Is it a Rollerskate or an Automobile?

My beloved hubby is a saver.

He hates debt. He considers "debt" a curse word.

He loves coupons and thinks the 'free' is the best word ever created.

I first I thought he was kinda, well, how shall I say this... Cheap. There I said it.

("Honey, you aren't going to read my blog this week are you?" I say as I am writing this entry.)

He loves to be frugal and I love him.

So, therefore, I have had to learn to hide receipts.

No, I mean I have had to learn to spend wisely.

He will let me get nicer things for myself or the family, but if it comes to spending money on himself he is totally cool with going cheap.

He just sold his 12 year old van, yes I said 12 years old. If we weren't moving overseas I am not sure he would have gotten rid of that van. He loved it.

He loved it because it was reliable.

He loved it because, even after all those years, it still had pretty low miles. (Funny how a van not moving during multiple deployments will do that.)

Who am I kidding? He loved it because it was Paid For!

Alas, shipping your US car to Japan is prohibited. I wasn't shedding any tears over that part of his orders!

Now, he needs his own car. I adore him and will share can with him, but he works in a different area away from the kids and I are. I cannot take him back and forth everyday. So, off to the used car lot we go. Oh no, don't even think about that. A used car lot would cost too much money for his little 'skateboard'.

"I just need something to get me back and forth to work. It doesn't need to be fancy or cool. It just needs to work," he said.

Like I didn't know he could care less about being 'cool'? He drove a 12 year old minivan for goodness sake! I know I am out of touch, but THAT cannot be anywhere near CooL!

He asked around to see who was leaving Japan. He wanted to find a cheap little commuter for a under $1,000.

I was thinking he had lost his mind. Really, who sells a car for that cheap.

Oh, you know the ending of this story don't you?

Of course you do. He got his 'cheap' car.

He found his 'skateboard'. Look how much taller he is than the car?!? And, he is a tad bit vertically challenged, so it's tough to find many cars that he is truly this tall next to.  The car is small.

His "find" is a 2005 Nissan Note. Never heard of it? It is hugely popular over here in Japan. It is small enough to fit anywhere, but large enough to fit quite a bit of cargo. Mainly his cargo will be Army gear or golf clubs, but occasionally, he may have to fit our four growing kiddos in that little car.

We were at one of the offices doing in-processing one day when a worker mentioned how convenient the train here is for traveling around. We agreed, but also mentioned that Hubby would need a small commuter car.

She said she had bought one a few months back but had never even filled up the tank of gas because she never used it. She was looking to sell it. She didn't know anything, and I do mean anything, about the car. We asked her make, model, mileage and cost. She didn't have an answer for most of our questions, However, She invited us over that evening to look at. We agreed.

We went to look at it right away, knowing she would still be at work. She had a for sale sign on it that said $2500. Icky. We knew he would never spend that kind of money on his car. He would rather ride a bike uphill both ways in the snow before spending money on himself.

We decided to honor the appointment with her because it would have been difficult to cancel. Plus, we wanted to check out the inside of the car just to see the size and mileage.

When we went back that evening she had removed the sign with the sale price. We test drove the car. It has very low miles. Actually it very low Kilometers, but you get my message. It only had like 28,000 miles on it. Not bad. It is a basic car, very basic. Hubby thinks that is great for his needs. It is a "500" plate. That means the tiny engine doesn't put out many emissions, thus costing a lot less to insure through the notoriously high, legally required Japanese national insurance. (Whew, that is a doo-sie of a sentence.)

The car did have a few issues. It had not been really taken care of. It was a bit loud when it accelerated. The tires belong on a skateboard they are so miniature. The interior is... quirky.  Overall though, it was a good car for his purposes and drove okay.  He decided to offer her $800 He assumed they would go back and forth a few times before they settled on a price. Just kidding, she thought $800 was fair. She meet us the next day to do all the paperwork.

We thought maybe we had gotten a bad deal, but after having the car for awhile it has been great. Hubby has the oil changed and checked things out, so far so good. It has seen quite a bit of Japan already.

