Our #1 - 6 Visitors

March was indeed a great month... we had some close friends from SD visit us here in Japan on two separate occasions. Even though Bern and I have been away now for over a year, it's really nice to know that we can just pick up right where we started off with these people; a true sign of friendship in my book! We had so much fun showing them around Japan while experiencing some new things of our own. Here are a few highlights...

Our first visitors were Jerry and Grace. Took them to the Great Buddha in Kamakura:

Yokohama's Chinatown:

Because they were able to stay with us for two weeks, we managed to schedule a couple of excursions through the MWR (Military acronym for Morale, Welfare, & Recreation). Our first trip was to Kairakuen in the Ibaraki Prefecture. It's recognized as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan with over 3,000 plum and sakura trees. Kairakuen even had a huge bamboo forest towards the back of the garden that we were able to walk through. Afterwards, the tour bus took us to Mashiko, an area in Japan famous for their pottery and this huge ceramic "tanuki" which is mix between a raccoon and a dog. The tanuki represent fortune and prosperity in Japanese folklore.      

The latter part of our trip took us to Chiyoda fruit farms where we were able to eat as many strawberries as we could in 30 minutes. These strawberries were harvested using no chemical substances which made them safe to eat right off the vines; soooooo good!

Our second excursion was the following day in Tokyo for Anime Fest 2015. Anime (animation) & Manga (comic books & graphic novels) of course are very popular here with fans of all ages so this three day convention was all about showing off the new material for 2015 and beyond; very similar to Comic Con. Even though Bern and I aren't really into anime, it was cool just to experience this yearly event.   

Because Tokyo is about an hour and a half train ride from Yokosuka, we thought it would be easier just to stay in the Tokyo area for a few days at the military hotel New Sanno. While in Tokyo, we of course checked out Akihabara since Jerry is into anime but the area is also well known for their maid cafes. These restaurants have girls dressed up in maid costumes serving up a variety of cutesy themed menu items. Halfway through our meal, they turned down the lights and started to sign and dance on stage...hilarious! They try to get the crowd into it by having everyone wear cat ears and yell out "meow-meow" which was uncomfortable for me but somehow Jerry seemed to love it! haha 

  
We even got the opportunity to visit the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace, where the Emperor of Japan lives. The tour only consisted of a few key spots like the official welcoming area for foreign dignitary and the porch where the Emperor comes out to greet the public on New Years Day; but it would have been nice to actually see the palace itself.

A new part of Tokyo Bern and I have never been to before was Ueno Park; it had a man-made lake in the middle of the Park and plenty of stores and restaurants nearby:

Speaking of food & drinks, Jerry and Grace got to experience some popular Japanese cuisines like ramen, yakiniku, shabu-shabu, CoCo House curry, yakitori, and sushi. But without a doubt the best part was all the Sake & Chu-Hi's! (Strongs & Bitterrrrrrrr's)       

The two weeks Jerry and Grace were here was perfect because it gave us just the right amount of time to explore Japan without having to feel rushed. During which we still had some crazy adventures which is why we were sad to see them leave. But just two days later, we welcomed our second set of visitors: Efren, Patricia, Chris, and Mike. Now even though they were here for vacation, there was another special reason for their trip...Efren was planning to propose to Patricia in front of Mt. Fuji. Back in February, I wrote that Bern and I took a day trip to the Lake Kawaguchiko area. The main purpose of that adventure was to do some recon for Efren so he could determine the best place to pop the question. He decided that the view of Mt. Fuji from the Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine & Pagoda was the perfect spot. So literally a day after Efren and Patricia's arrival, we met up with Chris and Mike who got into Tokyo a few days earlier, boarded a bus in Yokohama and headed towards Lake Kawaguichiko.

Needless to say Patricia was really surprised when Efren popped the question. We were so happy that we got to witness the proposal and managed to buy some sake at the Lake Kawaguicho station earlier that day to help celebrate this joyous occasion! Congratulations again!   

  

Efren obviously wanted to make this day special so he even reserved a suite for him and his new fiancée at the Kakuna no Taze Hotel on the edge of the lake for one night. The suite came with a private spa on their balcony overlooking Mt. Fuji.... a perfect way to end the day!

The following day Bern, Chris, Mike and I met up with the two lovebirds at the Yokosuka train station and ate dinner. After our meal, I had my first karaoke experience in Japan.

Yokohama was next on the itinerary with a visit to Chinatown where the guys got to do something really unique to this area, have little fish eat the dead skin cells off our feet. We all kept laughing because it was so ticklish having these fish between our toes, but at the end of the session our feet did feel a bit smoother.    

  



 Getting around on trains was sometimes very crowded...

and sometimes very empty...

But nonetheless we made the most of it and still managed to see some really cool spots, like Naka Meguro for the cherry blossom night festival:

Shinjuku for the Robot Restaurant; think Medieval Times meets Terminator at a rave:

 

Shibuya & Akihabara for Efren's love of anime:

And with any trip of course is the food; everything from delicious tonkatsu, okonomiyaki, tempura, sushi, kit-kat sandwiches, and even homemade spam-musubi's: 

But Efren loved Pepper Steak the most which is why we had to have it twice!

There is a saying that goes "Treat your FAMILY like friends and your FRIENDS like family" and knowing these guys for over 20 years now certainly lives up to this adage. Japan is on the other side of the ocean so for all of them to take the trip out here means a lot to both Bern and myself. It's not good times, it's always Great Times with these people!

We are so thankful we got to see them and hopefully this opens the door for more visitors to this great country...HINT HINT! THIS MEANS YOU! haha 

On the horizon, we look forward to having Bern's sister Beverly in June, the whole Matsunaga clan in September, and Bern's mom next March. Can't wait!