Only in Japan...

We joined a bunch of folks for a farewell dinner for our friend, Kim, at one of the most random, crazy, unique restaurants we have been to yet: THE LOCKUP in Hiroshima.

We had NO idea what we were about to get into as we waited for the rest of the crew by the cab stand on base.

Yup. This is where we went. It's so crazy, I don't think I can put it into words. And unfortunately, it was a really difficult place to take pictures. But I will try to explain: basically, it's a combination of prison, mad scientist, and monster themes. Wrap your mind around that!!

The servers put Kim in handcuffs after we got there and led us all to our table in a jail cell. They then proceeded to close us in. If that wasn't creepy enough, our drink menu consisted of these funky, mad scientist concoctions. We can't read Japanese very well, so it was a lot of guesswork!  

Pretty funny how all of the drinks came out in beakers and syringes, LOL!

Some of the drinks even had us mixing things together to create interesting reactions.

One of the courses was "burnt chicken". It's the lump of coal looking thing on the right side of the plate. Joel said it was actually really tender and quite tasty! I was able to eat the French fries in the bag, but the kicker was the Takoyaki (fried octopus dough balls) on the left. Everyone at the table ate one at the same time. Two of them were filled with hot sauce instead of octopus. And y'all can probably guess that with my luck, I was one of the "winners" in this terrible, terrible roulette game! LOL - I could barely talk for about 10 minutes and NOTHING would take the heat away! 

Making friends with a server

What a uniquely fun night! Y'all are a great group of folks and we miss you, Kim!

Now, I have to tell you, this was far more than just sitting at a table in a cell, drinking out of beakers, and eating weird looking food that may or may not scar your taste buds. No, my friends, this was so much more. There is a "show" that occurs that was the most horrifying, hilarious, hysterical thing I have ever seen!! I was truly scared and creeped out, yet I was laughing so hard I cried. It is an experience you must have for yourself - I REFUSE to give it away. Only in Japan, folks, only in Japan.

Family Visits are the BEST!

My parents were able to make the trek to Japan last April and we had a BLAST! It has been such a blessing to have our family members support and love on us by coming to visit this amazing country so far away!

So close and yet so far! They traveled for nearly 24 hours but still couldn't connect with us until they gathered their luggage.

They made it!!!

Token thing to do with folks that visit: CARP baseball game!!

Pretty good seats if I do say so myself!

We were able to make a day trip to Tsuwano. It's such a BEAUTIFUL place!

This extremely nice Japanese businessman sells his wife's pottery and son's art in his store in Tsuwano. He told us he was from Iwakuni originally - what a small world! Everything was very beautiful and unique, so of course we walked out of there with some amazing works of art!

Since my parents were here for Easter Sunday, we participated in the Sunrise service on the Kintai Bridge.

My parent's cheat sheet for remembering the language LOL! All spelled phonetically of course!

We hiked Mount Misen on Miyajima Island and I was SO proud of my parents, they were champs! It's not an easy hike by any means, but we made amazing time and had a wonderful outdoor adventure.

Okonomiyaki - the token Japanese dish that all newcomers MUST try!

Joel was obviously more excited about the food than his picture being taken ;-)

On our walk to the train station, we thought this was funny: an entire light and gate for a tiny walkway across the tracks!

We were able to visit the Mazda Museum and assembly line while we were in Hiroshima, so it was only fitting to make sure we had a picture with my favorite Mazda vehicle, the AXELA!

It was such a BLESSING to have my parents in Iwakuni and I will be forever grateful that they made the trek! 

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

We have been able to befriend so many amazing people here in Iwakuni!!! But, as we have mentioned before, while we may have the opportunity to meet more people, it means we have a ton of goodbyes due to the transient nature of the military lifestyle. So, for a farewell dinner to the Howell's, the Goerings and Dillers joined in for a night at Zona Italia - an amazing restaurant overlooking Hiroshima!

 

Gotta feature the food : First up was a Carpaccio appetizer. Perfectly salted. I LOVED it.

The most amazingly scrumptious cheese quiche

I'm sure the duck was good - Joel ate mine and he said it was delightful :) Still going strong in my Pescatarian ways!

Seafood pizza made in their brick oven. This place was SO GOOD!

As a special bonus, we were blessed with a fireworks display right outside our window - too cool!

Matane Howells ("see you later")!! We really miss y'all! 

Next is a hello to an old friend!! Joel's college roommate, Mike, was able to visit us over Memorial Day weekend on his way home from a business trip in Malaysia. It was really great for us to catch up and show him around our corner of the world. And I gotta say, he and Joel were really cute together :-)

Sadly, that's it for our Gundy pics. He took all the pictures after this because he had an amazing camera! Speaking of, we need copies of those, buddy! :)

Finally, our dear friends and major Settlers competitors, the Coffey family, left us in June. It was really tough goodbye, but we know for sure we will see them again! A date in San Diego is in store, that's for sure!!

My gal pal, Addie

My boys, Drake and Drew

They asked us to be with them for their last night in Iwakuni. So honored and blessed to know y'all and be a part of your family!!! 

Two Weddings and a Birthday

Two weddings in one day!! That is a reason to travel half way around the world to experience. Kirk flew home the last week of March to make this happen. The first wedding was for her long time friend and "sister" Christina who was getting married in Virginia Beach. Kirk was so grateful to be able to attend and also support her as a behind the scenes helper the days leading up to the wedding.

 Kirk and her second mom the morning of the wedding.

"Sisters"

After Christina's wedding, the whole Davis gang jumped in the car and drove three hours south to Raleigh, NC for her cousin Alex's wedding. Unfortunately they missed the ceremony but they got there in time for the reception.

Glowing necklaces were thrown up into the trees... mainly the work of Max :-p

Speaking of Max - Limbo!

The Davis family! 

Real sisters having too much fun with the glowing necklaces.

Kirk got back from her short trip to the states just in time to celebrate my birthday! It has become tradition during our tenure here in Iwakuni to stay up in Hiroshima over my birthday weekend in early April. Of course, I have to be at a baseball game on my birthday and so this year Kirk invited 40 of our closest friends to attend the game with us! It also happens to rain in Hiroshima every single year, but we don't let a little rain get in our way to have a good time.

We stayed at the Oriental Hotel that is right across the river from Peace Park. Here is the view out of our room.

As we were walking our of the hotel we came across this gift store/art shop featuring these cartoonishly huge yet athletic dolls? Perhaps there is a niche market in Japan for them? 

We sat in the Carp "performance section" in right field, meaning everyone in this section is expected to follow all the chants and cheers while the Carp were up to bat. As you can see we sat right behind the flag waver and the trumpeter. It was loud! Don't expect to carry on a conversation while sitting in this section, you've got to be focused on the game!

Here we are rocking our new Carp jersey's! Thank you Miho & Masa! As you can see there are ominous rain clouds hovering over Hiroshima. Kinda reminds me of the games I attended in Cleveland in early April.

Now time for some shout outs to our friends that braved the elements to cheer on the home team:

Martins

Tomas

Ricafrentes

Youngs (Kirk really wanted Ricky's hat!)

Martinez's

Rowlands

Part of the Phipps

Some more of the Phipps

Miho and Masa

The rest of the Phipps

Sandmels

Yoko

Baby Boaz loving the game

Watsons

Goerings

Howells

Thank you to Erika and Brian for the Carp hat! I may or may not ever wear it again, but it helped keep the rain off my head!

Thanks to everyone that came out to the game and braved the rain and the Carp cheering section to celebrate my birthday with me! I'm blessed with amazing friends, and well, Japanese baseball never really gets old!