So sushi just isn't my thing, but at least now when people protest that I just haven't had good quality sushi I can confidently know that I have. Straight from the ocean actually.
So, my time here is nearly over. It's a crappy rainy day so it's a good day to get myself packed up and prepared for the long flight home. Do have plans to check out my brohters ship this afternoon. It's huge and will be nice to see where he spends so much of his time.
In all, I've had a great time. Though I often felt disoriented, confused and lost, I've had a great experience here and feel more cultured and diversifyed. I'm also coming away with new respect for those who come to our home not really sure what to expect. It's a very overwhelming experience to be in another country not knowing the norms, the language, the menus, the transportation or everyday life. And this I felt knowing that I would be going home in 2 weeks.
I've had a great time hanging with my brother, walking our feet weary in search of temples and statues, and writing our own maps as we discovered the culture, but I am ready to come home.
I'm ready to hit the gym (yes, I actually miss it), scrimmage on Thursdays, get drunk on Miller Lite alone, see all my friends and fam, eat at places where I can read the menu, laugh obnoxiously loud, and blend in with the masses. That being said, thanks for following along and I'll see you all soon!
Kristi

Can you believe that there are no available taxis for my airport transport? Guess its one more adventure on the trains.

After the shot. I couldn't get the beer to my lips fast enough.

Preparing for the shot. Brave face, but you can tell my smile is fake.

The grosse shot-Ugh, I just gagged.

Me wofting healthness on myself.

This pics are from our night out in Shibuya. By the end of the night, Johnny was pretty wasted and barely functioning. I took the above pic of him and I b/c he was passed out leaning up against a wall. I wanted to capture his drunkenness, but all of sudden he flipped a switch and put on his Justin Timberlake face and looks stone sober. Not what I wanted, but it's a good pic. The other pic is the bartender from Peru that wanted me to help him practice his English. First time I didn't have to lie when I said there is no way to contact me ; )

So our plan Sunday was to head to Mt. Fuji. Up to this point we've been lucky to have good weather, so of course the day we need good weather it is cold, rainy and windy. It also turns out the Mt. Fuji is further than we anticipated, so we opted not to go. Guess I'll have to settle with viewing the mountain from Tokyo tower and Yokohama. We then headed to Tokyo to do some more exploring. There is a Hard Rock there that I wanted to stop in, but it wasn't on any maps and none of our taxi drivers knew it or could communicate well enough with us so we also opted not to go there. Not a good start to the day. We headed to Akribara, which is a huge electronic district. For the weather being so crappy, we were surprised that the streets were still packed with people. We went into one store hoping to get something for my niece and nephew. The front looked like a toy store. It was, but it was also an adult video and magazine store. How does that work?? We also hit up the Senso-ji Temple. It's Tokyo's most sacred and spectactular temple. They all look pretty much the same to me though. We did woft some of the joukoro (incense) on us. It's suppose to keep you healthy. The area proved to have some good street walking. I know have have complained about the difficulty I've found finding food, but that's not for lack of quantity. Food stands, carts, and restaurants are everywhere. The Japanese surprisingly love to eat!! And they love their deserts. Ice Cream is advertised everywhere. Baskin Robbins makes a killing here. They walk or ride their bikes everywhere, which I'm spectulating is their key to staying slim.
Last night my brother and I went out in the local bars. He finally held me to me promise of taking the snake shot. Akarbu I think is it's name. It's disgusting-as anything that marinates in a jar with a snake should be. Played some beer pong and met some more sailors. Had a rough morning, but I made it out to do some souvenaire shopping today. At one shop this little old man could speak English fairly well and he spent over 45 minutes talking to me about what all the symbols on his pottery means. Interesting, but like everywhere here I was sweating and just wanted to go outside. Keeping to my manners I politely listened. Did you know the Japanese have 16 commandments to being a good driver. That more than they have for living a fulfilling life.
Heading to dinner soon and as my time here is winding down, I think we are going to tackle a sushi restaurant. Not sure I'll be eating much, but I'm going to try it.

9 am!!

