Just Where Can A Craving Take You?

One of the things everyone seems to want to know about a pregnant lady is what her cravings are. My standard answer is that I haven’t really had any. Well, in the early months, there was that spell where I craved whole milk. You know the kind that mom used to serve with breakfast every day… thick, creamy whole milk. I can’t honestly remember the last time I drank whole milk before I craved it. It was literally decades though. These days we opt for skim milk on an exclusive basis. Then about that same time, there were several days where I craved citrus fruit. Yet another thing I think it unwholly and gross. And yet there I sat digging into oranges and grapefruits, two of the worst fruits I can imagine. But since those awful beginnings, I haven’t had any fun cravings to talk about. There was a boneless-buffalo-wings-from-Chili’s spell. And I still fiend for fruit, but it is of the less gross variety now. I crave grapes, strawberries, nectarines, watermelon, peaches,. The first and second are easy to get in Japanese varieties without robbing a bank first. The third… impossible to get here so I scarfed a few down while in the states. The last two, I can get them, but I choose not to because I don’t think now is the time to be selling my kidneys… and that’s even if someone honestly wanted the disease-ridden things. Watermelons here are a smaller variety and cost about 1,500 yen (approximately $15.50 American dollars). The Japanese peach, while huge in stature, is also huge in price costing about 400 yen a peach (that’s one peach for just shy of $4 bucks). Unless I foresee a 9-to-5 job in my future, which I don’t, I stick to buying the generic apple instead. It’s pricey, but not enough to knock me over with a feather. I digress.

So cravings… there was one night that I wanted to see just how committed my darling husband is to me and the unborn critter inside of me. It was a little after midnight and we had just gotten home and gone pretty much straight to bed. Right after KH settled in under the covers, I told him that I was starved. Starved in fact for a new craving… Doritos. He mentioned how the stores on base, which sell traditional American Doritos, had been closed for hours. I said yeah, but the 7-11 a few blocks down wasn’t closed and Japanese flavored Doritos should do in a pinch. I might add here, that I freaking hate Doritos. But apparently my darling husband had forgotten this because after only a moment’s hesitation, he slid out from under the covers and began to get redressed. I should remind you at this time, that this was a test. And he passed. With flying colors. Although he didn’t seem to gain the same enjoyment as I did from the situation. In fact, I think he went to bed without any further chatting with me that night. Humph.

Beyond these incidents, there have been no other cravings. I think I do crave foods, but since I can’t get them here in Japan unless I make them myself, I often just force my brain to skip right past them. Plus, it helps that I proactively killed most of those cravings by gorging on every possibility while stateside… especially the jalepeno poppers. Damn, those things are good.

Friday night, we usually head out for dinner. It gives me a night off from cooking and being the good wife, and it fulfills whatever cuisine wish we might be sharing each week. Lately, these nights are dictated by what my belly dictates is good for dinner. When I chatted to Kimono Hubby on Friday at lunchtime, I told him that the consensus was burgers from the Chili’s on base. (Yet another place I couldn’t stand stateside, but now live for because it is about all the American you get while here in Japan.) He asked if I would drive in to Yokosuka to meet up with him or should he make a trip there and bring them home. I said I would have to get back to him, because I wasn’t sure if my lazy butt was interested in heading out in all the humidity to get dinner. At 4:30, he called back to firm up plans. Almost 4 ½ hours later, and how could he still possibly think I wanted burgers, I said? No. I want Hawaiian. And I told him that he needed to keep up better… perhaps with hourly check in calls about just to cover any possibilities about what the stomach wants.

There is this adorable and delicious Hawaiian place here in Zushi called Vahanas Bar. They make the Hawaiian specialties like locomoco and also Japanese’d tacos and pizzas. We passed an impromptu reggae concert at the park in front of the Zushi library and then arrived at Vahanas. While I really wanted their Moscow Mule, I opted for something that would make me think I was having a real drink, but just without any true alcohol… the banana shake. Made with fresh bananas and ice cream, topped with a cookie and chocolate flakes, this thing was sheer heaven that spilled onto the plate underneath. KH went for the taco salad, I the meat tacos, and a side of our favorite garlic potato fries… solid choices all around. After dinner, we lingered for some time before we took the long way home. Cravings fulfilled and stomach (and critter) happy, those are the best of nights for me here in Japan lately. And if you come to visit, I insist that you eat at this place. But please don’t balk when I order that $8 banana shake again. It’s on KH.