Thank goodness for Friends

Interesting Saturday we've had so far. Mike just took off to take pictures of some spikey headed Buddha. You should be in for some great pictures soon. This morning was really busy though. My new girlfriend Maggie decided to motivate me into running the Black History Month 5K. I thought I was about ready. I had been working on the treadmill for some time now. At one time, I had worked myself up to 2 miles without stopping. Now, I was trying to work up to 3 but, wasn't really making it. Maggie & her husband have been training to run a marathon. In fact one that they have been considering is the Great Wall marathon in China. She's almost at her halfway point of training and has made it to 4.5 miles on the treadmill. Maggie has been my motivation to kick it up a notch while working off the flab. For me, it's turned into not just getting the rest of the baby bulge off but also working towards a goal that I've never been able to accomplish: running a few miles without dropping dead. For family members who know me well they will assure you that I am and have never been the athletic type. However, once I made it past a mile I've wanted to go further. After this 5K today, my legs feel like rubber. I did rest 2 times during that run but, I did keep up a pretty good pace (for me) and made it in at a little under 33 minutes. Maggie was with me the whole way pushing me to go further. I wouldn't have done as well as I did if it wasn't for her positive motivation, so thanks Maggs.

After the run, I laid like a slug in the sauna and showered in the locker room. Then waddled my way over to Sbarro's. Mike and Josh were waiting for us when we arrived. All the more reason for me to inhale my calzone. Maggie and Andy then planned to stop by the modeling "auditions" on base. Mike and I have been intrigued ever since we've been here to try it out. Being that this is Japan, us America-jin get gawked at everywhere as though we were purple. Considering that we only make up about 0.01% of the population, this is totally expected but sometimes not always enjoyable. It works out very well for the advertising agencies here in Japan. They really love having "different" looking people in their ads. It grabs the attention of the public. So, this means big bucks for modeling agencies and an easy buck for us America-jin. Because Yokosuka has a dense population of us Americans in all shapes, sizes, and colors, it's prime real estate for modeling agencies. They will usually do shoots every once in a while on base or they will have a fair, where several agencies come and do shoots. This would give us a chance to do all of them at once. It's also totally free. This shoot was just one agency. Like I said, they love all shapes, sizes and colors. They aren't just looking for what we my consider, "the all-American look". So, everyone's invited. We decided to get Josh in on the action. Hey, a little extra college money never hurt anyone! It just so happens that Josh hates getting formal pictures taken. He could be as happy as a clam until that photographer, AKA Stranger, starts hollering at him to smile. He is instant water works at that point. After several minutes of trying to make him smile, Maggie started meowing like a cat.....this worked! She and I started meowing like alley cats which gave the patient photographer a somewhat decent photo of our child. Hallelujah!

This is only a test...

In Google's continuing quest to take over the world, they recently came out with a system that could drastically improve our blog. Google's got connections to gmail (Google email), maps, and the super-cool Google Earth program, amongst other really cool services and tools. Did I mention that Google also owns Blogger.com, our blog host company?

"What's got Mike so excited about Google these days?", you may ask. Well, I just recently heard about Google Video, which enables shlubs like me to upload video content to Google so that it can be viewed by the masses, as long as the masses have Macromedia Flash Player 7 or newer, a free download at the link provided. Our blog host only allows us to upload pics (not video) to its server, but with Google Video, I can share the latest and greatest videos from our collection for your viewing pleasure. This is a major plus, because we have family members and friends Stateside that will really appreciate it. The only negative for me is that now I'll have to carry my old Sony point-and-shoot camera around with me more to capture videos, since the Canon just takes photos.

So here's my first test. Followed immediately by my second test.

Josh Sings the ABCs

Josh Sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Judo... Fun for all ages!

I had the distinct honor and privilege of being invited to a 柔道 (Judo) competition on Sunday. My coworker, Lonnie, has been practicing Judo for the better part of his adult life and continues to practice the discipline here on the Miura Peninsula, at a dojo near his home.

