Part III: Tokyo Disney

Wow! Disney would have been awesome if there wasn't an average wait of 180-320 minutes for every ride and the surprise sub-zero rainy weather (as exhibited by our awesome fashions a few photos below). See ya later Fast Pass. As we learned all Fast Passes run out with-in the first hour the park is open. We all collectively agreed we had never seen more people in our lives in one place. I was fully prepared to sit around with my baby belly and not ride anything - but no one else was! In fact, I started a covert operation to run around with every one's tickets gathering as many fast passes as I could before the all sold out: 2. That's right - only 2. So, the best part of our Disney excursion was looking at all of the details. In true Disney style everything was magically designed to perfection. And if you thought Disney World was the cleanest park you'd ever seen wait until you see a Disney park in Japan. It was almost creepy how clean everything was! So, while we were cold, it was fun to look at everything through our shivering eyes.

Here is a view of our Hotel. We stayed right inside the park and went to bed and woke up hearing Disney music.

King Triton's Castle! It was an attraction I have never seen before, the inside was full of kids rides. Dang! 7 Months too early! I love the Little Mermaid.

Here we are looking like a "cold mess". There is nothing good about the way Sue and I look, but we were warm! And I am publishing this photo just to show you what we are willing to put ourselves through for the Disney experience.


Tower of Terror. While I was trying to look scared it actually depicts the weather much better!

Well, it's official. I have now travel to Disney parks in three different countries. I deserve a prize!

spring time

Just as winter comes to an end here in Japan something like snow starts to take over the scenery. It's time for Cherry Blossom season!


image via flickr.

Happy Spring!

snow day

The weather has been pretty wacky lately, with the few feet of snow and all. That didn't stand in my way yesterday when I chose to go to Hello Kitty Land with one of our friends, Ayumi. I piled on multiple layers of clothing and socks, threw on my boots and gloves and got super pumped to visit the land of my childhood obsession. However, when we entered the destination into her GPS unit (which also plays local TV) and were told said destination was 3 hours away we finally decided - maybe today is not so good a day to go to Hello Kitty Land.

So, once again my plans to Hello Kitty Land fell through. Doesn't anyone else understand how important it is for me to go to this place???

Plan B: Bio Park.

On the way to this amazing interactive zoo (not in the technology sense - in the you get to hold the animals sense) we quickly realized that Sasebo was not the only place that received the gift of snow. We also noticed that Sasebo was the only place the snow seemed to have actually melted. As we neared Bio Park (about 45 minutes from Sasebo) we oohed and ahhhed the several feet of snow still piled over rice patties and orange tree's. We noticed the homes with white roofs. Basically, we realized that maybe going to an interactive zoo in a typically warm climate might not be the brightest idea. However, we stuck with Plan B and enjoyed the scenery.

Detour: Giant Tori = Giant Temple.

On the way to the glorified petting zoo we came across a Tori that was huge, and orange, and very captivating. (the picture above is taken while exiting, entering was much more magical. sorry.) We pulled in and entered what I could imagine what a Japanese snow heaven might look like. There was several feet of snow resting on perfectly manicured gardens and trees. There were "oh, so Japanese" bridges to the likes I have only seen in travel brochures guiding you over koi ponds, and beyond the gardens and trees a really large and beautiful temple. Great detour.

Upon our arrival to Bio Park, we were greeted by an empty parking lot and some parrots sitting on a branch, covered in snow. The poor guys were freezing, but non-the-less doing their jobs. It instantly reminded me of a cold day at the water park when we would to have to stand in the Texas Tree House getting routinely drenched in cold water just so the 10 idiots that thought playing in freezing water would be fun wouldn't drown. Well, those poor parrots had to stand out on a branch in snow just to greet the two idiots that thought coming to a Zoo in 2 feet of snow would be fun.

First of all, this place is amazing. It's set around a mountain and the path sort of guides you up and around to the top - with all of the animal sanctuaries along the paths. A lot of things were closed due to the fact that the animals were huddling in random corners trying to keep warm, but I could still tell that in Spring this place is going to be amazing. Some animals were happy to see us, especially this beaver that put on quite a little show. We held some Guinea pigs and fed several goats and sheep, you know all the guys that probably get ignored when the kangaroos are hopping along the paths (I will believe the brochure when I see it). We fed some random animal that was wandering the path with a head of a dear and the body of Brandon's dog. Finally, a monkey jumped on Ayumi's shoulder which was the icing on the cake and was also nice because at that point we couldn't feel our toes and were about ready to give up.

In the end, it was quite a successful day. Complete with a stop at Uniqlo for some cool new pants and a scarf it was just what I needed after several days of sitting around.

For your enjoyment:

Mr. Beaver performing his Maneki Neko Song

The monkey and the ??? both getting quite aggressive. I have now thrown out those gloves.

current happenings: snow!

This morning we woke up to snow at 6:00am. Much to our surprise, it is still here - and layering like a biscuit at 7:00pm. Sweet winter!!

holy snow!

You can barely see it, but it was there. This morning as we left for the gym/work we had a very nice surprise!

