A trip to Sea Paradise

Just one stop away from our neighborhood train station is Kanazawa-Hakkei station. We met some friends from the base there this past weekend and took a short ride to 'Sea Paradise'.

It's a SeaWorld sort of place, with lots of large tanks full of the kind of things Allan just loves to observe. A young MLC (master labor contractor - or Japanese national), Hiroko and her sister were in the party. Each had a son, so we had two children with us.

Another member of the group was Ryan Hevener, a young sailor who works with Allan's group. He and Allan are in the May 30th, Allan Rides Again issue, sitting on the bronze bear.

The tanks were filled with an array of sea creatures which fascinated all of us. These fish are feeding on the plants here.

There was a show with gray dolphins, beluga whales (below) seals and walrus. Of course they all were very acrobatic and theatrical creatures.

Below a dolphin is flying high, wacking a ball with his tail fin. Of course he got a nice reward for his efforts, as well as accolades from the crowd.

After a few hours of shows and big and small creatures in tanks, it was time for lunch. This is my favorite part of any outing, and today we went to an Italian restaurant. It was in fact, the Japanese version of an Italian restaurant.

Dessert was an assortment of fruit and marshmallows which could be held under a chocolate fountain. Hiroko's son Hugo was indulged by his mother and got great pleasure from the chocolate covered treats.

Allan and I had our share, but our faces were clean, so... that would be an incredibly boring photo.

And lastly, this is our friend and Allan's Japanese teacher, Hiromi. She speaks English well, and says she learns more by watching American tv shows.

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Here we have few English channels, with an abundance of NCIS, CSI Miami, CSI NY, Cold Case and MI5, (a British cop show) so I thought her exposure to everyday English must be limited. She responded by saying she knows what 'pedophile' means. She sometimes gets it mixed up with 'pedestrian'. Hey, how well do you speak Japanese?

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I'm going to Hong Kong Thursday, so I'll be letting you know how I liked it very soon. Stay tuned.

Navy retirement ceremony

Lt. Elena Roldan retired this week. That's her in front of the flags. This was the first retirement ceremony for Allan and me. Commander Paul Brochu, Director of Public Health was the MC.

The colors (flags) were presented and a former commander of Elena's came from Guam to take part in the ceremony and speak about her career. While Cmdr. Brochu recited a prose composition entitled 'Old Glory', there was the passing of the flag.

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The folded flag was passed down a line of eight naval personnel. Each recipient saluted the flag, then extended arms. The flag was transferred by flipping it over so that the pointed end was away from the recipient's body.

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The person who relinquished the flag then saluted it, and the person now holding it did an 'about face' and the whole thing started again until it reached Elena's two daughters. They accepted the flag and presented it to their mother. The ceremony ended when Lt. Roldan requested permission to go ashore for the last time.

Things around Yokosuka (again, it's YoKoSka) have settled in and become somewhat routine for us. We've been here nine months already.

Seeing someone sleeping on the train is pretty common, but this little girl looks like a fourth grader. Usually kids will go one or two stops, but this girl went quite a distance. I was afraid she would miss her stop. But she got off one stop before me.

Last weekend, we played golf with two friends at Atsugi Naval Base, which oddly is not on the ocean. The planes from aircraft carriers are 'parked' there when the ships are in port.

Saturday night was a surprise 50th birthday party for a friend, whose husband gave her a trip to Israel.

This weekend was golf again and a shopping trip to Kawasaki. Yeah - the motorcycle city. Allan left for a dive trip early Saturday that didn't happen since the seas were lousy. We decided shopping and lunch would occupy us for a few hours.

We chose Kawasaki for it's California Pizza Kitchen. We really were ready for some American restaurant food. But don't eat at Denny's in Japan - it's not anything you'll recognize.

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Here's a challenge for you. Find a city somewhere in the world without a McDonald's - betcha can't.

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And you can't find a city in Japan that doesn't have a Pachinko & Slot. Gambling is a national pastime. Vegas is the favorite destination for Japanese tourists in the states.