The Note is small. Really small. One of our friends had to get out of the car recently because it was dragging the ground over a ridge. It is really affected by weight inside the car.  It is THAT low to the ground. But, it's Japan. The roads are skinner than the people. Most of the time it is just hubby alone going back and forth to work. It works.

And, it was cheap which means....happy hubby!

Happy hubby = happy wife = more money to spend on crafts and snacks. Now, can we sing kumbaya or something? We are all so happy!

And just so it is clear to everyone, he will not be bringing this one make to the States in a few years. The interior alone would get him laughed off base in the US.

Drive on,

~Aggie Amy

Lunch @ Gusto

There are 120 plus people on the islands of Japan. It is a huge population to feed. The
people, just like most modern countries, all enjoy different types of food. It has created a ton of choices for food. 

Here there are several chains that we want to try out. One of the largest family restaurant chains in Japan has a sign that looks like this:

We had no idea what the sign said, but since we saw it everywhere we decided to test it out. We learned that this whole line of restaurants is called 'Gusto'.

We had spent most of the morning swimming and playing. The kids were hungry, really hungry. We thought it would be a good chance to try out this chain. 

Food is expensive in Japan. Everything is expensive here, actually. You can get sushi pretty cheap, since it is readily available and enjoyed by locals. (It is usually about $50 to feed our family of 6.) Italian is the next 'cheapest'. I have no idea why Italian food is cheap here, but it is. It runs about ($60 for a family of 6). We have heard, the next most affordable option is this line of "Gusto" restaurants.  It is a popular choice for all ages because it offers 'affordable' food.

There are several different varieties of this chain. We ended up testing out the 'Steak Gusto'. It may have been the 'western' theme that drew in this Southern girl. 

For some reason, in the midst of the 'Western' decor, they put pictures of Bourbon Street and the San Francisco Bridge? I think both of those places would be offended to be considered 'Western', but hey, who I am to know?

 
The menu is heavy on hamburgers, chicken, pasta, and other western dishes, but they tend to be flavored to Japanese tastes. (Read bland here.) 

There was a large menu, but some things aren't offered everyday. (I know we do that too, but I can read English. I can't read their menus, so when I get the kids settled on an item and then they don't offer it that day it is a moment of slight frustration.) 

Similar to the States, there are 'add-ons' to most menu items.  I made asked the younger kids to order off the kids' menu. They weren't thrilled because they considered themselves to be older than that. However, I was not sure they would like the food. (They have eaten almost everything here. They all love to try new things. But, we have learned from experience, that when foreigners brag about their 'American' food it is usually not so great.) Adult plates were double the money, so testing out an item meant ordering off the kids' menu. 

I forgot to tell you about the magic button on the table. (C calls it the 'easy button' after the Staples commercial. ) On most tables in Japan is something that looks similar to a garage door opener. We ignored it the first few times we went into restaurants. The kids were tempted to touch it, but were not brave enough to deal with whatever the button meant. We would simply wait for the waitress to see us sitting there and come to take our order. 

One night we let hubby come to dinner with us. The kids and I explore when he is at work, so we have eaten several times without him. 

Matt sat down at the table, looked at the menu and talked a second before he noticed the magic button. He pushed the button the minute he saw it! (The kids had not pushed it at three or four places, but bring the hubby in a public place and he couldn't help himself. I can't take that man anywhere!)

Low and behold, the waitress came after we pushed the magic button. 

Insert face slap here. Oh, that's what the button is for!

The waitress stood by the table, smiled at us and looked ready to take our order. She didn't say a word. I hesitated and then she opened her mouth to speak. She stopped. She said, すみません which sounds like "Sumimasen". It means 'excuse me'. 

She disappeared to the back of the restaurant. I thought she was looking for someone who spoke English. I was perfectly fine ordering without any English, but she clearly wanted to do something.

She returned with a cell phone. I thought she was going to 'phone a friend' who spoke English. Maybe?

She spent a few seconds finding something on her phone and then managed to speak, in perfectly good English. It sounded like she was reading her English class notes, but she was really reading off tidbits about the menu and restaurant. It was really cool. She was trying very hard to please her customers. 

