Weird flavors I love

Because of my Italian heritage and adventurous palate, many flavors (like weird aquatic life) aren't strange to me. Feel free to add your experiences in the comments!

In the summer Japan has soft-serve ice cream in flavors like gree-tea and SWEET POTATO
Individually the flavors are okay but together they will change your life! So delicious!
Also the sweet potatos that grow in Japan are PURPLE!

Desserts here tend to be a lot less sweet (less sugar) then they are in the US. Which means you get to eat more with out a terrible sugar belly ache after. Which happens to me now every time I eat one American candy bar on base now! 

My hubby discovered an amazing cafe by us that only serves Green Tea flavored cakes and sundaes. Each time I've gone there are easily only 1-2 dudes in the whole place :)

Each Sundae comes with a little side dish of salted sea weed in case you need a savory break in order to finish the whole thing.

 PIZZA here is amazing! It's all gourmet and like an edible piece of art. This one is from my favorite Italian spot in Yokohama Il Rigoletto Ocean Club. This is the four cheese pizza with honey drizzle

Snacks are always a fun adventure! These are air puffed cheddar animal snacks, that taste like real cheese not nasty processed Goldfish. And they help you learn English

 I met Kanna at a camping trip and she offered me one of her bbq smoked eggs from the giftshop at the onsen. OMG I never knew a hard-boiled egg could be packed with such delicious meaty flavor! I have to figure out how to make these myself

Old School Toilets- VERY OLD SCHOOL

Sorry for my terrible writing habit. The past 2 months I've been taking photos and writing tons of posts in my head!

I wanted to share my experience with Japanese style PUBLIC toilets. They are rare, and most times only Western-style are available.

You're probably asking yourself what exactly is the difference...

No, I didn't walk into a men's room! I thought I did the first time I went into one in a tiny family owned Japanese restaurant. Thankfully I was wearing a skirt but I was wondering if I should take everything off or just pull down and hope not to splash. Eventually I asked some Japanese friends, they said you just squat and hope not to splash!

The moral of the story is 99% of the time you will get a normal toilet while in Japan (it may be super pimped out but at least you'll be able to sit!)
This article will hopefully save someone some dispair that 1% of the time!

Command Sponsorship Vs Overseas Screening & SOFA stamp

I hope this post is able to help advise a fellow Navy spouse.

Everyone's experience is very individual, based on when they were married and where in their career their spouse was.
Mine went something like this-
1. Husband received orders
2. We got married
3. He left for new PCS (Permanent Change of Station) overseas at Yokosuka Japan
4. Husband had orders changed to reflect a spouse
5. I started overseas screening in NYC
6. He found out I can move to his new PCS without Overseas Screening approval and begin Command Sponsorship approval INSTEAD of overseas screening
7. I found out I could get my SOFA stamp before I was Command Sponsored!
8. Command Sponsorship paperwork complete, screened, and awaiting completion from husband's command


1. He received orders about 6 months before we got married. He could not have altered until after we were married

2. Yay! Marriage!

3. Boo! after 1.5 weeks of marriage he leaves

4. Husband went through a frustrating amount of phone calls and answer hunting to get orders changed and to get me to Japan- and I love him even more for it

5. SO FRUSTRATING. Closest military hospital is in West Point, all paperwork needs to go through them, you'll need all your health records from the past 7 years to complete an Overseas Screening. I recommend just leaving and doing Command Sponsorship if you can. Because I had Tricare Standard I was able to get appointments with local Tricare doctors. HOWEVER the wait for West Point's approval of OS paperwork is at least 3 weeks

6. I went to Japan, on a tourist Visa (90days). I then started Command Sponsorship paperwork (this CAN be done while a ship is underway the OS office will coordinate with ship ).

7. I went to Immigration Office in Yokohama. I brought my Passpot, Military ID, husband's military orders,  & dependent paperwork ( I got this confirmation paperwork when we registered me for my ID). I filled out a form to cancel my Tourist Visa. They then cancelled my Tourist Visa and stamped my passport. It took about 90 minutes, and they were all super friendly!
Now that I'm SOFA sponsored I do not have to worry about Command Sponsorship approval before the end of my tourist visa- PHEW!

8. My fate is in the Captain's hands! At least I can stay in Japan. I can't register at the base for a PO Box, register in DBIZ or make regular doctor's appointments (ER only and excluding command sponsorship appts)


Leave questions below- I'll do my best to answer!

Japanese Fashion and Shopping

I keep writing posts in my head when I'm out and about and forgetting to do it when I get home. 

Back in NYC the summer is hot with a few unbearably humid days in August, resulting in everyone wearing as little as possible to survive. Here in Japan every day in August is unbearably humid and hot.  September has not been much better, according to friends it will easily stay 70F into November. But instead of wearing less clothing, the Japanese wear more. The style is Hobo chic + anthroplogie = lots of loose layers and no tight fitting clothes. They love horizontal striped and nautical themed, navy blue articles & accessories. I rarely see jeans, though it may happen more in the fall/winter.

Also 80% of women wear heels or wedges everywhere. I've seen women wearing heel trekking up the hundreds of steps to shrines & temples. Sometimes I noticed women with shoes that are obviously a half size too big or too small. I wondered why until I went shoe shopping for interview heels. Shoes here are labeled in 2 ways, either by cm size or S, M, L. S/M/L shoes- 3 sizes to fit ALL women?? I don't know the logic behind this system. In the US I'm a size 7, and have the smallest feet of all of my friends. Here I fit a size L. I could squeeze into a M but it's too uncomfortable, I'd rather stuff the toes of a L if I need. 

