Winter 2014/2015

Winter 2014/2015

Well it's been a great last few months, so it's about time to write up a post!! A post often comes after a great trip, which we just experienced, and I'll write about it a bit later.

First of all we're happy to announce that we have been extended one more year. It was a few months of ups and downs, not knowing if we were going to go home, but at the end of the day, we are staying in Japan, and are overjoyed about it!

We are in the process of registering Brooke for pre-kindergarden, and can't believe she just turned 4 years old. She has quite the personality, which you will see in some of the pictures :) It's hard to believe, that many families here start to teach their children to walk to school on their own at this age. We won't be taking up that Japanese tradition, but I do admire it and it goes to show how safe of a country it is. Quite often we walk down the street and see kids on their own or in sets of 2 or 3 walking to school. They are probably 5-6 years old and walk with confidence. They usually have on their school uniform and hat, and there is security at their school to welcome them. This is what I see, at the Elementary down from our home anyway, maybe some other neighborhoods are different. I seen an article in the news the other day about a lady sending her kid to school on the subway in the states, and she was getting reprimanded. Here, that is just part of normal society.

I found this snipit in an article I read:
"Here, children begin walking to school by themselves in first grade, which means ages 6-7, usually in little groups of kids walking together. They are also taking public transportation such as trains or buses by themselves. Kids also commute to lessons and to meet friends in the park. They have regular safety classes at school where they learn about traffic safety.  They do this whether they live in the city and have to navigate traffic lights, or in the countryside walking on isolated roads or through rice paddies."



Anyway, here are some updates of what we've experienced over the last few months.

Brooke Ice skating

Last year Brooke went ice skating a few times with Graham and I, but didn't really get into it. She would skate around, holding our hands, for about 10 minutes, then had enough. When we asked about going again, she usually said no.

This year, she asked to go, and really seemed interested. The first day we went, she let go of Grahams hand and skated on her own for 10 minutes without falling once. I was shocked and proud at the same time. You could see, by the look on her face, that she was proud too. At one point, she even told Graham to leave the ice, as she wanted to skate on her own :).. Her personality is one, that she really likes Graham or I to introduce her to something/someone, but then once she is comfortable she snuffs us off, LOL

 

Outing in Kamakura

I made a new friend, a few months back, her name is Fumiko. She was nice enough to invite me out to Kamakura, to show me around her town. I had been to Kamakura before, and loved it. I wrote about it a few months back, it's the town that has the Giant Buddha and amazing beachfront. This time she showed me around a few temples, and they were amazing. By this point, we have seen so many temples, but I still love to see new ones. It was late fall/early winter, so the colors were still out, and it was a beautiful day.

At one of the temples, there was this really small arrow, to the side of a building, showing you could go around back. We did, and to our surprise there was a tea room, and we were offered treats and tea by a fellow there. Offering tea and treats can be common at temples, but it's usually in a large open space, that you can easily find, plus you have to pay. This one was tucked away, so we were lucky to find it.

Our first concernt

Graham and I enjoyed a date night, to go see the Ting Tings. They are a British musical duo who also play guitar, piano and the drums. We only knew one song (that's not my name), and didn't really know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised by an amazing performance. Good drums, beat and vocals.

The crowd was interesting, they were so into the show and so respectful. There was one bar downstairs, with over a hundred people there to watch, however there were no lineups at the bar. This was good for me :).... They just wanted to watch the show, and not miss a thing. Even when there was a 2 minute break to move something on stage, the audience was in complete silence. Also, there was no garbage or litter anywhere after the concert, quite different from concerts I've seen back home.

 

Christmas 2014

Christmas was pretty low key this year. We enjoyed going to a couple of Christmas parties and then spent Christmas morning and dinner at home. There was no snow for Christmas. We didn't have much snow until February where we had 2-3 days of snow.

Overall it was a mild winter, and we enjoyed several days outside. Like last year, we also visited a few illuminations, around Tokyo. This year they had a frozen themed illumination which Brooke was ecstatic to see.

My main present this year, was a burner for our kitchen table. Kind of an odd thing, I know, but we've been into doing Japanese hot pots, so this was a great gift.

Brooke loved decorating the tree!

