Very Late: The Singapore Sling

On the tail end of the visit from the Burnette brothers, I took advantage of dropping them off at the airport by scheduling my flight to Singapore to leave around the same time they did. The boys and I had a pretty yummy breakfast at the airport before saying our final goodbyes. It was sad for them to go, but 3 weeks is a long visit, and I know they were ready to be home! I had a few hours to wait before my flight but I headed over to the international terminal anyway. When I walked in though, everything was closed! All the ticket windows were dark and the rope lines were closed up. I was rather confused. I managed to get out of a passing employee that the lines would open 1 hour prior to the first departing flight, which was mine. I decided I would just have a seat and wait it out in the mean time. As I sat down there was a rather worried looking American fellow sitting on the opposite end of the bench from me. I thought I’d see if he was worried about the same thing as me. “Do you speak English?” (always the safest first question). “Oh, yes, hi”, he replied. “Are you waiting for the desks to open too?” After a bit more chit-chat I found out he was on the same flight as the boys were on, headed for Chicago. However, in this airport, he had to go to the domestic terminal, because he was flying to Tokyo first for the connection/customs!! Luckily, I explained to him how to get there (10 min shuttle to the other terminal), and let him know to say hi to the boys for me ;) I don’t know if he made it to his flight on time, but I sure hope he did!

I decided to play around on my computer for the rest of my waiting time, which seemed to pique the interest of a 7-ish year old Japanese boy. Who seemed to be trying out his new camera (he was “secretly” taking pictures of me from behind his suitcase. His mother, who spoke some English, explained that he was learning English in school and was excited to see an American. I invited him to sit next to me and we played a little kids computer game together while we waited for our lines to open up. Once the lines opened, the little boy got scolded for taking pictures of the security officers. Haha! He was only trying to document his travels…! After a short waiting period I got my bag checked and had a smooth, and quite uneventful trip over to Singapore. I had a little stop in Hong Kong, which was nice for stretching my legs mid-travels, and gave me a much needed chance to purchase some chap-stick. It was a little crazy to purchase chap-stick that cost HK$20, but then I found out that it was really only about US$3, which I was super happy about! I also took the opportunity to get a little bit of Singapore cash so I could hop a cab to the hotel when I got there. It was after midnight by the time I landed, and since Casey had an early start for his conference the next day (and no car), we decided it would be best to have me just cab it to the hotel.

Even at midnight, the Singapore Airport Burger King was packed and the line to get a cab wrapped around the hall at least twice, with the aid of lots of rope-lines. Thankfully, the Singaporeans obviously had this down to a science, and I was in a cab in less than 10 minutes, despite being behind a family with at least 30 bags and several small children (that they thankfully kept waiting outside the line, instead of trying to wind them around, which would have definitely happened in America). Once in the cab I was pleasantly surprised by my super-friendly and very knowledgeable English-speaking cab driver. He was enthusiastic about pointing out the surrounding sites and landmarks, so the next day I would be able to do some exploring. He was obviously very proud of being Singaporean, which I came to find out is a theme among Singaporeans. They feel they are quite superior to most other Asian countries, which I think is interesting, since they are only a City-State. The driver told me all about how safe it is in Singapore and how he speaks many languages, because the leaders there keep changing the national language (currently English and Chinese). After this quite helpful introduction to Singapore, we arrived at the hotel just shy of 0100 (1 AM for you non-military American folks :) ). Casey had done the necessary leg work to let the hotel know that I would be arriving very late and that they could give me a key when I got in. Unfortunately for us it seems that the earlier staff had neglected to inform the incoming staff for the night of this detail, so after intense examination of my passport and hotel reservation, they decided they would have to call Casey themselves, seeing as I might be a hooker/murder coming to kill him, even though I knew his room number, hotel confirmation, and matching last name. Good thing Casey woke up to the phone ringing just long enough to confirm that he was, in fact, expecting a “night guest” as they called me. I got one welcome kiss between snores and fell right to sleep, then before I knew it Casey left before I even got up the next day!

I decided to head into the main shopping/dining district to get a feel for the city right off the bat. It was really impressive. The cab driver (again, extremely well spoken English, and informative about all the best places to go) dropped me off in the middle of the haute shopping district. I immediately felt like I was in an Asian hybrid of Paris and the Mediterranean coast. It was so warm (about 80 degrees), and everywhere I looked was Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, you name it, the brand was here. I wandered a little bit, just enjoying the incredible mix of European and ultra-modern buildings, with a distinct Asian flavor. It seemed like everything was a sculpture, and to top it all off, everything was decorated for the holidays in bright purples, golds, sparkles and lights! Very visually exciting! After quite a long while roaming around and endless walking, I treated myself to some Mexican food! Even though it was less-than-authentic, it was an enchilada with rice and beans and a margarita and I was all about it. Do you know how much I miss that food here? Even when you can find it, it’s spendy, and usually not that great. But I was pleasantly surprised that even Asian-y-Mexican food is still good! After a particularly filling lunch I felt like all the walking called for a pedicure. Again, a luxury that is difficult to find and/or expensive in Sasebo.

With freshly massaged toes, I managed to find my way to the subway next, with some helpful advice from some locals, I made my way to Little India. What a treat! So many bright colors and fruit vendors and the wafting aroma of curry and incense everywhere you went. There was a huge market area, and I decided I needed a new pashmina for myself, so I set out looking for one at a nice price. After the first few stalls I was feeling discouraged that the Singapore prices were too high, but one particularly aggressive salesman was able to convince me otherwise. “This material - very good quality, see you can feel, very good. Usually $70, but for you, so pretty, I make good deal, $45”. Oh really, I’m so pretty? I thought I would try out my haggling skills that Casey had taught me:

“Oh, no, thank you, but I think $45 is too much for me. Thank you” [begins to walk away]

“Maybe we can make better price for you, I also have less quality available for better price”

“Ok let me see what else you have, I like this silver one”

“That is high quality, for you $45, very good price”

“Well, I really can’t pay that much, I only have $20 with me”

“$45 is good price, very reasonable, I take cards”

“No, no, thank you, have a good day”

“Tell me what you think is good price for silver one”

“I would give you $12 for it”

“What? So low price? You can make better for me.”

“I could go to $15, but no more, I have to pay for the subway home”

“Ok, because you so beautiful! But you have friends who say, ‘so beautiful scarf, how much you pay’ you tell them you pay $45, and this very good price from me”

“Sounds like a deal!”

**Don't tell him I told you the real price!

I am the proud owner of a $15 pashmina, which started at $70. I think I did ok. Husband even approved! :)

After heading back, I finally got to see Casey! He was home from his conference for the day, and some of the conference friends were planning to meet in our hotel lobby and go out for dinner and drinks. We went to an tasty Brazilian steakhouse and enjoyed some belly-dancing during our meal, which the Australians promptly joined in on. We were in the Clarke-Quay district, and were surrounded by an ever growing crowd of tourists and locals heading out for dinner and drinks. We tried out a strange bar after dinner called “Clinic”, and the chairs were all wheelchairs, and the benches were gurneys, you could also order drinks that come in IV bags. It was very strange. But we did end up meeting up with some funny Swedish girls who were traveling through Asia for a few months. After Clinic, one of the conference guys (from Sasebo) insisted he knew this great bar that we HAD to go to, and it was only a "short walk" away. We headed out and got to see some people being catapulted into the air on a bungee-like apparatus, except they were all on benches, like an amusement ride, it was crazy! Unfortunately, my Crocs that I bought in Fukuoka, just before coming to Singapore, where rubbing my feet and were starting to give me little blisters, I tried to be a good sport on the walk, but when the ‘short walk’ turned into more than an HOUR of walking, during which time everyone stopped at a convenience store for beers because it was taking so long, I had to go shoeless. The Swedish girls were also suffering in their heels, and we were all getting cranky!! We finally convinced the group leader that we needed to take cabs to find this place, and we finally made it to the next bar, almost an hour and a half later - NOT COOL. We’re not really sure what the name of this place was, because it was housed in an old church, and there were several bars and clubs that made up the complex. It wasn’t a super great bar, but we all decided that since the group leader led us astray for so long that he owed us at least a round of drinks, so that made up for it a little. When we convinced him he owed us all a second round, it definitely got better. One of our group members was a South Korean Officer, who was very concerned that Casey and I have been married for over a year and we don’t have any kids yet. After the other guys shared so many baby pictures of their kids, we began doing toast to “babies!”. It turned into quite an enjoyable night!

