Some Places We have Eaten!

Sushi- I am not a big fan of sushi, but it is served a lot here. Also, you eat everything with chop sticks. Back in Texas, if chopsticks were an option, I always asked for a fork, but they don't do that here. So If you look in this picture you can see that the table is low, but there is a cubby that your feet hang down in. 

 This is typical Japanese style dining. You take your shoes off and leave them outside the area and then walk across the little bench and climb in. Even the servers take their shoes off. When the servers bring your food to you they use the bench and kneel down to the table.
We had dinner with Ben and Audrey Mills, a couple we met in Newport, and Stephanie and Nick Henry, another lawyer. The food was good, the company was good, it was a great way to start our entrance into the Japanese Culture.

Japanese Grill- We had been moving all day and I was starving and I saw this flashy, totally touristy place and asked Bill to stop so we could eat. Well it is kind of like a Mongolian Hot Pot/ Fondu Place- Only you grill meat. You order raw meat that has been marinated and then you place it on the grill and let it cook.

 Here is Bill turning the meat. As you can see there are some veggies as well. We had metal tongs, I am not sure they would have done that in the states, someone could have gotten burned. Just under the grate was an open fire over coals.

 Here he is eating rice with some chop sticks. We have gotten pretty good at the chopstick thing and rice, they make their rice way more sticky that we do at home, so it is easier to eat wit the sticks.

 Smile, your grilling your meat. I would love to tell you what kind of meat I was grilling, but I am not sure I can tell you. I think it was beef and chicken. I know we had chicken, it was not so good, it was dark meat and greasy, the loin, and roast, was it lamb or was it beef, not sure, but it was good!

 I ordered egg drop soup. It was so good! They put bean sprouts in it, surprisingly good addition!

 Here is a top view of the grill, Bill had a hold of the camera, he is more prolific with the pictures.

 So cutting become an issue, sometimes they place a large piece of meat on your plate and they do not give you a knife. It is ok to pick it up and bite it off, but I am not into that just yet. SO here I am trying to cut with a blunt chopstick.

Going totally Native- So we stopped at the place where there were no Y plate cars. Which means no Americans. But Bill was like it will be an adventure. We walk in and there is a little pond under one of the typical Japanese style tables. I was a little concerned that was where they had some live fish that they might serve, but not that I could tell.

 You may be able to see the pond behind us, it looks shinny. We were seated at a bar. There was a cold case infront of us. In the case was some cut fish, and a whole squid and octopus with tentacles. At that point I was ready to get up and leave. Bill said, "No, lets see the menu."

Then we were served this, it is a whole fish, about minos or sardine size stuffed with what I think is corn meal and then fried. Tail and head and everything. Bill and and did not try. We pretended it was not there. Eventually Bill tried, he then downed a glass of water.
When we ordered food it was very good, I had Yakitori, which is grilled chicken and tempura avocado and Bill had White-fin Avocado Roll and Tofu/bean sprouts/veggie stir fry.

I like Japanese food, there are somethings I do not want to try, like fermented so beans and some slimy mushrooms, but overall their food is good!

Moving Week!

Moving in the military is an event, not just a day. I have had a whole week of appointments. They started last Friday with signing the papers to get the keys. Then on Monday Government furniture was moved into the home. We get to borrow the furniture for the 30 mths we are on the island. We have 90 days to decide if we want to keep it or return it. We got: A couch, 2 easy chairs, a coffee table, to side tables, a dining room table, 6 chairs, a china cabinet, a desk with chair, a book case, two bed side tables, two dressers, one with a mirror, and a full bed with head board. It is not pretty, nor something I would purchase, but it is free. We have purchased a queen sized mattress and that was delivered on Wednesday. On Tuesday our 3000lbs of house hold good was delivered. Which when I look at what other people brought and what we brought, we did not bring hardly anything. our house looks empty! Everything arrived in the shipment, we have discovered several things that have been broken, a crystal glass, it was decapitated near the rim, perfect circle broke off, a picture frame and glass, and Bill's surf board has some damage. Other than that, everything has arrived just fine.
But I am rethinking what I should have packed, I should have put in some small pieces of furniture. We don't have anything to put the TV on. We have plenty of storage, but I need little side tables for decoration. I found out later, that you only pay if you go over on weight if you get audited and only 1 in 400 get audited.
So now Bill and I are shopping for an entertainment center. We are also discussing purchasing a couch. If we find something we like, we might buy it, but we will have to see. Last night we drove around our neighborhood looking at the bulk trash, people PCS (leave) on Thursdays and Wednesday nights is when you put out bulk trash. We are not above reclaiming someone else furniture.
Today we buy Bill's car, I will post a picture when we get it, he is calling it a little micro- hummer. It looks like a hummer, only really small and gets 60 miles to the gallon.
We have met some fellow Texans, My mother actually out me in touch with this person. My mother met Jessica's Mother at Campfire and my mom sent me her phone number. I called her up, she just lives right around the corner from me. The night the house hold good arrived, she invited us over for dinner. They are a really nice couple. We have plans to watch Sat College Football on Sunday Morning at 8am. Chris is going to cook a brisket. Chris is a surgeon at the hospital on base. He works for the Navy.
We are getting settled in and things are going well. We have a Military Ball to attend on Nov. 3rd and then again on the 23rd. Good thing I bought 2 dresses back in Newport, Bill got onto me when I did that, but I knew the would come in handy!
Tonight we are staying in the Lester house for the first night, I have moved Degas, he is currently hiding behind the couch. He did not want anything to do with the upstairs, I took him up there to show him and he could not get down from my arms fast enough to get back down stairs, I guess he will have to get used to living in a big house now. He has lived in a little house for so long.

Upstairs!

 Master Bedroom

 On Suite Bathroom!

 2nd Bathroom!

 Guest Room!

 My Craft Room!

Part Living Room, Dining Area and Outside

Here are some more pictures!

 This is looking out the kitchen door. I am thinking of painting that far wall gray.

 There you can see we have a sliding door to a back yard.

Here is where the living room will be located.

That is a picture of the closet under the stairs. It is a huge storage closet.

Back around the room to the door into the kitchen.

Here is our back yard. Only half is ours.

Bill really wants a dwarf orange tree.

Here is the .5 bath room.

And that is downs stairs. I'll upload the pics for upstairs soon!

The House! Part Kitchen

 It's free and all on base housing looks like this, so don't judge!

 This is what you are greeted with when you walk in the front door, not my choice, but their design.

 Next a long hallway to the living area, and half bathroom and under stair storage. You can also see out into our back yard where I will be growing our garden of veggies.

 To the left is the Kitchen/ Laundry room.

 See Laundry!

 There are 18 Up and 6 Down Cabinets and 11 Kitchen Drawers, and a pantry. Also a hall closet with cabinets above.

 Notice 1970's hood vent.

 Door out to living area.

 Work space in Kitchen.

 OK for a free house, I mean free except for cable internet...yep everything is free, I think this looks pretty good. More space than anything we had seen anywhere else and a whole lot newer. Even the toilets are brand new. More pics are to come, I have to go get Bill to sign papers.

3 bed, 2.5 bath 1500 sqft