Branden's first JHS undokai...

If you live in Japan, you know what a senpai is. : ) For those of you outside of Japan, a senpai is a person who has more experience than you and can show you the ropes, so to speak. I am lucky in that... I had a few special people when my kids were in yochien sorta take me under their wing, and help me out if I needed it. And also at the elementary school too. When Branden was in the first grade in elementary school for example and I know I shared this story before but.... A-chan who lives across the street, she is 2 grades older than Branden and an only child. Anyway while we were packing up the MPV all those years ago, to pack the car for the following day, anyway A-chan's mom came outside and said in a sort of hush tone, something along the lines... and of course I'm translating it but she said something along the lines of..."you can go and save a spot tonight if you want...I would really save a spot tonight versus tomorrow" Her gentle nudging and words of wisdom were like gold! We did go and save a spot that night and have been quietly doing so all of Branden's elementary school years, all thanks to A-chan's mom. Anyway they know Branden is a 7th grader this year and on the Thursday before Branden's undokai, as I was exiting my car, A-chan's mom was out checking the mail from the mailbox and she said again in a hushed tone..."you know..you can save a spot at the JHS, same as the elementary school...it's your choice though there's plenty of spots the day of... too though" Again...her words of wisdom...her daughter is a 9th grader this year. I listened and I heartily thanked her and told her, I would save a spot on Friday then. For what it's worth, her husband is the head of the school board for our town, so she knows the rules. Also, she has never told, "Boy next doors mom or R-kun or anyone else on our street" Just us....why us? I honestly don't really know. A-chan's mom is quiet, keeps to herself. I leave her alone, I don't over bother her, over talk to her...I leave her be, but always give her a smile. This picture is from Friday, the day before Branden's undokai. There were 4 people setting and saving a spot. Us, A-chan's mom and 2 of her friends. I left my house when A-chan's mom left her house. They were team white and we were team red, so we saved a spot on the opposite side of the field. When Bran and Noah and I were walking with leisure sheet and tent, we greeted each other, the senpai mom's and I. A-chan's mom greeted me first and her 2 friends followed suit.. right away. I smiled and head bowed and walked around the field. We set up this spot, the English teacher came out to where we were setting up and helped me unroll the leisure sheet. She's Japanese and very awesome, she's the other 7th grade sensei/teacher. We chatted, her and I, she chatted with Branden, she chatted with Noah, first time for her to see and meet Noah. And then she left and waved. And Bran and Noah and I set the tent up. Then we went home and we had cream stew (I made it in the day) and I prepped for the undokai lunch for the next day after we ate supper. Feeling quite happy and relaxed we had our spot. We would now *not* have to wake up at 5am or something to save a spot because we already had one. Phew. 

Though the JHS kids only had 1 week to prepare for the undokai, they did zip/nothing else all the week prior except take 1 test that covered their summer homework. But the rest of the week was undokai practice for the entire 8 hours or so each day, Monday through Friday. So it was quite an intense undokai prep. Saturday everyone was ready for the undokai. Rain was a worry on peoples minds, only because the forecast predicted rain and of course after going through all the cooking nobody wants a 1 day delay of sports day. Luckily for us all... it was not raining at all. In fact it was too hot that day. : ) Here is the field, tents all around the field. 

Since there is only 2 classes per grade, the 7th grade class A for example were team red and the 7th grade class B were team white. That type a thing. This was the 7th grade white team pictured here. See that kid in the front row, I am seriously kidding you not...he's the height of Noah. He apparently came from the other elementary school in our town. There are 3 short kids from our elementary school that now go to JHS here... but they looked liked giants compared to this kiddo, he's such a cutie pie. A real cutie. He's so tiny...so small. Just couldn't believe all these kids in this picture are all the same age and grade. Seriously not exaggerating this kid was Noah's height. 

The entire school. Our local elementary has what 190-220 kids at the most? But that's all 6 grades combined. This is just 3 grades at JHS, so the amount of kids is teeny tiny. 

All the kids doing warm up exercises! Hi Branden! Bran, twisting his body around. : )

Go team red!

In JHS, at our particular school at least...a lot more boys without shirts. At the elementary school nobody went without shirts at our local elementary school. But at the JHS...seemed the kids went without shirts quite a bit. Just a little observation. 

Clapping and cheering for team red and team white. 

This right here in this picture has never happened at our yochien or our elementary school either. This was a first and I really loved that they did this! See how team red is bowing in this picture? So team red bowed while the white team cheered for the red team. Okay don't laugh...but they were like empowering each other...building up each other. I loved this! So the red team bowed and the white team said...stuff like..."good luck today white team, you can do it!" I was like...holy goodness, I love this! This rocks! And then the red team did the same thing to the white team. At our local elementary school they usually say stuff like...fight-o!!!...meaning fight...win for their own team. But this was totally different, they cheered the opposing teammates. Anyway...I thought it was cool. : ) Building each other up, like that! You know what I mean, hopefully. 

Team red bowing. 

Just have fun...and remember we love you so much B!!! : )

On your mark...get set....go!

Also at the JHS, you can put a tent up to the front, pictured here. So you only need to save 1 spot not 2. You know how our elementary has a weird rule, you can only have a leisure sheet near the field, so most people have to save 2 spots, which is a space hog and nobody wants to do that anyway! Nobody took 2 spots thanks to this tents can go right up to the field. This race Branden came in 4th place or 5th place? Out of 6 people. : ) He's just not a runner, we know that already. And that's fine. Every time he finished a race, we smiled and waved. Wanting him to know...we are just simply...proud of you. That's all, no reason necessary. : ) 

This race on the other hand, Branden came in 2nd place, which surprised me. It was a race you had to pick a card and do what the card said. Roll a soccer ball into a basket. One kids card said..find a lady with a pony tail and finish the race with her! So a kid had to grab a mom with pony tail she was just a by-stander...she's actually Branden's classmates mom and a nurse in our town. Branden's card said, do nothing else just get to the finish line...so he booked it... to the finish line. Oh and that teacher in the pic with sun visor is the English teacher. : ) She's very nice. She helped me lay my leisure sheet down the night before, like I said, haha. : ) And I didn't ask her to or for help...she just wanted to talk, I guess. Cool. : ) 

Aha, I am getting ahead of myself here, this is the race Branden came in 2nd place. I took that pic up above before Branden ran it, when he was in line waiting his turn. Here he is....All 7th graders here...