The next day I decided to explore the area closer to the hotel. I started off sweating out some of the previous night’s beverages by laying out in the sun by the pool. It was definitely the first time I’ve listened to “White Christmas”, while in a swimsuit! I found much more than I expected just outside the hotel too. Just behind us, and through and underground tunnel you could access a very large shopping mall and restaurant area. I wandered around there for a little while, and then decided to check out the beach, which was just a short cab ride away. The day had turned a little grayer than before, so being outside was not so hot and humid. I found the beach to be quite nice! It reminded me a little bit of the Ocean City, Maryland area, with a board walk and restaurants and bikes for rent. It definitely is not a “white sand tropical beach”, at least not in the area I was in, but it was still really neat, because you had an excellent view of literally thousands of ships coming through the Singapore Straits. As far as you could see in either direction there was everything from massive oilers and container ships, to small canoe-like fishing vessels, clearly undeterred by the larger vessels looming, very close by. That was probably the most interesting part of the beach area, otherwise it was really nothing super-special, just a beach, like you’d find anywhere! Casey got done with his conference early this day, so after a few pictures at the beach, I headed back for the hotel.

We were joining up with the “Doc” from the conference, who was an American stationed in Yokosuka (closer to Tokyo). He had heard about an artificial wave machine at Sentosa (kind of like an family friendly amusement park/beach front resort/park/casino island that belongs to Singapore), and was eager to try it out. We had heard that Sentosa was a really neat area, so we were happy to join. I didn’t really know what to expect, but boy was I impressed. This little island area hosted Universal Studios Singapore, a luxury resort and Casino, numerous western-style restaurants, and the list goes on. It was definitely an playground for all ages. We decided to go in search of the famed wave-machine, but on our way a sporadic thunder and lightening storm hit, and much of the park cleared out, which turned out to be great, because the storm passed quickly and we had most of the beach front and resort areas to ourselves. While walking around we ran into one of the Aussies from the conference, who was also looking for the wave machine, and we all enjoyed some pizzas and coffees while we waited for the last trickles of rain to pass, before our companions headed to the surf simulator. It was pretty amusing to watch, lots of wipe out and crashes, all while Casey and I enjoyed beverages from the comfort of the beach front pavilion nearby. The night passed so quickly, and before we knew it we were eating a 2230 dinner at an American-style pub serving Budweisers, and were totally pooped from the adventures of the day.

Casey had to fly out early the next day, and my flight was much later in the evening (he was on military scheduled flights, which were too expensive for a normal person to book, so I found cheaper flights). Casey did some packing that morning and was off before my eyes were really opened all the way. I barely got all of our stuff into the suitcases, since Casey did not take back with him as much as he came with (thanks, Hubs)! But I stored my baggage and headed out for my last adventure in Singapore: Chinatown. This was definitely one of my most favorite parts of the trip. There was so many great things to buy and admire, from beautiful silks to little trinkets and goodies. I wandered for a while and at the end of the main drag, I found a really neat Hindu temple that was having some kind of ceremony, I watched a little from the outer doors, but the inside was packed with tourists and worshipers. It was neat to see, very colorful! I headed back into China town to the smaller side-streets, and found a great lunch place with fried rice and this lemon-y tea drink that I had seen on many menus. Very tasty and cheap! After purchasing lots of fun goodies and gifts, I realized that my already over-packed suitcase would certainly not hold another thing, let alone a few shopping bags full, so I stopped at one of the vendors on the way out and bought an extra little duffle bag. This turns out to be a blessing and a curse later!

I decided to head to the airport a little early and get checked in. I inquired if there was an earlier flight I could get on, but that proved impossible. I was glad to at least drop off my bags and travel a little lighter (now that I was an extra bag heavier). I decided to head back into the city for some dinner and a little extra wandering around before it was time to go, but before I knew it I was rushing to my gate just in time for boarding! Getting through the airport flustered me just a little, because I managed to forget which passport (civilian or military) I had stored my immigration documents in, so I was that idiot traveler who held up the line while I emptied out my purse, and carry on suitcase looking for the correct papers. By the time I was through immigration I was blocked in by a group of gawkers who were taking pictures of a group of singing ladies who were dressed in the WWII ‘bugle boy’ style, but with a Christmas flare. It was obnoxious, because these ladies were not gifted singers, which never seems a requirement in Asia. All they had going for them were the short-sparkly outfits they were wearing and the fact that they were not at all Asian. Not really sure why they were singing in the Singapore airport. Ridiculous. Anyway, I made it to my gate in plenty of time, but the weird thing about the Singapore airport is that they have each individual gate glass-walled off, and it has its own security screening check point. But luckily I arrived right before the hoard, because by the time I sat down there was a line of about 50 queued up outside the gate. Dodged a close one there. Now all I had to do was fly home! Oh wait, my life is never that easy! Silly me.

I knew I would have an overnight layover in Hong Kong, but that really wasn’t a worry for me; I would just camp out in the terminal, like so many other travelers. Except that the woman who checked in my bags in Singapore apparently thought that my overnight flight meant I was staying in Hong Kong, and did not check my bags all the way through to my final destination. It wouldn’t have been that horrible except that I landed at midnight and most of the airport was closed. I tried asking several people what I needed to do, and most of them responded that I was out of luck and couldn’t really be helped until tomorrow. Thankfully, each person gave me just enough information that I was able to piece together that I now had to immigrate into Hong Kong, go through customs, and get my bags re-scanned and re-checked in for my flight to Fukuoka then immigrate back out again and do all that fun stuff. Sigh. This could have been a lot worse than it really was, mostly because the airline I was on happened to be the only airline with an agent on duty at this time, so I was able to quickly part with my bags (only after creepily wandering around the totally closed down shopping area, which was bigger than an average American mall, have you ever been in a closed down mall alone?). After getting my bags taken care of I yet again went through customs and all that jazz (so much extra paperwork! I had the right documents this time though!), and went back into the main airport terminal. I had read that there was a traveler’s hotel in the airport and you could get a private sleeping room for a few hours, so I set out looking for this place. Hong Kong airport is so HUGE! I was a little overwhelmed/delirious, so it took me a while to stumble up on it, but I paid for 3 glorious hours of sleep and a refreshing, much welcome shower to freshen up! The rooms were really clean and comfortable for the size. Well worth it! They also had complimentary coffee and breakfast, so I was feeling really energized after I came out. Thankfully, my flight out was on time and they had free internet in the airport, so between naps on the benches and perusing facebook, I was boarding my plane to Fukuoka in no time. By the time I landed, I was super tired from my HK stay, but still eager to get back home, so I was trying really hard to get to the train station to get home. Sadly, I was about 3 minutes too late for the train to Sasebo, so I got to watch it pull away while I had a ticket on the next train. It’s really not so bad now that I look back on it, but when you’re that sleepy, and traveling alone with a copious amount of bags, it feels like major defeat. Alls well that ends well though, and I made it to home-sweet-Sasebo without a hitch, and back to my wonderful husband, for a much needed sleep at our own house! As usual, a whirlwind adventure, but totally worth it! Good thing I didn’t miss out on all these memories for 20 hours of work at a part time job, don’t you think??? :)

Coming up: Christmas in Tokyo!

Pictures from Singapore (they pretty much chronicle the above, if you want to follow along ;)

Playing Catch Up: Burnette Boys' Visit

So much catching up to do! The day before Thanksgiving was my official last day of work at my short-lived job with Navy Federal. I would have loved to come to an agreement with them for a more flexible schedule, but their needs and my needs were just too incompatible. It’s too bad, but I’m certainly happy to be on a plane to Singapore while writing this!

We had a really lovely Thanksgiving with the boys and friends. Casey was up early for a few hours of work in the morning, and I was making some mashed potatoes for the ship’s crew who were on duty for the holiday. The potatoes came out a little on the lumpy side, but I think I made up for it with some bangin’ home-made gravy (I’ll have to get some feedback from the crew to confirm that though). Luckily, the Reily’s, who hosted our Thanksgiving dinner, had all the traditional dishes spoken for, so I only had to bring a small side dish and drinks to share. I tried a recipe from a friend of ours aptly named “Peas & Cheese”. Which was simply peas drowned it a tasty swiss-cheese sauce. Just as I was packing up my crock pot to bring the potatoes down to the ship I got a call from Casey that the duty officer for the day had to go in for a medical procedure and did not arrange a replacement, so he was going to be staying on the ship for the whole day to cover. Tears. I was pretty upset that I would have to mingle with the brothers and ship friends sans-husband, but I’ve learned that I should only spend about 5 minutes being upset, otherwise I’m just wasting time I could be trying to find the positive. Things like this always happen in the Navy. So I started looking around for the various uniform items Casey would need for the remainder of the day and trying to finish packing up the dishes for the meals. Luckily, at the last minute, one of the chiefs, who’s family is state-side, was kind enough to step in and pick up the duty. Talk about being thankful!! Casey was home by noon and was able to spend the Thanksgiving meal with all of us after all! It was a great day spent with the family and new friends, and 3 super cute little girls "attacking" all of the boys at the party (which included being fake-eaten by a purple hippo).

