Labor Day Weekend

A beautiful morning in Iwakuni

It's been a long time since Joe got time off work without any plans and very few work-related interruptions. I can't say it was all fun and games because being a Marine is a 24/7 job. Joe is always there to help his unit whether I like it or not ;)

We decided to spend the weekend relaxing at our house and bonding with our puppy. Eddie is growing so fast and learning really quickly too. He is almost completely house trained but needs work in the Biting Hands and Eating Everything departments. 


A few notable things we did on our lazy weekend:

1. Our first Pachinko experience! We were walking around the Yellow Brick Road area after an awesome Indian dinner at Shiva and decided to check out movies at the Japanese theater. They were all in Japanese, so we spontaneously decided to check out the Pachinko Lian along the mainstreet. We threw some money away on a pinball-style gambling game, but it was fun to play together. I wouldn't recommend pachinko or slots, but I'm also not a gambler. These casinos are notoriously run by Yakuza (Japanese gangs), so that's another excuse to stay away. 

Failing hard at Pachinko

2. The debut of our long-awaited XBox Media Center (XBMC) set up. We have lots of TV shows and movies from friends who have left Iwakuni, but we were just using Joe's laptop to play everything. We now have a dedicated ASRock home theater PC so we can flip through shows without any commercials! I'm working on getting Ubuntu drivers for the computer so we don't need external speakers, but it's mostly a finished product. Joe even programmed the bluetooth remote, so it's just like a DVD player but more awesome.

An unintentionally moody shot of our alcoholic nerdiverse.

3. A trip with Eddie to the Kintai Bridge. We brought along our Indian leftovers and had an evening picnic for three along the riverbank. Eddie naturally helped us make new friends along the way, since he's the most popular guy in Iwakuni. 

Captain Joe thinks Eddie is a parrot

Keep the enthusiasm to a minimum, please

Eddie, Joe, and an Iwakuni samurai

Hanging out with Eddie at the Kintai Bridge

Gorgeous shot of the bridge by Joe

The bridge is lit beautifully at night

The lanterns along the walking path are one of the prettiest parts of the Kintai area.

4. Last Sunday we checked out the Sunday Brunch Buffet in the ballroom. They have an omelet station, crêpe station, fresh salads, every breakfast food imaginable, and unlimited mimosas. It's a pretty good deal for around $15, so maybe we'll go again when we learn to stop eating before we are about to burst.

See? Not TOO much going on. We are looking forward to this weekend and hoping to take a trip to Seven Falls. It's about a two hour drive and we've heard it's beautiful. I've also heard good things about Japanese rest areas, so hopefully the pup will not go insane being in the car. 


Today is also the one week mark since Joe's promotion to Captain! In the Marine Corps, it's customary to host a Wet Down party where you invest the difference between paychecks in booze and all your friends get to celebrate your new job with you at a bar. The party is called a "Wet Down" because officers were once thrown in the sea as part of the promotion celebration. Hopefully we can get the word out fast enough to celebrate this weekend!