Nagasaki Holmes!

Last weekend was quite the experience. Saturday and Sunday we did something and explored a bit. We were a little limited for a few reasons but I'm so happy we got our foot into the door and kind of know more than just the Sasebo area.

I already wrote about Hirado but I have yet to tell you about Nagasaki!!!

So much happened...

1. Visited the museum dedicated to the atomic bomb drop. It's actually built at ground zero.
2. Saw a fight...but not like the kind you're thinking...
3. Ate in a little hole in the wall diner that was delicious! And the chef was so nice!
4. Saw a shrine
5. Tried to catch wild cats.

Yeah...seriously, I caught one. Then I realized how infested it probably was and stayed away from the cats. But they are everywhere in Japan!!! This part of Japan anyways.

Alright let's start from the beginning.

First up?! Gas stations. Yes, the gas stations. I need you to close your eyes (but keep one open to read this) and imagine your typical gas station. You pull up to a pump, open the gas tank, get out of your car, go up to the big machine, pre-pay your gas, grab the handle from the machine, and pump. Did I get all that right? Shit, I hope so! Haha.

Ok, now check this picture out. Keep picturing your typical gas station and then spot the differences in this photo...

Do you see a machine to pump from? Hell no! They are hanging from above the cars!! How freaking cool is that?! At these particular stations, there are workers there who pump the gas for you, clean up your windshield, and check your car's fluids...I seriously can't get over the pump handles hanging from above the car. Insane!!!

Ok, so that was en route to our first destination which was the museum of the atomic bombing.

Here is a statue that sits out in front of the museum...

I didn't take any pictures inside of the museum. To be honest, it was boring. Although, there were some "historical facts" I should have documented because the experience was quite interesting.

When you go to a museum that is dedicated to something historical, typically you get some background info as to why something happened. Not here. There was absolutely no mention as to why they were bombed in the first place. They also don't bash America for what happened either. In fact, there were plaques up on some structure of quoted material from United States  politicians and scientists that made it sound like America actually regretted the bombing. Or at least made it known that the Nagasaki bombing was a mistake....yeah....

I never felt bad walking through there. They hurt us as much as we hurt them and that's what war is. Necessary evil. I'm not going to blab about my political views but I just found it hilarious how they never EVER mentioned WHY America bombed Japan. I was even told that the Japanese are not taught about their involvement in WWII. It's completely wiped clean from their history books. Crazy huh?

Moving on! 

Of course we got hungry. So we found a new place to park near the Ginza (mall). We found a little diner that was honestly not much bigger than a bedroom. It's amazing how well the Japanese utilize small spaces! The chef there was very very nice. He even came out of the kitchen for a break to hold my friend's adorable baby boy, Carson.

The chef was also very concerned about my chop stick skills. He actually stopped what he was doing at one point and asked very politely if I would like a fork. Hahahaha. I must have been having a moment because I'm usually fairly good at chop sticks!! Haha.

Last but not least, how about some pics of a shrine?

Oh and I almost forgot...the damn cats!

That's Mason trying to lure one to him to take home. His wife and I had to remind him that they were nasty, wild, and probably had issues beyond what we could see.

That was our little day trip to Nagasaki!!! The ride out there was gorgeous!!! We can't wait to go back and explore some more. There are a lot of things to see in Nagasaki.

Don't be alarmed, Mason hadn't been drinking he just wasn't ready for the picture! Sy takes a hundred photos at once so maybe he was blinking at this particular one. Haha

I'll try posting soon just an update on my days here. A lot of things are coming into focus and it's awesome! I'm working really hard on not being shy, meeting new people, and learning new things. So far, its working out. Haha.

Sayonara!!!

Hirado Castle!!!

Thank the Lord above I have a friend here. Without her and her family I would end up being a depressed Navy wife, getting fat, eating chocolate all day and watching Japanese soap operas.

I'm still eating chocolate all day but so far I'm not fat and I'm out experiencing Japan when I can!

Alright, so this whole day began without knowing what we were doing, had no idea where exactly we were going, and hoping that Carson, the 3 month old who just hhhaaadddd to tag along, (I'm totally kidding, he's awesome and I love kids!) would not go through all his diapers in the time it would take us to complete this adventure.

The night before I was told of a castle in Hirado. Hirado is north of Sasebo about 45 minutes and is its own island. When we were touring the area, feeling like we were getting hopelessly lost, Sy and I fell in love with the area. It is very very rural. When you think Japan, your mind makes a beeline to show you images of Tokyo. To show you a city more grand than New York with crazy fashion, a kajillion buildings, sky scrapers, race cars, kimonos, etc. Not here in southern Japan. It is very rural, very country, and very very relaxed.

Hirado itself, when we got to the top of the castle for the views, reminded me of Washington state. To be specific, it was similar to Deception pass but just bigger in a way. When I show you pictures you'll kind of see what I mean. It might actually not look like Deception at all; I could just miss it. haha.

I'm going to try and give you some history about Hirado and the castle we toured. I had to research this online because everything at the castle was in Japanese. Go figure, right?! It was weird though, every tenth object had an English description. Why not all of it?

