Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas from Japan!
James and I would like to wish you a very wonderful and blessed Christmas this year. May it be filled with great friends and family, and may you make many splendid memories that you will treasure forever. May your travels be safe and my God bless your day with happiness. Sending our love from across the ocean! Always, Angela, James, and AJ
Thursday, December 23, 2010
And we chose….
House #5!
James and I chose house #5 due to its location. The house is only a 3 minute drive from the front gate, which means James can easily ride his bike to work. The convenience is perfect for us! The home is beautiful, and was built in the last few years. There are beautiful hard wood floors throughout, with the exception of the tatami room. The house has three bedrooms upstairs, which means we can have an official guest room for all of our visitors!! (*HINT*HINT*) As if you didn’t need another reason to come and visit us, you have to come and see the pink toilet upstairs! Pink toilet…hello!! The master bedroom has a huge walk-in closet, and there is ample storage space throughout the house. Not only does the home have a beautiful balcony, but there is a small backyard for AJ, complete with a Japanese maple tree and a cherry tree. We should get beautiful fall colors and spring blooms to celebrate the changing of the seasons. We are spending our Christmas moving into the new house, and I will definitely post pictures when we are all settled in.
James and I chose house #5 due to its location. The house is only a 3 minute drive from the front gate, which means James can easily ride his bike to work. The convenience is perfect for us! The home is beautiful, and was built in the last few years. There are beautiful hard wood floors throughout, with the exception of the tatami room. The house has three bedrooms upstairs, which means we can have an official guest room for all of our visitors!! (*HINT*HINT*) As if you didn’t need another reason to come and visit us, you have to come and see the pink toilet upstairs! Pink toilet…hello!! The master bedroom has a huge walk-in closet, and there is ample storage space throughout the house. Not only does the home have a beautiful balcony, but there is a small backyard for AJ, complete with a Japanese maple tree and a cherry tree. We should get beautiful fall colors and spring blooms to celebrate the changing of the seasons. We are spending our Christmas moving into the new house, and I will definitely post pictures when we are all settled in.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
House Hunters International
After living on base for six months, James and I are ready for the adventure of living off base! This has always been our intentions, but we wanted to get to know the area before we committed to a house. We love the adventure of living in Japan, but living on base makes us feel like we are just visiting, and we want to experience living in Japan. So a few weeks ago, we began the official search for an off-base, Japanese home. I felt like we were on House Hunters International, one of my favorite shows!
We looked at five houses before we found one that we fell in love with. Honestly, we thought this was going to take us a few months, but then we found a house we couldn’t pass up!
Here’s a brief look at the houses we looked at.
House #1: This house was very cute from the outside, but was very small on the inside. It was a three bedroom home, with hardwood floors throughout, and no tatami room. It was about 15 minutes from base, and a wall needed to be repaired before we could move in.
House #2: This house was HUGE! It had four bedrooms, with a party deck on the roof with great views. On a clear day, you could see Mt. Fuji. The house was built in the 70s, and had a great deal of character. This house also had a ton of storage, which is always a plus. But, it was a little old, and needed some work.
House #3: This house was built only two years ago, and was very modern. The kitchen was beautiful, and so was everything in it! It had a video doorbell, so you could see who was at your door on a tv inside the house before you opened it. There were two heated toilet seats, but not much storage space.
House #4: This house was a beautiful three story home, about 20 minutes from base. The home was full of upgrades, and was right next to a park. There was a beautiful tatami room, heated toilet seats, and hardwood floors. However, this house had a weird layout, where the living room would be on the 2nd floor.
House #5: This house was only a 3 minute drive from base, and was a modern Japanese home. There was one tatami room, and hard wood floors throughout the rest of the home. This house had one heated toilet seat, and a Japanese style oven. It also had a small backyard in addition to the balcony.
So, did we choose…..
House #2 with lots of space and a great view.
House #3 with modern upgrades and a great kitchen.
House #5 with a short commute and a backyard.
Stay tuned to hear our decision!
We looked at five houses before we found one that we fell in love with. Honestly, we thought this was going to take us a few months, but then we found a house we couldn’t pass up!
Here’s a brief look at the houses we looked at.
House #1: This house was very cute from the outside, but was very small on the inside. It was a three bedroom home, with hardwood floors throughout, and no tatami room. It was about 15 minutes from base, and a wall needed to be repaired before we could move in.
House #2: This house was HUGE! It had four bedrooms, with a party deck on the roof with great views. On a clear day, you could see Mt. Fuji. The house was built in the 70s, and had a great deal of character. This house also had a ton of storage, which is always a plus. But, it was a little old, and needed some work.
House #3: This house was built only two years ago, and was very modern. The kitchen was beautiful, and so was everything in it! It had a video doorbell, so you could see who was at your door on a tv inside the house before you opened it. There were two heated toilet seats, but not much storage space.
