A Share From My Instagram

Took a trip to Kuon-ji Temple (on Mt. Minobu) yesterday in Yamanashi Prefecture. The Sakura were stunningly beautiful and were blooming more than at home. 🌸 #Japan #Yamanashi #Minobu #身延 #身延山 #久遠寺 #山梨 #mtminobu #sakura #桜 #buddism #nichirenbuddism #cherryblossom

A Share From My Instagram

American Cherry Burger with Sakura soda at ROOFTOPS in Kamakura. They've got a beautiful view of Kamakura Station and I can't wait to go back! #Kamakura #japan #sakura #桜 #cheeseburger #cherryburger #チーズバーガー @rooftops_kamakura

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Fuji-san is beautiful today! Was covered in clouds earlier but it's cleared up. 🗻 #mtfuji #fujisan #富士山 #Japan #lakekawaguchi #河口湖

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 5th Anniversary

Yahoo Japan

Tomorrow, March 11, 2016, marks the 5th anniversary of the Tohoku Japan earthquake and tsunami. The Japanese National Police Agency reported 15,889 deaths, 6,152 injured and 2,601 missing. When we lived here before I traveled up to Fukushima with the girls for the Soma-Nomaoi Festival. The area was beautiful and people very kind and gracious.

On March 10, 2011 we were living in Hawaii. I had LASIK eye surgery that morning and spent the afternoon and evening asleep. I woke up to breaking news about an earthquake in Japan. Shortly after the tsunami warning alarms going off and we could hear them through the closed windows and running AC. We lived on Ford Island, an evacuation zone. We had no idea how severe the earthquake was, but we were able to get in touch with our friends and former neighbors still living here. Not long after the earthquake the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant melted. I immediately thought of the people we met and the time we spent there in 2009.

On March 11th Yahoo Japan will donate ¥10 towards the recovery for each person who searches "3.11." In 2014 Yahoo donated ¥25 million or about $215,000 USD. More details can be read here. 

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011

Yahoo Japan

Tomorrow, March 11, 2015 marks the 4th anniversary of the Japan earthquake. The Japanese National Police Agency reported 15,889 deaths, 6,152 injured and 2,601 missing. When we lived here before I traveled up to Fukushima with the girls for the Soma-Nomaoi Festival. The area was beautiful and people very kind and gracious.

On March 10, 2011 we were living in Hawaii. I had LASIK eye surgery that morning and spent the afternoon and evening asleep. I woke up to breaking news about an earthquake in Japan. Shortly after the tsunami warning alarms going off and we could hear them through the closed windows and running AC. We lived on Ford Island, an evacuation zone. We had no idea how severe the earthquake was, but we were able to get in touch with our friends and former neighbors still living here. Not long after the earthquake the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant melted. I immediately thought of the people we met and the time we spent there in 2009.

On March 11th Yahoo Japan will donate ¥10 towards the recovery for each person that searches "3.11." Last year Yahoo donated ¥25 million or about $215,000 USD. More details can be read here; the text will below the video will have already been translated into English.

Screen shot from my computer after searching "3.11" this morning.

Updated 3/11/15 to add search page screen shot.

Video Streaming on Base...without a VPN

Streaming options using the Sony blu-ray. 
Billabong is the only option.

We have a Sony blu-ray player that connects to the internet to stream Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc. When we lived in Hawaii and Rhode Island we had no problem streaming said services through it. It stopped working as soon as we plugged it in and got it set up in Japan. Those apps wouldn't even show up on the screen as options to connect to. We then went out and bought a ROKU 3 at the NEX. Only a handful of channels (YouTube and some self-help) would show up and could be added. That’s great, but the reason we spent the nearly $100 was to use Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc since we couldn't with our Sony blu-ray player.

Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Pandora all work on our computers, tablets, and phones. Though we are physically in Japan, the streaming services recognize us as having an American IP address since we are connecting to the internet on base. Whether living on the main base of Yokosuka or satellite base of Ikego, they’ll work. Sony and ROKU, however, do not. They see us as being in Japan, so their servers block us from using the services we pay for. It's aggravating because they're blocking the U.S. Military service members and their families. Our cable and ISP, Americable, can't do anything about it since the services work on the computer...that proves the problem isn't with Netflix, etc. 

It’s aggravating that these devices are sold at the NEX, but don’t work as advertised without workarounds. Sony even has a dedicated section at the back of the electronics department to sell their products. There are no signs to tell you about the limitations. None of the workers on the sales floor seemed to know either. You won’t realize they don’t fully work out of the box until you take them home.