We spent Friday trying to secure a hotel in Fukuoka for a weekend stay. Casey was flying out on Monday for his conference in Singapore, and the boys were leaving Tuesday to head back to the states. I was also leaving Tuesday to meet Casey in Singapore. Apparently, Fukuoka does not make reservations for same-day stays. We literally called about 30 hotels trying to find somewhere to stay. We settled on making reservations for Saturday instead and taking the train up to Fukuoka early on Saturday. We were bummed we didn’t get to spend an extra night in Fukuoka, because they have some really great downtown bars and restaurants. We were lucky to get the hotel bookings we did though, because we got a great price and we were close enough to all the action that we got to see so many things! Before Casey left we even got to see Sumo! We were convinced the tickets would be sold out, but we managed to get to the ticket window just after it opened and we got “open seating” for the equivalent of about $25.

The Sumo matches didn’t start heating up until later in the afternoon so we ventured into downtown Fukuoka for some exploring and shopping and eating. In classic me-style I managed to rip the belt loop off my pants right in the morning, and every time I sat down it was tearing a bigger hole across my bum! We made a hasty shopping trip to Uni-Qlo to get some new pants, which are cute jegging-things (Heidi got me hooked on the jeggings). No longer showing my undies to everyone, we got some really yummy coffee and egg-salad sandwiches for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning trying to tolerate Jessie and hopping from shop to shop. Jessie walks and moves like he weighs around 600 lbs, so going through the subway tunnels got a little obnoxious, and since it was so cold out we took the underground tunnels a lot! On a happier note, we re-located the Crocs store, and I got two new pairs. One pair, which I like to call the sparkle-sparkle crocs, is just a tiny bit glittery/shiny so I can wear them with a cute dress or something, and the others are little blue/gray numbers that are more like a little sneaker for a more casual outfit. I’m pretty excited about them, since the crocs I bought in San Diego (only about 4-5 months ago) are already extremely well loved. Jimmy bought some neat hats and a much needed fleece (it was a lot colder than we expected). Despite the cold, Jessie managed to buy mostly ice-cream. It was probably good though that we didn’t buy too many things because before we left the house everyone had packed up to go other places, so there wasn’t a lot of room for extras in our many suitcases (seriously, where did we get so much stuff!?!).

Sumo was awesome. Originally I was realllllly sad about losing the base-sponsored tickets to the event, because we were under the impression that everything else was sold out. Luckily, (thanks to Google’s auto-translate feature) we found out that open seating goes on sale at 8 AM on the day of the matches. This was still no guarantee of course, that we could get in, because it’s 2 hours on the train up to Fukuoka, so in order to get up there on time we had to take the first train leaving that day at 6:20 AM (which is why we were trying for the extra day in the hotel, so we could leave at a more reasonable hour and already be there). We made sure everyone was packed up the day before, laundry done, and uniforms double-checked, but it was still a pain to get everyone loaded up and taxied to the train station before 5:30 AM (flash-forward to life with kids???). Jimmy almost punched me in the throat when I went in to wake him up, but mostly because he thought I was Jessie trying to mess with him. But, it turns out that the base sponsored tickets were literally there-and-back, with no built in time for enjoying the city or the sites, and if you were with the base you couldn't have any beer at the event! We really lucked out on that one!

Here’s a link to the pictures from their trip! The pics are added at the end of our Japan album, so you may have seen some of the earlier pics already! Enjoy!

Up next: Fukuoka explorations with the boys, saying goodbye, and Singapore!

Puzzle-ing

Oh my goodness, is it really the 22nd? Obviously I haven't been living up to my promise to post everyday. I really underestimated the commitment that it would take. I also thought I was on the computer a lot more than I really am! Sorry folks!

We've been having a great time with the boys. Since the oyster festival weekend we have been busy, as usual. The boys spent the days during the week exploring around the town. They've made several trips to the hardware and auto parts stores. Luckily, that also resulted in us getting our car & door handle fixed. Thanks Jessie & Jimmy!

This weekend we ventured out to Nagasaki so the boys would have the chance to see the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Memorial Museum. We had a fun time driving down to Nagasaki, since all the times in the past Casey and I have taken a train or a bus. The country-side here is so beautiful, we just really enjoy cruising around. We were all worried that the tolls were going to be super expensive, but we were lucky, round trip we only paid about $15. Much cheaper than 4 round trip train tickets! Plus, parking was fairly cheap, too!

It's such a fun time seeing Casey and his brothers together. I didn't have brothers growing up, so this is a totally new experience for me. I make LOTS of food, and they just love to pick on each other, it's really quite hilarious because each one of them does an impression of the other, but in the end they all sound exactly the same anyway! (Think mumbling southern accents with food in their mouths) :) Silly boys! Lucky for me I still think fart jokes are hilarious, and we've even got a special nick-name for Jimmy: The Nocturnal Sharecropping Retard. I guess you had to be there...? Jessie seems to think everything in Japan is "sick". He won't try raw fish (OK, he had one TINY bite...but that didn't count), and he even thinks the temples/shrines aren't worth visiting. He seems to think they're just too anti-Christian to bother going. I hope he's still enjoying himself though, there's so many things to enjoy and appreciate here, even if it's not your cup of tea all the time. At least he likes the cars!

We were lucky to find a nice church Jessie liked going to for Sunday, so we had a pretty quiet morning while he went to service and we did some sleeping in and chatting over cups of coffee and tea. By the time he made it back we were well into lunch-time and had our tummies rumbling. I cooked up some yummy quesadillas, which were delish! We decided to make the afternoon push to go back out to Hirado and the lighthouse we had visted earlier in the year. Jessie was too pooped to make it so he stayed home and had a nap. It was a shame he missed out though because it turned out to be one of our best adventures so far. We stopped in Hirado, which Casey and I had only passed through before, and were surprised to find quite a large castle structure that was open to the public. The place was practically empty so we took our time perusing the grounds and viewing their artifacts from the times of the samurai. There was a very beautiful temple there too, which must have recently had some visitors, because there was a whole tree filled with tied papers with prayers written on them. There was also a super-giant size oyster shell, at least four feet across! Crazy! We ended up spending a lot more time in the castle than we had originally planned, but it was so interesting we really had a nice time exploring the grounds. By the time we left were were pressed for time to get out to the lighthouse by sunset. We raced through some of the rural farming areas pretty quickly, which didn't give Jimmy much of a chance to snap the drive-by pictures, but maybe we enticed him enough that he can convince Jessie to go back out with him again.

We missed the official "sunset" but we were still out there in enough time to see the twilight and the moon rise. It was quite a beautiful night, and Jimmy snapped some great pictures. I don't know if they brought their camera cords with them here, but I'm hoping to steal some of those pictures he took at the cliffs. We spent the remainder of the night having dinner and doing a puzzle, that we found along our travels (I had no idea the Burnette's were puzzle-fiends! Those boys really got into it, Casey too!). I'm pretty excited to do some more puzzle-ing together. The jury is still out though on whether we should save the puzzle (i.e. glue over it once finished and frame it) or take it apart to save it for another puzzle-ing time. Anyone care to weigh in on what to do with a finished puzzle? Art or game? Stephanie & Heidi Furst: please tell me you remember the Carmen San Diego Puzzle Board Game that we did about 10,000 times in our childhoods...?

P.S. We got SUMO TICKETS! We'll be having a big send-off weekend in Fukuoka with the boys! Woo! Also, I quit my job, but I'll write about that later...and I'm going to Singapore!

Chicken Skins and Burnt Cow

Hi friends, sorry I've been offline for a few days, this cold is still kicking my butt! With the boys here we are so busy during the days, and when we finally wind down, I just go straight to sleep! I don't know how to shake it! I'm trying to get all the rest I can, but it just keeps lingering. I lost my voice for the whole morning yesterday, so it was kind of difficult to work. :(

We had a fun little get together with the boys and a few friends on Saturday night, nothing too wild, but it was nice to introduce the boys to some of the people Casey works with and try to keep them up a little later to help with the time change! Jessie only made it to about 10:30, which wasn't too bad! Jimmy managed to stay up until about midnight, when the party-goers headed out. I made some deviled eggs for the party and they turned out quite tasty!

On Sunday we made an attempt to find this fish market, where they have a tuna-cleaning demonstration and then after they let you sample the sashimi, but we couldn't find the market! That was kind of a bummer, but instead we found a little "flea market" at a nearby university. The flea market portion was not that interesting, mostly just very small women's clothes, so we perused the food booths instead. It was a little bit overwhelming, because the university kids got excited every time we walked past one of the booths. We took some pictures with a few of them, but mostly we had to turn down their offerings, most of which were hot dogs. We stopped at the far end of the market to see a band perform, and boy, they were terrible. I have a video somewhere around here, but I can't seem to find my cords right now. I promise I will update later! By the time we made our way back to the beginning of the food stands, the boys were feeling adventurous enough to try something. They both selected these little chicken skewers that were bbq-ed. Turns out, they were little pieces of chicken skins that were all stacked together. Jessie was done after one bite, but Jimmy managed to eat a few skewers full before he gave up.