When the sun is shining, I think this contraption is called a parasol. Alot of women carry them here. So feminine.

I'll be meeting Jean in Hong Kong in about two weeks. Then she'll make a trip to China and come to Japan for six days. Poor Allan has a training session and can't be off that week. Awww!

Allan Rides (Writes) Again

I recently went with friends to see the Yokohama BayStars play. You might think baseball's the same the world over, but the experience is different in Japan.

The basics of the game are the same, in fact there were several American players on each team. There are cheerleaders, mascots and each team has it's own fans. The difference can be attributed to the fans. These are not what we think of as typical.

The fans have their own trumpets and drums. Each player has his own song, but unlike the American game, where the song is an original recording, the fans here make up a song, which is more like a cheer.

There are rules to cheering as well. You can only cheer when your team is at bat and you don't boo the other team or the umpires.

As the game progressed and the crowd imbibed in more alcohol, the cheering got louder and louder. Speaking about drinking, the concession personnel walking up and down the stadium are mainly women.

They carry at least a case of beer (cans) up and down the stadium. Remember that 5', 100 lbs. is average for a Japanese woman. The food was good, but also just a little different. I had yakisoba, which is fried noodles. You could get a hot dog, but not with a bun.

The band would play the tune for "CHARGE" and only we few Americans shouted. The Japanese really enjoyed us.

I went with Paul, Cheryl and Bailey Brochu, and we met some of their friends. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

The weekend after the baseball game, Liz and I went to Enoshima Island. It rained the entire time we were there. We walked to the island from the train station, up to the top and down the other side to go into some caves carved from the waves. We climbed back up and over, and it never stopped raining. It seemed like a place to go in the summer, beach area and a nice Aquarium. Hopefully we'll get a chance to go back when the weather is better. On the way back to the train, we stopped and Liz had an apple/mango ice cream.

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Last week, when Liz was in the states, I went with some friends to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. It was interesting because of the unique animals. They had a large exhibit of various species of birds with the most unique, a huge condor.

They also had a silver back gorilla and something called a dhole. A dhole is a type of wild dog, I guess similar to a dingo. After the zoo, we went to lunch, a Japanese version of Korean barbeque. Awesome... maybe it was the beer that made it so good.

The sign above is pretty self-explanatory. Signs like these are a good idea, as we see below, boys will be boys.

Allan goes to Korea

It's been very quiet around 3-3-1 Shonan Takatori lately. Allan left for Korea on April 24th, TAD - Temporary Duty. I kept busy teaching, went to Tokyo, and ran around Yokosuka, but as it turned out I had too much time on my hands.

Since Allan was on temporary duty, it was mostly work, little play. He was scheduled for eleven days, which is pretty much the time it took to do the work. He came back with alot of Industrial Hygiene photos, none of which will appear in my blog. You're welcome.

His flight into Pusan arrived several hours late and his bags were the last to come out. But as planned, two men from the base picked him up and they went to a local bar (Duffy's) for a couple brews. There was a six-piece band and three patrons, including Allan. Having gotten a late start, they closed the place down.

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His first five days were at Chinhae. These photos were taken from the highest point. You can reach it by stairs (365 of them) or by gondola. First is a view of the town, then some animal topiary, and the gondola. A memorial is built on this hill. It's called Chinhae Tower and has two levels dedicated to the history of what was a fishing village. Then five levels for observation, but no photos can be taken of the naval base.

After work the first day, he played basketball with some of the guys from base. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yeah, he was sore, and he aggravated a muscle he'd injured surfing, but I know he had fun doing it.

Back at the bottom of the hill, he toured the town, with plenty of restuarants and a local farmers' market. The market had lots of live things for sale, including fish which Allan couldn't identify. Unusual, since he has a degree in Marine Biology.

He likes Korean food, so he had no trouble finding something interesting to eat, even kimchi, which he's always refused to eat, saying it's too spicy. Then he discovered that he also likes Korean beer, no surprize there.

