Sunday, March 16, 2008

Brunch at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo


Sitting by the fire inside one of the houses at the museum


Some of the museum houses that have been relocated and preserved

Spring is here!

Standing in front of one of the houses

Zach showing how thick the roof is

Can someone tell me why soft drinks are allowed and other drinks are not?

Making woven slippers

He wrapped the strands around his toes to hold them in place while he was weaving

This is an early version of a squat toilet. And no, this was not the public restroom. Whew.

Statue on the beach in Chigasaki

If you look hard, you can see a small dot in the distance. This is the landmark called Eboshiiwa Rock, and it is shaped like "eboshi," a type of headgear worn by nobles a long time ago.

Howdy, howdy! How are you? It's beautiful and sunny here today, and warm! Yay! Spring has arrived and it feels so good to not feel cold all the time. We've had a nice week here, and I have some fun new pictures to share from some of our activities.

On Sunday, we took another base tour to Tokyo for brunch at the New Sanno Hotel, which is owned by the U.S. armed forces here in Japan. We had heard that it was an amazing spread, and it was. I paced myself but there was no way I could try everything. Sigh. I did leave room for dessert, of course, and had a raspberry chocolate mousse that was incredible! After brunch, we went to this outdoor museum in the town of Kawasaki. They've taken old houses from the surrounding area that have historical significance and moved them to one location so that you can go and visit them and see what life was like many years ago.

On Monday, Seiko invited me to spend the day with her. She suggested that we go to the beach town of Chigasaki for lunch. We caught the train at the station near my house and took it to the end of the line. To my amazement, Chigasaki is only about a 30-minute train ride away, and it's so cool! Until our little excursion, I didn't realize how close we were to the water. That might sound kind of weird, but I just didn't know. And now I do. And I think I have a new favorite place to visit. I can't tell you how much I miss seeing the water, and it felt so good to see it, and hear it, and smell it too. We went to lunch at this new restaurant right on the water, and we dined on yummy pasta and another amazing dessert---this time, cheesecake. It's a good thing I'm walking a lot here!

The cherry blossoms are starting to pop out, and I'm sure in a few weeks they will be in full bloom. The ones I've seen so far are so sweet and delicate. I can't wait to see them everywhere, and I can't wait to share photos of them with you!