Judo, for those of you that don't know, is a martial art, sport, and philosophy founded by Kano Jigoro here in Japan in the 19th century. Judo was derived from jujitsu and takes from it the principle of using your opponent's strength to your own advantage and adapting to changing situations. Judo techniques include rolls, falls, throws, pins, chokes, amongst others. Having never seen any such sport, especially in its home country, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

On Sunday, I took the train to YRP Nobi station and met Lonnie and his girlfriend, Takami-san. Lonnie drove to the dojo from there and we arrived just in time to watch the junior level students (kids) warming up and preparing for the tournament. Of course, when I walked in the room, at least a dozen kids took a few moments from their warming up to look at me like I was from another planet. If Lonnie (who's American also) hadn't been a student at the dojo, I'd have sworn that I was the first America-jin that these kids had ever seen. After a half hour or so, the warmups ended and the tournament began, at which time I watched boys and girls of all ages taking turns tossing each other around the room for several hours. It was an amazing experience and I would love to be able to witness it again.

Towards the end of the tournament, the winners from each age group took turns fighting against each other. I got a great snapshot of one of the junior challengers taking on one of the adult black belt competitors (bottom left picture).

Afterwards, I was invited to stay for what was described by the sensei as a "simple meal". In my mind, I figured it'd be the equivalent of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of potato chips. Instead, the "simple meal" turned out to be a feast for about 150 - 200 people, including sashimi, rice and curry, vegetable soup of some sort, Asahi beer bottles the size of Hokkaido, and a bunch of veggies that I couldn't name if I tried. A few of the young adult attendees sat down near Lonnie, Takami, and me and we had great conversation in both Japanese in English. One of the guys was quite the ham and as he drank more, he got even funnier. Throughout the meal, he asked me about American women, did an impression of the stereotypical American guy (chest out wide and walking with a strut), and poked fun of me a little too - all in fun.

All in all, the group was very welcoming to me and when I left I was full of sashimi and Asahi. The pictures from Sunday are in our Gallery, dated 02/21/06. Sunday was the first day that I shot the photos in RAW format, which apparently helps preserve some of the "natural look" of the photos and creates a much more realistic digital negative. It was also the first opportunity I've had to shoot photos at a sporting event, where my subjects were in motion more often than not. Please let me know what you think of the photos!

Help!

What would be a nice traditional Japanese gift for a new baby? I'd be sending it overseas. I tried to look for something online but I've had no luck.

Imperial Palace in Tokyo

Towards the end of last week, I was becoming more and more determined to venture up to Tokyo for some sightseeing. Since our arrival here four months ago (I can't believe it's been that long!), we'd only been up to Tokyo twice - once with my coworker during our first month here and once with an American tour group to Tokyo Disneyland. There are so many great things to see and do up there, but we have various reasons (or excuses, more likely) for not heading up there more often. By about Thursday, I decided that I was going to take the ol' camera and check out the Imperial Palace grounds on Saturday morning. Nicki was planning to stay around Yokosuka, get some stuff done around the house, and play with Josh. As it turns out, I convinced her to come with me.

So on Saturday morning, we arrived at Maborikaigan Station around 9am caught the first limited express train up to Yokohama, where we decided to switch from the Keikyu line to the JR line for the rest of the journey up to Tokyo Station. We're getting much better at train travel, so fortunately the ride up was fairly uneventful, although I was lugging Josh in a backpack-baby-carrier and we didn't have seats, so it was a bit of a strain on my shoulders for the hour-long ride.

When we arrived in Tokyo, we agreed that I would continue to carry Josh in the backpack until we got to the Imperial Palace grounds. Once we arrived, we let him run freely in the open grass and pedestrian friendly areas. In the meantime, Nicki had control of the camera, so she shot quite a few good pictures of Josh and me together. Eventually, I peeled the camera away from her to get a few of her with Josh, too. The pictures are up in our Gallery, with 2/15/06 as the date.

