Konnichiwa! (こんにちは )

Happy 2 month birthday to Simran!

2010-02-11T09:42:00.001+09:00

Oh yeah...and Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!!! As you can see from my lack of blog posts, Simran has been keeping us very BUSY!!

I can't believe she is two months old already! And she is such a different baby than the boys were. The main thing I remember about the boys is how mellow they both were and how they loved to SLEEP, ALL the time, I might add. Simran doesn't like to sleep that much, during the day anyway. Fortunately, he is sleeping pretty well at night.

She was quite fussy during her first few weeks and we've attributed this to reflux. She is on medication (Zantac) twice a day and it is working quite nicely :)

When I look at her and talk to her, she responds by smiling and she looks at me with her big eyes and tries to figure out what I'm saying to her. She is very alert for only being 8 weeks old!

The boys are having a lot of fun with her. They love to give to snuggle and kiss her when they come home from school. It's so helpful to have them in school right now, especially since Simran does like to be held a lot during the day. It's hard for me to play with the boys and nurse/pay attention to Simi...harder than I thought it would be! But the boys are adjusting well. I'm adjusting well too, still getting used to my lack of independence that I deeply enjoyed when the boys left for school in the morning. I'm having to prioritize my errands so I'm not lugging the heavy carseat in and out the grocery store, post office, etc...with time everything will get easier, I hope!

Right now, everyone is enjoying watching little Simi smile and occasionally 'coo' while watching her mobile.

My mom visited for a couple of weeks and enjoyed her time with Simi and the boys. It was so nice to have her around and help take care of Simi (mainly to hold her b/c she loves being held) while Tim was at work.

We didn't venture out and do too much simply b/c I was too tired and Simi was so little. But we did take a trip to the Hakone hot springs near Mt. Fuji and had a blast!

Holiday Season 2009

2010-01-10T22:14:00.001+09:00

This holiday season has definitely been eventful with two toddler boys running around and our little Simran turning two weeks old on Christmas!

The boys were absolutely spoiled, as usual, and received many of the Christmas gifts they had asked for. They opened gifts from family and friends on Christmas Eve and opened gifts from Santa on Christmas morning. The rest of the morning was spent taking out all of these gifts from their boxes, what a difficult task!! We needed a screwdriver to remove some of the toys from their boxes!

We were fortunate to spend Christmas and New Year's with friends on base. We went to Joe and Jen Insley's home for Christmas dinner and had a great time. Their daughter Isabel and Arjun are only a couple months apart in age and get along very well. They have fun playing together and let Rowen in on the fun sometimes too :)

On New Year's Eve, we and the Insley's and went to Jeff and Linda Walker's house. Linda is a good friend of mine and is also my OB/surgeon. She took such great care of me during my pregnancy and was my surgeon during my c-section. It's been so nice having my friend be my doctor as well!
NYE was pretty mellow, considering that between our three families, there were 7 kids (well-behaved!!), so how crazy could the evening be?
But the kids played well together and they did a good job giving us some adult time too.
The evening lasted longer than I thought it would...we didn't get home until around 10 pm! So we toasted to a wonderful 2009 with some tasty Vueve and rang in the New Year a little early.

Happy New Year to you!

Holiday Photos

Introducing...

2009-12-11T15:49:00.003+09:00

Simran Kaur Wimmer

Born December 11th at 8:45 am. She weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21 inches long!

Everything in the hospital went well. I arrived at Labor and Delivery that morning for my scheduled c-section (my third, b/c Rowen/Arjun were breech) around 6:30 am. The plan was for Tim and I to come in together but the boys were sleeping so peacefully that morning that I decided to come in alone so the boys could sleep in a bit longer. Our friend Yuki Pierson watched them that morning (thanks Yuki!!).

It was reassuring that morning to see many familiar faces getting me ready for surgery. Most of the nurses and doctors, I either knew or recognized, so that really put me at ease. My OB, Linda Walker, is a good friend of mine and I was SO happy that she was doing my surgery. The c-section went well and my spinal anesthesia worked (yeah!) so I was awake when Simran was born. It was amazing to hear her cry!! I briefly saw her b/f they whisked her away to get her cleaned up, etc.

My recovery period was a bit rocky for a few hours, well, more like 8 hours. Unfortunately, my blood pressure was low, due to the anesthesia, so I was nauseous on/off for the rest of the day. I cannot really explain the feeling of having to vomit when you cannot move your body b/c you are completely numb...it is not a fun experience though! Luckily, with lots of medicine, my blood pressure stabilized around 10 pm on Friday night and I was able to eat/drink and I even got out of bed to walk around for a bit.

I was alone on Friday night b/c Tim was home with the boys, but Simran and I did just fine. The L&D staff on the floor took very good care of us! Thanks to our friends Jamison and Jen, they stayed with our boys on Sat/Sun night so Tim could stay with us in the hospital.

For a little while on Saturday morning, our babysitter Claire watched Rowen/Arjun so Tim could come to the hospital for a bit. I got up and walked around a bit more and finally took a shower. I felt like a whole new person on Saturday, compared to how yucky I felt on Friday.

We had lots of visitors over the weekend as well. It was so nice to have people come visit us and bring me Starbucks coffee and non-hospital food! We have the greatest friends here!

Monday morning came fairly quickly and before I knew it, we were being discharged. Where did 3 nights go? After the boys got off to school, Tim came by to pick us up. Simran received a clean bill of health, except that she had a little Jaundice (her bilirubin levels were elevated). So our pediatrician asked us to come in the next day for a level check, instead of waiting until Wednesday for her 2 day check. On Tuesday, her bilirubin had jumped from 13 to 18, which is not ideal. We had it checked again on Wednesday, and it was 20.5, a level high enough that warranted phototherapy in the hospital. I was so tired already, that I was not looking forward to her being admitted and having to endure 'billilights' overnight in the hospital. And let me tell you, that night was probably worse than being in the hospital for her birth. She did not want to lay in the crib, especially on her back, AND with the goggles on. She kept taking the goggles/mask off, which then exposed her face/eyes to the UV lights that were shining on her!!
I was basically miserable the entire night b/c I had to stay awake and make sure she kept her eyewear on. NOT fun!!

Fortunately, the next day, her level had dropped to 16. She remained under the lights all of Thursday (except when I was nursing her) and they let us go home instead of staying another night, thank goodness! When we had her bilirubin level checked on Friday morning, it was down to 13, and the doctor was happy with that. Did I mention that in order to check the bilirubin level, the nurse had to prick her heel and squeeze her little foot until they got enough blood for the lab test? Simi's poor heels must have been pricked 10 times!
To learn more about Newborn Jaundice and why it's not that serious but important to treat it early, click here.

Today, as I am writing this, Simran is almost two weeks old. She is thriving and her big brothers just adore her!! They kiss her and hold her whenever they get the chance! We are truly enjoying every minute with our precious baby girl :)

First Photos of Simran

62nd annual Seika Christmas Pageant

2009-12-09T23:27:00.006+09:00

Seika had their annual Christmas pageant on Sunday.

We were very excited to see Rowen perform in his class dance that he had been preparing for all month!

Again, since this year he's doing everything for the second time, everything came easier for him at the event. He had more patience to sit through the principal's speech (can be almost 30-45 minutes), he knew all the words to the Christmas songs, Japanese and English, and actually performed in his Rudolph dance.

Of course, being the proud mother that I am, I could take my eyes off of him when he was dancing. I just thought (as every mom there thought about their child), that he was just the cutest thing in the world! Tim was laughing at me...even after the event and we were just hanging out home, I think I watched the video a few more times!

I hope you enjoy watching him dance too!

Rowen's Christmas Pageant Rudolph Dance

PS-Tonight is our last night as a family of 4!!!!! I am going in tomorrow morning for my scheduled c-section and our little girl will be here! Stay tuned for baby news and pics :-)

A PINK baby shower

2009-11-22T22:46:00.000+09:00

I have such a wonderful group of girlfriends here. Two of them, Nancy and Victoria, threw me a 'cherry blossom-themed' baby shower last weekend, and I had an amazing time!

There were 15 great women there to share in my excitement of finally having a baby girl! I loved the cherry blossom theme because it is very Japanese and symbolic of where I'm having our baby.
The food was delicious, Nancy and Victoria provided baked ham, hash brown casserole, and various pastries from a Japanese bakery, and it was all washed down with refreshing mimosas :)

Opening all the great gifts was so much fun! There was pink everywhere! I received some really cute clothes/accessories as well as some useful baby tools/gear from some Japanese stores. The Japanese baby items that are available here are really quite interested and useful. They have great diapers, glass bottles and sippy cups, to name a few. The cutest thing of all is the baby leggings that a lot of Japanese babies where. I received a few of those that will look so adorable on our baby girl.

Thank you to my great friends who threw me such a memorable baby shower and all of you who attended! It was a day I'll always remember and cherish.

Our 2nd Chibikko Bazaar at Seika

2009-11-21T21:05:00.000+09:00

Last weekend, we headed to Rowen's school for their annual bazaar event. The bazaar is a fund-raising opportunity for the school to make some money by providing lots of games, food, and fun for all the kids.

Rowen and Arjun's favorite thing to do at the bazaar is ride the Shinkansen (the bullet train) that is set up around the school playground. I think the boys rode it 2-3 times before we even got started on the rest of the games or food that was offered at the bazaar.

Other games they played included 'fishing', where the Seika pool is filled with an assortment of toys and the kids get throw a fishing pole into the pool and try to wrap the hook around one of the toys. They also enjoyed some kettle corn, little frankfurter hot dogs, and Japanese candy necklaces (pieces of Japanese candy tied together to make a necklace). After the games, we went upstairs to go inside and enjoy some lunch and baked goods. This year, we were sure to remember our indoor shoes/slippers, which we had forgotten last year! Since it was our first bazaar last year, we either didn't know or had forgotten to bring them, and I remember my feet being really cold walking through the school halls with no shoes on!

After lunch, the boys took one last ride on the Shinkansen before we headed home so Arjun could take a nap. Since Rowen has made lots of friends at school over the past year, he has a lot of fun at these weekend school events, and so does Arjun! And because of a weekend school event, which the kids have to be in full winter uniform for, there was no school for Rowen on Monday :-)

Playdate with Japanese school friends

2009-11-03T21:55:00.004+09:00

Yesterday I ran into some Japanese moms/their kids while running errands on base. Rowen was really excited to see some of his friends, outside of school.

It's been a year since Rowen has been going to Seika, but he's really never hung out with his friends from school on the weekends or on holidays. There's plenty of kids that Rowen plays with in our cul-de-sac that go to school on base, attend a different Japanese school, or go to Seika, but are in an older class. I've always thought it would be fun to have a play date with kids from his school, but it's just never come together...

A lot of the Seika kids that live on base have Japanese moms/Navy dads and of course, because of the cultural similarity, they hang out with each other. I often talk with the moms when I see them around base or at various Seika events at school, but that's been the extent of it.

I was excited to see them on base today and see how much fun Rowen was having with their kids. Since the next day was a Japanese holiday, meaning no school at Seika, we talked about having a play date :)

We met the next day at Makiko's house, who has a daughter named Karri and is in Rowen's class. A few other mom's came with their kids, who are also in Rowen's class. They live in the Ikego housing area, which is about 20 minutes away from the main base, so no wonder we hardly see them around! Caroline was also there, with her mom and sister. Caroline doesn't live too far from us on base but since she's in the oldest class at school, Rowen just sees her on the bus, but not too much at school.

I unfortunately forgot my camera so there are no pictures of how much fun the kids were having! Rowen kept talking to me about his friends and explaining to me that he goes to school with them, while we were at the play date :) After the kids had a total blast playing together, and we had snacks like Japanese crackers, chocolate-covered strawberries, and Tiramasu cake (a Japanese favorite) (and of course, juice boxes), it was time to go home...

We were all at Makiko's house for 5 hours! But the time went by fast-what a great way to spend a day off school, Arjun and Rowen had a lot of fun. While Rowen was playing with his friends, I had a great time getting to know the moms as well. I'm pretty sure play dates don't normally last this long, but this one went really well.

Even when it was time to leave, Rowen and Arjun wanted to continue playing. It was dinnertime at this point, and we had to go home! But the next day when Rowen came home from school, he talked about all the kids on the bus that he had played with the previous day.

So, better late then never. It may have taken us a year to get together with kids from Rowen's class, but we did and it was a lot of fun! Rowen is definitely looking forward to his next Seika play date!

Boo!

2009-10-31T20:04:00.007+09:00

Rowen and Arjun before trick-or-treating
Our second Halloween in Japan was pretty exciting...it's fun getting ready for a night like this when both boys were well aware of the loads of candy they were getting and the fun costumes they were wearing.

I had to keep reminding Rowen when Halloween actually was because for 4-5 days before hand, he kept asking me if it was time to get dressed up and get lots of candy! When Halloween was really here, I think he put his costume in the morning and just hung out in it until it was time to go trick or treating!!

While Rowen was pretty sure he was going to dress up as a Transformer or a Star Wars character, we weren't sure what Arjun was going to be. This is the first year he really had an opinion about it.
Last year, he had just turned one and I bought a Superman costume for him, which he happily wore.

This year, he could have worn the same Superman costume or Rowen's costume from last year, a skeleton suit. But...he was much more interested in the costumes that Rowen was wearing this year. A 2 year old interested in Transformers or Star Wars? I guess so, if that's what his older brother is interested in.

What we were afraid of is that whatever costume Rowen chooses, Arjun would the other. And then Rowen would change his mind and want the costume that Arjun chose. Rowen decided to put the Star Wars costume on and Arjun, then of course put on the skeleton costume, changed his mind and put on the Transformer costume. He didn't end up wearing the transformer costume that night either....

Policeman Arjun

What he did wear was a Policeman jacket and hat that I purchased from the costume section of Costco a few weeks earlier. It was very cute actually and I think he was happy wearing that because he could keep his jeans on and not really feel like he was wearing a costume after all.

Arjun and Nana (she had to take her mask off first :)

Trick or treating starts pretty early here, around 4:30 pm. The boys were running around outside before Tim walked them around and I stayed back to hand out candy. Arjun was pretty scared of a lot of our neighbor kids if they were wearing masks with their costumes. It was pretty funny! Once they took their masks off, he would go up to them and play with them, but once their mask was back on, he would start whimpering a little bit and run away! A typical two year old :)

Kaito, Arjun, and Rowen

I bought more candy then last year (and last year, I bought A LOT), and the extra candy lasted me a mere twenty minutes. Unfortunately, for the children that got a late start trick-or-treating, I had to turn off our porch light at 6 pm.

We had to calm the children down and bring them down from their sugar high so we could sit down dinner: delicious chili that had been in the crock pot all day, poured over baked potatoes, yum! A great way to end a chilly Halloween night!

Another year older...

2009-10-28T20:36:00.000+09:00

My 32nd birthday fell on a weekday this year so I couldn't go too crazy, right?

But then I started to think about some past birthdays and realized (with Tim laughing in the background) that I have either been soon to be pregnant, pregnant or postpartum for my 28th, 29th, and 30th birthday. On my 32nd birthday this year, I reached the 34th week of pregnancy with Baby #3!! Haven't had a chance to get too crazy in a long time, but for good reason:)

And even though I couldn't enjoy an adult beverage (or at least without any guilt), I still had a great time on my birthday.

Wednesday was a typical day with Rowen at school and Arjun spending a few hours at the CDC.
The YOSC (Yokosuka Officers Spouses Club) had a luncheon that day and it was actually quite fun. I went to the luncheon with my neighbor Danielle and had a really nice time getting to know her better. I answered a Japanese trivia question and won a door prize, which was a beautiful blue and white pottery vase :)

Tim and my parents gave me some amazing presents (a digital picture frame, a new watch, some fashion jewelry from Tim, and $$ from my parents (always my favorite :) and a couple of gifts from friends on base.

That evening the boys were eager to go to Chili's for dinner. Not my favorite place but they get a kick out of the birthday song the staff sings and the cheesecake dessert that goes with it.

On Friday evening, some good friends took us out to dinner to celebrate. We went to a Hawaiian
curry restaurant in Kamakura and had a great time!! After dinner, we found a cute little place, called Venus Cafe to have some drinks (just tea for me) and some yummy desserts. Thanks to my neighbor Danielle, with her generous offer to watch the boys when her daughter Zel, who was originally supposed to babysit, wasn't feeling well.

All in all, it was a great birthday 'month'. We had a great trip to Guam a couple of weeks earlier and a pre-birthday dinner with friends there, a great day on Wednesday, and a wonderful evening out on Friday.

I have to say what I loved about my birthday more than anything was all the birthday wishes on Facebook!! We're all very busy these days and don't always have the time for a phone call or to send a card. I love the ease (most of the time...) at which Facebook allows friends and family to post heartfelt messages. I think there were approx. 60 birthday messages on there my friends and family, worldwide, and for a just moment, I didn't feel like I was living so far away from all of you.

Seika Yochien 62nd annual sports day

2009-10-11T14:39:00.005+09:00

I can't believe Rowen has been attending Seika for over one year now!

At last year's Seika event, Rowen had only been going to school for 2 weeks and wasn't quite in his comfort zone when Sports Day rolled around. He was also in the youngest class, called Pony, and therefore only participated in one event. He was also very timid and didn't know the language that well either.

What a difference one year has made! He had a blast at Sport's Day this year and it showed by the smile on his face while he was participating in the various events. We were also more prepared this year b/c we knew to bring some lawn chairs, a picnic blankets, umbrellas to block the sun, etc...

Rowen dancing to "Anpanman"
Rowen actually participated in the opening ceremony this year because he knew all the school songs and dances. And in between events, he had a lot of fun playing with friends from school and goofing around in the sand box. I think his favorite event of the day was performing a dance to his favorite song, "Anpanman"!

Arjun camped out and ready to watch Rowen!

Still... catching up!!

2009-10-10T11:04:00.001+09:00

Sept. 14th:Hospital Madness
Most of you probably already know this story b/c I posted plenty about it on Facebook...but for those of you who don't know, here goes...

It was an ordinary Sunday evening and Tim was finishing bath time with the boys. After getting them dressed for bed, he came downstairs and casually asked me, “Have you felt the lump on the back of Rowen’s knee?”
Of course, I said no and thought nothing of it.

But then Tim asked me to google ‘poplateal fossa mass’ and a bunch of links to orthopedic articles appeared. They basically all talked about different kinds of lumps, like cysts (fluid-filled lumps), lypomas (fatty-tissue lumps), and other scary lumps, like cancerous ones. And this is when I started to worry.

Normally, Tim doesn’t dwell on most of our kids’ medical problems. He tells me to go to the pediatrician and have the boys checked out. Fortunately for us, our pediatrician, Dr. Cleary, is our neighbor J

Dr. Cleary was already coming over for another issue. I know what you’re thinking-he comes over all the time!! BUT, honestly this is the first time we’ve asked him to come to our house. Tim noticed during bath time, that a rash that Rowen has had on his arm for the past couple of weeks had gotten a lot worse. The rash that had been a few bumps, was now 15-20 bumps and were crusty and inflamed in nature. We basically wanted him to look at it and see if it was worthy for a trip to the hospital or a minor rash that would go away on its own.

Well, after Dr. Cleary confirmed that the rash was a Strep infection that merited 10 days of antibiotics, (glad we had him check that out!!), he took a look at Rowen’s lump. He basically confirmed Tim’s diagnosis that it needs to be checked out, 1st by X-ray and also by CT-Scan or MRI.

