Pictures are now Uploaded!!!

Please check out my previous posts! Pictures of Japan have been uploaded so now you can see what I was talking about!!!


99 Nissan Skyline GT-R 

My ASAHI Net is UP!

Outside my Apartment


Yokosuka Naval Base view from my Apartment


Japanese Houses

Here are some pictures of Japan. The first two pictures were taken from my balcony near my entrance way at my apartment. I live on the 12th floor which is really cool!

Connecting ADSL Service

So far, I'm having a heck of a time trying to connect to my internet provider. They mailed me a username and password and as of right now, it is not working. I'm getting pretty pissed off. In order to get internet, you must first sign up for ADSL service through the phone company. After them, you have to find an internet service provider. They in turn, give you a username and password. It is hectic, expensive and everything is in Japanese. I'm so frustrated right now and pissed off that I have to come to work to use the internet still.

Nightlife at "The Honch" in Yokosuka, Japan

Honch Alley 

Saturday evening, I decided to adventure out into Yokosuka's nightlife. Right across the street from my apartment there was the famous area called, "The Honch". I didn't really know what I was going to expect when I was about to embark on this journey at 11 p.m. And boy, it is a major change from the daylight hours hustle of rush-hour and normal life. It can be easily compared to Tijuana, Mexico without all the yelling, screaming and girls going topless. It was a little crazy, a lot of Japanese socializing, which I don't usually see everyday. Loud talking, drunkenness, and the melody of pop music is pumped out from the various club's windows. There was a lot of people standing outside of clubs trying to invite people to come in. Those people bow and combine hand gestures which signal which direction they want you to enter and speak a bunch of jibberish that I can't understand in Japanese.


Surf Taco 

I was offered massages by several attractive Japanese females. And I'm not talking about a back massage... I'm talking about the kind of massage that will get me divorced! I've heard the stories where foreign nationals ask a cab to take them to a massage parlor and they get taken to a MASSAGE parlor: getting stripped bare and being sexually violated. Anyways, since Yokosuka is near a US Naval Base, there is shore patrol all over the place making sure that sailors don't get in trouble with the Japanese. It's gotta suck being them... Well, I almost stepped into a pile of puke and was offered rides to Kamakura via taxi. The trains stop at midnight so the taxis are all over the place. There were a lot of dressed up Japanese guys with hearing aids attached to wires that run down their trench coats. It looked like they were the Yakuza clan or something... At about 1:00 in the morning I decided to call it quits and walked across the street to my home-sweet-home.


Geodana - Black Club, Yokosuka, Japan

Japanese Junk Mail and toilet tissue

It seems like junk mail comes into my mail box as often as junk mail in my hotmail account. Every time I check it, there's more of it.... literally. And sometimes, bills are disguised and hidden among junk mail, so I have to sort through it carefully. It is amazing that 7 days after I moved in, I got a bill from the electric company. I guess they mean business and they want their money now. Another thing about Japan is that sometimes people would pass out fliers on the street. But these fliers aren't any typical flier... They are packets of toilet tissues with advertisements in them. You can use them for blowing your nose or regular toilet paper. I grab as many as I can, because I never know when I'll be needing them.


Toilet Paper Flier 

Burning food on my Japanese Stove

One thing larger than life is the amount of fire you can get out of your Japanese stove. I was cooking my beefy stew today and I was having a hard time to get my beef to simmer under a warm flame. The amount of heat is about three times that of any American stove I've ever encountered and the flames are about 3 times as big. It is kinda scary when I ignite my stove. It is like a small explosion. It only takes a few seconds to warm up your food and a couple of minutes to burn your food. The same goes with the oven. Tiny ovens are usually built into Japanese stoves. They are used by the Japanese to cook fish. They are big enough to place one small sized fish (about the size of caps lock key to enter key on your computer keyboard). Well, I tried to bake a pie in the oven. I didn't realize that it was a broiler. Flames come out from the top and is equally distributed in a rectangle shape. Looks like a blue rectanglar box of fire. It didn't take long before I started smelling smoke. I quickly turned off the oven and the crust was black and charred while the bottom of the pie was still frozen. Hmm... I guess I'm not supposed to use the oven to bake small pies. Lesson learned. Instead of throwing away the pie, I popped it in the microwave and ate it. It was actually very delicious. The charred part actually gave the pie a slight grilled flavor. But I'm not going to do that again.

