People in the Strangest Places

I've always found it funny when I recognize familiar faces, friends, and acquaintances in places I'd never expect to see them. With all the traveling that I've done in my lifetime, I tend to associate certain faces with certain places. So when someone I once knew growing up in Virginia showed up on the beaches of San Diego while I was living there, it threw me for a loop. She recognized me and, sadly, I had to apologize and tell her that I recognized her but I couldn't remember from where. It's as though two unfamiliar worlds have collided.

This type of experience happened to me again this week, but in a most unusual way. In 1999, my second year in San Diego, I moved into a 9-bedroom (not a typo) house in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego. A few months into my stay there another guy, named Trevor Neubauer, moved in. Trevor was a cool guy - we both liked surfing, both liked partying, and both liked playing guitar - he actually taught me a few Social Distortion riffs and we exchanged some Blink 182 riffs. The picture above is one from an impromptu party we had a the house, of Trevor (right side) with Melissa (another roommate) and Big Mike (center, a former roommate).

In less than a year, I moved out of the house and into a studio much closer to a favorite surf spot of mine in north Pacific Beach. Shortly thereafter, I heard rumors that our old 9-bedroom house landlord kicked everyone else out of the house so that he could get rid of a couple bad seeds and get a fresh crop of newbies in there. After that, I didn't hear much from any of the roommates anymore, except Big Mike, who is like a brother to me.

Anyway, the other night, Nicki and I were watching some TV and the soap opera, Days of our Lives, came on after whatever show we were watching. After a few minutes of trying to convince Nicki to come to bed (it was getting late), I saw a scene from the show of three guys hanging out and talking at a beach party. Immediately I said, "hey, I think I know that guy". Nicki was hesitant to believe me, so I went to our old scrapbooks and found the picture from the 9-bedroom house that I posted above. Nicki took one look and said, "wow, that could be him".

So then we raced to the web and Googled the Days of our Lives character name, "Jeremy Horton". Sure enough, the actor's name popped up as Trevor Donovan... the first name coincidence was too suspicious. So the next day, I did some further web investigation and found the link between Trevor Donovan (stage name) and Trevor Neubauer (real name). As it turns out, Trevor moved up closer to LA sometime after 1999 and started doing modeling gigs (pic on left) . It looks like he also must have signed a contract with NBC for the Days of our Lives gig pretty recently too.

If you happen to watch the show, he's playing a new "bad boy" character. Not sure how long his contract is for, but I wish him the best of luck. Break a leg, Trevor!

Pluggin' Away

Just a brief plug for my highly neglected Kitchen site, that I've just added 3 new recipes! Check them out when you have a moment

-Nicki

The Aloha State of Mind

Around 7:45pm on Wednesday, May 23, we departed Tokyo's Narita Airport for the Aloha State. We arrived in Honolulu on May 23 at 9:00am... thanks to the International Date Line, we were able to enjoy one of the longest days of our lives.

As we rode the shuttle along the highway from the airport to our hotel, the Waikiki Beach Marriott, I mentioned, "this isn't really what I expected". Nicki had already visited Hawaii a couple times in the past, but it was my first time. My first impression was that Honolulu is much like any other city, with bustling highways, tall buildings, and business as usual. To see the picture perfect pristine Hawaii that is so popular on postcards, you have explore a little... and explore we did.

We checked into the hotel and thought for a split second about trying to get a nap in, since none of us really slept very well on the plane. In hindsight, it would have been a great idea, but we were in Hawaii and only had a short time to see and do everything. When our luggage was settled, we slipped into our swimsuits and flip-flops and stepped out onto our private lanai, which overlooked both Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head (the famous volcano crater that is the backdrop of most Waikiki Beach pictures). After taking in the view, we decided to stroll along Waikiki Beach to relax and to get a few necessities, like sunscreen, snacks, and beach towels. Day 1 was fairly relaxing and we planned it that way to minimize the dreaded jet lag, which eventually hit us like a ton of bricks anyway.

Early the next morning, we woke up and hauled our tired bodies down to the hotel's tour bus lounge, to wait for our shuttle to the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. We knew that it would be a somber must-see experience, so we thought it would be best to visit the famous World War II site early in our vacation. Since we have already visited Hiroshima during our Japan Years tour, we thought that seeing the Arizona Memorial would help "close the loop" for us. What amazed us the most was the diversity of tourists from around the world that paid respects to the site: Aussies, Germans, Japanese, Chinese and Koreans - and probably others that we missed. I guess the attack at Pearl Harbor is one of those moments in history that affected people worldwide.

The Arizona Memorial is a wonderful tribute. It begins with a video explaining the events leading up to 07 December 1941, the attack itself, and the repercussions of the attack in the years that followed. Then, we took a ferry ride over to the memorial. Along the way, we got a view of the USS Bowfin, a retired and decorated submarine that served the US well during the war, and the USS Missouri, which is most famously known as the site where the Japanese emperor signed the declaration of surrender at the end of WWII. So much history in such a small area.