Date night for Graham and I at NakaMeguro

Enjoying tea and lunch with our good friend Kaori

Christmas party at the Ambassadors home

Making our own Christmas wrapping paper. It's pretty hard to find here, and when you do it's a tiny roll for $20.00+

We found Elsa and Anna

Brooke using her magic

New Years

For New Years, Graham took an extra day off, and we headed outside Tokyo, to Yokohama. We've visited Yokohama before, and enjoy it. It's a port city about an hour outside of Tokyo. We stayed in their China Town for a few days, and enjoyed music, good food and entertainment.

While out exploring on New Years Eve, we kept finding these artistically painted Elephants around the city. Brooke enjoyed finding them. She really enjoys dancing and music lately. If asked to do it on her own, she won't, but she gets in these moods, where she just wants to dance, and will do it in the middle of crowds and not even care. I love it!!! This time, she turned the Elephants into drums and danced, drummed and sung along. We weren't allowed to go anywhere, until she was done.. hmmm I love the singing and dancing personality but the "wait wait wait" personality can be hard some days :)...... I wouldn't mind but there are days when she has to stop and check something out every minute.

Enjoying food in Chinatown. Most places were closed, we found this random spot, and it was amazing!

Maybe we should put out a hat next time :)

 Disney

We were done with Disney, after our last trip, but then they had to go and have a Frozen expedition. We decided to take Brooke on one more Disney adventure. Graham took a weekday off, as it's just a gong show during a weekend. Brooke loved going again, she enjoyed two of her favorite rides (driving a car with Dad and it's a small world) and really enjoyed the Frozen themed parade.

 Indoory Outdoory Breakfast

One of Brooke's favorite book series, is Charlie and Lola. For Christmas she received some new Charlie and Lola books. One of the books is about Lola wanting to go for a picnic outside, but it's raining, so instead they have an indoory outdoory lunch.. We've decided to do the same from time to time, for breakfast. We put down a blanket and a small table by our window and enjoy breakfast. Oh, and of course Brooke's two favorite things are usually at the table, Teddy and her Pink Purse!!

Not sure why the curtains are closed in this one :)

Family Adventure

On one of Graham's days off we decided to go to the beach. Feeling lucky that we can go play at the beach in winter!! We still had to bundle up a bit, but it was a gorgeous day. Graham taught Brooke a new game of chasing the current out, then running away as they come crashing back in.

We even found a nice cafe, with a rooftop patio, where we enjoyed some coffee. We then went back to the beach to enjoy one of the best sunsets I've seen, with a view of the horizon and Mt. Fuji.
 

Brooke's random dance performances

On the weekend, they close down a few of the roads in Ginza. Ginza is a very well know upscale shopping area in Tokyo.

During one of our weekends, we went to Ginza to hang out and enjoy lunch. We were allowed to walk down the streets, since they were closed to cars. This was one of the times that Brooke decided to just randomly put on a dance show. She had a few people stop, and lots of people smiling, including Mom and Dad. It was a good time.

One other thing I noticed, is that people were buying so many items that they were then needing to buy luggage, to carry all of their bags. Taking public transport is common in Tokyo, so I guess it was easier to bring home??? There was a shop selling suitcases for a good price, and it was interesting to see several people going up to buy them, and then putting their full shopping bags inside.. :)

Dancing in the street

Uniqlo, popular clothing store in Japan

Sumo

Graham and I experienced our first Sumo tournament. I helped organize this event through the Embassy, and we had roughly 30 people from the Embassy attend. It was a blast! We learned more about the sport and enjoyed watching the matches.

Sumo is Japans National Sport. The match is roughly 3 minutes, most of which is the Sumo wrestler throwing salt (a symbolic purification of the ring) and getting ready for the fight. The actual fight lasts 10-20 seconds (depending on the match). "The rules are simple: the wrestler who first exits the ring or touches the ground with any part of his body besides the soles of his feet loses. Matches take place on an elevated ring (dohyo), which is made of clay and covered in a layer of sand. A contest usually lasts only a few seconds, but in rare cases can take a minute or more. There are no weight restrictions or classes in sumo, meaning that wrestlers can easily find themselves matched off against someone many times their size. As a result, weight gain is an essential part of sumo training."

We also learned that women can't become professional Sumo wrestlers, and are not even allowed to set foot on the ring/dohyo. There was one city that had a female Governor (the Governor usually helps with part of the ceremony), even this Governor was not allowed on the ring/dohyo.

