Gunkanjima "Battleship Island"

Gunkanjima. In English this means, "Battleship Island" but it's original name is Harishmajima. Jima means, "Island" in Japanese. The reason it was given the nickname, Gunkanjima is because from a distance it looks like a battle ship. Suprised? Haha.

Alright, some background.

The island was a coal mining island from the early 1800s till the mid 1970s. Originally, the island was much smaller, but over the years it was expanded to accommodate workers and their families. Harishma was a self sustained island for the most part, so the workers and their families lived there. There were schools, a hospital, shops, pachinkos, recreational things and it was home to the first high rise apartment building in...I think all of Japan at the time it was built. At one point, it was the most densely populated area in the entire world! Then in 1974, they called it quits and every one left. Why? I don't remember...no more coal maybe?

Anyways, the place has been untouched since then. There was a reconstructed landing, hand rails, and concrete paths put into place for visitors that came with official tour guides, but that's about it. You can also just ask people who have boats around the area to take you out there if they are on their way out to go fishing I've heard. Then you can walk around yourself I suppose...but its extremely dangerous and the buildings are incredibly unstable...and of course I want to walk around them. haha.

On the tour though, you can't walk very far, but the boat does go around the island so you can see the whole thing. When we went, the waters were extremely choppy and the waves at one point, were half as high as the boat itself! I honestly thought we were going to flip and Jordan and I discussed an exit strategy. Thank GOD we didn't have to use it. Haha. Also, a lot of people were throwing up. The boat was well prepared because the staff was walking around giving people bags and towels.

If the waters weren't so choppy I could have taken some awesome pics from around the whole island! Oh well, still got some good shots.

Ok, I'm done talking...here are some photos!

Merry Christmas!! (Yes, I know Christmas is Over) ;)

I'm lazy ok!!! Yes, Christmas is over and I should have made this post sooner but I'm lazy...SO lazy! I blame the weather.

For the past couple months, my friend Sy and I have wanted to help out at an orphanage. The Navy is always doing volunteer work so we figured we could do something threw them. Well, she found a gig volunteering at a child care center. We aren't 100% if it was a child care center or an orphanage or...maybe like a YMCA thing...? We don't know, but it was fun!

There was a group of about 15 of us and we were there to help them celebrate Christmas. The leader of this group was Santa, and the staff at the child care center dressed the rest of us up as elves! It was hilarious.

We get all suited up, with Santa leading the way, and almost instantly we could hear a big group of kids start cheering with incredible excitement! It was the cutest thing ever! I couldn't even see them yet and I had a huge smile on my face!

The kids aged from infant to about 4 and they were all sitting on the floor of this gym like area. There was a stage in the front that was festively decorated and Santa and a few elves sat up there. The rest of us sat on chairs in front. To get things started, the kids ask Santa questions, then they sang some Christmas songs. The songs were hilarious because they were half English half Japanese.

After, groups of kids were lining up to see Santa and get little gifts. The rest of the kids, us elves had to entertain. The staff had two HUGE inflatable beach balls that were being tossed around. That was so funny to see these huge beach balls bounce into kids, knocking them down and then the kids getting up laughing trying to get the ball again. I danced with the kids, took pictures and at one point, I had a brilliant idea of throwing them up in the air and catching them...well EVERY kid wanted to do that so I had quite the workout. For any of you who do CrossFit, I basically did thrusters with small children for about an hour.

Once they all saw Santa, we held hands in two circles and sang and danced to more Christmas songs.

Towards the end, while we were dancing with the kids, there was a little girl that loved my wedding ring. She was so gentle grabbing my hand and grabbing her friends to check it out too.

The kids had SOOOO much fun! They were so happy and clearly were having a great time. I loved it! Whether they were orphans or just there while their parents are at work, we made their day! It was well worth it for them and for us!

There were SO many pictures that I decided just to make a slideshow. Enjoy!

Trip on a Train

Last week I decided to take the train out to a local grocery store. Mostly did it to make a little video and also to see if it was worth it to keep doing or not...turns out it isn't if you don't have a car. Haha.

