California Pizza Kitchen Night

Being in Japan, we were missing something. Hmm... What could it be? Oh yeah, really good pizza! Anywhere you go around here, the pizza is too greasy, too plain, too boring, too pretty, etc... This country is missing some really great pizza! What this place needs is the worlds greatest pizza chain, The California Pizza Kitchen(C.P.K.)! Luckily, Soco had bought a C.P.K. cookbook and a couple of pizza stones before departing to the land of the rising sun.

Last week, I was trying to make the honey-wheat dough for the first time. It took me three tries before I got it right. After each try, I had to throw out the ruined dough. It made me kinda frustrated at first. But in the end, it was all worth it. Nothing beats a wonderful, chewy and flavorful dough and a hearty crust!

Pizzas Soco and I have created in June:

Thai Chicken Pizza
Hawaiian Pizza
Santa Fe Chicken Pizza
Chicken Tostada Pizza

Santa Fe and Chicken Tostada with Salsa


Future Pizza projects:
BBQ Chicken
Chicken Dijon
Southwestern Burrito
Tandoori Chicken
Chicken Teriyaki
Moo Shu
Peking Duck
Smoked Salmon
Grilled Eggplant

The Word of the Day is Poop

More Humid than Ever

Japanese Ramen


The weather here in Japan is warming up and it is more humid than ever. I have spent the last day troubleshooting my laptop as it had been affected with a computer virus. I tried to download a free program and it screwed it up pretty bad. For now on, I just might have to pay for what I want or just use a computer that I don't really care too much about.

Lately, we have been trying to teach Nayeli how to sleep in her own crib. She falls asleep in the baby swing, the baby stroller and in our arms, but the crib is much more difficult for her. Soco has been reading a book called, "The Baby Whisperer" and it says that teaching independence is not the same as neglecting your baby. We haven't been able to keep Nayeli awake long enough to have her collapse from exhaustion or cry herself to sleep. She is a "spirited" baby and does things on her own.


Nayeli Loves Boppy

Okinawa's International Airport in Naha

Hawaiian Shirts are worn by Airport Staff

I was told that it was recent that Okinawa has opened itself up internationally. So now you may fly directly from the states to Okinawa. As soon as you step, off the plane, you'll notice the humidity and warmth from the tropical climate. The airport is filled with tropical flowers and trees and airport staff are wearing loud shirts. This place is a major resort place for anyone wanting to visit Okuma. Much different from big city Tokyo.



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Pimple Face

American Embassy Tokyo

Flower Photo taken in Okinawa

Due to the high security and current threat level, I wasn't able to snap photos of the American Embassy in Tokyo. Getting there with Nayeli was a big pain in the butt as we were taking her there to get a passport and report of birth abroad. This "Report of Birth Abroad" is required in order for her to be an "official" U.S. citizen. We didn't know the hours of operation and we arrived during lunch. So we spent a couple hours at Starbucks sipping on cold mocha. We also took the break to change out the diaper and give her a feeding. Once we actually got inside the Embassy, we were expecting a long line kinda like California's DMV (department of motor vehicles). But no, it ran smoothly and what could've taken hours, took less than 20 minutes. We were shocked.



Nayeli loves the IPOD Nano

I want to ride the Pokemon Airplane!

Soco's Japanese co-workers got Nayeli a Hello Kitty outfit. She looks like an Anime cartoon! Thanks Reiko, Keiko, Harumi and Matsumaga!

Bambohe - Korean BBQ

In Okinawa, about a mile away from Camp Foster, there is a place called, Bambohe. It is an all you can eat Korean BBQ, Chinese and Japanese food. It was really delicious. You are allowed to eat as much as you want for 90 minutes. What is special about Korean BBQ, is that you can load up on all the raw meat you want and cook it on your table. Real good stuff.

Back Surgery - Microdiscectomy

In order to perform my MRI, the doctor decided to put me to sleep because no matter what pain medication he was giving me, was not working. I was scheduled to undergo surgery the next day.