He needed a Korean national escort to view the Turtle Ship, a replica of a 17th century vessel, 34.2 meters long, 10.3 meters wide, 16 oars and 14 cannons, constructed of wood and an iron clad shell, hence the name.

I don't even want to know how hard it was to row that thing across a bay.

There was a spot inside the ship where a fire pot connects to this dragon. Smoke from the pot would billow from the dragon's mouth. The cannons were tiny, when compared to contemporary vessels. The cannonballs used were 3" in diameter.

Fierce looking masthead, tiny balls. I'm just saying...

These last two photos are from inside the Turtle Ship.

After Chinhae, he went north to Pohang. There's a helicopter squadron stationed and they must have needed some Industrial Hygiene or Safety work.

BTW... if you want to see these photos better, just click on one and you will get a larger version.

Not much free time in Pohang either. The only sites he saw were restaurants. He's happy to eat in Asian restuarants. I try to give him food for lunch, but he prefers to eat at the sushi-go-round or in one of the restuarants just outside the gates of the base.

And as there hasn't been a quick lesson for a while, here's one now...

QUICK LESSON: Golden Week. In Japan, there are four national holidays between April 29th and May 5, so most employers give their workers the week off.

April 29th is Hirohito's birthday. Most Japanese that I've talked to don't know the name of the current emperor (Akihito), much less his father, but they still celebrate his birthday.

May 3rd is Constitution Day, the 4th is Greenery Day (Japanese Earth Day), then the 5th is called Children's Day, but it's really a day to celebrate sons and pray for their futures. The traditional decoration is a samurai doll. There is a Girls' Day in March, but it's not a national holiday. Don't get me started.

So, since 4 of the 9 national holidays fall in a seven day period, it's a sort of spring break.

The Old Kabuki Theatre

It's Friday and Allan has been in Korea for a week. He'll be back on Wednesday, cinqo do Mayo.

Yesterday, my Tuesday English group took a fieldtrip to Tokyo to see the Kabuki Theatre building which will be torn down soon and replaced with a new structure. Kabuki is the traditional Japanese stage performance using only male actors.

Our first stop in Tokyo was a demonstration of block printing (ukioye). Using a series of carved blocks, a picture is created. Paint is applied to the block, then a paper is laid over it and the paint transfers when the page is rubbed.

The room was a gallery with a series of prints showing views of Mt. Fuji and famous Japanese bridges.
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After the artist demonstration, audience members were offered the opportunity to try the technique. You remember Brian and I did block printing in Kyoto, so Ayuko gave it a try while Emiko and Toshiko watched. Our fourth member, Momoko, was unable to make the trip.

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Ayuko did one block (one color). It was a set of ocean waves and it looks pretty good, don't you think?

Next was a quick stop in a Japanese paper store were I couldn't resist some fat-cat note paper and a package of postcards.

At the theatre, a number of people (myself included) were photographing the traditional Japanese building. It's just 50 years old, but is no longer earthquake sound. The final performances were sold out for weeks, and the last took place Wednesday night.

I think some part of the entrance will be saved or reproduced for the new theatre.

It's a little sad when traditional architecture is destroyed and replaced with some glass and metal structure (which becomes a traditional structure itself when enough time passes).

The new theatre will be 29 stories tall.

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This is the theatre billboard.

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In the Ginza district, we did a little shopping and had lunch.

These unusual roses were on display outside a flower shop.

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In a store called Wako and I spotted a nice bag for a mere 287,000 ¥ (that's over $3,000).
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We did some window shopping, including Mikimoto. Do you recognize that name? Think naturals pearls - very expensive natural pearls.
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Then came tulip art. There were three blocks of 'green' images done with tulip petals.
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Fortunately, since they were so large, each had a small poster showing what it looked like, electric cars, recycling, save the earth, environmental stuff.

Finally, we got to the Hama-rikyu Garden. Toshiko fixed me up with an English language audio guide (the brochure called it a 'ubiquitous communicator') and we walked some more. Below is a three-hundred year old pine tree. It has 'tree crutches' to hold up the branches.