Bike Masters

Gosh, after getting off from work, I already saw a super huge line of cars anxiously trying to get off base. It reminded me how much I loved riding a bike to work and back. I've gotten better. I learned how to jump little things and carry awkward weight around. I learned how to dodge people at high speeds and how to squeeze through the tiniest of spaces. I swear, it is a pain sometimes trying to find bicycle parking. One of these days, I'll post up a picture of Starbucks in Kamakura. It has a million bikes parked in front of it with a police officer writing parking tickets to some of them. Some Japanese have the bike mastered! I seen a business man carry an umbrella while riding a bicycle during a rainy/windy day. Now, that takes some skill!


Electric Bike Generated by Foot Power 

Transfering a Telephone Line

In Japan, telephone numbers are rare. Getting a new number can cost over a thousand dollars. What I had to do in order to get a phone line is look in the classified ads in the base paper or little ads posted everywhere. They sell for 100-300 dollars depending on who you are buying your phone line from. I ended up paying $300 for mine since I'm going to need it right away and nobody else was selling a line at the time. Some people get desperate and end up selling theirs for cheaper... but the line sells almost instantly.

Well, today I had to go to the NTT office out in Yokosuka. It was very difficult. The lady that helped us connect the phone couldn't speak any English at all. So what she did, was call a customer service line and we had a translator. We had to pass the phone back and forth between the english translator and everyone, including the lady who was selling me the phone line. It almost made me want to run out of the room because the lady on the phone couldn't speak very good English either. It was so frustrating! But, I eventually got it connected. Then there was the internet. They also sold internet service there. Oddly, for DSL, I have to pay about 35 dollars to activate a DSL line. On top of that, I have to find another company to give me access to the internet with a username and password. It was a pain in the butt to figure all this out. It just took a while.

The 100 Yen Store

The 100 Yen store is the Dollar Store in the states. Except that the products sold in Japan are high quality. It actually sells a lot of really cool stuff for really cheap. I've already spent over 20 dollars there just trying to get little things for my apartment. Little shelves, trash bags, all kinds of things... Really useful items. They also sell food and little Japanese souveniers. For the quality, is truly a bargain!

Japanese Ambulances and Telephone Numbers

Today, I stayed at home arranging furniture and items where they need to go. There is still a lot of crap that I need to find a place for. Since I got rid of all my shelving furniture, it is extremely difficult to set things somewhere. While doing that, every hour or so, I would hear the ambulance going down the street. It is funny, because you can hear some Japanese guy on the loud speaker(in the ambulance) saying, "Gomen nasai!" I laugh everytime I hear him. He is apologizing to the vehicles he is making pull over for him to get through! Hehehe! I know in the states, we are a lot less apologetic. We would rather say, "Get the hell outta my way!"

Lately, I've found someone trying to sell a telephone line. Yes, in Japan, hooking up a unique telephone line is very expensive, usually costing over a thousand dollars for a new phone number. With the massive population here, phone numbers are as rare as the pandas. But you can usually purchase a used phone number for $100-$300. I had recently set up an appointment with someone to purchase a telephone line for 200 dollars. She said, "Okay, we'll meet up on Tuesday." And today, I called her back to confirm a meeting place and she told me that she had sold the line already! It is pretty infuriating. If I ever see this "Nancy", I want to punch her in her stupid head and give her a fat lip. She just wasted 4 days of planning, that I could've used to worry about something else.... Argh! Rotten Americans! My Japanese realtor held my much desired apartment for almost 4 weeks, NOW THAT IS TRUST. It is pretty pathetic that I can't trust American's over something as simple as a phone number.

Learning how to throw away trash in Japan

My first day at my apartment was riddled with, "where do I throw this away?!?" In Japan, everything has to be seperated. I was assembling furniture and putting away all my household goods. With the limited space I have, I actually brought over too much stuff and I need to throw some of it away. I was given a charted index of where everything is supposed to go. It was somewhat helpful, but it looks like a Japanese person typed it out in "Engrish". Stuff like, light bulbs, batteries and ink cartridges have to be brought back to the store. I've been going from store-to-store and I kept a mental note of where to throw these specific items away. It is amazing how clean Japan is considering the fact that there's no trash bins anywhere. I'm having to get used to having to wash packaging before it gets recycled. I have to remove staples out of junk mail and put it in the "metals other than can" category. My first time doing this is actually frustrating and very time consuming. I'm starting to hate packaging that have clear plastic attached to paper or cardboard. I heard that if you don't sort your trash correctly, it never gets picked up. Gee... I hope I'm sorting my trash right.