I’m definitely starting to get scared while listening to their conversation but also just trying to act casual about the whole ordeal. The shocking part about their conversation was that if Rowen indeed needed an MRI because the X-ray was inconclusive or showed something that needed a closer look, we can’t get the MRI done at the hospital on base, because they don’t have an MRI machine here. What!?! Okay, so not a big deal, right? We’ll just go to the hospital out in town and get the MRI there.

Not exactly…apparently that wasn’t a good option. Children under a certain age (can they hold completely VERY still for a lengthy period of time) need to be completely sedated to have an MRI procedure done. Apparently, docs out in town do a lousy job on sedating children, like very little or no sedation at all! So Dr. Cleary recommended that if an MRI is needed, we should go to Trippler Medical Center, an army hospital located in Hawaii. Yes. You read correctly. Hawaii.

Now, I’m definitely starting to freak out. Traveling to Hawaii for a medical procedure for one of my babies?? Albeit everything could be completely fine and we’re traveling there just to make sure the lump is just a benign cyst or lypoma, but still, Hawaii??

The main reason we wanted so much information on MRIs anyway, is because an X-ray would basically confirm that there is a lump behind Rowen’s knee, and give us no other advanced info besides that.
In worse case scenarios, i.e. the lump was cancerous, then an X-ray could reveal a bit more info, like show calcification around the bone, etc. But Tim thought from the beginning of all of this (unlike me) that the lump was probably benign, but still needed to get it checked out to be 100% positive.

The other reason we really wanted to do an MRI is b/c while CT-Scan is available at the hospital here, CT-Scans involve radiation and Tim wanted to avoid radiating any part of Rowen’s body unless completely necessary.

Anyway, after Dr. Cleary left, Tim and I continued to talk about this. And by that, I mean that I asked a BUNCH of questions and Tim tried to answer them the best he could, without being completely annoyed by me. By the end of the evening, I was worrying myself silly about this and broke out into tears. Tim always gets freaked out if I cry about something, so he did his best to console me. But at this point, I was just plain worried about Rowen and that wasn’t going to go away until some medical tests were done and Rowen’s lump was diagnosed benign.

We decided that Rowen would get X-rays done first thing in the morning and then head to school after that. His X-rays showed that there was an egg-sized lump (pretty big, huh??) behind his knee, but revealed nothing else. So far so good…at least the x-ray didn’t show that the lump was anything worse than just a lump.

After I had gotten Rowen on the bus to school, Tim called and told me that the radiology and anesthesia dept. could get Rowen in for a CT-Scan later that afternoon. Great! Not about having to get a CT-scan b/c of the radiation, but b/c it could get us closer to finding out what this lump is. We decided to do the scan b/c it could have been a week before we could have gone to Hawaii for an MRI and did we want to wait that long without any other info about the lump besides what the x-ray already confirmed was a lump? Absolutely not. That would be mean a week of sleepless nights for me, someone who is already not sleeping well b/c I’m 30 weeks pregnant!!

When I picked up Rowen from school that day, I explained to him that we were going back to the hospital to get more tests done for his knee. He asked me why and I told him, that we just wanted to make sure everything was okay and that he would have to be a very big boy at the hospital.

"But mommy, my knee doesn't hurt. Why do I have to do more tests?"

Seriously, this question and some others that he mentioned, were just heartbreaking...

When we got to the hospital, we went to Anesthesia so Rowen could get his IV put in. Rowen was so brave during this. I'm sure it hurt b/c they didn't numb the area b/f doing the IV. That would have required two needles, and the doctor thought, let's do one needle and get the IV in and numb the area afterwards so he doesn't feel that the IV is there.

The procedure he was getting done was a CT-Scan with IV contrast. CT contrast is used to make specific organs, blood vessels and/or tissue types "stand out" with more image contrast to better show the presence of disease or injury. Thus CT contrast highlights specific areas of the resultant CT image or "dyes" it.

The hardest part of the afternoon was the scan. Rowen had to lay on the table (and also be very still, which is hard for 3.5 year old!) and no one was allowed in the room while the scan was taking place b/c of the radiation. He was definitely scared to be in the room alone and was crying the whole time. I tried consoling him from outside the room and talking to him on an intercom so he could hear me while the scan was taking place. The total scan took a few minutes, but it felt like forever with Rowen's crying and me standing outside the room waiting for everything to be over!

I was standing next to Dr. Weigle (he and his family are our good friends here) and watched as the lump area became covered with the 'dye'. Considering that the dye didn't cover any portion of lump, it just outlined it, provided Jeff's (Dr. W) with preliminary info that the lump was benign.

After the scan, I got Rowen out of there as fast as possible!! He had his IV taken out and was given lots of hugs and kisses, and candy, of course!

The next day, Tim and Jeff discussed the scan results and Tim came to a conclusion that for right now, the lump is a Baker's Cyst and is nothing to worry about for the time being. He also decided that it wasn't necessary to get an MRI right now, but that we'll just have to watch the lump and look for changes to occur, if any at all.

Obviously, I was so glad when this ordeal was over, but more importantly, very blessed to learn that Rowen's lump was nothing to worry about.

After going through this experience with Rowen, my heart truly breaks for the many moms/dads that have children with medical problems. To go through time and time again, what I had to do once, because their child has cancer or some other injury or disease, has to take strength and energy that I can only dream of.

Playing catch up...Part 1.

2009-09-26T21:58:00.007+09:00

It's been a busy few weeks since I last posted! So... instead of writing a bunch of individual stories to catch everyone up, I am going to try and sum up some past events in today's post (yikes!).

Sept. 4th: Arjun's is 2
This was Arjun's real birthday. We had his birthday party the weekend before which was a lot of fun for both Rowen and Arjun. This being Labor Day Weekend, we had planned a weekend getaway to Tokyo. That evening, we celebrated Arjun's birthday at Kikuya, a Teppanyaki/Tempura restaurant located in the hotel we were staying at, The New Sanno. Since Arjun's 'big' thing lately has been blowing out candles, especially at other kids' birthday parties (heehee), he was very excited when the staff brought out his dessert, complete with '2' candles.

The rest of weekend was just spent relaxing and swimming at the hotel. One evening, we went to our token Okinawan restaurant located very close to the hotel. Our two favorite dishes there are Okinawan Champuru (Goya (bitter melon) stir-fried with tofu, egg, pork, and bean sprouts) and Taco Rice. This restaurant is family friendly and is so quaint on the inside, but what's even better is that the boys LOVED Taco Rice. Now, anytime I ask Arjun what he wants for dinner, he says "Taco Ricesh!" or his other favorite word to say, "Sushi!", which he actually says quite clearly now!

**Also on September 4th, Rowen started his second term at Seika Yochien. He was quite excited to get back to school (as was I!) after his summer break. Our neighbor girls, 2.5 y.o. twins, Cate and Sarah started their first day at Seika, and Rowen was really excited to have them ride the bus with him. He's been a very big boy taking care of them on the bus and watching out for them at school so they can have smooth transition attending a Japanese preschool :)

Sept. 9th: Modeling Audition
Arjun was selected as one of many kids to audition for a Combi modeling job in Tokyo. I've been a little skeptical taking Arjun to these auditions, not being sure how long the day is going to be, the travel time, etc. In the past couple of months, he has been contacted for a Birkenstock ad and a Suburu Car commercial, both of which I did not take him too, b/c I was concerned that the audition day was going to be too long for a two year old. For the Combi job, I was fortunate to have a friend taking her daughter to the same audition, so we decided to go together.
After getting Rowen onto the school bus, Arjun and I were off to the train station with my friend Jen and her daughter Maeve. It took about an hour to get to Tokyo where the audition was taking place. Fortunately for us, when we arrived there, we only had to wait a few minutes before our audition and the whole process was about 20 minutes. Not bad! I was expecting it to be a few hours ordeal, but alas, it was not! We had time to grab some lunch b/f getting back on the train to Yokosuka.
A couple of days later we found out that Arjun got the job! I was pretty excited b/c I don't want to do these auditions again and happy, that after our first one, he was hired :)

Sept. 11th: Japanese language class
Twice a year, the FFSC (Fleet & Family Support Center) offers a 10 week course in learning the Japanese language. I thought about doing it last year, but seeing as how we were still living in a hotel and still getting settled, I decided against it. But this year, I decided to do it. And actually, I think it was a better decision to wait b/c I have some basic Japanese under my belt and now have specific goals of how I want/need to communicate and can express what I want to learn to my teacher.
The 10 week course is held every Friday morning for 1.5 hours and is completely free! Our teacher, Nonbuko-san is a volunteer (how nice of her!) and is a member of the Yoksouka International Association. She is very nice and has taught us a lot of useful information in the past few weeks. There are 6 women in my class (2 that are my neighbors) and we're having a lot of fun in class. While I have no problem remembering what I've learned and using it in class while my teacher is present, I'm have a terrible time of remembering anything outside of class and applying it to my everyday life!! So frustrating!!
It is amazing to me that Rowen is correcting my Japanese whenever I manage to get a phrase out and he knows more than I do! This experience is really proving to me that while I am having a difficult time at my age learning a new language, it's easy for Rowen. Kids at that age are just complete sponges that soak everything in. Ahhh-to be young again!

Arjun's 2nd Birthday Party

2009-09-03T22:58:00.001+09:00

Last week, we celebrated Arjun's 2nd birthday by having a fun BBQ here on base.

I have to say that of all the birthday parties we've had, this one required a little elbow grease!
For two reasons, mainly: A couple of times when I visited the grocery store on base, they were either out of hot dog buns, or some other essential item I needed food wise. Secondly, the two places we can purchase bagged ice on base, were NOT SELLING bagged ice!! They weren't out of ice that particular day, but completely not selling it b/c their ice machines were deemed unsanitary during an inspection and thus could not sell dirty ice.

I'm glad that they didn't sell me dirty ice but was still worried about having a late afternoon BBQ with no ice!

Luckily, Tim was able to go to Chili's (yes, that's the restaurant I'm talking about, we have one on base :) They sold us ice for $5/cooler and I was SO happy that some establishment on base was able to help us out!

The party was at a playground on base near the water and since it was late afternoon/early evening, the weather was quite pleasant. Everyone had a good time and the food was just enough...something I was worried about b/c you never know how much food is too much.
Plus I ordered a half-sheet birthday cake, which I thought was going to be huge, but it was all gone at the end of the evening!!

After the party, the boys had a good time opening their gifts at home. Rowen had a little trouble understanding that it was Arjun's birthday and his gifts, but he was a good sport. Rowen is too funny-a fews days leading up to the party, whenever Rowen would see someone that was coming to the party, he would say, "Are you coming to our party on Friday?" I thought the OUR part was so interesting, and would ask him what he meant by that, and then he would quickly correct himself and say "Arjun's party", but it was still cute.

I guess they are too young to understand the exact details of everything, huh?

Tomorrow is Arjun's real birthday, Sept. 4th. Tim has been out of town all week and we are meeting up with him tomorrow in Tokyo to celebrate Arjun's birthday and stay for the long weekend. It should be fun. Arjun has become a big fan of blowing out candles, so as long as we do that tomorrow night, he'll be a happy little boy!

Arjun's 2nd Birthday Party Gallery

Seika Summer School

2009-08-23T20:31:00.000+09:00

For one week in August, the kids go back to school for summer swim at Seika.

Last week, Aug. 3-6th, Rowen boarded the choo-choo bus wearing his swim suit, carrying his school bag and hauling his Pokemon swimming float! And because summer school week is only half-days, Rowen had to bring lunch to school, another bag he was carrying!

Rowen looked like a porter with the amount of stuff he was carrying on the bus. Heehee-it was really funny. I had to take a picture :P

The hat he is wearing is not part of his regular uniform. The students make their own hat especially for summer school so their regular hat doesn't get ruined. He brought the hat home on the last day of school, July 17th, and it was the cutest thing. He was excited to finally wear it when summer school started.

Earthquake!!

2009-08-09T20:30:00.004+09:00

Just experience our first earthquake in Japan. Looks like it came in at 6.9 but in Yokosuka (one of the green dots on the map above), it measured at 3.0.

When I first felt the shaking, I wasn't sure what was going on...but then it continued and got worse, and I yelled, "Tim, it's an earthquake" at the top of my lungs!!

He was upstairs with the boys and they didn't feel anything. When he came, some things were still shaking, so he experienced it a little bit.

Whew! Glad it wasn't any worse than a 3.0!!

Hong Kong 2009

2009-08-04T21:37:00.009+09:00

We're back from Hong Kong and we had an amazing vacation!! This city is truly a must-do for anyone interested in international travel; we truly felt like we were in a big city in the states, like New York or San Francisco, except with an incredible international flare!

Our vacation was for 5 nights/6 days primarily b/c we wanted enough time to enjoy the city without overdoing it with the kids...plus we had two big travel days, basically allowing us 4 full days in Hong Kong. It was the perfect amount of time, although we wouldn't have minded staying longer :)

I'll tell you a little about the travel aspect since this was our first international family trip since we've moved to Japan (I say family, b/c I went to Beijing, China with a friend in April, but Tim and the kids didn't come with...)

Travel wise:

There are two airports to travel from Yokosuka: Haneda airport which is for domestic flights within Japan and is located approx. 40 minutes from us and Narita aiport which is for international flights and is about 2 hours from us...
Of course, we flew to Hong Kong from Narita aiport. There is a base airport shuttle bus that goes to Narita 3 times a day and returns 3 times a day and is for free. This is key b/c if we were to drive to the airport, which is possible if the bus times are convenient with flight times, the tolls to the airport are approx. $40 each way!! So unless absolutely necessary, people generally take the free base bus the airport.
We flew Cathay Pacific airlines, which was really nice. Almost all, if not all Asian airlines provide free beer and wine on the flights, which made Tim happy. Unfortunately, I could not partake :(
I did, however manage to land us bulk head row seating which was quite comfortable for us with the kids. You'd think that having two small children would grant us that seating but apparently the airline was quite sensitive to the fact that I was traveling while 20 weeks pregnant. They even asked for a doctor's note, which I didn't have b/c it isn't necessary in the states unless you're 30 weeks or later...Anyway, the airline was awesome.
We arrived in Hong Kong around 7:30 pm (one hour behind Japan) and had the airport limosine service waiting for us!! The airport is located on Lantau Island and was about 40 minutes driving distance from our hotel, Hotel Intercontinental, on Kowloon Island. The other island we visited during our trip was Hong Kong Island.

When we arrived at our hotel, it was absolutely breathtaking. Staying on Kowloon Island provided us with gorgeous views of the harbor, there really aren't words to describe it.

We had two rooms, which was a lifesaver b/c that allowed the boys to split up at bedtime and rest better. My mom slept with Arjun, and we slept with Rowen (who is easier to deal with, heehee :)

We were fortunate to get adjoining rooms, as well. But different than adjoining rooms we're used to. Instead of there being a door in the room to connect on the other side, the rooms had individual doors and then on the outside of both rooms was a little foyer area with two double doors that kept everything private and closed off. It was actually pretty cool and a great idea. so during the day, we would keep our room doors open but the main door on the outside would be shut, and could only be opened by room key, of course. The hotel also offered a butler service, we were pretty spoiled!! So if there was anything we needed, day or night, we just pushed the butler button and they would come to the door. They even offered to draw us baths for the evening but we didn't go that far (although, you know me, I was tempted)!! I'd imagine we would have had a lot of trouble leaving that place if we spoiled ourselves too much, haha!!

After a good night's sleep, we went to the pool first thing Friday morning. It was gorgeous and the pool service was great too. The weather was pretty hot and muggy in HK this time of year, so we swam pretty often, at least twice a day, once in the morning and before we went to bed at night.

After the pool, we had a very important errand to run. We FORGOT our stroller in Japan. YES, we forgot it. Tim and I must have had a complete brain lapse, b/c I don't think we've EVER gone anywhere without a stroller, and we managed to board an international flight without one!!
Luckily we found two cheap single strollers to get us through our vacation.
That afternoon for lunch, we found a cute tavern along the water that had great food. We were a little weary b/c no one was there, but were pleasantly surprised. We almost chose Outback Steakhouse for lunch, but decided not to be so lame and try something local :)

Later that evening, Tim and Arjun enjoyed a harbor cruise ride aboard the Aqualuna while my mom, Rowen, and I stayed back to and sat it the lobby to enjoy the nightly harbor lights show. Tim got to enjoy this from the boat. We were all going to go on the cruise, but the concerige recommend that I stay back b/c the water is really rough and I may get sick. Considering I get motion sickness without being pregnant, that was my que to stay off that boat!
When Tim returned, Arjun was asleep. Rowen hit the sack shortly after and my mom was pretty tired too. Even though Tim and I were tired...it's not too often we have someone to watch the kids on vacation, so we went out on the town!

Okay, it wasn't as exciting as it sounds, we weren't really out for that long...but we did have dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, and it was delicious!!

Saturday we visited an English bookstore, called Page One. Pretty exciting for us b/c Tim and I love going to the bookstore, and we haven't done that in over a year.
After finding a ton of great books for the kids, we grabbed lunch at an awesome supermarket/deli called City Super. I have to admit, this was one of the first times I found myself missing the states. This grocery store was amazing, filled with all sorts of international foods, but also with tons of organic things that I used to feed the kids, but can no longer find in Japan :(

Sunday and Monday were relaxing days...as vacation days should be :) On Sunday night, we re-visited Victoria Peak to see the Hong Kong skyline at night. It was absolutley breathtaking!
We sort of got a late start getting to the peak so the boys were pretty tired and didn't really want to cooperate too much. We took a sky tram on the mountain to get to the top and would like to have stayed longer but we have some tired kiddos. After the boys were tucked in on Sunday night, Tim and I were able to hang out in the lobby for a couple of hours and just take in the view and get some time to ourselves without the kids, thanks Mom!

On Monday, we started the day off with room service, which was the routine most mornings b/c the breakfast was SO good :) The boys of course wanted to go swimming and after naptime, we swam some more, until night time fell. I think that's a pretty good way to spend our last night in Hong Kong!

The next morning, we had to check-out :( Our limosine service was ready to take us back to the airport, but not without the staff wanting a picture with their favorite little guests :)

We left the hotel at 8 am that morning. After traveling to the airport, a 4 hour flight, customs/immigration in Tokyo and a two hour bus ride from Narita airport back to Yokosuka, we finally made it home--12 hours later!!!

But it was totally worth it.

Hong Kong Picture Gallery

Hong Kong here we come!

2009-07-22T23:47:00.010+09:00

We're headed to Hong Kong tomorrow, for 5 nights and 6 days!

We've been looking forward to this vacation for months now!!

I'll tell you all about it when we return next week!

Observation day at Rowen's school

2009-07-19T12:42:00.007+09:00

Friday was a special day at Rowen's Yochien. In the year that Rowen has been attending Seika Kindergarten, I have never really seen him in 'action' at school.

I remember taking him to Westminster preschool in Point Loma (San Diego) and it was never a big deal if I hung around to watch for a few minutes or came a few minutes early to watch before picking him up. Actually, it was encouraged for parents to peek in a little.

Well...that's not the case with Japanese schools...

