California Pizza and Yokohama at Night

A few Saturdays ago, we took the train into Kawasaki (about a 45 minute ride) to Lazona Mall and some yummy California Pizza Kitchen. Sometimes, we just really miss good ole American food. On base, we can't get good pizza. The choices are Sbarro or Anthonys (the kind of pizza that only tastes good at midnight when you are intoxicated). Needless to say, we rarely get pizza here, so we like to take the train up to Kawasaki and go to California Pizza Kitchen. It is exactly the same as the ones in the states, and the salads and pastas are good too. They have a great kid menu, so everybody is happy!!

Lazona mall is an outdoor mall with trendy stores. There is a great area for the kids to run around (great for Brian and the boys while I browse through the stores.) Everything is very expensive, but the restaurants are great. We've also been to a fabulous Teppanaki restaurant there.






When we arrived, we noticed it was absolutely packed with people on all three levels. When I say packed, I mean, you could barely move. All we could see was a "sea of black hair". We saw a huge tv screen showing some performers, but we had no idea what the fuss was all about. People were trying to take pictures and laughing at the performers. We stood and watched for a few minutes, but decided since we couldn't understand a word that was being said, we would go to dinner and ask at the restaurant. The man at CPK spoke a little English and told us it was a very famous Japanese comedian giving a free perfomance. By the time we were done eating, it had ended, and all of the people had cleared out.





We then headed back towards Yokohama on the train. Next stop- Coldstone Creamery! I guess we were on a mission for American food. It is very funny because the workers sing songs in English while they make the ice cream. One song they sang was..."Hi ho, Hi ho it's off to work we go...." We all had our ice cream treat (it's a bummer though because for some reason they don't have cookie dough!) and then headed to our last stop of the night- the Yokohama Cosmo World Ferris Wheel. We have gone on the ferris wheel before, but never at night. We thought it would be a fun thing to do on such a clear night. It is about a 15-20 minute ride around, and the sights and lights are spectacular. The ferris wheel cabs are completely enclosed, and an English and Japanese speaking voice plays throughout the ride, explaining the views, buildings, and history of Yokohama.






It was a fun filled Saturday, and we were all exhausted. Luckily, we got seats on the train for our trip home.

Indiana Jones Birthday!

A few weeks ago, Patrick celebrated his 8th birthday Indiana Jones style. Since we live in a high rise tower here in Japan, our space is somewhat limited with no yard, so it is not ideal to have a birthday party of about 15 eight year old boys in our apartment. On the first floor of each tower, there is a party room that can be used for special events like birthday parties. It is completely free to use on a first come first serve basis.

Patrick wanted an Indiana Jones theme, so that is what we did. It would have worked a lot better in our backyard in Chesapeake, VA, but we have to make do with what we have here. We had 16 boys and one girl at the party. Upon their arrival, the Indiana Jones theme song was playing, and the kids jumped in "The Temple of Doom." We played Archaeology Bingo, which was a huge hit with all of them. They also got to wrap each other up as mummies, which turned into 12 rolls of toilet paper all over the room (as the pictures show). This was the highlight of the party, and toilet paper is harmless, right?? We also had a magnifying glass pinata that everyone took a swing at opening. Some of the adults finally got it to break.

I must say that the 100 yen stores in Japan (much like the dollar stores in US, but so much better and a higher quality) had everything I needed to fill the goody bags. They got khaki drawstring bags filled with a flashlight, compass, magnifying glass, and gold candy (treasure). I also added a little Lego Indiana Jones keychain to each bag. At the end of the party, Brian brought in the treasure box (a styrofoam cooler that I spray painted gold) which was filled with the bags. Each kid got to help dig (through beans because sand would have been way too messy inside) through the box to find their bag.

Patrick had a great time, and the party was a huge success!

Shaken

I have to blog this because it was a first for me in Japan (or for that matter anywhere else). So supposedly there are earthquakes here all of the time, but I have never felt one. Last spring my parents were visiting and felt a pretty big one in the middle of the night. Brian and I didn't wake to anything. Several times I have been somewhere and heard, "Hey- did you feel the earthquake last night?" I can honestly say that they must just shake past me because I never feel them.

However, today at 3:07 (I was staring at the clock on my microwave as it was happening) I was standing in my kitchen talking to my neighbor, and I felt the floor move and the blinds shake. Then I opened up the cabinet and several of my spices were knocked over. Right when it happened, I said, "Do you feel the earthquake?" Sure enough, there was an earthquake reported in Chiba (30 miles away) at approx 3:07 pm.

Brian came home and we checked the weather, and there was another one at 6:07 pm, but do you think I felt that one? No! None of us did. I was preparing dinner and oblivious to the whole thing.

I just wanted to record this on the blog! Not very exciting, but something for the books.