My favorite fight was where both wrestlers fell out of the circle at the same time. All the judges had to come to the circle and talk about what they saw, and it ended up being a rematch. We asked a co-worker at the Embassy and she said that a re-matches rarely happens, so it was great to experience it.

Special match against some Elementary School kids

Deciding on the re-match. Usually the judges in black don't enter the ring

Restaurants

One of my favorite things about Tokyo is the variety and style of their restaurants. Unlike back home, there are few "chain" restaurants. Most restaurants have their own unique design, and I love the character of the inside and outside of them. They usually specialize in a certain item i.e. Sushi, Udon noodle, Ramen noodle, Yakitori, Curry rice, Japanese hot pot etc. etc. We love almost all the food here, which makes the experience even better! Graham has said however that he does miss Boston Pizza, LOL, I don't really :)

A big thing in Japan is Seasonal foods. The menus/recipes at restaurants will usually change depending on the season, to make sure they are using the most seasonal foods.

At first we use to choose restaurants with English menu's, however we're now brave enough to enter other restaurants. With the help of Google translate, we can take pictures of menus in Japanese, and translate to English. I also learned the phrase O sue sue me nan des ka, which means what's the recommendation.

One of Graham and my favorites, on our dates, are Japanese Izakaya's. Like pubs, they are casual drinking spots. They serve a variety of small dishes and drinks. They tend to be informal with dishes shared amongst the table. Their usually quite small with chairs for less than 20 people.

Brooke's 4th Birthday

Brooke's 4th birthday was a great success! Her and her friends seemed to have a ton of fun.

We had visited a fire museum a few months prior, and Brooke asked if we could go back for her birthday. I thought it was a different idea, but a good one. There is a floor that Brooke loves to run around and play games. There are buttons to push, which show situations on a screen, i.e. don't put your fingers in the fan, don't touch hot things etc etc.. .She likes pushing the buttons, then running into the nearby fire helicopter or fire truck and pretend to save the kids, from these bad things. Luckily Brookes friends also loved doing this, so they kept busy in this one area for a couple hours, while the adults could just stand around and chat.

On the top floor, there is an eating area that we reserved, with a view of the city. We enjoyed some lunch and cupcakes here and then the kids played some more. It was a great time!!!

At the end of the party, we took Brooke home and cooked her choice of dinner, Grandma Steels Spaghetti of course :))))

Graham's Marathon

Graham participated in his first ever Marathon. He finished successfully in under 4 hours, and we are so proud of him!!! He trained for months leading up to the Marathon and was well prepared.

Brooke and I saw him at the quarter mark, and he saw us too! He stopped for a few seconds for a quick hug and kiss and then continued on. Brooke and I then beat him to the finish, where we saw him, but he didn't see us. He looked utterly exhausted, of course after 4 hours of running how could he not be. We knew he could do it, but to see it happen was pretty cool!!! Being by the finish line was pretty neat, we could see the look on peoples faces as they rounded the corner by us, and seen the finish line. It was mix of faces, some with huge smiles, some crying and most just complete and utter exhaustion.

We saw many people dressed up in costumes, such as spider man, Elsa, Olaf and more!!

They handed out water, tomatoes, sweets and more

Lots of cops driving around and also in the race, to make sure things were in order

Hello Elsa!

Hello Batman

The fellow in the red has complete exhaustion on his face, while the guy in Yellow has a huge smile. Hard to see in the picture!

Okinawa trip

Our most recent travel was to Okinawa, which is the Hawaii of Japan. It was an amazing spot with turquoise water, aquariums. white sand beaches and great food!

Most areas of Japan are known for certain food items. We made sure to try some of the local Okinawan cuisine:

- Sweet potato and sweet potato ice cream

 

I love ice cream!!

- Goya chanpuru. Graham is not a fan of this one, it's made with a bitter vegetable called Goya and egg. I don't mind it. I didn't take a picture, but here is one I found online

- Okinawa Soba Soup

- Shoyu Pork: Slow cooked pork marinated in soy sauce, sugar, mirin, garlic, ginger (or something similar). Mmm one of our favorites, we have even made this one at home.

- Awamori: an alcoholic beverage indigenous to and unique to Okinawa, Japan. It is made from long grain indica rice

- Taco rice: There is a large amount of Americans on the island, I think this item is more to cater to them. I'm not sure though!