She explained how the add-ons work, what menu items were available and how the drink bar worked. I ordered for everyone, and added a salad bar to my item. I wasn't sure what the salad bar even looked like since we had not seen it coming in, still I ordered it. Our life here is an adventure. I am trying new things out constantly. I figured, 'how bad could a salad bar be?'. 

She wanted to show me how the salad bar worked so I followed her out of our little area and rounded the corner to see this:

Now that is what I think of when I think salad bar! The salad bar was small by American standards, but it was jam packed with goodness. It has several types of lettuce, 6 dressings, noodles, toppings and veggies. 


The salad bar also had fresh fruit, like pineapple and G's favorite- dragon fruit. There were different breads, and a toaster; a rice cooker with different seasoning options and a couple of soups. It was so worth the $3!

The waitress delivered our ordered food very quickly. The kids were excited already because I let them get drinks from the 'drink bar'. (Normally, we stick with the free water because the drink are so expensive. The drink bar here was $1 when you ordered a kid's meal and $2 with an adult meal. I'm good with that.)

The food was typically Japanese in presentation. They love to make a good show. 

The burger patty, small hot dog and chicken was paired with rice and fries. It also had three small 'jello cups'. Theses are the size of a typical creamer packet in the US. We have seen them at several places. There are different flavors and are often added to the kids menu. 

The white 'wipe' you see in the picture is Japan's answer to germs. (They also use the disposable masks, but I'll tell you about those later.) 

At every restaurant we have been to, no matter if it was cheap or expensive, they hand out individually wrapped anti-bacterial wipes. You are supposed to clean your hands when the food arrives so you don't eat with dirty hands. 

The wipe practice is great and makes good sense. What doesn't make sense is that there are not napkins at most places. But, it is often considered offensive if you use this wipe as a napkin. 

So, we clean our hands to eat but then let the food stay on our chins or land in our laps because we do not have napkins? OK, I can be a slob if everyone else is being a slob. 

We just had to get an extra order of fries for the boys, since swimming had 'taking so much out of them'. 

When the fries came I was not shocked to see the ketchup and the mayonnaise mixed. 

Since I have lived in Europe before I know that mayo is what they pair with fries. 

The kids were in awe. "Mom, please tell me they don't drip perfectly good fries in mayo?", little miss asked. 

She lost a little bit of faith in Europeans today ;)

The kids were enjoying their food. They were loving the drink bar. Then, the waitress came. She looked concerned. I quickly went over my mental check list:

Were the kids being too loud? 

No.

Were they using their cleaning wipe as a napkin? 

No.

Were the offending someone somehow? 

Not that I could see. 

Then, why is the sweet waitress trying to tell me something so passionately? 

Finally, she asked me to follow her.

Oh no, am I go to the manager's office already? 

I haven't even been in the country a month and already I am in trouble. 

What did I do? 

Is she sure it wasn't the kids? 

I am usually pretty well behaved unless you trash my Aggies and then all the rules are off the table. 

She took me to the salad bar.

Huh? You already showed me this.

She took several bowls and walked me back to our table.

What???

She told the kids to stand up and gave them a bowl. She walked them back to the salad bar. 

Apparently, if you purchase a kid's meal the salad bar is included. 

The kids were excited that more food was currently theirs for the taking.  Score!

The grand total for our meal was $54. That sounds bad, but here that is pretty good for 6 people. 

Another bonus, there no tipping allowed in Japan. If you try to tip, they will follow you out to you car to return the money. 

We want to return to 'Gusto' to eat breakfast one day. There were pancakes on the menu, but they are only served during breakfast hours. 

A successful trip to a pretty good restaurant. 

Yes, our standards have lowered quite a bit from when we were in the US. I have never been a foodie, or felt like I had to eat at expensive resturants. I know most people would not be excited by eating at a Bob's Big Boy type place. But, traveling as much as we do it is nice to find a place that gives us small tastes of home. 

And, they had Coke Zero.

I'm in!

Share the Love & Pass the Ketchup,

~Aggie Amy

I Can't Drive 55!

There are so many things that catch my attention as I drive around in Japan.

Well, really they catch my attention when I am in the passenger seat.