Rowen is picked up in the morning and dropped off at home in the afternoon, so I've always been curious as to what he does at school and how he interacts with his Japanese classmates. Even in the times that I have dropped him off/or picked him up from school, I've been asked to wait in the school foyer area while his name is announced over the intercom and his teacher (Sensei) escorts him from his classroom to the school front entrance. Kind weird huh? And the funny thing is, is that when I ask Rowen how his day was at school or what he did that day, he says, "he ate rice, oranges and drank tea and played with clay." Interesting...

Observation day was from 11:30-12 pm on Friday afternoon. When I arrived at the school, it was so strange for me to take my shoes off and actually enter the school and head to his classroom!!
When I got to his room, there were chairs set up for the mothers to sit and observe the kids.

Rowen was just too cute. His facial expression revealed, "Why are you here??" But in a happy and excited sort of way.

The students sang their opening school songs and prepared for the 'observation day project' which was to draw a portrait of their mother.

Rowen sang all of his songs in Japanese and listened to his Sensei for his instructions on drawing his portrait. It still amazes me how he is able to function and participate in a Japanese school!! I am so proud of him :)

I had the option of taking him home with me(early, since it was noon, and he usually gets home at 3), which of course he wanted :) We got to spend the afternoon together before picking up Arjun at school.

Enjoy the video below of Rowen singing songs at school! Rowen is on the right-hand side of the video :)
**Warning, one of his classmates really likes to sing in a screeching voice, so turn your volume down!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-07-14T22:16:00.005+09:00

We celebrated Tim's 35th birthday today!

It was a pretty busy day seeing as how Tim was at work and both boys were in school, followed by Rowen's soccer practice and then swimming lessons for both boys!

Whew! I'm surprised I managed to make dinner tonight...but I did, and it was delicious! We had our friends over for dinner, Jen and Jamison Ridgeley and enjoyed a yummy ice cream cake for the birthday treat.

Rowen and Arjun really enjoyed blowing out the candles...repeatedly...

After the boys were in bed, we had a lot of fun playing Mario Cart and Nerf N-strike on Wii!!

Happy Birthday to the best husband and father in the world!!

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-04T23:00:00.006+09:00

It's hard to believe that just one year ago, we were celebrating the 4th by playing on the beach in Coronado.

This 4th of July holiday, we couldn't be farther from Coronado, but fortunately have made great friends in a short time to spend the holiday with.

The skies have been threatening rain for the past couple of days but fortunately it held off today. The weather was absolutely beautiful! At this time of year, it is hot and humid but the entire day was pleasant.

We enjoyed a BBQ at The Miller's house followed by an AMAZING fireworks display along the water. I don't think I've ever seen a fireworks display like this one. It was 3o minutes long and filled with fireworks that made everyone think it was the finale, but it wasn't.

I couldn't help but think about my girlfriends whose husbands are away defending our country's freedom. I pray that they are safe and sound hope they know how much we appreciate their service to our country.

As I watched the fireworks, I just held my boys close and lived in the moment, feeling very fortunate that we have Tim home with us...

Some big news...

2009-07-03T09:57:00.003+09:00

I realize I have been absent from the blogging scene, which I feel badly about! One would think that blogging shouldn't take that long and then when I sit down at the computer, there goes a 1/2 -1 hour!!

There has been so much going on that I want to tell everyone!! And with the holiday weekend here, I have some time to devote to our website :)

The biggest news first? We're expecting our third baby in the December!!

We're very excited! We actually found out April 9th when Grandma Marcia was visiting :)
One of the main reasons I took the pregnancy test was because I was leaving for Beijing the next day. China is basically a third-world country so knowing that I was pregnant when I was traveling there reminded me to NOT touch anything unless I absolutely had too, haha! I was also concious about what I ate and drank.

Anywhoo, I waited a little while to write a post about the little one b/c of course, we wanted to make sure everything was okay. And so far so good!! I'm 16 weeks along and feeling great.

The first couple of months were sort of rough though. Lots of nausea/vomiting and very tired, which is no fun while entertaining and taking care of two little boys! But as soon as I pass the 12-13 week mark, things started getting better. I am still pretty tired during the day but the morning sickness is pretty much gone.

Of course since we have two boys, I have been dying to find out what we're having. I think the time has been passing pretty slowly because of this too. Every week I wonder, "Can I go to the doctor and see if I'm far enough along to find out the gender??" Of course I would be so happy to have either a boy or a girl; all that really matters is that the baby is healthy. But how awesome would that be if we were going to have a girl?!?

Well lucky for me, our radiologist lives just across the way. He has kindly offered many times to take a 'courtesy' peek to see if we can determine the gender. So...on June 23rd, I took him up on his offer and headed over to the hospital to meet with him. We did indeed learn something that day!!

But...Jeff was only 80% sure, since I was only 15 weeks, so I waited for my follow-up visit on June 30. My doctor reminded that day that it could be a long shot in determining gender at such an early stage....but after she took one look, she confirmed what Jeff had seen...

We are indeed having a baby GIRL!!!!!!!!

I seriously cannot express my excitement in words! I just feel so blessed that we are having a little girl and that Rowen and Arjun will take such good care of her. Our little girl couldn't have asked for two better brothers!!

I'm also excited because I feel like everything will be new with her. Even though we're experience parents by now...she'll surprise us by doing things the boys never did.

We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Baby Girl Wimmer :)

Tsuyu

2009-06-08T22:16:00.003+09:00

June in Japan generally marks the beginning of tsuyu, the hot and rainy summer season.

Umbrellas and rain boots are seen everywhere! As most of you know, I LOVE rainy weather. It is a bit more difficult to enjoy with small children, but I still love it.

Although it doesn't rain every single day, most days are dark and gloomy. I have the say the one thing I don't like about the rainy season is that it means the hot and humid weather is just around the corner. Yuck.

Even though most people don't enjoy the rainy season, it marks a very beautiful time here.

Hydrangeas, one of my favorite flowers, are in full bloom and are a symbol of the rainy season here. And some people believe that historical places such as Kyoto and Nara, are considered better to visit during a good rain to really soak in the mood. Traditional Japan takes on a romantic and spiritual sense during this season.

I remember the first time Rowen saw rain in San Diego. It rarely rains there (which saddens me :) Anyway, we were getting out of the car to go to lunch and he starts screaming, wet!! wet!!...
I had to calm him down and explain that we were only going a few steps to the restaurant and that he would be okay...

If he could only remember that moment. Now when they notice it's raining, Rowen and Arjun grab their rain coats and hurry off to jump in the puddles :)

Things are growing!

2009-05-28T20:00:00.004+09:00

I cannot believe that we are enjoying vegetables grown in our garden! They seriously must grow on their own b/c I do not have a green thumb...I can barely remember to water them everyday!

The boys get so excited if they see something that is ready to be picked. Whether it's a green bell pepper, a cucumber, or a tomato, they are really excited to eat it. They certainly don't get that excited about veggies purchased from the market!

My mom still can't believe we have a vegetable garden so I'm looking forward to her enjoying the fruits of our 'labor'...haha! She'll be in a few weeks to witness that I am not killing the plants, that they are actually surviving!

Big claw = silly toy

2009-05-28T19:13:00.000+09:00

There is a toy vending machine at the store on base. Ever since Tim bought the boys one toy from there, they think they should get a toy every time we're at the store.

Money isn't even the issue. I think it's 25 cents or something.

After inserting the quarter and there are two buttons to push a big claw towards that toy of your choice.

It's not like the claw toy machines in the states that NEVER end of grabbing anything for you. I sort of wish this was the case so the boys would just give up when the claw never produces a toy.

No. This machine, Rowen affectionately calls it the 'big claw', grabs many little toy containers and deposits them in the collection bin. Of course the boys are going to get excited and return to the machine EVERY time we're there...it give them a bunch of useless junk!

The toys that come out of the containers are so hideous, and half the time we don't even know what said plastic junk is. The latest 'claw' toy is a beautiful necklace that Rowen wanted to wear.

Exactly what I want my 3 year old boy to be wearing. I guess that's what you get for a quarter, huh?

Yearly check-ups

2009-05-20T21:44:00.005+09:00

The child care center on base reminded me the other day that they didn't have updated shot records for Arjun.

Oops. 18 month shots? I swear I remembered when Rowen was 18 months. Of course I did, b/c he was my only child, heehee.

I didn't mean to forget about Arjun's 18 month check up, it just sort of happened ;) And it's fine if he's 21 months now and getting his 18 month shots, right? At least he's getting them!

I was correct about Rowen's shots though. There are no shots for 3 year olds. But...he did need to get a PPD test (the tuberculosis test). I don't think the PPD test is required for children in the states, but since tuberculosis is considered the most fatal infectious disease in Asia, kids are required to have the test here. Good enough reason for me.

Arjun's appointment was the same as always. And of course he cried a little during his shots.

He can take it though; he's a big boy!! He weighed in at 25 lbs and is 28 inches tall. I can't believe how big he has gotten.

Rowen had a lot of 'firsts' during his doctor's appt. After the usual measurements were taken (height/weight), he had his temperature taken 'the big boy' way. He wasn't too sure of sticking the instrument in his mouth and he didn't quite understand that it had to be underneath his tongue, but he did a good job!

He also had his blood pressure taken. He was the cutest thing with the blood pressure cuff on his arm and he sat there so patiently while he was examined.

The last part of Rowen's exam was his visual test. He has never been asked to read the eye chart on the wall and I was curious how this was going to go. I actually got quite nervous b/c when the nurse was asking him to identify the various letters and pictures on the chart, he said he didn't know/couldn't see them!! What ?!?!

This made me extremely anxious. I have bad (very bad) eyesight and was completely worried that he was having trouble seeing!! Forget the fact that he can see just fine and was just being shy and didn't want to answer the nurse's questions. Duh.

Lastly, Rowen had to get his shot. He was a bit upset with me about this b/c I had told him that there would be no shots. Oops again. I was sort of right, no yearly shots, but didn't realize it was time for his PPD test.

Well, it didn't matter anyway b/c he was such a big boy during this process. It was sort of weird actually. He looked right at the needle the whole time he was being injected. Didn't cry or wince a bit.

Hmm...do we have a doctor in the making?? Tim would just love that!

Boys Day

2009-05-05T22:09:00.000+09:00

If you travel through Japan from the middle of April to early May, you will notice something interesting flying high above the rooftops and blowing in the wind.

Nearly everywhere you go, huge, multi-colored Koi-Nobori, carp-shaped wind socks made of paper or cloth, and they fill with wind, beautifully illustrating the start of spring and Kodomi no Hi.

Kodomi no Hi, also known as Children's Day, is celebrated in Japan on May 5th. This holiday originally started out as Tango no Sekku, which means Boy's Day. But after World War II, the holiday was changed to celebrate and promote the health and happiness of all children, not just boys. Even though May 5th is children's day, the tradition and decortations still reflect that of Boy's Day.

The carp has become the symbol of the Boys' Festival because the Japanese consider it the most spirited of fish. A carp is flown for each son in the family, a very large one for the eldest, the others ranging down in size. Together with long red and white ribbons, the carp are hoisted on a bamboo pole, mounted by a pair of gilded pinwheels, and flown outside families homes.

We had the pleasure of celebrating this day with Tasaka-san and his family. This is a big day for them b/c Tasaka-san and his wife have 4 grandsons! In their home they displayed something similar to what I described in my post about Hinamatsuri. Their Boys' day display consisted of samurai dolls wearing kabuto, which are samurai helmets and the dolls are holding swords. I learned of the significance of kabutos when Rowen came home with a paper helmet that he had at made Yochien, in honor of boys day.

While dressing up the boys in a cultural vest and headband, we were offered kashiwa-mochi, a rice cake stuffed with bean paste and wrapped in an oak leaf, which is also a symbol of strength.

Displayed at the entrance of Tasaka-san's home were Iris flowers, also in bloom during this time, and are placed in the home to ward off evil.

Our first garden!

2009-05-02T20:54:00.000+09:00

I am really excited about our new garden that we planted over the weekend! I never thought I would ever grow a garden, because I do not have a green thumb and did not enjoy helping my mom with her garden when I was growing up :)

Having a garden was really never a possibility in San Diego because we didn't have a back yard. Also, the boys were too young anyway. I think half the fun in having a garden is the enjoyment kids get from helping to water the plants and witnessing the fruits of our labor!

After getting some advice from a few of my neighbors that have grown gardens in the past, we head to Home's (the Japanese Home Depot here) to get all of our garden essentials. We have opted this year to grow everything in large pots or barrels instead of digging up the backyard. I am hoping that is sufficient for plant growth :)

Of course, there is always the language barrier when shopping out in town and garden shopping was no different. Just as I was finishing up in the garden area, a woman that was with her husband and child, noticed I was having a communication problem with an employee. (I was asking her if I had picked up the right pots for my tomato plants ).

God must have been looking down on me today b/c this woman was SO KIND and SO HELPFUL and spoke great English!! How great is that?? Not only did she help me pick up the right pots and barrels for my gardening but she also helped me pick up the right plants. Apparently, I had picked up Del Monte vegetable plants, not Japanese plants. Del Monte will produce English vegetable, not Japanese, like we have been enjoying here...
She was wondering if I had intended to pick up Del Monte or if I wanted to grow Japanese vegetables in my garden.

Of course I wanted Japanese vegetables, especially the cucumbers!! They are the best!! But all the plant labels were in Japanese, so I had to pick my plants according to the pictures that were provided :) Obviously, I picked incorrectly!

After graciously thanking the woman that helped me tremendously at the garden center, we had a quick lunch at the Japanese McDonald's at the store. Fried shrimp burger anyone?? (I haven't tried but Tim says it is quite good).

Later that afternoon, we got out our gardening gloves and shovels and began planting! It didn't take us too long and before we knew, we had a pretty good garden in our backyard.
I watered that immediately and prayed to the garden gods that our plants will grow!

*Funny follow-up story*
I was reading a book called "You Grow Girl" last night before I went to bed. The last chapter I read was specifically about tomato plants and various bugs/animals that can attack them. I didn't think that reading about slugs and snails attacking tomato plants would affect me that much, but I didn't sleep very well last night! Some of my dreams through the course night were about slugs/snails attacking my very own garden!! How weird and funny is that?

Kanazawa Zoo

2009-04-16T20:57:00.006+09:00

While Grandma Marcia was here, we made a trip to the Kanazawa Zoo.

We had heard a lot about this qaint little zoo but this was our first trip. Getting there was super easy on the toll roads, and the zoo even has its own toll booth, so after you pay your toll, the road from the booth takes you directly into the zoo parking lot.

Admission was inexpensive at 500 yen per adult and the kids were free! I am going to be sad when the 3 and younger doesn't apply to Rowen anymore!! We've saved a lot of money over the past few months with that rule. Especially with our Tokyo Disneyland tickets!! (that post to come soon :)

After we purchased our tickets, the entrance of the zoo was an indoor hallway, about a few hundred feet long with the cutest display of animals and lights that the boys just loved! To name a few things, there were animals playing in an orchestra, an animated spider coming in/out of its web, and a rocketship/space scene that was really cool.

We exited out of the indoor area and were now in the zoo part and there was a beautiful waterfall display before we started our walk through the zoo. This zoo is small in comparison to most zoos but the animals were plentiful and we got pretty close to some of them, like the elephant and the giraffe.

After we did a full circle around the zoo, we had lunch at the only reataurant there, which was really good.

I definitely see us returning to this place in the future! This being our first time, we really had a lot of fun, and the cherry blossoms in bloom made the day even better!

Achoo! Yellow sand from the Gobi Desert...

2009-04-09T23:05:00.000+09:00

As much as 5 million tons of yellow sand from China blow over Japan every year! That's alot isn't it???

I have been sneezing like crazy for the past 1-2 weeks and my throat has been really itchy... I didn't know about this yellow sand issue until my Japanese friend told me about it today.

Yellow sand storms originate from China every spring. This yellow dust is fine sand from Mongolia's Gobi Desert which sometimes includes toxic chemical smog emitted by Chinese factories. Winds pick up fine sand and dust particles and carry them thousands of kilometers into the air.

They’re blown to the east by air currents and fall on the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It’s practically impossible to stop the high-flying particles, so people resort to shielding their faces with masks and hats, closing windows, postponing outdoor activities, and covering equipment with tarps.

Gotta love allergies in the springtime!

Out to lunch for Kamameshi

2009-04-07T22:43:00.004+09:00

Tori Gin Restaurant in Hayama

I can't believe it's been 8 months since I met my Japansese friends and started teaching them English.

We usually meet twice a month at my house or at Starbucks on base. But lately we've been mixing it up a bit and going out for an occasional lunch out in town.

This has been really fun because they are introducing me to local places off the beaten path.

This week, we went to Tori Gin in Hayama to have kamameshi , which means 'kettle rice'.

Kamameshi is a Japanese rice dish cooked in a iron pot with a variety of meats, seafood, and vegetabables. By cooking the dish in an iron pot, the rice gets slightly burned at the bottom which adds a discernable taste to the rice and dish overall.

Tori Gin is definitely a place I want to visit again.

To my Yokosuka friends out there, lunch date anyone?

Fertilty present

2009-04-06T22:38:00.002+09:00

If you go to a fetility festival in Japan, you will get this lovely gift...

I'm definitely NOT taking my kids to this event, should I ever go...

Beautiful Sakura!

2009-04-05T22:45:00.003+09:00

Japan is SO beautiful during cherry blossom season!!

I have seen cherry blossoms before when I was living in DC during grad school, but to see them in Japan while living here was incredible!

Grandma Marcia is visiting right now and boy did she visit at the right time of year. The weather has been beautiful and the blossoms have made our somewhat oridinary base into a beautiful place to live :)

During the Cherry Blossom Festival open base event, open meaning anyone is allowed onto base, we enjoyed music, American/Japanese food, and various kids activities while walking around base and taking pictures under the cherry blossoms. One of the kids activities involved kids getting dressed up firefighter uniforms and getting pictures taken inside the base firetruck. Isn't that every little boys dream??

There were SO many Japanese people on base for this festival, it was amazing! And of course, the pizza restaurant on base was fully prepared with hundreds of pizzas ready for takeout, b/c the Japanese LOVE our American style pizzas!! And just as I suspected, I saw many of them carrying two or three large pizzas around with them so they could enjoy their LARGE pizzas once they got home :) They are so funny when it comes to doing stuff on base. They love to come onto base to see the big ships and get pizzas and cinnabon to take home. I love them & their culture :)

Seika Entrance Ceremony...with Grandma!

2009-04-04T19:23:00.005+09:00

Sigh. I must sit through yet another Seika ceremony!

Rowen's new school year has started and Grandma Marcia was here to attend his Yochien Entrance Ceremony!

Arjun is so proud of his big brother Rowen

Typically, students only have to attend one entrance ceremony during their time at the school, not every new school year. But since Rowen started school in the middle of the year, in October, this was his official entrance ceremony into the school. Plus, he moved up a class this year, so it was a special day for all of us.

After a speech from his principal, the entire school staff was introduced. Including the bus drivers, the office staff, and the lunch staff. Very cool to see all them and have them formally introduced b/c I see them very often but don't know exactly who they are.

The teachers and students also sang many school songs, like their morning prayer song and good bye song. It was great to hear those songs and learn what the words mean. I think I recognized some of the songs b/c Rowen sings them at home!!

After the ceremony was over, the older class presented the younger classes with a cute gift-a blue polkadot plush elephant and a children's book about what goes on during a Japanese school day.

