Tokyo Disney Sea! T.G.I. Friday's and Kua 'Aina burger. Our 2 night mini getaway trip...

Thursday, January 7th, was both Branden and Noah's first day back at school. Not a regular day of school, just the ol'... school is back in session, ceremony day. So a half day. They both got out of school at 11am, last Thursday. We usually go to either Tokyo Disney Sea or Tokyo Disneyland in October and have since...geeze, forever. : ) Back when we first started going to Disney every October...when Halloween hadn't really "caught on" as much as it has now. So, we would hit Disney when the kids were itty bitty babes and toddlers and Disney would be pretty normal...crowd wise. However each year that Halloween has grown in popularity. The crowds around Halloween are getting more and more out of hand. Some a... 2 hour plus wait in line. However it's our family tradition to go every Halloween/October. We had our room reserved and everything. Noboru checked the online Tokyo Disney page that shows how crowded they expect the park to be. Red and black...black is most crowded. Blue isn't crowded at all. Noboru a few days... before our trip in October, said, the day we're going... will be a "black" day, meaning 2 hours wait per ride. However...it had been suggested on the Disney websites, the best best day to go, is in January. On 1 specific date. So, we had a huge decision back in October, go in October on the most crowded day of all...a "black day" which is beyond a red day. Or go on a deserted...we can ride any ride we want day. We asked the boys, we also debated it ourselves too. We finally decided to go in January on that specific date. So we canceled our hotel in October and booked in January. And that was that. January seemed *so* far away. : ) Last week, along with getting the boys ready to go back to school, I also packed everybody an over night bag to Disney. The plan was, as soon as they got out of school, on Thursday we would have a quick lunch here at home. Leftover curry. I ran the dishes in the dishwasher on a quick wash cycle, waited for it to end and opened the dishwasher and we left the house. We didn't ride the highway, only because it's a toll fee, like 2000yen or 2400 yen. We road the regular roads. It took forever to get to that part of Chiba, since we are at the edge of Chiba on the opposite side. But we did finally get there. We first made a pit stop at the Aeon Makuhari shopping mall. I just needed to pick up a Kiehl's facial moisturizer from the Kiehl's free standing store there. My car charged while we shopped and 20 minutes after finishing our shopping, our car battery was full. 

We debated going to check in at the hotel first or eat dinner first. I let Noboru decide that one. He thought it was a better idea to eat first. We usually only stay at the hotel 1 night, but since we were going to be spending 2 nights, we had TGI Friday's, the first night. At the same mall as Kua 'Aina is in, at Ikspiari shopping mall, 4th floor. 

Noah had the kids meal, chicken strips and fries and it came with a soda. TGI Fridays being an American restaurant was packed with foreigners, mostly tourists back from Disney. All the wait staff spoke English. You know how in Japan, the nice thing is... we don't have to pay tips at restaurants? Well here either. However they do add a 10% gratuity here at TGI Friday's so something to keep in mind and be aware of. Just an info share, FYI type thing. : ) Hope this helps to know at least. : ) 

I am so sorry I didn't take a picture of Branden's cheeseburger meal he picked.  He had an adults cheeseburger combo. And with so many people, so many speaking English, I got really discombobulated and I forgot. I am so sorry BrannyB for forgetting to take a pic of your food. : ) The bun was very shiny though, lol. Anyway, I ordered the teriyaki chicken breast meal, it came with cheesy mashed potatoes and vegetables. That grilled pineapple was bomb and I sliced it and ate it with my chicken. My meal was about 1300/1600 yen in price so a fair price for a place we rarely seldom go. A nice treat is what I'm saying. : )  Bran's was about the same price as mine and Noah's was way cheaper being a kids meal. 

Noboru's was sorta pricey...about 2900 yen. But, he wanted them, and considering he's the most conservative person, I know.... so I said good for you. : ) Hahaha. : ) He enjoyed them. 

We ordered the fried mushrooms as an appetizer. However after not getting them for like...forever. And then seeing her holding our meals/dinners. We asked as politely as possible. "where is our appetizer?" She said.."oh I completely forgot to punch it in." @_@ Seriously. And remember we are paying that 10% gratuity, where it is quite unusual for us in Japan. We said go ahead and punch them in then please. She did bring us some super hot fresh ones (because I burned my mouth eating the first one hahaha) but yep, this never happens with service here in Japan. So a first for us here. : ) Again we were just so happy being on our 2 night getaway...we really didn't mind though. I mean...it happens, she's human. : )

We also ordered 1 hot fudge sundae and we split it and shared it together, We were so stuffed with such great food. : ) We had went to Krispy Kreme, which is in the basement of Ikspiari to get our next days breakfast (donuts) before we would head out to Disney Sea, buying them the night before was smart. : ) 

We got to our room. Our room was totally free by the way. Since we have those free nights of stay with Noboru's work. Every one took turns showering, the rest of us had our 1 donut dessert. 

4 times 3 is 12. So we each got to pick 3 donuts each. We each had 1 that night and we each had 2 the next morning for breakfast. I picked 3 glaze plain ones. : ) Everyone else picked different kinds. They also had Valentine's donuts out too. : ) 

This picture was taken the next night. The snacks we had after dinner and Kua'Aina the following night. Noah and I both picked mint chocolate chip and Bran picked that GariGari and he gave me a bite and man was that delicious. : ) So these are the drinks and snacks from our last night at the hotel. 

