Jess and I, being "serious" art aficionados at the National Art Center in Tokyo
Japan.... gosh. The last week was a flurry of hugs, cleaning, artsiness, Noborito-insanity, vet visits, and last minute paperwork issues. I already miss public transport, the food (which includes the variety available with lots of meals in Japan like rice, miso, veggies, meat, all in reasonable portion sizes!), the funky craft stores and random Japanese Shopping Finds, and mostly I miss my friends. (aaand my friend's pets!)
Thanksgiving was a little creepy... we had limited pots/pans/etc. That being said, my mostest wonderfulest friends offered not only their cookware but their ovens as well! <3 We're annoyingly independent, and while we're grateful for the offer, we stayed home and dealt with the disturbing breast of turkey which sort of... watched us... prepare it's ultimate demise:
No really. It was watching.
Gobble. Gobble.
Considering I'd never cooked just the breast before, it was... interesting and I admittedly missed leftovers the typically associated with Giant American Meals. Aaaaand it wasn't as tasty as Whole Dead Bird. So the future? I don't care if we have limited stuff. We're having unlimited bird. *nods firmly
Though, uh, speaking of Giant American Meals? Culture Shock Moment - Apparently my idea of Giant American Meals is WAY off now. Have you guys ordered a "medium" sized beverage in the US lately?!?!? HOLY MOTHER OF SODA POP! What the fuck does a LARGE look like if THAT is a medium?! I goggled. I boggled. I almost fell over. Culture shock, fer reals.
Anywaaaay -
Jess and I... hungry, but the sign says Noborito!!!
Before we left Japan, we had many things to do... paperwork, wrapping up school and work stuff, holiday happenings, and cleaning like idiots (living in a house and trying to get it cleaned to Housing's standards while having a child and two animals is stupid. don't do it) We'd always joked about stopping at this one random station on the... oh heck, which line is it? Odakyu? anyway - it's Noborito. Guess how you pronounce it?
yeah.
Hey! It's cheesy, it's fun - we enjoyed it, and promptly tossed our unheated, unloved, and unwanted burritos.
Aside from the scariness of our turkey breast and not having burritos, we had a pretty decent winter holiday
Merry Yulichristmakwanzikah! (or however Hildulf does that Conglomorate Holiday thing) and Santa promised an EXTRA special trip after Dec 25th's sleigh ride so Small Thing could get her Much Coveted Dalmation Rescue Pet Center from Littlest Pet Shop. I'm glad he waited, because that's been her primary source of entertainment (besides books and random discussions with strangers and prior acquaintances) since getting here.
Wow, I'm heavy on the parenthetical comments today. Sorry my editorial friends! :oP
Anyway - we had a lovely holiday, albeit a small one. The kiddo had Much Littlest Pet Shopness, Jase got an iPad, and I got two sahweeeet DS games I've been craaaaving and a HORDE of books (Kindle and otherwise). A horde. Not a veritable one either. Masses of them. Scads. I'm drowning in digital readability. Most gifties were in hopes of making the plane ride easier.
Turns out... they made WAITING for said plane ride easier. I really don't remember much about the night in the Navy Lodge before we dashed away to the airport in Yokota (military flight, for those keeping track of such things), but I remember having a fabulous time that evening before we crashed out in the hotel. (Mad love, Nancy & Fam!)
Jase, on *gasp* a corded phone, on our teensy tiny (but much appreciated) loaner furniture
Also mad love to Jess for the lamp of lightness!
We checked in our baggage after feeding the dog 'n' cat a last round o' kibble and settled in to wait for a flight from Korea. The boiler in the terminal area wasn't working, so that made the wait quite a chilly one! Luckily, Small Thing struck it up with Li'l Miss M, who was spunky, around seven years old, and ready to rock. The kids had a great time together burning off energy and playing in the "children's lounge" aka, a room with couches, donated toys, and a playset.
Around 1:30pm, it was announced that the flight was officially delayed until the following day due to weather in Korea so we had to round up our pets and make reservations in the Kanto Lodge. Kanto Lodge = Air Force. Niiiiice. They must all freak out a bit when they stay on Navy bases if the Kanto Lodge is indicative of typical Air Force hotels versus most Navy Lodges we've stayed in. Not that the Navy Lodge is oogey or Roach Motel-esque, just.... nowhere near the same quality.
We had lodging, no worries, but the pets. Hmm. Holiday weekend, people traveling, unexpected influx of pets..... what to do? We hung around the terminal LONG after the non-pet-travelers had meandered to the Lodge trying to figure out what to do since the kennels on base were full and all of them within reasonable travel off base were also full to capacity. Finally, Mr. Weber, one of the higher ups for Mobil Air Command, offered up his office and found several animal loving volunteers to help ensure the safety and comfort of our critters. A retiring Air Force family offered us some of their critter food too since ours was delightfully stowed away somewhere behind the shiny scanning equipment (mental note - NEVER assume you'll leave the same day when traveling military flights. Duh? I should know this. *headdesk)
Mr. Weber and his crew o' volunteers walked the dogs, let the cats out, played with all the critters who were responsive at random times during the night, and even helped out with Jack's bloodied ear (he'd gotten into a scuffle with a basset/beagle mix before the flight - go fig, eh?). He was, of course, quite popular with his friendly doggie grin and playful attitude. One can only hope he didn't chew on anyone boots or fingers or anything...
We had tons of awesome people helping us with transportation and the kiddos - the Powers family really were awesome in assisting us with finding stuff on base and apparently Air Force people don't really walk places? We were offered three rides walking from the food court back to the Lodge. It's like, a ten minute walk, max. Craziness! The offers were much appreciated though!
The next day, we did it all over again. Groundhog Day! The pacing, the waiting, the uuuugh - the primary difference was that the terminal was sposed to be closed that day, so all the snackbars and such were also closed. Man I missed the chicken curry from the day before since the place was so cold!
Moooore later! <3
