Karaoke is for ME!!!

Japanese word of the day at the beginning of the blog: KARAOKE (I hope you all know how to say this) and it literally means "empty orchestra." This is extremely popular here in Japan and has been around since the 1960's!  Now, I have done karaoke a time or two or A LOT and I've even done "live-band karaoke" in Austin, TX, but the way it is done here is so much better! Let me tell you about my new favorite place... it's right off the base- totally walking distance and it this building where you get private karaoke rooms. There are many options depending how big your party is but there was only 5 of us so we had a pretty small room, and we also opted for the ALL you can drink option- 3500 Yen (approx $44).

So, we got our room # and took the elevator up, when you walk into the room there is couches and table and is really comfy! In the corner is a table with tambourines, books of songs, iPad looking things which lets you pick songs and then play them on the big TV and also microphones... OH and don't forget the drink list. There is a phone in the room and all you do is pick it up and order your drinks- they are delivered right to the room!!! We opted for Mango chu-hi's... after I swore I wasn't drinking chu-hi's that night too! They were really yummy though! It was a good time, we sang songs for hours, and I had no voice by the end of the night. I just really liked the idea of having your own private karaoke room for you and your friends. In the top picture is a few of my new coworkers at the hospital!

They had most of the songs you would maybe want to sing, but certainly not nearly enough 80's for me... I need more Hall & Oates and Pat Benatar if I am really going to rock out! All in all a very good time had by all, can't wait to take Damian here when he gets home! :)

San Antonio Trip

 It's been a busy few weeks and this rainy weekend has given me an opportunity to catch up on a few of my blogs to keep everyone updated on what's going on over on this side of the world. I recently traveled to San Antonio for my new job for a few days. I was literally only in San Antonio for about 4 days... It felt like I spent just as much time traveling as I actually did at the conference. The hospital sent me to an APIC conference which is a conference for Professionals involved in Infection Control and Prevention. I know a medical conference sounds pretty dull to most of you, but I really enjoyed this one and was very impressed as well. I did a lot of networking not only with Navy people but also with other people doing jobs similar to mine. It was really great and I took a lot from it. There were 4500+ people attending the conference... mostly nurses but other professionals involved in Infection Prevention as well.  There was an exhibit hall with lots of vendors as well which was a great opportunity for me to learn more about some of the products that my hospital uses since I am still new.

I also had some time to check out San Antonio and all it has to offer. My hotel was right downtown so I was just a few short blocks to the Alamo which was a lot smaller than I had imagined it. It was still pretty cool though! I sort of felt like I should have a raccoon hat like Davy Crockett when I was standing in front of this historic landmark, but at the same time that is really gross! :( The Riverwalk was also a few blocks away which had amazing Mexican food and drinks!!!! I had veggie quesadillas and margaritas every single night... I figured I won't see good Mexican food like that in Japan so I might as well get my fill! I met some really great people and we had dinner down on the Riverwalk each night, some of the vendors also had parties in the evening to attend so it was a very busy few days!

I was extremely jet-lagged after I got back- mostly because it was such a short trip. It took me almost a week to get back on a normal-ish schedule, and at least I had a weekend to recover before heading back to work.