On Thursday night, we made plans to attend a traditional Hawaiian Luau. We'd heard that some of the hotel's luaus were overpriced, but had heard good things about what the Hale Koa has to offer. The Hale Koa (which is Hawaiian for "House of the Warrior") is an Armed Forces Recreation Center, one of a few hotels around the world that is paid for by funds collected from the MWR (morale, welfare, recreation) offices internal to the military, not from taxpayer dollars. As such, these facilities are only open to active duty military, retirees, Dept of Defense civilians, and dependents. As DoD civilians, we are fortunate enough to qualify. Generally, the Hale Koa is booked year-round, so getting reservations is tough. But even if you aren't staying there, you can use the resources there if you're eligible.

The luau at the Hale Koa is great. Great food. Great entertainment. Great price. It starts with a warm-up act singing traditional Hawaiian songs and some modern songs while playing guitar and ukulele, while guests relax with drinks on the grass lawn under rows of palm trees with cold drinks in hand. From there, we watched the guest of honor (the cooked pig) be unearthed from the ground, while they explained to us the history behind the luau and how the pig is cooked. Then we got to enjoy the feast of fresh tropical fruits, pork, and poi, while we were entertained with traditional dance and song.

Friday was our day to see the island. We made plans to rent a car in the lobby of the Marriott, but we found that since it was Memorial Day weekend, all of the rentals were booked. So once again, we called our friends at the Hale Koa and found that there were a few rentals left through them. So we rented a "mid-sized car", which turned out to be a PT Cruiser (very fun).

We started our drive heading along the southeast coast of the island towards Hanauma Bay, a volcanic crater with a wall that opens up to the ocean, which created a safe habitat for all kinds of tropical fish and plant life. I'm glad that we got to Hanauma Bay early. It got crowded quickly. We got a little bit of snorkeling in, but left pretty quickly to continue our drive around the island. From there , we headed the coastal route up to the North Shore. A group of friendlies at the luau had recommended we stop for lunch at Giovanni's Roadside Shrimp Truck for lunch. We did and it was fantastic. A mound of jumbo shrimp, chunks of garlic, and two heaping piles of rice crowded the plate. Our taste buds were in heaven.

After lunch, we continued driving up the coast until we got to some of the famous beaches of the North Shore, including Sunset Beach (and nearby Banzai Pipeline), Waimea Beach, and Haleiwa. Winter is the best time to see that side of the island, famous for the big waves and crazy surfers. In the summer, the surf is flat, but the views are still spectacular. Just outside of Haleiwa, we cut back down through the middle of the island and headed back south. Along the way, we stopped at the Dole Plantation... mmm... pineapples.

The drive lasted a little longer than we expected, so Nicki was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to get some shopping done that afternoon as planned, but we made a mental note to get it done later. When we finally got back to Waikiki, turned in the rental car, and got back to the hotel, we were done for the day.

Saturday, we decided to climb famous Diamond Head, the popular volcanic crater a stone's throw from Waikiki. We heard it was a relatively short hike to the peak, and since Josh is so used to walking around Japan, we thought we'd give it a go with him in tow. As it turned out, all the way up and down the trail, we heard kids from ages 6-15 complaining about how tough a hike it was, how hot it was, how miserable it was. Josh, on the other hand, was the perfect hiker. It wasn't until we were at the very bottom of the trail again before he asked to be carried. The view from Diamond Head is breathtaking. You can see straight across the island, with Waikiki Beach in the foreground and all kinds of views all around. When we got to the base of the crater again, we rewarded ourselves with some Hawaiian shave ice.

Josh did such a good job on Diamond Head that we left the lunch decision up to him. Not surprisingly, he was in the mood for "fishies and rice", which is Josh-speak for sashimi, his favorite food on the planet. Sushi restaurants are everywhere in Oahu, so finding one nearby wasn't a problem. We all ate our fill - Josh had 4-5 plates of salmon sashimi - and then we experienced some sticker shock. Our dinner came close to about $60. We were definitely not in Japan anymore! Here in the Land of the Rising Sun, plates of salmon sashimi generally run about $1-2 per plate. It was more than double at this Hawaiian sushi place. But the food was excellent and they even had a few items on the menu that mixed the Japanese tradition sushi items with local Hawaiian flavors. Delicious!

Saturday afternoon, Nicki rewarded herself with a massage from the hotel's spa. During her relaxation time, Josh and I hit the hotel pool. Josh is really into swimming these days, which is good because he will be taking swim lessons this summer. When the massage was over, we all headed to Waikiki Beach again. Nicki and Josh sat on the shore and I rented a surfboard from one of the hourly rental spots right on the beach. The surf was no more than waist to shoulder high, but that was perfect considering that I hadn't paddled out since leaving San Diego over a year and a half ago. One of my favorite moments on the trip happened on that surfboard. I happened to glance back to see if I could spot Nicki and Josh on the shore, and when I did, I noticed a full-shaped rainbow circling straight over our hotel and shooting off into the distant ocean waters. What a time to not have my camera with me!