Rowen also had his class picture taken this day as well.

I was glad that Marcia was able to see Rowen at his ceremony, visit his Japanese school and see what it looks like, and meet his teachers. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom as well, so it was a beautiful day in Japan!

Grandma Marcia with Tim and Arjun
*Seika Entrance Ceremony Pictures*

Fun with Legos!

2009-04-01T23:14:00.001+09:00

I have found a great place to take the boys when the weather turns yucky outside.

Near Costco is the Yokohama Bayside Marina outlet mall. It is filled with all sorts of outlet shops: Lacoste, Columbia, Puma, Eddie Bauer, and a selection of kids outlet stores too. I can't see myself buying clothing items there b/c I've heard the biggest size they carry is similar to a US size small.

Anyway, in the kids section is a great soft play area and a Legos store. Yes, Legos!!
Do they have huge Legos stores in the states, with different areas all over the store filled with legos that kids can play with? I wouldn't know b/c my kids weren't really into Legos when we were living in San Diego.

I haven't heard too much about this outlet center while living in Yokosuka. I'm not sure how many people know it exists. B/c if people knew, I'm sure the word would have gotten around, and it hasn't.

Rowen and Arjun had such a blast and it was so easy to spend a couple of hours there. We had a yummy lunch there and still went back to play with Legos a bit before heading home.

Of course, I had to buy them a little something from the store so they could continue their lego building when we got home :)

Tuna with dinner

2009-03-30T23:16:00.005+09:00

We had sushi tonight at our favorite sushi-go-round restaurant. I think it's called Ni-gee-ri?
I can't read the sign outside the restaurant, but that's the name that comes up on our credit card bill.
Another reason, I love that place. They take credit :)

Same great food tonight, but a new experience...

At 6pm, they rang a bell, and unveiled a HUGE tuna that had been sitting there while we were eating. I guess, every once in a while, they will do the cutting, skinning, deboning (and whatever else they do to fish) of a particular fresh fish. After they finish the process, they serve the fish in the restaurant as well as sell pieces to their patrons to take home with them.

It was pretty cool to watch!

Now if we can only make it to Tokyo and go to the fish market there...in the wee hours of the morning...so hard to manage with the little ones!

Markers and labels

2009-03-29T19:22:00.003+09:00

I packed my bag last night in order to be ready for Yochien Stationary Day today. I remembered my indoor slippers but forgot my name tag. The Seika Yochien name tag has my name written in Japanese and who I am, Rowen's mommy, and what class Rowen is in. I ALWAYS forget my name tag! And then when I got to Seika, I had to sign in as a guest and wear a sticker with my name on it, that never sticks to my shirt. Sigh.

Also, in my bag was white out, a permanent (pAH-mah-nent as pronounced by Japanese) marker, scissors, transparent tape, and...labels that I made for Rowen with his name and class on them, in Japanese. If you missed my previous post on how I learned to write Rowen's name in Japanese, click here.

I was all ready for stationary day. And what a day it was!

It started at 1pm and I arrived at Seika at 12:30pm. I checked in and was given a ticket with #24 on it.

Yes. I was given a ticket number for Rowen's school stationary day.

Are you surprised? Don't they have stationary day at your child's school in the states??

HA!! I'm sure they probably don't...and I don't have any pictures to show you b/c in addition to forgetting my name tag, I also forgot my camera.

Okay. So I wasn't as prepared as I should have been :)

I wish you could have seen what went on at stationary day, though.

Here's a recap:

I received ticket #24 and proceeded to the school gym and wait for stationary day to begin. During this time, I got organized by getting my white out and other stationary items out of my bag...and showing off my labels, heehee :) I also mingled with some other moms, talking about school, etc.
There was a speech from the principal, Encho Sensei Kawabata. There is ALWAYS a speech from her at a Seika event. She is the sweetest women and so great with the kids!
Teachers passed out treats, lollipops and other goodies to the kids who came with their parents that afternoon.
Finally, they started calling numbers off, in increments of 10. Hmmm...I still had a few minutes to wait.
After they called #20-30, I walked with the other #20-30 mothers into a classroom where they were taking payment for the new school year supplies.
After paying, I walked over to another table to pick up Rowen's new items. His new items included new books, a school bag, and painting supplies. Rowen will be painting now that he has been promoted to the next class.
After receiving his new school items, I went back into the gym and sat down at my table to begin labeling EVERYTHING in site. And I mean everything. A marker, for example, will have his name on the top and bottom cap and on the marker itself. It seems tedious, but they really want to make sure that everyone's school belongings stay with that student and don't get mixed up.
I was finished labeling after about an hour. Some mothers were labeling for more than one child that attended the yochien. So, they were there for a while!
After I was finished, I packed up all of Rowen's things and gave it to his teacher to put in his classroom. These items do not go home. They always stay at the school.

My last task was to call the base and send a 'off-base' taxi to come and get me. There is no parking around the school (as I have mentioned before...) so it's either by bus or taxi that I usually get to Seika.

I hope you got an idea of stationary day was like at a Japanese Yochien!

A successful shopping trip

2009-03-26T22:13:00.006+09:00

Shopping in Japan is quite an experience. Stores here are filled with eclectic school supply items, stationary of all sorts, and almost every store has some sort of play land or amusement park area for kids of all ages to enjoy.

While I have enjoyed shopping in Japan for stuff that I can't find in the states, I would like to go shopping and find some of the things that I would buy back home.

Not an easy task. The base has a general store where you can find everyday necessities, but if you don't buy it the day you see it, (even if you don't need it right away), the next time you go back, it will be gone.
I am not exaggerating. I think I started shopping for Easter supplies and candy right after Valentine's Day because a friend told me that sometime around March, all the supplies would diminish.

Don't get me started on the commissary (the base grocery store). I can't exactly stock up on groceries because I don't have two refrigerators and, hello? Expiration date?

Even though I'm complaining about shopping for favorites from back home, I did have a good shopping experience today.

While Arjun was at the CDC, Rowen and I went to Costco. I love Costco. I shopped at Costco A LOT in San Diego.

But it wasn't for bulk food items. Or at least not for bulk dry food items.
The San Diego Costco always had the best fresh fruit for a reasonable price which my boys practically lived on. And I felt good that they were eating so healthy.

Some of the other things I loved about the Mission Valley Costco:

Photo Center. They have the BEST photo center. Our professional photographer in San Diego even recommends going there to develop her session pictures. And so cheap! If you live near a Costco and are not using them for photo development, try them. You will love it! I haven't developed photos since I've been here b/c there isn't a place to do so. I've printed a few off of my printer, but not enough to fill an album. That will be a BIG project when we return to the states.
The book selection (for adults and kids) and the prices!
Toys, which were really only available around Christmas, but always cheaper and sometimes unique from what I would find at Target.
Wine selection-it's the best!

And...so many other items, I could go on and on!

Costco was especially great at carrying miscellaneous items-you know the ones I'm talking about. A pack of 1000 stickers, a three pack of swim goggles, lawn chairs for kids, a children's crayola fun pack, a ten pack of sticky hooks....

Today, I found some of those great misc. items!!

Kiddies to Go toy bins. These are fabulous. They are the cutest red toy bins that have a long handle and a deep bin for toys and also have wheels! The boys have had the best time taking toys from one room to the next or just carting them around empty. (We're still working on them actually filling the bins up with toys during cleanup time :)
A children bench for the backyard. I didn't realize I needed this until I saw it. And then when Rowen sat down on it, I was sold. All the playdoh, crafting, painting, and other messy activities, including lunch can now be done outside! Weather pending, of course.
Preschool activity books. The bookstore on base is AWFUL!!! It's not even a bookstore, it's a SMALL section of the main store, one you would find at Walmart or Target. Not enough, in my opinion. So I found these great activity books for Rowen, which are fun but also educational in the 123's and ABC's, especially important since he attends Japanese school.
Chocolate croissants. These are not necessarily misc, but they are delicious!
Clip on flash lights for backpacks or what ever else kids want to use them for...
An orgnizational closet for the laundry room. Self explanatory and a much needed addition to the room.

We had a good shopping trip today. All the items we purchased are things we could have found back home and could have put to good use.

An added bonus: Rowen was well-behaved and a pretty good shopping companion.

Too slow

2009-03-24T18:00:00.005+09:00

I have been trying to exercise more.

Trying.

Lately, exercise has just consisted of walking the boys around the base in the double jogger. If I walk fast enough, I usually break a sweat.

But...just as I gain momentum during my walk...

"Mommy?" said Rowen.

I didn't hear him the first time. I sometimes listen to my iPod when I'm walking with them.
(Before I had kids, if I saw a mommy wearing headphones while walking her children in a stroller, I thought it was the worst display of parenting! Hmm...whho am I too judge?? Haha!)

"Mommy?" again coming from Rowen's mouth and this time he's turned around to get my attention.

Rowen needed his dump truck that he dropped from the stoller some few steps back.

"Ugh! Rowen! Can you try and keep your things in the stroller and not bother mommy for a few minutes, because I'm trying to get some exercise?"

"Sure Mommy", he mutters while paying more attention to his rescued dump truck.

During our outing, I actually got a chance to do a little running. My heavy panting was proof that I am more out of shape than I thought.

After we check our mail at the hospital (Tim's command is the hospital, therefore our mailboxes are located there...) and stop to say Hi to daddy, we continue on home. There is a short cut home via a big hill that cuts through across base. Key word: big hill.

When we're in the car, the boys love this hill and always want to drive on the 'hillaaah'. That's how Rowen has been saying everything lately: milk, milkaaah bed, bedaaah...

As I start walking up the hill, I'm thinking, crap, this is NOT easy pushing this double stroller up this huge hill with these heavy kids inside!

I am completely dying and still have a bit further until I've reach flat ground when one of my supportive kids chimes in.

I hear him the first time because I forgot to turn my iPod on.

"Why are we going so slow Mommy"? "Go faster on the hillaaah"!

Apparently, Rowen isn't enjoying the hillaaah as much as he does in the car.

Even worse, as I've almost reached the top (doesn't it sound like I'm climbing Mt. Fuji-HA!), Arjun drops one of his toys out on the hill and it starts rolling down hill.

I quickly put the brake on the jogger and start hustling down hill so his toy doesn't get too far from me and then jet back up hill to grab the stroller (we were still on an incline, not the best place for a stroller!)

Whew-that was quite the morning! Maybe tomorrow morning, the boys can push me around in the stoller :-)

A full circle moment

2009-03-16T23:32:00.000+09:00

On Sunday we spent the afternoon in Enoshima and Kamakura.

Enoshima Aquarium faces Sagami Bay and has amazing views of Mt. Fuji and Enoshima Island.
I have taken the boys to the Enoshima Aquarium in the past but Tim hadn't been there before. The boys were pretty excited to see all the animals when we got there. Mostly they were just happy to get out of the car and run around. The drive to Enoshima is around 40 minutes without traffic and it's a great place to go when the weather isn't cooperating. Today, it was gray and rainy.

Enoshima is also very popular for beach lovers and surfers. Around here, it's the closest Japan is going to get to California for us :)

After roaming around the aquarium a bit, we sat down for the dolphin show. The kids haven't enjoyed it in the past as much as they did today. Especially Arjun. He was really focused on watching the dolphins do flips in the air, of course while enjoying his yummy popcorn. I didn't know he liked popcorn? Huh. Note to self.

After the aquarium, we were ready for lunch in Kamakura.

Kamakura is just a few kilometers away from Enoshima, up the Kanagawa coast. In addition to having a beach, there are many historical monuments and shrines to visit, making Kamakura a very poplular tourist destination.

There is a really great Hawaiian restaurant that I wanted Tim to try so that's where we headed for lunch. The food was really yummy and as always, the boys enjoyed their curry rice :•)

Another special treat that Kamakura has to offer is Blue Seal Ice Cream. Blue Seal brings back some fond memories...

Blue Seal is a famous Okinawan ice cream company. Not only do they serve ice cream, but they sell some hot food as well, like Okinawan taco rice (so good!) and logo hats, bags, and t-shirts.

Tim and I had Blue Seal ice cream many years ago. Back in 2001-2002, Tim lived in Okinawa and was a GMO (general medical officer) on a marine base there. Tim raved about Blue Seal while he lived there and I had the opportunity to try it when I visited him in March of 2002. It was delicious! One of the most popular flavors is 'Ube', or sweet potato. It may sound weird to have a sweet potato-flavored ice cream, but it is actually very good!

Today, while sitting with Tim and the boys enjoying Blue Seal in Kamakura, I couldn't help but recall the memories of Okinawa so long ago, when Tim and I were dating and our future together was so uncertain. (I was in grad school in DC and he had many years in the Medical Core ahead of him...)

I haven't had Blue Seal since that night with Tim back in March 2002.

Now...seven years later, March 2009, we shared a scoop of Ube again. The experience was much sweeter though, because our two little boys were in tow.

I don't think I've had a full circle moment before.

But I have now.

"Opposite" Valentine's Day

2009-03-14T10:48:00.006+09:00

In Japan, White Day is celebrated on March 14th, exactly one month from Valentine's Day. White Day is the 'answer day' meaning that men should pay the women back for the gifts they received on Valentine's day.

I didn't really know about this occasion until Tim and I were roaming around More City (shopping plaza) and came across the signs and candy displays.

I wan't sure what White Day was, and when I asked, this is the explanation I got:

If you didn't understand the picture (haha!!), this is what it means:

It's 'opposite' Valentine's Day in Japan, where typically the girlfriend gives gifts to her boyfriend.

The boyfriend then thanks his girlfriend for his Valentine's gifts by giving chocolates and candy to her on White Day.

In South Korea, not only do they celebrate 'White Day', but they also observe 'Black Day', a holiday for those that are happy and single.

Rowen's not tired....really.

2009-03-11T21:43:00.002+09:00

I realize Rowen is 3 now and he is phasing his naps out.

I understand.

Really.

Want to guess who doesn't understand? You guessed it!

Rowen INSISTS on a daily basis, a number of things:

1) First thing in the morning, he wakes up and tells me he doesn't want to nap that day. Fine.
2) If he doesn't have school that day, he will tell me that he doesn't want to have quiet time, b/c he's not tired and doesn't want to nap. Fine.
3) If Arjun is also home that day, he will try to keep Arjun awake as well. NOT FINE!!
4) As the evening rolls around, he will tell us that he does not want to go to bed, b/c...he's not tired. Fine. I get it already.

Today, when he failed to stay in his room for quiet time, he asked me if he could come downstairs.

"FINE! Just don't wake up your brother," I yelled upstairs to him.

While sitting on the couch, actually trying to be good, he was asking me about Arjun's sleep schedule: basically, why is Arjun sleeping and when is he going to wake up so we can go to the playground?

During this exhausting conversation...well...I'll let the picture speak for itself.

I don't think he's tired, do you?

Katakana

2009-03-09T12:47:00.005+09:00

Katakana is the syllable based writing system of the Japanese language.

I obviously can't read or write Japanese but I have been learning to write our names in Japanese, especially Rowen's.

Since Rowen attends Seika Yochien, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is labeled with his name on it: his uniform (bowtie, shoes, shirt...), school stationary (crayons, paint, clay, books, paste...). If you can think of a school item, I betcha' it has his name on it!

As Rowen's school year comes to a close (the Japanese school year starts in April), he is starting to bring all his school supplies home. Everything I have labeled for him reads ROWEN and everything the school has labeled reads:

During spring break, all the Seika parents are required to attend 'Stationary Day' where we purchase and label the stationary for the coming school year. I would really like to label all of Rowen's belongings in Japanese, rather than in English.

So I have been learning how to write his Japanese name...but it still doesn't look right.
And...I can't imagine making I-don't-even-know-how-many labels of an English-written Rowen, in Japanese!!

SO!!! Guess what I found??? A Katakana font for Mac computer!!! I was SO HAPPY when I came across this font while Google searching the other day :)

There was even a keyboard guide that helped me search for the keys that represent the Katakana symbols for Rowen's name. And I also learned what each Japanese symbol stood for in his name.

After you sound it out, isn't the pronunciation in Japanese different?

Very interesting, what a different language will do to your name!

As for Seika stationary day, I am all set! I've used the Mac Katakana font to create a number of labels illustrating Rowen's name in Japanese!

Doll Festival

2009-03-03T23:23:00.003+09:00

Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival), also known as, Girl's Day, is celebrated on March 3rd.

This is the day families pray for the happiness and prosperity of their girls and to help ensure that they grow up healthy and beautiful.

I was happy to see my friend's beautiful Hinamatsuri display in her living room.
It was a 3-tiered platform covered in red felt fabric (hi-mōsen) and was adorned with Japanese dolls representing the Emperor, Empress, Sake women, and various ornaments.

The doll displays can have many tiers, as many as 7, and can include other kinds of dolls, representing the Imperial Court.

My friend kindly explained the arrangement of her display to me:

While the dolls on the hina dan (Japanese platform) can have a different placement from right to left, or vice versa, the dolls displayed per level are always exact.

On the top tier, the imperial dolls represent the Emperor and Empress and are usually placed in front of a gold screen. She also has two silk lanterns (optional) decorated with cherry blossoms, one on each side of the stand.

The second tier represents three court women holding sake equipment, aka 'Sake Women', with the middle woman always sitting down.

The third tier, which is the last tier on her platform, has miniature furniture, a sword, and a carriage displayed.

Also on the bottom tier, one on each end, is a mandarin orange tree (Ukon no tachibana) and a cherry blossom tree (Sakon no sakura).

Most families set up their doll displays around mid-February and put them away immediately after Hina Matsuri is over. There is a superstition that says, families that are slow to put away their dolls will have trouble marrying their daughters off!

Since we don't have any girls, I am looking forward to Tango no Sekku (Boy's Day) on May 5th.
We'll honor Rowen and Arjun by flying multi-colored kites while drinking some coronas. We have to celebrate Cinco de Mayo too, right?

We celebrate Dr. Seuss

2009-03-03T01:06:00.003+09:00

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

Nightmares? It's your call

2009-03-02T09:29:00.004+09:00

Rowen has been getting up in the middle of the night recently.
Last night, after he had woken up, Tim went into his room to lay down with him.

"I think Rowen has been having dreams or something and that's why he's been waking up," Tim said to me this morning.

"Really? Are they scary ones?" I said, while thinking these 'dreams' are probably about cars, trucks, or any other boy-related item.

Tim responds, "Well, I don't think they are nightmares, per se..."

Last night, Tim heard Rowen say, "No mommy, it's an oval...(and other mumbling as he fell back to sleep)"

Maybe he is having nightmares...about shapes?!?

Or we could just lay off the preschool learning for a bit...

Happy 3rd Birthday Rowen!

2009-02-17T23:00:00.004+09:00

I had balloons waiting for Rowen today when he woke up. I cannot believe he is 3 years old!!
He has grown up (I'm not talking about maturity here, but rather height and shoe size...) too quickly.

Rowen had school today and along with his start-of-the-school-week bag, he boarded the bus with a bag of birthday treats for his classmates.

When he returned from school, I had a special treat (a lollipop and a little car) for him and we played for a little bit before dinner.

Not too many places to go for dinner, as you all may know...
So...if you think we had a celebratory dinner at the same locale where we celebrated Arjun's 1st birthday, then you are correct!

On our way to Chili's, I made a quick little stop.