After that we decided to try to find this hotel that was at the very top of the mountain we live on, we've tried before with little success. This time, we found it, and it was definitely worth it. There were 360 degree views of the entire city, the ports, the outlying islands. It was really a beautiful scenery. My camera wouldn't take many pictures because the sun was too strong, but I'll post what I have later.

After that little excursion we went back to the oyster festival for lunch and met up with some more friends. It was a good time. Since we were a little more experienced this time, I didn't get sprayed with any oyster juice. We even bought some scallops, which were still alive when purchased. Their shells were snapping open and closed vigorously, it was kind of creepy. It was a nice warm fall day, so we all enjoyed being outside.

With the day still only half-over we were all feeling a little pooped, so we headed back to the house and all took some much needed naps. I was barely making it with my cold at this point so it was either nap or die for me.

For dinner we were invited to a cool place downtown where you grill your own food at the table. The boys really enjoyed this, and Jessie made sure all of our food was burnt. Thanks. But all in all the food was great and the boys were not at all worried they were eating anything raw. We grilled up all kinds of steak cuts and veggies, and they had lots of different sauces you could dip the food in, very yummy!

It was a really long Sunday!

I think if I keep up this pace, I will have this cold the entire time the boys are here! :(

We're Big in Japan

We made a successful trip to and from the airport in Fukuoka, so I feel really proud Casey and I navigated the Japanese highway system without any major incidents! Not surprisingly, the boys were really easy to pick out of the crowd coming out of the terminal. They were tired from their travels, but in good spirits! Mostly the drive back was uneventful, but the boys kept us laughing with their commentary. "Casey, keep your eyes on the road!", Casey was in the passengers' seat, which is where the drivers seat is in the states, so there was no danger. Luckily, we found out that by renting a government vehicle we would get the tolls (about $80 round trip to the airport) paid for. So we saved a little money by renting a vehicle for $50, plus we had nice trunk and leg room for the longer trip for the boys.

Once we made it home and had them settled in we headed out in town to the main shopping district to see the local wares and get some dinner. We perused the shops for a little while, and finally settled in to eat at a nice little noodle place on the ginza. We got ramen and fried rice with some little won ton like things called goyza. So tasty! Jessie made it clear he was not ready for raw food, so the noodles were a safe bet. After our bellies were full we thought a good welcoming activity would be to take the boys to karaoke. After singing all the Hank Williams and Johhny Cash the bar had to offer, the jet-lagged song birds were ready to hit the hay.

We lucked out that the next day (today), there was an oyster festival going on just down the road from our house. We took the boys on a quick tour of the ship yard where Casey's ship is getting fixed, and then headed over to the park for some oysters. It was a new experience for all of us! We bought a bag of freshly harvested oysters with all the necessary extras (soy sauce and a shucking knife) and found a spot at one of the many pre-set up mini grills with even mini-er seats! So while we all tried to not-sketchily stare at everyone else to figure out what the heck we were doing, a very nice older man came over with a wok full of burning coals and filled up our grill. OK! In business. We spend the next few minutes cooking and eating the 15 or soy oysters we bought, and as more people started to shuffle in as lunch time approached, we started noticing that lots of people had other goodies on their grills. Corn and hot dogs seemed to be the most popular non-oyster items on the grills, so we got a little more adventurous and went to the other booths to get some tasty treats and some drinks. It turned out to be a pretty good lunch! I haven't put any of the pictures up on facebook yet, but as soon as I do, I will put the link up here as well.

We're planning on throwing a little welcoming party for them this evening, so we're looking forward to that too! I think it's going to be an awesome time with them here, they're a lot of fun, and always willing to go out and explore whatever we've got. More adventures to come!

The Mountain Men Have Landed

Happy Veterans Day :) Casey was able to work a half day today in order to take Friday off so he can drive with me to pick up his brothers in Fukuoka. So excited I don't have to make the 2 hour trip alone. I'm still feeling rather sick and I think a navigator in the car would definitely increase my chances of actually making it to the airport to pick up the boys.

Sadly, I still haven't heard from work about their decision on me staying or not, so I'm just going to enjoy my 4 day weekend without worrying about it. I'm feeling less and less convinced I should stay there, the longer I stay there. Also, it didn't help that the keys I have for work are on this lanyard, and it has one of those scrunchy things on the end so it stretches. I was digging around in my bag for them on my way to work (while already waking up sick and achy, so the morning was off to a bad start already), and when I felt the lanyard I just pulled up, but the scrunchy part was caught on something and when it loosened up it went straight into my face! The keys chipped some of the paint on the frames of my glasses. I think it was a sign that the bank and I are not meant to be.

I'm making it through the days on green tea with honey, grape nuts, and layers of blankets. Luckily, I'm starting to feel better, just need to keep resting! I've been putting off cleaning up the house for so long now, and since the boys get here tomorrow, it's my last chance! Unluckily for Casey, he's home with me today, so I'm putting him to work too, since I'm so ill. :)

Casey and I ran out to do a quick couple of errands today, and decided we were going to try to find this hotel that is at the very top of the mountain that we live on. We thought we were continually heading up and toward the hotel, but somehow we came out behind the place that we started at. I'm feeling like that is not good foreboding for our trip to the airport tomorrow, but we'll just leave a little early!

We did get a phone call from the boys during dinner, they made it to the Tokyo airport and even found their hotel for the night. Success! Now all they have to do is catch their flight in the morning, and we'll pick them up! We're having some set backs with getting Sumo tickets. Seems to be that several of the days are sold out. :( We're currently pursuing additional ticket aquisition avenues. Hopefully, their whole trip will be a great success! I know I'm looking forward to it!

P.S. When your husband is making homemade hot sauce and he asks you to taste test, just refuse. My mouth is still partially numb, and the tingling is not going away....

A Quickie...

Not much to report for today...no word from the bosses on the schedule situation, and my sore throat is getting worse, now congested and achy too. Went to bed at 6:45 PM. I have the best husband in the world; he wrapped me up in blankets, because I was so cold and put me to bed right away, which really helped my fever, and I'm definitely improved from all the rest. That doesn't leave much excitement from the day though, sorry! I did talk with Jimmy (Casey's brother) this morning while Casey was getting ready for work. They are getting packed up to come see us! They leave Wednesday in the States, and get here to us on Friday. Long journey for them! Hopefully all will go smoothly. Wish I had more to tell you about, but perhaps my cold will shake itself off today and there will be better stories on the morrow (although, I did accidentally hit myself in the face with my keys on my way to work, but maybe I can elaborate on that later).

Putting my Cards on the Table

After my post yesterday about what I really want from work, I was feeling very motivated. I found that writing my thoughts down really helped me to solidify my reasonings and gave me a sort-of preparation for speaking with my boss at work. I wrote down my main points and laid it all out there for my boss and let her know that I need more from them, and I need them to need less from me. I felt like I explained all my issues and made it very clear that this was a serious need for me and my family. Thankfully, being that everyone who works at the bank are also Navy families, my boss was very understanding of where I was coming from. We agreed she would take some time to think/talk it over with the other manager, and let me know. I also let them know that I would be willing to hear if they had any other arrangement ideas that I might consider. So either I will be quitting my new job in the next few days or I will get a week off in December to go to Singapore with Casey, a flexible, 3 day work week, and more freedom and say in my scheduling. We shall see! Either way though, I see it as a big win for me. I feel proud of myself that I stood up for what was best for our family, and either I'll have a job that works for me, or I will have the chance to find that knitting class I've been looking for! :)

That was really the biggest event of yesterday, but Casey is FINALLY of duty, after about 5 days, and we got Drifter fixed! So we're just about ready for Jessie and Jimmy to come out and visit us! Luckily, I have Thurday off (Veteran's day) so I can finish cleaning up and getting some extra sheets washed. I'm so excited for their visit, I'm just hoping now I can get those Sumo tickets! Sayonara!

Jay-Bug; Work-Bug

Surprise! My friend Jason (nickname: Jay-Bug, but only to me) was in Nagasaki for work (randomly), and he took the train up for a quick visit! It was such a treat! He's getting married to my college roommate this May, so excited for them! I gave him a little tour of our lovely town of Sasebo, or at least I tried to, but I was thrice cut off by my work's "on-call" phone. Yes, my part time job, called me 3 times on Sunday, to check on jammed ATM's. It was totally ridiculous, but more on that later. We thought about trying to make an appearance at the hot air balloon festival, but all the trips back to the base for the ATM's nixed that option. So instead we just grabbed some fruits at the local store to bring to Casey on the ship, did a little mini tour of the house, and stopped in on the USS Patriot, while it has some repairs done. Casey gave us a neat tour of the ship, since it was Sunday and no one was working on board. It was neat! (If anyone is interested in some Navy-approved pictures of the ship under construction, here is a link to their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/USS-Patriot-MCM-7/359718106353).

