Cup o Noodles Museum (March 7th)

It was a rainy Saturday so we decided to head out to the Cup o Noodles museum in Yokohama.  The museum was a lot of fun, it was interesting to hear the story about how instant ramen was invented and also how he came up with the idea to sell it in a cup.  We also got to make our own custom cup o noodles, picking out the broth flavor plus 3 mix-ins.  My favorite part was the Noodle Bazaar where we ate our lunch and for 300 yen we got a small bowl of ramen from our choice of several different countries (my favorite was the Chinese ramen).  Since they were small and cheap, we shared and tried lots of different kinds.  The kids then went into the cup o noodles "park" - lots of activities, including a ball pit.  When that was finished, Abby and I checked out the gift shop and then we went across the street to where the large Yokohama ferris wheel is located. It was too hazy to go on the ferris wheel, since the best part of that ride is the view.  Jamie really wanted to do the roller coaster so I took him on it and then we headed over to Happy Lawson's, a convenient store/cafe/play-area all in one!  We stayed for several hours with our custom cup o noodles sitting next to us on the window sill. At one point, a young boy was playing with mine and I didn't think much of it - surely his parents would have him put it back?  But no, as they began to leave the kid handed my cup o noodles (inside a large bag - no less) to his parents, which they promptly packed inside their own bag and started to leave.  Chad tried to stop them (I was on the other side of the store buying some food), by saying "Sumimasen, sumimasen!" (excuse me, excuse me) but they ignored him and kept walking, away and gone with my custom cup o noodles that had my name on it!  Chad felt pretty bad but he wasn't sure how big of a deal he should make about something that had only cost us 300 yen.   It was certainly the weirdest thing that had happened to us in Japan yet. We stayed for awhile longer, thinking they might come back but alas, they did not, and I will never get to try my cheesy-garlic-onion cup o noodles :(

First we got to see all the types of ramen made, from many years ago to the different kinds around the world

Here was a replica of the inventor's shed where he developed a technique for drying the noodles

His original idea was to create a fast meal that was inexpensive

His inspiration for frying the noodles came one night as he watched his wife prepare tempura (and saw that it came out crunchy)

This was a cool cup o noodles sculptures

Finally we got to make our own cup o noodles - first step was to decorate the cup (this one is mine).

"only Jamie can eat this"

Of course Chad's is a sailboat

Abby adds dolphins

Tristan is busy decorating with plenty of green.

next we get to add the noodles to the cup

Then after they add in our custom ingredients, they add a lid and shrink wrap it.

Here we are in the noodle bazaar, trying out different type of ramen and noodle dishes

The kids get cup o noodles hats after visiting the play area.

Here you can see the size of the bag they put our custom cup o noodles into (and it's filled with air too)!

On our walk we crossed this circular pedestrian bridge

Here we are at Happy Lawson's (the play area in the background)

View of the ferris wheel from Happy Lawson's

Kannonzaki park (March 6th)

Another Friday field trip, this time to a park not far from Yokosuka.  We took the bus from the station right here all the way to the last stop, right outside of this enormous park.  It was a blustery day to begin with and we started our walk along the waterfront, making our way to the lighthouse.  We toured the lighthouse (it had great views) and then wandered along the trail until we found a good place to have lunch (it was sheltered against hawks).  After that we ventured along the waterfront until we came to a sandy beach, here we played in the sand for awhile and then set out walking again.  We had heard that there was a great roller slide in this park but had yet to find any sort of playground!  Finally we found a large playground for the kids although it wasn't THE playground we were looking for, but the kids were having fun here so we stayed for a few hours.  After that, the kids and I set out on a MISSION to find this elusive roller slide while Misty went home with Hailey.  After quite a bit more walking, we were successful in our mission and the roller slide was just as awesome as we had hoped!  The only downside was that it was a long walk back up the hill.  We stayed for a bit and then headed back since by this time the sun was starting to set.  Since Chad didn't get a chance to go with us, we took him back here yesterday (March 22) but these pictures are all from our first trip.

Up in the lighthouse

Out on some rocks along the beach

Next to the first playground was a large field with some great gardens

The best part was this net the kids were bouncing on

Misty bounced them very high several times - so much that they had to hold on tight to keep from bouncing off

Another lookout point on our walk to find the roller slide.

Found it!

There was also a pirate ship plaything at this park.

 Check out my google+ page for videos from this trip!

Some of you will know why I took these photos :)

Cherry blossoms at Muira Kaigen (Mar 2)

It was a beautiful day outside so the kids and I headed out to see some early cherry blossoms (they put special (UV, I'm assuming) lights under the trees to make them bloom early.  Well, we got some pictures with the trees right outside the station, and as it turns out, there were several more trees to see but I didn't know where so we headed down to the nearby beach where the kids played in the sand and I sat and read my book for a few hours in the sun.  You really can't go wrong with that.

Time for a few selfies!