Figures, our tent pole... photobombs Branden's pic! Hahaha. Sorry. : )

Branden next to the basketball with paper in hand saying go to the finish line...everyone else had them doing a few other things. Oh also..you had to name that flag to the country...Branden named the flag and country easily and the other kids had flags they could not identify. Good job Bran!

This was the 8th graders race with parents. However...as you can see by the looks of this little elementary school kid. A lot of kids ran with siblings instead of their parents. Is this an acceptable thing to do at our local JHS? It must be so, because I seriously saw about 10 elementary kids at different races partaking in races with their older sibling. This does not happen at our local elementary school. : ) 

Many cities have nice big police stations. Our town is so tiny and small it has 1 small koban/police box...it's actually a house, where he lives. He's the one and only guy for our town. He was invited to be in the undokai and be in a race. He also is invited and attends all elementary school entrance ceremony's, graduation ceremony's and JHS ceremony's as well. Noboru says...it must be a country side thing because zero police or officials showed up to his undokai in the heart of Osaka. Hahaha. : ) Our town mayor also attends. Hahaha. : ) 

This was a race, club versus club! You had to get yourself across and around the field...and only like 5 kids per each club were picked, not the whole team. You either had to volleyball yourself across the field..tennis yourself across the field. Meaning bouncing the ball with your hands, a racket. 

If you are in band, you have to play certain songs throughout the field. 

If you are in kendo you must fight your way across the field. : ) 

Do you see the 2 heads in the window in the background? They watched almost the entire undokai. : )

Newbies race!!! All 7th graders with parents or sibling/family member. 

Noboru is happy and smiling. He's usually always smiley in real life, just never in pictures, but I managed to get one. : ) And Bran is making a very interesting face here! Hahaha. : ) Aha, see a girl with hat in the background behind B? See, many younger siblings ran the race with their JHS sibling. 

Father and son! 

Wow, their team won, go figure! Good job Noboru and Branden! : )

Jump rope contest! 7th grade red team, versus 7th grade white team, versus 8th grade red and white team, and 9th grade red and white teams too. Whole school. : ) 

They all huddled in their own team/class. And got their jump rope on! : )

Go 7th grade red team...that's the team we were rooting for! : ) They came in 2nd place for 1 race. But were beaten in the end by a 9th grade team. : ) They asked for a rematch and they jump roped again and lost, but had a blast doing so. : )

Branden crouching down in the front row towards the far right.

Branden smiling at far right. My own personal observations about a JHS undokai in Japan, clearly. Again, I can only speak for myself and my own experiences but in any case here they are. Our elementary school undokai has a huge big half time show, big musical marching band type number. The kids practice for a long time with that. There is no/zero half time marching band type show at JHS. Or our JHS at least has none. Also at the elementary school parents are usually often walking all around the field for every race their child is in, trying to get that perfect shot/pic! Things just seem more relaxed at the JHS undokai. Parents basically all sat and chilled under their tent the entire time. And it was mostly about the races or sports, no huge fancy half time show. It still lasted length-wise the same amount of time. But it just seemed more chill at the local JHS undokai. After this JHS jump rope race, we all broke for lunch!

From top to bottom, we have rice balls, karaage (marinated really good all white breast meat Japanese style chicken nuggets), fruit platter, which is just super sweet huge dark purple grapes, apple and mikan. A salad. Dumplings, tamagoyaki, meatballs (these 3 things come premade from the store, the dumplings, meatballs and tamagoyaki) and macaroni salad, I made. We brought quite a few big bottles of drink. Sports drink, 1 jasmine tea, 1 straight tea and a few 500ml sodas, we never seem to have enough drinks, no matter how much I bring. : )

30 minutes for lunch and not really a lot of time. The cute plates and cups I bought from the Daiso/100 yen. However the cups are hella weak and we doubled the cups mid lunch, they didn't leak mind you, but they were bulging under the cup, so looked super weak. The plates are fine and normal though. 

It was melting hot. Branden eating and trying to cool down some. 

Noah's melting face too. We were all so hot. Like I said..I had to pop an Advil during lunch, I had the absolute worst throbbing headache and I usually don't get headaches all too often maybe 1-2 a year tops...I wondered if it was pre-heat stroke or what. It was just temperature wise superly hot that day. 

My meal. 

We also had cake. I'd say 90% of this entire school came from/originated from our particular shogakko/elementary school. The other school is super small population wise. So we all felt at home. Saw faces we hadn't seen in a year or two. Hisashiburi (long time no see!!!) : ) And also met and greeted our new friends/classmates parents too and let them know...hi friend/let's be friends. ne~. : ) Okay so that was lunch...

The 7th grade boys about to run shirtless across the field. Branden told me, many of his classmates were dreading this part. hahaha. Could be the whole every one's in puberty time or I don't know why. : ) Branden doesn't/didn't care at all. He's a swimmer... so he's used to spending 2 hours in sports/competitive type/racer swimming trunks for crying out loud....so it's truly NOT a big deal to him at all. But yeah,, he said some boys were not looking forward to this part. hahaha. : )

Branden's front row, 2nd to left. 

About to run on the field....

Branden and his teammate are the front 2...

Branden's feet! Hi Branden's feet! lol. : )

That kids taller, but Branden's way stronger, so that kid got on B's shoulders. 

Next they teamed up with a 3rd kid. Keita-kun is super short, so he worked great on their shoulders. 

Fantastic balance K! : )

Good job all of you! : )

Boy next door, and Branden holding up another kid that was not K. 

I am so proud of you, B! Now they were about to play a very scary game of chicken. Where you go and try and knock the other team down and splat on the floor!

One part of me says...this is an old game that has been played for years at Japanese undokai. So chill!!! Tradition and all that. But my American voice inside me, meanwhile says...."Hey, I didn't sign a consent form for this!"..."what about a head injury, am I the only one worried about a possible head injury here?!" "Statistically speaking, how many kids get injured playing this yearly?"..."would you let the girls play this?"..."my child is a boy, but yes I still worry, just as much!"...so yes a million things are going through my mind. 

In yochien they simply ripped each others hat off. Here, they were fighting and pushing and it's getting far too rough and tumble for me to feel 100% comfortable. 

That team pushed and knocked this team down and dirt kicked up...you could literally hear the bodies fall down. Sounded like bowling pins getting knocked down and not in a good way! You hear groans. I am meanwhile wondering...is Branden okay? 

