Living at the Navy Lodge

Staying at the Navy Lodge has been interesting. Luckyily we had two adjoining rooms with two small kitchen areas and two small refrigerators. The kids slept in one room and Mike and I took the other room. At first it was like having a big slumber party with the kids but then it got old fast. No oven meant simple meals and the small refrigerators meant frequent trips to the commissary for more milk and bread. The heat kept us inside most of the time except for the frequent trips outside to the splash fountain and the super parks in the evening after the sun went down. We were so grateful for the fountain park right outside the lodge. We spent many afternoons cooling off there. We spent many evenings exploring outside of the base just to get out and eat something other than macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, chicken nuggets and sandwiches. Since the lodge hasn't been updated in ages the beds are not that great and the AC doesn't work that well. After the first week we asked for fans and that helped a bunch. We were grateful for the nice TV's and Armed Forces Network stations where the kids could watch American cartoons. Unfortunately the TV was on more than I would have liked but it was necessary to survive inside while it was too hot to play outside.

Doing laundry was quite the process. After a couple of days of laundry build up I would sort the laundry into my three piles: whites, colors, darks. Then I would carry my small basket with detergent down to the laundry room and drop it off. I would make the long walk back down the hallway to get my other bag full of clothes. If I was lucky I would have all three machines open so that I could do my laundry at the same time. I ended up using the 3rd floor machines more often because they always seemed to be available. It wasn't until the beginning of the 3rd week here that I noticed the big laundry cart. That cart saved me multiple trips and the need for helpers to help me get the laundry to and from the room. I figured each time I did laundry it cost me at least $5 to both wash and dry the clothes. Since I did laundry at least twice a week I ended up spending almost $40 just to do my laundry while staying at the lodge.

It wasn't until the last week of the lodge where certain things started to bother me like the constant crumbs on the ground from the kids eating snacks after the cleaning ladies already vaccummed for the day, the yucky stuff behind the curtains, the kitchen floor never being cleaned with a rag but only vaccummed, and always feeling like there just wasn't enough space for all of us. It has been an experience that I don't care to repeat EVER. I will not miss staying at the Navy Lodge.

(photos of the girls inside the lodge are courtesy of Mike)

Weekend at the New Sanno . Day 3

On Sunday we woke up and got ready for church. We walked 10 minutes up the road to my old church building. We passed by the National Azabu store that my mom used to go to buy groceries and the Baskin Robbins I used to go to get my chocolate mint ice-cream. We were able to see the Tokyo Temple right before going into church. The Temple is actually the building right behind the church annex building. We attended Sacrament Meeting and then I was able to catch up with a few people I knew growing up. We made the hot walk back to the hotel and stopped to admire the temple again. After getting back to the hotel we ended our fabulous weekend with the famous Sunday brunch at The New Sanno. We were smart and did make reservations for that one. It was an all you can eat buffet with the best spread ever. It was a great way to spend our 12th Anniversary. The boys told us Happy Anniversary at least 10 times. It was really sweet. We were sad to leave but can't wait for our next adventure to The New Sanno so we can explore Tokyo some more!

Weekend at the New Sanno . Day 2

On Saturday we surprised the kids with room service for breakfast. It was the first time the kids had experienced room service and they thought it was so neat. Just before we were about to leave for the day Emma hit her eye on the corner of the table. Luckily it was a small cut on the side of her eye. I could tell that it wouldn't be long before her eye turned all sorts of wonderful colors. Poor thing.

Eventually we managed to snap out of our lazy morning and head to the train station. We took the train from Hiroo to Ginza on the Hibiya line and then to Ueno on the Ginza line. We were so glad that Mike had got us all Passmo cards (transportation cards) ahead of time so that we could just swipe our cards across the ticket machines. Since we all got our own personalized digital cards each one of us except Abby (she is free) has a card with our name on it. This way if any of the cards get lost we will just be issued a new card and the old one will be canceled. The best part about that is the money from the old card is transfered to the new card and is not lost! They are good for all the trains and some of the buses. They are easy to recharge at any of the recharge machines in all the stations!! That is a huge bonus. After finally getting to Ueno we walked through Ueno Park. I couldn't believe that I had never been through Ueno Park before. It is absolutely huge and the secada's were so loud in some parts that it was almost defeaning. We passed by a juggler doing some pretty amazing tricks before finally making it to the Natural History Museum. The best part was that it only cost us 1200 yen (@13 dollars) for the adults and the kids were free. The museum was crowded but really amazing. We stood in line to experience the 360 Theatre. It was well worth the 25 min wait to stand on a platform and watch an 8 minute video on dinosaurs and water life broadcast in the dome all around us. It felt like we were in the movie and were moving. It was such a thrill. While we were waiting Peter lost another tooth! I think that was the second tooth he lost since being in Japan.