Just outside of the main entrance of the Imperial Palace grounds, between the grounds and Tokyo Station, there's a beautiful fountain park, where we stopped to take a few pictures. That place was pretty fun and Josh was impressed with all of the water moving around him. After letting him run wild for a little bit, we crossed the street and headed for the East Gardens of the Palace, which is one of the few areas where tourists are actually allowed.

The East Gardens were absolutely beautiful. Even though it's still winter here and the landscaping was in cold-weather mode, there were quite a few evergreen trees and ponds that made the views spectacular. Josh was lucky enough to get up close and personal with a few Koi fish, though it looked like the Koi were getting a bit old and sickly. We also took him past a small waterfall and a cool looking tea pavilion, then looped back around towards the entrance. As we were heading out of the East Gardens, we found one lone tree that was beginning to bloom.

As we approached, an elderly Japanese couple was appreciating the view and then stopped to smile and wave at Josh and tell us that he's "kawaii" (cute). We thanked them with our best "arigatou gozaimasu" (thank you) and then Nicki pointed to the tree and asked "sakura desu-ka?" (cherry blossom?). The elderly woman replied "ume desu" (plum blossom). Apparently, around these parts, the plum blossoms start blooming in mid to late February and then the cherry blossoms start around mid to late March. Anyway, it was obvious that this first ume blossom was an important milestone in the seasonal changes, because another elderly couple started walking towards us and when they saw the ume blossoms, they both smiled so big that you'd think they won the lottery, and the lady actually squealed.

Josh began to get a little cranky around his usual nap time and I was getting tired carrying him again, so we decided to call it short and head back around 1:30 or so. But first, we stopped for lunch at a great little place just inside the main entrance to the Tokyo train station. The food was great - I could have been eating a shoe and it would have tasted great, though - I was so hungry. But afterwards, we hopped the train and headed home. All in all, it was a great and very tiring day.

In other news, we didn't really mention much about the Super Bowl XL in the week or so following the game. The game actually started at 8:00am on Monday morning here, so I took a half-day off to watch it. My plan was to take Nicki and Josh to base and to watch it there at one of the big screen televisions, but as it turns out there was no good place for kids to watch the game because all the good TVs were in places that served alcohol. So I ended up just taking the train back home and watched the game here. But on base, we ran into a few of the Oakland Raiders cheerleaders, who came into town as a goodwill/morale booster for the local sailors. We asked for a couple pictures with Josh and they were more than happy to oblige. One of my buddies back in SoCal (Big Mike) is a diehard Raiders fan, so I know he's gotta be envious of Josh. Here's what Nicki and I agreed is our favorite picture from the cheerleader meeting, just because of Josh's "How you doin', ladies?" expression. You can click on the photo to enlarge it in a new window.

To see the Imperial Palace trip photos, click on the Gallery and look under 02/15/06. Enjoy!

Online Shopping and Everyday Japan (Nicki)