So yesterday was crazy!!
We started out by going to the Navy Holiday Ball here on base. Lots of entertaining people watvching. Plus, the food was good and drinks were strong and cheap. We then headed to the train station and headed to Shibuya. A hip young area that is well known for it's night life. Iwas a bit nervous for this trip b/c once you're there, you are stuck until the trains start running again at 6am! The train ride was hilarous. My brother got this energy drink, but this Japanese guy kept calling it "Minza" and laughing. He then called me cute and kept shouting "Minza"??? We got the impression from him that the drink was some sort of Viagra like drink?? My brothers friends and I all thought it was hilarous-my brother, a bit frightened. He didn't finish the drink.
Shibuya resembles a time square, except there are more people. It was hard to keep our group together. We first went to club Pure. It was pretty cool. (All the clubs here play American music and are typical not much bigger than one room). We danced a bit and then decided to head to Club Asia. An okay bar. They had a live band there. There were Japanese and this is all I heard "Ogey Goey Monster", over and over. I also got yelled at for taking a photo. Opps. This was a hippi type bar and very smokey and crowded so we soon headed back to PURE. When we got back it was much more crowded. One of the security guards was taking to me and turns out he is from Loraine, Ohio! Small world. We were all having a good time dancing, but there was this one creepy Japanese man that would not leave me alone. I tried to be polite the first two times, but even after the fifth NO and throwing his hands off me he still didn't get the hint. Oh well, you just have to laugh it off and I kept hiding behind my brothers friends when he came around. I also had a weird encounter with a girl in the bathroom. She followed me in and asked how old I was. I told her and she smiled and bowed. I then went into my stahl and when I came out found her still there. She again asked me my age and bowed. As I washed my hands and exited she continued to smile and bow at me??? I smiled and walked out. She then went to her friends who all smiled and stared at me for a bit. Did I mention that I was the only caucasion (of about 150) girl there? Strange. There was a twin bartenders from Peru working. Somehow I got tied to giving one of them English lessons while I'm here? He kept pulling my up to the bar to talk to him and his English was so broken, it was loud and I'm deaf, so I couldn't get a darn thing he was saying. This scenario played out like 5 times throughout the night. Me confused everytime, but he was giving me free drinks, so whateves. At 2am I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it, but like drinking usually does, it got me through and at 5:30 the lights came on and it was time to go. I was very proud of myself for lasting the whole night (and in heels!) and was even in better shape than my brother and all his friends. We got a quick bite and then headed to the train station where we had to wait til 6:15 to catch a train back home. We all crashed as soon as we sat down ,but luckily woke up to catch the stop where we had to get off and switch trains. In all the trip home took around 2 hours. The longest walk of shame ever!! I had a great time and had lots of laughs.
The internet is being sketchy, so I'll have to post some pics later.

Chinatown

Check out what's on this sign!!

One of the entrances to Chinatown.

Tuesday was a rainy day. Johnny had duty so I traveled through Yokuska on my own. It was nice until it started rainy. Luckily I had my umbrella.
Forgot to mention that after we left the bars on Monday we stopped at a street meat station. Very similar to the ones the crowd the streets in Columbus. The only thing was I didn't know what to tell him to put on it, so I just said everything. Turns out that included spicy stuff! Thanks to my drunkeness, I was still able to eat and even enjoy it.
Yesterday, we headed out to Chinatown in Yokohoma. It is apparently one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. We were both craving some simple chicken fried rice and thought it would be easy to find some here. Not the case. It took us forever to find a place to eat, but we finally did. Johnny did get some fried rice-not quite the kind we expected and I got something that slightly resembled pad thai. We have found two things that no matter the menu, are always a safe bet: Draft beer and dumplings. China town was very kitchy and covered in lights and lanterns and pandas.
From there we headed further north to the Kirin Beer Village. We were hoping to take a tour, but got there after closing. We did go the restaurant to enjoy a beer though. We were falsely encouraged by the English name, decour and menu covers. Unfortuanately once you opened the menu, no translations. There was a very interesting business groups next to us. One poor guy wasn't able to keep up with the rest and nearly hit his head on the table from falling asleep ; )
That might be me on Friday night. We are going to the Navy holiday party and then going out in Shi-something. The trains stop at midnight and don't start again until 6am, so I've been told that we just stay out the whole time! Fantastic! Then we'll be catching the train home at 6am, catching some zzz's and then we are heading to Roppongi in Tokyo where we are going to do it all over again. However, that night we might be getting a hotel. I can party, but I'm not sure I can handle two all-nighters in a row. Think I might spend time hibernating to get myself ready for the weekend!

This pic isn't very clear, but this is the map of the train stations. This is how you figure out what tickets to buy and what station you need to get off at it. This one happened to be in all Japanese which was just about useless to my brother and I, but we made it work.

