teamEggers

Yokohama F. Marinos (Soccer)

It’s Soccer DAY!!

But first, a very happy happy birthday to our Mother (in-law), Ann. I hope you had a great day and did some special things. We’re thinking of you!

Back to Soccer. We got a good sized group together to check out the first F-Marinos (home) game of the year. So much fun! (left to right: Will, Ian, Dave, Jon)

(left to right: Julie, Michelle, Sayo, Toshi) It’s always good to see Sayo & Toshi. They’re good peoples. And I got a new coat!

There are two things that I find fantastic about soccer in Japan. Number 1. The beer-kids have KEGS in their BACKPACKS. How do i get this? Seriously.

Second, the stadium food is SO much healthier than American stadium food. Garlic fries, anyone? no go. How about some pretzel sticks & edamame?

A pickle? Look at that head! Those crazy Js.

Speaking of those crazy Japanese, they really know how to put on a good show. Way to be superfans, yokohama.

Sports are always better when your team wins. Our team, in this case, was The Awesome-O with a 3-0 game. Victory lap!!

You know the phrase about how you should follow the rules until you know them really well, and then you’re sometimes allowed to break them? I don’t think the Japanese have earned the right to make up words with the English language yet. I just don’t trust them. It seems so much more likely that this was an instance of poor spelling rather than wit. What is dynamism, anyways?

That’s all I’ve got for you today. Thanks for tuning in!

Kitkat – Calpis

We haven’t had a kit kat update in a while, have we? Here we have a funny polka-dotted package that we didn’t recognize until the store gal read it to us. She said “Kah – roo – pee – ko”. Jon and I stared blankly at each other for a minute, each saying it over again in our heads, and then realized: Calpis!

Why they say it differently than they write it in English is beyond me, but “Calpis” is a tasty beverage (and now a kitkat!).

You’re probably saying, “Yes, yes, fine. But What the Heck Is Calpis?”. Great Question. It’s a drink created in pre-war Japan, meant to bring calcium to the masses. Of course.

Photo c/o Coffee Milk Mu

It sounds sick, and I’ll admit that I was skeptical at first. Calpis does sound an awful lot like “cow piss”, and it’s that funny shade of white, after all. Luckily, when they imported it into the US, they ditched its unfortunate name.

photo c/o calpico.com

But boy, is it tasty. The japanese like it mixed in cocktails. Calpis Sour & Calpis Cassis. Makes for a neat kitkat.

Enoshima Aquarium

In the list of touristy things that I love, aquariums are in the top ten. Right after jumpy castles and before hobos. While we were in Enoshima, Jon decided that we should check out the aquarium. I’m so glad we did. I got to touch slimy things and take lots of pictures.

Ready? Okay!

When you first walk in, you see this GIANT tank with a school of sardines and shark fin ray guys and….. well, it was impressive.

Here’s a video. If you click “play”, it’ll be like you were there too.

Don’t you feel more connected? Hanging from the ceiling were these oddly shaped mobile things. Wait. Are those…… yes! it’s what a fleet of boats would look like if you were seeing them from below! how cool!!

Onward and upward. Wobbly jellyfish anyone?

You can’t see them wobble? Here. Try now. Oh em gee. I just love the video function on our camera.

It’s about time for me to touch creepy crawly things, don’t you think? I love petting zoos more than bumble bees love fatguys in striped suits.

Do you ever think about cupcakes? I really want a cupcake. A moistier cupcake from Cupcake Royale in Capitol Hill. I’ve been daydreaming about them since January. Here’s a starfish!

You can’t eat starfish. You know what you can eat? This guy. He tastes good with sake. It says so right on his fish tank. (that bottle in the rocks is a sake cup!!!)

I have never been to an aquarium / zoo that openly talks about eating what’s behind glass. This place gives recipes. It’s crazy.

Speaking of food, I’m getting hungry. Lavishly decorated cocktail, anyone?

I wasn’t planning on drinking today, but “cocktails enhance the tropical resort feeling”. You can’t argue with awkward Engrish printed on the menu.

Speaking of top notch Engrish, check out this gem:

After our overpriced dinner, jon and I went for a sunset-stroll on the beach. The beach looks way better in pictures than it did in real life.

It was kind of cloudy. But we had a such a great day, it didn’t really matter. Here’s us:

Enoshima – Spring Fest

Jon and I picked a bee you ti ful day to go down to the island of Enoshima. It also turned out to be the spring festival! I love it when that stuff works out. Although… “festival” means that our nice day on the island want jam-packed with other people.

There was a band….

…and jumpy castles. Oh my. I love jumpy castles.

Or maybe it’s just the idea of jumpy castles. Jon likes to remind me that I haven’t actually been in one for years.

Regardless, we have a lovely day wandering about, doing our best to avoid the crowds.

The street food here is so crazy!! Look at these little squiddy guys, on a stick! I’m pretty sure I like looking at them better than eating them.

There was a treasure hunt going on around the temple grounds! Jon was so sad he wasn’t an 8-year-old that could read japanese. Okay. Really the crux of the matter here was that we can’t read japanese. I think if the clues were in English, it would have been teamEggers vs. this boy scout, on the search for the big prize.

It was so cute! I wish there were treasure hunts in real life. (Do you think anyone cares that we take pictures of their little children all the time? I think that in america that might be frowned on. People of japan: I won’t steal your children! I promise!)

The tide was out, and on the back side of the island we were able to walk around the rocks. It was so beautiful.

Little kids were playing in the tidepools, and old men were trying to fish. Funny – I didn’t even notice that I was in this picture until just now. There were creepy crawlys in there! That little girl was brave!

I just love these pictures. I think they turned out really well.

We were able to take a little boat back from the island instead of walking the way we came. When I was here last year, the tide was high and it was really windy, and this wasn’t an option. I was so excited to not have to walk back up all the stairs!!

Next up, teamEggers visits the aquarium!!!

Yakiniku w/ Friends

We loved the All You Can Eat / All You Can Drink format of this yakiniku place so much, that we came back on one of Phil’s last days in town. It was kind of awesome.

I love it that we have a group of friends here. There’s an awesome built in network in Yokohama, because you all are in the same circumstance, and because you’re brought together with people that you might not ordinarily live so close to. Also, I’ve been using the word “awesome” an incredible amount today.

Phil’s an awesome guy, and I’m excited to have gotten the chance to hang out with him for a bit. Since he lives on the other side of the pond (in Washington), it’s a rare day that we all get to hang out stateside. We’ll miss you, Phil!