Back to the first night at the hotel. We had just eaten a filling dinner at TGI Friday's. We had our donuts for the next day. You can see my Kiehl's bag on the bed. Our room had 4 beds. 

Our hotel.

Friday, January 8th we woke up bright and early. I woke up at 5:30am. I quietly woke up, brushed my teeth, mouth washed... my mouth, then washed my face with my facial cleanser. Put my face lotion on. Got dressed while it soaked in. Put my primer on (Benefit's The Porefessional), Urban Decay foundation, some Olay concealer on my under eyes, Mac Mineralize powder (best powder for dry skin), did my eyebrows with some Nature Republic eyebrow mascara, liquid liner on my top lid (Dolly Wink dark brown). Urban Decay Naked palette for my eyeshadow. Too Faced blush, in that neutral color, I forget the name. Mascara, that day I used the Lash King by Majolica Majorca (did not blind myself that day) Flat ironed my hair. And put on some Mac lipstick in the color syrup. Fwiw, I know it must sound like it took hours. But it honestly takes me 30 minutes to do all that. And on most days when I am going no place in particular... it takes me about 7 minutes to get ready for the day. : ) I took only 30 minutes to get ready. And I did pee one more time. And then I woke up my family. It was like 6:05am-ish. The kids each went to the restroom. Brushed their teeth. Bran put his deodorant on. Body spray and got dressed. Had his donuts. Noah got dressed, brushed his teeth, and whatnot. I ate my donuts too. Noboru woke up. And got ready. We caught the 7:30am shuttle to Disney Sea. We had pre bought our tickets to Disney, at Ikspiari the night before. So we could bypass that line altogether. The boys quickly took off running with a bunch of other people to get the fast pass for the Toy Story Mania ride. We met up with them after that. And then we went to stroll and start riding the rides.  

Bran and Noah in front of the Aquatopia ride at Tokyo Disney Sea.

Two brothers having a blast!

The wait for this ride was 5 minutes to 10 minutes all day and night long. Also the day before we went ....was a "red day" and the whole weekend after we went...both parks... Disney Sea and Tokyo Disneyland were both black days. Since this last weekend was a 3 day weekend, because Monday was Coming of Age day and kids/adults just turning 20 years old... living in Urayasu (where Disney is located could get in free with ID showing they are residents of Uruyasu and if they just turned 20 for Coming of Age day... so again a very packed weekend at both Disney's... except the date we picked). So the day we picked was indeed the right day to go. 

A 15 minute wait at the Indiana Jones ride. And for a few hours it was a 5 minutes wait, so somewhere between 5-15 minutes all day long... for this ride. And given it's usually a 90 minute wait. It was so sweet to just ride this ride again and again. 

Faces on the wall at Indiana Jones.

A 360 degree circle loop. We 4 rode this one. Again almost no wait time at all. 

Hi kiddos.

The views and scenery at Tokyo Disney Sea are absolutely breath taking. Truly.

This trip... we all had cappuccino flavored popcorn first and our second refill we all picked was this... white chocolate flavor. Info share. The flavors and location of which flavor is located where is on the maps. And the maps are available in English too. Hope this helps someone. : ) 

