The Yamasaki's are in Iwakuni!

We had the amazing opportunity to host the Yamasaki family for several days in Iwakuni. They thought it was great that Americans were showing them around a part of Japan they'd never visited before. :) They were WONDERFUL house guests and we had a blast with them! We were able to cook a lot of "token" American food like burgers, fries, BIG breakfasts, grilled chicken, biscuits, Pizza Hut, tacos... I think you get the idea.

Now, on to the pictures!

We bought everyone Marine Corps outfits. Apparently, the one for Bob-san was a little small, ha ha ;-)

 

We all sat outside and talked while Joel grilled our chicken and veggies the first night

Trying some American brews

We all fit around our little dining table - nice and cozy. We always provided the option of forks or chopsticks. Hiromu always used chopsticks and it was HILARIOUS when he used them with his pizza! We also observed his creativity when he made himself a sandwich with a hamburger AND a hot dog!

Thanks to a good friend from church (thank you Neph!!) we were able to access the tallest structure in Iwakuni - the air traffic control tower on base! We got the full tour and it was AWESOME.

The air traffic controllers allowed us up on the roof where we were able to watch plans and jets take off and land. It was super cool. Quite the operation up there.

We had lunch in the food court on base. Taco Bell, Burger King and Subway, yum!

Next up: Bowling! Bob-san was the best bowler by far.

 

Checking out the jet on display

Unfortunately, one of the days was rainy and gross. But we were all champs and went to see the Kintai Bridge and Castle anyway! I absolutely LOVE Hiromu's rain coat. Wonder if they have them in my size...

Walking across the bridge

We road the cable car up the mountain and then hiked the rest of the way to the castle

Now, these next few pictures are a gift. Because it was raining, we decided to call it a day early and have fun at home by coloring pictures and playing games. Kouichi and Joel rocked it out to Just Dance 4. I was sneaky and took these surveillance photos.  

They were so engaged in the game, they didn't even see me taking these pictures at all! So apparently stealth wasn't necessary, LOL.

You better believe I got a video too!

Sadly, Bob, Eiko and Mai had to leave a couple days early, but Kouichi, Kizuki, Hiromu, and Akari stayed another few days! I had to work unfortunately, but Joel was able to take a day off to show them around Hiroshima. 

Joel got these great shots of Hiromu drinking a really sour fruit drink. This kid is HILARIOUS and one of the most expressive people I've ever met!

Apparently, he told his dad when they were boarding the plane in Tokyo to come visit us in Iwakuni that he was excited because he was "going to the States"! They actually said they felt like they were in America when we took them on base. They LOVED the Commissary and Exchange. It really made us stop and count our blessings - we don't lack for anything here.

Yamasaki family, we had a TERRIFIC time with y'all and you are welcome to come back anytime you want! I'm pretty sure Joel wants a dance re-match with Kouichi! :)

An Artful Weekend: Okayama and Naioshima Island

Back in September, we took a couples' weekend away with our friends Nick, Elle, Chris, and Tina. We drove down to Okayama, about 2.5 hours from Iwakuni and stayed there for two nights, but took a day trip to Naoshima Island, one of many islands in the area. This one is known for being an "art" island because in an effort to save a dying economy, many famous artists came to the island to either create art or contribute their work for one of the museums. And let me know tell ya, it was SO COOL. Thank you, Tina, for finding out about this place!

After taking the ferry to the island, we all rented bikes as our means of transportation. Each had a map in the basket to help guide us around. We still got lost mind you, but at least we had maps, LOL. Chris, Tina, and Nick paid a little extra to get bikes with an "assist" feature that was clutch when it came to going uphill! It was like this cool little motor that made their uphill biking look effortless! In the meantime, Joel, Elle, and I were KILLING our legs biking up some of these extreme hills - one of them beat us. We had to get off and walk our bikes up the rest of the way. 

There were entire houses and/or buildings that were abandoned or going out of business that some of the local artists turned into art. You had to pay to walk in, but the one we saw was worth it! The whole building had been converted into an art piece. There was even a giant Statue of Liberty in this one! 

After we'd been biking for a while, Nick wanted to rest and absorb some rays.

One of the many beautiful views. We could not have asked for better weather that weekend.