After our ship tour we decided to sample some local specialties, and went to "Big Man", for the famous, Sasebo Burger. I'd had another version before Jay's visit, but this one was much better than my first. It was a nice filling lunch, on our way to the restaurant we perused the arcade, or shopping street, and we picked out Megan a little present! Only to get another call about the ATM and have to head back to the base again. RIDICULOUS. Luckily, Jay busied himself shopping tax-free at the NEX while I tended the ATM again. We also popped in on a small oyster festival, where people were buying bags of oysters and grilling them on hundreds of little bar-b-que sets out in a field. It was very fun to see (I will bug Jay-Bug for his picture of that!).

Sasebo is a really neat town, but it's just a normal small city where people live normal lives and go to work and go to the park. So we exhausted most of our neat places to visit rather quickly, so after a quick drive around the downtown, we drove through some rice patties, and saw a little of the country side, and Jay headed back to Nagasaki on a train before dinner, since he was going to be working bright and early the next day on a Japanese Navy ship. It was so fun to have a little impromptu visit! Very refreshing, the day was absolutely amazing, sunny, but just the right coolness in the air. Fall here is wonderful, I definitely recommend visiting this time of year!

So after I dropped Jay off at the train station, I stopped at the local grocery again to pick up some sushi for Casey's dinner (he's still on duty on the ship). This is when we got to talking about work and the silly ATM calls all day. We finally landed on a very important point. As the employee, I need to be honest and firm with my employers about my realistic commitment to this "part-time" job. Being on-call on the weekend doesn't seem that part time, if you ask me. Also, a huge part of the reason Casey and I selected Japan for our station was for the opportunities to travel and explore together. Casey found out he will be going to a conference in Singapore, and originally I told him I couldn't go with him because I have to work. Now let's think about that for a moment. I was turning down a trip to Singapore with my husband, because of a 20-hour a week, part time job, that I'm doing "for fun". It's just not adding up. There's really no reason I should be putting this job (or any job) ahead of my husband and family, and the plans that are truly important to us. I've decided that the best thing to do is to lay out what I want from this job, not what they want from me. I think for employment to be worth your time you and your employer need to be on the same page, and right now I don't believe we are. Here is what I want:

-to work 0-20 a week, which implies that there may be times when my life schedule doesn't permit me to be scheduled for work.

-to work only a maximum of 3 days a week.

-to have the flexibility to seize opportunities, like the Singapore trip, that come up, often with little notice.

-to spend time with my husband, my family, and my friends when there are important events happening (and sometimes Casey being not-out-to-sea is important enough for me).

I know this all may sound a little selfish, but I'm OK with that. There's no reason an employer should be getting the most valuable pieces of me. Ideally, this would have been a discussion for before I applied for this job, however, I think I also needed this job to help me get my priorities straight. My position would obviously be different if this were an income-necessity situation, or if this was a serious career move, in order to better some greater goal in my life, but being a part-time bank teller is none of these. It's a way for me to get out of the house during the day, meet people, and make "fun-money" for those spontaneous trips we plan to go on.

So, I think by letting my job know what I need from them, we can come to a mutual decision about whether working there is really a benefit to both sides, and if it's not, then it's not an arrangement I should be in, is it?

I welcome thoughts and comments!

Coupons are Fantastic!

In preparation for the big day that Casey's brothers arrive, I did some hard core grocery shopping at the commissary. Not just the go-down-the-street commissary either. I took a cooler with me, folded all the seats down, and drove 35 minutes to the "big" commissary at the other housing complex. It was an exciting afternoon! I was armed and ready with a big stack of coupons that I had printed out online, and a lengthy shopping list. Somehow it turned out to be very tiring, but it was so worth it, when my final total rang up, I turned over my coupons, and then I watched it tick down again, dollar by dollar. I think I might be addicted! Anyway, for a few weeks worth of groceries, I'd say I did pretty darn good coming it at just about $200.00 (which is including $18 for 6 lbs of potatoes for the ship for Thanksgiving). It's always a nice way to start your day by doing something productive.

Most of the rest of the day passed like a normal Casey-less Saturday, me pretending to clean/to chores, while really playing on my computer. But luckily, our friends the Riley's called, and were in need of a babysitter for their 3 little girls for the evening. It would be a little fun adventure to keep me busy. :)

I decided I'd stop by Casey's ship on my way to babysit, just to say hi to Casey and visit for a few minutes. For some reason he wasn't answering his phone (I later found out the batteries died), so I thought it would be better to just see if he was in a meeting. When I walked up to the gate, it was the same guys from Friday, who called over "his wife is here. With his dinner." They're joke-sters, but they remembered I had lost my phone and asked if I never found it again since I was back. I had to explain that I found it in my shoe, but no, this time Casey just wasn't answering my calls. I asked if they knew where he was, and so they explained he was just drawing up some reports. "Will you let him know I'm here?", I say. And so, over the radio goes, "there's a crazy girl here at the gate who says she's having OPS's baby, and he owes her some money." GREAT. AGAIN. They come back over the radio, "uhhh, does she have identification?" "Yes" "Well take down her information, while I pass the word. Do you need backup?" "No, I think we can handle her" "OK, what's the name?" "Uhh, [I pass over my ID, barely able to keep my laughter off the radio] that's Re-becca, um, Bur- Bur-nette? I think" "Roger". Oh great. If I get arrested, someone is in major trouble! Haha, the gate guards can barely contain themselves. After they figure out on the other end of the radio that I am actually OPS wife, the word comes back "OK, hold her there, try to keep her calm, we're sending security backup. Ramrod." One more kid comes out to the gate laughing, and so we just wait it out until Casey is finished his reports and he comes to the gate to "pay me my money" haha. I make sure to point to him and yell "that's him, that's the one!" when he walks into view, just to give the duty guys one more laugh. As I walk from the gate one of the guards says, "ma'am, please make sure we don't get in trouble for this." :-D

Then I was off to babysit, which was much less eventful than dropping by to see Casey. The girls were well behaved and went to bed all by themselves, how do I teach my future children to do that? Then I just watched "The Nanny" reruns for the rest of the night! Not a bad day!

How Am I Supposed to Think of Cute Titles Everyday??

Look! I'm keeping my promise...two days in a row! What a busy Friday! Casey has recently bought a second car, which I took into the shop Friday morning. I've decided that our car's should be named Zippy and Drifter. Zippy is our first car, a Honda Life, which is cute, and the engine sounds like you're pulling a zipper up and down repeatedly, because it's so small. Our newest car, Drifter, got it's name because some previous owner attempted to make our Suzuki Kei look like a vehicle from Tokyo Drift, but failed miserably, so it's a little off (like a Drifter, which are also usually a little off). So poor Drifter is having some issues, but I suppose you can only expect that from a car that cost a thousand dollars. It has a little leak in it's distributor, which oddly enough, was the same problem we had in Seattle with our beloved Camry...! So into the shop Drifter went, which, luckily is on base, so there is no language barrier issues with this bout of car trouble. Unfortunately, they tried to give me attitude and didn't believe me when I explained the issue. So husband saved the day and showed up in his uniform to set them straight for me. They were much nicer when I came to pick it up! :)

While I wasn't dealing with the car issues, I spent most of the daylight hours working. Nothing too crazy there, it was a quiet day filled with, "that's 100, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 500. Would you like an envelope for that?" :) Luckily the day passed quickly, since it was Friday and we were busy with people taking out their money for the weekend. Then after work was Zumba! Woo! This time my co-workers from the credit union also came. Our manager, assistant manager, and one of the other tellers all joined our class (it's also taught by a fellow teller, too!). So it was fun to see everyone dancing around after being so professional at work all day.

Casey is on duty all weekend, so that he can have the weekends that his brothers are here free. I usually try to bring him dinner while he's on duty, since the ship is still under construction and doesn't have a kitchen on board. So after Zumba, I went to the food court to pick up Casey's favorite, taco bell. I try to bring him a treat on Fridays :)! But after I picked up the food and got back to the car I could not find my phone! It was already dark out, and Drifter has some stupid blue lights installed inside, so I couldn't see a thing!! I tried looking everywhere, and even dumped out my purse and gym bag. So frustrating! So I had to arrive at the ship unannounced and embarrass Casey by having them call over the radios "Can someone please call the CDO, his wife is here, with his dinner." Oops! Sorry honey! It's always nice though to have dinner together, since we can't spend the rest of the day together, so we like to catch up on what's been going on and visit for a little bit. Casey thankfully was able to call my phone for me when we got back to the car, and YAY! We heard ringing! Using Casey's, always-handy flashlight we found my phone, which was in my shoe. No, not the one I was wearing. But the ones I changed out of when I went to the gym. That would happen to me. Hooray! So everything ended better than expected, and now you don't have to hear any stories about explaining how I lost my phone and need a new one in the Japanese cell phone store.

