Road Trip!!!

Having been avid readers of our blog for the last 10 months or so, you know that Cicely and I have been fortunate enough to travel all over this hemisphere during that time. While we obviously fly to places outside of Japan, while traveling within Japan, we usually take the train, Shinkansen (bullet train), or tour bus. We decided to take another trip back to Nikko (see October blog entry for first Nikko trip), only this time, we'd brave the Japanese roads and drive the whole way there. This blog entry will focus on the trip itself, and not our stay in Nikko - it was cut short for weather reasons, so we'll have to go again sometime and update the blog again.

We live in one of the most densly populated areas of Japan, so to get out on the open road was a great feeling - tolls not withstanding. But our first obstacle was to get out of the metropolitan Yokohama/Tokyo area - here's the traffic we spent an hour or so sitting in. This particular spot is where three separate sections of highway/bridge merge into one lane. Notice we're the only car in a sea of large trucks. Fun. If you click/enlarge the pic on the right, you can see just how far ahead the traffic goes - pretty much forever. The city skyline in the background is the outskirts of Tokyo. Notice that all the highways are bridges/overpasses - there is no room in the city for more roads. Everything is above or below (ie trains) the city. It's hard to grasp the concept of the size/density of Japan's capital city, but it would easily swallow all of Hampton Roads - from the NC border to Williamsburg, from VB over to Franklin County and beyond; New York has nothing on Tokyo either - both in size and population.

Here's another joy of driving in japan - can anyone tell me how to read this sign? Imagine trying to figure this one out at freeway speeds as you drive under it. Awesome. Cicely has stopped trying to decipher them, and just trusts my natural born navigation abilities - I am a man, after all - navigating is one of the few talents God gave me!

We finally made it out of the city and onto the Tohoku Expressway - it's a 100 km jaunt through the Japanese countryside. Here's a pic of some farmland, and a little village community we passed. This scenery reminded Cicely and I of driving through Virginia.

This was as we got into the mountains closer to Nikko; it really resembled I-64 heading towards Blacksburg (aka God's Country).

Here we came to the end of the Tohoku expressway - time for another toll. Our toll is the top left one on the list (about $30 for a 60 mile leg of the journey). I don't want to know which unlucky bastard has to pay the bottom right one.

After 3 hours and 230 kilometers, we made it to Nikko.




The snow was beautiful, but up here in the mountains, it was about 20 degrees colder - and absolutely freezing at night.

Our stay in Nikko was not documented very well with pictures, because frankly, my normally patient and understanding wife was running low on both. My little sports car didn't handle too well on the icy mountain roads, and we fish-tailed on a number of occasions. The lodge we stayed in was not insulated, so we were a little cold at night. The next morning, my car didn't react too well to the below freezing temps from the previous night, and didn't have enough cold-cranking amps to start on her own. Thankfully, the lodge owner gave us a jump with his Chevy Suburban - thank God for General Motors and the one dude in all of Japan who owns one ;o) Had that not worked out, it would've been cheaper for me to buy a new car then to have mine towed from Nikko back home - seriously. Although I still had half a tank of gas for the trip home, I thought I'd play it safe and fillerup before we headed back home - in case we got stuck in a lot of traffic again. I always buy gas on base, so this was the first time I would ever buy out in town - and the last. I ended up paying 5,127 yen for 31.85 litres of gas. In other words, $5.81 per gallon. Yikes. I can only imagine what the lodge owner paid for gas in his Suburban.

On our way back home, I woke Cicely from a nap (that she needed because she didn't sleep so well while nearly hypothermic the nite before) to take a picture of this Aston Martin as I saw it coming in my rear view mirror - I know, I really don't deserve my wife.

I found myself going a little fast trying to get a better picture of the car, so I figured after last week's ticket, I really didn't want another - the guy in the $150,000 car probably doesn't mind the speeding fine, but until the Navy decides to pay me a little more, I'll avoid that again!

Perhaps it was inevitable....

If any of you ever get to visit us here in Japan, you'll notice two things on the ride from Narita Airport to Yokosuka - 1) you'll know what it's like to be illiterate, because all of the signs are in Kanji (Japanese writing); and 2) the speed limits are VERY slow.

This particular blog entry will focus on #2, I'll delve into #1 next week.
The freeway speed limits are 80 kph, or 49 mph in U.S. terms. That's it.

