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!

The Guest Post: Mom Eats Sushi

Hi, I’m Amanda’s mom. I never thought I would go to Japan. I’ve just never been interested in Japan and I don’t like to travel. Then Amanda and Matt got stationed in Okinawa. Suddenly I have a burning desire to travel to Japan. Here we are. It is beautiful and the people are very, very nice. I’m trying to be nice back and remember not to point. Pointing here is rude. Of course I KNOW not to point at people, which would be rude in Georgia as well. But here you shouldn’t extend the finger to point at anything, not something you want in a store or something you want to eat on a menu or not even which one of these coins in my hand is the one I need to pay you with. Since I don’t know the language this is really, really hard! Anyway, I have Amanda here to rescue me and I smile a lot. Also, I know some words. Konichiwa (hello), arigato (thank you) and kawaii (cute) draw the e sound way out and kind of sing it kahh wah eeeeeeee. I’m all set.

Amanda wants me to eat sushi. Allie insists that we eat sushi because we’re on an island and it can’t get fresher than this, and we’re in Japan so they definitely know how to make it. But I only tried sushi once in Statesboro, Georgia and I didn’t like it. Honestly, when going out to lunch with friends back home and they ask where I want to go I always say I’ll eat anything but sushi. Chinese, Mexican, whatever, as long as it’s not sushi.

Second day here we’re off to the sushi restaurant that Amanda has recommended especially for me. It’s called Delicious Sushi. It’s very small like a lot of cafes here. Just about 5 or 6 tables total. It appears to be a one-man operation. He takes our order and goes to the kitchen area to prepare it. We can kind of see him over the counter across the room. He’s very busy. After a while he seems to be finished and puts on a little robe to bring our tray to the table (I think that’s sweet that he changes clothes with his different roles in the restaurant).

Ta da!

I have a dragon roll. It has shrimp tempura (that means it’s cooked, not raw.) OK this is not bad at all. I love fried shrimp. But I’m in Japan so I have to eat with chop sticks. I think I’m doing really well with my sticks until the waiter/cook/cashier brings me a fork and smiles and bows. I smile and try to communicate that I love my chopsticks I don’t need a fork, but he indicates that I should use the fork along with the chopsticks. Just kind of scoop underneath each bite with the fork to support it on the way to my mouth while still using the chopsticks. This is like training wheels for my chopsticks. A little humiliating but better than dropping sushi on myself.

Next I try some of Allie’s red dragon. It has RAW tuna in it. Usually you can’t get just a tiny bite of sushi to try. It’s already cut into bite-sized portions and if you try to cut it, it falls apart and then you can’t pick it up with your chopsticks. So you have to eat the whole bite even though you’re not at all sure you want to stick that raw tuna in your mouth! Also it’s a really big bite. I did it. I chewed it and swallowed it. Now then. No need to do this ever again. I have now eaten raw sushi. Check.

Now of course I have to try Amanda’s too. I am always a fair mom and treat my girls equally. But oh dear it has broiled eel. Since the eel is just resting on top I can take the eel off and cut a piece to try. Eel is ok. (Fried shrimp is better.)

I like my dragon roll so much I eat ALL OF IT! I give myself extra credit for eating all of it WITH CHOPSTICKS!

The Whirlwind of a Week

Right as Matt and I reached our one year anniversary of living on Okinawa my mother and sister came to visit us in our new home! They were only staying a week, but I wanted to show them everything I love about Okinawa (which is a whole lot). Since we only had seven days, we explored a different part of the island and tried a new restaurant every day. My family ignored the jet lag to experience as much as possible during their stay. I had so much fun, and I wanted to share some pictures to highlight the many different places we visited in a short amount of time.

Cafe Doka Doka. Okinawa Pizza with a view of the East China Sea.

Cape Manza. The cliffs drop straight into the ocean.

Nail art from Cocok's on the Sunabe Seawall.

Todoroki Waterfall

Pineapple Park

Delicious sushi

Courtney Beach - we were the only ones there!

Maeda Flats - we were the only ones there!

Another beach- still the only ones there!

Nakagusuku castle ruins