Geeks 'r' Us

Should I say I have a wonderful wife? Or perhaps a very sympathetic one?

Even though she despises video games, Nao tagged along to the Tokyo Game Show with me on Saturday. She says that she couldn't bare the thought of telling people that I headed there on my own. That's just too geek for her!

Hey I'm not that bad. Though I should have worn the Mario costume as I had really wanted too!

There were some pretty looking new games.

The Metal Gear Solid 4 area was awesome. They had it done up like some kind of military prison camp. AND a military prison I'd love to be kept in cause all the guards were hot models dressed in sexy army garb! (Go ahead I'm a geeky perv!!)

They had a setup for the new Resident Evil game which is called The Umbrella Chronicles. It looked like the entrance to the mansion in the first Resident Evil game.

It made me realize how much I don't have time now to play all these awesome games!
I'll just stick to Super Mario 3... Best game ever!

The place was packed! There were thousands of people. The wait to get into any of the game trail areas was between an hour or two.

Rose and Nao were hanging out in the kids corner while I was checking everything else out. Rose got some sweet free gifts like a Megaman notebook. All kinds of stickers too.

I took some pics if you'd like to check them out, just click!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14497&l=dd09e&id=656131175

Interesting Rose

Rose is getting more and more interesting as she grows up. She is really starting to know what she wants! This morning she grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen. She grabbed a bowl and started pointing at the cereal. She was saying "koko! KOKO! (here, Here!) She wanted cherios!

Birthdays

Ok... I'm 14 days late. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAO. Problem was Nao's birthday fell right in the middle of summer vacation. And I was lazy... Sorry! But I did make a very nice dinner and cake for her!





My birthday was good too. We went to our traditional birthday place Fujiya! Who cares that earlier this year there was some controversy over the freshness of its dessert products. They have a doll that dances to the birthday song!! That's all that matters.... Rose, Nao and I enjoyed a great dinner with some free ice cream. (Cause it's my birthday!)

Poor Man's Pool

It's been hot. Too Hot. So Rose and I put together some stuff we had around the house to make up a little pool! A plastic drawer and a tarp!! Yeah... Say it for the white trash! But we had a lot of fun hanging around the pool all day. Sitting in the shade. Relaxing with some juice or root beer. I told Nao that when she gets back from work one day she might find me drunk by the pool! Anyway Rose and I had a blast during summer vacation.

Summer Vacation is here!

Two days into the summer vacation. It's great cause I could spend my Sunday without the spectre of work on Monday hanging over my head like a piano in those old cartoons. What a great day! We went to Kumagaya the city where Nao's grandmother used to live. They had their huge fireworks display last night. The best part was we could set up some tables and chairs right outside of Nao's grandma's house and watch the show. Rose was in seventh heaven because every ten or fifteen minutes trains go roaring past so she can wave and say bye-bye to all the passengers. She liked the trains more than the fireworks!!

Today we spent most of the day cleaning Nao's grandma's house getting ready for O-bon.
It's the ghost season in Japan where you invite your ancestors to visit your house for a few days. Nao's dad is going to pick them up from the cemetary tomorrow morning. I hope they don't have to much luggage!!!

Because it's the first O-bon after Nao's grandma's passing we have to prepare some special thigns for her visit. That's basically what were setting up today. Things like fruits, lanterns, and pictures around the family shrine. It's a little sad....

Rose was happy cause she got to make a horse out of an eggplant and some chopsticks. Apparently ancestors love to ride in on vegetables!

Festivals

Last Friday night was Rose's school summer festival. For a few weeks now they have been practicing their dance techniques and carrying their little shrine. The shrine was decorated with pictures from the Japanese cartoon Anpanman. The show is all about bread people and their fight against the evil germ man. Rose's teacher said that all of the kids did great during practice. They danced and carried without any trouble. But on the night of the show all the kids got cold feet! We think it's because mom's and dad's came. So the kids would huddle around their parents! Rose wasn't immune either. She kept wanting me to pick her up! They had food, games, and some fireworks at the festival too.