I guess it turns out that even a "normal day" has some fun stories to share! I hope you guys are ready to recap my weekend of errands...coming up next on NaBloPoMo. :)

Visitors!

I'm very excited to announce we'll have our first visitors soon! Casey's brothers are coming out for a 3 week visit! They'll be here through the end of November, and I'm so excited! We're hoping to get some tickets to the Sumo competition that's getting started in a few weeks. I've never been to a sumo competition before, but I really hope we can make it!

I've been working at Navy Federal Credit Union for a few weeks now, and I've been learning a lot. It's been a nice change of pace to have a schedule and to get out of the house during the day. I'm still not used to packing my own lunch though (even though I do it for Casey every morning..?!), so I'm working on remembering that! I'm still working 30 hours a week right now because I'm still in training, so I'm looking forward to going down to 20 hours a week, as planned.

Ok, ZUMBA. Who's heard of it, and who's doing it? I started a zumba class at the gym two days a week, and I'm really enjoying it! It's like a dance-aerobics class, and it's a little crazy, but it's fun, and keeps me interested! They have some really nice gym facilities here, so I'm trying to take advantage. I'm still doing the yoga class I started too, which is still in Japanese. :)

One thing I do wish I've done more of though is learn Japanese. I still haven't learned much more than greeting phrases yes/no and thank you, so although I can get around at a grocery store, trying to inquire about my cell phone bill was very difficult. Thank goodness for dictionaries!

One other crazy moment, some of you may have heard the story on facebook already, but it's a good one, so I'll re-tell. Casey and I recently took a drive out to visit a castle not too far away. Once we got there, we took a nice tour, it was a beautiful day, and we walked around the grounds and visited for a while. Unfortunately, the whole time we were gone I left the lights on in the car! Our battery was very dead, and we had no wires to jump the car. Not to mention, we have that whole language barrier working against us. We spent a few minutes trying to see if we could get the car started on our own, but after a few attempts it was obvious we were out of luck. God must have really been looking out for us that day though, because two nice older Japanese couples approached us, and one said "Car battery, no start". A miracle! They saw our problem, and also at least understood a little English! I used my Japanese phrase books and their English skills to explain the problem, and they were able to explain to us that they would take Casey to the gas station down the road to get cables! Hooray! I waited behind with the wives of the two men, to wait. The ladies were SO nice! They practiced their English on me, told me I had a handsome husband, and asked lots of questions, which I tried to answer in Japanese as much as I could. Then, one of the ladies pulled out a Taylor Swift CD! It was so funny, she was so excited, asking me if I know of Taylor Swift and her songs, when I replied yes, she asked me my favorite and if I would sing it! Oh man! It was amusing, but since they were being so helpful, and there is an obsession with karaoke, I obliged. :) The boys were back in what seemed like no time at all, we got the car jumped and were ready to go! The couples would not accept any money, not even for the parking lot they had to pay for twice! Casey luckily had an enameled ship's coin from the Patriot, which he's on now, and they were excited to accept that as a gift of our thanks! It turned our day into quite the adventure!

I supposed it's never a dull moment with the Burnette's.

P.S. I was recently informed of a "movement" called NaBloPoMo. Where, you pledge to write on your blog every day this month. Seeing as I've been neglectful of my dear friends and family on my blog lately, I thought it would be a good chance for me to get back into the swing of things. So I'm pledging that I will do my very best, to post on my blog everyday this month! Ahh! I hope you're all ready for boring stories about how I poured all the pepper into my sauce, and Casey had to wait until 8pm for his dinner, poor husband. Because, that's what my normal day's are like! :) Thanks for reading, friends, hopefully I will speak with you all again tomorrow!

To My Long Lost Friends

Hello! I've been back online for a while now, so I apologize for my absence! Some good updates! We are very much settled into our house! It's lovely, but we still need some more furniture to fill it! It's bigger than we expected to have, so we left most of our furniture in storage in the US. I've been trying to fit into our little Japanese community, I hang my laundry out to dry, and I sweep my front porch, and I pull weeds. Just like the neighbors! (Although, I think they know we're not Japanese...).

We have some fun things coming up, and we've been out and about as much as we can. We took the train down to Nagasaki a few weekends ago. We saw the Atomic Bomb Museum and the Peace Park Memorial. It was a very interesting experience. I think I expected it to be very somber, like the Holocaust Museums that I've been to. Instead, it seemed that the Japanese people who were there were snapping pictures and chatting it up during the tour. It seemed odd, but I can at least be grateful that there are no hard feelings. They were still very kind and we even had one man try out his English skills by explaining to us all about the Peace Park (there is a marker-monument on the spot where the bomb exploded above, he said, we think). This weekend coming up we're going to the Navy Ball. We're going to get all dressed up and go! I'm excited, I'll be sure to put up pictures!

Also, I recently got hired at the Navy Federal Credit Union! I'm very excited to start working again. It will be part time, so we still get to spend lots of time together, but it will help me fill my days with something more productive and get me into a routine. I'm excited to start later this month, so I will keep everyone posted on how it works out!

We don't have an oven here in Japan, so I've been asking friends and family, if you have any crockpot recipies, please email them to me! I need all kinds, breakfast to dinner to dessert and sides! Anything is welcome!

Hope everyone is well, fall is proving to be quite lovely here, if anyone is thinking of making a visit, this is certainly a good time of year to do it. We're hoping to do some hikes soon too, so I will have more fun things to write about!

I'll Be Back Online Soon!

Sorry for the delay folks, internet install is scheduled for tomorrow!

In the mean time, I've added some more pictures to our album, there's even a lighthouse for Ms. Sara!

Some more pictures of Japan

On Base Address

PSC 476 Box 1008
FPO AP 96322-0001

Our House and Japan So Far....

Random Pictures from Japan So Far

Walk-Through of our House

I'll be away from the internet for about 2 weeks, but here's a few pictures and a video walk-through of our new place!!

The Big Adventure - Part 2-1: Flying

...(continued from previous post)

Dark and early on Saturday morning, about 4:00 AM, we were up and dressed in the pre-selected, unpacked outfits I had laid out. We tracked down a luggage dolly and started for the lobby after only about 10 minutes of stacking and re-stacking boxes like it was a logic puzzle. At this point we were loaded down with one massive box that was 6 cubic feet, holding our camping equipment and miscellaneous large items. Also with us were 3 smaller boxes, about 3 cubic feet each, of uniforms, shoes, and items we didn't think we would need immediately when we arrived. Then came the clothing and more "important" items. more uniforms, clothes, essential toiletries, and the x-box, which ended up in our 2 checked luggage pieces (an invaluable wedding gift from my grandparents). Finally, a small suitcase, mini-duffel, backpack, and purse were close by our sides, with copies on copies of official orders, passports, contact numbers, books, snacks, and anything else we thought we might possibly need in the next 2 days (notice how we still haven't made it out of the lobby yet?).

Luckily, at the painfully wee hours of the morning there wasn't a huge demand for the shuttle to the airport, and that saved us from having to pay about 3 taxis to take our "essentials". After we loaded down a party-bus style airport shuttle we made our way to the drop off spot at the airport. For those of you following along, this is one of the only things that actually works out without undue stress and/or a do-over. Then, the fun starts. Even at 4:30 AM on a Saturday morning, the airport is never a fun place to be with so much stuff to lug around.

Luckily, our super nice shuttle driver helped us track down some of the abandoned carts around the parking lot, and we loaded up our boxes and suitcases onto two of them, and each of us pushed one, while towing a large rolling suitcase behind us (casters are such a win on that luggage). We were quite a site. Shoving ourselves into elevators and across sky-walks, it took us a solid 10 minutes to push all of our boxes to the ticket counter (which if it had been a straight walk, was only about 50 yards away). Pushing our things up to the roped off line area, were were sad to find out that the 5 person line we saw before us, was actually about a 50 yard-long line that was actually out the door and down the terminal. SO, back through the terminal with our luggage caravan, and outside to wait in the first of so many lines. Seeing my mounting stress Casey saved both of our sanity by setting the tone for the rest of the day. He pointed out that we were hours early, and had all of our paperwork ready, so there was no reason to feel like we need to rush, and with that I went ahead and accepted that no matter how long the line, being patient was the only way I'd land in Japan with any sort of grip on myself and my sanity. Trying to copy the cool-as-a-cucumber attitude doesn't come naturally to me (shocker), so those first 20 minutes in line seemed to last forever. I think what turned me was seeing another man, also with boxes, trying to scribble out "FRAGILE", on one of his own boxes in pen. Knowing that the airport workers likely wouldn't see the pen-writing on his boxes, and being ridiculously over-prepared, I pulled a thick black sharpie from my purse and let him borrow it. As he got called into the coveted "inside line" with his now obviously-marked-fragile box, I realized that I had over-prepared so much, I couldn't do any more and it was best to just let the system take me through the paces. Combining this with Casey's easy-going attitude I think I made it a lot easier on everyone the remainder of the trip. We finished out the time in the "outside line" quickly enough after that, mostly by just trying to keep my tired eyes open in the dark morning hours.