We called the Sony and ROKU help lines several times to see if they could do anything. They both ran us through hours of troubleshooting and factory resets. They both claimed the units should work on any American IP address, but had no explanation why ours was an exception. The Sony rep ultimately suggested we send the blu-ray player in to be repaired. It sounded like they were following scripts, so they had no way to address a problem that was outside the normal. We eventually talked to the local Sony rep at the NEX. Sony servers block us. Period. According to the rep there is an agreement to get it working in April.

We eventually found some workaround ideas online for the ROKU but none solved the complete problem. It took a while since there was so much misinformation. This is a technical issue that a lot of people don’t understand, but that doesn’t stop them from providing advice. Apparently, the surefire method is to pay for a VPN account and set it up on your router. This will route all of your internet traffic through a server in the U.S., hiding your actual, problematic IP. The problem is that a VPN account can cost up to $15/ month. We shouldn’t have to pay for this since the streaming services already work here. 

As for the ROKU...the key is doing the initial account set up in the U.S. This was confusing since a lot of people said theirs worked fine. After asking friends/neighbors and posting on numerous message boards, I figured it out. Some suggestions were to have a VPN, plug the ROKU directly into the router, or to return it since it won't work. One person that responded said they had a ROKU 2 before moving here, bought a ROKU 3 at the NEX and haven't had any problems. That's when the light bulb went on in my head. Bottom line - If you set up your ROKU in the U.S. it'll work here. It will also work if you add a new ROKU box to your existing account (that was set up in the U.S). If you buy one and try to set up a new account on a US military base over seas it won't work. 

The solution was to have friends in Boston do the initial account setup on their computer for me. I chose the username, password, etc and they put in all the information for me via the ROKU website. They then added my ROKU box to the account and it activated on my TV screen here. As they added Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and PBS, the channels instantaneously appeared on my TV. Now we can add and remove any channels we want from the TV and the ROKU is none-the-wiser. 

As for Sony...we'll see and I'll keep you posted. 

Flying the Patriot Express from Seattle

Mt. Fuji during our approach. 

 When we moved here from Hawaii in 2008 we flew commercial, but we weren't that lucky this time around. 

Bob and I made calls and searched online for any information that would be helpful in preparation for our flight to Japan. Air Mobility Command has a website but it's vague, somewhat outdated and, in our experience, not entirely accurate.

The AMC terminal is in the SEATAC Airport. We were issued commercial tickets to Seattle and then were told to check in on Saturday night from 11 pm until 1 am Sunday morning. Check in was next to the Hawaiian Airlines counter. On the SEATAC website it's labeled as "1." The car rental shuttle dropped us off right in front of it. The departure time was scheduled for 5 am Sunday. According to the person at the AMC desk that I spoke with over the phone, the earlier we checked in the higher our chances of sitting together as a family. 

Long line to check in by 11:15 p.m.

One would assume seats would already be assigned because all of the passengers are traveling on orders, but that wasn't the case. We were staying with friends at the sub base in Kitsap so we were able to leave for the airport that night. Other people in the line of hundreds had flown into the airport that afternoon and were tired, bored and annoyed with the arrangements that had been made by SATO and out of their control. Two lines were formed and we were told to get into the one with families and people traveling with pets.  

There wouldn't be enough time to check in and get a hotel room to rest and let the kids sleep, so we were stuck at the airport. A map we found showed 24 hour Denny's about a 10-15 min walk away (not a great area). Our other option was the USO. We read that it gets packed in there...it was. We were there from midnight until 4 am. Our flight was delayed a bit so we were sitting there for longer than originally thought.

Thank goodness for the SEATAC USO! Without it we would have been laying down on the ground in the

terminal. There were quite a bit of people doing that...some had spent the evening at the USO and some didn't know it was an option. When we got there they had milk, juice boxes, water, apple sauce, pre-made tuna sandwiches and some pastries. They had free wifi, some couches, a family room with cribs, a media room with recliners and a large TV and a luggage storage area. We got drinks and took advantage of the wifi while trying to stay awake. Our goal was to fall asleep on the plane since we would be landing at 9 am.

Fridge in the USO

Around 1 am food was brought in from restaurants that had closed. We had salads, wraps, sandwiches and fruit salad cups. The volunteer staffers were wonderful and were doing their best to make us all comfortable. Some people were laying on the couches and taking up the whole thing for themselves, so our younger daughter fell asleep on my lap at the table we were at. Jim, a volunteer, came over with a blanket for us. Our four hours in there seemed to drag on, but the volunteers made it much better. We really would have preferred to fly commercial or to have a military flight during normal operating hours when lounges and restaurants in the terminal would be open.