On Saturday was the Oizumi Festival. Nao's sister's band came up to play. Nao was so excited and couldn't wait to see the band play, but woke up on Saturday morning feeling terrible! She had a high fever and stomachache (She feels much better now), but was disappointed because she had to stay home. So I went with Rose, Jiji, Baba, and Nao's aunt to watch the show.

Rose was very happy because she could her her favorite song. The ba-ba-ba-ba song. She's listened to it so much in the car that she can even sing along in her own way with it now. My god it's driving me crazy!!! Can't go in the car anywhere and it's Rose asking, "ba-ba-ba-ba PLEASE!" That and at home all Elmo, all the time!!!

Her are more pictures from the festivals!!!! CLICK!

Trip to Disney Sea

We had a very, very good 3 day weekend!

Friday we took Rose down to Disney Sea for her birthday. I really think enjoyed it. Well, except for the characters! We ran into many of the characters. Rose would get very excited looking at them from far away, but once we got closer she'd clam up or hide her face. It was pretty funny!
Since it was Rose's birthday she got to wear a special birthday sticker and everyone, EVERYONE, at the park wished a happy birthday! I think Rose liked the Mermaik Lagoon the best because they have things for the little kids to enjoy. Plus it's fish themed so she was pointing out all the fish to us! They had a Little Mermaid show too, which she totally enjoyed!
She fell asleep while we were waiting to get in the first time and slept through it! But when I went to the Tower of Terror Nao took in once more and Nao says she loved it!
We took plenty of pictures! You can see them here.....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9361&l=cd40f&id=656131175

Answered Prayers

My prayers have been answered! The Chicago White Sox have traded Iguchi to the Phillies.
We've got a Japanese player on the team!!!!!
I might be able to see Phillies games on TV and news here now!!!
OH, HAPPY DAYS!!!

The only bad news.... What's going to happen once Chase Utley comes off the DL???

Happy Birthday Rose!

Today is Rose's birthday! She's 2 years old... Oh no... The terrible twos???
We're going to meet Jiji and Baba for cake at our favorite birthday restaurant, Fujiya's.
They have the freaky singing, dancing Peko-chan doll. Which for some odd reason Rose loves to watch. It looks a little like Chucky, but without all the scarring.

The great news is that Friday is a company holiday, so I've got the day off. We're going to take Rose for a birthday trip to Disney Sea. (I think it's for Rose, Nao has been saying all the time about how much SHE wants to go to Disney Sea!)

Festival Season Begins...

Had a pretty good weekend. Even if we did end up on a train to nowhere on Saturday!


Ok, the train to nowhere was all my fault actually. I was pretty psyched cause this weekend was the Kumagaya Festival. A pretty big festival in the neighboring state. Nao's grandma used to live there so we'd always go alot. The festival is really fun, with crowds of people, food stalls, beer girls, and huge floats that are pulled through the streets.





We left Saturday afternoon and thought we'd take a train into town, because parking would have been a nightmare at that time. However, once we got on the train we realized we'd end up paying something like over 30 bucks to get there and back! So we got off the train heading into Kumagaya and went back to the station we got on at. Nao got off to pick up the car. Rose and I stayed on the train and headed to Nao's mom and dad's house. Rose really likes riding on the train so it was fun for her! We ended up hanging out at Nao's folks house for the evening.

Rose gives her version of PEACE! in front of the station.

On Sunday, we headed to Kumagaya for the festival. By car this time!! We got lucky on the parking and found a good spot near Nao's grandma's house. We walked around drinking beer and eating snacks, while watching the floats go past. There were game stalls where you could try and catch fish and turtles, which Nao doesn't let me do anymore. (I mean come on, it's not my fault all five goldfish died the next day last time!!!) We tried to get Rose a gigantic Elmo doll, but sorry I couldn't do it! We got a Stitch note book instead.... Rose got tuckered out from the long day and fell asleep on the car ride back.

Check out all the pictures by clicking here!

Harry Potter's Here!