A Chu-Hi stand in Yokuska. It's a like a snow cone shop except with alochol. It's a hidden gem, but I think it is the culprit for my hangover today.

Look at Johnny in his G-unit hoody. Don't know how I ended up with such a ghetto-fab brother : )

Drunke3n Post

So, dinner today was way better than yetterday. We ordered waaayy tooo much food, but it was all very good.We also met anpother very bitter american. He wasn't a big fan of the people and people are everywhere here. There are more people than land here, so everyehwhere croweded. And I'm visiting in the off season. The only challengingpart abut dinner was that I had to use chopstickes. Thank you Jen for the prior lesson.
From there we went to the famoud chi=hi station where I got drunk. It was very good, but obvious that lots of alcohol was involved. We then went out where sailors hang out here. They even had a beer pong tabel where we won a couple of rounds. I got to meet Johnny's peeps and had a good time. Now it's off to bed.

The view from Tokyo Tower. I was apprently people watching.

This soccer field was in the middle of the city just below street level. The building behind looked like a corporate tower. Talk about a break : )

Tokyo Tower

This was one of the popular burgers at teh local Wendy's. A creamy Aspargus bacon burger!! Grosse!! I opted for the regular burger and a side salad that came with no dressing.

Bad teeth and Bad Head

So my biggest complaints with Japan thus far are their beer pouring skillz! Every beer we've gotten has had at least 2 inches of foam head on it! Such a waste.
The other thing that continually takes us back is the condition of everyone's teeth. The Japanese seem to be so consumed with detail and apperances it surprises me that they would let the condition of their teeth detierate so badly.
Yesterday we ventured out into Tokyo. We expected to see more Americans and see more signs and maps in English. Not the case. Though we are slowly learning the methods of the trains, we are still challenged by the frequent lack of english marked destinations. We are getting lost much less and are feeling quite accomplished by finding our way.
We first visited the Tokyo Tower. Very cool. Much of Japan could be seen in every direction. Here we also enjoyed one of the popular crepes. Mine and Johnny's was very good, but were surprised by the menu. We viewed them as a dessert and much of the menu supported this thought, but there were also tuna and curry options. Mixing dessert and dinner was a weird concept to us.
From the Tower we headed on foot to Ginza. Ginza is a very upscale shopping area. It was super crowded and we often felt like we were playing chicken with the oncoming pedestarians! Everybody was on a mission. Japanese women love thier Coach!! Everyone here sports Coach pursues and the store was packed. While in Ginza we visited the Kabuki-Za theatre and caught an act of a traditional play. Though we got the English translation headset, the Japanese dialect was hilarous! They all sounded uber angry and strained. A cool experience, but I can't imagine sitting through the full 4 hours of it. Especially since the seating offers very little leg room.
From there we visited the Sony building and then got some dinner. For dinner we choose the Beer Restaurant. Of course the name is what persuaded us. We were seated by our waitress wearing a German beer girl uniform (Employees everywhere sport very elaborate uniforms. The Tower employess were Jetson like costumes). We were then given the menu, which was in all Japanese. Though there are pictures, it's often hard to decipher what is actually in the dish. We were delivered an English drink menu (what does that say about us?) Dinner proved to be very interesting. My brother tried to order safe with what we thought we onion rings and a fish and fry meal. The fish meal was apparently sold out??, so he had to branch out. Not really sure what either one of his dishes actually were, but they didn't taste too bad. I got what I thought was a shrimp and rice caserole. It wasn't bad, other than the constant surprise of a new sea creature hidden in the rice. : ) At least the beer was good.

The Big Budha!!!

Enjoying a well deserved Kirin!!

The beach-obvious. I couldn't believe how many people were actually surfing!! The water must have been freezing. We actually were looking for something else and came upon the beach. The sight made the detour worhtwhile.

The first toliet I used here. Not sure if you can see the complexity of it, but there are multiple options for how you would like your bum rinsed. You can adjust the water pressure and even choose to blow dry your bum when your done!! Sounds like the solution to skid marks to me ; )

