The Christmas Snapshot

My DIY candy wreath that I had to keep replacing after the neighbor children discovered it was real candy!

Presents under our tiny tree and goodies from Ms. Jane! 

My neighbor Alex hand-cut snowflakes to decorate the entire floor!

Christmas morning - at the barracks to deliver Christmas cookies.

The Sunday Snapshot

Snowflakes and evergreens on my toes, but not in Okinawa!

The Alice Cafe: Tokyo Trip Part 3

After our time shopping for electronics in Akihabara, we took the subway to the neighborhood of Ginza. Ginza is known for its upscale shopping, and I recognized many of the store names. We passed Tiffany's and Giorgio Armani, and Matt dropped me off at a four-story H&M while he perused specialty ties that sold for hundreds of dollars at a boutique down the street. While we did not make many purchases, we were killing time until our reservation (that the concierge at the New Sanno helped us make) at an Alice in Wonderland cafe.

Shopping bags (from elsewhere) in hand! 

The host and his hat!

Tokyo is known for its themed cafes, and we had lunched at a maid cafe previously. I was excited to see how in depth this restaurant would go into the story of Alice in Wonderland, and I was not disappointed. There are actually seven different Alice cafes with varying themes, but we selected Alice in a Labyrinth. When we stepped off the elevator on the correct floor we found ourselves in a tiny vestibule. We were asked to wait while the host dressed as a classy Mad Hatter used his earpiece to call for a waitress (dressed as Alice in a blue and white dress- of course!). She appeared from a hidden door in one of the walls to lead us through the labyrinth. The walls were made of enlarged pages from the novel, and our waitress helped us to navigate by showing which way to turn for the restroom as she led us out of the labyrinth and to our table. We discovered later that there were private dining rooms with secret doors located inside the labyrinth, but we were content in the main dining room.

The ceiling was sloped with playing cards and the walls were covered with mirrors so that the whole room seemed to repeat itself. Our waitress helped explain the multiple menus and brought us a bell to ring when we were ready to order. The pricing system was unexpected since I had never eaten at a fine establishment in Tokyo. There was a cover charge of six hundred yen (around six dollars), we were required to order at least one item of food and one drink each (no ordering just water here!), and we had a time limit for our table (two hours I think). Our waitress was very helpful in explaining the process, and I did not mind the cover charge since we were not expected to leave a tip.

I felt completely immersed in the Alice in Wonderland theme as everything brought to our table was intricately and ornately decorated. I might have to try another Alice cafe when we return to Tokyo; I love the themed cafes!

The labyrinth walls.

A teacup booth reserved for large parties.

The pop-up drink menu with the mad hatter's top hat.

Our drink with the hands of the orange clock at the current time- 6:18!

Complimentary bread and jam.

Cheshire cat pasta.

My chocolate cake dessert with a puff pastry Alice silhouette. 

Matt's cheshire cat parfait with a smiling cat face out of fruit.

Inside the labyrinth! 

The Sunday Snapshot

You may have noticed Audette Adventure's new design by yours truly, and I am looking forward to other changes in my blog as we enter the new year. First of all, I am introducing what I am calling The Sunday Snapshot. Many times I have a single photo that describes an aspect of life in Okinawa, and I want to share it with you without having to write an entire blog post. This means I should be updating more frequently, which is one of my New Year's resolutions!

This snapshot was taken November 30, and portrays winter in Okinawa (or lack thereof). The day was sunny with a high of 79 degrees and a slight sea breeze while on the seawall. No scarves, hats, or mittens here!

The Maid Cafe: Tokyo Trip Part 2

Tokyo is made up of many distinct districts connected by the massive subway system. Every time I emerged from underground I felt like I had entered a new city; the sights and sounds were so different! Our first morning in Tokyo we hopped on the subway to visit Akihabara, the Tokyo neighborhood known for its obsession with anime, manga, video games, and electronics. Immediately I was overwhelmed with anime (Japanese animation) on giant screens and manga (Japanese comics) advertisements several stories high.

Creepy, realistic screen people customized the ads based on your language selection!

I was distracted by all of the screens, but I had to hurry and keep up with Matt who had found every piece of equipment needed to make robots. While in school he had to order online and look through Radio Shack bins for all of the necessary parts, but in open air stalls in Akihabara there was everything electronic. Blinking LED lights, ropes of electrical wire, and boxes of servos kept Matt's attention while I just tried not to lose him in the maze of vendors. I know he has plans to use his degree in robotics while we are living so close to the motherload of robot parts!

I was ready to stop shopping for electronics and move onto our next destination: lunch at a maid cafe. Maid cafes are generally only found in this neighborhood of Tokyo since they relate to the fantasy culture prevalent throughout Akihabara. The waitresses are all dressed as adorable French maids.  I had heard they refer to you as master or mistress, but I didn't notice at ours if they did or not because I was so overwhelmed. So much kawaii (cute, adorable, pretty)!