Close up....you see dirt kicked up...kids looked injured. That kid holding his hand up saying stop. I'm scanning my eyes around wondering...is my child okay? I love my child and I'd like him to go home in 1 piece and preferably not in a wheelchair due to injury from this! If you know what I mean. @.@ And would you believe they all got up and did it again. @.@ I can't imagine my kid playing tackle American football.. without helmet and shoulder pads and padding and safety gear. So yeah...this really freaked me out, as a mom! I tell ya! Fit to be tied people...fit to be tied! I looked calm on the outside...frazzled to pieces... on the inside during this 1 event.

About to do this again! This was the only part of the day...where I wasn't exactly too thrilled.The good news is, he didn't get a CAT scan or anything afterwards. @.@ But we did take Branden to the docs for an x-ray for his left foot the following/next Monday, 2 days after. Nothing is broke, but the doc doesn't want him to do PE for a week or two and he has inserts for his shoes to help with the pain in his left foot. @.@ Just a little too rowdy for my comfort level. : ) 

The girls were meanwhile standing and crying...yes I am not kidding, many were weeping during the whole chicken knock down thing. Granted it's not their fault, they are also going through the whole puberty thing, and many of these kids have been classmates for 6 years at least. They were worried and a little emotional. Heck...we all were worried. 

Another pick of the chicken fight. Holy goodness. 

Branden hanging out with his friends! How did Branden feel about the undokai? He said he loved it! He said it was a lot funner than his elementary school undokai. He also said, he didn't mind the chicken fight knock down match either! @.@ Which is good to know... because meanwhile for me.. it gave me a mini heart attack while watching. A lot of the time when they weren't having races, they were off to the side just kicking it with their friends! Branden has tons of friends so...he had a blast!

Here Branden is again...just cutting it up with his friends! He just had the best time! At elementary school if you are not racing, you must sit nicely in your seat. Here at our local JHS, they get to stand or chat with friends. 

Here the kids had an American style line dance and they danced it to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw". In Japan though, they call it..."Oklahoma Mixer" and the reason is because Mr. Shinkichi Tamaki who was a founder of the Japan Association of Teachers of Dancing (JATD) founded in 1929, knew the original dance of  the"Oklahoma Schottische." He tried to introduce the dance originally to elementary schools in Japan, but it was not suitable because the dance was just too difficult for kids. So he borrowed the music from "Turkey in the Straw" and made an easier dance along the lines of the Oklahoma dance, but more suitable for kids, but they still changed partners. Somehow most Japanese today... associate the music/song as the "Oklahoma Mixer" though the song is really in fact named something else entirely (Turkey in the Straw). : ) Go figure. : ) Also for what it's worth...Branden and Noah know that song, but only because they used to have a kids songs CD, and the title of the song was..."Do Your Ears Hang Low?" but same melody completely, lol. Look at Branden smiling and laughing in this picture you guys! A genuine heartfelt laugh! He's been having a really great time in JHS, oh...he is having himself a blast at JHS. : )

Branden laughing and dancing with his classmates, before they all switched partners again. 

Branden dancing with this girl...she's a nice girl! : ) 

Guess who won? Both teams did! A tie...seriously no joke! Both teams were happy though... nobody really cares too much who wins in JHS, just isn't the main goal of the day. The kids goal was to just do well....and have fun! They all did that! : ) Branden rode his bike to undokai and 98% of all kids did and that's because the kids had to dismantle the tents and get the field back to normal. While the parents all went home...so the kids all rode their bikes home together afterwards. I made sure to give Branden a 500 yen coin before we left...after it ended so he could buy a shave ice on the way home with his friends. It was only 300 yen each, so he brought me my change back.

Noah and I meanwhile bought a shave ice for the ride home. Noboru wanted an ice cream at 7-11, so that's what he bought along the way home. : ) You can put as many flavors on your shave ice as you want. I had cherry and peach. Yumm. Noah meanwhile put a billion different flavors on his and mentioned in the car he probably should have used less flavors. : ) Yes, I agree Noah! : ) Sometimes less is better with regards to flavors. : ) 

Cherry and peach. We went home and unpacked. We all took turns showering. We were all in our house shorts and house/comfy tees by the time Bran came home an hour later. Branden was dirty, dusty and sweaty on his forehead (he wears deodorant and antiperspirant and body spray so he smelled excellent though, lol...but he was dirty and so we sent him straight to the shower. We had karaage marinating in the liquid about half of it at home still...so while we weren't in the mood for chicken twice in 1 day...frankly I had been up since 5am that morning. I was exhausted...and we all were! So fresh hot fried chicken again was more than fine, we had extra salad at home and extra macaroni salad too and rice. We ate supper and sorta just vegged out watching TV. Time wise...Branden got home around 4pm-ish and took a shower we ate dinner around 4:30pm-ish and just enjoyed the rest of our Saturday evening...in the living room watching TV. Great movies on TV. Anyway...that was Branden's very first JHS undokai. It was fun...fun for the kids, fun for us parents (minus my headache). Very low key...no big huge half time musical show like at the local elementary school. Just a very relaxing day. We were glad it was over with. We were glad it was over...we all were. Branden was having a slight limp and problem with his left foot, like I said. But his spirits were high. He had a blast. And again nice to get 1 of the boys sports days knocked out of the way! Noah...yours is next and grandpa will be here for that! : )  I have been listening to you, play your music on your pianica all September, you have been practicing like crazy...I know you are ready and wanting to get it over with too! : ) Now...do you want sandwiches or karaage for your undokai obento? : )  Anyway that was Branden's undokai 2014! : )

3 day weekend...

It’s a 3 day weekend right now, so the boys don’t have school this Monday, right on! While I do have a yakuin/PTA meeting tonight that starts at 7:30pm and runs to...who knows how long. : ) I’m still pretty happy we have a 3 day weekend. We could all really use one. : )

 

In other news, I have gone through the undokai/sports day pics, finally. I have picked out the pics, I’d like to share. I did “white out” the name of school on each child's shirt, etc....which by the way took me FOREVER to do that, lol! But just safer and peace of mind for me...so worth it for me to take my time doing that. : ) And I did manage to get said pictures on the blog....they are on... but not posted yet. Today if I get an hour, I can hopefully start writing captions/or stories to each pic, while everything’s still fresh in my mind. Hopefully it will get up and posted over the 3 day weekend. : )

 

If you’re in Japan, have a lovely 3 day weekend, if you’re outside of Japan, have a lovely weekend too! : ) 

Update...

