Sanrio Puroland aka Hello Kitty Land

As we approach March, we are slowly coming to the realization that we only have one year left here in Japan.  We have been creating a mental list of all the places we still need to go and things we still need to do and experience.  Living in Japan is a once in a lifetime experience and we want to make sure we take full advantage of this time to explore.  On the top of my short list was Sanrio Puroland – land of Hello Kitty and her adorable friends.

Before I go on, I should mention that it is Bern writing this blog entry.  Though I’m sure Mark felt the exact same excitement I felt coming to the motherland of all things Sanrio. 

Sanrio Puroland is an indoor theme park that technically has 4 floors- but really only 2 floors of attractions.  From the moment the building appeared outside the window of our ITT bus, you can easily guess what was in store for us…. Cuteness overload!!! 

The Cariaga’s also went on this tour – so I was happy that Mark had some boys around to offset all the girliness.  My O-dub, Kristine, and I could not get over how kawaii everything was!

As you can guess… the interior was just too cute for words.  So I won’t even try.

The first ride we went on was the Sanrio Character Boat Ride.  It displayed most of the Sanrio Characters in a “Small World” type boat ride.  The classics were all present, such as Kerokerokeroppi and Pochacco.  But, we were also introduced to some new characters, such as Cinnamoroll and Purin. We were somewhat confused with the Badtz-maru display.  Apparently, he was a very, very bad penguin and deserved a spanking.

It is the 40^th anniversary of the creation of Kiki and his older twin sister Lala aka Little Twin Stars.  There were plenty of photo opportunities.  You can just see the excitement oozing out of Mark. 

After we watched a show at the Discovery Theater –which was in Japanese, but still very entertaining, we were getting hungry.  There were several restaurants to choose from, but we decided to eat at the Food Machine Restaurant since it had something for everyone.  It was a cafeteria style restaurant, where you just grab what you want and pay at the end.  The food, as you can guess, what also so darn cute.  I ate the chicken and croquettes and Mark had the pork tonkatsu.  Mark even got to drink his Sapporo Beer from a cutesy Sanrio Character cup.

Afterwards, we decided to stop by and visit Lady Kitty House, the actual home of Hello Kitty.  Her living room furniture was made up of teddy bear lined couches.  It felt very weird to sit on them.  There was even a Japanese styled tatami room...of course you would need to remove your shoes before entering.  As you exit her house, you get to visit and take a photo with her. I didn’t buy the photo, but Mark took this pic of me bear hugging Hello Kitty with all my might.

It also is the 40^th anniversary of the My Melody character.  Apparently, there has been resurgence in her popularity and she is making a comeback with all her available merchandise.  There was a cute My Melody Dream Café if you needed a quick pick me up.  It reminded me of the Hello Kitty Café in Odaiba.

The last attraction we went on was “My Melody and Kuromi Mymeroad Drive”.  For those of you that don’t know (like me), Kuromi is My Melody’s rival.   You often see her wearing a black jester’s hat. As for the ride… Pictures were taken at each and every section starting within the first 5 seconds of the ride.  We didn’t understand why at first but then at the end we saw kiosks and we were able to pick and choose the pictures and make a collage- similar to the fancy photo booths here in Japan. 

Going to Sanrio Puroland was definitely worth it. I mean… there is NO other Sanrio Puroland in the world.  We are living in Japan - we need to see where it all began.  It’s a worldwide phenomenon that transcends every age group.  I didn’t get to see my favorite character, Zashikibuta – but there were more than enough cute characters all around the park.  There were so many awesome places to take pictures.  Even the vending machines and high chairs were all decked out hello kitty style.  I’m so glad we went.  Sometimes, I still can’t believe we live here!

Now that that is crossed off our list…onto the next adventure!  Maybe, I’ll let Mark choose the next one.

The 4th Quarter of 2015

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I can't believe that this will be our last full year here in Japan. Time has gone by so fast and Bern and I already have a lot of things planned for 2016; including a visit from Bern's Mom and sister, a trip to China to see the Great Wall & the Forbidden City, a Kali training session in the Philippines, Efren & Patricia's wedding, and hopefully a visit from a few of our friends from SD and Seattle. But before all this happens, here's a brief recap of the past 4th quarter of 2015....

BIRTHDAYS:

In October, we celebrated my birthday with the Kali Himagsikan crew at an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ restaurant in Yokohama.

In November, we celebrated Bern's special day with tickets to the Janet Jackson concert at the Saitama Super Arena, which is a little bit north of Tokyo. 

And because he was underway, we also celebrated Bern's brother Chris' birthday by taking him to the Hooters in Shibuya with Melissa (Bern's cousin) and her family.