Today, I went to the mess (dining room) for ribeye steak and lobster tail. It was 'Spouse Appreciation Day' and my friend Chris' husband Randy Christ stood in for my spouse. The lunch, including baked potato, salad, soup, drink and dessert was $4.25 (can't beat that with a stick).

Tonight is dinner out with our Friday night group. Allan is not with us, so we are having Indian food (he doesn't like curry, so this is a good time to get some).

Friends, co-workers and sakura

When we got home from our U.S. trip, the sakura (cherry blossoms) were in full bloom.

The following Saturday we went to Kamakura with the Russell family to get some exercise and enjoy this beautiful walkway leading to the shrine.

You've heard about Gene Russell by now. He's an industrial hygienist who shares an office with Allan. He and his wife, Raeni have seven children, Ryan is away at college, Noah stayed home to study, and the youngest five joined us for our outing to Kamakura.

Here are Gabe, Allan and Gene on the path to the shrine. We didn't actually enter the shrine. Allan and I have been there twice and haven't gone inside. Although the sakura are only in bloom for about two weeks, it is a major event in Japan. So this walking path was the main event for us on this day.

And here is Ben on the same lane. Once we reached the shrine, we headed down the shopping & eating street. Remember, the Japanese are not big on naming their streets, so I just call this one the Kamakura shopping & eating street. We had great Japanese food (is there any other kind?) Then we headed back to the Russell home. They actually live in two adjoined apartments, one is sort of headquarters, where Mom, Dad and the younger kids sleep and the family is home schooled. The other is the recreation center, where the older boys live, and have every electronic device known to mankind. I'm thinking that Dad gets the toys for himself, but shares with the kids. The family lived in Italy at one time and Raeni (Mom) made homemade pizza dough, and we had pizza. But before dinner, the men played RISK (the Lord of the Rings version).

Becca, Boaz and Elijah in Kamakura

If you're browsing anywhere in Japan, there are usually some ladies in kimono. I still enjoy seeing these ladies around, not that I forget I'm in Japan, but it's nice to see these beautiful robes.

The weather was terrific for our outing, but the following days were wet and cold. One day, I'm cold, so the next day I wear a jacket and it gets warm. Then I dress warmly and it's cold and wet. I never know what to wear. In Florida, we say "Don't like the weather? wait ten minutes". Here it's "I'm always dressed for yesterday".

A CONUS visit

What the heck? CONUS - that's DODspeak for CONtinental United States. Allan had to go for training, so he spent the weekend prior with Richard and Laura, who threw one of there amazing bashes. Bill and Elaine, Jeff and Cindy, Rachel and Marc and a mob of other friends and family visited.

Three days after Allan left, I had a 28 hour journey from my house to the Ferraro's, but managed to get out of bed the next afternoon and hit the road to Merritt Island. A few days later, Debbie Herman had an open house so I could see friends from Lakeland, and I might have convinced a few to come see Japan.

Chris Ferraro gave me a Macy's giftcard for my birthday, but wasn't able to come and help me spend it, so Jean stepped in. What are friends for? Andy & Jean gave me a birthday party and my birthday request, which was chili and cornbread. I rarely get it, because Allan doesn't like either item (so Andy made him a BURGER).

Open House - Diane, Deanna, Vicki, Lizzy, Debbie, Raisa

We spent the first night of Passover at our usual place, with the Lebowitz's in Tampa. The following day we had lunch with Henry Schreiber and Allan's brother, David who drove from Key West.

It was a whirlwind (or was it a tornado?) from which I am still recovering. I flew into Orlando, spent most of my nights with Bruno and Chris Ferraro. It was great to see Joey and Sam again. They both look good and seem happy, so I feel good about that.

We returned to Japan on April 3rd. We flew separately, as I bought my ticket and the Dept. of Defense bought Allan's. His flight arrived 2 hrs. after mine. We missed dinner the first three nights, because we fell asleep before we could prepare or eat it.

We weren't ready to get back to our schedule, but 'Come Monday' (to quote Jimmy Buffet), we both had work to do. It will take about 5 days to adjust to the time change (I hope).