Let's go to the Ball,

Today!

That was for all my HIMYM fans out there. You're welcome. 

Last Saturday was the Air Force ball. So we got all spiffed up and went out to celebrate the Air Force's 65th birthday as exhibited below:

Alas, the ball was not legend -wait for it- dary, in fact it was incredibly boring so it was a good thing one of my good friends was there to entertain me. Doesn't Andy look handsome in his tux?! Maybe he should suit, er, tux-up more often. 

Lately

Andy's parents were here last week and we used that as an excuse to drag them to places in Japan that we haven't seen. Not always on purpose. We got lost a few times! Ha! Good thing they were good sports! 

We missed the turn off toward Fuji we've taken a million times and happily found a nice back road that spits you out at our favorite of the Fuji five lakes (Kawaguchi- if you were wondering). We stopped at a fruit stand along the way and ate a peach the the size of a softball. It was amazing. Japan really has the best tasting fruit! 

Fuji wasn't cooperating much that day with a layer of clouds that just wouldn't move, but it was a lovely day and we enjoyed it anyway. 

The next day we went out to Enoshima island. Andy and I had never been there before and weren't aware that the island was all stairs. It was really pretty rough! This is the main temple entrance. We may have accidentally almost killed my in-laws with the stairs and the ridiculous there-should-never-be-this-much-humidity-and-heat-at-the-same-time god awful heat but we all survived they didn't seem too mad. Phew. We did have a really yummy lunch at an Italian restaurant with a gorgeous view and airconditioning. I think it saved all of our lives. 

At one point Andy and I went ahead and so the caves of Enoshima. The view of the ocean from there was amazing. 

Couldn't help but post this!

We also wandered Tokyo one day in the killer heat. Andy and I had never been to Tokyo tower so we all went and checked it out. 

And of course no visit to Tokyo is complete without a train ride home during rush hour! 

We had a great time! Can't wait to see them again, 1 week went by way too fast. 

Happy 4th!

We celebrated the fourth with a early morning 5k, some delicious fresh bagels, and fireworks watched from the roof of Andy's squadron with friends.What did you guys do?

Happy fourth of July from Japan!

Check it out

Andy is on Yokota's web page again! Here's the video:

And here's a link to read more about it:

A Somber Ritual

Memoirs of a geisha and samurai

For a day.

Last weekend Andy and I  (on an increasingly rare day we both had off) headed in to Tokyo for something fun and uniquely Japanese. One of my best friends here recommended that I go do this before the studio closed at the end of this month. So I drug my incredibly willing, open, and adventurous husband along with me. He's catching some crap for it now which makes me angry but he's taking it like a champ. I love him for not caring what other people think. Men who wouldn't do this with their wives or families simply because they think they would be considered "un-cool" are not real men. They are man-boys and feel sorry for their wives. 

My lovely husband also paparazzied me so I could see the incredibly long process of getting made over.

It wasnt easy to walk in the kimono. Maybe thats why some Japanese women shuffle. Andy took this one too. I actually think it came out better than some of the photographers:

Hope everyone is having a good day! 

it's (finally) starting to look like spring

though it doesn't much feel like it. 

Cooooome oooooooon warm weather! I wan't to go outside without a coat!!

Despite the lack of lovely weather like I hear you all are having in the states, the plum blossoms are blooming here. I went to a Plum blossom park the other day with one of my best friends and this is what we saw:

It smelled lovely too. Happy weekend!

Snow Monkeys

Over the weekend Andy and I went to see the snow monkeys near Nagano. We stopped at Matsumoto Castle along the way and happened upon a volunteer guide who spoke english and told us all about the castle while we froze to death in our borrowed slippers. (No shoes in the Castle) If you look closely at the bottom of the castle, you can see that the siding flares out a smidge. This opens up on the floor inside so if the enemy managed to not get shot from the musket or archer holes, trudged through the moat, and started climbing the wall, people inside the castle could drop big rocks on his head. Clever. I think if I had to be there during a fight I'd like that job. 

Once you make it to the monkey park entrance, you have to walk for a while down this snowy path in the woods. It takes probably half and hour to walk to the monkeys, during which time you can enjoy the quiet winter wonderland surrounding you.

A few people told me before we left that the monkeys weren't worth the trip since it was cold and they smelled bad, and even now most people I talk to who have been weren't overly impressed with the monkey park, but I loved it. I did a research project culminating in a diorama about the Japanese Macaque and since then I've really wanted to see them in real life. When did I do this project you ask? Well... in second grade (see how those big words tricked you into thinking it was a super in-depth project) but I've never stopped loving monkeys so it doesn't really matter when I did it. ;-)

Watching the monkeys sit in the hot spring was pretty awesome. I left with a huge smile on my face; those little fuzzy cuties brightened my day so much. 

Look at the baby! He was so tiny and his little monkey squeaks were adorable!

This guy was half sleeping half meditating in the water. He let me get really close. I feel kind of bad about that, knowing that humans are kind of exploiting these guys for good photos, but I suppose having one monkey park with well fed monkeys used to humans is better than people disturbing monkeys all over Japan in their habitat. 

Monkey hands.

This is Mama. At least thats what I called her. Her little baby got out of the water but she stayed and soaked and stretched her hammies apparently. You can see her in the background of one of the photos above. 

Teenagers on the prowl. 

And I leave you guys with this: A fairly big guy was heading to the area where a monkey park person was tossing our some food. This woman didn't realize the ninja monkey was walking up next to her on the railing. We saw it coming so I kept my camera clicking. Her face cracks me up! The monkey really surprised her and didn't care one bit. 

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Sneak peek

Here are a few photos of what our weekend was like, according to my phone. 

Hope your weekend is as fun as ours!