The Tower of Terror. This was a 20 minute wait. And since I don't care for free fall rides. I waited for my family. Something happened while I was waiting for my family. And I hesitate to share it with you. Only because... I don't want this to overshadow my family's visit to Tokyo Disney Sea. I don't think that's really fair for my family and me... at all. if this does overshadow our trip. However it was something really important and it really upset me, so I am bringing this up. So, I sit down and I see 2 little Japanese boys about the age of 5 and 6 trying to kick some pigeons. This is not uncommon here in Japan. Abuse of pigeons. I have seen this before, a handful of times. The kids were young (granted not babies or toddlers and yes they should have known better by that age but) but they were slow and couldn't really hurt the pigeons. I did think though. What sort of parent raises a child to think it's okay and acceptable to hurt another living creature who cannot defend themselves though. So yes while, I was turned off. However... I didn't see that they could actually catch the pigeons or hurt them either. No contact, but they were trying. So, I sat there, just enjoying the scenery, people watching. Checking the weather forecast on my phone. You know...doing regular mom stuff. So anyway...here comes this giant kid (tall not chunky). Not JHS age but, if I were to take a guess I'd say a 6th grader. He went right up to the pigeons and began feeding them. The pigeons were right in front of me. I wasn't feeding them at all. I was just chillin' and so the 6th grader makes eye contact with me and I think to myself... "what a nice older kid (wrong). Maybe these 2 younger kids can learn a thing or two... from this sweet wiser older boy." , so I smile at the older 6th grade boy and he smiles at me. And so he is feeding the pigeons and then all of a sudden while the pigeons are busy and not paying attention since he just fed them. He kicks 1 of the pigeons as hard as he could. With all of his might! My first thought was...did he just murder this pigeon right before my eyes?!!! His foot made total contact. That pigeon straight out... rolled, I kid you not! What in the freak, did I just see?! OMG! I am like freakin' shocked! Total disbelief. This kid is a true monster! Anyone who would smartly feed a pigeon, keep it distracted to just... hurt them for...kicks. For his jollys! Now...usually I am of the mind. Mind your own freakin' business. And I do. I mind my own business *all* the time. But, I am sorry.... but hurting a creature who can't defend him or herself is pure bullcrap! This crossed the line of what I could ignore or not ignore. Say something or not say something. It was just morally wrong. And I was so pissed off! I reprimanded him straight away! Hey!!! I told him in Japanese right away! Then I was so pissed, I just started speaking in my comfort language. I told him in the meanest grittiest voice ever..."you stop that *right* now!" You stop!!! Stop!!!!" He looked at me. He didn't like me anymore. Perhaps nobody ever spoke to him like that before! And that's okay! I didn't care! And for the record I didn't like him anymore either! The feeling was 100% mutual! So we both sat there for about a minute. I think he was deciding what he was going to do next. And so was I...I was thinking a mile a minute. Boy...he's lucky my sons weren't there! So then he dropped a piece of popcorn on the floor and before I can even move or blink or open my mouth... that silly pigeon fell for it. And he went to eat the popcorn and he kicked that pigeon as hard as he could and walked away! He knew exactly what he was doing and he frankly didn't care and yes a 6th grader is old enough to know better. He gave me this evil...we are talking evil... side eye... after doing that... before he walked away... and I gave him *the* absolute crustiest look ever. Like..."you disgusting little brat!" And then he walked over to his mom...on the opposite side of the street. She and her younger son, had just came back from... the bathroom or somewhere. I can see he was telling his mom the pigeon story... because he made a kick motion with his leg. And he was laughing about his cruelty to animals. Meanwhile...I was waiting to see....if she wanted to come speak to me for getting mad at her son. Come on! Please by all means...please do so! I'd like to talk to this... dimwit F face... who raises a kid to think...that's it's actually okay to kick and hurt small animals... for him to somehow have gotten the message while growing up... that it's A-okay to hurt innocent animals, yes mother of the year... by all means...please come talk to me. Because it's not okay to hurt innocent animals...even pigeons! Yes, let's talk. I read a long time ago...future serial killers usually start on defenseless animals. That kid was either a total brat or a serial killer in the making! Either way...the mom chose to keep walking. And not speak with me. She made the right call, because boy was I going to really let her have it! And you all know...I am not a snap cap! And I am rarely pissed off....and I am most certainly *not* normally a confrontational person. I'm usually a mind my own business type a person. I chose to share this story. Because, please...if you live in Japan and you see some kid kick a pigeon or another small defenseless animal....please don't just let it happen and say nothing...say something at least. Please be brave and stand up and say something. It doesn't matter whether you use English, Japanese, Russian, Italian, German, Chinese, whatever language. We have to say something. Because it's just wrong. It's not funny or cute to torture an animal...because they are so hungry that they don't think about the possibility of being abused or kicked... What was that old saying..."The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil to succeed, is for good men to do nothing." So please if any of you see this, don't just sit idle and do nothing. Say something. Say anything. : ) To really think about that kid...to feed the pigeons to get them distracted... so he could kick them? As hard as you'd kick a soccer ball. That's a certain type of evil right there! Much different then those younger kids who tried to kick them... but couldn't really catch them at all. This kid was in a league all by himself. I just had to say something. After seeing that pigeon rolling across the sidewalk and him laughing about it. I had to speak up. I have never seen anything like this in America, and I'm not saying all Americans are angels, we're not...but it's just I have never seen anything like this... in all the years I have lived in America, where as I have seen this a handful of times in Japan, granted not to the extent as last week, but yes I have seen this before here. Anyway, I hope this little story of what happened while I was waiting for my family to ride the Tower of Terror doesn't over shadow our trip.    

Lunch. We usually all 4 get the Indian curry. But this curry isn't very good. Even though it's just 780 yen for the combo. The kids opted to get a smoked chicken leg quarter instead. 

There was a brass band in the background while we ate. And they played the Star Wars theme. It was very nice to hear that during lunch. This brass band was very cool. : ) 

Hi Potato Heads. : ) Hi Zurg and Buzz Lightyear rocket popcorn bucket. 

Riding another ride. We rode absolutely every ride in the whole park. And many rids we rode multiple times. Indiana Jones for example we rode about 6-7 times the whole day and night. The 360 loop roller coaster I rode once, but the kids rode 3 times total. Aquatopia we all rode 3 times. Etc. 

Noah, Potato Head and Mario (his backpack) about to ride 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

About to ride Toy Story Mania.We had a fast pass for that ride. 

A blurry picture of Noah bypassing the regular line completely, since we had a fast pass ticket for Toy Story Mania. 

Hi Noah. And the seats for the ride to... Toy Story Mania in the background.

Miss Bianca and Bernard, from the Rescuers.: )

Riding Aquatopia with my teenager. Loving every minute of it, because kids are kids for such a short time. : ) I made him laugh so much, while we rode this. His personality is so mellow. Such a great kid.: )

The 2 N's riding together! Noboru and Noah! : ) We switch who we're riding with each ride. Meaning we don't just sit with 1 specific person. We switch after each ride, us 4. : ) 

The 2 boys, just getting off the 360 degrees loop roller coaster yet again. The sun was starting to set by now. : ) 

Aquatopia at night is so beautiful. Each ride lights up blue underneath. We rode that one yet again. 

Volcano. We rode the Journey to the Center of the Earth quite a few times too. 