The next morning, I woke up and I was wheeled into the preoperative room. There, I was given some white milky injection. After that they moved me to the MRI room. I was told to lie down. Once again, my back wouldn't let me lie straight. I was in so much pain. The anesthesiologist handed me a mask and told me to inhale.

I breathed in 3 or 4 times and remember waking up to the sound of: "Mr. X, your surgery is finished."

I was thinking, that you gotta be joking me. I looked down and saw that I was lying straight. I could wiggle my toes and saw that my feet were both perfectly spaced apart.

I looked up at the clock and saw that 4 hours had gone by without any recollection of being operated on. Amazing!

Site of Surgery

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Being Pumped full of Morphine and Toradal

When I first got to the hospital, the neurosurgeon reviewed my record and history. He read my old MRI and saw that I was in a lot of pain when I took it, hence the images were a bit blurry. I couldn't keep still during the procedure so the neurosurgeon decided to take matters into his own hands.

He asked me, "Can I give you another MRI?"

I said, "If you drug me. Gotta give me Morphine or something to kill off the pain."

He looked at me and said, "I'll see what I can do, but I'll have to admit you to the hospital. Is that okay?"

"Sure, Doc. I just wanna be cured."

Within an hour, I was admitted to the ward. I was instructed to change my clothes into a patient gown and remain in bed while they pump me full of morphine.

After the morpine treatment, the hospital corpsman put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me down to radiology for my MRI. I tried to lay down on the MRI table and for some reason, I physically couldn't do it. My left leg wouldn't lower flat or bend low enough for the procedure. The pain was unbearable.

The morphine didn't phase me.

Okay, so I was brought back to my bed. The nurse called the neurosurgeon, "The patient couldn't lie down on the MRI table he was in so much pain." The doctor then wanted to give me morphine and toradal (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for severe pain that carries many risks) via intravenious injections (super potient).

IV line

Five hours later, and with my body full of Morphine and Toradal, I was wheeled back into the MRI room. Once again, the drugs didn't phase me. The table was stiff as a board and my back couldn't handle it. I was in so much pain still.

The doc then said, "We're going to have to put you to sleep."

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My All Expense Paid Vacation to Okinawa

USNH Okinawa

Standing at the Quarterdeck at US Naval Hospital Okinawa

So you may ask, where is Okinawa? Well, if you watched a movie called, "Kill Bill" or if you are in the US Marine Corps or a Navy Hospital Corpsman than you would know that already. It is the last little island south of Japan. About 65 miles long. (You can google it) It is geographically in the middle between Tokyo and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. To the west, is the East China Sea (very close to China) and to the east, is the Pacific Ocean.

This island is still amazingly, very Japan'ish. I would've figured that since it was so close to it's neighboring countries, it would have more diversity in it's people. Nope. The buildings all look the same as mainland Japan. The only difference is that there is more space to spread out and there is no train system. Just a monorail in Naha.

A ridiculously modified mini-van

More pictures and posts to continue!

Medievac to Okinawa

Nayeli in Kanji

Tomorrow I will take off to see the neurosurgeon. I have high hopes that he'll cure me under the knife. It sucks that everywhere I go, people feel sorry for me. It hurts everyone to see me all bent over. I can't wait to get better.

Eyes right!

Here is a photo with Nayeli with her eyes open. Her eyes are closed about 80% of the time. Her skin is starting to peel off all over her body. People say it is normal. That baby smell that I was talking about earlier on my blog turned out to be the laundry smell of Soco's parent's. They have washed all their onesies before shipping them to us. Now she smells like... I dunno. Sometimes like poop.



IncrediblyX kissing a Mexican Baby

Energy 92.7

Nayeli Zzzzz.....

I've been dying to hear some upbeat music and in Japan, you just can't get any good radio stations. This radio station reminds me of my younger clubbin days in SoCal and Tijuana, MX. Good streaming pop dance.

http://www.energy927fm.com/