So today I went through Kamakura and mostly on foot. Oh my feet hurt, and they hurt even more when I think about all the heels Japanese girls were wearing. We didn't get lost on any trains today, but we were stuck trying to decipher Japanese symbols at several stations today. Thus, we asked for help in our broken Japanese. Kamakura was awesome, but everything is in Japanese (and small) and there are little to no signs offering directional help. None the less, we were able to make it to a couple of temples, the beach and of course the Big Budha. We even got to see the inside of the Budha's belly. He is huge and caught daunting at first sight. We were quite proud of ourselves for tackling the area and somehow finding our way to most places we wanted. We rarely took the easiest route, but we always got there-somehow.
I'm now enjoying a miller lite and resting my feet. We are apparently going to the bar strip nearby (at least another 3 miles walking-hardly nearby in my mind, but whateves I'm not in charge) so soon I'll be enjoying some Kirin and apparently this crazy snake venom sake shot. Not my thing, but my brother insists I must try it and we all know there are few shots I turn down ; )
So the trains have proved to be interesting for so many reasons. One of the things that cracks me up is that many of the natives immediately keel over and fall into what resembles a coma upon boarding. I can't figure out one, how they don't get thrown around like a rag-doll like myself, and two, how they know how and when to wake up and get off at the right stop. Today I proposed to my brother that they set an alarm on their phone that alerts them to wake up and get off-He didn't seem to buy it. Seems logical to me. I also have several theories as to why they all immediately collapse once aboard. I'll share those later.
Have lots of pics, I'll post some of them later.

So I made it!! It was a MUCH longer trip than I anticipated. It was 10am Thursday Ohio time before I was finally able to get to bed in my hotel. Thats 29 hours of being up.
My plane in Minnesota had mechanical issues and we were stuck on the runway for over an hour which nearly made me miss my connection to Tokyo. Luckily they held the plane for the 7 of us on board, but as soon as we landed they ushered us from one plane to the next with no time for food and bathroom.
I wasn't even able to get into my seat before I realized that I got put next to the chattiest guy on the plane. I apparently have the face that says please tell me everything b/c within the first 10 minutes I already knew that he lost a wife and a daughter, had 4 boys and knew all of their names. He also shared some disturbing 9/11 views-never good discussions for a long plane ride!! Thank goodness after 2 hours they served our first meal. At least than he had to stop talking to take bites. I was uber impressed with the food (we even got shrimp cocktail). They were constantly bringing snacks, ice cream and drinks throughout the flight. Having had no meals prior I was thankful for the constant flow of food and drinks. After dinner I finally found some solace in watching movies. I think I watched at 3 or 4. This helped the time go by much faster and also offered a sanctuary from some of the screaming children.
After the 10 hour flight I finally landed. I was immediately surprised at the quiet I was met with. I knew the Japanese were quiet, but I figured in a bustling airport there would be some noise. I made it through baggage claim and customs with ease. Got to the arrival and found my brother hadn't yet arrived, so I carralled all my luggage to a seat and started to take in my surroundings. It is a very intimidating feeling to be in another country by yourself and really not what anyone is saying. After an hour of waiting I exchanged some money and decided to tackle the telephones and call my brother. He apparently got lost on one of the trains ( I later discovered how easy this was) so was late. When he finally arrived he was a bit panicked as two Japanese policemen were questioning me! I was sitting minding my own business when they approached me and asked if I spoke Japanese. I say no and they ask to see my passport and start asking me questions. They were very pleasant, but the whole episode seemed a bit sketchy as they took down my info on unofficial paper. Regardless, I was just glad to finally see my brother and have help carrying my luggage. We then went on to get on the trains and start our trek back to the hotel. The subways were quite an experience and I'm not sure how I'll manage them with any alcohol or an hangover. They also have a tendency to switch paths mid route which makes it really tricky to stay on the right subway. We haven't quite mastered this trickery yet, but luckily a nice japanese girl noticed we needed to switch and instructed us to switch tracks (the pink luggage must have tipped her off). A HUGE thank you to her though!!
After serval subways, and two taxis we made it base. My hotel is actually on base which meant that we had to go through all the paper work and hassle of getting me signed on. So many rules in the military!!
I'm happy to be here and am excited for the adventures. I now know the language barrier and navigation is going to be much more challenging than I expected, but I'm up for and can't wait for the memories.
I'll keep you all posted!

2 days til departure!!

So I can't believe it's almost time for me to leave. Got confirmation that my brother will be picking me up from the airport. Thank you Johnny-after an over night flight, the last thing I wanted to do was try and navigate me and my over-sized pink luggage to my hotel on my own.
I've abandoned my quest to learn the language. Decided I'd rely on my striking good looks and quick wit to try and get myself around. : ) No back-up plan if that fails.

Next update will come from Yokosuka, Japan!! Wish me luck.

And Kat, since you won't be with me, I'm hoping I can avoid all the weird stares in the airport!!