Our Japanese cars...and other things authentic

I promised a few pictures of our new (to us) cars, so here they are:

The blue one is a Hi-Lux Surf (or in American terms, a Toyota 4Runner). That is Brett's car. It is much bigger and harder to park in the tiny spaces around here, but it has been great for hauling things like our new table and chairs set, the crib mattress and baby dresser and bookshelf and an extra dresser in our room!

The red one is my car- it's a Nissan Rasheen. There is no American equivalent, other than it looks like a cross between a Land Rover and a Jeep, that was squished in a trash compactor. It's cute, and I like it. It'll be my car to drive around, and the baby seat will fit great in the back (we hope- we haven't actually tested that yet). 

This is an adorable baby kimono I found and just had to get! It has a Japanese floral pattern on it, ties in the front, but has the onesie snap legs for ease during diaper changing. Hey, if Lil' Miss Cochran is going to be born here in Japan, we have to make her fit in, right?? She is kicking and squirming away these days. I have my first dr. apt here tomorrow, so here's hoping they think everything is fine and dandy with the little girl!!

This is a picture taken from the car. We were driving by the flight line on a super clear day, so in the background, you can just make out Mt. Fuji, in the clouds. One of these days we will trek over there and hike that...once lil' missy is out and Brett can carry her in the backpack, not in my belly!

Guess what I WON last night??

Last night was the Yokota Officer's Spouses Club meeting. It is for all officers wives on base, if they want to join. It's just another way to get out and meet people and make connections here, plus they do a lot of events and their proceeds go to great causes like scholarships, etc. I decided to try it out last night, what the heck, right? The theme was "blingo"- basically we played Bingo but wore our "bling" and little black dresses (which aren't quite so little at 25 wks prego!). Anyway, it was held at the O Club ballroom, and we had a lovely dinner followed by 11 bingo games. I didn't do well on any of those. The last game was black-out, for the big prize. Again, I was totally thinking I'd go to the event for fun, not to win. Guess what- I WON the blackout game! 

And that one was for the big prize- a beautiful string of Japanese cultured pearls! 

They are gorgeous and I feel so lucky! 

They came from this very well-known store in Roppongi- the "it" section of Tokyo:Japanese pearls are some of the best in the world, and I'm sure this set is quite expensive, so I definitely did great! (Of course, jokingly, they said I also won the ability to be head chairman of the Asian Bazaar for next year- no thank you!!!) So, here are my pearls. Now I'll have to talk my husband into going out to a place nice enough to wear them. Maybe one of these weekends we can go eat at a fancy restaurant in Tokyo (and probably spend as much on dinner as the pearls cost!!!) 

Just keepin' busy

I haven't posted in a while, as I have just been busy unpacking and putting things away. It's a full time job! 

I am happy to report that the kitchen is done (and even has a set of curtains hung and a few pictures on the wall. 

The master bedroom is also arranged, clothes unpacked and hung, room is painted a sage green, and pictures are on the wall. Yes, I've been painting and climbing on ladders and furniture. Those are all smart things to do while pregnant, right? Oh, well that's what happens when your husband goes on a trip for a week, and leaves you in a foreign country with boatloads of boxes, and only a handful of people to entertain you!

The office is a disaster, but that is Brett's domain. 

The baby room is also a mess, but I do have a few good things to report on that front. We bought a crib from another family on base (which Brett promises to sand and refinish for me), and I found a cute dresser and bookshelf for only $30 total at this Japanese recycle place right off base. They take used furniture, etc and redo it all to make it look nice, and it is cheap! It isn't heirloom quality stuff, but it will work for now, and since AF families move all the time anyway, it isn't worth buying super expensive things that might get ruined in the move anyway. I bought a new crib mattress, and have ordered a glider/ottoman (here's hoping it comes in on time!) Her bedding also came in, so now I can buy some paint to match in that room, and get busy making it cute and girly. I've also found a few sales on baby clothes that were great buys and got a great, brand-new swing for free (it's a nice one too- the sideways and front/back swinging kind with music, a mobile, etc.) I think the only major items we are missing now are the monitor and a breast pump (you all wanted to picture that, right?) I have also found a few very cute and Japanese-y decor items to add to her room, so I think it will be adorable once it is done. 

Now I need to finish painting the living room, find a table and chair set that we like, and get a curtain hung in that room. It is really beginning to feel like we live here though, so that is good. 

I also got cell phones this week (not to call the states with- that is our home phone, just to have to call each other basically). And we got our 2nd car. I love it! It's a Nissan Rasheen, which basically looks like a cross between a jeep and a land rover that went thru a trash compactor. I'll post pictures later. 

