's season.

 

Lastly, here is my roller derby team, the Yokosuka Sushi Rollers, at our family skate night. Trust me we are huge in Japan.

Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu! Happy New Year's.

We may never learn. Brad and I thought it would be fun to take a few days and go to Tokyo. As much as we love going to Tokyo, we also love our sleep and sanity. Anders does not travel well refusing to either eat or sleep. Thankfully Jude and Lucien are rockstar sleepers who don't let their little brother's crying wake them. We got home on New Year's Eve and were in bed by 10:15 waking briefly at midnight by fireworks and ships whistles. This is what toddlers do to you.

New Year's is more like Christmas here. You are with family and are expected to go to a local church service - usually a shrine at midnight to literally ring in the new year. This year is year of the rabbit and the stores are filled with cute rabbity things. Almost everything shuts down from Dec. 27th - Jan. 3rd leaving little to do.

 

 This rabbit was a bit of a fright, if you ask me.

 

Kid's set dinner at Ninja Asakasa restaurant. Our friends, the Woods, made reservations for all us at a Ninja themed restaurant. It didn't disappoint. A ninja rolls out of a secret panel to lead you your table through a labyrinth of dark halls, bridges over running water and finally to your own little room where other ninjas serve you yummy food. Jude is drinking "kid beer".

 

Anders delighted by the Ninja magician who set things on fire, made other things disappear and eventually made balloon animals.

 

As we were leaving a Ninja ran out with this sign. With as much money as we spent in there, I don't doubt this sentiment. Note how the Wood kids are bundled up while Jude and Lucien are unzippered and you can't see it but wearing sandals. I forgot to do a shoe check before we left and even though it was quite cold both of my boys chose sandals! Jude comes down every morning dressed in a tank top and shorts regardless of the weather. We made a deal with him that if he could dress appropriately for the remainder of the winter here, when we get to Hawaii he can wear shorts every single day.

 

The next morning at 5:30am Christy and I met in the hotel lobby and left for Tsukiji Fish Market which is the wholesale fish market for Tokyo. If we saw 12 octopi, we saw 80,000. There are no pictures to do this place justice in it's size and crowds and sheer volume of sea creatures from enormous tuna to the tiniest of sea worms. 

 

This is a view of the tuna auctions which I didn't get to see. (Anne Moyer took this pic last year.) When we left the market we saw a sign that said due to large New Year's crowds the auctions were off limits to the public. If you ever see a sign in Japan stating large crowds, then be afraid, very afraid. The crowds were indeed horrific. The shops & restaurants surrounding the market where so insanely packed that we didn't get to have a fresh sushi breakfast. Luckily some of the vendors had samples out and it truly was the best tuna, I have ever had. 

 

Three vendors working loggerman style to cut tuna with enormous knives.

 

Traditional New Year's decoration, kadomatsu, with bamboo, straw and pine. I love these things. They are usually on either side of front doors. 

 

Luckily flower shops are all opened for New Year's. How beautiful are these? I was tempted to get one until I saw the price tags. About $200.00,ouza!

 

Our favorite park by the Hiroo train station has a little bit of nature in Tokyo.

 

Our last day we went to Ginza which is the 5th Ave. of Tokyo. I was hoping to see amazing holiday decorations, but they were rather subdued and disappointing. However we did find a Laduree in an enormous department store. As much as I would have loved to have a nice sit down tea, it wasn't going to happen with these three (Jude's face says it all). Take out macaroons for all was our New Year's Eve treat and they were every bit as good as the originals in Paris.

Happy Christmas!

I know my posts have been few and far in between lately, but the demands of three small kids and writing a book (oh yeah, I'm writing a guide to living in Yokosuka which will hopefully be done before we leave Yokosuka) have been enormous. Enormous for my scatterbrain anyway. 

This could be part of the problem too.

 

He's a runner and an escaper. Note the plastic fence thing taped to the gate to keep Radar in and the rope of the top to keep Anders in. Luckily he has been diverted by new Christmas trains and hasn't tried this in a few days.

 

Brad stayed up late one night making cakes to bring into work. Yes, there are toddler sized bite marks on the cake. To make it completely unsalvageable, he licked all of the powdered sugar on top.

 

Command SubGru 7's Christmas party. This Santa is actually heaps better than last year's and the elf is Brad's LM which is Navy lingo for Paralegal. She is so impressive - not only is she a single mom with an adorable daughter living far from family, but she was also nominated as the command's Sailor of the Year. So Brad has the Sailor of the Year as his right hand person and I have Anders. Not fair.

 

So Christmas in Japan is not quite right. There are big light displays and Christmas music playing in stores and lots of Santa stuff but since only 2% of the population is Christian, it just doesn't come naturally. Example: our local mall's signage all says "Happy Christmas". Christmas Eve is almost more like New Year's Eve with everyone out on dates while New Year's Eve is a family night. Christmas cake is a big deal here - $35 for a small beautifully decorated cake with very little flavor. However it probably is way better than fruitcake. Christmas decorations are plentiful, but just a little off:

 

I can't remember what these fabric panels are called, but they are a very popular decorating item. Loved this one with Fuji-san and a Japanese village, but I don't ever remember there being two Rudolph's.

 

My Holy Family kokeshi doll set or so I thought. Really it's Mary, baby Jesus and a shepherd. Joseph was majorly unrepresented in our house this year. He was no show in the kid's manger set and had to be replaced by Super Grover and now the shepherd.

 

Even in our own Church's Christmas pageant - two Filipinos and a white kid are the King's. Lucien was so thrilled to actually get a part this year. Jude on the other hand spent the entire performance in pageant time out for goofiing off with a friend. Let it be known that Brad and I didn't put Jude in a tie meant for a toddler, he chose it himself and there was no dissuading him.

 

It would be asking way too much to have everyone in focus and visible. This is as good as it gets for our group photos.

 

It has taken 10 years and thousands of pictures, but finally we have the quintessential holiday picture.

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We are off to Tokyo and will be having dinner tonight in a Ninja themed restaurant. Nothing says the holidays like Ninjas.