**Back when we celebrated Arjun's birthday, Rowen had an ambulance toy that he brought to the restaurant that night. Sometime, after that night, we couldn't find the ambulance and Rowen kept asking us about it. We had no idea where that toy went. He didn't leave it at Chili's b/c we called them and checked. No toy.
Well...around Christmas time, he started looking for said ambulance and we still had NO idea where his toy could be!
With all the other presents he received, he seemed to forget about the ambulance...until one day I was flipping through photos on the computer, and Rowen saw a photo that included him with the ambulance at the restaurant, that very night!! Why do I look through photos when the kids are around!?!

Completely out of the blue, I run into a woman who has babysat for Rowan and Arjun in the past. In the middle of our conversation, she says, "Hasn't Rowen been asking about his ambulance? He left it at my house a couple of months ago and I have stored away for you, so pick it up whenever!"

Hearing that was like magic to my ears!! When I told Tim the story, he couldn't believe that the ambulance was there all along!**

SO...my quick stop was at the babysitter's house to pick up the ambulance and present it to Rowen in the car on the way to Chilis. He was so surprised :)

Needless to say, we had a lovely dinner at Chili's and Rowen was happy with his ambulance.
The staff sang happy birthday to Rowen, where again, he was shy and embarressed. BUT, they did bring him a yummy piece of cheesecake that he and Arjun devoured!

I'd say Rowen had a pretty good day!

Favorite toy recovered + more presents + yummy cheesecake = GREAT 3rd birthday

Rowen is 3!

Seika Yochien Art Day

2009-02-14T23:00:00.008+09:00

My boy can draw!

Seika Yochien held it's Art Exhibition on Feb. 14th from 10-2pm. This was a busy day for us, b/c Rowen's 3rd birthday party was later that afternoon.

My friends told me about this exhibition when Rowen enrolled at Seika. About how impressed I'd be at his work, and how talented (because of their teachers) the kids are at crafting and drawing.

Now that Rowen has been going to school at Seika for about 4 months, he's really excited to show us around when we get there. He takes off his shoes, puts on his slippers, and directs up to his classroom. So cute.

After putting our slippers on, we entered the hallways, and WOW, the artwork was amazing!!
(ok...I'm being dramatic...but really, it was neat :)

I've learned to recognize Rowen's name in Kanji. So when we entered his classroom, I began searching for his art.

All of the art was so impressive. Especially the older classes art displays. Obviously, the art wasn't Van Gough...but the sheer volume of art and the time spent on preparing it was impressive.

We were so proud of our little guy. I was so glad to witness what Rowen does during school hours. The time and energy Seika teachers put into our children is unbelievable and I truly believe that every penny we spend on tuition is worth it.

All the while we're roaming the halls and admiring art, Arjun is roaming with us (in his cute slippers).

Oh how I would love the chance to send Arjun to Seika too.

Seika Art Day Gallery

Rowen's 3rd Birthday Party!

2009-02-14T22:34:00.004+09:00

Valentines Day this year was quite the day! Rowen's Art Exhibition at Seika (another post) and Rowen's 3rd birthday party!

His birthday was on the 17th, Tuesday, so of course the celebration with all of his friends had to happen over the weekend...
The party bags were easy to make...with it being Valentine's day, the NEX was fully stocked in all things candy, stickers, and stuff with hearts all over it. A little girly for a boy's birthday, but I'm went with it! I mean...their were girls at his party...so it worked :-)

Rowen's party was at the bowling party on base. Not too many options here...and with it being winter time, we had to go with an indoor venue. Our main choices: McDonald's, Sbarros pizzeria, and bowling. Bowling it is! Little did we know that it was going to be 70 degrees on Sat....what a day to have a BBQ...but who have thought there would be temps. like that in Feb?

Rowen's been talking about his party for a while now. Presents, bowling, what friends would be there, presents...

We had 22 kids in all. Whew! That's a lot of kids! Would you believe it if I told you that almost all those kids were on his invite list? Many of his friends that celebrated with him live in our cul-de-sac and his other friends, he knows them from when I hang out with the Oakleaf (spouse's club) moms.

I think all the kids had a blast! Having a party at the bowling alley was pretty easy, we had to show up with the cake and the birthday boy, that's it! Once the kids showed up, it was bowling for 1.5 hr, eating pizzas, singing happy birthday, and cutting/eating his Tonka dump truck cake.

Strangely enough, Rowen was very shy at his birthday this year. It must be the age. He covered his face and acted very bashful while everyone was singing 'Happy Birthday' and giving him attention afterwards. Weird, huh? At his 2nd birthday party last year, he was all about the attention! All smiles and laughing. But this year, definitely not loving the attention...

His birthday party lasted 2 hours and then back to the house to open up his presents. Of course, this was his favorite part. He received so many great gifts. Arjun tried to help open some of the gifts, but Rowen wasn't really appreciating the help :)

The rest of the day was spent playing outside with his friends and new toys.

As I watched my big boy today, I just kept thinking, "Where has the time gone?"
Not long ago...he was just our little baby. Sniff, sniff.

3rd birthday party pics

Sapporo

2009-02-13T20:54:00.019+09:00

Last week, we journeyed to Sapporo for the 60th Annual Snow Festival.

Around two million visitors came to Sapporo this winter to view hundreds of snow and ice sculptures which filled Odori Park and adorned the main street in Susukino.

The Snow Festival began in 1950, when local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955, the Self-Defense Force joined in and built the very first massive snow sculpture, for which the Snow Festival has become famous for now. The Festival is now one of the biggest and most well known of Hokkaido's winter events.

**Side note**The base ticketing office offers two different snow festival tour packages every year. When we first arrived on base, our friends told us about the festival and that it's a lot of fun, but that the tickets sell very quickly and usually there's a line outside the office to sign up.
This year, the tickets went on sale October 1st, the same day Rowen started school at Seika Yochien. I remember this day vividly because Tim stayed at home with boys and got Rowen dressed for his first day of school, while I stood in line to buy tickets! Fortunately, I was 1st in line, so I quickly signed up and headed home to Rowen!**

The two different tours that were offered were Wed-Fri or Sun-Tues. Basically, whether you wanted to go for the beginning of the festival or the end. We signed up for the first part of the tour for two reasons: 1) We could be there for the opening ceremoney on Thursday and 2) Returning on Friday would allow us to recover over the weekend from traveling.

We left super EARLY on Wed. morning, 5:30 am. The boys were so tired...but were okay.
The best part of the morning was upgrading to business class seats at the airport!! When at the gate counter trying to get our seats together, the agent mentioned that their were premium seats available. At first, I wasn't interested b/c I thought the fees would be outragous. When I asked for the upgrade price, I heard 5000....and I immediately thought, no way!

BUT, then I heard yen, after the 5000...and it took me a second b/c I thought I misunderstood her. I asked her again, and she said 5000 yen and asked me if I wanted to proceed.
What?!? Quickly doing the math in my head, I realized it would cost around $50.00 a person.

"Yes, I'll upgrade!" I replied and quickly handed over my credit card.

In order to upgrade in the states, it would normally cost hundreds of dollars, no?

After we boarded and were in our seats, Tim said, "Uh-oh, I could used to this! We're going to have to travel premium class all the time!"

Hmm..I thought to myself. That's probably not going to be possible...

**Okay, I've digressed into telling you way more than I had planned about our flight there. It was just so fun being in our own little world on the plane! Maybe I'll continue 'flying ecomomy vs. business' in another post so I can finish telling about our trip!!

...When we land at Chitose/Sapporo airport, we travel to Otaru, which is about 30 min from Sapporo. Otaru is a port town on the coast of the Sea of Japan.
Otaru is best known for Otaru Beer and a beautifully restored canal that is lined with Victorian gas lamps. We spent a couple of hours in Otaru amongst the shops, museums, and restaurants all located near the restored canal.

We ended up getting to our hotel around 5 pm. *Rowen hadn't taken a nap yet and we were a little scared at this point. Arjun had rested a little.*

The hotel was nice, we got a room upgrade (must be a lucky day for us) and rested a little before heading out again. We had a Ghengis Khan meal (basically an all you can eat and drink/cook your own meat) at the Sapporo Beer Garden. We had 90 minutes to eat/drink but with 2 small kids, we ate/drank in 30 minutes :-)

Outside the beer garden, there were snow caves and slides/sculptures, so the kids had fun playing in the snow after dinner.

We made it back to the hotel around 9pm and I don't think I need tell you how well we slept! We almost missed breakfast the next morning b/c the boys slept in until 9 am :-)

Thursday was our leisure day, meaning there was nothing tour specific planned. Just our day to scope Sapporo out and walk to Odori Park for the snow festival's opening day. And better yet, it was snowing!! It was so beautiful, I can't remember the last time I saw falling snow. Probably when I was living in DC. **We usually travel to our parents' in the Midwest over Thanksgiving and/or Dec. But it is only ever cold when we visit, no snow. The snow usually starts falling after we leave or in Jan./Feb. and we're nevering visiting for that part!**

I don't know how the boys felt about falling snow. When we were walking to Odori Park, the snow was really coming down and pelting our faces as we walked. Rowen was getting a little annoyed with snow in his face, but we finally made it to the snow festival.

The snow festival was A-MAZ-ING! All these sculptures everywhere made out of snow and ice!! To think of all the time and energy that went into making this festival a success! From the pictures, you'll see the intricate detail in the sculptures.

As we were touring the park and taking it all in, Arjun was getting really fussy. It was around 11am at the point and time for his nap. Unfortunately, Tim missed out on some of the afternoon because he took Arjun back to the hotel so he could rest. Since Arjun is still young, we have to make time for his naps, or he will not be a happy traveler! *I can't wait until they are older and can really withstand long days of sightseeing!*

Rowen and I met back up with Tim and Arjun at the hotel. The boys hung out with Tim for a bit, b/c I had to find a camera shop quick! My battery died while taking pics of the sculptures (not died, I need to charge it again, but really died, as in not working anymore!!)
Luckily, I found one of the 10 story department stores a block from the hotel and bought a battery and charger (it was highway robbery at its best, so expensive!!!) but I HAD to have a working camera for the rest of our trip. While out, I picked up lunch and we enjoyed that in our hotel room while watching the snow fall.

The plan for the evening was to see the sculptures lit up at night time. We enjoyed dinner at the hotel and were making plans for going out again. But, Rowen did not want to go back out. He said it was too cold and he wanted to watch a movie in the room. Could I blame him?? It was really cold outside!!

So....while Tim watched a movie with the boys and got them ready for bed, I took a cab and went to a couple of different locations to see the sculptures. They were beautiful with all the light shining upon them, I really wish Tim and the boys could have seen it.
Tim enjoyed seeing the pictures I had taken when I returned back to the hotel...(only 1 hour later..taking a cab really made for a quick trip around Sapporo!)

The next day was departure day. We quickly checked our our hotel, and headed to Tsu Dome for a morning/afternoon of playing in the snow: sledding, snow rafting and building snowmen!

Rowen had been talking about sledding all weekend, and now was his big chance. However, his definition of 'sledding' must have been different than Webster's because he was not interested in sledding anymore! I don't know if it was the snow blowing in his face, not being well rested, the 3 year old stage of 'I never know what I want to do', or all of the above.

He (and all of us) did seem to enjoy snow rafting (riding in a big raft being pulled by a snowmobile), enough to want to go a second time!
But after that, he was ready to board the bus and get warm. I think he especially likes the bus, b/c he gets to sit next to his friend Kaito and watch movies with him.

We left Tsu Dome around 1:30pm in order to head back to the hotel, change out of our snow clothes, and get our luggage on the bus so we can head to the airport.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. Our flight was on-time and the boys managed to get a little sleep on the plane ride back home. We boarded our final bus at the airport to take us back to Yokosuka, and boy we were glad to be home!

So glad that it was Friday night and we had the weekend to recover. Even better than that was we came home to a clean house :) Thanks Ota-san!

Enjoy the pics!

Starving?

2009-02-10T20:16:00.009+09:00

For a couple weeks now, Rowen hasn't been eating much. He isn't snacking that much either.

I try to get a decent breakfast in him before Yochien and even that is a struggle. And since the Japanese don't believe in snack time, only school lunch, I try and give him as much as possible before he leaves in the morning.

The last time I remember him eating a lot was when my mom was here. Maybe I should just take the hint and realize he doesn't like my cooking ;)

Arjun on the other hand is eating like a champ! At every meal, he stuffs as much food in as possible, and if I remember correctly, Rowen did the same at 18 mos. old as well.

Tonight, I made another one of my scrumptious meals, but Rowen barely touched it. He didn't eat his chicken tenders at lunch either.
As we were finishing up with dinner, he asked for ice cream.

"Sorry, you can't have any ice cream because you didn't ~~finish~~ touch your dinner tonight."

He just looked away from me and then tried the I'm-going-to-ask-the-other-parent approach. It didn't work.

But you wanna know what did?

Later on, while we were hanging out upstairs, he said he was hungry. We just tried and ignored him. It wasn't easy and he didn't appreciate it.
He kept nagging us. Finally, he was crying about it.

"Do you really think he's that hungry?" I asked Tim.

"I think we should feed him something." Tim replied, but still neither one of us was getting up to do so.

Then, from outside our bedroom door, "I'm starving!! I'm hungry! Can you feed me please?" pouts Rowen while laying on the floor looking oh so pathetic.

"At least he said please", replies Tim, as he takes Rowen to the kitchen.

Five minutes later Rowen reappears with a glass of milk and a Morning Star sausage patty (his favorite).

He inhales it.

**I think Tim and I both know we should have just sent him to bed hungry...but we're suckers for the sulky, hungry type.

Our first vacation in Japan...

2009-02-03T22:28:00.005+09:00

The 60th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival

We leave tomorrow morning at 5:30 am and return on Friday night. I'll tell ya all about it when we return. We're so excited to go! Sapporo is expecting approx. 2 million tourists this year! I think Rowen and Arjun are going to have a blast playing in the snow!!

Stay tuned...

Strawberries!

2009-01-19T20:15:00.004+09:00

After such a fun time mikan picking, we had to return to TKN farms to pick strawberries!

This experience was a little different, however. In Japan, strawberries are grown in a hothouse. Not what I had imagined, since in the states, you pick them out in the fields. And while we had lots of fun, we couldn't take any berries home with us and we were on a time limit :(

So...in 30 minutes or less, with a little platic tray and some sweet condensed milk on the side, we were off!

The boys love strawberries so they couldn't get enough. My mom, Tim, and I ate a lot too.
Because the berries were so sweet, we definitely had to pace ourselves and have a salty snack in between eating the juicy berries :)

Next up....sweet potato digging in May!!

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-18T10:13:00.000+09:00

This is a Facebook thing. I was tagged on my page to write 25 random things about myself. So, since I put the time/effort to do so, I thought I would share it with all of you as well!
Feel free to write something random about yourself in the comments section.

Enjoy!

1. I was born in Springfield, MO
2. Until the age of 4, I lived in Montogomery, AL. Then we moved to Effingham, IL.
3. I am addicted to Diet Coke.
4. My mascot in High School was the Flaming Hearts.
5. I was a Gamma Phi in college.
6. I love my husband and kids and parents more than anything else in this world.
7. I ALWAYS have chapstick with me. I'm addicted to it.
8. Hip Hop is my favorite kind of music.
9. Even though I was pre-med in college and went to grad school for my PhD, I always knew I wanted to be a SAHM when I had kids.
10. I have never skiied before but I am very interested in learning.
11. I sang the National Anthem at a Cardinals game with my HS choir group.
12. I want to travel the world.
13. I love fine dining.
14. I have never broken any bones. **Knock on wood**
15. I wish I played tennis as much as I used to.
16. Tim and I dated long distance for almost 5 years before we got married.
17. I love photography and I am constantly taking pictures of my kids.
18. I am an online shopaholic!! ( I blame that on moving to Japan :)
19. In order to feel completely rested, I need between 9-10 hours of sleep!
20. I want to have more kids. Hmmm...maybe I should erase #19...
21. I cannot rollerblade or rollerskate.
22. I want to settle down in Southern California.
23. I wish my grandfather could have met his grandchildren before he passed away. My grandmother has yet to meet her grandkids as well...
24. I do not enjoy working out or going to the gym, but I wish I did. I have to do it anyway.
25. I have an obsession with handbags.

Hakone

2009-01-17T22:10:00.012+09:00

We had a lot of fun on our first trip to Hakone National Park! This was the big trip we took while my mom was visiting us...and we all enjoyed exploring this area together :)

Hakone is one of the most popular destinations among Japanese and international tourists. It is a beautiful national park that covers not only Mt. Fuji, but also, the Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, parts of the Izu Peninsula and all of the Izu Islands.

Our morning started off really early...we had to board our tour bus at 6:45 am. We could have driven ourselves, but the MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) office offers many tours and overnight travel trips throughout the month for a reasonable price, so we thought we would try a guided tour. And it was well worth it!!

Although we were worried that being on a bus with the kids and having to keep them on schedule throughout the day would be hard, they did extremely well. Actually, they were SO well behaved the whole day.

The drive to Hakone was beautiful, eventually leading us into the snow-topped mountains. Our first stop on the tour was the Open Air Museum, filled with famous sculptures from Henry Moore, Picasso, and more. There was a great artsy playground for the kids to play in as well. The scenery around the musuem was incredible and the beautiful weather made the day even better :) There was a lot of walking to do around the museum, but lucky for us, there was a 'Hot Foot Bath Spa' waiting for us to try. For just 100 yen (approx. $1), we got a souvenir towel and soaked our tired feet in a hot bath for as long as we liked! I think every museum, amusement park, etc, in the states should have a hot foot bath for parents' tired feet at the end of the day.
After the foot bath, we squeezed in some souvenir shopping just before having to leave the museum.

Our next stop was Owakudani. Owakudani is a volcanic valley filled with active sulphur vents and hot springs. It is located along the Hakone Ropeway (aerial tram) between Sounzan and Togendai. This area is most popular for Kuro-tomago, eggs that turn black when cooked in natural spring waters. Eating one black egg is supposed to add seven years to your life. You can eat two for 14 years more, but eating 3 is not advised!

During lunch, we purchased a bag of 5 eggs for 500 yen. We each ate one, so here's to the extra 7 years of life!

After lunch, we rode the Hakone Robeway aerial tram across Owakudani. The views were gorgeous, esspecially of Mt. Fuji. It's always during moments like these when I think to myself, "I can't believe I'm living in Japan."

When the tram ride, (rollercoaster ride according to Rowen) was over, we prepared to board a boat cruise around Lake Ashi. Lake Ashi is the result of Mt. Hakone's last volcanic eruption 3000 years ago. Today, the lake, along with Mt. Fuji in the backgroud, is the symbol of Hakone.

I think Rowen was a little scared to board the boat at first but once he was on, he was excited for the ride. He did pretty well on the boat considering how tired he was...it was about 3pm.
Since we've left this morning at 6:30 am, Rowen hasn't taken a nap yet!! Arjun had taken a small one, so they were both running on low fuel...

After the wonderful boat ride, we boarded the bus to our final destination, the Hakone Shrine. To be quite honest, I would have been perfectly happy heading home at this point. While the day had been filled with lots of fun sightseeing, the boys were exhausted and we were too! But, there are plenty people/couples on our tour that did not have children and wanted the sightseeing to continue...and of course, I totally understand :)

The Hakone Shrine was beautiful; we've been to shrines before but this was a first for my mom and she enjoyed it. The was a purifying fountain at the entrance. You are supposed to take a drink and wash you hands to purify yourself before entering the shrine. I think what surprised my mom the most, was the the 85 steps up to the shrine entrance! Even more so, was how out of breath she (and me & Tim carrying the kids up) were once we got to the top, but elder Japanese men/women walking up the stairs had no problem at all!!