Happy it snowed for 30 minutes day to everyone!!

crazy winds after crazy foods

Yowza! We are about to experience our first typhoon. Well, actually we are experiencing our first typhoon. As luck might have it, all we will get is the wind end of things and the rain will hit mostly northeast Japan. From the looks of it so far, we aren't getting off too easy. All of the sports equiptment at the track has been removed, the picnic tables have been tied to trees, and for once you don't have to worry about random people walking into you. . .because there is no one really outside. Good thing we got to go out last night.

We went out with our new friends that own the Ron's Burger Shop, you know the place with the line and the 2.7kg Burger. Which, we found out no Japanese person has actually ever eaten alone. Only a crazy American can put away food like that and live to tell about it.

Koichi and Mia, oh, and their awesomely energetic 2 year old son took us to a few places that we didn't even know existed and even if we did, probably wouldn't have gone into. There are some businesses here that don't take in Americans. Not in a bad segregation kind of way, but because they can not speak any English and are the one's big enough to say, "We don't have time for this."

First-you must know that we hopped into their futuristic van (they have 5 kids by the way) in which the little dude didn't get into a car seat. There wasn't even a car seat in the van. . .in fact, he stood up running around with his cute sumo-style ponytail while dad was driving. That was crazy and probably the biggest bit of culture shock we have experienced simultaneously .

We first walked into the restaurant where you sit along a bar in front of flat top stations, just like Benihana-except not like Benihana because it's not a chain restaurant and it's in Japan and the sweet lady who has been working there for 40 years (she told us) welcomed us with a big smile, and spoke in Japanese. Koichi got us started on a Okonomiyaki. Which in the end looks like an omelet. However, here is how is happened.

First, she cut up cabbage, pork, octopus!, green onions, fish cake, and what looked like some form of flour but had a texture similar to potato. You know, something to bind it all together. Next, we watched the ingredients sizzle and brown on each side. If you know Brandon, it should be no surprise that immediately these ingredients were making his mouth water. The next thing she did, was the thing we hoped dearly for from the moment we saw a bucket of eggs on the counter. We smiled big as she cracked one open on the flat top, yes! She took the now omelet looking piece of food and covered the egg. As the egg cooked underneath the patty of for mentioned ingredients, the ends began to brown and all the smells started to converge. She flipped it over revealing a perfectly fried, flattened egg, covered it with teriaki sauce and fish flakes, and viola! Now, just for a moment I would like to say that our old room mate had a container of these fish flakes and from time to time I would open it and sniff, and contemplate WHY?! she would ever want to use them to garnish. We are beginning to figure out why, I suppose. They added an obvious fish flavor yes, but also a bit of crunch and eventually blended in to where we didn't even really notice with all the other flavors going on. Service topped the cake. She handed us a mouth sized spatula contraption and told us with a look in her eyes to be careful. This was the part where we got to eat. Brandon sliced up the okonomiyaki dish with his spatula and and we dug in. I was so nervous, between having never had octopus in any form besides fried, which yes, we did explain to them, and knowing I was eating the fish flakes that always grossed me out. Brandon took to it like a champ though. He is so brave when it comes to food, but even more he is afraid to let a host down. I'm sure I had fear written all over my face, but I did it! Brandon had to tell me to hurry up because Koichi & Mia were almost done, but I did it and the thing that kept me going was the mass amount of cabbage and the fried egg, I love cabbage.

After we finished the okonomiyaki, we moved to another part of Sake Town. Sake Town is what the locals call the area of town with streets full of Japanese Bars, restaurants and street vendors. Entering through a door standing a mere 4 feet tall to make the occasional oompaloompa comfortable we made our last stop for the night. Here we ate what I can only compare to "tapas". I spare you the name because I don't know the proper spelling, but it sounds like "eats-a-ki-ya", which we have had before thanks to Reggie and Manami. We started with a trio of Tofu, Seaweed, & Swordfish Jerky? maybe? ha!. Moved on to a great salad, then chicken wings, and finally the main course which had been brewing during all previous courses. This was a pot of broth with cabbage, green onions, red bell peppers, peanuts, tofu, and a some form of fat from a cow. You can get all kinds of set ups, with flavors like Miso and Curry, and they don't all come with tofu and fat. That is just what happens when Brandon tells someone to order us their favorite thing.

Hope you enjoyed yet another food adventure, it was an evening even Mr. Anthony Bourdain would be proud of! Going to huddle in a corner now to protect myself from these beastly winds!

current happenings

It turns out the fore mentioned Navy ships are actually like that everyday. Turns out we should pay more attention when we are walking around. It has been awfully foggy lately. It's foggy like the big island was on our honeymoon, accept there is no ashing volcano to blame it on.

rainy holiday

This is the American food joint right next to our apartment, which just missed being in this shot. This is the line that forms everyday day around noon and does not let up until dark. It is very small with only 4 tables, like mots places in Japan, but I have never seen a place with a line this intense, like a bakery after Oprah gives her seal of approval. It must be good, and we are looking forward to trying it out. We aren't sure why we haven't, besides the fact that we don't want to wait in that line, but from the looks of it we might just have to suck it up. However, we will save the sucking it up for a sunny day.