Our first JHS undokai is finished. It was pretty much the same thing as a yochien and elementary school undokai except the kids are bigger/older. : )  It was my first time ever having undokai so early in September. It was so hot! So hot in fact... that I actually (first time while living in Japan) wondered if I was coming down with heat stroke. I had a drink and an Advil (travel size always in my bag) and was fine, but yeah it was quite hot, the day of sports day for Branden.

 

Other than that....I did finish my closet 100%. Yay. Finally!!!! : )

 

Branden was off school Monday/yesterday since he did have undokai Saturday...however everyone in a club...had club on Monday, so they did not get the day off to rest at all...however Branden isn’t in a club, so he did get a regular normal day off.  He and I went to lunch...a mother and son lunch, for us yesterday. : )

 

I haven’t even gone through my camera or the pictures I took from undokai yet...can you believe it? Hahaha. Honestly...life’s just really good here...have been enjoying the wonderful nice cool Fall-like breezes we’ve been getting lately. Hanging with my family. Watching excellent TV shows. And cooking good eats for the fam. : )

 

Tonight for example...we’re having baked ravioli. Layered with sauce and cheese (provolone and mozzarella) in between the ricotta stuffed ravioli...it’s in the oven as I type. 4 layers so it’s a biggie. : ) Tomorrow night for dinner we will be having 1 American style fried chicken breast per person (thigh for Noboru) and huge amounts of cheesy gratin potato bake and we’ll also have some steamed veggie. Also this week, we’re having chicken wings with that delicious Japanese sauce, some rice and veggie with that. Teriyaki bowl, is also on the menu this week as well. : )

 

The zucchini plant has been long ripped up and is gone.

 

I placed 2 big orders from Old Navy/Gap USA. One order arrived here in Japan already, thanks to my dad, greatest dad in the universe for always forward shipping them for me. Mostly stuff for me (wasn’t really sure when they’d get in stock at ON Japan and didn’t want to risk them being sold out by the time I got there or what if they didn’t get here at all, so wasn’t gonna risk it, blahblahblah.) And another order is on it’s way...3 jammies for Noah from Gap. And that black Ooh lala sweater from Old Navy... for me and a few other odds and ends. Also...ordered 2 pair of new jeans for Noah from Cecile... a Japan ordering online shop, that I love and Noah’s fave pair of jeans always come from there, so ordered the same exact brand and everything,  just a size bigger. So 2 new pair for Noah in size 140cm coming this week. And other than that....we have 2 dates written on the calendar to go and buy the boys a whole bunch of Fall/Winter stuff here in Japan, this month. We'll go to the Gap outlet...Gap regular store, Uniqlo and Old Navy and Nishimatsuya for Noah (to look at their pants there). They both need pants/jeans and long sleeve tops and sweatshirts. Branden is wearing men’s sizes now...and so buying online is something I am weary to do now, for Bran now...since I am still questioning his size...so I prefer buy Branden’s stuff at the actual store now, in person ...especially since his size is still up in the air. : ) Anyway...

 

Talk to ya later...alligators. : ) Have a good night. : )

Hair salon appointment scratched off the list...

I woke up super early yet again. Got breakfast made and the kids fed and made sure both got to school. Came home, had 2 of those Costco frozen pancakes, microwaved, also had a hot coffee. I started getting dressed. I wore a pair of Gap distressed jeans, with my gray Gap T with the cute British guard riding a bicycle with a Gap bag inside his basket. And a Gap black boyfriend cardi (did not realize I wore all Gap until I just typed what I was wearing just now). I had makeup on, primer, concealer, Mac studio fix, blush, lippie, eyeshadow, eyebrow mascara for my brows, the whole bit basically... I was ready for the salon...the only thing that was really weird... was my hair. I purposely do not do anything to my hair the day I go to the salon because, I know that... they need to see...the crazy! They need to actually see the real thing. Not a subdued...I flat ironed it at home, type a deal. They need to see the real thing. lol. Otherwise, what if they gave me a weaker hair straightening... because I tamed it before going in...that's why I go in with my hair totally in it's natural state, so she knows truly... what she's dealing with. : )

Drove myself to the salon. Was waiting for the mall/salon to open up (looking cute, if I don't say so myself... face/nice makeup, nice outfit...and wait for it...my *crazy* "Side Show Bob hair" from the Simpsons, lol) and went right in, I told her...I washed it last night...and she got right to town on my hair. She put the stuff on my hair. I waited what...30 minutes or so? I was reading my magazine/US tabloids. And drinking a drink so I lost all track of time. She rinsed and washed it after that. Blow dried it, flat ironed it. Gave me a trim. She told me a piece on my front layers was slightly different in length...(must be my salon in Guam whoops) but she fixed it and went piece by piece comparing my whole head...so it’s 100% spot on, my hair. After it was flat ironed and she cut the tiniest dot/amount on my hair. She then put solution bottle #2 all over my hair and combed it through. I then waited all over again, but this time a much shorter time. She then washed my hair, shampooed and conditioned it. Massaged my temples, neck and shoulders (bliss)...then she took me to the chair yet again...blowed it dry...2 people came to blow dry each side of my head. Then she flat ironed it yet again for the last time. She sprayed stuff to make it look even shinier.  And I left. I was there so so so long.

Price 9,500 yen about $95 US. Which is a steal really if you think about it... because I got a serious hair straightening, plus a haircut. The Japanese thermal hair straightening treatments here... actually change the hair structure and texture completely...which is why they use flat irons during the process of the hair straightening. My hair was coarse and puffy and wild looking this morning, now it’s silky smooth. My hair is now...straight as a pin...shiny as can be. My hair looks like it belongs on a Pantene commercial...seriously no joke! I know I say that all the time after I get a hair straightening..but it's honestly true. It’s shiny and healthy and reflects light and is so manageable, just so super easy to take care of.  I have been getting these for almost 10 years. The difference in my hair, before and after... is night and day. My hair can really no longer... hold a curl, it’s just straight as a pin. And taking care of it is super easy...all I have to do is wash, conditioner and blow dry it 100% always (has to be blown dry 100% or else) and it will remain like this...until the roots grow out too long. Like every 4 months, for me.

