1st snowboarding trip

This past Sunday, we had a snowboarding trip scheduled through our Outdoor Rec facility here on base and it was cancelled due to shortage of attendees.  We already had our rentals and really wanted to go, so we contacted ITT (information, ticket and tours) and hoped they could help us out and give us other options.

They came through BIG TIME.  We were able to drive up Sunday morning, ski all day, go to an onsen, have buffet dinner, stay the night, have buffet breakfast and then ski all Monday for $150 a person.  Deal of the century. ;)

Since it was my first time snowboarding...ever...I was kind of nervous.  Although I knew I would have an amazing teacher, I didn't know how well it would go.  After all, I'm 34 and I can be very impatient and get frustrated when I don't pick up things quickly (shocking..I know!).  

Riding down the mountain wasn't that bad...it was getting off the lift that was difficult!  I either rode off with ease or totally wiped out for all to see.  Fun times.  :/

The place wasn't too crowded and overall, it was a great mountain for me to learn on.  Conditions were great too...it snowed almost the entire time which made for good powder to land in. :)

{almost there!}

{Appi montain}

{holy snow}

{on the way up}

{from the top}

{avalanche}

{lunch Day 1}

{snowplows while we were boarding}

At the end of the day, we went to an onsen to relax.  An onsen is a public bathhouse with natural spring water tubs.  This particular one had a tub outside as well and it was amazing to sit there with the snow falling!!  

Once we were all clean, warm and relaxed it was time to hit the buffet.  We were starving!

{giant crab legs}

{here's looking at you}

{Brent & Allyson}

{taking a quick break}

{lunch Day 2}

{selfie}

{training for Sochi}

{i'm done}

{until next time}

Last day in Tokyo

We had an afternoon train scheduled out of Tokyo Station so we planned to visit the Imperial Palace in the morning.  It's within walking distance of the train station.   You can not actually go into the Imperial Palace, but the outside gardens are free and open to the public.

{We found this awesome park on our way}

{shrine outside the palace}

{entrance to the East Gardens}

{outside Tokyo Station}

 It was such a great trip!  We can't wait to go back in a few weeks!!

Thanksgiving in Tokyo-Part II

Happy New Year!!

It's New Years Day and I'm finally catching up on these blog posts...sorry I'm a little late!

Tokyo has so much to see and do...and eat. :)  We had a long laundry list of places we wanted to visit, but you can not possibly do it all in 4 days, so we just wandered the different neighborhoods soaking up the entire experience.

One of the first areas of town we explored was Shinjuku.  Most streets are flooded with restaurants, shops and lots of people!

{Jeff loves it here!}

We found this place to stop and eat!  All the menus have pictures which makes it much easier.

{this place looks good}

{you order from a machine}

After ordering from the machine you hand your ticket to the waitress and she brings you your food.  It's so efficient!



Then we were off for more exploring!!

{Called the Cocoon Bldg-we have no idea what goes on here}

I had read that from the observatory of the government building you could see all of Tokyo.  We had to go and see for ourselves.

We spent most of the day in Shinjuku and then went to Ginza at night.  Everything was decorated with Christmas lights and the vibe there was unlike anything I've experienced.
Like NYC on crack.

{dept store window}

{largest UniQlo I've ever seen!}

{Yamaha is fancy}

{famous for their waffle cookies} 

{they were delicious!}

 Thanks for reading!

Alice in a Labyrinth

Tokyo has a few themed restaurants that are very popular among both locals and foreigners.  Everything from the food and drink to the decor and costumes fit the particular theme.

There is Ninja Akasaka where you have a ninja who pops out of the ceiling as your waiter and serves you food shaped like ninja starts, Alcatraz E.R where you are a medical patient in a prison and eat in a jail cell and also, 5 Alice in Wonderland themed restaurants scattered around the city.  We chose Alice in a Labyrinth located in the popular neighborhood of Ginza.

After walking up and down the same street for 40 minutes we finally found it. 

Our waitress, dressed as Alice, hands us a pop-up menu to start our experience.

We chose sushi, spicy shrimp and the cheese plate to start off.  As you can see the theme continues with the food. :)

We also ate yellowtail pizza shaped like the Chesire Cat's tail, but the lighting was bad and I couldn't get a good pic.

The ambiance was cool and decor was even better.  I really wanted to sit in the tea cup!

Thanksgiving in Tokyo-Part I

Konnichiwa!
One of the best parts of living overseas is the ability to travel to so many great places.  Before we even moved here, we made a long list of destinations and Tokyo was up at the top.

Since Jeff had a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving, we decided to take the bullet train into Tokyo and enjoy the city.

And it's.
Amazing.

We took the earliest local train out of Misawa on Thanksgiving morning.  The train was full of high school kids in uniform, a few people making their morning commute, and the two of us.  It was only about a 15 minute train ride to meet the Shinkansen (bullet train) in Hachinoe.  We had heard good things about the bullet train and it did not disappoint.  The seats were roomy (much bigger than on an airplane) and it was a smooth 3 hour ride.

Once in Tokyo Station, we needed to catch the subway to get to our hotel in Roppongi.  Thank goodness we met a sweet, old Japanese guy who spoke excellent English to help us find our way out or we would have spent the entire weekend in there.
Tokyo Station is GIANT.

Inside Tokyo Station:
Shinkansen
JR trains (local)
Subway station
department store
boutique shopping
hotel
Starbucks

Ok, so maybe a weekend in there wouldn't be too terrible. ;)

{Tokyo Station}

We made it to Roppongi and to our hotel.  This area of town has a lot of restaurants, bars, shopping areas and was a block away from the subway so it made getting around the city very easy.  We checked in, dropped off our bags and began our adventure!

{on an overpass}

First stop...food.
Tokyo has every type of food you could want.  Since we can have good Japanese any day, we wanted anything but noodles and sushi.   Right around the corner from our hotel was this small Turkish sandwich stand.  It was awesome!!

{Happy Thanksgiving!}

After lunch we spent the rest of the day exploring....
Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi is a large shopping area connected to the Four Seasons hotel and other businesses with most of the stores underground.  Outside they had 10-15 different Santa statues that you could take pictures with...they were so cute!!  I wanted to take a picture with all of them!

I chose this one.....

{Hey there Santa}

We walked around Roppongi for the next couple of hours checking out the neighborhood until going up to settle into our room and get ready for dinner.....

Alice in Wonderland awaits!!!

You'll see.. ;)