It took about an hour to leave the USO and get to the gate. Security opens at 4 am so we lined up a few minutes before. AMC doesn't participate in Pre-check, so allow for extra time in the regular line. The irony is that it's free to military members...the girls and I get it too. We took the SEATAC tram to the S terminal. The coffee place by the gate was opening up so I grabbed breakfast and a drink for each of us.

Beef stew

Boarding started with O6 and above and then opened to families and then single members. The plane was a commercial 767 flown by a charter company. Seats were spaced 2-3-2 and the entire plane looked like coach class. We were given breakfast around 8 am PST and dinner a couple of hours before we landed. 

The AMC website has a PDF claiming meals are "comparable to commercial airlines business class, and special meals such as kosher, children's, diabetic, and vegetarian can be ordered with a 24-hour advance notice." An announcement was made offering pancakes or an omelette for breakfast and dinner was a choice of chicken with pasta or beef stew. 

Omelette with sausage

We travel. We travel a lot and earned enough miles to fly in business class to Europe (this past summer) and SE Asia (summer 2013). These meals were in no way comparable to business class. The two meals we were issued could be compared to coach meals. If you've got younger kids I recommend a snack for them and/or getting a meal before boarding. We had both since our expectations weren't high and it worked out well. We used the ear plugs and eye masks from amenity kits we've gotten over the years. If you've got them, bring them. There were a lot of young kids on board and the crying was non-stop. Most on board were families so we had more kids on this flight than the average commercial flight.

After landing at Yokota everyone deplaned, but those staying at Yokota or going to Yokosuka had a short brief. The guy there stamped our no-fee passports, we signed up for a shuttle bus and then we headed out the door to a small baggage claim area. We waited about 45 mins in the lobby for the shuttle to board and then we were off for the two hour ride to Yokosuka.

It's Kouyou Season

Japan’s most famous fall leaf is the Japanese Maple which turns brilliant red in the fall. Fall Foliage is called "kouyou" in Japanese, and the kanji, 紅葉, translates into "read leaf."

Each year, starting in late September, the "koyo front" slowly moves southwards from the northern island of Hokkaido until it reaches the lower elevations of central and southern Japan towards the end of November.

This website is really neat and you can click all over to see different pictures from different regions. I used the translate option through Google and some of it translates into English. Even though it's difficult to understand, I still enjoy looking at it and seeing the pictures. On a side note, we live on the Miura Peninsula, the small peninsula southest of Tokyo.

There Goes the Sun - Asia's Solar Eclipse

Well, the sun did go away for a little bit on Wednesday, July 22nd, but we couldn't see it because it was cloudy and completely overcast here in Zushi. We live in Kanagawa Prefecture, about an hour south of Tokyo by train. We don't live far south enough to see the total eclipse, and since watching from the front yard was pointless, I tuned in to some of our local Japanese television stations.

At the maximum spot the totality of the eclipse lasted 6 minutes and 39 seconds. The only area of Japan to see the total eclipse was the small islands between Kyushu and Okinawa. We lost 60% of the sunlight, and it did get noticeably darker outside, but it could have easily been mistaken for storm clouds rolling in.

Since we've known about the eclipse for a while I decided to show the girls pictures and try to explain what was going to happen. The night before we looked at pictures and diagrams, and even brought out the flashlight to make shadows with our hands. I realize Keanna's 5 and Sydney's 3 and didn't expect much from our conversation and shadow hand puppets. As we were looking at pictures of the umbra, penumbra and corona, I began having flashbacks from Mrs. Spiegel's earth science class from my freshman year of high school.

Anyway, getting back to watching it on t.v. I was scanning through the channels and figured we'd get local coverage along with live satellite feeds from the southern islands. The girls had an idea of what was going to happen, they knew the moon was going to come in front of the sun, and I wanted them to be able to see it. I always keep my little camera on hand to record video, and thankfully I turned to a certain station at the right time. Scanning through I saw this (see the video below), two men dressed up, one as the sun, the other as the moon. When we saw this it was a perfect way to show the girls what was happening...I laughed so hard I nearly snorted. We can't understand a word of it, so maybe that makes it funnier, maybe it doesn't, but take a couple of minutes to watch if you want a laugh. If you're an email subscriber you'll need to click here to watch the video.