I went to the 36th squadron spouse meeting last Monday and met some other nice wives, and am going to the Yokota Officers Spouses Club mtg next week. I also went to the park today with a great mom's meet-up group. So, I've meet some people and made some friends. Life is good. Things are movin and groovin here in Japan! I'll post some pics of the cars later, and house pictures as I get it put together and settled. 

Our Stuff is HERE!

Yay for household goods shipments! Our stuff arrived today, and so far, everything arrived in great shape. I think the boxes are multiplying in here as I swear I unpack one and turn around and 4 more are in it's place. But that's ok, it's OUR stuff and we can finally unpack and feel like this is home. Well, until we get to turn around and do it all again in just 3 short years....

Our Quarters

Just a quick post.  I wanted to share a few pictures of our quarters on here. This is the outside of our building. There are 4 units per building.

 

Here is a closer picture of our end of the building. We are the door on the left. You can see our lovely window air conditioning units too. They are ugly, but they work. Actually, we are the lucky ones on base. The redone units have their temps controlled by the Air Force. We get to control our own. They don't make for the prettiest things to look at, but I'll take a comfort over charm anyday!!

Here is a close-up of our front porch. Note the lovely metal door and the screen door (latched open). The windows next to the door are very "Japanese-y". You can't see in our out of them, although you feel like you should be able to- it's sort of annoying. I'd like to put some sort of shelf or something in front of them on the inside, and maybe a big plant on the outside. Of course, by the time we get all this set up, I'm sure we will be on our way to moving again. 

Each unit has your name above the door. Cochran is not a very Japanese name, and has given more than one local a hard time with pronunciation. It followed into the spelling too, because we are now the "CochrOn" famil

y. Oh well! 

I'll post some pictures of the inside of our place once we get all our own stuff here. Right now, it's rather sparse with the few loaner items we have. I can't wait to get our stuff here and really make this place feel like home!

Our first trip into Tokyo @ 22weeks pregnant

First off, here's a horrible picture of me at 22weeks pregnant. Please excuse the look on my face- I was trying to take the picture myself. I look horrible and have no make-up on, but the important part is you can see my bump!

Now, onto the fun stuff. Yesterday we took our first trip into Tokyo! We went with some friends that are also stationed here, my brother's friend from h.s. and his wife, Matt and Amanda. They have been here since November, so they know their way around a little bit better than we do! We walked to the Fussa station to get on the train. First we went to Shinjuku and walked around a bit. That area has lots of big, tall buildings and shopping. You can see some of the buildings here:

After walking a bit, we got back on the train and went a few more stops to Shibuya. This huge crosswalk is here, and as you can see there are TONS of people in Tokyo. I really thought it was like that just in movies. Nope, it's real! There are TONS of people in this country and you have to keep up with your group or you could easily get separated. It isn't scary though, just a neat experience. 

We also stopped here at a pub for a bit. The boys and Amanda each got a beer. I was out of control with my coke- ha! Things here are expensive- the beers were $11.00 each, and my coke was $5. Tokyo isn't a cheap city to live in (another reason we live on base! Here's a pic of the view of the street from the pub:

After that we rode the train over to Harajuku and walked around a bit more. This area is known for the eccentric crowd- those who dress crazy and out of control. Think Anime characters, or maybe Super Mario Brothers. We saw a few, although they weren't really out in force yesterday. Neat area to explore though, and there is lots of shopping there too. 

After exploring Harajuku a bit, we went back down to Shibuya for dinner. Here are Matt and Amanda walking to the restaurant. We met some of Matt and Amanda's friends down there and we all went to this Brazilian steakhouse place, called Barbacoa. It was expensive but delicious!!! There was a huge salad bar to get all kinds of things off of- veggies, salads, etc. And all thru dinner guys would come by with various kinds of meat on skewers and just cut pieces off to eat, like this one here:

Here is the menu, showing the various cuts of meat they offered. We ate and ate and ate. It was GOOOOOOD!!! 

We had a great day and it was fun to get out of the wire and explore a bit. We enjoyed ourselves and are excited to get out again soon!

Weekend Fill-ins

1. Anonymous...doesn't really describe me. 

2. My husband is...a great supporter; a sweet, loving man with a heart of gold; and going to be an amazing Daddy.

3. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, you...make me appreciate all the good things in my life.

4. Flowers, warmer temperatures, and cook-outs outside on back patios ...are what I look forward to most about Spring.

5. Who needs therapy when...you live in a country where you don't understand what 95% of the population is even saying!

6. Chocolate bunnies, Cadbury creme eggs, and jelly beans...MUST go in the EASTER basket!

7. As for the weekend, I'm looking forward to...exploring Tokyo with Brett tomorrow, getting our second car, starting my "learning Japanese" classes, and celebrating Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!!