Some art the engineering minded men wanted to take a closer look at. These squares would move with the wind and it actually look a little creepy... but cool. 

You're getting a lot of outdoor shots because we weren't allowed to take pics in the art museums we went to (which were FABULOUS! Modern art is SO weird but some of it is super fun!)

Chris ordered the squid ink curry. Oddly enough, his mouth didn't turn black like we thought it would.

Joel's yummy chicken and mashed potatoes. This food was in the cafe at one of the museums. I swear, museums and train stations in Japan have some of the BEST food!

The island has some famous pumpkin art - this is the "Yellow Pumpkin". Appropriate name, eh?

We biked long and hard to get to this point. 

We took a pottery class on the island! With a guy who didn't speak English! So the Filipino neighbor (who'd lived in Japan for over 20 years) came over to help translate and we ate in her restaurant afterwards as a thank you. :) Such a wonderful, friendly culture.

The boys all chose existing figures to paint - Joel painted a pumpkin Ohio State colors, go figure.

All of us girls got our hands dirty and created our own clay art.

I was inspired by some pig art he had in the shop, so I recreated it.

The one on the right actually has eyelashes to distinguish her as the female pig. Yes. I created them to be Joel and me, LOL!

Tina and Elle put my pigs to shame! Tina made the pumpkin and Elle made the bowl. So AWESOME! The owner let us choose the "finish" we wanted on our projects and then mailed them to us a couple of weeks later. 

Everyone but me went to an onsen (one of those public, hot spring, bath houses) after that long day of biking, sightseeing and clay making. I'm not an onsen person, but they all said they had tons of fun and felt very relaxed.

While they were at the onsen, I went next door to a super cute retro cafe, read my book, drank a beer, and enjoyed a tomato/avocado sandwich. Delish!

The red pumpkin deserved to be featured as well.

Chillin' on the ferry ride back. Both Chris and Nick had their hand held video games to keep them occupied. :)

Before heading back to Iwakuni the next day, we went to the Korakuen Gardens, known for being in the top three most beautiful in Japan. Now, we can all say, "Yes. Yes they are". They were stunning and part of the Okayama Castle property. Must have been nice to be a shogun back in the day - I can see taking a stroll and meditating in these gardens all the time!

That was what used to be an old guest quarters, I believe. Now it's used as a banquet center. I posted this pic, though, so y'all could see the sun-brellas that are used here in Japan!

That's the castle in the background. Gorgeous.

I LOVE koi fish. Getting tat'ed with some next month ;-)

Thank you SO much Nick, Elle, Chris, and Tina for a super fun weekend away! What great memories. :)

Fun Time Randomness

Over the past few months, we have had the opportunity to do a lot of fun and interesting things. Some typical life events like baby showers and camping; then other Japan or military specific things like the Navy Ball and touring the Mazda factory. None of them generated enough pictures to deem their own blog post, but together, they paint a picture of the past few months of our lives. So here it goes - first off, a baby shower!!

If y'all recall, at last year's Marine Corps Ball, my friend Tracy got pregnant. She blames my apple sangria, LOL. A group of us ladies pooled together to throw her a surprise, made in Japan themed baby shower! And it was a success! Here is our attempt at a Japanese flag made from cupcakes. :)

Specially made onesies

My poor attempt at a group shot, ha ha! We had Tracy's favorite country music playing in the background and I downloaded over 50 pictures of Pugs to put on the TV to remind her of her pup back in the States. It was definitely catered to Tracy and her loves. 

Next, Joel and I spent Labor Day weekend in Hiroshima. It rained, like it ALWAYS does when we try to go to Hiroshima. But we still had fun!

Gotta have some food pics - we went to a juice cafe and ordered a mixed fruit crepe. It was YUMMY. The purple looking stuff on the top left is actually a sweet adzuki bean paste that is really popular here in Japan.

We were coming off of a three week detox which basically consisted of a vegan, caffeine free diet (still caffeine free now, woot!) so we located the one and only vegan restaurant in Hiroshima called "Shanti Cafe". That's DECAF in the picture, people! I ordered the risotto and it was stellar!

Joel ordered the mixed plate and everything was SO delicious! Hard to believe it was all vegan!