Moving into my Japanese Home

I was really excited about moving into my new place today. I finally packed out of the Navy Lodge and moved right outside the front gate. It is quite a trip riding a bike with a huge duffel bag with stuff in it. I should've called a Taxi... but then I would have to walk back to pick up my bike.


Slippery Wooden Floor 

The moving in process was pretty easy. I was told to be at home at 08:00 a.m. I got a call from the intercom from the first floor at around 08:15. It was the guys from the self-help center from base. There were to deliver my loaner furniture. I say "loaner" because I'm borrowing it for 90 days until my wife gets here. That way, I'll have a bed to sleep on and have plenty of time for Socorro to pick and choose the furniture for the apartment. I was pretty shocked at the quality of the government loaner furniture. It was really nice, Oriental style cabinet and dining table and chairs. The bed wasn't a posture-pedic bed, but hey, I'm pretty satisfied. As long as the movers didn't scratch my wooden floor. I got a brand new Japanese style washer and drier, microwave, and refrigerator. They are all smaller than American appliances. When they left, they thanked me and bowed.

Next, the House Hold Goods movers came. I was shocked that they fit a lot of my furniture on the elevator. It is kinda funny in a way. I didn't expect to have my bookshelf delivered because it is so big. But I got everything. The Japanese movers were very courteous and they didn't scratch my wooden floor. They even unpacked all my boxes for me and threw away my trash. When they left, they thanked me and bowed.


Apartment and Loaner Furniture 

After them, I had to wait for the gas company to come and turn on my gas. By then it was about 1500 (3:00 p.m.). When he came, he demonstrated how to use my bathtub and shower, washer and drier, stove and tiny oven. When he left, he thanked me and bowed.

Japanese people are really nice. I noticed that everybody took off their shoes before entering my home. Not a single wheel touched my floor and they all carried my stuff with extreme care and delicacy. It is the first time, I didn't see an American face a whole entire day.


My Mansion 

Final Contract Signing

I signed my contract finally to move into my new apartment. It was pretty exciting for me to finally get the heck off the base! I signed my contract, paid my money and did the move-in condition form. It was really a pleasure. The realtor is the person who I have to go through to do everything. She showed me how to operate everything, from the bicycle parking space to the toilet. It was an engaging hands-on approach to learning how Japanese devices work. They are so high tech! I can control the water temperature from the kitchen and the bathroom. Of course, the bathroom has an override switch which will have the final decision on the water temp. The ceilings are higher than regular Japanese ceilings. I actually have to use a chair to change out the bulbs! The floor in the living room is wood and looks like it is easy to maintain. All I need is a Swiffer. Walking around in socks can be hazardous because it is really slippery. Well, I plan on purchasing carpet to put over it. Hmm... Well, I did have a good conversation with my realtor. She tells me that Japan is boring. I told her that the US was boring. Hehe, of course, she thought I was wrong. Anyways, I gotta take care of some business.

Masato-san and USNH Yokosuka Hospital Goals Event

Today, we had a mandatory function where the hospital got together to discuss goals for 2005. We all mustered at the big Fleet Theatre and, in no time, it got packed full of hospital staff. It is something that I've never seen before. I didn't know there was so many people that worked at the USNH. The function was like a pep-rally and there was a lot of singing and dancing. I almost fell asleep at the beginning, but it kept getting more fun and more interesting. We had a visit from Pop-eye the sailorman. We had a DJ and MC. There were videos and music. Towards the end, we all got rallied up got out of our chairs and sang "Anchors Aweigh" at the top of our lungs. It was kinda fun. It's the best "dog and pony show" I've ever been to in the Navy. There was even free food! I like that.

I also had a conversation with Masato. I had asked him, "Why does the Japanese always copy things and make them better?" He told me that they generally take ideas and make them work for the Japanese and also they change things to fit with the life styles of foreigners also. I also talked about Japanese food in the states. And he told me that a lot of the food in Japan isn't Japanese. The food was actually created to fit with the westerner taste and that they create food to cater to westerners. Such as tuna-rice sandwiches wrapped in seaweed. It is a seaweed sandwich with Japanese ingredents. I forgot what it was called... Anyways, we had a good little conversation.

Everything is done in cold hard cash in Japan

Today, I had to exchange $7,000 of us money to yen. The exchange rate was favorable for the US today. It was about 103.07 yen to one US dollar. So I ended up making about $210! Wow. But unfortunately, I have to carry all that money around. All, 721,000 worth of yen... yeah, it was a huge stack of bills. It is the most foreign currency, I've ever dealt with. Anyways, I plan on handing over 171,100 over to my landlord this Thursday. I'm pretty uncomfortable with all of this.