We were given 1 hour at the shrine before meeting back at the bus, but since it was getting so cold after the sun went down, everybody was ready to leave in half the time.

Just as the bus departed Hakone, the boys fell asleep. Ahhhhh.....

The drive should take approx, 2 hours, I thought to myself. This will be a nice long nap for the boys!
But, what I didn't know, is that the bus stops along the way, at various souvenir shops and food plazas to give the tourists a chance to get off the bus...
And guess what? The boys woke up at the first stop and they weren't very happy the rest of the way home.

Oh well. They were so well behaved the whole day, that a little fussiness on the ride home was alright. When we finally got home that night, (not late, prob. around 8 pm), we put them straight to bed and they slept like logs :-)

Enjoy the Hakone pics!

Don't say that!

2009-01-16T11:15:00.000+09:00

In our cul-de-sac, we are fortunate to have so many kids that go to Japanese Yochien with Rowen. One of the girls, Susanna is 5 years old. She has been attending Seika for 2 years and she speaks fluent Japanese. Most of the time she speaks English, but when she hangs out with her friends that speak Japanese, she does too! I've asked her mom Shelly if it's weird that she doesn't know what Susanna's talking about and Shelly said "yeah, sometimes but it's really helpful when we go out in town. It really comes in handy when we're ordering at a restaurant..."!!

Rowen was just starting Seika when I had this coversation with Shelly so I started thinking, "what if Rowen starts speaking Japanese and I don't know what he's saying?? What am I going to do??" Well....Rowen has been st Seika for 2.5 months now and he definitely knows some everyday Japanese words. Obviously, he' not fluent, but every now and then I do catch him singing Japanese songs and counting to 5 in Japanese. It's kinda fun listening to him and I sometimes understand what he's saying but ~~there will come a time~~ the other night, Rowen was saying something, and we totally thought it was something else!

We're at the grocery store and Rowen and Arjun kept picking at each other (as usual). Rowen kept saying what sounded like "dammit"...over and over again. Tim was scolding him NOT to say that word, it's not very nice!! But he kept saying it and then I chimed in, "Rowen, that's not nice, don't say that to your brother!" Of course, then I'm asking Tim..."when do you and I say that, do we talk like that often? Where is he getting this language from?!?" Just as we're leaving the grocery store, Rowen says phonetically "dammit", again. Just as Tim is telling Rowen, "don't say that!", an older Japanese man standing outside speaks up. He says to us, "Oh, he's not saying dammit, he speaking Japanese. He is saying dame (pronounced dah-meh). It means "don't do that, or no, stop!"

Tim and I are still laughing about this one...of course he knows how to say 'dame', how many times do you think he hears 'don't do that!' at school from his teachers?? A lot, I'm sure....

All about Chopsticks

2009-01-14T12:38:00.000+09:00

Are you ready? This story is pretty funny...

We're eating at a ramen shop in Tokyo before heading out for some sightseeing. It's a really small restaurant (no big surprise there) and the 5 of us are all huddled around a small table eating our Japanese noodle soups-yum!

I notice that my mom keeps grabbing a new set of chopsticks every few minutes and Tim and I are wondering what's going on, but we don't say anything...

Obviously she doesn't know how to use chopsticks very well or at all and that's fair enough. She doesn't get the opportunity to use them very often.

Anyways...as she reaches to get yet another set of chopsticks, I ask "What are you doing?!?"
She says, "I keep breaking my chopsticks apart!!! I can't seem to keep them together!!"

How funny is that??? Tim and I start cracking up!! I was laughing so hard! I then explained to her that you are supposed to break them apart and I tried to show her how to use them.

Chopsticks can be quite challenging. I have always had a difficult time with them, getting a seldom chance to practice my technique at sushi restaurants in San Diego. But now after living here for almost 6 months, I am getting the hang of it.

Sooo...I thought I would share some helpful and interesting information about o-hashi (chopsticks)!

Basics: How to Hold Chopsticks:

Hold the upper chopstick with the index finger, the middle finger, and the thumb.

Put the other chopstick between the bottom of the thumb and the tip of the ring finger.

Move the upper chopstick only when you pick up food.

It's impolite to hold chopsticks with five fingers in Japan.

Bad manners:

Waving chopsticks above food dishes.

Sticking chopsticks into food instead of picking them up.

Picking up a cup/bowl with the hand that is holding your chopsticks.

Sucking chopsticks.

Sticking chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice. Only at funeral are chopsticks stuck into the rice that is put onto the altar.

Passing food from your chopsticks to somebody else's chopsticks.

Different chopsticks for different cultures...

Chinese: longer sticks that are square in cross section at one end (where they are held) and round in cross section at the other (where they contact the food), ending in a blunt tip.
Japanese: short to medium length sticks that taper to a pointed end. This may be attributed to the fact that the Japanese diet includes large amounts of whole bony fish. Japanese chopsticks are traditionally made of wood and are lacquered. Some chopstick sets include two lengths of chopsticks: shorter ones for women and longer ones for men. Child-sized chopsticks are widely sold.
Korean: medium-length stainless-steel tapered rods, with a flat rectangular cross section. (Traditionally, they were made of brass or silver.) Many Korean metal chopsticks are ornately decorated at the grip. They are sometimes used to pick up food onto a spoon,which then brings food to the mouth.
Vietnamese: long sticks that taper to a blunt point; traditionally wooden, but now made of plastic as well. A đũa cả is a large pair of flat chopsticks that is used to serve rice from a pot.

So, the next time you pick up some chopsticks, remember these tips!

Itadakimasu!

Seijin No Hi (Coming of Age)

2009-01-12T15:47:00.004+09:00

Today, the Coming of Age festival is celebrated. This is a national holiday that is celebrated on the second Monday of January (it used to be celebrated always on January 15 until the year 1999).

All young people who turn twenty years old in that year are celebrated on Seijin no hi. Twenty is the age considered as the beginning of adulthood. It is also the minimum legal age to vote, drink, smoke, and have their crimes announced in public.

Celebrations (for boys and girls) are held nationwide in every town with most of the people turning 20 participating in formal attire. For the women, the day means getting decked out in a special kimono called "furisode", which has longer sleeves and is brightly colored with elaborate patterns. Most of these furisodes are rented as these kimonos cost several thousand dollars and even renting one cost around $1,000.

We unfortunately didn't get to a temple today to see the festivities but did see some women dressed up and they looked beautiful!

Yokoso Mom!

2009-01-10T11:17:00.000+09:00

My mom is here and we are having so much fun visiting!!

On Friday, we left for Tokyo to pick her up. We had New Sanno reservations so Tim and the boys relaxed at the hotel while I went to the airport. I haven't been to the airport since living here and with inclement weather that day, I was happy to take the airport limosine straight to the airport :)

Nothing is that easy though right? When I finally reached the airport, I got off on the wrong terminal!! Narita international airport is HUGE!! And of course no English speaking person in sight, so I get off the bus thinking it was the right stop, but it wasn't. So then, I have to find the transfer terminal bus so I can get to terminal 2 (she was flying United) and finally find my mom.

I was worried that I would miss her and with her not being able to call me, I knew I need to be there when she came through customs. Luckily, it took her almost an hour to get done with everything, customs, baggage, etc. so I was there to greet her when she arrived!

Getting back to the hotel was a little tricky as well! We opted not to take the bus again b/c I couldn't find the bus counter...but the train station was just an esclator ride down so we took the Narita Express train to Shinagawa station and a cab to the hotel from there. I loved watching my mom's expressions as I tried to navigate my way through and speak a little Japanese as well.
She thought it was pretty funny :)

Like I said before, the weather wasn't great that night. When we got to Shinagawa station and had to wait for a taxi, it was raining pretty hard and we tried our best to stay dry!!

Finally, we reached the hotel and the boys (and Tim) were waiting there to see Nani!! They were SO excited!!

My mom is here for only two weeks so we have lots to do!

Morning with the boys

2009-01-07T12:03:00.005+09:00

This week the boys have been home with me and not at the CDC (childcare on base)...they were supposed to go on Tuesday but when Rowen started throwing up (a lot) on Monday night, they stayed at home on Tuesday.

Today (Wed.) started off not so smoothly...making me wonder, the CDC sure would be good today, but it fills up SO fast. They take reservations 2 weeks in advance, so it is not very likely that I can get a spot at the last minute. Alas, when I called this morning...no spots.

That's okay. Even though my mom is coming on Friday (so excited!!) and there's a lot to do in preparation b/c we're going to Tokyo to get her, the boys and I will do said work together (haha).

I had some errands to run at the Daiei and they also have a play area there. So I thought, the play area will get them excited and happy and then maybe they'll be well behaved for errands??

Well, they played great and there was no fighting. However, the play area must have really worn Rowen out...
When going through the grocery store...all Rowen kept saying was "I'm sooooo tired!"..." I can't walk anymore, I'm soooo tired!" Unbelievable!!

Arjun was sitting in the cart but the shopping carts only have a place for one child. What am I supposed to do with Rowen who weighs like 35 lbs?!? He wanted me to carry him, but NO WAY!!

So I basically had to bribe him through the store, with candy and other treats. NOT something I am proud of.

The up side? They are both sleeping right now. AHHH.....

Happy 2009 everyone!

2009-01-05T19:05:00.011+09:00

Happy New Year from The Wimmer Family!

Being foreigners in Japan, we were SO fortunate to spend the 1st day of 2009 with our Japanese friends, Tasaka-san and family.

We woke up in the morning and quickly got dressed. The morning went pretty smoothly until we're getting in the car and Rowen spills his sippy cup ALL OVER him. I had both boys wearing matching cardigan sweaters for this special day...but that was all over. Tim was pretty upset with Rowen too, b/c he wasn't listening very well as we were trying to get loaded into the van...
After some yelling (in a disciplining sort of way)...I changed Rowen's clothes and got back into the car!

We were supposed to be at Tasaka-san's house at 10am Of course, now we were running a few minutes late :-)

When we finally arrived, we were so cheerfully greeted! They are the nicest family!

Once inside the house, I couldn't help but notice the dining table; it was beautifully decorated for a wonderful Japanese feast.

Since New Year's day is one of the most important holidays in Japan, there is a special menu for this day. Osechi is traditional food that is eaten throughout the New Year's holiday (until around Jan. 3rd).

Most often everything is placed in compartmentalized lacquer boxes that are stacked in layers

Osechi components:

Kazunoko (herring roe) - tiny yellow fish eggs. Like the tobiko you often find at sushi restaurants, kazunoko have a bite or crunch to them, however, the eggs are not loose. They are marinated in a broth of dashi, sake and soy sauce.

Kuromame (black beans) are soft and quite sweet, although you may notice a bit of soy sauce flavoring.

Gomame (also known as tazukuri) are small sardines that have been dried and then finished in a sweet sauce of sugar, mirin, soy sauce and sake. These are rich in calcium and yes, you can eat the head.

Kombumaki are nothing more than the umami-rich kombu rolled tightly and bound shut with a ribbon of gourd strip (kampyo). Often kombumaki are stuffed with salmon. This is also cooked slowly in dashi, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce.

Datemaki looks like the tamago-yaki (egg custard) you often find in a bento box, but here it's made with a fish paste and has a sponge-like texture. It's quite sweet.

Sweet potatoes and chestnuts are the base of kurikinton, which can look something like yellow mashed potatoes.

Kamaboko, a dense cake of fish paste, is red and white (traditional New Year's colors). You can often find thin slices of this on your soba.

Another red-and-white food you'll find is called namasu - typically daikon and carrots pickled in vinegar.

For vegetables, look for gobo (burdock root), often dressed with sesame. Also lotus root, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and pea pods.

Konnyaku (devil's-tongue starch) and fu (wheat gluten) will also be sprinkled throughout the stacked boxes.

For seafood, shrimp (representing long life) and sea bream (for auspicious fortune) are most typical.

I have to admit, while I was a good sport, there were some items I didn't like very much!! Candied dried sardines, anyone??

But seriously, the food was memorable. You'll never find Osechi on a menu at any restaurant. It's only available in the first few days of the new year and for many years, was only availabe in Japanese homes cooked by Japanese housewives. Today, osechi can be purchased in a department store or local supermarket. But you better be ready to pay a lot. Osechi bento boxes can range anywhere between $100 - thousands of dollars!!

After enjoying some delicious spiced saki and refreshing green tea after lunch, we continued our special day by ringing in the New Year at Tasaka-san's neighborhood shrine.

There were many people in line to visit the temple. Many people brought with them, there old 2008 New year's token to burn at the shrine and purchase a new 2009 token to take home with them. It was truly a unique experience.

We'll remember this New Year day for long time thanks to our wonderful Japanese hosts!

New Year's Day 2009 photos

Omisoka

2008-12-31T15:45:00.004+09:00

Omisoka is the day of New Year’s Eve. Since the New Year is the biggest event in Japan, people celebrate the Eve as well. People work so hard to prepare the New Year around one or two weeks such as cleaning (like spring cleaning in the states) and shopping.

'Hyakunin-isshu', a traditional New Year card game played in Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto

The reason people do the cleaning in the middle of winter is to get rid of the dirty of the passing year and to welcome the New Year with a fresh and serene mind. And on Omisoka, with preparing the New Year’s special dishes called Osechi-ryori, people finish up all the work of the year. People eat Toshikoshi-soba at night and stay up till midnight to listen to the 108 chimes of a nearby temple bell. The 108 chimes called Joya-no-kane, rings out the old year and rings in the New Year. It is supposed to release people from the 108 worldly sins.

Shogatsu is the celebration of the New Year and is the most important holiday in Japan. We are so excited to spend this day with our Japanese friends. We are going to have a special breakfast with them and then visit their neighborhood shrine to participate in a New Year's Day prayer of safety, happiness and long lives with our family!

Santa was very good to us!

2008-12-30T20:25:00.004+09:00

We hope all of you had a great Christmas...we sure did! The boys were so patient having the presents under the tree and not being allowed to open them. They were pretty excited when Christmas morning came. I think at one point during the middle of the night, Rowen woke at 2am saying "I need to get up, I think Santa brought presents for me!"

The boys ended up sleeping until around 7:30 and then it was present time!! They both got the usual boy stuff: trains, helicopter, tow trucks, anything and everything in the transportation category!

I didn't think the boys would want to take a nap, with all the excitement of new toys but they did! And that was a good thing (when is it not?) because we had Christmas dinner plans and I didn't want them to be cranky :)

Our friends, Jeff and Tiffany Weigle, graciously invited us to their home and they cooked quite a feast!! I hope to one day be able to whip up those dishes like she did! And it was all SO yummy! We had a special Japanese Christmas cake for dessert. It's a white cake with mandarin oraanges inside and a delicious light frosting on the outside. It is topped with strawberries and a Japanese Christmas decoration.

**Side note...Strawberries are very popular during the holiday season in Japan because they top their Christmas cakes with them. But it's not really the season to grow strawberries...so I've heard they grow them in hot houses just so they will have them to top the cakes! Of course, they also sell them in the stores at ridiculously high prices ($6-$7/quart) but that doesn't stop Rowen's mouth from basically watering in the grocery store and insisting that I buy 2 or 3 quarts!!! so he can have "lots of strawberries" at home to eat!
Thank you Japanese strawberry growers for taking ALL our money b/c our kids LOVE your juicy strawberries in Dec.!!
**End of side note**

Anyway, we enjoyed the Japanese Christmas cake as well as other desserts at the Weigles dinner party. And our kids had such a blast playing with all the other children there too.
We couldn't thank Jeff and Tiffany enough for inviting us to their home on Christmas! I feel pretty fortunate to have met them in the short time we've lived here and look forward to sharing more 'family' holidays with them :)

Hopey all of you had a Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS PHOTOS 2008

Merii Kurisumasu!

2008-12-23T22:23:00.002+09:00

Tim and I have been busy elves getting all the presents ready for Christmas morning. But in between present wrapping, the boys and I made cookies in preparation for Santa and his reindeer.

I think the cookies say it all...

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

With Love, The Wimmers

Toy frenzy

2008-12-23T14:21:00.001+09:00

Rowen's yochien is on winter break for 3 weeks and well...Arjun isn't in school so he's always on break! The past couple of days haven't been too bad...but today I had to put them in CDC so I could get their Christmas presents put together...

Last year we learned the hard way! Almost every toy was impossible to get out of the box in under 20 minutes! My friend Sarah told me they always assemble their big toys under the tree so they are all ready on Christmas morning. So...that's what we're doing today.

The big present that Handy Man Tim needs to assemble: The KidKraft retro kitchen.
I think they are going to LOVE it!

Facelift

2008-12-20T21:54:00.004+09:00

Isn't that a beautiful picture of Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge?

I've been playing around with our blog design the past couple of days to add some spice for the holidays:) In addition to falling snow, I've added some new 'widget's on the sidebar.

Need another language under your belt? Learn some Japanese! Everyday, there is a new Japanese word of the day. And you can here the audio as well, to make sure you are saying it correctly. How fun!
Now there's a convenient way for you to keep up with our blog. Simply add your email address in subscribe box on the right, and every time there's a new posting, it will be delivered in your inbox and you can read it on our website!
The poll...this one I am really interested in! There are quite a few of our friends and family that enjoy our blog and that is so great!! But is there anyone else out there that has been visiting us?? Let me know!!

Finally, any and all comments are SO appreciated!! It makes me happy to know that all of you out there are enjoying our anecdotes of living in Japan. So please, if you have anything to say about anything, leave a comment :)

Happy reading!!
Monika

Afternoon fun...

2008-12-18T22:08:00.005+09:00

I went to this really yummy Chinese restaurant for my birthday lunch a couple months back...the food was so good that I have been meaning to take Tim there. So today, we went to 'Chinese Restaurant' (that's the name of the restaurant)!

The restaurant is located in Moore City, a nine-story shopping plaza/restaurant row. Moore City is tucked behind the Yokosuka-Chuo train station but it's a big building and Tim was surprised to see all the shops and restaurants...(this was his first trip).

When Tim and I sat down for lunch (sans kids!!) they brought us fresh iced tea and an English menu (that's always a plus!). I knew what I wanted to order; I was going to have the exact same thing I ordered during my birthday lunch: Benitora fried rice and pan-fried dumplings. Tim ordered the seafood lunch set and shared my dumplings and fried rice.

The nice thing we've noticed about dining in Japan is that the food comes out pretty quickly. Just minutes after we got our soup, our meal arrived. And we were so hungry, so there was little talking and a lot of eating!

After lunch, we went to a store called Uni-Glo. It is basically an upscale Old Navy but with lower prices. Sounds good to me!! I picked up a couple sweater/pant fleece outfits for Rowen and Arjun since it has been getting so cold here! Tim also bought some split-toe socks that had a heat-tech quality to keep his feet toastly warm this winter!

The last place we visited was the best!! Saikaya Shopping Plaza :) (To get an idea of what Japanese dept. stores are like, read this post.)