I'm convinced..Gymboree is Satan's creation. Ok, I know this has nothing to do with Japan. I'll get to that later. I'm also sure that many of the readers out there don't really care about my mother's and my Gymboree purchases. (Just skip this paragraph if you don't care) However, I'm under the belief that the people who work for Gymboree (clothing) are out to get me and my mom! My mom, acting as any good grandmother would, spoils her grandson as much as she can from long distance. Unfortunately, being that she is so far away, she relies on me to fill her in on what Josh needs or what he is interested in currently. For a while he was in need of some new cute clothes, so being that it was "Gymbucks" time, she decided to stock up on some clothing for the little prince. For anyone unfamiliar with Gymbucks, they are special coupons that Gymboree gives out. For every $50 that is spent, the customer receives a $25 coupon to use at a later date. My mom ended up getting two $25 coupons and just recently made some purchase and sent them over to us. Well, come to find out the 3T shirts that she bought were just huge on Josh. I thought it would be simple enough to do an even exchange and just send them back for a 2T size. It wasn't so easy. Turns out, Gymboree doesn't do exchanges through the mail. However, they would be more than happy to exchange them if I go to the local store and exchange them there. One small problem though... I'M IN JAPAN! After my mother probably spent an hour on the phone with them, the only way that they could do an exchange is if they credited my mothers account and then she re-buy all the same items. This didn't work out so well because the half off coupons would then be void. Long story short, she would end up having to put down extra cash to get the same items. They also made it impossible for me to send them to my mother and then have her just exchange them at a store in the States because there was a 60 day limit on exchanges and returns after purchase. Given that I would be sending them from so far away, it would be a risk to try and have the items make it there before the 60 day limit. ARG!! Again, many of you probably don't care about the ins and outs of toddler clothing but it is one of my vices. It's just not as fun shopping for me because sometimes my butt looks too big or my tummy is pouching out a little too much in a pair of jeans. Shopping for him is so easy - everything looks cute on this kid. For all of my mom's hard work, I'm planning on sending her a care package with all kinds of Japanese junk food. (It's also for everyone else) Thanks Mom.

OK, on to more interesting subjects. After browsing through some of my friends blogs, I've noticed that we've done little to talk about the daily life in Japan. Tonight is Friday night. I've designated this night to be "Bento Night". We just recently discovered the Seiyu grocery store's deli section. In it are all kinds of Japanese ready-made meals.They've got vegetable and pasta salads, meat on a stick, gyoza, tempura, sushi and sashimi. My goal is to try something new from that section every Friday night. Tonight, I stalked up on some tuna rolls, some tuna, and some meat on a stick. I'm not sure what all the meat is. I think that one might be eel and the other chicken. The third I'm not sure though. We shall see. I'm still trying to get a hold of my neighbor and ask her to take a trip to the local AVE (grocery store) to stock up on cooking utensils and to teach me how to cook some Japanese food. Mike's co-worker has a girlfriend that may also be interested in showing me the ropes when it comes to Japanese cuisine. I can't wait!

Another daily Japanese experience is "Better English with Catherine". This radio show plays daily. During the radio program, Catherine teaches an English phrase that someone might use while traveling to an English speaking country. The last one that I heard was "Don't take it for granted". Some of them are a lot funnier. If you click above, there are several phrases that you can listen to online. There is also a segment that airs ocassionaly right after Catherine's called "More Better English with Dave" right after Catherine did "Don't take it for Granted" Dave taught, "Don't take it from Grandad". So funny. This radio program airs on the English/Japanese radio station interFM.

Another thing that I've experienced while living in Japan is the differences between Japanese fathers and their American counterparts. Folks in the States may have some negative connotations about Japanese men. However, from what I've seen out in public, Japanese fathers seem to be more likely to show open affection for their children than American fathers might show. I know I'm generalizing but it's been very refreshing to see Japanese fathers out on Sundays with their children wiping their mouths, laughing, playing and hugging them. Perhaps this has something to do with the limited amount of time they have with them. Sunday is kinda Daddy and kid's day. A day where many Japanese fathers go out with their children or with the entire family. Sunday sometimes is the only day many Japanese men have to spend with their families as they spend most of their time at the office during the week. The Japanese in general really treasure children. It's amusing to see a group of Japanese business men having an impromtu business meeting on the street when a small toddler runs in between them only to be greeted by the men's smiling faces and waves. When Josh toddles onto the scene men and women alike just want to touch him & talk to him. He's even started recognizing the word "kawaii" (which means cute in Japanese) because many people say this when they see him.

Fuji-san

Before I begin, I thought I'd once again promote Nicki's Kitchen website, which has recently started an epidemic among our friends. Shortly after going live with Nicki's Kitchen, we got news from our friends Kristin and Aime that they started their own recipe sites. Being the foodaholic that I am, it's always great to see all these food related blogs, so I thought I'd share. Check out Kristin's Yummy Stuff and Aime's What's Cooking sites to tempt your taste buds.