So from now until end of December my hair is going to be just really easy to deal with...my hair is no longer an issue or a thought at all.  Just shampoo, condition and blow dry.  And it will remain like a Pantene ad, type a hair. So for me...$95 US, and to not have to deal with my hair...especially on undokai days...or days when I really am frankly busy enough. It will just save me a load of time. So for me personally...yes it is worth it.  I like low maintenance hair...yet that still looks nice and feminine and pretty. So yeah...just really really worth it for me. No more lions mane type a hair.... well until end of December. And then I’ll have to make another appointment yet again. : ) I really wonder why I waited so long this last time around? @.@ From Feb-Sep? I usually am never delayed with my hair straightening. What took me so long. Oh well, no worries...it’s done now. : )

Meanwhile, Branden and Noah are at swim club right now. Noboru is fishing, he should be home soon. The rotisserie chicken is in the oven as I type. Though Branden had some beef stew before swimming and Noah had a ham sammie. : ) I gave them both 130 yen today so they could buy a Coolish and have it on the swim bus, after swim school. All the kids have been buying Coolish for the bus ride home on Thursdays, so the past few weeks I have been giving them Coolish/ice-cream money on Thursdays swim night (they bring a snack on Monday nights bus ride) The Thursday kids they swim with... like ice-creams and all buy them who ride the bus together, the Monday group however that they swim with and take the bus with, don’t buy ice-creams so they don’t either, on Mondays. Just different set of kids. : ) But Thursday nights is when they buy Coolish for the  (swim) bus ride home. : )

Anyway that’s it from me...for now.

PS...can’t wash my hair tonight at all, but I can wash it tomorrow night. Great.... tomorrow while buying undokai stuff (lunch stuff for our obento), I’ll have to walk around being Mrs. Grease head or Mrs. Greasy scalp. Blech! : ) I better wear a baseball cap tomorrow. Truly, I am sorry for anyone, I encounter tomorrow. I’m usually not like that, I promise. : ) 

The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story...and Swiss Miss Fudge Bars at Costco Chiba New Town right now...

We get our TV shows 1 day delayed from the mainland US, which isn't really bad really at all and that's because our day is a day ahead in Guam and Japan from the US, so for example we watch our Sunday night cartoons on Monday evening here... because it is "really" Sunday in the US. Which makes sense really. Anyway, 1 day delayed (and not complaining and thank goodness for my Slingbox) but anyway...just wanted so say... I enjoyed watching "The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story" on the Lifetime Network/channel, last night. I grew up watching that show, as cheesy as that show was, I enjoyed it and so...I was curious about this Lifetime movie about it. After dinner last night, and showers for the kids and bedtime for them, I enjoyed watching this. 

They showed commercials for the upcoming Lifetime movie on the Brittany Murphy made for TV movie they will air this coming week or the week after. I will be looking forward to that and watching that one too.

Anyway, today's plan was to... clean out my closet. However, I started thinking last night.. about dinner for Thursday night/tomorrow night. The kids swim tomorrow night and with me being at the hair salon in the day for all day tomorrow (which is a rare treat for me)...getting the kids fed was a concern for tomorrow night. So...I left my house this morning and headed to Costco Chiba New Town, arrived at 9:50am, it opens at 10am, but she was letting a few of us in already, so I zipped in, grabbed a fresh out of the oven rotisserie chicken (for dinner tomorrow nights supper...so tomorrow nights dinner issue... not an issue at all anymore, right on!) 1 big hunk of cheese because I have baked gratin cheesy potatoes on my mind for next week. And...they had some new Swiss Miss chocolate fudgesicles, omg! They looked so amazing. However, I was to eat lunch there...and I didn't want them to melt while eating...so I bought them after I had my lunch. The store was still dead...and so zipping to the aisle after my lunch was doable...totally. : ) 

I had a slice of cheese pizza, then parked my cart and went sans cart to get the fudgesicles. Checked right out again and hopped in my car. : )

Oh, in case this info helps anyone...this is the price...there are 18 chocolate bars inside the box.

A horrible camera picture with my cell phone...sorry, but at least I tried to get pics. : )

And here they are...of course they are now safely in my freezer. Tonight's supper will be beef stew. I was home by noon today. I fried the lean beef that I cubed and then got the pot boiling and it's been boiling all day long...very tender beef! : ) I went upstairs to the closet of doom. : ) And spent 2 hours on the closet. It is nearly there...but it still is not 100% quite yet. And tomorrow I'll be gone all day at the hair salon (this wavy puffy out of control hair... just needs to be taken care of once and for all!!!! : ). And tomorrow evening...probably relaxing and getting a quick dinner sorted out. : ) Friday it will be undokai preparation madness around here. And charging of the camera and all that good stuff. : ) Anyway...that's all for now. Just wanted to say hi...and this is what's up for today around here. : )

Oh...I got an email for my next yakuin meeting already. : ( Next meeting is...September 13th at 7:30pm at the community center in our housing community, near our tennis courts in the housing community. Just a short 3 minute walk from our house. I thought we had no other events until the Christmas party? Could we be planning the Christmas party already? This soon? @.@  Holy goodness that's early. Oh well...this Saturday will be a non-weekend type a Saturday (meaning not really a free day/day of leisure)... since we'll be at undokai (no complaints though anything for my kiddos). And the Saturday after that will be a... semi non-weekend Saturday too (meaning not really a free day either) since I'll be spending my evening at a yakuin meeting. Hahaha. Seems there are a lot of events coming up...and so I will enjoy a day at the salon tomorrow. Haven't been to the salon in Japan since February (feels like ages). And I could use a little pampering once in a while. And my hair really needs to be brought under control (I have a nice cut, I recently got... it's just way too wavy and wild right now...lions mane, I tell ya lol). : ) Alright, have a great night everyone. : )

Summer homework in Japan...Branden's science experiment and Noah's experiment (Robo Bug) and handmade coin bank and 2 diary entries!

