Kamakura...and bugs

Hey all! It's Monday morning here and we had a pretty busy weekend. Check out Facebook for our pics of our trip to Kamakura; it was amazing! It was very relaxing taking the bus from base and not having to worry about maps, schedules, traffic, etc. We will most definitely be taking another base-sponsored tour! Very reasonably priced as well, considering the admission & all the tolls are included.

So, not to make this a gripe-fest but I have definitely figured out my #1 con to living here...big, huge, scary cockroach-looking water bugs. Ummm EWW. We have only seen them a couple of times since we moved in, but I can already tell its going to be a long 4 years of checking the drain everytime I walk into the bathroom. The lil bastards like to crawl up the drains, so we keep the drains plugged 24/7 HOWEVER they can still crawl in through the overflow thingy on the tub and in the sink. See below!

As you can see, they are very big and scary (to me) and the cat just batted it around. Not much of a bug hunter (except moths). So, thankfully Jonas stepped in and killed it for me (sorry sis but EWWW). I am definitely considering showering with my glasses on just in case of a sneak attack.

Last Thursday we went to McDonald's in Fussa near the train station! We just HAD to see how it compared to our usual McD's experience and it was actually pretty similar. I got a quarter pounder, which I swear actually tasted BETTER than it does in the states, however the bun was freakishly small...as in, the meat pretty much hung off on all sides. Odd. Jonas got the teriyaki burger (how awesome is THAT?) and the bite I had was pretty yummy. The fries were def the low point, not very salty at all and overly greasy (yes, even for McD's fries). It was fun though and we'll have to go back to try the other odd menu items such as the McPork and the baked potato pie (that looks exactly like an Apple pie, only its filled w/potato).

The latest chapter in our "7-11 Ice Cream Adventure" proved to be a bit disastrous. We always pick two items and share them, so for "my" treat I picked the cheesecake-looking-log-thing. It had a picture on the outside and it looked like a little, well cheesecake log. It was, in fact, frozen soft cheese...imagine the cheese inside the little gas station cheese & cracker packs made into ice cream and a little graham cracker tasting cracker on the bottom. We were both in agreeance that we will NOT be getting the cheese log again.

All for now, as I need to be getting ready for my Japanese Culture & Customs class (offered for free on base). Hope you are all having a splendid weekend...and HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the Moms reading this!

Enjoy the pics below: the 1st was a little gem I found in one of our local travel guides, the 2nd is my snack from the other day (2 types of Japanese rice crackers, they look savory but turned out to be slightly sweet and very yummy), and the 3rd is a pic of the items that I now carry with me everywhere! The chop sticks are just because I thought they were adorable and I enjoy the smaller size (they are kids' of course). The towel is for my hands because it is very rare to find a public restroom that has paper towels for drying off hands...they do this so as to eliminate the waste from the paper, which is a pretty tree-huggingly awesome idea. And the fan is because I am one hot-blooded chica and it just looks cool. :)

PS. We walked around Kamakura singing "Karma Chameleon" all day . Oh and pretty much every time I walk around anywhere in Japan I am at least humming "Japanese Boy." Thank you, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, for introducing me to that gem of an 80's song.