Nicki mentioned in her previous post this morning that I took a short trip across the Miura Peninsula yesterday to try shooting Fuji-san pictures. Sometime ago, it occurred to me that we've been in this fine country for 4 months now and I haven't yet posted any pictures of Mt. Fuji. If you'll remember from a post back on December 11, I once tried to find a spot in Hayama that SushiJeff told me about to capture Fuji-san, but the weather was fairly dismal that day so visibility wasn't good enough to see the mountain over the bay.

Friday night, before going to bed, I shared with Nicki my plans for getting up early. Usually, my plans like that turn into sleeping in until Josh wakes us up, but Saturday morning it was different. I actually woke up at about 5:30am without setting the alarm, then got a bit discouraged that gray clouds were covering the predawn sky. I looked out again around 6:00am and found that many of the clouds were starting to fade away, so I decided to head out on my journey back to try Hayama again.

The closer I got to Hayama, the clearer the sky seemed to be getting. When I got to the right spot, the sun was up a bit, so I knew I still had a good little while to film the remainder of the sunrise. As it turns out, I walked up and down the shore of Hayama for about an hour and took 170 photographs in that time. I also learned why you have to be a dedicated photographer to get the right shot in the right lighting. It was so cold out that by the time I was done shooting, my hands were nearly frozen to the camera. But it was well worth it... and I hope you agree when you take a look at the photos in our Gallery dated 02/05/2006.

Fuji-san is said to be the most photographed natural image in all of Japan. After being on the beach in Hayama for sunrise this morning, I can understand why. Even from 30-40 kilometers away, Fuji-san is breathtaking. One funny side note: It must be rare for people in Hayama to see clear days like Saturday morning. There was literally a traffic jam on my way back home along the coastal road from people stopping in the middle of the street to get out and take a quick look or quick photo of the view.

Here's a few free samples that you can click on to enlarge. I think you may even be able to "right click" them and save a few if you'd like (for those of you that have asked for larger images...). Having to look through 170 photos for my favorites wasn't easy, but I think I took quite a few good shots so please enjoy!

Too Busy! (Nicki)

I've just been so busy this last week, that Mike has past me up with blogs recently. As I sit here amongst a pile of recipes to put on my "Nicki's Kitchen" blog, I can't help being grateful for this Sunday resting period. I went out looking for action and I found it. I am still so astounded by all the resources the Navy provides for spouses & families away from home. We've been able to do things here that we just wouldn't have been able to afford back in San Diego.

On Mondays I've got Storytime for Josh at the library. Miss Laura conducts a great story hour for young kids. She plays the guitar, hands out project pamphlets to take home, sings songs, reads books, and works on couting and letters. She is pretty amazing.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I've got my gym days and Josh gets to play at daycare for several hours. It's a great opportunity to be around other children and a great opportunity for me to get in shape and be around other adults! For a while this daycare thing was tough. I would cry after leaving and Josh would cry while I was leaving. I kept on questioning my judgement on whether or not daycare was really a good idea. (Mothers with more than one child may laugh at this) Last Thursday sealed the deal when I kissed him goodbye and he ran off to the slide with the other children not even giving me a second glance. It was a bitter sweet moment. I loved that he finally felt comfortable there with the other children but my little selfish mother part was sad that he found something that he enjoyed away from my company.

On Wednesday's is "Hoppy Hour" at the base. Here, Miss Laura makes a grand appearance again. This class is similar to a gymboree/dance class for kids. They have parachute time, musical instruments, marching, running & dancing. This like Storytime is a Mommy & Me type class. The beginning for some reason always gets off to a rocky start. For some reason he goes into freak out mode. But, by the end of the class Josh has a blast. Then on Wednesday night, while Mike watches Josh, I try to fit in some lap swim time at the gym for an hour or two.