On Cloud Nine at Showa Kinen Park in Tokyo

We had one heck of a day yesterday! It began with my alarm clock buzzing in my ear at 6 am and my friend picking us up at 6:45. We went to Showa Kinen (Memorial) Park on the west side of Tokyo today, and I can't believe we've been here one year and haven't been up there sooner!

Anyway, the drive took about 2 hours and 10 minutes thanks to morning rush hour traffic. We were waiting outside the Nishi Tachikawa gate at 9:24 am and had maybe 10-15 cars in front of us. The park opened at 9:30 and our group, composed of three moms and five kids, immediately began navigating our way to the Children's Forest area of the park. Oh, the cost was ¥400 for me (about $4) and the kids were free. My friend's son is 10 and he was ¥80 (about $.80). Parking was ¥820 (about $8.20).

On the way to the children's area we passed by so many beautiful flower beds and sakura (cherry blossom trees). Little streams, bridges and cut-outs for our faces delayed our arrival to the Sea of Clouds located within the Children's Forest, but the photo opportunities were too great to pass up. Flags were hanging saying "Flower Festival 2009," so I'm not sure if the flowers are always like that or if it's something special going on.

I'll do my best to let the photos and videos speak for themselves, but I really can't say enough great things about this place. I know we made it through maybe half of the park in our nearly five hours there, and I'm anxious to go back, this time with Bob, to see the rest. There are Japanese gardens, a bonsai tree area, paddle boat rentals, bbq pits...and the list goes on.

I took more pictures and posted them in my Shutterfly album. Click here if you want to see them. For those of you that subscribe via email you'll need to go to the website of the blog to see the four videos. Click here to be directed there. Speaking of videos, be sure to watch the one of me running...and think of the song "Wipeout" while watching...if I had the time to dub that song over the video I would have.

I learned how to "stitch" photos together, so I experimented below. Thanks to Jacquie and Heather on HMW for teaching me! I took five or six shots scanning right to left and overlapping each time by about 1/3. It worked on some of the pictures I took and looked awkward on others.

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Monkeying Around with Wild Snow Monkeys in Nagano and Touring Matsumoto Castle

First, I want to say hi to Trasie with an "S." Thanks for introducing yourself on the trip, it was wonderful to meet you!!!

Second, isn't Bob's hat awesome? Greg, he thanks you for it...he never did wear it on the bridge of the USS Los Angeles, but it did come in handy that day. He has it hanging on the coat rack now and said that's going to be his winter hat. Sydney loves it too and you'll see in the pictures she was wearing it just as much as he was.

We took an ITT trip to Nagano [Sound familiar? The 1998 Winter Olympics were held here] to see the Wild Snow Monkeys at Jigokudani Yaenkoen. This was by far the most fun we've had on a trip. All the other ones we've gone on have been fun too, don't get me wrong, but this one was just special. It wasn't historical or cultural like the others have been. Well, the first part wasn't anyway...our second stop was Motsumoto Castle and that was more educational. Bob was in heaven though since it was set up like a museum in some areas. He read and studied every display just like he usually does, whereas Keanna and I attempted to climb up the steep steps in our socks and provided slippers (I wore them, Keanna didn't). The picture of the monkey at the above left was taken with my little camera, the one I use primarily for video. I'm happy with how it came out, but can't help but wonder how much better it would be had I taken it with my Rebel.

All of the pictures I took are in my Shutterfly album if you'd like to see them. The monkeys are wild, but they do lounge around in a manmade onsen or hot spring. Some were relaxing, some were preening and some were running around amongst us. One even hit Bob in the butt because he was leaning against the fence one monkey was walking along, and apparently Bob was blocking the way. We were warned ahead of time not to make eye contact with them since the monkeys view it as a threat and/or challenge. They don't mind cameras though so that's a good thing! Keanna passed by one, but apparently got too close. She must have spooked him because he turned raised an arm and moved in her direction. She ran to Bob, the monkey took a few steps towards her and then the monkey turned in the other direction. I was down below taking pictures so I didn't see anything, just heard, "Mommmm, noooo dad, I want mooooommy." But she was fine and Bob did a good job of settling her down. Soon afterward we were taking pictures and monkeys were walking right by us. I love the picture to the right. I didn't notice it right away, but the monkey in the middle is staring right at the camera. The one on the right and in front appeared to have been the dominant male or female.

