Feature Friday: Tiara's Way

Wow.. It's been a long time since I have actually enough time to sit behind the screen and write, about what's been going on in our lives. It's nice but at the same time it's sad.. as I look at the title "weekend recap" I realize.. we are coming up on our last weekend in Japan. It's been a crazy month with packing out, trying to get last minute adventures in between appointments, packing suitcases and planning our trip.

As I write this post, I look back at all the adventures my husband have done and how much we are truly going to miss this beautiful country. We are so beyond bless to have spent the last three years in this home, together, with our two boys. Our new adventure is calling our names and we'll be on our way in less than two weeks. We'll have a whole new home, a whole new "family" of friends, a new job, new car, new everything. It's like a do-over, in a way. We get to start brand new, make new adventures and build more in our marriage. Who knows? We might even start our family on this new adventure.

Let's get into the weekend recap!

Friday: 12 June 2015

I dreaded Friday, why? It was my LAST official day working.. It meant that I would no longer be able to visit my work place and see all my students again, which broke my heart. I have been teaching in this school and company for over 2 years. It was like ripping a piece of my heart out of my body seeing all their sad faces. Some of my little ones even started to cry. The thing with Japanese kids, is that they are very shy. It is always hard to find a new teacher because they are very picky and it takes them a long time to open up. It took me nearly 3 months after my friend left, for the students to warm up to me. Now, it's time for me to give them to their new teacher and wish for the best.

After my goodbyes, to the students, I went to eat lunch with my older co-workers from my first job in Japan, Subway. My supervisor Yumi and my great friend Sachi. (If you haven't been able to tell, I am in love with my Japanese family). As the only American working in Subway, it was always a great time for me, because they always wanted to learn English and I could pick up on their language pretty fast as well. They were the first ones to ever teach me Japanese and all about Japanese culture. They helped me find the English jobs I was looking for and even volunteered me to "model" in Japan, plenty of times. They always invited me to BBQ's down at the river and to meet their families. They always bought me gifts and just the friendship we had, was amazing. It was never co-worker to co-worker but always felt more like a family!

 Sachi! 

Yumi!

My husband had work on Friday, so after lunch (3 hours, of girl talk), I just went home for the rest of the day, and cleaned up a little more so we can prepare for our final inspection! Oh, let's not forget it was the day that ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK came out, so after my husband got off, we had to binge watch!

Saturday: 13 June 2015

My friend Yukari and her husband Mark, asked me to shoot their wedding for them. So of course, since I am building my portfolio, a wedding would be an amazing opportunity for me. The wedding was suppose to be from 3:00pm - 5:00 pm, and then the reception until 8:00 pm. She asked me to come at 1:45pm, to get some shots of her bridesmaids and her, but due to some things, they were really late and the whole day was pushed back by about an hour.

Now usually when shooting a wedding, there is always at least two photographers, why? One is to make sure they get the details, also because you want to be able to capture the wedding from all angles. However Yukari and Mark didn't hire two photographers, they had only hired me and wanted nobody else. So you can say it was a long and tiring day. After the wedding, I couldn't wait to get off my feet and EAT! My husband took me to my favorite restaurant, Yakiniku. (it's a place where you grill all your own food).

Sunday: 14 June 2015

Sunday morning, my husband and I decided to go our enlisted club for Sunday brunch. Is it the best food in the world? No, but I definitely did not feel like cooking breakfast after Saturday. After brunch we had made plans to go to a local temple area and see Jurassic World. However, after brunch we went by the movie theatre on base and the movie was sold out! BOO! So, we headed out to the temple.

When we arrived to the temple area, it was almost 4:00pm and the temple closed at 4:30pm. I didn't realize how big the area was, so I didn't plan accordingly. We walked around and checked out as much as we could without interrupting all the people closing their little vending shops. It was so beautiful and we plan on going back, seeing how it's so close to our base. 

While driving back home my husband decided that he wanted to go to the mall. It was giving us something to do, so I didn't argue. Our home is so boring now that all of our stuff is gone, so anything to get us out the house! At the mall, we did some shopping, at H&M. We are planning to surprise my husband's mom by driving to his hometown the day of her birthday and take her out to some fancy dinner. We will also be spending our first fourth with his family and friends, so we just got some patriotic outfits for the fourth! 

After H&M, we went up to the Japanese theatre to see if maybe they were playing any good movies, but they weren't so we decided to go to to the arcade! At the Arcade, we won 3 items from the "crane" machine. I gave the stuffed rabbit to my niece and kept the chicken! I have won several times, all from luck and after spending a few bucks ;)

From there, we went to eat dinner. My husband got some ramen from the food court, and I got Pepper lunch. The food courts in Japanese malls are their style "fast food". There is no BK, or anything like that. They have a Hawaiian pancake place, several ramen & gyoza shops and my favorite Pepper lunch. Pepper lunch is a place where you order your food and they give it to you on a hot plate to cook yourself at your table. Your rice is done, but your meat has to be cooked. I usually get the same one, beef and rice with a coke. It is so good! 

Now, one of my readers was asking me what a Japanese bathroom looks like, and I got some pictures for you, while I was at the mall. The Japanese bathrooms are not all "squat pots". They have buttons next to the seat where you can play music while you use the restroom. They also have buttons that "rinses" you after you have used the bathroom. They have seat cleaners to clean the toilet seat before sitting and of course a little toilet seat for you ladies with babies! They also have a sink next to the toilet. Oh, did I mention the seats heat up when you sit on them? PERFECT! I have never really liked using public bathrooms because I always think they're dirty and smelly, but Japan has some of the cleanest restrooms I have ever been in! 

Overall, we had a pretty relaxing weekend to take our minds off this upcoming week (being our last week in our home). How was your weekend? 

 

 

 

 

 

More About Tiara's Way:

A military brat, transitioning to a military wife, living in Tokyo, Japan with her handsome airmen and two fur boys! Join us on our journey, as we explore the beautiful country! On our blog you'll be able to find travel experiences, our military lifestyle and recipes that we LOVE! You can read more about the girl behind the screen here!

 

You can check out her blog here.