The weekend before school started. Branden's JHS shoes drying outside. And Branden running one last test with his science experiment. Science experiment on the right of the shoes but also on the patio.  : )

One chocolate chip inside the make shift solar powered oven. Think something along the lines of a tiny micro "Easy Bake Oven" : )

Noah meanwhile, had 2 diaries to write. Drawing or pictures had to be added. This particular diary was about our family vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii. Noah shared 4 pics and glued them on his diary. I noticed last year when the summer diaries were displayed along the walls outside of their classroom, lots of parents really enjoyed looking at the pictures of both Branden and Noah's diary entries, so we opted to add pictures again this year. Noah wrote about the Dole Pineapple plantation and boogie boarding on the island of Oahu. : ) 

Noah's 2nd and final diary entry was on our 2nd overseas trip of the Summer holiday... that we took to Guam. He wrote about the movie he saw, "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the delicious handmade pizza he ate, at our favorite Italian restaurant on Guam. Pictures also included and Noah did draw a little picture of an airplane on that diary entry also. : ) 

Noah's science experiment. Each 3rd grader and older at our particular school have an option of a science experiment or to draw a poster. Noah was excited to be able to do the science experiment this year. His Robo Bug, complete with Fanta orange can. : ) It moves and walks and is quite cool! Noah made this all by himself and he read all the directions in English. I think he did a pretty good job on this. : ) 

Science experiments of course, need a name sticker, that way there's no confusion...whose this belongs to. This is indeed Noah's science experiment. : )

Also, you could make a homemade coin bank...or write another poster yet again but this time on traffic safety. Noah opted to make the coin bank. The first week of August, both the boys brain stormed about Noah's coin bank. And they came up with a plan. The plan was to make a homemade Minecraft coin bank out of clay. Okay so that was the plan. So, I drove both the kids to the nearest place to buy some clay. And let them have at it basically... in the kitchen. However, the Minecraft block was actually harder to make than originally planned. The clay was meanwhile...hardening and getting harder and drier by the second. Becoming almost not able to move. I said, add some more water..make it more pliable. However it was nearly a goner. And as a last second..sort of by the skins of your teeth...type idea...they asked to have my omiyage onsen container, I had just received from the grandma next door. I was planning to save that cute onsen tub container... to put hair ties in it. However the kids needed me..the clay was hardening by each second...so long story short...this base you see right here...is/was the onsen container from the grandma next door (I did love that container, but I frankly love the kids more, so I gave them that cute onsen container no questions asked). They quickly formed the clay around the omiyage container. With probably seconds to spare... before it dried completely. And well...there you have it. This container bank was complete, before we went to Guam (but unpainted). Noah painted it, the day after we got back from Guam. So...not the original plan for the coin bank they had in mind...granted, but it is an acceptable coin bank nonetheless. Noah smartly painted the bottom...a nice summery watermelon design and the inside a watermelon design too. I thought he did a great job. : ) 

The inside of the lid, Noah painted yellow... every inch of this bank was painted. It came our pretty nice, in the end. : ) 

And the lid...with Noah's name. It's very colorful, very cheery and perfect for a summer coin bank. Slot for coins also fits up to a 500 yen coin, we tested it! : ) 

I think it came out really really nice actually. Not the original coin bank they both have envisioned (Minecraft bank). But nice nonetheless. : ) Noah took this to school, yesterday/Monday September 1st, first day of school. Same with his Robo Bug! : ) And his diary entries and all his finished homework. : )

This was the final test day for Branden's science experiment (Saturday). He tested first at the start of August...1 chocolate chip, 2nd he tested a marshmallow (my idea) and our nearest drugstore only had Calpis stuffed marshmallows, hahaha, so we conducted test #2 with a Calpis marshmallow. 3rd test we used a tiny bit of that Kraft processed cheese, you know...the kind you make grill cheese out of. lol. And this final day, we concluded with a chocolate chip yet again. Sort of full circle on his test ingredients. We also used a new piece of tin foil on the bottom each time. Branden went outside, and left each thing outside for 20 minutes, took notes of his findings and then left for an additonal 20 minutes.. so for 40 minutes total...meaning what was the current temperature that day, was it sunny or overcast. Did the ingredient melt fully? Partially? That sort of thing. He also wrote 4 pages on his science experiment...with diagram and findings and conclusion at the end. Also, Branden put this gray tape over a lot of his science experiment...really tried to not show it was from a kit. I mean granted..he won't deny it's a kit...but he didn't want it to SCREAM...kit kit kit, either though. : ) His dad and I thought that was a great idea especially now that he's in JHS. And for the record our JHS, same as our elementary does not say...kits are not allowed at all. 

Really attracts the sun rays with this piece, right here. 

Again trying to give it that...homemade look. Even though..it is not. : ) 

Saturday, we had gathered up all Noah's stuff and put it into his nice fresh clean elementary school bags, got him all nicely packed up. That's what you see right here on the table in the background. We also made sure Branden had all his stuff all nicely packed up too. Oh and this other piece goes to Branden's experiment also. 

All summer long, we stayed up late and later and woke up also later and later. Branden was going to bed around 11pm-ish during Summer break. Noah was going to bed around 9:30pm, sometimes 9:45pm which is super late for Noah. So all last week, I made sure Branden was in bed by 9-9:30pm and Noah was in bed by 8:45pm. And made sure we all woke up last week by 7:30am. Sometimes 7:15am. I just didn't want a huge time shock for us all. Because...before last week, we were sleeping and snoozing in until 9am most days. However...when September 1st rolled around. OMG! Waking up for me at 5:15am, was so unbelievably hard yesterday. The sun wasn't even all the way up yet! @.@  I had shuffled myself down the stairs. Had a nice hot coffee. Turned on my computer, read my emails...didn't reply but that's only because my brain didn't kick in 100% yet...and forming sentences that actually made any sort of sense would have really been pushing it around the 5:25am mark. Went to the kitchen started scrambling some eggs, frying up some breakfast sausages that I keep in the freezer. And went and warmed up some pancakes in the microwave. The boys had been packed up since Saturday (2 days before) so no real mad rush Monday morning. Just everyone in our house was superly sleepy. It rained Monday, so I drove both boys to school. I worry on rainy days Branden will skid on his bike and be killed or something, plus the 2 schools are like literally a 1 minute drive difference.. so almost no difference at all. Plus Branden could lug all his stuff in my car versus his bike. Same for Noah. Dropped the both of them off, where they both needed to go. I went home...I was wearing, house shorts, a house shirt, and a headband and flip flops. It was not cute Monday morning, I tell ya. : ) I did brush my teeth though and combed my hair at least. I went home, washed my face, put my makeup on, very simple, primer, concealer and powder foundation. Some EOS lip balm. I did flat iron my hair, looks so cute flat ironed and it's such a wreck all wavy and lion-like. I put on normal shorts and a normal shirt. Did some light house work. And I was tired...I was seriously exhausted and it wasn't even 10am. Me waking up that early was just...kicking my butt. I wasn't used to it.. at all. Noah was to get out of school at 11am, usually about 5 mins earlier, since I know this school already. So, I needed to stay awake...keep the eyelids open until I could pick up Noah. Branden on the other hand had undokai practice until 4pm, which worried me, because he swims Mondays and Thursdays and the bus picks them up at 4:22pm, so while he did make the bus on time and all, I was worried. I picked up Noah at 10:50am...we went to the bakery, to pick up 2 loaves of bakery bread for ham sammies. We also went to a DIY house goods store to buy some plastic boxes. And then home. I fixed Noah a ham sandwich and myself one too. Noah had no homework. I told Noah..."honey let's go take a nap" He's very easy to get along with so he did...we both took ourselves a 2 hour nap. And boy did I need it. I woke up and went and picked up Branden. I did make Branden a sandwich so he could eat on the swim bus, and also packed them some chocolate chip bread sticks. They went to swim school. I know they were both exhausted. Me too. 