The walk from where the bus dropped us of to where the monkeys are was about 30 minutes. It's a trail, but there was no snow on the ground so it was easy. Keanna walked the whole thing (1.24 miles or 2 km) and Bob had Sydney on his shoulders for a little bit of it. I can imagine it'd take longer in the snow. You'll see pictures of the trail in the album so that'll give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. There was even a vending machine about 3/4 of the way up! There's also a camera there that posts pictures on their website. My friend Terri (fellow sub wife who I met in Hawaii and now lives in Guam) was able to view them as they came up, saved them and emailed them to me. Thanks Terri!!! I'll post one of them here and the rest can be seen in my album. There I am standing in the back and that's Keanna next to me, then Sydney and Bob next to her.

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After the monkeys we ate lunch at a rest area on the expressway. We had to order the food at a vending machine, it spit out a ticket with a number on it, and when our number was called (in Japanese, not English) we picked it up at a counter. I got us a table while Bob stood at the counter looking for what he ordered. Here's a picture of the vending machine. At least it had pictures up at the top. One we went to this summer didn't have pictures and our guide told us what each one was so we knew what we were ordering. After we ate we went to the little store area and found three new Kit Kats. Nagano Apple, Chili Powder and Grape. Major Kit Kat jackpot since we hadn't seen or heard of these flavors before. I got another strawberry flavor too, but not at this rest area. I also saw the largest stick of bubble gum I ever have...it was about the length of my forearm.

From lunch we headed to Matsumoto Castle. It's one of a few castles in Japan that's still in original form. Four castles are considered national treasures in Japan and this is one of them; construction started in 1592. We walked around the perimeter first then headed inside. I really wanted to walk across that red bridge and get a picture of us standing on it with the castle in the background, but that area is under construction until March. So FYI to anyone visiting there in the next few months since you'll run into the same thing.

The flights of stairs are steep inside the castle and it's not recommended for little kids. Keanna had no problem with it except for the one-way stairwell...Bob carried her up and down. Sydney stayed outside with the guide so I was able to enjoy it instead of lugging her. When you enter you have to take off your shoes. They'll give you a plastic bag and you'll carry them with you. They've got a bin of slippers that you can put on if you choose to. I opted to, Bob's feet were too big and Keanna's were too small.

One of my favorite rooms was the Moon Viewing Room. In the picture with the reflection the moon viewing room is the small area on the right side that looks like a porch, and here it is from the inside with Bob and Keanna. Apparently the moon can be seen three times from the moon viewing room. Once in the sky, once in the water below and once in your cup of sake. And they say it can be seen six times if your sake is strong! They've got a small gift shop on the grounds and the door to the right of the shop is an office. If you've got one of the shrine books and collect the stamps that's where to go.

We had a very good time and would like to take the trip again. And for those of you with little ones don't go just because you're told the kids can't handle it. If you want to carry them or you think they can handle the trail going to see the monkeys then go for it. We're so glad we did! And don't forget, if you want to see more pictures just click here to view the album.

Paper Making, Parrots on Our Heads and Waterfalls, Oh My...Again

We took another ITT trip to Nakatomi Washi Paper Village, Otodome Waterfall and Shiraito Waterfall and Kacho-en, the Begonia and Owl Park. We did it back in September and the girls and I had so much fun we decided to go back. This time we had Bob with us and my parents too! I'm not going to get into too much detail here, but will sum up our day.

Pictures from this trip are in my Shutterfly album if you're interested in seeing them. If you want to read more about it you can go to the post I wrote after our first trip.

First was the paper village and making paper to create a lampshade. A picture of our four completed lamps is below. After that we walked across the street to a grocery store, grabbed a snack and waited for our lamp shades to be done while others walked around the grounds and did some shopping. After that we stopped for lunch, and where we stopped had an absultely incredible view of a snow topped Mt. Fuji. Next was the Begonia and Owl Park, and again this was our favorite stop. For ¥100 (about $1) we bought a little cup filled with chopped apple for the birds to eat. As you'll see from the pictures and videos the birds loved it! Sydney had one fly and land on her arm last time, so this time she knew she didn't even want to hold a cup. Both Bob and my father were pooped on too, but Bob on his jacket and my dad on his shirt. The waterfalls was our last stop. The first was Otodome Waterfall. It reminded me of one we saw on Kauai. To get to the second one, Shiraito Waterfall, we had to go down 100 steps. It's an easy walk though and the kids did fine too. I slowed the shutter speed on my camera and got some beautiful pictures of the waterfalls. I was so happy I finally figured out how to do it.

We had a fun day together and my parents were able to bring home a one-of-a-kind souvenir. Below is a picture of the lamps we made; from left to right: Bob's, mine, dad and mom's. Bob's says "3 HOURS" and has a bus on it because that's how long it took to get up there. And another picture of the waterfalls since I'm so happy with how they all came out.

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