   

HOLIDAYS:    

For Thanksgiving, the three of us decided to take a four day trip to Seoul, South Korea. We couldn't pass up the great deal we got through the travel agency on base; the price included airfare, hotel accommodations at the Dragon Hill Lodge located inside the Yongson Garrison Army base, and two guided tours. We arrived in Seoul on Thursday evening so decided to eat at one of the hotel restaurants that served a Thanksgiving dinner buffet. The food was mediocre at best but at least they served all of those traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

The next morning we had our first tour, which was of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). The armistice that put a halt to the Korean War (1950-1953) divided the Korean Peninsula into North & South Korea. The two sides were separated by the DMZ which runs along the 38th parallel north. It's basically like "no-man's land" that serves as a buffer zone between the two countries. The first stop on our tour was at Dorasan Station. This $40 million dollar project was constructed in 2002 and was the final train stop before heading into North Korea. At first, the trains only carried limited freight and a few workers. But only after a year of opening, fluctuating tensions quickly escalated and the North Korean government no longer allowed trains to come in; which meant the closing of this train station.  

Right above the Dorasan train station was a hill top that overlooked the border of North Korea. The weather was kind of cloudy that day but we still managed to get somewhat of view...

The next stop was the Third Infiltration Tunnel site where we walked down approximately 240ft underneath the DMZ. Pictures were strictly prohibited but the tunnel was built by North Korea in case they wanted to invade Seoul; with about 30,000 men. North Koreans claimed that the tunnel was used for coal mining but there was no evidence of coal to be found. The scary thing is that this is only one of three tunnels that have been found by South Korean authorities; it is believed there about nine more in existence leading into Seoul. CRAZY!      

Unfortunately the tour did not include the Joint Security Area of the DMZ where the two sides are literally face to face, constantly standing guard 24/7... but that didn't stop Bern and I from posing next to anime-like statues of South Korean soldiers...

On our way back to the hotel, the bus stopped at a rest area for lunch where we had our first Korean meal that included all of the typical sides like kimchi and other pickled veggies.

The rest of the day was spent shopping at the Namdaemun Market where street vendors sold a variety of items. This was a great place to load up on all the souvenirs....

After a few hours of shopping in Namdaemun, we then headed over to Dongdaemun where they had a number of food vendors cooking up so many different Korean specialties.

Our tour guide earlier in the day suggested we try pajeon, which is a like a fried Korean pancake. It was pretty tasty and came with this onion-infused soy sauce for dipping.    

The third day of our trip was a tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace, located right in the heart of Seoul. This was once home to the Korean royal family during the Joseon Dynasty. It was slightly snowing that day but we still got to walk through the palace grounds which was a pretty big compound to say the least....

The changing of the guard...

Standing next to our Chinese zodiac animal characters

     

Even though we were freezing our butts off, we still had a great time in Seoul, South Korea!

On Christmas Eve, we went to midnight mass and then on Christmas morning we opened our presents. During the day we watched the classic Christmas Story along with a few other holiday themed movies building up an appetite for an All You Can Eat Christmas Buffet dinner on base with the Cariaga family. To burn off some of those calories, we all decided to go bowling afterwards which was a fun way to end the night.

You've heard of "Elf on a Shelf," Bern wanted to start a new tradition called "Mark in the Dark"

For New Years Eve and New Years Day, we had the Cariaga family come over to our place so we could watch the fireworks at Verny Park which is right across the street from our apartment. Ted and I both wanted to cook something new so I decided to make the Vietnamese soup pho and Ted made salt and pepper chicken wings. Although both of our dishes weren't nearly as good as what we were used to back home, the taste/flavor was at least there which was fine by us. For dessert, Bern made cookies and Kristine made truffles which were all delicious.

Bern and I want to wish all of our family and friends happiness and success in 2016! We appreciate all of your love and support throughout the years and look forward to the day we see you again.    

Christine & Vinky's visit to Yokosuka

Back in early October, my cousin Christine and my niece Vinky were here in Japan so we got the chance to spend a few days together in the local area. First on the list was to take them to the best chu-hi bar in all of Yokosuka for some melon flavored chu-hi's...

Then we had some dinner at a Japanese Izakaya

Then the following day we took them to the famous Buddha statue in Kamakura (a must see!)

And off to Yokohama where it was a beautiful autumn day...

We went to one of the local malls and discovered that they have a Lenard's bakery serving fresh malasadas; we had to stop by a grab a box of course...   

After our delicious snack it was off to the Yokohama Oktoberfest. This was the first time Bern and I had ever been to an actual Oktoberfest celebration and we were not disappointed. With so much good food & the number of German beers to choose from, we had a blast to say the least. 

The German style band went into the crowd to pick volunteers to help them play the song Edwelweiss from the Sound of Music on cowbells; and what do you know they picked Vinky to go up on stage...   

And no trip to Yokohama would be complete without a trip down to Chinatown. My cousin Christine is also part Chinese so it was definitely on her things to do list here in Japan.  

While there, both her and Vinky enjoyed a Dr. Fish session to end the night...  



Even though the their time here in Yokosuka was short, it was just so nice to see them again. We always have a lot of laughs everytime we see each other at family gatherings and look forward to seeing them again soon.  

(Goofing around at the local karaoke joint)