I made dinner while the boys were both at swim school Monday September 1st. Again...I was just going through the motions of cooking. Semi sorta like a zombie cooking a meal. I was wide awake just...really dragging butt all day and evening long. I definitely didn't feel like my usual self. Made the rice to go with supper. The boys came home and we ate. Branden had 4 math pages to do (homework). And he has a big test September 2nd. Today. How weird to be given a big test 1 day after school starting, hahaha. After dinner, I sent Noah upstairs to shower, Branden meanwhile did homework and I meanwhile put the dishes in the dishwasher and wiped down the stove. After Noah came down, I said...go upstairs to sleep kiddo. Noah asked if he could wait for Branden to finish his homework. I said okay. And I went and showered 2nd. When I came downstairs with night gown and towel on my head the pictures below are what I saw. : ) 

Noah had tried very hard to stay awake for his brother. But he was just exhausted, physically and mentally. At school all day, and then 2 hours of hardcore, competitive time type of swimming. I watched Noah for a bit while he slept. I felt so badly for Noah, trying so hard to stay awake for his big brother to be done with his homework. Branden meanwhile finished his homework, but he went and showered.

Noah also sleeps usually with his little tongue almost popping out. Mouth wide open. : ) Noah was dead to the world, poor kiddo and Branden went to sleep in his room after he showered and was out to the world too... shortly there after. Noah, I carried to his bedroom, so he could sleep. MeanwhileNoboru was at work...but I was exhausted...so I went to sleep, must have been dead asleep too, because I don't recall when Noboru came home or went to sleep. In short...I think this week will be a week for us to get used to this new school schedule. Yep...this week will be our adjustment period. Time to get used to waking up super early and going to bed early too. 

These are the 3 plastic boxes I bought to help me finish my closet once and for all! What's happening in my closet is...I have 2 different sizes of clothes in there. I can't tell you how many times this past year, I have been in a mad rush and pulled out a pair of size 6 jeans (US size) and  had to fold them back and find my size 8's. I'm also stubborn and so, I didn't really want to put those size 6's away. And I really do see me using that size again...so throwing them all away permanently would be a waste of money too. So, Instead today and tomorrow, I will go through everything in my closet and I will put everything size 6 in a plastic box. There is a whole lot to pack away. And while it kills me to pack it away. It drives me nuts to pull out pants or jeans that are the wrong size. So...this way...I can pack everything away and put these boxes in the attic. So, when I finally do size down...I can swap sizes and stuff just a whole lot easier. Hence all the salads and stuff lately. Still doing my morning lap around my housing community and stomach crunches 3 times a week too. So....until then. These clothes have to go away....it will certainly make grabbing an outfit much easier. My closet will be done by next Monday or else. And the only reason I say next Monday, versus this Friday...is because I have a hair appointment all day Thursday. And I have undokai prep Friday...so I am just trying to be realistic...and I think as long as I make a promise with myself that it will be done by Monday, September, 8th, I can actually achieve my goal without feeling strangled by said goal either. So a realistic for me date/day. : ) 

Pic from this morning...stripey Ikea bath floor mat. Branden and Noboru's bath towel (Noah's and my towel went into my nightly load in the washer that I toss in the dryer at night, I usually do a load every night and since Branden was in the shower while I started the laundry last night his towel had to be washed this morning versus last night, same with Noboru's towel)...Branden white JHS shirt and his PE gym shirt. And 3 pair of jean shorts of Noah's and 1 Uniqlo navy house shorts of Branden's. It was brought into the house around noon today and then I went and hung both Branden and Noah's comforters outside from 12-2pm...just chilling under the sun. : ) First sunny day in a week. : ) So wanted to take advantage of it and toss out both of the boys comforters, while the weather's nice.

Anything else to add...not really. I did call and make a hair appointment for myself for this coming Thursday to get a hair straightening...Japanese thermal reconditioning hair thing and a tiny trim, since I just got a nice cut recently anyway. So that is this coming Thursday. Friday, like I said, I have sports day/undokai/field day preparations. Basically get the lunch stuff bought and prepped. Chicken for karaage cut and marinated, macaroni salad made or potato salad made, whichever I decide. Just that type a thing. Most of all...I'm looking forward to my hair appointment because my hair has been so wavy and puffy and just...not behaving at all. The Japanese thermal hair straightening makes my hair like totally different hair, super straight and sleek and not puffy at all. So...I am really looking forward to that, this coming Thursday. My appointment is at 10am, first appointment of the day and I need to pick up Noah at 3pm Thursday so...I do have a set time I need to leave the hair salon by (2pm)...to head back to my town. : ) Which is why I need the first appointment of the day. : ) Alrighty...that's enough for now. : )

Also, Branden was given a math workbook, an English workbook, science and social studies workbooks too... to be completed during the summer break, the amount Branden was given was like double if not triple the amount he was given in 6th grade. Noah was also given a workbook containing Japanese, math, and various other subjects to be finished during summer break as well. Plus Noah was expected to write daily tweets on a big paper, jotting down what he did each day. Branden also had daily tweets to jot down too. : ) So anyway...it just gives those of you... not living in Japan, a round about idea of the crazy amount of work load the kids are expected to complete in summer. Not to mention you need to log how many times each day you brush your teeth. Did you complete your daily goal, if so... give yourself a double circle. And at the end make a graft as to how well you think you did. Have your parents write a summary about how you did. : ) It is a lot...an awful lot of homework kiddos get here. It's almost like...break? What break? Hahaha. The main subjects part of homework...the kids knocked out in July. Meaning Math, Japanese, English (for Branden) and those types of core subjects were knocked out in July. The tweets they did daily. And the experiments they did at their leisure...meaning when we were in Japan and could do it. Anyway...hopefully this just gives you all...living outside of Japan... a peek on summer homework here in Japan.: )

Yakiniku restaurant...