Fridays are coffee days. Josh and I meet with a small group of Moms at Starbucks for coffee. It's a great chance for me to unwind but still be with Josh. I bring a whole bucket full of Thomas the Train toys, buy him some donut holes and children's hot chocolate, and arm myself with Elmo stickers. He seems to do well for those couple of hours. Being that it's a group of Moms that meet, they are all forgiving when it comes to temper tantrums and throwing toys. If I come and the Moms aren't there, there are always the 2 Starbucks regulars. Two men who are retired military. I always seem to run into them and they always seem to know "Oh, it's Friday. Time to hop up your kid with sugar for Dad" I always get a kick out of them.

I've met so many freinds here so far and if I choose to, I am busy all the time! Our friend Jeff informed us that we may make more friends here than we have in the States. So far he has spoken the truth! There is also a book club that has been put together and I've joined that. I'm now reading Memiors of a Geisha for the 2nd time and really enjoying it. It's been quite a few years since I've read it, so it's been fun to look at it now at a different time in my life. Mike has informed me that this has been one of my shining moments where I am turning more into the social butterfly and he is becomming more of the observer with his camera. What a difference a country can make!

Oh, another thing on my to do list is to stop by our wonderful neighbors house and ask about getting a tutorial on Japanese cooking. I have this great book on how to cook Japanese, however, it's all in English and I have to go to a Japanese store to obtain all the ingredients and cooking utensils. Plus, who needs a cookbook when you have a Japanese stay at home mom right next door. I can't wait to fill everyone in on this once I get the wheels turning.

Mike took some fabulous pictures of Mt. Fuji. He went out yesterday real early and drove down the peninsula. After returning home, he came back a new man. He was so excited to show me all these fantastic pics. So, stay tuned to browse the photo gallery!

Shaken and Mistaken

Two quick stories to kick off the weekend:

(1) SHAKEN... Our First Noticeable Earthquake!!! On Wednesday night, after we put Josh down in his crib for a restful night's sleep, Nicki and I retreated to our upstairs tatami room to talk and so I could do a few things on the computer. Suddenly, the computer desk started moving back and forth slowly, then everything started to move back and forth rhythmically. No doubt... it was our first observed quake in Japan.

Having lived the past eight years in San Diego - and since Nicki is a Native Californian - we were pretty used to being vulnerable to earthquake activity, but we rarely felt them if they were below a certain magnitude. According to the USGS Earthquake website, this one occurred officially at 8:35 pm and was about a 4.7 in magnitude (on the U.S. Scale), which is actually fairly small compared to others we've felt. I think what made this one different is that the epicenter was only about 30 kilometers away from us and it lasted longer than some we've felt before.

Anyway, it didn't make much news even here, but I figured I'd share.

(2) MISTAKEN... identity. I heard a good story the other day, which hopefully I can retell without getting too many of the facts wrong. Periodically, the admiral has a stand-up meeting with all of us in the command to award sailors and occasionally civilians for jobs well done. During the meeting he also welcomes new sailors and civilians onboard and he typically talks to them and asks a few questions. Earlier this week, we had such a meeting with the admiral and he mentioned one of the new guys in particular, saying that they had already met. Apparently, the admiral was in Starbucks wearing a jacket with a chief petty officer (CPO) emblem on it. The new sailor on base also happened to be in Starbucks at the same time. Being new and eager to impress, the sailor saw the CPO emblem and said confidently, "Good morning, Chief." The admiral looked at him and said (I'm paraphrasing here), "Oh, I'm not the Chief, even though I'm wearing the jacket. I'm the admiral."

For those of you outside of the Navy (including myself) who may not be aware of ranks within the Navy organization, another way to think of it is this: Imagine being the new guy in the mailroom at Microsoft. You try to be proactive and say "good morning boss" to the first guy you see that comes down to the mailroom wearing a nice tie, thinking that it's your immediate supervisor. Then it turns out that it's Bill Gates.

Needless to say, the new sailor's face must have turned about seven shades of red when he found out he was speaking to the man in charge of our entire Pacific forces instead of a CPO. Wish I could have been there to see the conversation.