We actually went to the basement of Saikaya...not to any stores. We'd heard about the Saikaya basement A LOT and didn't know what the fuss was about. But NOW we know!! It was unbelievable! Imagine a gourmet food court in the States BUT with all Japanese food, plus florists and an amazing bakery called Pomadore. Of course we picked up dinner for that evening! I got a bento box with rice, one meatball, some egg, and two pieces of shrimp. Tim got an unagi (eel) bento box and I picked up lots of strawberries and fried rice for the kiddos :)

While shopping in Saikaya and probably looking quite confused on what to get...(that still hasn't ended even though we've been here almost 5 months!)...this older woman started helping me and was speaking very good English. It turns out that used to work on the naval base. She was the Chapel babysitter during church services for 35 years!! She only recently stopped working 5 years ago...
Anyway, we chatted for a bit and she showed me some other food booths and helped me purchase some other items. She was so nice and what an unexpected but welcome surprise to meet a Japanese person that spoke conversational English!!

What is so Unique About Japanese Department Stores?

2008-12-17T10:39:00.000+09:00

I found a little info on the web on how to best describe to you what Japanese Mall shopping is like:

What is so Unique About Japanese Department Stores?

"Department stores began appearing in Japan around 100 years ago when established clothing stores began transforming into Western style department stores. About one century later, Japanese department stores have changed dramatically, and now operate as highly reputed large-scale retailers with a history and tradition of stocking a variety of merchandise consisting of both Japanese and top international brands including cosmetics, bags, jewelry, fashion items and lingerie. Currently, there are around 300 department stores located in the major cities across Japan, and are thought of fondly as city landmarks by customers who frequent them on a daily basis.

Japanese department stores are unique in terms of the wide variety of merchandise they carry, such as ladies’ wear, men’s wear, fashion items, cosmetics, jewelry, watches, kimonos, children’s goods, toys, stationery, foodstuffs, etc., enabling one-stop shopping under one large roof in an easy-to-understand and comprehensive layout. The upper floors of Japanese department stores are used for restaurants, where cuisines from Japan and around the world are gathered together to offer customers a memorable dining experience. In addition to this, the event space of these department stores plays host not only to Japanese cultural events, such as art and local produce exhibitions, but also to a number of other events all year round.

The most unique aspect of department stores in Japan is said to be their second-to-none attitude to service and amenities. Within a comfortable and luxurious shopping environment, customers are the main focus as they are instantly greeted in a high quality, polite manner that cannot be experienced at any other department store anywhere else in the world. Make sure you visit one of these Japanese department stores at the forefront of Japanese culture and world trends."

Stupid question, Good answer

2008-12-16T20:20:00.007+09:00

Click on the article to enlarge :)

USNH Christmas Party

2008-12-15T00:00:00.005+09:00

I've meaning to write about this...but mainly have pictures to show you.
Last week, the Hospital Command holiday party was in Tokyo at the The New Sanno Hotel. It was a lot of fun! It's always fun though, when your kids are with a babysitter and you get to get all dressed and have drinks and good food?? I know all of you reading this (with small kids) are nodding your heads :) Those with big kids, loan their kids out so they can babysit!! Thanks Bhruga!! (Her kids babysat that night for us :)

Anyway, the evening was fun and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was great to mingle with all the new friends we've made in a festive party atmospere.

We did not, however, get to spend the night at the hotel. We had to leave the party just a little early, scoop the kids up, pack up the car, and drive home...because Rowen's Seika Christmas pageant was the next morning!
That post is coming up soon....

Sushi on a conveyor belt

2008-12-12T12:09:00.006+09:00

Last night, we ventured out into town and tried a new restaurant. We go out into town quite often but we have been frequenting the same eaterys and shops. So, it was pretty exciting to try a new place.

We went to a sushi restaurant where the sushi comes out on a conveyor belt! You take as much as you want from the belt when your dish of choice comes around to you. Each plate has a certain design or pattern on it and that is how your bill is tallied! Pretty cool, huh?
We all enjoyed the food, Tim especially. He has no fear, picking up any plate no matter what it is or what it looks like. I can't do that, it's a texture thing for me. I stick to tuna, shrimp, and cucumber rolls.

SUSHI VIDEO

Anpanman!

2008-12-03T20:21:00.007+09:00

Last Saturday, we visited the Anpanman Museum in Yokohama. Anpanman is a Japanese character that kids go crazy about here.

Anpan is one of the most popular pastries in Japan and is a round bread with sweet bean paste filling. Anpanman, a fairy tale superhero with an Anpan-head, can fly and fights for justice, but hates violence.

While Japanese children and adults love Anpanman, to many American children here, he's just a foreign cartoon character. Rowen, however, loves Anpanman and that's probably because he goes to a Japanese Yochien. On most days, when the choo choo bus picks him up, the teacher is reading Anpanman books to the students or they are watching an Anpanman video on the way to school. It's actually kind of nice to have Rowen interested in something new...rather than the usual trains, trucks, and all other transportation vehicles!

So...the museum trip was a big success. While we were there, Rowen and Arjun saw an Anpanman show, played in the museum area for a couple of hours and ate at the Anpanman bakery. We can't wait to take them back...especially when the weather gets yucky.

A taste of home...in Yokohama

2008-12-01T19:43:00.007+09:00

Tim is on vacation right now. Last month, when Tim scheduled his vacation week, we were trying to plan a trip to Thailand. We found a great place to stay but when it came time to look for plane tickets, they were outrageously expensive. Roughly $850/person!! For obvious reasons, we didn't go.

It's a good thing we didn't go this week b/c on Nov. 26th, the Bangkok airport was shut down due to anti-government demonstrations! The protesters are trying to force the democratically elected prime minister to resign and dissolve his party. Today, Dec. 3rd, flights finally resumed at Suvarnabhumi international airport but not without people we know being stranded their first! We know some people from base that went to Phuket (beach resort in Thailand) for Thanksgiving vacation. They were supposed to return on Sunday but are not able to come back until later this week. I felt so bad for them having to deal with all of this political drama while on vacation....but not a bad place to be stranded! Their vacation at a gorgeous resort was extended and there was nothing they could do about it!

Anyway...my post is supposed to be about California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). Since Tim is on leave this week, we decided to explore the surrounding areas of Yokosuka. We heard there was a CPK in Kawasaki inside the La Zona Mall. With Rowen in school, we had just Arjun with us. (By the way, SO much easier with just one child!! It's sort of like not having children at all!!)
When we arrived in Kawasaki by train, we were so excited when we got to the restaurant :) We felt like we were home, which was really cool. The food was great too, just like in the states. We had an oriental crunch salad and a pizza, of course. Arjun had macaroni and cheese and a fruit bowl. He thoroughly enjoyed his food! We even ordered a mac and cheese for takeout so Rowen wouldn't be left out of our CPK experience and he could eat it when he got home from school.

After lunch, we visited some other shops in the mall. One whole floor of the mall was just kids shops...clothing, toys, uniform stuff, etc. When I saw the Disney store, I had to go in. Rowen, as you know from a previous post, is obsessed with Toy Story and Buzz LightYear. I found some pretty cool Buzz toys, like a laser pistol, some figurines, and a talking Buzz action figure. He will love opening these up for Christmas. Of course, we also found some goodies for Arjun.

We also went inside the uniform shop to pick up some accessories for Rowen. He got some new knee-high socks, outdoor school shoes, and the cutest scarf ever. Arjun got a pair of pants with a big Anpanman pic on his bottom. They are so cute!
I'm not sure when we'll visit this mall again, especially with both boys...it was pretty nice with just our little guy. He doesn't wreak as much havoc as Rowen does :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T21:59:00.008+09:00

Hello everyone! As I am writing this, Tim is putting Rowen to bed and our turkey day is coming to an end...but what a great day we had!
Our plan for today was to take the boys somewhere off base and have breakfast or go to a playground. But when we woke up this morning, it was very gray outside and it was raining.

Sooo....we had a leisurely day at home. Our morning consisted of watching Bob the Builder and Anpanman, over and over again. But it wasn't so bad because we had fresh baked pumpkin muffins and some coffee. Yummy!

While Arjun took his morning nap, we convinced Rowen to watch a new movie, Ratatouille. None of us had seen it before, and we all thought it was really good!
As Arjun was getting up, I made some breakfast burritos and then managed to get Rowen to take a nap as well.

As the late afternoon rolled around, we decided it was time to get out of our PJ's and get cleaned up for Thanksgiving dinner with The Tillet Family.

There were 5 or 6 families there and lots of kids! Nothing better than having the kids play and Tim and me actually sitting down to have dinner :) Rowen and Arjun had a lot of fun playing and eventually ate some dinner and of course made room for some ice cream.

All in all, it was a fabulous day. We have so much to be thankful for!!
We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Seika Bazaar

2008-11-22T21:23:00.003+09:00

Rowen's school had their annual bazaar on Saturday. And to no surprise, he had to wear his full winter dress uniform. Since there is very little parking around his school and no parking at Seika, we usually take an off-base cab from our house.

Rowen was in pretty good spirits on Saturday morning...usually if he's had too much of school, he is not so willing to put on his uniform again :)

Since this is our first year at Seika, we never know what to expect at these events. When it was sports day, we didn't know that it was on a dirt field (really messy when you have a crawling child), or that it would be a really long day, and we need to bring enough food with us...

So with this bazaar event, I had no idea if it would be held indoors or outdoors, and as we were leaving the base in the taxi, Tim asked me if I had brought a jacket for Arjun? Ummm..no. The weather was the sort that if you were standing in the sun, it was comfortable, but the shade it was a little chilly. I'm not sure why I didn't think of a jacket, but nonetheless, I was hoping the bazaar was indoors!!

When we arrived at his school, we realized that the bazaar was indoors and outdoors. Hmm...maybe we would spend some time indoors if Arjun got too cold?

Well, we did end up going indoors and I totally forgot our house slippers with us! This is exactly what I mean by being unprepared! Usually when we visit the school for some reason or the other, the indoor slippers are provided to us so we never think of bringing our own. And since all of these events are our firsts, we never know what to bring!! Since the weather was cool outside, the school floors were really cold. My feet were freezing, so I know the kids feet had to be cold too!
Anyway, getting back to the bazaar, they had a lot of fun activities for the school kids and delicious food too! Rowen got a candy necklace. Not one like you get in the states, where you eat the candy right off the necklace. This one was in plastic wrapping, and each piece of candy was individually wrapped and tied off with a pretty ribbons. It was really cool.
He also went 'fishing'. He got to use a fishing rod and pick out some prizes from an empty swimming pool. He 'caught' an Anpanman package that had some package of clay and candy inside. He also got to ride the bullet train that was setup for the kids in the playground area. He had a lot of fun with that, and Arjun got to ride with him too!

When we ventured inside the school (with no slippers and cold feet), we found the bake stand. Japanese school kids always love to eat American desserts, like brownies and chocolate chip cookies....so many of the American families try and contribute to the bake sale whenever the school has one.
Also upstairs were many craft rooms where the kids could create various things with oragami paper. They could also paint or play with clay.
What we really enjoyed upstairs was the Japanese food! We pre-ordered a couple of weeks ago, what we wanted to eat at the bazaar. We chose chicken and nori fried rice and yakisoba noodles.
It was very delicious and Arjun and Rowen loved it!! Tim and I still crack up when we think about how much the kids like Japanese food.

We did purchase a few things at the bazaar...Rowen got a couple of Anpanman trinkets to put on his school purse. We also got a couple of stocking stuffers for the boys, like Pokemon cards and Thomas the train travel tissues packets.

Seika has it's annual Christmas pagent next week and we are really looking forward to that. Rowen is performing a dance with his class that I can't wait to see! As for being prepared...I am definitely going to find out if there are any essential items we need to have!

Too big too soon

2008-11-20T12:02:00.003+09:00

Our little guy is leaving babyhood way too fast! Everytime we turn around, he's doing something new to catch up with his big brother! He has a new style these days...letting his gut hang out over his diaper...haha

Rowen insisted in hanging out in just his diaper as well. Ahhh...if only we could all hang out in just our 'diapers'...and let it all hang out!

A little holiday giggle

2008-11-18T11:23:00.002+09:00

Kids and Hotels

2008-11-15T20:46:00.003+09:00

We are staying at The New Sanno in Tokyo this weekend. It's pretty hard to get a reservation because they book up to one year in advance. But, when we moved here, I was able to get a few reservations over the next several months.

We like to come up here becuase it's nice get away to a big city when you live on base and in Yokosuka on a daily basis. With that said...the words 'nice get away' are used very loosely!

Rowen and Arjun will NOT sleep in the hotel room, not for naps or bedtime-ARGH!!! And because of this, they are not in the best of moods when we are trying to sightsee and do other activites. I'm hoping that as they get older, they will get better about staying in hotel rooms, especially since we would like to do a bit of traveling when we are in Japan :)

This weekend has made me think about all of our friends who have lived in Yokosuka before us but they didn't have kids at the time. Their experience must have been soooo different!!

Hopefully our next trip to Tokyo will be different...hopefully.

Girls night out

2008-11-12T22:44:00.000+09:00

Recently, a bunch of fun girls when out on the town, in part to celebrate my birthday, but also for a girls night out!
There is a restaurant on Blue Street called Wans. Of course, it doesn't say Wans on the outside!!
We were meeting one of our friends there and she had been to Wans before so she told us that it was on the 7th floor of the 'Golds Gym' building. Finding the building was no problem, but when we got on the 7th floor, we thought, where is Wans?? There were four restaurants up there, and of course, all the signs were in Japanese. But why would they be in English, right?? We are in Japan :)
We decided to pick one and go inside. Guess what?? We chose the right one!! Our decision was confirmed when we opened up the menu and it said 'Wan's food and cocktails' on the inside cover-whew!!
The drinks were refreshing, the food was delicious, and the company was the best! Glad that Kim had been here before and helped us with the menu b/c the item descriptions were a little scary: gyoza soup with collagen balls, chicken balls with cheese, a chicken and cartilage dish, etc. BUT, the food we had was yummy!! I can't wait to go back :)

The Japanese Way...of eating

2008-11-12T22:00:00.007+09:00

If you're walking the streets of Japan, you'll notice that, besides the Sumo wrestlers, everyone for the most part is slim and fit. It must be their way of living and their lifestyle; most importantly, their diet.

Kaiseki-ryori is Japan's way of artistically serving food with the freshest ingredients and this is VERY different from how food is served in the states. Japanese food is served in very small servings and you are supposed to eat it slowly and savor every bite. By the time you get to the 4th or 5th small serving, you are already feeling full! Instead of getting a BIG platter of food (like on base at Chili's), you instead get very small servings at different times throughout your meal. This definitely lets you enjoy your food more and I think you get full sooner after eating less that you would, say at Denny's or some all you can eat buffet place in the U.S.

Is this how the Japanese stay slim and fit, by eating little portions at a time and eating those small portions slowly? When we recently had Tasaka-san and family over for Halloween, we ordered Anthony's pizza (an on-base favorite) for dinner. Tasaka-san could not believe how big the pizza was! He kept asking me questions like, 'how do they make the pizza this big?' or 'did you order a party size pizza'? (I only ordered a large pizza!!)

Even if you go to a buffet style place in Japan, the plate size is soooo small. Not to mention, the buffet choices are fresh seafood, diakon, fresh veggies, like cucumbers and carrots, raw fish, etc... The choices are not fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fried apples (as I am writing this, I am starting to feel a little hungry :)

Can we all learn a little from the Japanese way of eating?

use small serving plates
eat smaller portions
eat a lot slower and enjoy every bite of your food-I promise you will feel full faster!

***I have to say, that while I have truly enjoyed the Japanese cuisine since we've been here, there is one thing missing. Diet Coke. It is not available at any restaurant that I have been to. As far as I know, they do not serve diet coke at restaurants in Japan. They have regular soda, iced tea, iced coffee, and really fruity drinks, like mango juice. But no diet coke.
Many of you may be thinking, 'good, I'm gald, it's not good for you anyway'. Well, I understand, but I am totally ADDICTED to diet coke...especially the refreshing fountain version you get at the restaurant. But, its not happening here. However, I can get diet coke from the base grocery store (AKA the commissary) AND I can order it at the restaurants on base...which I am sooo happy about :-)

To infinity...and beyond!!

2008-11-09T19:43:00.003+09:00

Every week, Rowen chooses a different disney movie that he wants to watch when it is movie time (usually before school and before bed). He then watches that movie over and over and over again that whole week until we desperately ask him to switch to a new movie.

Well...this week it's been 'Toy Story'. And we are already tired of watching it!! But Rowen keeps insisting that he needs to see Buzz Lightyear.
Tim and I thought, wait, we haven't seen Toy Story 2, let's go buy that! That way, Rowen can still see Buzz and we can watch a new movie :)

Well...at the beginning of Toy Story 2, the toys are playing a video game and they are playing the Buzz lightyear video game. This part of the movie (at the very beginning) is completely about Buzz and he says his famous words "To INFINITY and BEYOND!!" Rowen is fixated on this party of the movie and wants to watch it over and over again!! Needless to say, we haven't seen the rest of the movie. But it is pretty funny to watch Rowen pose like Buzz and we say "to infinity" and he says "and BEYOND!!"

Mikan gari

2008-11-02T23:04:00.003+09:00

We visited the Tsukuihama Kanko Noen Farm today for mikan (tangerine) picking. (This farm also has strawberries, potatoes, and sweet potatoes to pick during their respected seasons.)
We were prettty excited to pick mikans because Tasaka-san and his family accompanied us there and what is better than to share this experience with our Japanese friends? Our friends, Jeff and Tiffany and their 3 kids also joined us and were excited to meet our local friends.

The entrance fee to TKN farm was totally reasonable Adults were Y800/each and children under 3 were free. For the price of admission, it was all you can eat mikans and a plastic bag to fill with mikans to take home with you! We were given our plastic bags, snipping scissors, and shown to our designated orchard area (ours was #117). It was a short walk up hill to find our orchards; the scene around was so beautiful! Rowen and Arjun ate a lot of mikans and they were plenty sticky afterwards too :)

After mikan picking, we found a park near the farm to sit down for a picnic lunch. Mrs. Tasaka-san packed a delicious Japanese lunch to share with all of us. That was so thoughtful!
There was inari (sweet tofu wrapped around rice), fish and vegetable tempura, cucumber and cheese sandwiches, and lemon tea. We also shared what we brought. To no surprise, our kids wanted the japanese food they brought, and their children wanted our American food (cheese/crackers, PBJ sandwiches, cookies, etc.)

I think everyone I had a great time and we are really looking forward to strawberry picking at the end of December :)

Mikan Picture Gallery

BOO!

2008-10-31T23:04:00.010+09:00

We hope all of you had a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Rowen and Arjun had a lot of fun dressing up and getting candy. Rowen was a skeleton and Arjun was superman and they were soooo cute!!!
We invited out Japanese friends-Tasaka-san and family to join the festivities. Trick or treating started around 4:30pm and I was completely out of 25 bags of candy!!! That should give you an idea of how many kids were in our neighborhood!

I think it's kind of funny that we had to move to a military base in Japan to enjoy a real traditional Halloween!! We definitely didn't experience a halloween like this in San Diego, mainly because of the neighborhood we lived in and not having that many kids living around us. So....having hundreds of kids around in search of the best treats made for a fun night!

Time to rock and ROLL

2008-10-29T23:03:00.008+09:00

I learned to make sushi today! Chef Clement, who occasionally has cooking classes on base, took time today to show the Oakleaf members how to make sushi.