We ate at Maidreamin, and as soon as the elevator door opened we were blasted by pop music, pink everything, and a chorus of greetings by all of the waitresses. We were shown our table and given a menu with different lunch or dessert sets. The food was shaped into different animals, and when brought by the waitress she drew additional details in soy sauce for Matt's and ketchup for mine. Throughout the meal the maids kept the energy high by dancing along to the music and bringing everyone different props. I was given a crown and a plush cat named Pudin (like the dessert pudding as they mimed to me through the language barrier). They stopped by our table to chit chat (in English since we are incapable of responding to any questions in Japanese), and they were surprised when we mentioned that we lived in Okinawa. We were asked to participate in a ritual of hand motions and exclamations of "cute!" and "delicious!" when certain items were brought to the table, and to call over a waitress we had to meow! Pictures of the maids were not allowed unless they took them with their own polaroid, and we were each given a souvenir picture hand decorated by the girls. I left the cafe to all of the maids waving until the elevator doors closed, and I felt exhausted. So much smiling and trying to figure out what was happening in this alternate, adorable world. I feel as though I'm not explaining the experience properly, but honestly its all a kawaii blur. 

Matt's bear in a pork cutlet curry bath. The maid added the heart and toes!

My rice omelet with a kitty drawn in ketchup by my waitress.

Me with my polaroid picture outside the cafe!

My photo on the refrigerator at home! We are all posing like cats!

The Harry Potter Baby Shower

Yesterday we had a party celebrating my dear friend Beverly and her growing family. You might recognize Beverly on my blog from her previous guest post and appearances in my posts about traveling to Osaka.  I knew that both she and her husband David were avid Harry Potter fans, so when hosting a baby shower for her family we ran with the wizard theme! From the invitations delivered by owl to the "floating" decorations, Harry Potter references abounded. I am so appreciative of our friend Alex for helping me transform my house from muggle to magical and concocting wizard food and beverages, and Matt crafted the astounding poster prop for photos. I know everyone wanted to make the day as special as possible for the wonderful Chesters as we celebrate the approaching arrival of their son, who will without a doubt grow to love Harry and his friends just like his parents.

Invitations with an official Hogwarts seal to be delivered by owl.

All of the guests from our tower had an owl floating outside their front door with an envelope attached.

Adorable future parents with owls and invitations! 

A flying golden snitch!

A parliament of owls.

Floating candles and banners for the Great Hall.

Outside the door, an owl with an acceptance letter for Mr. Alden Chester.

Beverly's first impression...I think she likes it!

Wizard food, drinks,

and dessert! Including butterbeer and a red velvet cake with a Gryffindor onesie. 

Opening presents...OMG tiny baby boy clothing! With wolves for NC State. Go Wolfpack!

And finally, the photo booth...

The Arrival: Tokyo Trip Part 1

Over Matt's 96 for Veteran's Day (stands for 96 hours off, in other words a four day holiday), we traveled to Tokyo. We have traveled through the Tokyo airport previously, but this was the first time we ventured out to the city. Well, we didn't really have to walk outside. From the basement of the airport we took a high-speed train until we reached the subway line. The train and subway are connected by large, brightly lit tunnels, so we passed all of the underground shops and restaurants at the station until we reached the subway. And then we saw this...

Um... where am I?

The Tokyo subway has nine different lines, not including train and bus routes. While Matt has excellent orienteering skills, it still took some time to figure out where we were trying to go simply because it took forever to find one specific station on such a huge map! During our trip we traveled mainly on one line (the grey one), but even so while discussing our route in front of a map we had multiple occasions where kind strangers told us in English we were waiting for the wrong train or heading the wrong way. It always makes me happy when people take the time to help us, even though we are obviously lost tourists in a big city. For example, I am not sure what this subway sign is trying to tell me.

I think it says don't eat on the subway, but how can I be sure?

While Tokyo itself is very spread out, I was flabbergasted by the size of the city underground. Not only are there multiple rail lines at most stops, there are also multiple levels of upscale shops and food vendors. We did not see the sky from the time the plane touched down at the airport until we emerged from the subway only two blocks from our hotel a couple hours later. 

Speaking of our hotel, we stayed at the New Sanno which is an American military MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) facility. The room rates are based on rank and extremely reasonable (we paid less then $60/night in Tokyo!), and there is a guard outside checking military ids before you can even enter the lobby. I really enjoyed the large American-style beds and soft American-style pillows (I'm not kidding, Japanese-style means small beds and hard pillows!). The service was excellent, and they even upgraded our room from a single to a double! The only catch at the New Sanno is that they book up fast. They allow reservations up to one year in advance, and the rooms can book up that early. I made our reservations for November back in May, and even then Saturday was already full. I was happy to have such a comfortable place to stay!

We did not arrive at the hotel until after dark, but within walking distance we found a restaurant that offered us our first Tokyo quirk! The fare was Hawaiian and delicious, and dogs were welcome. There were tiny dogs in clothing everywhere! The quirk arrived when I ordered a dessert. I remembered a picture of a fruit-covered tart from the menu, so I called over the waitress and asked for a tart. She nodded and returned later asking if I needed the toilet. No, the tart, the homemade tart from the menu. We finally communicated, and she brought me something black. Unlike the fruit in the picture, today's tart was pistachio pesto flavor with a lemon sorbet. I tried it and enjoyed it, but I found it strangely savory for a dessert. This was simply the first novel, strange experience I had in Tokyo!