725,000 YEN 

Meet the Fockers

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching Meet the Fockers. It is the sequel to "Meet the Parents". It was painfully funnier than the first one. Poor Gaylord Focker has his fiance's family meet his strange family. His father is the homemaker and his mother is a sex therapist. It is funny to watch them clash with his fiance's family. I give it a 9/10. For 3 dollars a movie, it was a good deal!

As far as my experience in Japan, I've been trying to locate the "Bank of Yokohama". So far, the exchange rate has increased for the US dollar. 104.5 yen to the dollar. Very good. I can make some money. The Japanese has been celebrating a holiday today. I don't know what it is called, but a lot of girls are dressed up in their kimonos. It is about the "coming of age". Very nice.

Tiny Cars are KING in Japan

In Japan, it may not make economic sense to purchase a car. Taking the train, subway, bus, walking, or riding a bike is not uncommon. When you register a car, you MUST have a designated parking spot. The paperwork and the process of obtaining a parking certificate takes an entire day out of your busy schedule. A Japanese police officer actually has to go out to your parking spot and measure it and stamp your paperwork. Once you get the measurements, you must get a car that will fit in that parking spot. You can't register a car bigger than your parking space.

Another reason why tiny cars are popular are because of how narrow some of the streets that you have to drive through are. Japanese streets weren't designed with cars in mind. They are usually the size of walkways. Good luck trying to drive a Lincoln Navigator!

Parking is also hideous. It's is almost impossible to find parking anywhere. At the hospital I work at, has no real designation for staff parking. Just customer parking... Makes no sense to me, I guess they all expect us to teleport or walk to work or something. Bicycle parking is also a pain in the butt. I got chewed out for parking my bike in front of a fire exit and it was moved to another location... How was I supposed to know where the fire exits are? I don't read Kanji.


Little Car 

Here is a link to a funny website that talks about Japanese cars and gimmicks used to lure customers to purchase these tiny little beasts. Such as the "hood scoop" the size of a bar of soap.

http://www.sushicam.com/2004/December/041221/041221.php

Motion Detectors on Vending Machines

Japanese Vending Machines 

In Japan, although there are millions of people here, there is a severe lack people needed to staff everything so there are vending machines everywhere. They come in all shapes and sizes. And some vend hot french fries! I haven't tried those yet. I tried their Green Lemon Tea. I was told that if you drink that, you will pop positive on an alcohol breathalizer test. It is really good. Some machines have motion detectors which only come on when you walk near them. Very interesting. Saves electricity. Some restaurants have vending machines outside of them. I believe that you are supposed to pay for your food when you insert your yen and it dispenses a ticket. And then you're supposed to hand your ticket to the cook and he cooks what you picked. I'm still learning a lot about Japan and the vending machines here are pretty cool and high tech.

Shrimp and Corn Pizza... Japanese Style

In Japan, cattle and chicken isn't as abundant as it is in the states. There ARE cows. But the beef is very expensive and the cows are pampered. Japanese cows are truely happy cows. They listen to classical music and are messaged everyday. They eat the finest grass and are very relaxed. I haven't tried Japanese beef yet. Mostly because it is about $50-60 dollars a plate. And they don't give you very much. I am told that the beef is extremely tender!

Anyways, back to the topic of Shrimp and Corn Pizza. It was very tasty. The ingredients are: mozzarella cheese, shrimp, corn, tomato sauce, oregano seasoning, and pizza bread. The shrimp gives the pizza a juicy, seafood flavor while the corn sweetens to please your tastebuds. On top of that, the pizza is relished with oregano seasoning to give it the perfect aroma. It was really good and you can easily make it at home.


Shrimp and Corn Pizza 

The shrimp sold here in Japan is huge. The length is about the distance of the "a" key to the "enter" key on your keyboard. And usually costs about $3.50 for 2 shrimps. Depending on market prices.

HM / DT Merger

The HM / DT merger (hospital corpsman and dental techs) have already occured and the ceremony will be this Thursday. It will be history in the making. Other than that, there hasn't been anything going on. I've been consumed in "Hospital Indoc" which lasts a week and is very time consuming.

The wind here has been blowing pretty hard lately and I was actually put to a complete stop from approx 30km/h because the wind was blowing so hard. Lots of fun.