It came today! We've got our copy of the last Harry Potter book!!! Can't wait to crack it open to find out what happens to our bespectacled hero. Will he die? Will he kill Voldemort? Will they both die as has been kind of hinted in past books? That being that Dumbledore explained that Harry and Voldemort are linked in a way. What's going to happen!!!!!!!!!!!

Trust me, I won't say anything about the end here!

Typhoon Number 4

It looks like the typhoon has come and gone. The sun was shining over our house for a bit as the wind kicked up one last time and blew the remaining clouds away. As I took Rose for a little drive so that she could close her eyes for a nap a quick look in the distance showed the remaining dark skies over the mountains. Rose and Nao are fast asleep now for an afternoon nap. I'm going to have a cup of coffee and think if I should go ahead and cook the lasagne Nao wants for dinner. She said she'd cook, but maybe I should let her have the night off (hhhhmmmm). Anyway, I've gotta make up for the slop I put on the table last night. Sometimes you experiment with not always the desired results...

This morning the kids in the neighborhood were supposed to have their annual summer fest. They'd carry a portable shrine around, collecting money to put towards activities for the rest of the year. But, because of the typhoon that was cancelled and we only had the official ceremony indoors. The priest placed all of his instruments in front of the small shrine and we stood behind him while he performed the rituals. One of the final actions called for us to take a small decorated twig to be placed in front of the shrine. So I watched as everyone else took theirs trying to remember all of the actions involved. Ok, stand in front of the priest. Bow. Take the twig from him. Bow. Then turn to the shrine and place the twig on the ceremonial plate. Bow twice. Clap twice. Bow once. Then turn towards to the priest once more and bow. Then go back to your original spot. Now that I think of it that's 6 bows! Luckily they ran out of twigs so all of the people who didn't do it already did it along with the last person. Multiply 6 bows by 6 people, yes. That's alot! It really is ashame that the kids couldn't carry around the shrine because it's really cool looking...

It was still raining pretty hard after the ceremony so we decided to go for a little karaoke to get out of the house. We went to the local Shidax, because Nao wanted to try out what they had for lunch. It wasn't bad, but a little pricey. But they had Rosie's favorite, men-men, so she was very happy! Aside from the food the price wasn't too bad, 300 yen for an hour of karaoke. We were in a family room for the first time. Let me just say, it's very nice! They've toys and games for kids to play. Plus tons of kids songs, even some ones from Sesame Street. Rose really loved that so much she sang along with Mommy and Daddy!!

Happy Fourth of July

Took a day off work to celebrate the Fourth of July! And what better way to do that than go to the mall??? ANYWAY it's been pouring rain all day. UGH....

Rose started daycare on Monday! Her first day went very well I heard. Nao said she cried for a bit when she was dropped off, but she calmed down and had fun after a little while. The teacher said Rose is a great dancer! Of course, Rose has been dancing since she was in the womb. Today I went to drop off Rose for the morning with Nao. It's a very new building and all of the teachers were very nice. Rose cried again, but because both Nao and I were there to say goodbye too. But once we left she stopped and played with the other kids! (But she had no problem saying goodbye to everyone when we came to pick her up!)

Then we went and did fireworks in the pouring rain. Oh well, we had fun, even with Nao's delightful comment, 'I don't know why he wants to do this....'

Happy Fourth of July!

Weekend in Chiyoda

It was a nice weekend around the house. Some good, shiny skies. We even got a little sunburn today. Maybe I'm the redneck of Japan? Good ol' cracker.

Anyway we stayed around the house this weekend just relaxing and unwinding. Jiji and Baba picked up Rose early Saturday morning to join them for a walk in the par with Bell. While Rosie was out Nao and I cleaned up the house a bit. What fun!! Jiji and Baba brought some lunch back with them so we ate a bit together. Then we did a little shopping. Nao had to pick some things up, because Rose is going to start daycare tomorrow! It'll be Rosie's first day of school ever! Nao had prepare a whole bunch of stuff: towels, blankets, garbage bags... I don't know, but Japanese schools are very demanding! The school is a really nice new building nearby to our house. We're hoping Rose will get to make some new friends while she's there. There's no other little kids around us! We're surrounded by old people! Old People!