House #4: This house was a beautiful three story home, about 20 minutes from base. The home was full of upgrades, and was right next to a park. There was a beautiful tatami room, heated toilet seats, and hardwood floors. However, this house had a weird layout, where the living room would be on the 2nd floor.
House #5: This house was only a 3 minute drive from base, and was a modern Japanese home. There was one tatami room, and hard wood floors throughout the rest of the home. This house had one heated toilet seat, and a Japanese style oven. It also had a small backyard in addition to the balcony.
So, did we choose…..
House #2 with lots of space and a great view.
House #3 with modern upgrades and a great kitchen.
House #5 with a short commute and a backyard.
Stay tuned to hear our decision!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
[caption id="attachment_584" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="Beautiful and Delicious"]
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Angela, AJ, and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have truly been blessed this year and hope that you have been as well. We also hope you all are able to gorge yourself by devouring among nature’s most noble and delicious animals, the “Wild Turkey”. In any form, be it bourbon, mascot, fried or baked, the turkey is a majestic animal deserving of presidential pardons and your respect.
[/caption]Angela, AJ, and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have truly been blessed this year and hope that you have been as well. We also hope you all are able to gorge yourself by devouring among nature’s most noble and delicious animals, the “Wild Turkey”. In any form, be it bourbon, mascot, fried or baked, the turkey is a majestic animal deserving of presidential pardons and your respect.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Our first official visitor!
James received the best birthday present ever this year….a visit from a great friend! We celebrated James’ birthday
by driving to Narita airport to pick up Jonathan, a friend of ours from college, who would be visiting for two weeks. Driving to the airport was very exciting, and we thankfully didn’t hit any traffic. We did lose our toll ticket (first time ever in our lives), and I tried to explain in English and gestures that it was gone. (Which is actually much more difficult than it sounds…) We backed up the toll gate a little bit, but no worries, as there is a big Y on our license plate, alerting everyone that we are American and don’t know what we are doing. Eventually, the toll booth person understood, took down our information, and charged us the regular toll amount. (Thankfully!) It’s moments like those when I am mad at myself for knowing as little Japanese as I do. (We found the ticket when we got to the airport. We are AWESOME!) On our way home, we stopped at Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast food restaurant that is amazing, for Jonathan’s first meal in Japan. Meat and rice bowls = fabulous! It was the perfect start to a great two weeks.
by driving to Narita airport to pick up Jonathan, a friend of ours from college, who would be visiting for two weeks. Driving to the airport was very exciting, and we thankfully didn’t hit any traffic. We did lose our toll ticket (first time ever in our lives), and I tried to explain in English and gestures that it was gone. (Which is actually much more difficult than it sounds…) We backed up the toll gate a little bit, but no worries, as there is a big Y on our license plate, alerting everyone that we are American and don’t know what we are doing. Eventually, the toll booth person understood, took down our information, and charged us the regular toll amount. (Thankfully!) It’s moments like those when I am mad at myself for knowing as little Japanese as I do. (We found the ticket when we got to the airport. We are AWESOME!) On our way home, we stopped at Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast food restaurant that is amazing, for Jonathan’s first meal in Japan. Meat and rice bowls = fabulous! It was the perfect start to a great two weeks.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Kit Kat Awesomeness
Since my first Kit Kat post, we have found many new flavors of Kit Kat’s to share with you.
Almond Tofu: We found this Kit Kat in a little shop in Chinatown, Yokohama. Annin Tofu is an awesome almond jelly tofu pudding that is served at many places for dessert. This is the Annin Tofu Kit Kat. It tasted just like the dessert, a very sweet almond taste.
Sweet Potato: We found this Kit Kat in the train station at Odawara. The Kit Kat is very sweet, and has a sweet potato aftertaste. I would have preferred more of a sweet potato taste, but it was still very good.
Marron: Marron is another name for chestnut, and is put in everything here in the fall. We have been buying many marron products these last few weeks. This kit kat was very nutty in taste, and used a dark chocolate. It left a strange aftertaste, but not a bad one. We found this one at a grocery store in Odawara.
Almond Tofu: We found this Kit Kat in a little shop in Chinatown, Yokohama. Annin Tofu is an awesome almond jelly tofu pudding that is served at many places for dessert. This is the Annin Tofu Kit Kat. It tasted just like the dessert, a very sweet almond taste.
Sweet Potato: We found this Kit Kat in the train station at Odawara. The Kit Kat is very sweet, and has a sweet potato aftertaste. I would have preferred more of a sweet potato taste, but it was still very good.
Marron: Marron is another name for chestnut, and is put in everything here in the fall. We have been buying many marron products these last few weeks. This kit kat was very nutty in taste, and used a dark chocolate. It left a strange aftertaste, but not a bad one. We found this one at a grocery store in Odawara.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Google Directions: Japan to China
Google Maps directions from Japan to China. Step number 43: Jet Ski across the Pacific Ocean. 782 km. Awesome.
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