Adventure to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan

My day started out pretty well. I woke up before the alarm went off. Turned out that I never turned it on.... Oh well, good thing I didn't have to go to work today. Did my laundry. When I was done, ran to the club and exchanged my money for Yen and headed over to the train station. Scratched my head for 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get to Tokyo via train. Finally figured it out... Hopped onto the train headed for Kanagawa. I noticed that the train was taking forever to get there and found out that it was stopping at every single stop along the way! I had accidentally taken the "Black Kanji" train. DAMN! It took me about 2 1/2 hours to reach Tokyo. I was pretty pissed off, but I learned my lesson. Take the "Green Kanji or Red Kanji" train, it's way faster (45 min to Tokyo from Yokosuka).


Old Imperial Palace 

The Imperial Palace is opened up to the public twice a year. December 28 (the Emperor's birthday) and January 2nd (date may change due to Emperor's schedule). But today, I got to go visit the palace. I would think that since the palace was open, so would the gardens.... but no. The gardens were closed off to the public. I guess due to the amount of staffing needed to provide security. Getting off of at Tokyo Station, I walked straight on over to Kokyogaien. That is where they funneled millions of people through security and gave everyone a paper Japanese flag to wave around. I got my pat down and my camera bag checked and was off to go see the emperor. There was such a huge crowd, it was difficult to snap some good pictures and take my usual brisk pace. I was shocked to see so many foreigners from all over the world. China, India, England, Australia, Spain, US.... There were so many languages being spoken in one place. Well, after waiting in a crowd of millions for an hour, the Emperor and his royal family finally came out. They were behind a wall of glass. All I can understand was "Arigato". He spoke about three sentences and took a bow. The crowd went hysterical and millions of people waved their Japanese flags high in the air. And in a minute, the Emperor and his royal family went back to their palace. I took a couple of pictures, but mostly of other arms and cameras from people (like me) who raised their camera in the air to snap a picture. Oh well, maybe I might be able to get a little closer next year.


Japanese Flags @ Imperial Palace 

After the Imperial Palace, I walked to Kitanomaru Park and took a few pictures of the castle and the moat surrounding it. It was really nice, especially since it snowed recently. It was the perfect day to take pictures. But damn, my camera ran out of battery power. I accidently left my camera on and the Li-ion battery drained itself to death.

After that, I headed back to the train station. The tall buildings right outside of the Imperial Palace reminded me of Chicago. The crowded streets, subways, and train stations.... Well, I ended up at a giant mall next to the train station. It was called ODZO and it was the most luxurious mall I have ever seen. Just remind me to never take a glass elevator again. I'm scared to death of heights! Anyways, they sold expensive stuff. I didn't know that there were writing pens that cost over $2,000 dollars. Damn, if I was to buy a pen that expensive, it had better do more than write.

Well, I ate fried fish tempura with wasabi, chopped cabbage in sweet sauce, rice and miso soup and went back to Yokosuka. This time I took the "Green Kanji" train. I had to stand and hold on to the "oh shit" handles on the way back, but at least, I got back home in 45 minutes.

Everybody goes Crazy on New Years Eve in Japan

Wow, it was a crazy night in Japan the night before New Years Day! Although it was raining ice and snow, I got to enjoy New Years from the comfort of my television. Japanese television is pretty exciting. A couple of shows had game shows and others had some kind of fighting championships. I was pretty intrigued by the fights. The two shows were called, "PRIDE" and "Dynamite" and they were both on at the same time on different channels, so you can actually watch two fights when you flip the channels back and forth. They featured the greatest champions of different fighting techniques from all over the world and pitted them against each other. There was everybody, from Olympic Gold Metalists to Champion World Wrestlers. It was SO AWESOME! Just check out: www.pridefc.com . What would be considered pay-per-view was completely free for everyone's viewing pleasure on public television. It was amazing to see a small Korean guy beat the crap out of the "Giant Silva" from Brazil. And to see a kickboxer kick another in the balls. There was karate style vs. boxing, wrestling vs sumo, you name it... it was all there. It was bloody; it was fun... damn, it was cool.

12:00 - Midnight - Everything went crazy. All the ships in Yokohama harbor blew their horns, fireworks went off, people were screaming, music was blaring... I didn't even leave the comfort of my Navy Lodge room and the noise was audible with the window tightly sealed shut. It was loud. KA-BOOM!

12:05 - Okay, it is 2005 now. I'm going to bed.