Next we headed to find something to eat. After manuevering through the crowds we found something edible to eat and then went to explore more of the museum. We saw a dinosaur exhibit, a fossil exhibit, a rock exhibit, the forest exhibit, and the amazing hall of animals. I love how organized everything was in the museum. The kids loved the dinosaur exhibits and the hall of animals the best. We didn't even make it through the entire museum but decided to come back to finish the rest another day. After getting back on the train we started to head back but stopped at Akihabara first. This is THE electronic mecca of Tokyo and my dad's favorite place in Tokyo. It was a zoo and the only way we could keep track of each other was for me to follow Emma who was sitting on Mike's shoulders. Peter grabbed onto Mike's shorts and I pushed Abby in the stroller while Andrew held onto the stroller handles with me. It was too crowded but we had to go there at least once. We ended up going in this one store called SofMap and found an entire floor full of cameras and lenses. I WAS IN HEAVEN!!! Even though I realized that most of the lenses I wanted could be ordered cheaper online it was still so much fun to browse. On the way down the elevator to leave Andrew lost his first molar. That was the third tooth he lost since being in Japan.

We didn't last very long in Akihabara before we all started to get a little grumpy from the heat. We got back on the train and headed into Roppongi to eat at an Indian Restaurant called Moti. This was the best restaurant growing up. We had the Butter Chicken and Naan and it was as delicious as I remembered. After feeling quite full and extremely satisfied we went back to the hotel for a nice swim in the refreshing pool.

Weekend at The New Sanno . Day 1

One of the nice things about being in the military are the many affordable hotels around the world. Right in the middle of Tokyo in an area called Hiroo is a really famous military hotel called The New Sanno. I went there once when I was younger with my best friend because she had a military ID. We had Sunday brunch and I remember thinking how nice the hotel was. For the past little while Mike has been trying to reserve a room for our anniversary weekend but it has remained full. Since the rooms, especially the family suites, are booked many months in advance you really have to be on the ball about making a reservation early. On Friday morning I got an email from a friend who had made reservations for 2 different family suites for the weekend but would not be able to use them. We were so excited and jumped on board to get out of Yokosuka and the lodge and have a fun weekend away with the kids. We left Friday afternoon and it only took us 1 hour to get there. It was fun driving on the different expressways, passing over many bridges and through many tunnels, seeing Tokyo Tower and finally making it into the heart of Tokyo. We felt a great sense of accomplishment after making it to the hotel without getting lost. The hotel was so much nicer than I remembered. It was like staying in a 5 star hotel. The rooms were SO NICE and it was only too bad we were only there for 2 nights. Inside the hotel are 6 different restaurants, conference rooms, a swimming pool and fitness center, a general store, a gift shop, a jewelry shop, a beauty salon, an APO (army post office), and a Navy Exchange. The parking was FREE which is a huge bonus because it costs so much to park your car anywhere in Tokyo. This means we can drive to Tokyo and park at the hotel anytime for free (even when we are not staying in the hotel). We spent the first evening having dinner and then playing in the pool. One third of the pool was divided from the rest of the pool and was only 1 1/2 ft deep so it was perfect for Abby and Emma. Emma used her floaties for the first time so she stayed in the big pool the majority of the time.

Church in the City

For the past couple of Sundays we have been meeting at the Kamakura building for church until the renovations to our building were complete. Since our Branch has grown in size an additional floor needed to be fixed up for us. Today was the first day we attended church in our normal building. But church here is not normal. There is no big parking lot outside of a nice big building. Everyone parks at the hospital parking lot inside of the base and walks a couple of blocks outside of the base to our building. We don't even have the entire building to ourselves. Our church is on floors 3,6 & 7. Oh and there is a cigarette machine right by the 1st floor elevators. That will make for a nice teaching moment. We quickly realized that taking the elevator was nice but not always the fastest method. With only two extremely tiny elevators you could be waiting for quite some time. AND since there is no AC in the hallways bordering the elevators, in the elevators and on the staircases, it was all about getting to your floor quickly. Since we were early there was no wait for an elevator so we got right in and went up to the 3rd floor for Sacrament Meeting. Once on the 3rd floor we entered a door and were so happy to feel the AC. YEAH! The chapel in this building seemed to be a little bigger than the one at the Kamakura building. We chose a row in the middle of the chapel right next to a door just in case Abby needed to go out. Getting used to chairs instead of benches will take some getting used to. Trying to corner Abby in will be even trickier. The older kids enjoyed Primary and I enjoyed being in there with them leading the music. Abby was agreeable when I dropped her off in Nursery. Even though this wasn't your typical church building it still felt familiar and welcoming. Our Branch family is great and that is something to be grateful for!