- Orion beer. Orion Beer is “characterized by a crisp refreshing feel and mild taste. Orion likes to give some credit for the quality of its beer to the source of its water. Orion also has its own ingredients and techniques that could be what makes it special. Graham and I both really enjoyed it

We were also able to find a very cool Teppanyaki restaurant, where they cook the food right in front of you. We also found some of the best burgers and pizzas, that we have tried so far in Japan.

Teppanyaki Restaurant

Great Burger place we found across the street from our hotel. To bad we found it on our last day there :)

We visited the Wine & Pizza 58 bar, you can barely see it in the background

It's always hard to choose where to stay. We did as much research as we could and chose the SunMarina Hotel. It turned out to be a great choice. It had a great breakfast buffet, patio off our room with beach views, activities, beach access and more. The hotel staff were also great, and helped us organize a few of our outings. They even noticed it was Brooke's birthday and surprised her with a cake and candles, during our first lunch there. The buffet area had a kids play area, so it helped us get a few moments to ourselves while Brooke played around.

We visited a local cultural market, an underwater observatory, pineapple park, butterfly garden and an Aquarium. All were lots of fun!

Graham and I both agree that one of our favorite days was the visit to the underwater observatory. The lady at the hotel advised us how to get there by local bus, which was about a 30 minute drive. It would have been over 3 hours to walk, so we opted for the bus :) We were well on our way and Brooke started to say she felt sick and started to dry heave. She gets car sick on occasion, usually only after dairy. We promptly pushed the button to get off and were able to stop before she got sick. After a few minutes of fresh air Brooke was fine. Luckily we ended up being a 30 minute walk away from our destination, which was perfect. It was a beautiful day, and the walk was along the coast. We noticed a gorgeous beachfront area with views of some huge rocks in the ocean. We decided we would go back to that beach when we were done. We then continued onto the underwater observatory and checked out some colorful underwater fish and creates. We then found a cafe and enjoyed delicious Japanese Curry, coffee and sweet potato ice-cream. The Sweet potato ice-cream sounds odd, but it was extremely good. We then walked back to the beachfront we noticed and enjoyed a couple hours of beach time. Brooke collected shells and happily put them in her new collectors vest, that she received from Grandma Nancy for her birthday. We also each enjoyed a beer on the beach, which is allowed here :) There were workers on the beach and the sand was so fresh, either it was a brand new man-made beach front, or they were getting it prepped for the busy Spring/Summer season, either way we felt like we were the first ones to use this spot.

Another great day was a day that Graham enjoyed a few hours of fishing, and Brooke and I played on the beach. It was also one of our favorites, as it was the hottest day there. In the evening we went to a local Okinawan Izakaya/pub and enjoyed some local cuisine and local music. It was one of my favorite restaurants there! It's one of the restaurants where there are pillows on the floor and the table is low down to the ground. I like this style, Graham doesn't mind it however says it's not the most comfortable way for him to sit :)

Water feature in the hotel. Filled with fish that Brooke liked to feed

Buffet eating area

Cultural Park

Cultural Park - Brooke liked the strawberry guys/girls

Concert at the Cultural Park

Brooke clapping to the music

Okinawa: Shisa, the half dog half lion that is everywhere. he first thing you notice about Okinawa is the beautiful ocean. The second will probably be all of the half dog, half lion statues that are everywhere! Shisa are wards, believed to protect from various evils. When found in pairs, the shisa on the left traditionally has a closed mouth, and the one on the right an open mouth. The open mouth to ward off evil spirits, and the closed mouth to keep good spirits in.

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Palm trees are everywhere

View during our half hour walk, after Brooke's almost vomit on the bus

Beach we found and had to go back to visit. Photos don't even do it justice

More views on our walk. In the distance you can see a dock with a lighthouse, that is where the Underwater Observatory is

Brooke having a little break, at a bus stop

More walking to the Observatory

We made it!!

Brooke and Grahams design

Relaxing and looking for items to put in her collectors vest with 10+ pockets and zippers :)

Beachfront at our hotel

Birthday Cake from the hotel staff

Driving at Pineapple park, one of Brooke's favorites

Our Beautiful Butterfly

No idea what this is, but he's cool!

Sunset view from our hotel beach

Our hotel beach

Such clear and clean waters

Well those are the updates of our adventures in Japan. Upcoming will be another Cherry Blossom season, and luckily we'll have some great company to join us for the Sakura season this year. Nancy and Billy will arrive in a couple of weeks, we can't wait!!!

We love and miss you all, xoxo