I found a really cool little popsicle maker thingy at the store too. So I made cookies and cream ice pops for dessert. Hey, just mix some oreo cookies with vanilla ice cream and viola! You've got yourself a tasty treat! (I made an apple juice pop for Rose too!)

Then we went to Karaoke! There has always been this little out of the way karaoke place near our house. But I never went to it because I always thought it wouldn't have any good songs in English. But boy was I wrong! They had almost anything and everything. THE BEST PART: 4 dollars for an hour. Plus you can bring anything you want to drink yourself. They had some soft drinks for sale too. So we had coke and apple juice. Rose loved singing together with us. Her favorite songs were Under the Sea and Winnie the Pooh. It was a blast!!

Today we took Rose to the park again to meet up for a walk with Jiji and Baba for a walk with Bell again. It's a really nice park with a lake in the center and a tower. Why a tower? Who knows.... I think Japanese people just like towers. (But I really think it's because or local govn't is in cahoots with the construction biz, so they pay tons of money to the construction companies to build stuff that nobody really needs... Hmmm?) Rose had a blast again. She loves chasing Bell around screaming, 'BEEEELLLLLEEEE! BBBBBEEEELLLLLEEEE!'

On a side note Nao and I are in BIG TROUBLE now. Rose has learned how to say please. 'PLEASE'.... She can also say ELMO.... ALL we hear everyday is ELMO PLEASE! ELMO PLEASE!! Then when Elmo is over she'll say, 'ONE MORE, ONE MORE, ONE MORE!!!!!'

You can check out other pics from the weekend here!

The New Fridge...

We've spent the past two days cleaning up our kitchen... What a dust build-up behind the cupboards and all over! But it's all ok now. For what? Our new fridge, that's what! We splurged and bought a nice big fridge. We got a great deal, I think? What happened is that if we bought this fridge full price than we got 50,000 yen in points. Basically it's like getting 50,000 yen cash back. Because you can use those points like money to buy anything else in the store. SO we did use up a little. Nao got herself a new digital camera. It's great cause you can use it underwater and stuff. That way if Rose accidentally gets a hold of it and puts in the toilet or something, (which we all know could happen!), then all we have to do is wash it off and it's good as new. Not too mention it takes some great pics and videos.





Go on take a look at our new fridge, you know you want to....

Maybe I Made Up for Yesterday.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's! New dads, old dads, granddads, Old Granddad's. But I don't really drink whiskey... Hope you have a great day!!!!

Today we took advantage of the great weather and Rose I went to the zoo. Take a look at all the pictures by clicking below!

Zoo Pictures!!!

Familiar Setting...

By now you're going to think.. "God, don't these people ever do anything, but go to that damn AEON??" Maybe, the answer is no. BUT, we have good reason. Today was hot, DAMN HOT! And why waste our money on A/C at home when you can walk around the mall in the A/C that they are going to be using anyway? There's also the freezer section at the supermarket. However, that can get too cold. Meanwhile, you can munch on free samples without paying for a real lunch. We did eat real lunch though!

Nao is addicted to the arcade there now. She loves those coin games where you drop coins in and try to get them to knock other coins over the ledge. What a fast way to lose 10 bucks! But we tried our best, and it wasn't good enough. We lost ALL our coins... Rose tried her hand at electronic bowling, and got over a 180!

Nao tried the latest at Mcdonald's for lunch... The MEGA TERIYAKI. Or what could be considered a Big Mac with meat slathered in teriyaki sauce and mayo... Either way, it was a mess! Nao couldn't even pick it up to eat. We had to get her a fork. We both had a laugh cause I got some Japanese food, while Nao went for the semi-American burger.

One thing we (or should I say I, being a nerd) wanted to buy was this wicked Harry Potter based chess set that they've come out with. They release a piece every other week and you can collect them over 40 some weeks to get the full set. They come with full notes and stuff about the Harry Potter series as well. We were all for getting them when we collected how much it would cost to get them all..... Can you guess?????

