A Few of My Favorite Things

Because I procrastinated, I now have over a month of fun times in Japan to tell you all about. Instead of composing a novelette detailing my every experience here, I will spare your eyes and my fingers and tell you my Top Ten experiences so far.

CoCo's Curry House: Before I visited Japan, I my only experience of curry was the smelly Cup-O-Noodles version that my college piano teacher ate during lessons. Now I have discovered Japanese curry, specifically curry from CoCo's curry house. It is a delicious treat! Basically, it's a spicy sauce similar to gravy that is served with rice and meat. The spicy-ness is rated 0-10. Jay will eat 10 but just the smell makes my eyes water. I stick with regular spicy (level 2).

Riding the Train: I love riding the train in Japan... well most days... it can get crazy crowed. It's a great place to watch people although I have come to realize, in Japan, it is not appropriate to stare. Being tall and very light colored in all respects, I thought that I would get a lot of looks but Japanese people don't want to invade your space so they keep their eyes on the ground. Most read, play cellphone games, or nap on the train. Unless the partygoers are out, it's usually quiet.

Yokosuka: The Yokosuka Naval Base has great shopping! If you are military and want to visit Japan, I would highly recommend Yokosuka. First of all, it's on the water! If that isn't enough, you might get lucky and see the USS George Washington, an enormous aircraft carrier. Finally, it has arguably the best shopping in the Far East. It reminded me of shopping at the outlet malls in the states.

Halloween: Our base, Yokota Air Base, has a large variety of fun activities every month. For Halloween, we were lucky enough to attend both the Monster's Ball on Oct. 23rd and the Monster's Bash on Oct. 30th. Attendees had some of the best costumes I've ever seen. Some of my favorites were grapes, Mario, "White Trash", flapper girl, sake, Speedy Gonzales, and Pirates!

Traffic Jams: Jay, my husband, is a radio DJ on the Eagle 810 radio show here in Tokyo. The station is on our base but it airs throughout Tokyo so that our fellow Far East bases can tune in. He plays top 40 hits, promotes base events, gives the weather and movie schedule, and entertains listeners every afternoon from 2-6. He does a fantastic job and I love to listen. Lately, I have got to voice characters on some the radio spots (AFN commercials). They play randomly on the air so sometimes I hear myself on the radio... it's really weird!

Hooters: The first Tokyo Hooters opened about three weeks ago. We were lucky to get in last weekend and enjoy some tasty wings, curly fries, and fried pickles! Japanese Hooters girls aren't quite as curvy as the American version but the guys didn't seem to mind. The funniest thing about the restaurant is that there are all of the signs that have "City Name Here" printed on them. Apparently, whoever put them up doesn't read English or didn't have the "TOKYO" inserts yet.

Japanese Shoes: Japanese people, like myself, have a serious affinity for shoes. Boots are especially popular this time of year. My goal is to work on my shoe collection while I am here beause the Japanese do shoes right!

Driving: Driving in Japan is a whole different game. Once you conquer driving on the left side of the road, you have to get used to driving in REALLY tight spaces and reading 3-10 road signs at once. To properly convey the tiny-ness of Japanese roads, I should probably explain that there are mirrors at most intersections so that you can see if traffic is coming on other sides. They also have flashing lights at the center of the intersection so that you can see that you are coming upon one with enough time to stop. If you are not getting the visual yet, imagine having to pull over at the end of someone's driveway so that the other car coming at you on the "two way" road can pass by. It's insane... my driveway in Texas was wider than many of the roads. Don't let me get started on the alleys ha ha!!

High Fashion: Fashion in Japan is essential. No sweatpants and t-shirts here. Everyone dresses like they just left a catalog shoot or something. For this reason clothes are very expensive, eclectic, flashy, tailored, and high quality. It's so cool to see what everyone else is wearing but it sometimes makes me feel like a slob!

Fun with Friends on Yokota Air Base: My new friends are my favorite part of Japan so far. We love to cook out, eat all you can eat pizza at the Enlisted Club, shop, explore Fussa (the town our base is in), watch movies, and party at home! I am so lucky to have met such great people and I can't wait to tell you more about our adventures.

The wilderness must be explored! Kah Kah Roar... Katrina :)