Ok, on to a history lesson kids!

 So this is the mini "Golden Gate Bridge" we crossed to get to Hirado Island.

Hirado City was a major port for overseas trading with China and Korea. It has been the source of prosperity for this city for over 1000 years! In the 1550s, when they made a boat load of money....

Get it? Boat load? I made a pun. :) Not funny? Ok...

Well back in that time period they were very successful because of trading with Europe. You can find things around the town....and really around a lot of places here in Japan, with a big European influence.

Now throughout all this olden day stuff, there were rulers of certain parts of the country, known as lords who had clans.

Alright, that's your history lesson for today. Wanna see pictures?!

Hirado Castle!!! I'm sure you are stunned that it isn't made with stones, have cylindrical towers and a moat. It's also known as a pagoda. Anyways, it's cool!

Here is some armor that someone from one of these clans would probably wear in battle...or you know, to just lounge around in. They look so comfortable! (NOT!)

Every presentation of armor comes with a mustache...I think that's weird. Apparently it was a necessary part of the ensemble.

The only disappointing thing about this little castle, was that the inside was completely remodeled. And what made it worse, and funnier, was that it was clearly remodeled in the 70s. Haha. Oh well!

Let's go to the top for some panoramic views!

Welp! That was our day trip! It was a really nice drive, really great views, and Carson didn't need his clothes changed!!! He was actually a fantastic trooper. I think he likes exploring too!

Oh but we had sushi afterwards...and I tried this little gem...

  Squid...it was squid...I love calamari so why not try this? It was pretty good though!

However, Carson wasn't to crazy about sushi...

Alright, that is all for the day! Tomorrow we will be hitting up Nagasaki for a little bit so I'll have another blog up for you guys!!! It's going to be a hot one though, maybe we'll find a beach out there!

Sayanora!!!

Your Engrish Funny

When you walk around Japan, you see people wearing one of two types of clothes. Generic (solid colors or patterns) or graphic tees. The generic clothes in this part of Japan are not at all what you would think. The style resembles that of what people in America would relate to "older" people clothes. That doesn't fully describe it but I can't pinpoint the decade so that is as close as I can get to what I'm seeing here. haha.

I'm sure the fashion is way more extreme in Tokyo. Yet, out here, as I have mentioned before, it is a huge farming area. The biggest city is 2 hours away which is Fukuoka. I'm sure there and Tokyo and other big cities you would find the iconic Japanese fashion statements. Here? Not so much...moving on...

The graphic tees and their styles are closer to what kids would wear in the states. However, you can easily and quickly differentiate the ones that were made in Japan and the ones that were imported. The words are in English and make no sense. I like to refer to this as Engrish. I got that term from my cousin Mike. Haha.

Anyways, these clothes are down right hilarious!!!! Some are so bad I can't even infer what the message is. I have also noticed that Japan is a big fan of the word (close your eyes kids) "fuck". It is so weird. Do they even know what it means?! I was told by my friend Sayaka, who is 50% Japanese and can speak it, that the Japanese don't have any cuss words or negative hand gestures that mean the same as what we have. No wonder these people are so nice. They have been taught to think positive without the option of negative. That and karma is a big deal here. Haha.

Ok on to the good stuff. Want to see some of the stuff Say and I found on our way through a shopping center in Japan?

Let's start off with a more thought provoking piece....

Hm....I'm not sure what is...what is for you?

Yeah I do know...wait what?

That one I can kind of understand what it is trying to convey but it is so grammatically awful it hurts my brain to think about it. Hahaha.

 I don't even know where to begin with this one....

Minus my hideously creepy face here....lol....look at what these hats say!!! Holy crap! We might go back and get these because this was my favorite by far. I don't know what it means but its fun to say!

This clearly is not any kind of apparel but in Japan they must be better friends with Waldo cause they know him as Wally. Haha

Last but not least, my snack for a day of exploring. Well more like an hour of exploring. At the bottom of this ginormous shopping center there was a grocery store and of course they had a ton of sushi plates to choose from. Boom!

Later tomorrow (or 'today' when you read this), my friend and I are going to the 100 Y shop. Basically the dollar store. They have them all over. They range in sizes from like, garage size to multiple stories big. We are hoping to go to a big one tomorrow! They honestly have everything. EVERYTHING!

So excited!!!

Sayonara!

Day in the Life: Driving

Yep.

I drove.

In Japan.

By myself.

Please pray for the people of Japan.

No, driving on the other side of the road isn't that bad. I got used to it pretty quick. Even the road signs are pretty easy to remember. They are fairly easy to judge.

What is difficult though is staying in your lane! Us Americans drift to far to the left and tend to scare the shit out of our passengers sitting on the left side. For example, if you are in the right lane, chances are you are probably kind of in the left lane too. Haha.

Another problem out here are written signs. First of all they are all written in Kanji, not Japanese. Most of the signs though are dubbed in English but that doesn't help because I still don't really know where anything is. It is very easy to get lost out here. I should probably start learning a few more phrases in Japanese. Haha.

