Festival Weekend!!

These 2 pics are from Friday night, didn't come out very well. :( I think this place looked fake! Hahaha.
This was a bar we met up with a couple of Berto's sailor friends. I liked that they had a plaque that said Spam Blvd with a Minnesota State pic. Made me kinda homesick....



So we went to a festival that was right outside of the gate!! We went Friday night (unfor. I forgot my digital camera ) and Sunday night. The iPhone doesn't have flash, so my pics were bad. But I took more pics tonight. There was tons of street vendors cooking lots of meat skewers. What the meat was all the time I can't be sure. But it smelled wonderful! The Japanese really like putting things on sticks! Ha-ha!! :)

We were really hungry when we got to the festival. We had a couple of small skewers and small noodles from street vendor. I almost had a heart attack because we took out about $50 in Yen. Berto gave the old lady the single bill. She only gave him back around 50 cents. He came back with a confused look, I didn't realize what happened. Then he told me, I got mad, and made him go get his change. He stood there talking to her for about 5 minutes. Obvious language barrier issues. He finally typed in the amount into his phone and showed her. She looked where the bill was, and realized her mistake. Berto said she kept apologizing and said that she was tired and drunk! Well, he thinks that's what she said.


There were many women wearing the traditional kimonos. I tried getting pictures of people without them seeing. This little girl is one of my favorite pics so far.


There was the main street and other side streets that were all blocked off for the festivities.


A coiled whole french fried potato.

There was a lot of Americans at this festival since it was right next to the base.

There was people playing a basketball competition.

Ode to Transformers??
Harry Potter
They have all kinds of figurines like these. I think they are soo cute!!!




We came to this bar/restaurant. No idea how small it was from the outside. You walk in to go up these REALLY steep stairs. Then there is a small bar. With one longer table on other end. We went up another set of stairs to a loft that had only 2 tables. There were 3 people at other table. You had to side step to get through. We ordered some noodles to share and 2 steak sandwiches. They were listed under "Snacks" Berto had a "red" beer and I had some hot green tea. The portions were small which was exactly the right amount. It was really good! And Berto's beer was yummy! We will definitely go back.


I took this pic because I thought these girls were "interesting". They had makeup CAKED on, it was scary.

Our kids :)

So, we went to visit the cats. It was the first time they told us we could take them in to a "family room". Anyone who knows us, realizes that Zeus and Zorro are our kids. They've been with us for over 4 years now. Their anniversary is Jan 7. My M-O-M's b-day! Ha-ha! She should always remember my fur-babies! Not to mention they housed my cats for awhile and Lisa too! :) (That was a hard time, I feel bad for my kids).

So, we went to visit them like we have before. I asked to take them out of their cage. She wanted me to sign them out. If I do that, I will run away with them!! (That may be a national incident) But, we took them to a room where we could "visit" with them. Zeus was scared right away. Zorro was loving and wanted attention. He also seemed to lose a lot of weight. That kills me and Gilberto!!! :( We feel like bad parents. :(

We can't wait for our house. Zeus and Zorro will be with us soon!!!
Zeus was scared :(
BATMAN!!!! Nanananana-BATMAN!
I miss them soo much!!!
Their kennel.
Poor things! :( Prisoner 17 & 18.

New Car!!!

Woo-hoo!!! We finally got a car!! It will be soo nice to be able to go where we want when we want to! Berto's sponsor was nice enough to take us some places. But we felt funny asking. Can't wait to just go get ourselves lost this weekend. Exploring and finding fun places. Oh, and Berto is DYING to see the Harry Potter movie. (Even though he saw it online)

The car is a pretty blue Honda Accord '96. It is in really good condition and drives great! It only has 50,000 miles! That was shocking for me, considering its age. The previous owner was a neat freak, great for us! The inside is soo clean that it looks brand new! I was really amazed. We wanted 4 doors, so we are prepared for visitors. :) Big trunk. All the paperwork is done and it is legal for the base. Just need to get base decal tomorrow. YEA!!!!

Hachinohe tour

We went to the FISH MARKET!!!

As you can imagine it was very

odoriferous!!

Lots of interesting things that I wasn't very interested in!!


They had samples all over. I didn't partake in any, thank you very much.

I know eventually I will eat some crazy food, but not in an open fish market! Especially with the smell.


This was the first sushi on a conveyor belt that we've seen. Can't wait to try one of those places! Really glad that Berto warmed up to sushi before we left! He's more open minded than I am about sushi!



This was "Fantasy Dome" Mall. It was mostly all clothes. A dollar store, huge kids gaming area. I wasn't very impressed.

This lunch was soo good!
This was a Japanese "Best Buy". Lots of different brands. I had to drag Berto away from the big screen tv's!!

Update

Hello family and friends!

We've been having a REALLY hard time with internet. It's true that our "apt" at the Anchor Inn should not have it. But we got kinda spoiled with leeching on someone's internet for a while. So, now it's just not working for us anymore. I have another days worth of blog from Hachinohe tour. I will post as soon as I can.

Until then, email us. We have our iPhones that can do a lot. We just hardly get personal e-mails anymore!
Kristina: kkwicked@yahoo.com And you can IM me on Yahoo Messenger
Gilberto: ali203705@yahoo.com

I called my mom the other day with a military phone card. It was easy and had a good rate. My suggestion for anyone who wants to talk to us. We won't be using our phones to call anyone. The rates are just too high.

We really miss and love all our family and friends!

Love,
Kristina & Gilberto



P.S. Our address for now on base


Esteves
PSC 76 BOX 4431
APO AP 96319-0023

Misawa tour--Thursday

So yesterday we went on a Misawa short tour. It was through the military. Mostly just new military stationed on base. We first went to a Samurai House. It was cool, just gives an example of what it would have looked like back in the day. You of course had to take off your shoes, point them outwards, and wear some slippers. Then, near there was a store/market. Had local veggies with pictures of the farmers. Then off to another local market with stores and 100 Yen Store. (Dollar store.) We also went to the Misawa International. It has a small library and info on the city. You can sign up for Japanese language classes. Either typical or full conversation immersion. (Definitely something to think about, not too expensive. The military offers classes on base too which are free)


TONS of sake :)
A cosmetics department!

This is where we ate. Sorry, took pic of food with iPhone.




Little old ladies love their gambling! (That is universal!)

I heart make-up! :)









Locally grown veggies.


They have these machines all over at food courts. Pay in the machine, pick what you want. Then give them the ticket.

This was a horse riding area between the Samarai House and store.

This was beside the house.
Front of Samarai House
Slippers for you to wear.


Reminds me of Karate Kid!

All the rooms are roped off.
Had to zoom in on some of these pics.