When I am in the driver's seat, I often feel like I am playing a game of chicken with the other cars.

His car's bigger, I'll scoot over. Oh no, curb there so he has to scoot over. Have mercy, curbs on both sides and three bikers... never mind I am parking and taking the bus!

I am gaining gray hair and losing years of my life to the stress of a local road nicknamed "suicide hill". It is not my name for the road. It has been called that for years.  It's moniker comes from the fact that you have to put your 'life in danger' to drive on the hill. It is THAT skinny. I'm not kidding. It is like so skinny a pregnant woman couldn't turn sideways. So skinny, you have to pull in your mirrors and rub the curb.

It was while we were going down this hill recently when my youngest chick decided to ask me, "Momma, have you ever been in a crash?"

Her timing was... well, appropriately annoying.

We made it down the hill, but not before praying several times!

Then, we had to have the discussion of when to ask 'crash' questions.

I am safely out of the car and back in the hotel. Now, I get to share with you some more pictures from our adventures.

The trains here are ah-maz-ing, but in order for the trains to travel the cars must pay attention.  Much like in the USA, when a train is coming the alarm sounds and the bars come down. There are some differences here though. First, notice the red arrow on the lefthand side? That is how you know which way the train is coming from. It is not uncommon for the arrow to change and a second train come through as you are waiting on the first train to finish. Confused? Me too. Hold on, it gets worse.

The bars are 'moveable' and soft. This is so if you get caught in the middle when a train comes, which happens a lot around here, then you can slowly drive forward to escape. The bar will raise up slowly just over your car before it comes back down. The bars do not scratch your car when you 'push' them out of the way because they are soft. This also helps them not to break or get damaged when cars 'move' them.   

It is very alarming to start to pull on to the tracks, hear the alarm and have the bars start coming down!!  It takes your breath away because you think you are going to be forced to 'break the bar' like you would in the US. Alas, no problem, just slowly drive forward and it will move over your car. (This has not happened to me directly. The instructors and wives talk about it, but I have not seen it yet.) Thank you Lord!

It is rainy season, and boy does it ever rain! When you are driving around you see a ton of clear umbrellas. What a great idea! Their walkways are narrow, so having a clear umbrella allows people to stay covered without bumping into other. It also helps them watch out for trains!

Many locals have these spacesuits  rain-suits they wear during the season. It goes over all of their clothes. Men, women, walkers, bikers... everyone wears these things! They come in several colors are are for sale cheap all over the place. We would be way too worried about fashion to wear these things in the US. Then again, we don't have weeks of rain on end either. 

Most of the time around the major military bases you will see signs that look like this: 

You can pretty much tell where you are supposed to go. You can also see underneath the Japanese there is English on the signs. God Bless Japan! They are trying to incorporate English into a lot of their world. 

But then, when you least expect the craziness, you see a sign that looks like this:

WHAT? 

Where I am supposed to go? 

Do you want me to fly over the highway? 

Driving here is an education!

And, did you notice the power lines? They are not buried. I did not even realize why the intersections looked ... crowded. I knew there was something different, but after a few lights it hit me that it was all the power lines. I'm not sure when we decided to bury them in the US, but great choice to who ever came up with that one! 

Can you tell where we are supposed to turn by looking at the picture? 

You should hear my poor GPS! She can not figure out how to read Kangi! 

Neither can I, sweet Siri girl!

She will say, "in 0.7 miles turn left at ......... " then NOTHING!

It's like she just turned off. 

At first, I was looking at the device and wondering if I had hit the volume switch. Nope.

She just is smarter than me. She doesn't even attempt to say the next word. 

I tell Matt, " in 0.7 miles turn left at the Mt. Fuji looking one". 

He is starting to understand my crazy made up characters, too! We are in so much trouble when I am navigating this Crew!

The tollroads look similar to the crazy Jersey turnpikes. (Love my Jersey boy!) You can see the three lanes on the left are open. They take Yen. The ones on the right take the ETC, an electronic pass linked to your credit card, which is like our 'Easy Pass" on the east coast.

You drive through and grab a ticket that looks something like this:

No, I do not know what is says.

I DO know that the toll was over $9! We had to pay it both directions.