Over 600 dollars!!!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We had one terrible rainy weekend! It poured straight from Friday night through until Sunday night. We had little bits of drizzle, but everything was so wet it wasn't even good for doing anything. Then before you know it, crash, the thunder would come and it would be another downpour. Rose would look out the window and say, 'wai, wai'. Which is her way of saying 'kowai' or scary!

We did a little shopping yesterday. Nao's sister's band, Inaka Yarou, just put out their first real CD. So we reserved a couple of copies and went to pick them up. Nao is very excited for her sister and is getting everyone she knows to buy a CD. We reserved 2 CD7s one under Steve and the other under Powell. So that when Nao's sister did some promotion work at the local record shop one of the staff members said to her, "even foreigner's are buying the CD!". Nao got a giggle out of that one!

So now it's Sunday night. And I'll still have to wait another two days before I'll get to see the last Sopranos! So don't blab about what happens to me!!!!!!!!!!!

Hide and Seek

Rose and I play a game of hide and seek!!

Watch it by clicking here...

Mall Rat in the Making?

Rose has been in a Mommy phase lately. Nao needed a little refresh time, (but she says its cleaning time!), so I took Rose on a little date to the mall. Is that a bad date?? Hey its air conditioned! But anyway Rose can really run around alot. She loves pushing the buttons on the crane games. Plus, there's the pet corner, so she can see dogs, cats, fish, and other assorted odd pets that Japanese people want to keep. Trust me they keep some weird pets! I've even seen squirrels and prairie dogs for sale!!

We went to the arcade in the mall too. They've got the Print Club machines so we can take pictures of ourselves. The one at this mall is 'ladies only', but it said couples and families were ok too. I'm guessing that Rose and I count?? They just don't want any perverts going in and accosting the high school girls that lounge around those machines all day! AND they are in there alot! Not the perverts, the high school girls! But at 4 or 5 bucks a pop, where do they get all that money from??? That stories for another day.....

I've uploaded the snaps that Rose and I took! Or click here.....

Bowling

I've started bowling again.
There's a bowling alley down the street, so I thought I'd go and check out what kinds of leagues they have. I decided on the Monday night singles league. Best part, they had shoes my size. I bought my own bowling shoes. I've never actually had brand spanking new bowling shoes before so it's a good feeling. Never mind that I bought the cheapest ones I could find. That and I got hooked up with a used ball they had in the back. They even filled and drilled some new holes for me. Now, I've just got to work on my form. God, it's ugly. UGLY! But it's something that'll take time.
Sometimes Rose and Nao come to watch. Rose is the best cheerleader ever. She cheers eveything! GO, GO, Daddy, GO!!!

Day at the Park

Wow. Having Rose means going to the park. Alot. So on Saturdays and Sundays when it's nice out we head to the park for about an hour or two. She loves though, cause it's a great chance for her to run around in the grass. Nao tried throwing the frisbee around, but it was more of a boomerang! She'd whip it around and it would go in a big circle land a couple of feet from her and then roll on its side towards her. I told she didn't even need me around to play frisbee!

We've got a pretty good size yard around our house, but as anyone who's been here will know it's more of a controlled jungle than an actual yard. I'd love to tear everything out and plant some grass seed. But that's on my to do list I guess. I should wait til winter so that everything will die out and then I don't have to worry about the freaky bugs that are living around our place. I swear, sometimes you see some weird stuff out there that makes you feel like you're in that scene from Temple of Doom, the big freaky bug room!

First Post in New Blog

Well, at the end of the year my old blog site will cease to offer services for free. And that's what I'm all about free services!! So I've moved here to this spot. I'm listening to the car guys on a lazy Saturday morning. But the yard beckons to be cut. Nao and Rose haven't woken up yet and it's still and quiet. The only noise other than the radio is the crows calling outside.

I'll be basically doing the same thing as the last blog. Talking about Rose, Rose, and more Rose!
Oh, and other stuff about life in Japan!

Here's a photo of us at the waterfall in Nikko a couple of weeks ago!