The boys both took a backpack each. And it had their coats in it and nothing else. Sorry forgot to add, Noah also carried some liquid kids Ibuprofen, which he didn't need, but better to bring it and not need it...then not bring it and need it. So their backpacks were super light. I also carried in my bag a travel size of adults Advil tablets, just in case Noboru, Bran or myself needed it, we didn't but better to be safe then sorry. We had an absolute blast being at Tokyo Disney Sea last Friday. And we knew we had 1 more night at the hotel...that night and we knew we were going to Kua'Aina afterwards too. So, just...the whole mood was fun! And we were ready to leave Disney Sea! : )

We took the free shuttle back to our hotel and picked up our car. We went and had dinner right away. 

We're in the Kua'Aina club and I mentioned this before but you get free "something" every month. Like free large drink if you order a smaller drink. Or free onions. Free cheese topping. This month was a free side of fries. We had 2 free fries, pictured here. And we ordered 2 appetizers of chicken strips. All 4 of us shared the chicken strips and the 3 guys enjoyed the fries. I didn't have any fries.

I had my usual chicken teriyaki sandwich and onion rings. 

Everyone else had a cheeseburger combo.

It was a wonderful dinner. 

At the Ikspiari mall, as we were leaving and heading to our car. Noboru saw some trees nicely lit up so we went outside to see them. Wow, they were gorgeous. On top of the water and glowing so beautifully. We went to Ito Yakado after leaving Ikspiari and picked up some drinks for the room and some ice cream. We enjoyed our last night at the hotel. And then we all took turns showering. 

Noah did make a purchase with his otoshidama money. Some Darth Vader earphones.

Also, we tried to buy Branden some new bedding at Nitori. When was that day...when we went to Inzai and went to Uniqlo and Costco and Sports Depo? I forget that date now, but we wanted to get Bran this duvet cover/comforter cover and a pillow case. The duvet cover was just 998 yen and the pillow case was a couple hundred yen, however they were out of stock. So we had Nitori, ship them for an "in store pick up" at the Narita location a week prior. So, Saturday on our way back to our part of Chiba we did stop in at Nitori to get the bedding. The label doesn't have our names but it does say...shipped here for a customer. That being us. : ) I have since washed and dried this bedding and so this navy blue bedding is now on Bran's bed right now. Looks black in color, but it's actually navy blue. : ) 

I have finally finished off that horrible CeraVe facial moisturizer and would never repurchase that again. But this Keihl's one, I have bought off and on since I was in my last year of high school or first year of uni. It's good, it's basic... it has never broken me out. We arrived home in the late afternoon Saturday. We unpakced. And then we went to the cheap meat store, picked up a weeks worth of meat and some veggies and whatnot. And then we went to dinner. Too late to cook. 

Coco Ichiban Curry House. And their 98 yen or 100 yen fries. : )  So good, so cheap, so fresh. : )

We 4 enjoyed our dinner. We talked about what an amazing trip we just had. Noah asked..."what was your favorite ride at Disney Sea?" Branden asked..."what was your favorite part of the whole trip?"...so we chit chatted. And just really enjoyed our supper. Then we went back home, unpacked the food. I threw a load of laundry in the washer, then dryer. And we just relaxed Saturday night.  And the kids didn't have school yesterday/Monday. Because it was Coming of Age day yesterday. And I guess I could have updated this blog a little faster. But eh....I just sort of wanted to enjoy my Saturday evening with my family. And Sunday and Monday with the family too. : ) Today is a normal day, the boys are at school, with packed lunches. And I am about to throw 2 pork loins in the oven with that BBQ seasoning on it. We're having pulled pork sandwiches and sides tonight. : ) How's the weather? It is very cold here. Noboru messaged me this morning saying it was lightly ever so softly snowing in Narita. but not snowing..not even a dot here in our town. : )  Oh one more info share. According to the Kua 'Aina website in Japan, Nagano just got their own Kua'Aina restaurant, so if you live in or near Nagano and would like to try out some yummy Kua'Aina, you now have one near you. : ) Hope this helps someone. : ) Anyway...that's our little couple night getaway with the family. : ) 

Throwback Thursday...

Good morning, first TBT of the new year! The boys are both at school today. Their first day back but... just a half day, they both get out at 11am today. Today's Throwback Thursday was taken from my January 2008 file. However when I verified the date stamp on this picture, this picture was actually taken December 30th, 2007. So doesn't really matter really, I just think I more then likely didn't transfer these pictures until January that year. Which is how and why they ended up in the January file versus the December file. But, either way, doesn't matter really. Let's get on with it. : ) Both Branden and Noah were playing Operation! You know the game where you operate and if you hit the sides... the nose lights up. : )  Gosh, Bran and Noah absolutely *loved* this game. We 3 used to play this one all the time. Noah, age 2 at the time was taking his time, trying really hard to be careful. 

Look at the nose! It lit up! They're laughing! I was laughing! 

Our patient. Our should I say...our victim? Dundundun! : ) Sorry about that Operation man! : )

That noise is so loud! Branden is wincing hard in this pic! Nobody wants to hear that sound! Oh the anticipation...to hear that sound. 

Now Branden's turn! And our sweet, but really scared of the sound... 2 year old covering his ears! I agree Noah! : ) I had to cover my ears too! : ) It's not you B, it's that loud noisy nose! Which is half the fun anyway, but... : )  Good luck BrannyB. What a wonderful way to spend some quality time with my boys that day! : ) Sure do love you guys! : )

New Year’s Eve fun and New Year’s shenanigans. Plenty of good eats. Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream (super easy). Homemade cinnamon rolls. And New Year’s get together with our extended family, otoshidama, lots of laughs, delicious food and good times...