Plus, $3 for a bridge both ways. Ouch!

After you get on the tollroad you do not expect to see roads like this though!

I didn't expect to see rice fields like this either. But, it was really cool!

I was glad that this guy wasn't after us.

Yes, there are motorcycle cops in Japan. 

No, they do not look like the blonde guy from CHIPS. 

(You can't blame a girl for trying!)

I am not sure Matt could get anywhere near breaking the sound barrier when the highest speed allowed is a whopping 80 ... 80 KM that is! 

Which is not even 50 MPH. 

I, literally, cannot drive 55 MPH! 

Did the songwriter write that when he was visiting Japan?

They can't really speed because the island is just too packed. We were so excited to see the "80" sign! It does feel pretty fast to go 50 MPH after we have been driving 20 MPH- yes I mean 20 MPH- for weeks! 

The speed limits make me miss Texas highways. No, it makes me miss the German Autobahns!

By far, the cutest, most adorable things we have seen driving around are...

 ... the Japanese themselves!!! Look at these preschool uniforms! Our town wears these in a darker blue. They also all wear different types of hats. Sometimes it is straw, sometimes baseball, sometimes different classes wear different colors. It is stinkin' adorable! They line up to go to/ from class together. You can see them walking in birth order, single file, down the street. It makes my heart smile.

Until next time I jump in the car or visit a new store,

Stay Strong & Don't speed,

~ Aggie Amy

Castle with a View

Part of Matt's in-processing requires him to take a week long, all day orientation class called Head Start. It orientates the new arrivals to local customs, introduces the Japanese language and allows native speakers to take the group on a field trip to show them how to use the train system.

I joined Matt for part of the class. I wish I could have done it all, but the kids were alone in the hotel all day. That was a little scary to this momma.

Actually, I could have handled the kids being alone. C is old enough to watch them.

But, I gave up when ... it got to conjugating verbs. That is a task I despise in English. I certainly don't need it in Japanese.

 I, honestly, hated to give it up because I adored the senseis. They were both wise men with wonderful attitudes.

For the field trip we got to bring the whole family to tour Odawara Castle. Hoorah! Hubby and I are both lifelong students of the world. We love to learn about new places. Having the chance to take the whole family was such a blessing.

Let me tell you a bit about the lovely castle.

Odawara Castle was built in 1447.

Yes, I wrote that right. It was built almost 350 years before America became America!

Isn't that amazing?

It has been redone several times due to earthquakes, fire and war. It has always been rebuilt to the original plans. What an awesome testament to the quality of Japanese engineering!

We took a tour bus about two hours to get there. Which is interesting in itself because it is less than 30 miles away! 30 miles should not equal 2 hours. Alas, this is Japan and takes forever to go anywhere.

On the way down we made a pit stop for the bus to refuel. Everyone went inside because they heard there were vending machines.

Vending machines in Japan are unlike anything you have ever seen. The kids want to see them all.  They were not disappointed. They saw their first "Hot" vending machine. It cooks, actually it fries, food after you select it. There were french fries, chicken nuggets and onion rings and other things I couldn't identify. Awesomeness.

We were back the bus and to the castle in no time.

Sensei, our teacher, was a wonderful tour guide. He is passionate about Japan's history and loves to share. He liked that Matt asked him questions and was interested in Japan. Then, poor Sensei met ...yours truly. He said Matt was a 'brilliant man' for picking someone so supportive of his dream. I have to agree with that one ;)

Odawara Castle is still surrounded by a series of moats.  (Most were destroyed as the city built up around the castle.) The moats were used for protection and also as a way to get supplies into the grounds. It was an ingenious plan.

There is a section built to show how the castle was constructed. It gives us a glimpse inside the walls and allows for the youngest ones to see why the walls are thick & strong. We were fascinated.                     

 The weather was cold in the morning, and rainy of course since we are still in rainy season. We had our sweatshirts on and umbrellas up as we boarded the bus in Camp Zama. As we traveled the rain subsided and the temperature rose. We were thankful, except that we had to carry all the umbrellas and sweatshirts. (We rode the bus there and took trains home so the newbies who had not conquered the train could learn how.) 

