Guam-Where America Starts Its Day

I'll be gone for a bit as we're currently vacationing in Guam.

Happy Anniversary, Christy and Tim!

Just had to give a shout out to one of our favorite couples, Tim and Christy. Tim and Travis have been friends since childhood and Christy has been one of my very best friends since babyhood. Happy 3rd Anniversary! You guys are the best.

Dear Alice

I just returned from a fun little afternoon outing to Osu Kannon again. I went with a few girls in search of some yukata (summer kimono) fabric. We're planning to hand sew yukatas together. Unfortunately, the yukata store was closed. It's always closed on Tuesdays. That information would have been helpful yesterday, but oh well.

Since we couldn't go shopping for our fabric, we went to Dear Alice, the cutest little cafe in the world. 

You have to enter through a little door.

You ring these little bells when you're ready to order.

It has a cute checkered ceiling.

Yummy raspberry cheesecake.

On another note, we received our first care package today. My lovely mommy and dear friend, Christy, sent us the best package ever. It was better than Christmas! I can't wait to dig into the trashy magazines they sent. I have been worried all summer long about shortcuts to a flatter tummy and Angelina's invitro. Not to mention, I am so glad that I don't have to miss the Richland Mirror's annual "Pool is open" article. I must admit, I am a bit torn over whether or not I should crack open the Downy fabric softener or sell it on the street. That stuff is $25-$30 here! I do, know, that I will for sure be using the Dawn soon. I've got some nasty pork grease to tend to.

Notice my sunglasses in the photo. They didn't exactly get here in one piece. Shucks, now I have to buy more.

Takoyucky

So, Travis has been hyping up one of his favorite Japanese cuisines, takoyaki, since we arrived here. I admit that when I saw it, I thought it looked pretty delicious. I expected a hush puppy consistency with a little piece of cooked octopus inside. Sounded pretty good to me.

Well, last night, we stopped by a little takoyaki stand in the supermarket, and I decided to give it a try. I have now affectionately named it, takoyucky. Yeah, the consistency of the little octopus balls was really soggy and mushy. There was no crunchyness involved and the outer shell just kind of caved in. 

This is how they cook the takoyucky. They cook it in little skillets with circular places cut out (look at the last three pans in photo). They're kind of like cupcake pans, but spherical. They then poke the octopus balls with a sharp little toothpick-like utensil to rotate them while they're cooking.

The little flakes on top are fish flakes. They use them in lots of Japanese dishes, but I don't really notice them. No need to be frightened. They really don't taste all that fishy to me. 

Here you can see the little octopus piece inside. It was kind of chewy, but since it was cooked, it didn't really have much flavor.

Cosplay Summit

This past weekend was once again a fun one. Friday night we met up with some friends and attempted to go bowling, but there was a tournament going on so we just hung out instead. 

Saturday morning, we awoke fairly early and went on a hunt for some fishing poles. We found a really neat little mom and pop shop that sold everything you could possibly need to go fishing. We bought a couple of poles there and hope to go on a little fishing trip once it cools off a little.

After that, we stopped by Nitori and picked up this rug. It really makes our living room cozy.

We then went to Osu Kannon for a Cosplay Parade. Nagoya hosts an annual World Cosplay Summit each year. People come from all over the world to dress and act as their favorite Japanese manga characters.

The rules stated that no one was to be scantily clad, but someone didn't listen.

I apologize if this photo gives any of you nightmares.

This costume was great. The guy even had the stagger down.

Pocket knife for an earring? Why not?

Our friend, Chris, got interviewed by a local TV station while at the festival.

We had a lot of fun, but I will admit that I was a bit weirded out by the whole thing. I've never really read or watched any of the Japanese comics so maybe I just don't get it.

On Sunday we tried another church, and it was a really great experience for us. We really miss our home church, but we know how important it is for us to get plugged into a church here, too. We ended up going to an international church. Within the first five minutes, we had shaken hands with people from Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines and Japan. Out of the 100 or so individuals attending, there were only about four Americans, us included. It was such a neat and refreshing experience. The sermon was good, and we really enjoyed ourselves. We did, however, have to stand up and introduce ourselves to the entire congregation. We were the only visitors there, and when we mentioned we were from America, a little Japanese man in the corner grabbed our flag and started waving it. It was displayed the rest of the service. I wonder what would have happened if we would have said some really obscure place. We'll definitely be going back.

On the way home, Travis and I couldn't help but laugh at some artwork displayed in the train station. In the picture below, you can see business men walking hurriedly. Notice the gaijin (foreigner) behind the Japanese guy. He's enormous! I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be a fat American. 

Goofy Stuff in Japan

Travis and I were walking home the other evening when we walked by a vending machine selling Virgin Cola. That's all I am going to say about that.

I'm not sure what a "delicious" cake is, but I "think" I want to eat it.

Worry Wart

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Matthew 6:34