Bangkok, Thailand

Once again, I am WAY behind on my blogging. Sorry everyone! Time to catch up!

I was fortunate enough to travel to one of the port calls this summer. Port calls are places that the George Washington pulls into and the guys are able to get off of the ship for a few days. I spent 9 days in Thailand, 5 of which were spent with A.J. We had a great time! I started my trip in Bangkok with some other girls from Zama and then we continued on to Pattaya, where the ship came in.

In Bangkok, we stayed at the cutest little hotel called Seven.


Seven was tucked away on this little street with this beautiful pond out front. There were only 7 rooms in the hotel and each room was a different color. Very fun and the perfect place for our little 2 night adventure!



We were in the green room.


Check out our bathroom!


Our one full day in Bangkok was spent on an all day tour. We saw the Grand Palace, the Royal Family's mansion and some other temple's. It was a beautiful (but very hot) day and we had a great time looking at all the history in the city.















Reclining Buddha




We also took a river boat tour at the end of the day. Absolutely beautiful!







Please see the next post for pictures from Pattaya!

The Lockup

Among the many things I love about Japan (the food, culture, beautiful landscapes, etc.) there are also themed restaurants. One of which I experienced about a week ago. "The Lockup" is a restaurant where you get "locked" in a cage while eating dinner and all of the drinks are prison/ Halloween (or what I consider Halloween) themed. Also, in the middle of your dinner all of the lights go out and people in costumes sneak around your cell and in the windows to scare you...all while the Ghostbusters theme song is playing. Hilarious! There are others that I hope to get to while we have our time here in Japan, but this was definitely a good start!

Peach Picking, Washi Paper Making and a Winery

We have an organization on base called MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) that provides the Navy and their families with great activities and opportunities. One of the many things they do in Japan is schedule tours to different places all over the place. A few weeks ago, I went on one of the tours which included fresh peach picking, washi paper making and a tour of a winery.

Our first stop was a peach orchard with tons of trees and the most beautiful (and delicious) peaches I have encountered. We were given a 1/2 hour to eat as many peaches as we wished and then we could purchase some at the end.







I brought home 3, which made a delicious breakfast the next day!


Next, we went to a washi paper making facility. We each got an apron and a screen, which we poured 3 different colors of washi liquid over. Each layer had to be poured slowly and then we had to gently tilt the screens around so that the excess liquid would drain out. When we were done, we made a design in our paper and they took them to let them dry. I have to pick my finished piece up this week as I was gone the last few days.









Last, but not least, was the winery. We took a tour through the vineyards and got to try each type of grape. That was followed by the wine tasting room and the purchasing of lots of wine!









The damage...

Bar

It dawned on me today that although I put these pictures on Facebook, I did not include them in the blog as I meant to.

In May, A.J. and I bought our first piece of Japanese "furniture"; a bar. We had no intention of buying anything this early on in our time here, and our original plan for the bar was to shop, and then have one custom made before we left. However, we found this one at a bazaar, fell in love with it, and decided to buy it.

When you open up the whole piece, this is what both sides look like.



As you can see, the inside is equipped for wine glasses, liquor bottles and wine bottles. It holds a lot! I even discovered that the bottle racks in the middle are slightly slanted in the back so the bottle tips up; preventing them from leaking. Very clever!


The top is in-laid with green marble and then lacquered over for protection.

Each panel represents a different season in Japan.





We love it!

Happy 25th!

I recently celebrated my 25th birthday! And although I was without my family, my friends here made it a wonderful day. I even had a few students from my summer class remember and bring me some cards! A.J. had given me my gifts before he left, but I got a phone call from him to wish me a happy day. Here are a few pics from dinner and one of the very nice birthday present my husband gave me...






Beautiful!! I also got to customize a pair of Nike sneakers!

Happy 25th to me!

Dine Like the Royals

Well, seeing as the road outside my house is currently completely torn up and I cannot leave, it seems like a good day to catch up on blogging!





On July 9th, 13 of us girls traveled up to the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo. (The New Sanno is a DOD hotel located in the city. It has become a wonderful escape for us with and without the guys, as there are numerous restaurants, a NEX and lovely rooms available to stay in.) On this particular weekend, we went up for one of the dinners that the hotel was hosting; "Dine Like the Royals."



Dinner was based off of the menu that was served at the Royal Wedding of William and Kate. We had a 9 course dinner complete with 5 different wines. Every course that came out was delicious and we all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit!




Our table for dinner. (We were split between two tables.)


The appetizer was a Crab Timbale. Crab meat wrapped in smoke salmon.


The soup course was Chicken Consomme


Roasted Salmon Package for the Seafood Course


Pan Seared Breast of Duck for the Game Course


This was the best part of the dinner! Champagne Sorbet. Delicious!


Our Entree was a Medallion Duet. We had both beef and lamb with two different sauces.


The Summer Melon Salad


We finished with a dessert trio. Chocolate Biscuit Wedding Cake, Strawberry Ice Cream and English Trifle.

Overall, it was a wonderful evening filled with great food and even better friends.

Long time, no chitchat...

To say that it has been forever since I posted here would be an understatement! But, such is life sometimes! Things have been very busy around the Clay household and blogging has just not been on the list. So here's what you've missed since the last time:

I came back to Japan at the beginning of May and immediately returned to school (and by immediately, I mean the day after I landed at Narita Airport). I finished out the school year last week with 10 of my original 16 kids. This week I began training and planning for the summer enrichment program. Just a little extra money and something else to keep me busy! After much debate, I am officially returning to 2nd grade next school year as well!

A.J. got back about 3 days before myself and was back to flying in no time. He did come to San Diego while I was "evacuated" and I got to spend 5 days with him out there! He recently left for his second deployment and will be gone for quite a few of the coming months.

There ya' have it! Makes a little more sense why I haven't blogged in awhile, doesn't it?? ;-) I do have some fun things planned for this summer, and I will make sure to share them with all of you. Forgive me for the long break, I promise I will get back on track with this site soon! I hope that you all are having a great summer so far and we'll chitchat again soon!

P.S.- Here are some pictures of the hydrangea that are blooming in Japan right now. Absolutely beautiful!!