The kids were intrigued by the massive doors and lock system. If you look close you can see the small door behind A's leg. That was a pass through for small supplies. Also, if you notice by their ankles you can see that the door doesn't come all the way to the ground. That gap allowed the guards to use their swords to cut the ankles of intruders without endangering the safety of the castle. Scary, huh?

 The grounds surrounding Odawara are beautiful. They are covered in large hydrangeas and iris fields. There is also a red bridge to cross over before entering the 'official land'. (Red is a symbol of power and strength in the Japanese culture. It is often found on bridges and Tori gates.)

In the picture on the let, I am in one of the flower gardens below as the family crosses over the bridge.

In front of the last 'doors' before you step inside the 'interior gardens' that surround Odawara Castle.

There is also an area where snow monkeys play. Snow monkeys, or  スノーモンキー, can be pretty mean if there is food around.

(This is why you will see the monkey behind the fence.)

There are tours where people are allowed to interact with them, but we are not sure we will be taking one of those.

Read: Momma doesn't like mean monkeys.

Now, you are with me.

It is such a beautiful place. Odawara is four stories tall. There is a museum on the main level that holds a nice collection of artifacts, armor and weapons. They do not allow photography inside :(

From the top level you can see both the Pacific Ocean, well  Sagami Bay,  and the mountains.

After enjoying the castle and learning more about the area, we were ready to eat. 

Who I am kidding, we are always ready to eat!

The group went to one of the many, many train stations and found several different options to choose from. We picked a noodle place. 

Where the man is standing on the left is the 'front'. There is a vending machine located there. You put your money in the vending machine and press your selection. (No pictures on the machine so I was extra thankful for Sensei and his reading skills.)  After you make your selection, a ticket prints out with what you want. You hand that to the cook. She prepares it for you and it is brought to your table. When you are done, you turn in your dishes to the window on the right. Cool setup. 

We all tried different items, but the favorite is the one on the top left. It is basically ramen noodles that are then grilled to make them have a little crisp. 

It is called "yakisoba". We recognize the Kangi (characters) for it now. 

It looks like this:  焼きそば  

See how the first character sort of looks like a man standing at a large ...piano, maybe?  

While the last character looks like "t" with a Christian fish at the feet?

That is how we know the place sells Yakisoba.  I know the kids will eat it and it is 'safe' to order. 

Yes, it a very simplified version of their language. What can I say? I'm not that great at speaking or reading Japanese. I have to find a way to make it make sense to me so I can order and thrive during our time here.

There has been water available at every place we have been, for n charge. Great, yes. The downside is the cups are tiny. T-i-n-y and you must get up to get and refill. It makes you drink less and interrupts conversation. But, it's free. That's my husband's favorite word ;)

Culture is Cool,

~ Aggie Amy

Lost in Translation!

Yes, I know there is a movie with that title.

I did not like the movie. I only lasted a few minutes actually.

Still, the saying is true. 

Some things simply get lost in tranlation!

We have certainly found this to true.

Take a look at a few examples we saw today. 

Or this one...

What???

Well, we should all head to Arkansas now shouldn't we? I wonder if Arkansas knows how highly people in Japan think of them.

Then there's this...

You will be scratching your head over this one!

What in the world were they trying to say? 

"Special people are Rapid". Didn't know that one!

Or how about ...

We'll, ok then. Good to know.

There were several examples I just couldn't put on my blog. I'm a G-rated gal you know. Several translations were quite offensive. 

I really want to tell someone that their products don't make sense.

Them again, who would listen to the girl who says, "fixin' to" and "pop a squat". 

I mean I call my kids "lovies" and tell my dear friends to "gig 'em".  

I'm the one who thinks it is 'normal' to "mind the gap" at a subway. 

I can't stand 'rubberneckers' or 'lookie loos' who stare at wrecks and cause traffic jams.

I love 'mix masters' on Texas highways and can't stand New Jersey 'jug handles'.

Nah, I think I will avoid causing a big hullabaloo over this one.

After all being a tad 'off' the typical definition of an English word never hurt me.

Finding fun everywhere,

~Aggie Amy