Once inside we got ushered into another line, and I was surprised to see that the family in front of us actually had more luggage than we did. Seeing this made me feel a little better and brought me to another realization: even though I didn't do this everyday, all of the airline people did. The 20+ nearly-identical suitcases of the family in front of us didn't really phase the counter workers, and so when we were called up for our turn I was relieved that no one was particularly impressed with our amount of luggage. We were checking in fairly quickly, by a very nice counter worker, who even took the time to explain that when we arrived in Japan, we would have to pay for some of our extra baggage, and pointed out which of the boxes were the lightest, so we would know which ones to deem "extra" when we got there (Japan charges extra baggage fees by weight instead of per bag). So now we were 6 large pieces of checked luggage lighter and went on to line number three: the first security checkpoint.

Again, having been insanely over prepared, we had our laptops packed so as to be easily-accessible, the zip-loc of our liquids was sealed and ready to be scanned without unpacking everything in sight, and the pre-selected outfits were metal free (except Casey's removable belt buckle, he thought ahead too!). We cleared our metal detector screenings and went to pick up our bags at the other end without a hitch. Just kidding! We got selected for an additional security screening because of suspicious object on the x-ray (awesome), so while Casey went to lace up his boots and put our computers away, I went with the security officer and one of our bags for a search. When I realized he was looking for something particular, I asked if I could help him locate the "suspicious item". His response was, "I think I found it, but if this is a roll of coins or something I'm going to be so mad". Heart sinks. "What, Why?" I say while trying not to look extremely near tears, because we did in-fact have about 2 rolls of silver dollar coins, and a few rolls of silver quarters and such in our carry on (not something you want to check, like expensive jewelery). He kind of chuckles and says that it's because he already told the x-ray screener that that's what he thought the weird image on the screen was in the first place, and now he's just wasting his time. WHEW! I thought I was going to be escorted out of the airport for carrying a prohibited amount of silver through security or something, which would have been a tragedy considering I had read that list about a hundred times while packing to ensure that this very thing wouldn't happen. After putting the suitcase through the x-ray again and coming back to announce that he rubbed it in the screener's face that he was right all along about the coins, I was shooed on to the gate area. At least I knew that we would probably be checked at all of the security points now, so I could be mentally prepared.

Now that it's about 6:10 AM and we are sitting at the gate we have ample time to eat some breakfast and get ready for the first flight. Happily, this was just a quick one, as it was a just a short hop to our jump-off point of San Francisco. It gave me just enough time to eat my breakfast and have some coffee while I read the in-flight magazine, and Casey read on his Nook (which is like a Kindle, smart buy, he uses it all the time). The airline couldn't get us assigned seats together though, so as we boarded I was glad to see that Casey's intended seat-mate was more than willing to swap isle seats with me.

Once landed in San Fran we found our way to our gate in the international terminal and tried to decide how we would pass the 2-plus hours of layover time. Layover are the worst. But a few trips to the magazine/snack shops, and trips to the restroom, coupled with a nice walk around the terminal to tire us out (we're still toting luggage and it's still not even 9:00 AM) ended up filling the time easily. We even sat in a Mexican restaurant and hydrated and snacked a little. The next flight was going to be about 11 hours and I was eager to try to sleep through most of it. Already, I was heavy-eyed from our late night of last minute packing, car shipping panic, and early wake up.

Finally, we were boarding our plane to the Narita (Tokyo) Airport! We settled into our seats, and were pleased to see a very small little boy sitting as our company, which made for extra elbow room! Even though we packed fairly lightly, the under seat storage was pathetic at best and the space was cramped even with only our small pieces under us. Too excited to sleep right away, I spent most of the early flight reading and waiting for lunch (didn't want to sleep through that!). I decided that sleeping between the two in-flight meals would take up the most time, and keep me most fed :). Also a bonus, the flights over the Pacific provide complimentary beer and wine. So a full belly, a glass of wine, and a lack of sleep put me to sleep about as soon as they could clear my tray table. I'm not sure how long I slept exactly, but that was the shortest 11 hour flight of my life. The $2 neck pillows I snagged at the bargain bins at target were amazing and Casey and I both caught at least more sleep than the night before. I woke up to an announcement for the next meal and a new seat companion (the little boy traded seats with his sister). After we ate our second meal, the in flight movie came on and by the time it was over we started our decent. I was so pleased with how quick it all seemed that I felt it was confirmation of my "be a sheep" policy for the trip. I just let them herd me from one place to the other and they make sure I'm fed and arrive alive. Worked like a charm.

Smooth landing into Tokyo...to be continued.

The Big Adventure - Part 1: Preparation

Since I have been less than diligent in the past giving you all the grimy details about what we were up to, I figured it would be best to start at the very beginning of this whole adventure and tell the story in full. So without further ado -

I fell head over heels for a dashing young country boy...ok wait I think you guys know that part already...fast forward a few short months/year-ish. We find out we're moving to Japan! First, excitement followed immediately by lots of stresses coming at us (i.e. "me" since Casey is always cool as a cucumber).

After quitting my job, planning a wedding that went off in a rain storm on a different coast, and packing up our apartment in Seattle, Casey and I hit the road with our trusty Camry loaded down for a pre-Japan mini-adventure to San Diego. Most of the time I filled my days with short jogs and mostly-pointless errands just to fill up the time, while Casey went to several different schools in order to prepare for his new job on the minesweeper, USS Patriot MCM7. He says he learned mostly information that won't make any sense to me and/or isn't allowed to tell me, so we'll just say he learned "a lot". He also met several of his future shipmates, including his Executive Officer, who arrived just a few months before us (the Executive Officer, or XO, is second only to the Captain of the ship, for the non-navy folks out there).

We were lucky during our time in San Diego to have a period where Casey didn't have any school for a few weeks and we had lots of adventures. We went to Las Vegas, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World, Catalina Island, on hikes, and to a lot of movies. We tried to capitalize on what San Diego had to offer without spending every last dollar we had (thank goodness for tax-free groceries and discounted movie tickets from the MWR)! It's expensive to have fun in San Diego!

Despite my initial impressions, I didn't end up hating all of San Diego. We went to a lot of great restaurants, and met up with some friends for concerts on Coronado Island. And fine, I'll admit it, I did enjoy the mild temperatures and sunny days, but I think that's mostly due to the CRAZY heat/humidity here that makes me miss the cooler weather (the base put up the black flags yesterday, no outside activities allowed)! I still miss the misty, overcast, no-chance-for-a-sunburn weather of Seattle.

Anyways, even with all the fun we had in San Diego, living in a hotel was getting old fast. Although we were really blessed and grateful to stay in a place with a kitchen and space enough we weren't tripping over each other for months. When we finally got word that we had a real date for flying out (5 days before the flights), we were again initially excited and then immediately stressed (by we, I still mean "I"). Instead of booking my ticket from San Diego, the Navy's rules dictated that I needed to fly out of Seattle, because I was technically still supposed to be living there. It sounds complicated, and it is. Basically, because Casey was not "stationed" in San Diego, his family wasn't authorized to "move" there with him, so according to the Navy, I was supposed to be "living" in Seattle, even though they already came and packed up our apartment and shipped it to Japan. Needless to say, 5 days away from flying out and my tickets were from almost 1,300 miles away made me a little crazy, and in the mean time I still needed to pack up 3 months of suitcase/car living and somehow dispose of our vehicle. Thanks in absolutely no part to me, Casey worked out the flight situation, and our friend Jayne (an absolute God-send) let us park the car at her place until it could be shipped back to Casey's family. Jayne's help goes well beyond just the parking of the car, but again it's complicated and all I can say is thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou to a fellow Navy wife, who knows what it's like to have to do things on the fly. :-)

So 3 trips to the FedEx store, and 2 trips to the U-haul store later, our hotel-home was packed, taped and labeled for the trans-pacific flights. And now all we have to do is go on them....

(to be continued)

Teaser

Hi friends! We have been busy little bees since we landed here in Japan (more on the travel process later!). We viewed about 5 homes, and to our pleasant surprise we enjoyed 3 of them A LOT! We selected a really cute house only about a 5 minute drive from base, and 10 minutes from downtown. We'll be working on the paperwork over the next week or so, but I will put up pictures as soon as we've signed the lease!! PLUS, today, we found a car! Again, about a week away from driving it with all the paperwork to do (and oh yea, I need to learn how to drive on the left side and get my drivers license...no biggie). Other than the blistering heat/humidity, the area here is BEAUTIFUL! We love it so far and the shops and the downtown area are so cute! We think we're both going to really love it here!