So for those that know my driving habits back in the states (where my bloved Camaro sits in a garage, driven semi-weekly by dear old Dad), you know that keeping below 70 mph is difficult for me. There's just something about cruising along in that 6th and final gear that gives me a feeling of peace.

Well, I'm lucky to have a wife that let me buy another sports car while we're here; that partiucular car is coveted by many in the States, b/c Nissan doesn't sell it there...so Cicely and I decided to go for a drive last weekend like we used to in the Camaro back home.

We were planning on driving to Saitama (another prefecture, or in U.S. Terms, anoter State). It was about a 100 km drive by highway, or about 60 miles. As I got on the freeway, I was in the left lane (which is the slow lane here) and was stuck behind a row of about 5 cars - so I decided to pass them while going through a tunnel then move back over in the slow lane. As I was passing them, I reached about 120 kph (74 mph). At that point, I heard a familiar sound. A siren. As I looked into the rear view mirror, I saw the red lights and for an instant of relief, thought it was an ambulance....but then I remembered, there are no blue lights here - just red ones. So I moved back over, and the cop pulled in front of me and made me follow him to the side of the road and pulled over. Yes, that's reversed from the U.S. where he would've followed me instead.

So the police officer stepped out of his car and came back to my window, while his partner set up flares behind me (keep in mind is in the middle of the day). I rolled down my window, and he asked me in English, if I spoke Japanese. Now, as an aside, U.S. Military over in Japan have special license plates that tell you immediately that we're anything BUT Japanese. I think this guy was thrown off b/c as I rolled down my window, I smiled and said 'Konnichiwa' to him - sorry buddy, I only know that basics. Fortunately, as with most Japanese, he was much smarter then I, and spoke decent English. He proceded to point to my speedometer and clarify that I shouldn't let the big red needle go past the '80' and that he clocked me at 107. 107? I thought 'man, he must've gotten me as I was slowing down' - what luck! Cicely and I noticed that he was very friendly, smiled the whole time, and generally treated me like a mildly retarded child. It was very refreshing - Virginia State Troopers and Va Beach PD can learn a thing or two from these guys.

Anyway, it looked like I was gonna get off with a warning, until he opened my door and asked me to step outside. Hmmm....back in the states, I would be worried, but I thought I'd just see what was going to happen before making any unnecessary comments...so he motioned for me to walk towards the patrol vehicle. As we reach his car, his partner opens up the back door and orders me to sit inside. At this point, I'm seriously worried. Am I getting arrested? Seriously? It was just speeding, and not even really all that fast! If they take me away, what's Cicely supposed to do? Drive home? Follow them? If I do get thrown in jail, will I still be able to go the Mid-East in a few weeks? Crap. This has potential to really mess up my life in too many ways.

I mentioned the fact that my wife was still back in my car, hoping that communicate my concern for the present situations potential to the police officer, but that didn't work. He just smiled, and closed the door on me. As it turned out, I wasn't being arrested, they just wanted me to be in their car while they wrote me the ticket b/c it was too cold to keep my window open in my car while I waited for them. I will say that the car was very nice - spacious, and very nice leather.

So they gave me the ticket, and the fine - 18,000 yen. And one week to pay it, or go to jail. So I paid it the next day. I suppose I could be really frustrated that I had to pay $180 for going 62 mph, but the cops were so nice, even Cicely wasn't mad at me. And besides, my American insurance company will never know ;o)

Bringing in 2008 - Japanese Style!

Ok everyone, Let me start this off by acknowledging that, yes, New Year's eve was three weeks ago. I know, I'm late. Cicely has been great about keeping the blog updated, however, this entry was my responsibility, and I'm just now getting to it - I really have no excuse - so thanks for your patience!

One of my co-workers is married to a Japanese lady, and they decided to invite us over to celebrate New Year's with a traditional Japanese dinner and midnight celebration.

You'll probably recognize their kids, Mimi and EJ, from previous blog entries. Here I'm trying to figure out an origami puzzle for EJ; of course, once EJ got one, I had to make one for Mimi too. I'm learning that you can't do something for one child and leave their brother or sister hanging...



After playing around with the kids, Eric, Rich and I started pre-gaming with warm Sake. Believe it or not, Rich decided to wear that sweater BEFORE he started drinking...









