Finding our Way Around

We woke up on Thursday refreshed from a full night's sleep and ready to see a little bit of the base. Our sponsor provided us with a base map when he dropped us at the TLF and Russ used that to route out a walking path to the BX and Commissary. First we found the Post Office and checked our mail. It was exciting to find some mail from a sweet friend from GA. It made our day. We walked to the food court in the BX and had our lunch at Popeyes and then did a quick walk through the BX to see all the shops before heading to the commissary to get some groceries for our TLF. Since we were walking we had to just get the basics so we could carry it all back to our apartment. Russ had an afternoon meeting at Civilian Personnel so I spent a few hours getting the rest of our bags unpacked. We walked back to the BX after his meeting and got our cell phones so we would be able to communicate with the kids. We both got iPhones because we were told we can text and do facetime for free when it's iphone to iphone. Since all the kids have iphones that made the decision easy. There are several cell phone companies that have stores on the base (which was very convenient and easy). We went with one called AU. I remembered reading several blogs and articles from others who all recommended AU as the best for good cell phone signal both on and off the base. We will pay about $140/month for both phones with data and (somewhat) unlimited calling in Japan.

Russ started his new job on Friday. He called me at lunchtime and said that one of his co-workers had invited us to lunch off base. They came and picked me up and we headed to a Soba shop. One of my favorite meals when we lived in Iwakuni was Yakisoba so there was no question what I was ordering for lunch. Russ ordered a soba noodle soup. In Japan, there is no tipping in restaurants. Most of the time you just point to pictures to order food or in some restaurants they have plastic food displays outside of the restaurants where you can point to what you want to order. I totally enjoyed my yakisoba and had not lost my chopstick skills after 20 years away. We had quite a hassle trying to get back on the base after lunch since they decided they wanted us to get temporary passes instead of using our orders to come on base. It was almost an hour wait to get our temporary passes. I'm looking forward to finally having our IDs and Driver's Licenses so we can go on and off base with ease. That won't happen until next week though.

For supper we ate at Chili's. It was just like being in the states...same menu. I got my iced tea for free after finding a fly floating on the side of the glass. Ewww.

A Glimpse at a Japanese Menu

This is Yakisoba. Yum!