August, 29th, Friday...same day we went to Costco that morning for pancakes and also back to school food stuff. : ) Also the same day, both Branden and Noah went and got their haircut for school starting this coming Monday/today. And same day they were Ripstiking (boarding) on our street in front of our house. : ) We had wanted to go out to dinner someplace special and fun...sort of a .."good bye/farewell to Summer dinner"...and that's exactly what we did. Noboru would be working Saturday and Sunday...so Friday evening was our last chance for our... "good bye to summer dinner." : ) We were debating all 4 of us...Capricciosa or yakiniku. Up until that morning, we were dead set on the Italian...but by the time dinner rolled around...the vote had been changed and the 3 of them wanted yakiniku and heck...I really don't mind which place...as long as we could enjoy it together, the 4 of us. So yakiniku it was. As usual we went to our favorite place, not in our town or city nearest us at all...it's quite a drive, other side of Narita actually and a chain restaurant but...we get tons of coupons for free fries...free drink bar...200 yen off rosu (the lean meat the kids and I love)...just all sorts of fantastic deals. I think by the time we walked out of the restaurant...it was $55 US/ 5500 yen. So not cheap...but a very fair price considering how much rosu/lean meat the boys ate...the large rice for everyone. Free fries. Free drink bar for everyone, plus at the end Noboru ordered a cold soup with apple or pear in it. : ) So everyone was stuffed to the gills by the time we left...so the amount we received.. considering the cost...super fair. 

We 3 (Branden, Noah and I) each got our own platter of rosu/lean beef. Noboru got a fattier...or juicer as he'd say...meat of his choosing, his fave cut of meat. : ) Noboru even ordered an additional amount of rosu for Branden, again since he's growing and needs more food now. : ) 

Noah with an ice cube in his mouth. This place has that really great crushed ice... type a cubes. : ) 

Marinated meat grilling and the coals are so hot below. 

Noah had 1 chopstick set for cooking his meat and 1 set for eating his meal with. They also shared a set of tongs on their side of the table and Noboru and I had our own set for our side of the table too. 

Not sure if you can see the pineapple yogurt with 2 pineapple pieces on top, in the little white ramikens/dishes. This is so good too. Kimchi in the background too. 

It was honestly such a wonderful meal and time together...we asked them. "Are you ready to go back to school?" Both of them said..."no!" Hahaha. I said..."I hear you! I'm not ready for waking up so early in the mornings myself. But...I am so proud of you guys. And I really hope you both enjoyed your summer." Next thing you know...we started talking about our crazy and fun summer. I said..can you believe all the meetings I had since May...like every weekend practically. Noboru said..how did you guys like the "haunted elementary school this year?" We 3 said..."we loved it!!!" "OMG...remember being bumped in Haneda." The good part is...that NOW we can laugh about it..but at the time? Yeah...we weren't laughing. Wasn't Hawaii fantastic? Yes it was! And the shrimp and Target...and our room that played music. They teased me for playing the music...that angel bird noise, while we slept. lol. To be fair though...I said...it was just so peaceful. We talked about card tricks. And The New Planet of the Apes movie, we saw...we told Noboru about the movie we saw in Guam...Guardians of the Galaxy. The amazing Italian we ate while in Guam. Our potato garden this year and zucchini. How June was quite cool weather wise. July was scorching hot and August has been cool all over again. We talked about the 3 upcoming undokais/sports day. 3 of them!!!! Branden's, Noah's and the town undokai. @.@ lol. We basically ate and talked and we were there for close to almost 2 hours. Eating...talking, drink bar..eating some more, drink bar and eating again. Talking some more...a few laughs here and there. Yeah....just enjoying ourselves a whole lot. And having a real good time. : )

My cooked marinated meat, marinating yet again...the after it's cooked..soak again. lol. : ) 

Both the boys like well done meat, same as I do. So Branden was checking...is there any pink tinges or signs of uncooked-ness. lol. Noah does the exact same, so do I. : )

A wonderful family dinner... to sort of... say good bye to our summer 2014! : )

What's on the horizon next? Branden's undokai is this weekend! September 6th. And this is a really good and positive thing, because... you know how they usually practice your child for a full month, before the undokai. Well at our local JHS, undokai practice started today, but a week from now, actual sports day will be over with! So...very nice to get it over with and out of the way. We know...Branden is a wicked swimmer, but he hates running, we know this and that's fine. So...I have already told him..."honey, just enjoy yourself, please no pressure...just get through it and most importantly have fun." Noboru, Noah and I will be there to cheer Branden on... be there and support him. I have asked during one of my yakuin meetings a month or two ago..do us JHS parents even show up to the undokai? I mean I don't want to do something uncool and embarrass him. 1 mom, who has a 8th grade daughter right now said..."yes all parents attend"...so we will attend. So less than a week of undokai practice...nice for Branden.  September 6th.

Noah's undokai is at the end of this month.

The town undokai is in October, it is an undokai that was created for the elderly of our town, powers that be, felt the seniors were left out. And perhaps wanted a sporting event to look forward to. And while I do "get that" I do understand that. However...to be fair us younger folks, with kids in elementary school and JHS, are honestly sports day-ed out! We have made obento twice already, by the time "town undokai" rolls around. We're over it. Yet...they force all kids to attend, otherwise, they will be marked as absent. Therefore...making us adults attend to...to watch our kids. Last year we were block leaders and housing community reps so we had to serve obento to all who lived in our housing community for this "town undokai" ...we wish they'd just "do away" with this event all together. However if it rains the day of...it's canceled. No postpone day exists for "town undokai" day. I think 3 times so far during our 7 years at school in our town, it has been canceled. So we will see what the weather has in store for us, "town undokai day"

Our family of 4, will be going to one of the Disney's (Disney Sea or Disneyland) in October for some Halloween cheer. Also staying a night at the hotel near Disney as well. Have a little Kua Aina Burger and stuff. Hotel room has been booked forever and it's just something we will be looking forward to. The room is 100% for free for us, because of Noboru's work and the free hotel stays we get yearly. So, yep, something we're just keeping on the down low for now..but it is something that we are really looking forward to. : )