I hope you all had an amazing New Year's eve and New Year's so far! : ) Let me catch up real quick with you all right now. Our one and only grocery store in town sells some amazingly yummy and super cheap 100% real ice cream from NZ. The price is 298 for the tub so it's a super great deal. And I always buy that there, because most places sell tubs of ice milk versus cream. Or some weird lighter version of ice cream but our store in town actually sells real ice cream and it's pretty cheap in price. So, I bought a tub of that in advance. And added just 1 tablespoon of Skippy creamy peanut butter mixed in, real quick in this bowl. And after it mixed really well, I added some chopped up Reese's peanut butter cups. And then put it back into the vanilla ice cream tub and stuck in the freezer until after dinner. And it was solid and frozen but...delicious Reese's peanut butter ice cream. So super easy to make. For us in Japan, getting the good and wide variety of flavors of ice creams, we are used to getting in the US is impossible here...but this shortcut of just buying vanilla and adding your own flavors is perfect for those of us living in Japan and still wanting the FUN flavors of ice cream.  So info share on that. : ) 

We had baked chicken parmesan on top of a bed of pasta. This is so good, so simple to make. We had this for our last dinner of 2015. We had garlic bread and a side salad with this.

I did make the cinnamon roll dough December 31st real quick, while the chicken parmesan was baking in the oven. I used the recipe from allrecipes.com or whatever that website is called. I love that recipe website and am there often. I used the recipe for the "Clone of a Cinnabon" and they were so delicious. The cream cheese frosting was so good too. Also, for us in Japan, powdered sugar is so expensive and only available in teeny tiny amounts. However as you know...powder sugar is really just regular granulated sugar...just ground finer. So, I used regular granulated sugar and threw it in my blender and blended it to the finest powdered sugar... you ever did see. : ) So..if you already know that...no worries... disregard but...this info could hopefully help someone. : ) Fresh hot cinnamon rolls with a delicious homemade cream cheese frosting...the perfect breakfast for January 1st! : ) We had enough cinnamon rolls for 2 breakfasts. hahaha. : ) This recipe made a lot. : ) 

January 1st dinner was homemade from scratch pizza. Noboru told me as it was baking..."omg does our house smell so good." : ) He wanted to eat that pizza! And we all did. We munched homemade pizza, I baked 2 large pizzas (enough for lunch the next day) and we each had a Dr. Pepper with ice. It was just a very restful New years eve and January 1st. I was talking with my good friend, an American papa who has a Japanese wife, who lives nearish us, he was saying how he spent hours at the Narita, shrine/temple area there and how there were about a billion people there, I totally understood, I have seen pics of that crazy crowd. I told him, he sure toughs out the crowds and how brave they are. So, I was glad to message him and wish him and his family a nice new year. But, we just stay home, we don't want to face any huge crowds. We just stayed in the house where... it's toasty warm and we already had the food, I had planned at home to make... and on whatever day it was, I made that. I was meanwhile in Twilight Zone heaven. Noah wanted to watch the scary movie Annabelle during the first 3 days and so we watched Noah's request and Bran wanted to watch, Unbroken so we watched that together as a family too. Noboru likes the Twilight Zone too. : )  Those first couple nights from New years eve on, we munched our chips we bought earlier during our movies or during the Twilight Zone, one of those nights, I also popped some homemade popcorn on the stove. We basically just hung out and had fun here at home with peanut butter cup icecream and cinnamon rolls. 

Mascara attempt #2. Three things purchased from the drugstore Jan 2nd Kate brand mascara (from the drugstore in Japan) this was for long length. And 2 hand creams. In summer my hands are normal, not dry at all. But in winter, my hands are so dry. We're talking painfully dry hands. As in, I am constantly rubbing hand cream, on my hands all winter long. In Japan most shops have testers, love that about Japan. So, I had been squeezing a squeeze... each time I am at some drugstore. After squeezing about 20 different ones all December, I finally was ready to buy 2. The purple Q10, I tried a few weeks back at the tester in Inzai/Chiba New Town. And the Neutrogena one, I have used it before...sometimes I think it has a texture I dislike, however I was swayed by the limited edition holiday packaging. My thoughts? I am liking this Kate long lash mascara. It gives me super long lashes and no thickness/volume, tarantula lashes. So, it is something, I would be into. Do, I love it? No. Is it holy grail status? No, still testing it, so verdicts still out. But, do I hate it? No. Do, I think there is better? Probably. But for now, I will use this happily and whenever this is gone, I will purchase a new one...in March or end of February. Mascaras need to be thrown out every 3 months or so, so by mid march, I am sure I will have another one to try, but for now, this is footing the bill. I do dislike... that it has fibers in it. But then...maybe that's just the wave of the future? I dunno...I do know I really loved that Cat's Wink mascara though. But for now.. Kate's mascara is doing the job and it does give me insanely long lashes. As for the purple hand cream. I love this. There are 4 of these Q10 by Kose hand creams at the drugstore, different types in different color tubes. The price is like 350 yen a tube. And yes, I can most definitely see it clearly says in English...night handcream. However, the other Q10's had words of whitening on them. And I really don't need to whiten my hands. And then it got me thinking... perhaps too much thinking/over thinking...and I thought/worried, I hope it doesn't have a bleaching factor on those other 3 and then I bleach my bedding or winter coat or clothes. So, I knew I didn't want the other 3 Q10's. Again it might not be a powerful whitening at all, but...ehh. I just wasn't all too keen on the other tubes marked whitening. This was the only Q10 that didn't say whitening. Also, the smell was light and tolerable to me. A very light scent. Noboru said peaches. But if it was strong, I know me...I couldn't have picked it. It is almost not noticeable. Also it has some moisturizing beads in there and I sorta liked those. Also the purple tube hand cream... didn't make my hands sticky. Just soft, moisturized but not sticky. So, I am really loving this purple tube hand cream. Is it holy grail status? I don't know, but maybe......I will see. Still testing it out. 

