Quarantine/ROM Week 4

This is it! Our last week of quarantine/ROM!!

I was looking into what is around us. Doug and I are making a list of places we want to go when we can leave base. It mostly includes food, like sushi, takoyaki (octopus balls), gyoza (pork dumplings) and ramen. There is a mall just across the river that has many food places. The mall is like a one in all stop. It has a grocery store, different shopping stores, and food. We cannot leave until we get our paperwork saying we watched some videos about the base and Japanese culture.

Tuesday, July 14th

Doug’s ship is under weigh, so no meals from the ship. This makes us sad because the ship food was amazing! We were going to have galley food, but unlike Atsugi, we have to pay for my meal. Its $5 per meal. That isn’t happening based on the food we got from Atsugi. Our gofer was nice to go to a restaurant and pick up food for us. She agreed having to pay for my meals at the galley was silly. I was excited because the menu she sent us from the restaurant had Gyoza (pork dumplings) on it! I was just discussing how I wanted some.

Since we are not getting galley food, we decided to get some groceries from the Commissary for a week. We tried to think of dishes that require hardly any seasoning. This is when we realized that we utilize seasoning for many dishes. We don’t have an oven, so we had to stick to items made in a pan or pot. Our meals will just look different and some things we just don’t make.

Food for the Day

Brekfast: eggs, bacon, and toast

Lunch: GYOZA!!! It is pork dumplings.

Dinner: Hot dogs

My hot dogs have nacho cheese on them. I know that is weird but its so good.

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I am glad we don’t have to eat galley food. After trying the food from the ship, cannot go back to having galley food. I mean it wasn’t the worst food I ever have had, and food is food. It is when you have the option of having something different based on a scenario you didn’t expect. Plus cost has a lot to do with it. We don’t know what other expenses we will face will moving, especially if we have to move in town. If we move somewhere out in town, a few items won’t fit and we will have to pay to dispose of them.

Well, I didn’t do much today. I played Pokemon Go for a few hours. I checked Animal Crossing turnip prices and did a few things. Doug watched YouTube and played a game. The internet will be down for an hour tomorrow. Its been going in and out. I hope they fix it.

Wednesday, July 15th

The Lodge has been leaving Continental breakfast at our door. We have a stash of muffins, Nurti Grain bars, and oatmeal. This will be our breakfast for a while. Today I am having a banana nut muffin for breakfast. I don’t know what Doug will eat because he is picky.

Food for the Day

Breakfast: banana nut muffin and coffee

Lunch: peanut butter sandwich with white cheddar popcorn

Dinner: Hamburger Helper Chili Macaroni

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Well I was tired of watching U.S. Netflix and decided to explore Japan Netflix. I found some movies I wanted to watch. In order to do this, I needed to download the Virtual Personal Network (VPN) app to my ipad. Doug bought a VPN a couple of weeks ago. We are using the VPN to bypass our geographic location. If I wanted to watch something bound to the U.S. I can just go into the VPN app and change my location. Same thing for if I want to watch something on Japan Netflix. I mean I have been watching way too many Asian dramas.

What did I watch yesterday? Well more K-pop videos, its becoming an unhealthy obsession. Oh, my bad, on Netflix Japan. I wanted to watch Tokyo Ghoul (live action), there was no English subtitles. No idea what they were saying but I did understand what happened. Its gory and the CG is impressive for its small budget. I might have laughed a good bit in the beginning.

Then I discovered they have The Hunger Games collection. I have been wanting to watch them after reading the prequel. I got through the first one and made it halfway through the second one. I laughed though at the titles of the movies. Instead of it being Catching Fire its just The Hunger Games 2. There was probably a reason behind the title being different.

I took Gigi out for a walk once I was allowed to leave the room. She cracks me up. At first, she wanted to go back inside as soon as we made it out. She then was happy to be outside. We now have a routine. She walks around the parking lot (its in a loop). Then we go back inside. We were outside for 30 minutes. It also gives me a chance to get some fresh air.

Thursday, July 16th

I finished watching Catching Fire and then I watched Mockingjay Part 1 and 2. That took up the majority of my day. I listened to some music and took Gigi outside.

Food for the Day

Breakfast: maple brown sugar oatmeal with coffee

Lunch: chicken ramen

Dinner: nachos

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We got an email about our household goods. They have arrive in Japan earlier than we expected. Doug called the number he got in the email to tell them we don’t have a place yet. They told him to call once we have a place. We first have to get out of quarantine so we can go to the housing office. I am starting to feel overwhelmed. We knew we wouldn’t see our stuff until the end of July.

Friday, July 17th

Just another day in quarantine. I have notice the weekends are the toughest part of ROM. I think it has to do with we normally go out and do something on the weekend, but we cannot.

Food for the Day

Breakfast: blueberry muffin

Lunch: hot dogs

Dinner: pizza from Anthony’s pizza

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Saturday, July 18th

Today was rough. I laid in bed and listened to music. I haven’t done that in a while. A whole day in my head, filled with negativity. It was suffering.

Food for the Day

Lunch: peanut butter sandwich

Dinner: fish and chips, coconut shrimp from Chops at the Harbor View Club

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Sunday, July 19th

Today was better. I played Pokemon Go for a good portion of the day. It was Community Day, they feature a Pokemon with exclusive moves and it could be shiny. I usually catch several shinies. Doug finally got the links that we must watch as part of incoming to Sasebo. They were seven hours long all together. My favorite video was about the culture, history, and basic language in Japan. The lady who taught the class was hilarious. We got that out of the way. We have one more day in ROM.

Food for the Day

Lunch: chicken ramen

Dinner: kielbsa and bacon with beef rice

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Monday, July 20th

Last day of ROM! What to do? Same thing we have been doing. The best part of it is the last day!

We did what we have been doing. Doug watched YouTube and played a game. I watched Japan Netflix. I have been invested in a South Korean romantic series called Warm and Cozy. It starts with a girl reaching out to her twin brother, but they aren’t twins. They just happen to have the same birthday. They end up meeting each other ten years later. He thinks she is terminally ill and she just wants to run a cafe. I am only half way through but there are a lot of misunderstandings that lead to some comedic moments.

Food for the Day

Brunch: eggs, bacon, and toast

Dinner: coconut shrimp, a crab cake, macaroni and cheese

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We have been in ROM for a total of 28 days. 14 days in Atsugi and 14 days in Sasebo. There was a day where we could roam NAF Atsugi and then went to the airport to the next day. We got about a day and a half of freedom. It could have been worse. One of us could have got Covid-19 and been in place for longer. We are lucky. We are fortunate enough to travel and live in Japan. I am glad to be here and cannot wait to see Sasebo.