A couple mornings ago, I drove Jordan to work and helped a friend get back to Hario Village. That is base housing located about 25 minutes south of Sasebo. I recorded the experience. It isn't any thing to exciting. I sped up the video so you didn't have to sit through the entire, boring drive. It's about 11 minutes long. I explain a few things about Sasebo, driving, and a few things in Hario Village. The phone falls a few times though, don't be alarmed! I didn't get into an accident! The phone just wasn't propped up correctly.

I mention my sister, Tracy in the very beginning. I dedicate this video to her who wanted it the most.

When I drive in actual town, or when I try and find the markets, I'll record that too. That will be more interesting since I will have NO idea where I will be going. Haha.

I also apologize for the terrible and small video. I just had my phone at the time. I have a much better camera I will use next time.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!

*I may have used some colorful language and possibly racist comment in this video. Haha. Nothing terrible but I was alone in the car and forgot what I was doing lol*

Horses, Drifting, and Moving

So much has happened in a week.

Well maybe not a lot of things, but maybe one extremely reckless activity and one semi fun activity and one very responsible activity.

I will report in that order...

Let me preface this post with hoping you all have it in your hearts to forgive me and Jordan. What we did will be seen as a disgrace by most and others you may just cringe and say, "What?!" We had peer pressure and the thought of YOLO (you only live once) running through our heads at the time and went for it...(hopefully you take that as enough of an excuse)

We.

Ate.

Raw........

Horse meat.

There I said it!!! We ate raw motha-fuckin horse! Sorry for my poor choice in Japanese words. ;)

We were invited to this nice Japanese restaurant. We had to take our shoes off and everything. Very traditional. The friend that invited us there is a guy Jordan met who also just got stationed here. Once we got to the restaurant, his wife asked, "Are you guys adventurous?"

To which we replied, "Yeah! I mean, we are only in Japan for a limited amount of time. We are down for anything."

Well...that was our first mistake. Haha. We meant what we said though but had NO IDEA that raw horse meat would be on the menu. She of course ordered it. It came. Every one at the table had a piece and on the count of three we ate it....

And we recorded the experience...

Notice the dude who coughs after eating it and also pay attention to the shock in Jordan's face. hahahahahaha



What's done is done and there's nothing anyone can do about it!!!

After that we had dinner. It was more raw food but all fish this time. I think it's called a sashimi platter?

Top Left: The full shrimp or whatever the hell it is. Eyes and all!!!

Top Right: Beer that came with a glass of liquor? We think? We have no idea what we ordered. We just drank the beer and left the clear glass alone. We weren't trying to get drunk. Haha.

Bottom: Sashimi platter. Not sure what it all is, but most of it was good. I don't think I'll be ordering it again though. I'm not a fan of THAT much raw food. Sushi is good cause it comes in so many ways. I can eat that for days!

Once we got home, or to our hotel room, we saw a lot of commercials with horses in it. We felt terrible! It is a "no-no" to eat what we did in America but here in Japan its all good. I asked Jordan, "So you know how sometimes you just have a craving for a cheeseburger, or ice cream, or something? You think there are people in Japan who crave horse?" I don't know. I feel like it is a valid question.

Moving on!

The day before we did that, there was a drifting demo happening on base! I only stayed for like 10 minutes because it began to downpour and not even my umbrella was keeping me dry. However, I did get a video of it!

 

Last but not least, our new home!

We moved in on the 6th of September. I couldn't be more excited to have my own pots and pans, blender, dishware, etc! We don't have everything though. When we started shipping our stuff over here we did it in two shipments. One was expedited and the other is on its way. We packed up stuff for our expedited that we knew we would need right away. Stuff like, towels, bedding, and kitchen stuff.

You might be wondering what we are sleeping on and what we have in our living room if the rest of our crap is still in transit! The Navy provides loaner furniture for you to use until your stuff arrives. I had been told a week or two ago that the stuff they give you is no better than patio furniture. Once I heard that I assumed it would be terrible.

As terrible as a particular Friends episode. Remember the one where Joey and Chandler get robbed? All they have is that god-awful entertainment center? Then they end up taking the canoe that was offered to them earlier and Joey finds rusted patio furniture to add to their décor. Hilarious!

Then we get here, do a walk through, the movers bring in our shipment and then our loaner furniture. Low and behold it is basically patio furniture NO FREAKING LIE! It is hilarious! Think bamboo and wicker with floral prints. Jordan and I are definitely thankful that the Navy does this for us and we know its only temporary but it is terribly awesome stuff. Haha.

We also have a land line. Mostly for Jordan to call home if he can and we can call anything on base or other people in housing for free. Jordan can just as easily call my phone...and we can easily call other numbers. I don't know why we have it actually. haha. Just in case we end up needing it I guess? I honestly don't think I've had a need for land line phone since 2002. That is not an exaggeration.

It is that basic of a phone...hahahaha.

I took a video of our place for you. I was going to do pictures but what the hell. Videos are cool. It's off my phone so it is nothing to write home about but you get the idea. Wait till you see the furniture...