The cute limited edition design, it even says that towards the cap in English. And my old regular tube of it. Like, I said, I am always on the fence about this one. Do, I love it? No. Do, I hate it? Sometimes yes. And sometimes not. However the winter edition design got to me...and why I purchased a new tube of this. This was 498 yen... so pricier then the purple one. I have been using this, the old one trying to use it up. And it does leave a very thick almost sticky heavy feel... on my hands. Last night after my shower, I was in my night gown on the couch and this took forever to soak into my hands. I didn't want to place my sticky Neutrogena hands on the fuzzy couch blanket...didn't want to touch my freshly washed and blow dried hair. Until this sucker soaked into my hands, I was like...unable to do anything until the sticky thick feeling went away...until they soaked in or whatever. So, I am very meh on this hand cream. I tell ya what...live and learn I won't get sucked into buying this one again...even if they get cute packaging. It just takes a billion years to get that thick heavy sticky feeling to go away. I actually prefer the purple tube of hand cream. I get no sticky feeling at all from that one. And it is deeply nourishing too... just without the tacky/sticky feel like the Neutrogena one has. 

A blurry picture of the restaurant we went to in Narita City. We went and met up at an Italian restaurant called Mamma Pasta. Wood fired pizzas, yummy pastas. A dessert cart that wheels around to tempt you. We had a reservation at 6:30pm. January 3rd. 

We already know who these 2 super cool guys on the right are! : ) My only 2 nieces, I have, but that's okay... it's the quality... not quantity that counts, right hahaha. Since I am an only child, these are my 2 cherished nieces. : ) Look at these 2 cutie pies! I also have a nephew (half American/half Japanese) but he is living in America, but he's oldest and he's a 9th grader. Bran is an 8th grader (also half American/ half Japanese, hafu/hapa). 3rd oldest is my lovely niece J, right in this picture a 7th grader, first year in JHS. She is also hafu/hapa (half American and half Japanese), 4th oldest is Noah, also half American/ half Japanese. And 5th oldest is my amazing and cute niece M, she's totally Japanese and adorable. And her little brother was at the opposite end of the table and he's going to be 2 this year. Noah is a 4th grader, my niece M is a 3rd grader.  I'm sure, I could have skipped mentioning J is also half American/half Japanese. But, I think that fact... is quite important and something not to just glaze over because in Japan. Maybe in the big cities like Tokyo there could be 5 hafu or multicultural kids in 1 class. However, for many hafu, they only see themselves and go to class with 100% Japanese classmates and the only "different" one is themselves. Noboru is Japanese, so he can't really share or have the same experience say Noah would have. I am just American, so, my experiences of living in Japan are experiences as a westerner/foreigner...Long term resident yes. But, if I walk into a store I am treated as a foreign person immediately, an American female. I too can't share the experience..say Noah would or Branden would. When Branden sees J or when my niece J sees Noah, they uniquely have experiences that they 3 together share... and have. So when my nephew K and my niece J sees and spends time with Branny McB and Noah, there is like....this huge understanding of each other. They "get" each other. Her mom and dad have been divorced since she was a wee baby. And her brother moved to America in the 3rd grade. Not because he doesn't love his mom. But because he wanted to try giving living in America a chance too. My niece J goes to the US every summer to spend the summer with her daddy and brother. So, yeah...these cousins love and adore seeing each other. Because they uniquely understand each other. At the restaurant we could hear them talk......"oh yeah...don't you hate when people assume this. or assume that." and they laugh. They're lucky to have one another. My niece J loves One Direction. So it was nice to have a talk about that. Seeing the kids get together and eat and talk facing each other. Heck, they didn't talk much to us adults, mostly with each other. But my MIL stared at the boys a lot and interrupted the kids conversation every once in a while...to ask Noah  questions or Bran a questions. She was staying with my brother in law, so this was her one chance to talk to our boys. So she did want to get a word in here and there too. : ) Hahaha.  But yes all of the cousins are very close and have lots of love for each other, as they should. However, the 4 cousins who are half American/ half Japanese have that...special little bond. And it's nice knowing they have each other. : )

