Monday, January 07, 2008
Dec 2007 more...
Well, December was a full month for us. We had Ty's Christmas pageant at his Japanese school. He was an elephant! A new addition to the traditional Christmas repertoire? It was quite a production. We could have bought the video for $50.00 but I didn't. There was a mass, followed by a Christmas show by the kids. Songs by the younger kids and then the Nativity pageant by the older classes.
Also in December I hosted the obento cooking class for 7 other ladies. Our instructor, Yoko, was great. She said she had been teaching for about 17 years. It all began at the park when she befriended an american mom. they began to swap recipes and the American woman asked Yoko to teach her some Japanese cooking! We learned to make a few vegetables; boiled spinach and kobacha, onigiri or rice balls with smoked salmon or pickled plums inside, rolled pork with veggies inside, and an egg wrap/roll. It was all very yummy and we had many laughs and full tummies when it was over.
Mark got home for Christmas Eve and we were all thrilled! He actually adjusted to the time change surprisingly fast too. We've had a lot of colds this month and Ryan and I were steaming it up in the bathroom trying to help his croup for a long night right before Mark got home. So I was glad for some reinforcements!
We've had some fun days at the park. We went back to our favorite park off base with the big roller slides. Mark also took the boys to Yokohama for a fun day. They rode some small rides at the amusement park near the Landmark tower and visited the Pokemon store. Mark and I also had a night away just the 2 of us in Tokyo. The Palma's were our babysitters! Thank you, thank you! We visited Meiji shrine. It was the last day of the New Years holiday for them and a Sunday so it was packed with people. We also passed by Harajuku where the teens hang out in goth attire and get their pictures taken looking cool. Some people were even holding up signs offering free hugs! We forgot to bring enough Yen with us and ended up with a long trek back to the hotel. We had a great dinner of lobster and tenpura! Yum!
The next day we met the Palmas and the boys not far from the hotel in a part of Tokyo called Odaiba. It has many new buildings and convention centers. We went there for an annual fireman parade and show. The boys got to climb on lots of fire trucks. Lots of cool futuristic looking buildings there.
Now were just enjoying a few more weeks before Mark heads off. Hopefully we'll take a few more small trips before then. We'll see.....
Also in December I hosted the obento cooking class for 7 other ladies. Our instructor, Yoko, was great. She said she had been teaching for about 17 years. It all began at the park when she befriended an american mom. they began to swap recipes and the American woman asked Yoko to teach her some Japanese cooking! We learned to make a few vegetables; boiled spinach and kobacha, onigiri or rice balls with smoked salmon or pickled plums inside, rolled pork with veggies inside, and an egg wrap/roll. It was all very yummy and we had many laughs and full tummies when it was over.
Mark got home for Christmas Eve and we were all thrilled! He actually adjusted to the time change surprisingly fast too. We've had a lot of colds this month and Ryan and I were steaming it up in the bathroom trying to help his croup for a long night right before Mark got home. So I was glad for some reinforcements!
We've had some fun days at the park. We went back to our favorite park off base with the big roller slides. Mark also took the boys to Yokohama for a fun day. They rode some small rides at the amusement park near the Landmark tower and visited the Pokemon store. Mark and I also had a night away just the 2 of us in Tokyo. The Palma's were our babysitters! Thank you, thank you! We visited Meiji shrine. It was the last day of the New Years holiday for them and a Sunday so it was packed with people. We also passed by Harajuku where the teens hang out in goth attire and get their pictures taken looking cool. Some people were even holding up signs offering free hugs! We forgot to bring enough Yen with us and ended up with a long trek back to the hotel. We had a great dinner of lobster and tenpura! Yum!
The next day we met the Palmas and the boys not far from the hotel in a part of Tokyo called Odaiba. It has many new buildings and convention centers. We went there for an annual fireman parade and show. The boys got to climb on lots of fire trucks. Lots of cool futuristic looking buildings there.
Now were just enjoying a few more weeks before Mark heads off. Hopefully we'll take a few more small trips before then. We'll see.....
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