There aren't a lot of ingredients needed really. After you have the basics down, it's really up to you on what type of sushi roll you make. The basics include sushi rice (sticky), nori paper, and a sushi mat(which makes wrapping your roll easier). On today's menu: the Philly roll..avocado, green onion, cream cheese, and smoked salmon.

I don't particularly care for smoked salmon, so I made a veggie roll for myself and I made a roll for Tim that included the smoked salmon. I was actually kind of surprised that Tim enjoyed the roll I made for him! If I can get my act together and gather the ingredients, we may be having some home made sushi rolls for dinner soon!

One year older...

2008-10-29T22:12:00.003+09:00

My 31st birthday was today. I remember thinking about this day last year when I turned 30. I was thinking...wow, I'm going to be living in Japan when I turn 31, I wonder what I will do that day?

Well...I had a good day and this is what I did.

Rowen had school and he got on the bus at 10am. Arjun was going to the CDC at 10:30. Around 9:45, Tim surprises us by coming home with flowers. So thoughtful! I think Rowen was the happiest, having daddy home for a few minutes in the morning :)
My friend Karri planned a small birthday brunch at a local restaurant outside of base. It was a lot of fun!! The girls that joined us are part of Oakleaf and just a few that I have been getting to know since moving to Yokosuka. It's always nice to have a great group of girls to hang out with :) All of the girls' husbands work at the hospital with Tim. There was Karri, (hubby is an ENT surgeon), Kim (her husband Brandon works with Tim in Ortho), Tiffany and her kids (hubby Jeff is a radiologist), Colleen (hubby John is a urologist), and Bhruga (hubby works in the hospital labs).

Anywhoo, after a delicious Chinese meal (the pan-fried gyozas were the best!!) and some fun birthday gifts, we enjoyed Baskin Robins ice cream. They had some interesting flavors that they don't have in the states! I think mine was twinkle cheesecake -yummy! And, across from the ice cream shop was a Body Shop store! We peeked in there for a few minutes and left with some nice bath products.

After lunch, I went to visit Tim at the hospital and he was finishing up with work. Together we went to go pick up Arjun at 3pm. (**This is one of the perks of being overseas...while Tim was so busy as a resident, he rarely had time to do things like pick up the kids from school, or come home for a few minutes during the day. But here, its a different type of busy. No longer a resident, his schedule allows him to spend some extra time with us-which we love!!)

Anyway, during Arjun's stay at the CDC, he made a really nice drawing for mommy to hang up (I was actually sort of impressed with all of the coloring he did, just a few days back, he didn't know what to do with a crayon!)

Rowen came home at 3:45 and we all played for a little bit until daddy came home. We had mongolian bbq for dinner at the officers club and it was delicious. The days events made my 31st birthday a good one! And since everyone in the states is about 14 hours behind, all the good birthday wishes continued throughout the day on Oct. 29th!

Seika Yochien 61st annual sports day

2008-10-13T21:03:00.014+09:00

It was Japan's national sports and fitness day and it was a big event!! Sport's day was supposed to be on Saturday, Oct. 11 but it was rained out. Unfortunately, the school phone tree was pretty slow and they never got to us, so we ended up leaving for the event!! Thank goodness we ran into one of our neighbors that told us it was canceled :)

The make-up day was Columbus day, Oct. 13. Sport's day was supposed to last roughly 6 hours sitting in the sun and dirt, watching Japanese sporting events and dances! There was an opening ceremony, speeches, flowers, raising of the Japan flag, etc!! It was literally like the opening ceremony to the Olympics, LOL! (Right before the event started, there was the lighting of the cellophane Olympic flame...)

Rowen's preschool class did an opening ceremony dance and participated in a few races. He was a good sport for the most part but there were some tears as well. I think he does pretty well at school when we're not there with him. But at these school events, when he sees us there, but cannot be with us, b/c he has to be with his class, he gets upset and starts crying.
I already knew when we arrived that morning, that Rowen was not going to make it the whole day. He was still tired from the previous school week (he had some long days for sports day practice). After his last performance before intermission, we decided to leave and go home so Rowen could relax for the rest of the day :) Hopefully, for next years big event, we will all be there for the closing ceremony!

** In the pictures that you see, all the little kids in uniform are students at Seika Yochien. The youngest kids are in the pony class (2-3 yrs) and there is also the sweet pea and daisy class for the older kids. It is quite amazing what they teach the older kids. In sweet pea, which Rowen will start in April, the kids learn to clean the classroom and serve lunch, along with other responsiblities.
Getting back to sports day pictures, if you notice the students that are part of the school band, they are in the oldest class and are only 6 yrs old!! Pretty amazing that they have such a big task at sports day to be the main school band! I think it would be pretty cool if Rowen attended Seika long enough to learn how to play all those instruments, not to mention he would probably be speaking Japanese by then too!

**Sport's Day Gallery**

Out to Lunch-yummy!!

2008-10-09T14:50:00.006+09:00

The Oakleaf Club which is for hospital spouse's (called Oakleaf b/c medical officers were an oakleaf on one lapel, whereas non-medical or 'line' officers do not...) gets together for ' Lunch-Bunch' every first Wednesday of the month.

I missed September, basically because we were no where near getting settled!! When October's meeting came around, I thought I should go especially b/c everyone who had been to this restaurant before was just raving about it!!

Fortunately I made a reservation for Arjun at the CDC and with Rowen at school, I got to go all by myself!! I was very excited to have lunch at a nice restaurant with out the kids!!

St. Marc's is a French Bistro that serves delicious food and makes their own bread :) With certain specials in the menu, you can add a bread plate to your order, which I HIGHLY recommend. **Those of you that come and visit will go to this place with me :)

There is a table in the center of St. Marc's that has all the bread you can eat. As the baskets get empty, they keep refilling them with warm tasty bread, and its always different kinds of bread, so everytime you take your plate up there, it is something different!! Blueberry, raisin and almond, chocolate croisant, cheese bread...they had it all! I am really looking forward to taking Tim and kids there :)

Yokosuka Bazaar

2008-10-04T22:18:00.004+09:00

Twice a year, various vendors bring their beautiful furniture and other items to sell at the Yokosuka Bazaar. The bazaar was October 4th and 5th and it was packed with people eyeing all the goodies....including us!

The CDC (child development center) offered childcare for this special event but we decided to take the kids. Not a wise choice...after walking around for a little while, we knew the kids weren't going to last long! They were walking on the persian rugs, trying to open the drawers on the furniture, 'helping' push the stroller around...you get the idea!

After Tim and I decided on a couple of things to buy, he took the kids home and I stayed behind with Jeff and Tiffany and their 3 kids, Ainsley, Braedon, and McKenna. Their kids are older and really behaved at the bazaar!

The bazaar was pretty overwhelming so we took a lunch break and enjoyed yakisoba (noodles with veggies) and BBQ meat on a stick-yummy! With full tummies, we were ready to tackle the garage area of the bazaar. What's the garage area? Well...on top of having two HUGE rooms filled with furniture, the 5 story garage was packed full of Japanese knick-knacks: origami Christmas ornaments, silk pajamas, jewelry, dishes, and the list goes on!

We ended up buying a beautiful glass door bookcase and a teak wood outdoor table and 4 chairs.

By the time we (and by 'we', I mean Tiffany's nice husband, Jeff!!) loaded up the furniture on the courtesy trucks to take home, we were all exhausted!!!

Rowen starts school at Seika Yochien

2008-10-01T23:24:00.006+09:00

Today was a very exciting day!! I was both nervous and excited for Rowen's first day at Seika.
Seika is a Japanese Kindergarten that has a small percentage of American students. The school's curriculum consists of art, music, dancing, and singing-all things that Rowen enjoys doing :)

The bus that picks up Rowen at home is a choo-choo bus and it rings it's bell as it comes into our culdesack! Video of Rowen getting ready for the Seika bus!

Rowen was really excited to ride the choo-choo bus and that is what got him through his first day, I think? After enjoying a hearty breakfast (b/c I wasn't sure what he'd eat at school) and getting on his uniform without a tantrum, he was so calm getting ready for the bus to arrive. I was sure that he would cry or be upset as the bus was leaving, but it was me who started crying!! I think my 2 neighbors (who were putting their kids on the bus) thought that I was an emotional wreck...until they told me they went through the same thing when their kids first started:)

When the bus dropped Rowen off (and Erina and Michael, the other kids on our block that attend Seika), he was so happy!! I knew that he had a good day and that made me so happy. He didn't seem cranky either (school days are long, from 10-4, so he skips a nap)...
He immediately started to tear off his uniform and head into the house to get some ice cream (I told him today that when he got home we would share some ice cream to celebrate his 1st day of school).

One of his teachers, Yuko, who is the English aid and assists with all of the American students called me tonight. She told me that Rowen was fine at school and didn't cry. He even asked for seconds at lunch, even though he didn't finish it. I think she was surprised by that b/c a lot of the American kids don't eat the food at Seika (miso soup, sushi rice, etc...)

Rowen returns to school on Friday-I hope he has just as much fun.

Seika Gallery

So relaxing...

2008-09-29T21:41:00.003+09:00

Oakleaf sponsored a trip to EnoSpa and I am so glad that I went!! Our boxes/furniture just got delivered over the weekend so I thought I would skip the spa and unpack more boxes...what a silly thought!!

The spa was wonderful! I got a hot stone massage and we swam in a cave pool that overlooked the ocean...the site was something
Over the holiday weekend next week, we have a babysitter for the kiddos on Saturday night and I am going to take Tim to EnoSpa. He hates massages, but I signed him up for a treatment anyway-I hope he likes it!

Whoever comes to visit us in Yoksouka, I can't wait to take you to this spa!

Welcome home USS George Washington!

2008-09-25T21:33:00.006+09:00

This was a big day in Japanese History. The USS George Washington made its home in Yokosuka.
This is the first time a nuclear powered aircraft carrier has been forward deployed here and it has definitely created quite the controversy. There have been many demonstrations/protests by the Japanese concerning the GW's arrival and they have increased this week. The Japanese people are concerned that having a nuclear ship in the harbor is dangerous...but doesn't Japan have the 3rd or 4th most nuclear power plants in the world??? We are now living on base (since Sept. 23rd) and the base is on heightened security until the GW leaves on a short workup (trip) again on Wednesday, Oct. 1st.

Life will be different on base now...the GW brings roughly 5000 extra people on board!! Someone is bound to get into trouble! Last March in Yokosuka, a Kitty Hawk sailor was charged with stabbing a Japanese taxi driver to death. Crime is not a big part of Japanese culture and most of the crime that happens here if any (from what I'm told) happens within the military community. Pretty sad, but true.

With all of these extra people, I hope that the grocery store can keep food and essentials in stock!! That has been a problem in the past-which means when I see diapers, I BUY them!!!

Here is an article to read about the GW from the Japanese perspective...

Fun at the aquarium!

2008-09-19T21:32:00.005+09:00

***Side note: We have not been blogging much lately-sorry! There have been a few things going on which I am going to post about now and back date them...
Now that we are finally settled into our house (on base), I will keep the blog more up to date :)

The Enoshima Aquarium...

The best thing about living in San Diego was all the attractions that were so kid-friendly! The Zoo, Sea World, La Birch Aquarium, and the list goes on!
Well, our Oakleaf playgroup went to the Enoshima Aquarium and it was a lot of fun. The drive was about 45 minutes from base (we were not living on base yet...) The drive was beautiful! Almost entirely along the ocean :) Our price of admission was 2000 Yen (~$20) and a season pass was just two admission tickets so we opted for that! I figured that in the two years we'll be here, the aquarium will be a nice place to go, especially when the weather is not so nice.

We also enjoyed a dolphin show at the aquarium...and even though we've seen many dolphin shows in SD, this one was special because it was in Japanese!!

Aquarium Gallery

Happy Birthday Arjun!

2008-09-04T22:38:00.000+09:00

We can't believe that Arjun is already 1!! And since we've only been here a month, we weren't sure what we were going to do to celebrate...obviously Arjun will not remember his 1st birthday but Rowen has been talking about it for a week now. In particular, he's been mentioning birthday cake and all of HIS presents that he is going to get!!

We had a relaxing day at home and got some naps in before we headed to base to see Tim. We had dinner at Chili's (I know-really exciting) with another family that we met during our orientation: The Owin's family: Mark (retired Navy), Karen (a new DoDDs teacher) and their twin daughters, Rachel and Rebecca (20 mos. old). We had a good time and the people at Chili's, of course, sang a good birthday song to Arjun, which Rowen loved!

All birthday pics, click here!

The New Sanno

2008-09-01T16:30:00.000+09:00

On Friday of Labor Day weekend, we got really lucky! I called The New Sanno for reservations for Sat/Sun and they had availability!! This was quite shocking b/c the hotel takes reservations up to one year in advance, so almost all weekends are booked.

The New Sanno is a beautiful hotel located in the heart of Tokyo and is for military/DOD I.D. holders and their guests. The rates are SO reasonable and we were totally excited to go.

We actually didn't do much when we were there, just simply relaxed in the hotel and went swimming. We used the babysitting service on Sat. night and went out to dinner and it was great to get a couple of hours without the boys!

Since we didn't do any sightseeing this time, our next reservation is in Nov. Hopefully, we'll do some then!

The pics are of us in Tokyo (obviously), Rowen snuggling with his 'posse', and the make shift room that Tim made for Arjun!! One pic is of my name on a wait list for a sushi restaurant, pretty funny compared to all the names!! Also, Tokyo tower.

It's wet out here!

2008-08-27T20:29:00.003+09:00

It's been raining a lot out here...and the kids don't have rain coats, neither do we for that matter!
We recently went to the Daiei and Rowen and Arjun tried on some pretty stylish rain coats. Would you believe that it hasn't really rained since we bought the coats?? Go figure...at least we'll be prepared. I got some pretty neat rain boots too.

Taking out the trash

2008-08-27T14:36:00.002+09:00

I really don't know where to begin with this topic. This the biggest challenge to living out in town.
Basically, during our lease signing, our housing councelor discussed the garbage rules which we must follow while living off base. This discussion was by the far the longest of any we had that day...
There are 5 different types of garbage (my head was already spinning when she said this):
1. Burnable: diapers, kitchen food, branches, leaves, paper**
2. Plastics/Packaging: food containers, shampoo bottles (emptied), caps to plastic bottles, wrappers...
3. Cans, bottles, PET: sort of self explanatory-soda cans, water bottles (but not their lids), and bottles that say PET on the bottom. This one is sort of easy...
4. Non-burnable: rubber, shoes, toys, aluminum foil, other non-burnable items.
5. Group resource: milk-cartons, card-board boxes and magazines (that must be broken down and tied with a pretty ribbon), empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls.

**of course this does not mean all paper...wrapping paper and newspaper, etc are part of group resource :)

Can you believe this???

And they all have different pickup days too. We have this calender on our fridge with everything marked in colors and its all in japanese of course!! Supposedly if you don't dispose of your trash properly, they will put it on your front door step with a big yellow sticker on it...I guess it's easy for them to know it's an American family's trash b/c of all the american food items (everything is in a clear plastic bag so they can examine it b/f they pick it up!)

We know of some people that take their trash to base but what a hassle!! They go in the middle of the night or really early in the morning...its like a 007 mission! They drive up to dumpsters,And it is totally illegal. We heard that if you get caught, your command gets notified, etc. I'm thinking that's probably not fun.

Korean BBQ

2008-08-25T20:30:00.001+09:00

We went out tonight for Korean BBQ-it was very good! I have never had this type of food, and I really enjoyed it. At this restaurant, you have to take your shoes off before entering into your table area. And on your table is a little grill filled with charcoals, so it is a 'cook your own food' type fo place. Our friends had been here before so we let them do the ordering. We ordered salads, rice, and this cucumber plate with a yummy sauce. And for our main entree, we ordered beef tenderloin that was marinated in a soy/garlic sauce-very delicious! I enjoyed this place very much, BUT will enjoy even more the next time, when Tim and I come WITHOUT the kids...as you can see from the pics....Arjun was all over the place!

Parade

2008-08-23T22:12:00.002+09:00

We went to Yokohama today, there was supposed to be a festival parade near the train station, and we all know how much Rowen loves trains!! Enjoy the pics!

Random pic:
Here's another picture of Arjun that was requested by these women that worked for a bakery in the Yokohama train station :)

Taking risks...

2008-08-22T23:18:00.006+09:00

1) Driving to our neighborhood
I was pretty nervous actually driving off of base into town. The speed limit on base is so SLOW (the maximum speed is about 20 mph), I feel like nothing too bad can happen driving that slow! Out in town, however, (even though the max speed is 60 kmh, which is about 37 mph, still really slow), the japanese road rules actually come into play, and I have to really concentrate on what the road signs mean b/c they are all written in Japanese! In the state when driving with the kids, I remember how often I used to turn around to hand the kids something, like their sippy cup, their snacks, or a toy they had dropped (not safe, I know). But here in Yokosuka, there is NO WAY I will feel comfortable doing that. I haven't even gotten used to driving with loud music in the background!

2) Getting my haircut
It has been so hot here, that I thought I would get my hair cut. I wanted to cut it short, but I haven't had too short in such a long time...I always get nervous that I won't like it! Well...I decided to get my haircut at this salon near the base call "Claps". It went okay-I had to show the guy A LOT of pictures, b/c of course he didn't speak ANY English!! Talk about taking risks!

3) Eating in a Japanese cafe with no English menu
Our new house is about a 10 minute walk from the Oppama train station (this train station is 4 stops from the Yokosuka-Chuo station which is walking distance from the base). Anyway, we decided to take the train to our 'house' station to see how long it takes and scope out the shops/restaurants near the train station. The one bad thing we noticed at the Oppama station is that there is no elevator. That makes things a little difficult with two kids and a double stroller!!
Near the station, there was a big supermarket and many convenient stores as well as many little cafes. We ventured into one of these cafes for dinner...Tim asked me what I wanted to order and I looked around the place for a menu. Haha. Tim and I just stared at each other and he asked me if we should leave and then the waiter came up to us and just stood there waiting for us to place our order! We said "Menu???" and he said, "Noodles"??? and pointed to the wall.
Well-you know what we had for dinner-and it was good!!

One more thing-Japaenese people LOVE American babies!!! This picture below is of a family that was at the cafe with us. They wanted a picture with Rowen and Arjun, but Rowen was being shy :)

Friday night lights

2008-08-22T22:14:00.003+09:00

It was such a beautiful night after the afternoon rain showers. We decided to take the boys to the playground.

After the playground, we took a little walk and found the driving range and a high school football field.

Rowen thought the football game was pretty cool, so we hung out there for a few minutes...(a few too many minutes in my opinion-but he had fun!

Costco!

2008-08-21T18:21:00.002+09:00

Today was fun! Every third Thursday of the month, the base has a bus that goes to Costco for a few hours...it is $10 for a ticket and we thought it would be a good idea to scope things out before we drove there ourselves.

When we got there, I definitely felt a little closer to home :) But when you walk inside...be ready to speak a little Japanese or recognize some of the products you are looking for, b/c there isn't a lot of things written in English! For example, the diapers description is in Kangi (Japan script) and the only thing in English is the weight in kg...I don't know how many pounds are in a kg!!

We can definitely come here for fresh fish, meat and produce. They also have an extensive selective of sushi, ssshimi, and noodles. Yummy