We went to a giant craft store and found the Japanese version of Settlers!!!!! Hilarious! (We are COMPLETELY addicted to this game and play with our friends at least weekly!)

The Mazda factory does an English tour on Mondays and since we were actually off work and in Hiro on a Monday, it felt right to finally go! We invited some of our friends who drove up for the tour and a trip to Costco afterwards. Sadly, we weren't able to take pictures of the assembly line, but it was an unbelievable and enlightening experience to observe how vehicles are created. Mazda's have come quite far over the years!

These pictures are a very small sampling of the cars Mazda has constructed over the many decades...

LOVE the upholstery, LOL

Even though we went out to a Japanese restaurant for lunch, the thing to do is go to the Costco cafe following your shopping trip. American style pizza and hot dogs are a HUGE hit for the Japanese patrons. :)

Right after Labor Day, my co-worker, Heather, and I flew up to Camp Fuji, a tiny base outside Tokyo. We stayed for three days and helped them set up there substance abuse, alcohol screening, and urinalysis program. They were so grateful for our help and we got a real inside look as to how the folks live on this base. NO ONE in Iwakuni can ever, EVER tell me they're bored and all there is to do is drink alcohol. This base takes the cake with how little there is to do and how limited transportation, mobility and even food options are. I feel for these guys. The lodge we stayed at on base did not have AC (it was sweltering!), I had ants sharing my bed with me, and I blew two circuits because I used the microwave while I had a fan running. Craziness!

Heather and I literally walked across the flight line throughout the day to get from one side of base to the other.

Good thing there weren't any planes landing!

It's called Camp Fuji because it's literally located at the base of Mount Fuji. This was the most we were able to see out of all three days we were there. I'm not kidding when I say it has its own weather system. It was covered by clouds the WHOLE time we were there! And the weather in Camp Fuji itself was crazy - sunny to rainy to hot and humid then frigid all within the same hour!!! Spooky!

On October 12th (my birthday!), we attended the Navy Ball. It was held in the ball room at the club since there are far fewer sailors aboard MCAS Iwakuni so everyone can fit in a smaller venue (the Marine Corps ball is held over three nights in the gym to accommodate everyone!).

Chillin' with my gal pal Ericka

Our fellow Settlers game freaks, the Coffey's!!

Sporting my $10 dress from Deb that I was able to purchase the ONE DAY I was in Texas in August. That was a trip to remember! ONE DAY! Talk about jet lag and travel insanity!

Since we also had Columbus day off, the day after the Navy ball, we packed up the car and went camping with our friends at Hamada Beach. We hadn't been to the North side of the island yet, and what a difference! Hamada was like a REAL beach! There were surfers everywhere, cliffs, a lot of sand that was there naturally (not imported like at our local Yuu beach) and a good beachy vibe all 'round.

Joel setting up our new camping kitchen set. It's AH-MA-ZING

View from our cabin, which was literally just a roof over a wooden floor. We only brought sleeping bags, so it was definitely an uncomfortable night's sleep, but memorable, LOL. We had to pay an extra 500 yen just to use the one outlet inside to charge our phones!

All smiles with our friends Abbey and Javier. SO glad they also appreciate the outdoors and the camping life! We cooked white chicken chili over the coals with our new Dutch oven and it was scrumptious!

No angst among friends, LOL

Last but not least, the Halloween Howl. This is a yearly tradition for the officers and senior enlisted and what a BLAST! Each unit comes up with their own tent theme and they were so super creative! MCCS and the school personnel (of a certain civilian rank) were invited for the first time ever so we totally jumped on the opportunity! Our tent theme was a 1950's haunted diner and Joel developed the diner sign.

Setting up early in the day - the signs on the right and left are Joel's creations!

Just a few gals, hanging around the diner

Allison's tent theme was Vegas, so she dressed up as a crazy tourist! She even put on her makeup to look like she had a sunglasses sunburn, LOL!

Our friend Hilda looked so fine

Attacked by a couple of biker zombies!!

Our Navy friends playing a little rock band in the 80's themed tent

Eric got the creepy eyes down, that's for sure!

Phew! Well, I think that's a good summary if I do say so myself. We like to stay busy and do what we can to enjoy Japan. It's such an amazing experience - the country, the culture, the military lifestyle, all of it. We are SO VERY BLESSED!