After dinner and a few hours with the kids between Sake re-fills, it was time to head to the neighborhood shrine to partake in the festivities! Every neighborhood here in Japan has its own Shinto Shrine, which is denoted by the Tori Gate that serves as an entrance (the first pic in the blog entry). Starting around 11 pm, a whole bunch of the men from the neighborhood get together to begin a tradition called 'Mochi Pounding'.
They take a form of steamed Japanese sweet rice, and put it into a hollowed out tree stump/bowl of sorts, then start pounding it until it turned into a paste like substance. Considering how drunk they were, it was amazing that they didn't kill each other with the mallets. The ladies of the neighborhood are collecting the Mochi and cutting them into servings for later...

It was absolutely freezing out - we thought the best way to keep warm was to do like the locals did - consume large amounts of alcohol. You may notice the bulges in our jackets...we stuffed every pocket we could with Asahi, Kirin, and in Rich's case - Guinness. The entire case.

Here's Rich trying to stay warm in the steam from the cooking rice.





In an attempt to keep Cicely (who was not drinking) warm, we tried the huddle - it worked fine until we all started getting gassy from the beer...although she grew up with brothers, and is used to that juvenile sort of behavior (which by the way, helped to keep us warm) she kindly moved to hang out with the Japanese guys instead!


It's the alcohol...that's our excuse.




As the nite dragged on, the Japanese guys kept drinking, and kept pounding - how they didn't hurt each other was a secret to me...which is probably why they didn't let us partake in the Mochi Pounding - which was for the best, as we were having enough fun just watching.


And the final result of all that pounding - that pasty stuff I mentioned earlier. Here are Rich and Eric eating it - although Cicely and I liked it, they didn't really care for it.



Remember how I said that the wives were cutting up the Mochi into portions for later? Well, that's not just for the dumb Americans watching them pound rice, it's for the people who start lining up to go to the shrine to pray at midnite.












And finally, another round of Sake to finish off the nite and officially ring in the New Year!


Aketmashite omdetou gozaimasu! Kotoshi mo dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Holiday Recap, Part 2

This was my first Christmas away from my family, and I was really starting to get homesick until my dearest friend Josyl showed up for a visit. Having her here for Christmas saved me from some serious holiday blues.

For Christmas Eve, we invited some close friends over for dinner. Here's Rich helping me out in the kitchen.


I had to make everything from scratch and it all went pretty well. It was my first time cooking up a turkey and I was so nervous. It went smoothly except for the last 30 minutes when I was trying to "brown" the bird. Our oven is kinda screwy and I should've watched it more closely. My turkey legs got a little bit more brown than I was hoping for. Oh well, there's always next year...

After dinner, we struggled to stay awake so that we could all go to Midnight Mass. We managed to do it and even got to the church early enough to get seats.


The next morning was opening presents time-- still my favorite part of Christmas. I knew what I was getting, but it was fun unwrapping everything anyway. But my wonderful husband still managed to give me a couple of surprise gifts.

After presents, it was time for me to spend some time in the kitchen again to get ready for our next round of guests. We invited anyone who didn't have plans for Christmas day to come spend it with us. Here are some pictures from the rest of the day...


My friend Lorene with her adorable daughter, Alyce, who brought all her Christmas presents with her.



EJ putting together his Christmas present, a Transformer.





Mimi opening her present, a princess dress up kit.



And then trying it all on, of course! I'm so glad we were lucky enough to have kids around opening their presents for Christmas day. It doesn't quite feel like Christmas to me until you see little children opening presents.

Holiday Recap, Part 1

The whirlwind that was Christmas season is just about over and I finally have a few minutes to update the blog. Here are a few highlights from the holidays...


A week before Christmas, we visited a Japanese orphanage to help Santa pass out Christmas presents.


A few of the kids were really into Mike's hair, or lack thereof...


...and totally amazed at the size of his ring!

Afterwards, we went outside to play. I tried to jumprope with the little girls, but I was so bad at it that they asked me to step out and just twirl the rope.


Apparently, I wasn't very good at that either because I was eventually relinquished of my rope-twirling duty as well...

We even had a Toys for Tots Marine with us and the kids were just fascinated by him!







We all had a great time and it was a great way to kick off the Christmas season.