Spring is just around the corner

The plum blossoms are the first flowers that herald the beginning of spring in Japan. We were lucky enough to spend one of the warmer spring days outside enjoying all of the hues that only these little plum blossoms can bring.

The Japanese celebrate these short lived blossoms by picnicking beneath its branches with bento lunches and sake. When in Japan, do as the japanese do! Here I am laying back after a good lunch of onigirii (rice ball sandwichs) and some fruit.

Is the Belly Getting Bigger?

Here I am at 28 weeks. So far so good... During this time, I was still very active. I continued to work at Bunri Elementary teaching music while working out (ie. kick boxing, zumba, water aerobics) in my spare time. That all stopped after an episode of ligament pain. Oh my goodness... why didn't anyone tell me that it wasn't just the labor part of pregnancy that hurt?

The Belly

While Drew is away on TDY for the next few weeks, I (Candice) will do most of the blogging. As you probably can guess from our previous post, this pregnancy has affected both of our lives quite a bit. Here's a quick update: I am currently feeling great in the midst of the second trimester, surpassing the first trimester's infamous bought of morning sickness. However, I've noticed a big change in my memory (sorry if I forget your name) and extreme clumsiness (I've already broken several glasses and my glass blender!). The belly is now getting bigger, allowing me to get good use out of the Christmas gifts of maternity clothes. Despite these delightful quirks, our little Sprout at 22 weeks is suppose to be as big as a spaghetti squash weighing about 1 pound. She's kicking quite a bit! Here's what I look like:

2 Becomes 3

It's been a while since our last blog and here's why:

This is one of our first photos of our little baby girl at the tender age of 20 weeks. Her prenatal name is 'Sprout'.

Rad!!!

Nikko

Happy New Year! Well back in October, we went to Nikko with two other couples. It is a scenic town in the mountains a few hours drive from our house. It's known for its cool weather, fall colors, shrines, and temples. These photos from my camera give a nice summary of our trip.

The river right by our bed & breakfast. It had a private sauna with windows overlooking the river.


Several stone lanterns in front of a shrine.


The tallest pagoda in Nikko.


The famous "Here no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" monkeys carved into a shrine.


Mimicry at it's best.


Another shrine (or maybe it's a temple?). You can see the tall cedars as well.


In a Japanese garden. The Japanese maples produce the most unbelievably red leaves.


Orange, green, yellow...


The view from an old emperor's summer home.


An abandoned bus, which is a rare site in Japan as they keep things really clean.


Buddas galore. Looks like they're ready for some ribs with all their bibs.


A waterfall in the mountains. The trees here already lost all their leaves.


A bridge that is a union of two serpents that allowed a priest to cross the river.


The gingko. The best yellow of all the trees.


A Japanese garden. They often have a stone water container for cleansing one's hands. I like the chain link rain gutter.

Yokohama

I'm behind as usual. Two months ago we went to Yokohama with 2 other couples. We took the metro train from here, to Tokyo, then to Yokohama. Yokohama is unique in that it is more modern and more international than other cities in Japan. Highlights include:

The Landmark Tower (the tallest building in Japan) which also has the fastest elevator in the world.


The Waterfront (Landmark Tower is the skyscraper on the left)


Yes, we rode the ferris wheel.


Oktoberfest! With a real German band and super expensive beers.


With singing in German.

ROBO Japan 2008, which had all the famous robots on display with also some tournament Robowars. Below is a video of Honda's Asimo robot, which can run and go up and down stairs like a human.

Here's the winners and some other contestants from Robowars. The robots were required to be bipedal, and the strategy usually involved swinging the arms in order to knock over the opponent.


The Sankeien Garden, which was a bunch of restored historic buildings and landscaping around this large pond. Here's some of my best shots.


This plant (the Sweet Olive or Fragrant Tea Olive) possessed such a heavenly fragrance, we bought one for our courtyard soon after arriving home.


And the food and good times with our friends.

Our Courtyard

Our house has a small courtyard in front, that originally was just pea gravel and dirt. I've been waiting a while to have a small yard of my own to landscape. I appreciate the Japanese way of gardening, and I tried to model mine after it. The traditional Japanese garden has roots centuries ago with the tea ceremony. The garden was where you walk through to clear your mind or collect your thoughts or something, on your way to the tea ceremony. The plants tend to be evergreens or grasses of Asian origin and will usually mimic nature in the layout.


I built the pond, which I would estimate it to be about 200 gallons, so on the small side. I've stocked it with koi, goldfish, mosquito fish, white cloud minnows, bitterlings, Japanese dojo eels, and a couple turtles.


I didn't realize how much landscaping costs. It feels weird paying for rocks. But when you live in the city, you can't just gather some from the surrounding area. I tried to stick with smaller plants and items on sale, so it kept my costs to under $500.

Our New Car

It's called a Suzuki Lapin. It's only sold in Japan. I would call it a cross between a Scion xB and a Mini. Very cute, but not too bubbly that a guy can't be seen driving it. This will act as our car until we need 2 cars, which may be never. It depends on where Candice ends up working. Then I'll get to pick my car... fun times.


It's classified as a "mini-car" in Japan. Because of it's small size, weight, and engine (60 cc believe it or not), it gets reduced rates for taxes and random fees. But this thing can haul... a lot of packages. And WOW! Look at those rims! They've got to be 12's or something!

Married!

Below is our website we used for the invites. Sorry if you didn't get invited, because it was a blast! We don't have many pics available now, but I'll post some soon.... 'er or later.

http://www.andyandcandy.info/