After five and a half months of anxiety, lonely holiday celebrations, loooots of time with the cats and daily I-miss-yous, Clint has finally made it home! I prepared a sign, took a two-hour shuttle to the airport and surprised him. He was thinner, a stranger almost. But underneath all the gruff and grime of war and … Continue reading Welcome Home, Clint!
Ah. To be Vietnamese. What a culinary delight! Growing up in our (mostly) conventional household meant weekend feasts with family and friends. From the 50-pound crawfish boils to my mom's fragrant pho, it was always a tradition of extravagance. Frankly, she didn't know how to cook for a small group. One of my favorite dishes of hers is bun … Continue reading Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio
This past Halloween, some guys from LRS put their wits together and created a terrifying haunted house for the denizens of Fussa. I got to participate by being the Special Effects Make-up Artist. (Self-imposed title.) It was fun gori-fying the actors, but I immediately felt bad for the small children going through. It brought back … Continue reading American Haunted House in Fussa
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Costumery and make up are taken to whole new levels. This year, I had a few opportunities to dress up. We had a Fall Festival at work earlier in the month, so I dressed up as the counterpart to our mascot, Samurai Fox. Marketing had a party, so … Continue reading Halloween MMXIV
This past weekend, I had a chance to lunch at Anniversaire in Harajuku. I opted for a delicious tandoori chicken caesar salad and finished every bite. It made me reminiscent of BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse's salmon caesar salad. I had to make my own. Pan seared salmon over a healthy bed of caesar salad, sprinkled with pine … Continue reading Salmon Caesar Salad
Wow! Super simple recipe with a complex flavor. Basil doesn't come easily around these parts; so when I saw fresh basil plants at the Commissary, I snatched them up! I made the traditional pesto, and added some cream and cheese (I couldn't get a hold of pecorino, but parmesan worked nicely). I've been favoring spaghetti noodles … Continue reading Pesto Cream Pasta
One of the benefits of living on an overseas base is the influx of entertainment "for the troops." Tonight, Hip Hop/R&B artist Trey Songz performed at Yokota and all the ladies lost their minds. The show was slated to commence at 6:30 p.m., but fans were already lined up before 3:00 p.m. As soon as … Continue reading Trey Songz Comes to Yokota
I'd been reading all about October's imminent blood moon, but had no hopes of seeing it. And yet, by happenstance, I looked up last night and there it was! The lunar orb in all its vermillion glory. I ran for my telescope, but couldn't set it up in time. The Nikon would have to suffice. By … Continue reading Blood Moon
This is Clementine. She's needy. I mean stage-five clinger needy. It's her way or the high way. You better pet her when she wants it. And don't even think about eating your food, cause that's her food. Really, only Chromeo can explain.
As Clint was preparing to head to the desert, we'd be remiss not to make a trip to the beach. So we did just that. We got a van, grabbed a couple of friends and made our way to paradise. Shimoda was just as lovely as last year, but more enjoyable with barely any visitors. … Continue reading Shimoda Trip 2014
Cherry blossoms are gone, but spring has only begun. This past weekend, we drove to Tachikawa to see the Flowers Festival (which really ought to be the Tulips Festival) at Showa Kinen Park. The park itself is quite expansive! It took us three hours to walk around the entire thing. Since we entered the opposite … Continue reading Flower Festival at Showa Kinen Park
When we first got to Yokota, we were instructed to steer clear of Roppongi. This area has such a bad rep, and I'm not sure why. Albeit our accommodations at the illustrious Hardy Barracks and its glamorous view of the cemetery wasn't ideal, the accessibility amply makes up for it. We were always about a … Continue reading Roppongi: Midtown
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