Little of this, little of that...

Hi friends :-)

December is almost over.  It's been good to us, very relaxing.  It's also become quite chilly! That's sad because it makes me want to drive in my car instead of ride my bike. 

Fun story on how the Japanese celebrate Christmas: Back in the 70s, a strange tradition started here in Japan when KFC put out a big campaign for people to order their fried chicken for the holiday.  Amazingly, KFC has convinced the Japanese people that the thing to do for Christmas is eat fried chicken.  The chicken is pretty similar (or at least it looks similar, I haven't had it yet), but the side dishes are different.  They really do pre-order their entire meal and I hear there are lines out the door.   

We went over to visit with some friends for Christmas Eve.  The Commissary (grocery store on base) was closing for Christmas and the day afterwards, so they were clearing out the meat department.  90% off everything, including good steaks, including Kobe beef.  Our friend Adam was there and stocked up, so we ate very well.  The Kobe was fantastic!    Bryan and I spent most of Christmas Day just hanging out, watching movies.  Some friends came over to have dinner with us and we were able to FaceTime with some family.  Far from the usual Christmas, but still nice. 

Bryan and I exchanged a few small gifts.  He got me one of those big, really soft, really warm blankets from Brookstone and some new perfume.  And a hat and slippers.  I got him a fancy blender  and some warm slippers.   Slippers are important here for two reasons.  First, no shoes are allowed in the houses here.  It says so in our lease.  Second, the houses are not well insulated at all.  Our house is pretty new, so its better than most, but the windows and doors (we have many in each room) are drafty.  Similarly, we have hardwood floors and I really don't think there's much between them and the ground.  Therefore slippers are a must.

We went to Tama Hills this weekend with some friends.  It is owned by the military and is about 1.5 hours away. It was originally built by the Germans back in the days of WWII to store weapons and ammunition.  There are still a bunch of old buildings and bunkers all over the property.  Today, it's used as a park/campgrounds area.  They have several cabins and camping areas, as well as a putt putt course, horse back riding, archery, paintball arenas, playgrounds, and hiking trails.   We tried out everything but the playgrounds and paintball and had a good time.  See pics below!

Yesterday we went to Yokosuka, the Navy base south of us.  It's much, much bigger than our so the Nex (cross between Macy's and Wal Mart) is also much, much bigger.  My wardrobe needs to be a bit more formal at my new job. I needed to find some black some-what business jackets to wear at work.  I was really lucky and found several good pieces for work AND sweet tea vodka!  Bryan, on the other hand, didn't have any luck.  He couldn't find slippers or a bath robe in his size. The he went to find his favorite liquer, the Kraken, and they also don't carry it.  This made him sad.  And then we went to Chili's (yes, the baby back rib restaurant that sells what Bryan calls "little bites of heaven", aka Honey Chipotle Crispers) and they were out of the Honey Chipotle sauce.  Major disappointment.  Hopefully we have better luck next time we made the trip. 

Tomorrow we have to be on base at 4:30am.  And that's okay because we're going skiing!  We're going north, to Naeba, in the Japanese Alps.  I'm kinda scared.  Big hills, huge!  I'll post pictures in my next blog!

I'm not sure how we're going to spend New Years.  They've extended our curfew until 1am, instead of 11pm.  That's really nice, but it's not enough time to celebrate at midnight in Tokyo and get back into our homes. Maybe Yokohama though!  Or maybe we'll just chill in our own home.

Here are some pics I've taken recently.  Most are random, but it'll give you a peak into our little lives.

The guard rail sometimes used during construction.  These are blue dolphins, but there are also pink and yellow bunnies up the street too.   In my head, very Japanese.

A little taste of Americana, outside of Yokosuka Naval Station.

I found these at The Little Mermaid, the bakery down the street, on Christmas.

The train station down the street.  It's the Sagamino Station, located on the Sotetsu Line.  Wikipedia says, " Tokyo has the most extensive urban railway network and the most used in the world with 40 million passengers in the metro area daily.^[2] There are 882 interconnected rail stations in the Tokyo Metropolis, 282 of which are Subway stations.,^[5] with several hundred more in each of the 3 surrounding suburban prefectures. There are 30 operators running 121 passenger rail lines (102 serving Tokyo and 19 more serving Greater Tokyo but not Tokyo's city center itself), excluding about 12 cable cars."

Maretsu, the biggest grocery store in the area, along with a sushi go round, 100 yen shop, barber, and drug store upstairs.

The bikes outside of Maretsu.

The weekend before Christmas, we went to Tama Hills, a campground owned by the US military that's about an hour away.  We rented a lodge with some friends and enjoyed hiking, archery, and just hanging out.  It was a simple but relaxing getaway.

What?!?! Cherie on a horse??  I wasn't impressed.   But I didn't die, so I won't complain.

Hubby taking aim.

He's a badass.

I may be an even more of a badass. 

We share the base with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.  They invited us to celebrate the upcoming New Year with Mochi Pounding.  The idea is to pound rice into rice flour.  I didn't get to pound the rice, but I did enjoy the delicious food and beautiful entertainment.

 They first played some traditional Japanese songs, but then they played Christmas songs for us Americans.

The beautiful Christmas tree on base.  Not a good pic of it, but you get the idea.

Us at the Clinic Christmas Party.  Festive, aren't we?

Bryan made the most delicious croissants.  I've never been to France, but I'm betting they'd do well in a competition with their best.

Us at brunch at New Sanno, the military hotel in Tokyo.

After brunch, we found the Japanese Salvation Army band spreading Christmas cheer. They didn't have a singer so Bryan stepped in for a song or two.  The pink building to the right sells the most delicious chocolate cake log filled with strawberries, blueberries and bananas.

The Tokyo Oktoberfest, in December!  Very expensive, but a fun time.

The Tokyo Dome, where the Oktoberfest was held.

And I'll leave you with these videos.  We went to see a hypnotist that came to entertain us on base.  Bryan volunteered to be on the entertainment panel.  The first video is right after the hypnotist told them that when they wake up the person to their right will smell soooo, so good, and they can't get enough of the smell.  Then he changed it to the person on the left.  It was funny.  Shout out to Marshall for providing me with the videos!

 

This video is a bit more entertaining.  I feel it shows off Bryan's personality pretty well.   This time they were told that when they woke up they would be naked.  Of course they're not, but they all think they are.  It's funny to compare the reactions of all the participants.