My amazing...her style is *always* on point... mother in law. Noboru's mom. : ) Oh and this is sort of funny. But she was staring at me for about 1 whole minute. That 1 minute... seemed to feel like hours. She was like 1cm from me. Anyway I could feel she was about to say something. And she said. "You know what is so weird....Gina has seriously not aged 1 single bit, she looks the exact same as the day I first met her." I suddenly felt really hot/warm and very flushed. She was still staring at my face like 1cm away from my face by the way. And now the entire table is facing me/staring at me. Hoping I don' faint straight away... out of sheer embarrassment. She said "her/my skin... it looks so glowy...so smooth, not 1 wrinkle in sight." She's now even closer to my face. I can now hear my heart beating in my ears... that's how nervous I am at this moment. "I can't get over it" she said. She then asked me..."what sort of products are you using, Shiseido?" I can now see everyone is waiting for me to say something. I swear to you... I must have been beet red by that point. I just quietly said... after I cleared my throat. "I am using Korean Skincare with a few American things mixed in." Korean skincare @_@ everyone said. My mother in law... is known for speaking her mind...being totally brutally and bluntly honest. And so yes, with someone staring that closely. I was nervous...about to have myself a heart attack type nervous. But yeah...I couldn't believe what she said. I was *really* taken aback. very pleasantly surprised. Noboru told me on the way home in the car....he said.."you know what my mom said about your skin?" I said yes. He said, "she's actually right, you haven't aged at all, it is sorta really weird." : ) So yeah...just an interesting little observation from my MIL.  

The awesome amazing Fantastic Four! Best cousins. Wish cousin K in America, could have been here too. But, at least these kiddos could get together and spend an evening together.  

Sorta makes me think of Sister Sledge, the song... We are family! Side note, You know how different parts of Japan speak different dialects. Many having flat out different words/vocabulary completely. Anyway, my MIL and niece J come from Osaka. Out of all of Japan, Osaka-ben is probably the most famous dialect. Most people especially folks form Tokyo/Kanto are usually a bit scared hearing Osaka-ben. Think along the lines of Goodfellas or My Cousin Vinny. Osaka people are also famous for their comedians too. When people from Kanto hear it they immediately know exactly where they are from. They are blunt speakers and direct and depending where you are from...the accent could shiver your timbers. : ) Noboru and my bil Jun are also from Osaka. So my niece M and my 2 kids they are used to hearing Osaka-ben since their papa's come from there. So from our table...you hear Osaka-ben and English. Other tables around us and the restaurant was so packed. People were like staring. And it's sorta a given...that they would. But yeah...so funny. Anyway that's what we did January 3rd, 2016. 

We all had dessert. Noboru and I shared this, trio of desserts. Bran and Noah shared 3 too and same for the rest of us. And our waitress was amazing, she was such a trooper. : ) 

Otoshidama. New Years money given to kids in Japan at the new year. Each of the boys, received a packet from their grandma, uncle Jun and family, auntie K my niece J's mom, my other SIL who could not be here (Jun and Noboru's sister) and from Noboru. Each of the kids wound up with 20,000 yen each, about $200 US each.  Noah has nothing he wants or needs so he's saving his. We also gave otoshidama to my niece J, niece M and her little brother too. : ) 

Branden on the other hand, had something in mind.

Bought directly from Amazon.jp so if anythings wrong... they would take it back, no problem. Everything's fine though. : )

A new pair of beats headphones, for Bran.

What else have we been up to? January 4th, I went for a hair cut, same all one length bob/lob. And had it colored 1 shade darker. And now we're just gearing up for school to restart and we're also gearing up for one of the Disney's. And we will be staying at the hotel for 2 nights when we do that.

I don't really want to talk too much about it now.... for this post. But, I will talk about it more to you all later. But, my BIL is going to training in Jan, Noboru in Feb. And so we have been quietly preparing for that, we discussed this a lot at dinner the other night at the restaurant while we were together. It's not like he's gonna be gone for a couple days. It's going to be for an extended period of time. And I can't say which part of the US they will be. But, we are all sorta gearing up for it. Am, I nervous to be alone in Japan with just the kids... sans husband and best friend. Yeah, honestly I am. So, just...a lot going on. But for now...no use worrying about something that's not even this month yet. : ) So for now...let's just focus on the happy and present and focus on the Disney trip. We'll get to the US trip. Just no need to stress about it... before it's time. 

Happy New Year 2016!!! The Year of the Monkey...

Happy New Years everyone! Good bye 2015 Year of the Sheep, hello there...Year of the Monkey!!! We sent out some very happy...very mellow in color... soft yellow ones this year! The pics obviously came from our summer vacation, this past July in Hawaii. Hopefully everyone can sorta get a general idea from the little picture collage we sent out.  I did white out our last name and address, just in case any of you are Terminators sent from Skynet, from either the past or present and are hunting for us. Okay...I'm kidding...I'm kidding. : ) 

Happy New Year's dear family, dear friends and dear and lovely readers. I hope all of you have the best most wonderful year, this year. I sincerely hope you all stay happy, healthy and wise.

PS, Happy New Year Andria, thank you for getting in touch with me! You made my day! Have an awesome year this year and right on about Korean beauty products! Yay. : )  

Throwback Thursday. New Year's cards we've sent to family and good friends from the past couple years...