RETURNING CLOTHES. I had to return some clothes to the local H&M. The word to return clothes is Henpin (hen-peen). I walked up to the purchase counter held up the bad and said Henpin- thankfully I got a cashier who spoke English, but she appreciated my effort. When you buy with a Credit Card- You will only get credit back on the Credit Card if you return EVERYTHING on the receipt. So she gave me cash back. Aslo there were no returns on accessories, they wouldn't accept the headband I never used that still had the tags. 

LOCKERSIn every major train station and shopping mall there are lockers you can rent for ¥100-500 depending on the size. So you can shop comfortably without lugging bags around

CASH ECONOMY
Most of Japan is a cash economy so unless you shop at a major chain, you'll have some issues using a credit card

PACK YOUR OWN BAGS
At grocery stores and house ware shops they may want you to bag your own items. They will ring you up, transfer all items to a new basket and throw some plastic bags in there. After paying take your basket to a counter by the door and bag yourself- tape and packing materials will be on the counter too. 

SIZES
Consult a chart to convert your US sizes to Cm

Gaijin hair- Ash Hair Make experience

I'm a blonde. A blonde who likes to be blonder. And while I thought about dying my hair back to it natural golden hues for convenience while in Japan- something tells me my entertainment career will do a little better if I play the blonde card here.

So I decided to get my roots touched up before I had a demo session with a voiceover company. Which would be easy peasey back in the States.

I could get my hair done on the naval base.....but they couldnt get me an appt before my meeting aaand being a city girl I'm kind of weary of super-cuts esque salons

So I decided to get my hair done in the (2nd biggest) city, Yokohama at a salon I pass every day- ASH HAIR MAKE

I've seen some serious ads around town too so I felt good about stopping in.

Thank God for Google Translate App on my phone- it translated English to Japanese very well. I asked the lady in the front if they could "color my roots today?" she nodded and we attempted a consultation

.....Google Translate does not fair so well from Japanese to English

While it may be an exact literal translation- all meaning is lost on me!

Eventually with a lot of and gestures and laughter we all got through it.

The salon played pop music and I had 2 people work on my head at the same time! They gave me milk tea to sip while I waited for color.

In the back was a dimly lit room with classical music and a fish tank projection in the middle- this is where they wash your hair. They have the most comfortable washing stations ever! My neck didn't hurt at all AND they put a banket over my legs and a gauze cover on my face to keep the water from splashing me, the most relaxing hair washing ever!

The assistant communicated to me on Google Translate one word at a time while my hair was setting asking me "color. hurt head?" and "head itchy?" towards the end it got a little itchy but nothing I couldn't handle.

I mention this because in the middle of washing my hair he asks "itch anywhere?" so he would know if he missed a spot- I shook my head.

 He put the gauze back on my face and continued washing for a couple of seconds before he shouted:
"SHAMPOO! POWER!"

He sounded just like an anime and we laughed hysterically for about 5 minutes

The job got done, it def cost more than i was used to because I couldnt communicate properly exactly what needed to be done. But now I know what to ask about when I start my Japanese classes next week!

Land of the Super Nice

I've been in Japan almost 2 weeks, and it is such a refreshing experience. People here are really nice and polite- EXTREMELY

The Japanese still live lives filled with that thing called honor looming over their heads. For example-
did you drop your umbrella at the bus stop? Don't worry it will be hanging on the bus sign when you get there tomorrow.
Did you leave your purse in the store? Don't worry it'll be at the local police box.

Even after stories I was still skeptical. Until one day last week I had a job interview in Tokyo, in a very commercial and non-tourist part of town. I got there about 2 hour early and decided to get lunch at a little noodle shop. At this shop you pay at a ticket machine by the door, the machine prints you a ticket and you give the ticket to the hostess who seats you and takes the ticket to the cook.

I took my time with my mystery noodle bowl (pictured below), I burned about an hour at the noodle joint. 45 minutes into my stay, the hostess came up to me and handed me some coins. I looked at her puzzled, she then mimed to me that someone else paid at the machine and noticed my change in the dispenser- AND THEY DIDNT KEEP IT FOR THEMSELVES

Granted it was maybe 100 yen, but in NYC if you find change in a vending machine, you see that as your lucky day - not someone else's Un-lucky day. And over here no one wants to make someone else's day bad

They've also been really nice about my limited language skills- which you will read about in my next post about Ash Hair Make salon

Toilet from the future

I was skeptical at first but after a couple of days the futuristic and standard Japanese toilet has converted me.

It's heated! which will be awesome in the winter. Right now it's a million degrees out and I got a tan in 2 days

It has a bidet - french for tooshie squirted

and a cooter cleaner

both of which have temperature controlled.

every time you flush the SINK on the top activates

 The toilet has it's own room. As does the sink & cosmetic counter. And the shower is an entire room with a bath tub- An adult sized one! not like the mini one I had in NYC :)

I'm in Japan!

I made it!

Here's a summary so far.

I'm 90% unpacked in our new home in Yokohama- which is HUGE. It's the biggest place I've lived in since I moved out of my parents- good job hubby!

We have no furniture except a bed and computer desk. So once it's more homey i'll share some pics.

I spent all of yesterday on Yokosuka base, running errands and trying to get over jet lag. I had 4 hours of sleep that night before heading to the base with the hubby at 5AM.

below is a picture of the juice/coffee vending machines on EVERY corner here