Like the title of this says, this is only a teaser, we've been super busy, but we love and miss you all! More to come...

Not Much to Report

Hi Friends,

In the interest of not leaving everyone hanging, I thought I would give a little update on all of our nothing. We've mostly been keeping ourselves holed up in our hotel room, now that we have a kitchen I've been cooking again, which is wonderful! Mostly, we've been watching a lot of movies and Casey has been teaching me how to play the Xbox, which now I think I'm hooked! :-/

Casey has been on TAD, which means basically, he's been off for several weeks, and we have a few more to go! It's been great spending so much time together, and we haven't even tried to kill each other yet! hehe

Luckily, we've had the chance to meet up with a few friends and we're looking forward to seeing some more friends for the 4th and Aunt Mary and Uncle Jeff and the boys when they come out for a beach week at the end of July! Can't wait for some fun!!

Hopefully, we'll have a fun story soon to tell you about, we're hoping to go to Vegas too!

Cheers to summer!

Summer Vacay

It's been longer than I planned since I last wrote! Sorry! Not too much has been happening, but there are a few fun things to note!

Biggest news: we're moved into a new hotel that has great set up! We have a kitchen, living/dining area, and a bedroom! Woohoo! It's like we're in an apartment. We'll be here for about 2 months, so it's really nice to feel a little more stable. I guess I got a little over excited at the grocery store, and I bought a frozen pizza, even though we only have a stove top, and not an oven! Hehe!

I also just spent a week staying in Phoenix with my grandparents! It was so nice to have a break from the hotel monotony for a little while. I spent the week cooking diabetic friendly meals, and doing handy work around the house. It was nice to have some daily tasks to keep me on track, plus the sun and the pool time were definitely a plus!

Casey's finished with his first two schools already, so it sounds like he'll be waiting it out on temporary duty for a while. Summer vacation, anyone?

There are a few places we're still itching to go to, like Las Vegas, Catalina Island, and Knott's Berry Farm. Hopefully we'll have the chance to spend a little time actually enjoying it out here.

Cheers!

Hotel Sweet Hotel?

Well even though the hotel we are in is very nice, and we are enjoying it, there is no feeling of being at all settled. Trying to get a routine together is so hard. We have no kitchen in our current hotel, so we're still trying to piece together what meals look like without eating out every time (so expensive!).

Alas, there is good news! We are probably moving to a new place soonish (2-3 weeks from now). Homewood Suites (thanks Jenna for the recommendation) has kitchens and is a really great combo of a nice hotel and a studio apartment. We're looking forward to that, and hoping it works out! Bonus: it's walking distance to Casey's classes!

Hope everyone is enjoying the pictures we put on facebook. If you haven't seen them yet we have Road Trip Pictures (not all posted yet, more to come) and we have Wedding Pictures!! Take a look!

Pictures Up!

I finally got some pictures up on Facebook; The ones from our moving and Hotel Hop 2010! I'm still working on getting the pictures together from the drive down! There is a lot of organizing to do on those still, I'll let you guys know just as soon as I get those up!

Link to pictures on Facebook!

Enjoy!

NorCal

Well sorry we haven't been able to write in a few days! We have been on a lot of adventures in places that don't have any cell/internet service!

We had a really awesome camp in the Redwood National Park, which was lovely. We camped at Golden Bluffs Beach, where the elk graze through camp ground, they were amazing and huge! I would definitely recommend that camp to anyone who is thinking of that kind of adventure. Before we headed out the next day we did a short hike into Fern Canyon. It was surreal. This is the same area where they filmed parts of Jurassic Park. The Canyon walls went about 30 feet straight up and were covered in, you guessed it, ferns. There were felled trees everywhere, and usually if you go late enough in the summer the river is dry enough to hike through, but since we went earlier, we literally hiked through the river! You had to balance on trees and rocks, and generally just walk right through the shallow parts. Really fun if you have waterproof shoes on! It was a blast!

We'll add some more soon....got to get on the road!

Well isn't this Coos-ey :)

Coos Bay! Casey and I had a really beautiful day driving through Portland and out to the Oregon coast. We met up with my Aunt Katha in Salem for a quick pit stop and showed her a few pics from the wedding on Facebook. We couldn't stay long and got back on the road, only to stop for a quick dinner in Eugene. The Steelhead Brewery and Restaurant was a lucky choice, with home brewed root beer and english ale for the birthday boy. We got back on the road after dinner and finally found our way off of I-5 and onto the roads toward the coast. Casey took the wheel (surprise, surprise) and I was left to man the entertainment. I never appreciate how smoothly the tunes keep coming until it's my turn to work the ipod. Thankfully, Casey has Genius on his ipod so I just picked one song I liked and it made me a whole playlist. Saved! I also found that it's really nice to read aloud while you drive. We found a really interesting article in a magazine and I read that to Casey while he drove for about an hour, it passes the time nicely and it keeps you really engaged. We drove past a lot of neat places, very green and full of trees. There are really neat dunes out near Coos Bay just to the north. It was so odd to see full grown pine trees growing right out of the sand dunes! Now that we're settled in for the night Casey has ripped into his birthday present (an Xbox that I tried to pretend that I would never let him buy), and is already hooked up and playing with it. Hopefully he'll sleep a little tonight, more adventures are ahead! :)

Wish us luck and say your prayers for the remainder of the drive!

To fair winds and following seas...

Sionara Seattle :(

Phase 1 "Make everyone sad" - complete. We're finishing packing the car now and we'll be off south in just a few minutes. It still hasn't hit yet that this isn't a vacation we'll be coming back from, but maybe along the way it will sink in. We're so excited for the next few days, we have a lot of exciting places to visit! Stay tuned for all the fun places we turn up. I'll post a bunch of pictures once I dig the cable out of the trunk! Stay classy, Seattle.

I like to Move it Move it!

It's moving day #1! WE HAVE SO MUCH CRAP! I suppose that's expected. The moving dudes literally pack everything. We had a few bottles of beer left on one of our shelves, yep, individually wrapped in paper in a box on the way to japan now. Also, all shoes, wrapped in paper. These guys mean business! In about 3 hours they have over half of our apartment packed and put in the truck. It's getting crazy!

We woke up early this morning and tried to finalize the packing for San Diego. We realized we have split our things into 3 piles.
1. Stuff going straight to Japan
2. Stuff being stored for 3 years while we're in Japan
3. Stuff we want to have with us in San Diego
3a. Stuff we will need on the drive down
3b. Stuff we won't need 'till we get there
The movers at least have control over the first 2....

Gotta go get the Christmas decorations out of storage before they end up in the 'stored for 3 years' pile!! Hope you like this pic of us getting in the movers' way!

Not Packing

Because we're moving with the military, we have movers who are coming (supposedly Thursday/Friday) and will pack up all of our stuff. It's really a nice perk, but it's been hard getting our house 'move-ready' without actually packing anything. I've been trying to purge unwanted clothes/books/things, because it adds to the weight, and since you have a limit, there's no reason to move around things you don't want. Since we just got married, we have a lot of gifts that were shipped to the house, which was nice because they're already nicely packed for the glassware and breakable things. The remaining things are hard though, because you have to rifle through everything and pare it down and/or get it in some kind of order, but then you just put it back, you don't get it box it up and stack it in the corner and call it done. So even though I feel like I've spent days cleaning and organizing, it still feels like the house is more disastrous then ever.

Also because we're moving with the military, we have SO MUCH PAPERWORK! It's been really stressful, because we live about 45 minutes away from the base, so every time there is something new that needs to be filled out it's quite a long haul, and since we're a one-car-family, it usually means I take the bus up to the base. It would have been a much smoother process if it was more transparent as to what people needed and when. There's been a lot of guesswork involved, and a lot of stress about "suddenly missing" forms. That's pushed back having our movers come out too. Advice to anyone moving with the military: it's better to ask too many questions than not enough, because you won't find out otherwise. Thankfully, we got connected with two great people at the PSD on base, which is where they coordinate transfers, and they helped us fill in all the blanks on missing paperwork and what to expect. So now we're on track to have all of our paper-ducks in a row.

Now, if I can only get the dishes done?

Welcome!

Hello! My husband, Casey, and I are about to do some major moving! We just had our beautiful wedding in North Carolina, and we are back in Seattle now preparing for the next adventure! We'll be driving down the West Coast on our way to San Diego for 3 months, then we'll be off to Sasebo, Japan! We're looking forward to sharing with our friends and family via this blog about all of our adventures over the next few months!