Sunday was our catch-all day for anything we missed in the previous days. We started out at the Aloha Bowl flea market, after taking TheBus (Oahu's public bus system) for a tour hour ride through Honolulu. The tour books all said that the flea market was a "must see", but it turned out to be rows and rows of pretty much the same stuff. Great deals, yes, like 10 shirts for $20. But how many shirts can a guy get away with wearing that all say "Hawaii Lifeguard" on them. Nicki did come away with some Red Hawaiian Sea Salt and some pineapple-coconut jam spread, both locally made. After sitting on TheBus for two hours on our way to the market, we opted for a little more expensive but well deserved shuttle ride back towards Waikiki.

The shuttle bus let us off at Ala Moana Center, one of the more popular shopping centers on Oahu. We stopped at a few standard American-style stores to see if we could find any cheap clothes for Josh, with little luck. Then we stopped by the Hilo Hattie store and loaded up on all kinds of Hawaiian gear. Josh and I even found matching Hawaiian Aloha shirts. After shopping for a few hours, we headed back to Waikiki Beach to spend our last night relaxing on the beach and watching the sunset.

Pictures are up in our Gallery, dated 6/20/2007.

Lagging

The past few days, this site has really been lagging - the site upload itself and, yes, the content too. I think I fixed the problem with the site upload. As it turns out, every time I tried to load The Japan Years blog page, the loading seemed to stop at the same spot, where our Japan Blogger webring info was located on our page. Since it was having troubles, I got rid of the html code for that feature (my apologies to the Japan Blogger Webring folks) and now the page seems to come up in short order.

The second lag, our personal lack of blog posts, will get fixed soon. I'm still shuffling through some beautiful Hawaii pictures from our trip over Memorial Day weekend, but I've been slowed significantly by a work-related trip to Okinawa, starting a second job giving English lessons to a neighbor, and spending any reasonably nice evening outside with Josh after work, since it's been raining so much otherwise. I hope to finish up with the pictures this weekend and will post as soon as I do with all the great shots and stories.

In the meantime, a buddy of mine in San Diego, Charles, sent a pretty cool link to me this past week:

http://www.diddlefinger.com/

The site name is kinda strange (yes, it's safe for work), but it may prove useful here for the rest of our tour. Basically, it runs the Google Maps site program, but it overlays English words (romaji characters) for the city names throughout Japan, for non-native Japanese people who don't read kanji characters very well.

For those of you that don't know exactly where in Japan our beautiful city of Yokosuka-shi is located, you can now go to that link and zoom in on Tokyo. Then scroll directly south until you see the word Yokosuka-shi. That's our home!!!

On a final note, Happy Father's Day weekend to all of the hard working dads throughout the world, with an extra tip of the hat to my own dad as well.

Breakdown

'The wisdom's in the trees and not the glass windows'

-Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson's the man. His latest album (if we call them albums anymore?), In Between Dreams is one of those albums that I can listen to over and over again and it just doesn't get old. That quote is from his song Breakdown.

These last few days since Hawaii have been a little crazy. The following weekend after our return, Mike had to fly down to Okinawa for work, so Josh and I have been filling our days with jogging, Sea Paradise, and a trip to Toys R Us. Josh is at the age where he absolutely loves taking the train. As long as I'm able to go during semi slow hours and I know where I'm going, it's an enjoyable trip for the both of us. It gives us a chance to talk about things. I've also taken advantage of the on base childcare for a couple more hours this week just to give me a little break, since Mike's not here to give me one. I jog to childcare in the morning (about 5K), drop him off, lift weights, then walk to the train station, take the train home, drive back in the afternoon to pick up Josh and the jogging stroller and drive home. It may seem like a lot of work just to get a jog in, but I find that the train ride home gives me a good 30-40 minutes to just reflect.

Today, one of my favorite bakeries located in Saikaiya shopping center, Pompadour, was calling my name as I strolled to the train station. I caved and bought a small baguette and some blueberry pastry. Talk about customer service! As I walked up to pay at the register, they switched out the baguette that I had picked out and replaced it with one that they had just pulled out of the oven. OH HEAVEN! Needless to say a quarter of it was mysteriously missing when I got home. :) There is nothing better than a hot fresh hunk of French bread slathered with a generous smear of butter. No wonder my running isn't taking off the weight with the way I'm eating.

Along with all of this, I recently just finished reading The Rape of Nanking. A friend of mine recommended it. Whoever has not heard of this book or the event itself, I highly recommend it. It's a historical book (although it's not boring) and discusses one of the most horrendous atrocities committed during WWII in China. Although it's not a "light" or "enjoyable" read, it's something that I think should be required reading for college students. It moved me enough to put up a recommendation on our site.