Today is the last throwback Thursday for 2015! Everybody ready to ring in the new year? : ) I know we sure are! Anyway, in the United States, we usually send Christmas cards. Ever since I was very little, I remember my family sending out a ton of Christmas cards every year and us receiving a stack of them every single year too. Here in Japan, it's all about the New Years cards! I usually share a picture of our newest New Years card on my blog every January 1st. To wish you all a very Happy New Year with the card! And I will do the same tomorrow, with our newest card! So while I can't share our newest 2016 card just yet...not until tomorrow, because I want all who will receive them in the mail...who also read my blog... to be surprised by the new one. But, I can share our New Year's cards from years past! This was the New year's card which we sent out for the year 2013! I really love to make our New Year's cards every year. I have made them at a few different online companies for years. I now have a favorite company that I have been ordering from for the past 2 years. Before that, I floated between a few companies. They are made by a company who specializes in stuff like this, but they are also made by me...meaning, I hand select each picture that goes into our card. I pick out which picture gets placed where... on our cards. I pick out the wording. So while they are professionally made and look amazing and professionally done, they are also hand selected pictures, placed and set by me. And when I like the card and am sure..then I place my order. I usually order my cards mid to end of November! That way they are in my house by December 1st. The year 2012, was a significant year for Noah, because he started the first grade. And in Japan being a "pika pika ichinensei" is a...rite of passage, and with getting his randoseru (Japanese backpack) and everything... so that picture we knew had to be placed on our family's card for that year, letting everyone of our nearest and dearest know...Noah entered the first grade. I also showed just the boys taking part in some water gun play in our backyard. The boys with Disney popcorn buckets about to go to catch the train with us to go and grab some supper at Kua 'Aina and then head back to Disney. Noah's first time experience trick or treating for real..in Guam USA. And a pic from that same Halloween Guam trip, of the boys at the Hilton on the balcony. And the pic of the boys at the Ala Moana mall holding their coconut ice cream when we took Noah to Hawaii in March for his yochien/kindy graduation trip. So I do try my best... to capture each year...in a round up... picture collage as best as I can. And I think this pretty much wrapped up that year perfectly! : )   So these were the cards we sent out... for 2013!

These were the New Year's cards we sent out for the year 2014! A wonderful 6 picture collage of our summer trip to Hawaii that year. And the bottom 3 pics shared the Fall time...trip, we took when we went back to my home state and visited Denver, Colorado that year! So again, it wrapped up that year really perfectly too. I did blue out...our last name. Again very professionally made, but also still hand selected and made by me. Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words. And I find people really like receiving our cards. And we really like sending them out... to our family and close personal friends. : )

These we sent out last year! Again professionally made yes... but hand selected and each picture chosen by me, sorry I said that 3 times this post...but a true fact and what makes our cards really so cool... is because they have such personality...our cards. Noboru is glad I don't mind handling the New Year's cards. Last year I switched from making them at an American company to a Japanese company online. I switched because when I made them from an American online company, I had to pay international shipping. With these cards pictured here, these I made from the Japanese company and I didn't have to pay international shipping and they ship your cards in about 2-3 days, so you receive them super fast. Also, once I did order them from Australia this was like 5-6 years ago and they were the worst cards ever and I only say that.... because about 5 of our cards were super streaky over my kids faces.. which totally ruined the pictures...blurry pictures. And considering each card is about 150-200 yen per card...to have not been able to use 5-6 of the cards, was outrageous. So I have ordered from 1 American company loved it...never had 1 single runny blurry streaky picture problem... but the shipping to Japan ridiculous. The one from Australia was slightly cheaper then the American shipping... but given about 5-6 postcards were ruined, would never recommend them at all, because their quality was so iffy and sketchy. Their website had a jp at the end. And the Japanese company I am using now and used last year...the cards right in this pic. Cheap domestic shipping, have never had a runny or blurry ruined card and the making of the cards to shipping to my door step... is 2-3 days from order. Also you can buy them with postage already on your card, that's how I prefer and you can even input everyone's address on their site and they'll print them out for you. All easy peasy and done. Saves the headache. : ) And they even come with those lottery numbers on them. And in Japan, Japanese people look forward to winning something with the lucky lottery numbers... stamped on each card. So, I get ours with a postage stamp on there, address on there and lottery numbers on there. In Japan they say if you can't get your cards to the post office by December 25th... they will not make it to be delivered by January 1st. In Japan the mail places save all cards and deliver them in 1 fell swoop on January 1st. So, if you want yours to make it the same day as everyone else's... make sure by Christmas...they get to the post office. Just something to keep in mind for next year. : )  

I usually will have the boy's write a simple hand written message to all of their friends. It's just a common thing to do for these cards. Just something simple, personal and handwritten. Noah will just say something like.."thanks for being such a great friend this year, let's play together this year too" Or Bran will say..."let's study hard this year, just like last year"...just something...simple...1 easy phrase. Nothing like rocket science. To my own personal friends...like my movie friends, I'll usually just say..."hey let's see some new great movies this coming year" or "thanks for being such a great friend, let's go have some lunch real soon" Again...nothing...major. But that personal little... 1 sentence line, is just something usually done here. The kids usually write the same message to all their friends. I write different messages depending who it is. Anyway, have a happy and safe New Year's eve everyone! See you next year/tomorrow! : )  

What's our plan tonight? We will be having baked chicken parmesan on top of a bed of pasta. Some homemade peanut butter and Reese's peanut butter cup ice cream and chips for snacking later on... while enjoying the Twilight Zone marathon on the SyFy channel, it's our tradition here at our house. We are also making some homemade from scratch cinnamon rolls... the dough tonight and we'll bake them for breakfast tomorrow morning. Homemade from scratch pizza January 1st dinner. January 2nd, a big ol' pot of Texas style chili beans. And January 3rd, we will be meeting, like I said in my last post my BIL, SIL, MIL and my 2 nieces and my 1 year old nephew, plus our family of four and we'll be meeting up at a restaurant in Narita, we already have a reservation for that since our party is going to be rather large. Meaning lots of folks. Anyway have a happy New Year and happy holidays everyone! : )