I made quite the trip. I walked from my house, to the train station, from the platform at my stop to the grocery store, then back to the platform, then because it was raining I took a cab from Huis Ten Bosch to the gate of the base I live on. It was a TON of walking...a TON...usually I don't complain about that sort of thing but it turns out that this whole trip was more work than it was worth and it was crummy weather so it wasn't the most enjoyable journey.

However, I did make a video. I made it pretty quick, nothing fancy...but kind of funny.

In the beginning, when I'm buying a ticket, I try using the computer. I couldn't figure the damn thing out so I went in to talk to a person and buy a ticket.

At the end, I was on the wrong platform because I had no idea which side the train would show up on. Well, I figured it out real fast. Haha.

The video is 12 minutes. Wouldn't be upset if you didn't actually watch the whole thing, but it was a long trip!

Here's the video! Hope you enjoy!




Sayonara!

Make Your Own Adventure!!!

So this one day, my friend Kelly and I, went ultra exploring. Actually, we were only out a few hours but we saw quite a bit!

The best part about the day was Kelly deciding how glad she was to see all that we did. It helped her realize that Japan isn't such a bad place! She wasn't the most excited to move here, her and her hubby planned on another place, but we do this thing where we take each other out on "dates" and then plan to take our hubby's there! Haha. It's like we are "pre-dating" to make sure the boys would like it. We're crazy, I know.

Alright, on this particular day, we visited a massive shrine that is about half way to Nagasaki. I know nothing about this place, why it's so big, or what exactly goes on there, but it was gorgeous! Especially this time of year when the leaves are changing. Gorgeous!

On our way back home, we stopped at two parks. One has tons of cool stuff to play on! Yes it is meant for kids, but do you realize who writes this blog? Seriously, I haven't grown up yet so this park is on my list of places to play one of these days! I'll explain more about it later.

The second park is very quaint and it looks out over the water. If you follow a side walk that outlines the park, it'll take you to a walk way underneath a bridge. There's a place in the middle of the walk way where you can stand on plexi glass and see straight to the water! It's a bit creepy...but super cool.

First up: The Big Red Shrine thing...lol

See this Torri gate? MASSIVE I tell you, MASSIVE!!!

These lanterns aren't typically there, but the day we visited there was some ceremony happening. I assume this was just for whatever shin dig happened to be going on.

If you guys remember one of my first posts of Japan and the first shrine Jordan and I went to, you will know that this is where you cleans yourself before praying at the shrine.

Pretty cool stuff eh?

After this gorgeous place, we moved on. Our tummies were growling. On our drive back, I remembered two parks that two separate friends told me about, and we checked them out.

The first one...I have no idea the same of it...but there is a turf hill where you can rent a sled for 200 yen and slide down it!!! Sledding all year round baby!!!

Are you seeing this?!

 That yellow thing in the front is a slide...

...and if you are anything like me, the first thing you thought of when you saw a "rollie" slide was Discovery Zone!!!!

We didn't stick around long...again, we were hungry. I was just curious to see if I  had found the right place and I did. Before we left, we checked out the park map and made up stories to all the little characters they have on it. Why? Cause we are awesome that's why!!! But we came across this zip line thing..noticed a puff thing coming from underneath the character and assumed that the best way to use this is to fart for propulsion. Makes sense, right? ;)

Last but not least, we hit up this cat walk thing under neath the bridge.

Yeah, standing over that hole was creepy!!!

Had we continued to the other side, we would have arrived at a seafood restaurant. I hear its pretty good. Imagine a sunset walk across the bridge to the seafood restaurant. Indulge in some deliciousness. Then walk back with a view of the moon lit waters. Pretty schmexy eh? Yeah, I'm pretty hot like that. Haha. Date night idea FOR SURE!!! But maybe when its warmer...its getting pretty cold here right now.

That's it for our day!!! It was a blast!! We have tons of ideas for things to do on days we get bored. Pretty excited. We can't wait to show our hubbies too!

Sayonora!!