More Kids than Candy

Vampiress

Happy Halloween! It was the first time I have experienced Halloween in a foreign country and it was crazy! Japanese people were flocking to the base to go Trick-or-Treating! There were so many kids out tonight. I decided to snap some pictures of some of them. We ended up running out of candy. Soco decided to give away her happy meal toys instead. Hehe the kids were very happy with that!

Witch
Princess
Scaries

Alcatraz ER in Shibuya, Japan

Shibuya has a cool little restaurant called "Alcatraz ER" It is a Prison Hospital themed restaurant. You take your blood test and get taken to your cell. After that, you get diagnosed and served a variety of drinks.

Click here to see more!

Can you live in your car for 7 days?

Check it out. This guy lived in his new Sentra for 7 days. Funny stuff!!!

http://nissanusa.com/7days/index.html?Site=N06SENBIN&Area=17&Creative=16

The longest I have lived in my car was 3 days (without showering). Try that ;)

Busy Sunday

She can now use both hands!

Hero's Base, Kawasaki Japan
CPK, the only one in Japan! (right now)
Today, I got a lot of stuff knocked out. I took my van to the Auto Hobby Shop to do a tire rotation and handwashed it. Surprisingly, it didn't cost me that much to put my van on a lift and rent an impact drill to swap out the tires. Only $2.50! I just had problems later on because I had bought an American garden hose. The threads on the hose weren't fit for Japanese plumbing so I had a little struggle trying to find one that didn't require a Japanese spigot.

Navy College Nightmare

Mayonaise Pizza
Lazona Shopping Plaza

Me and Soco have decided to take a college class together. Having all the forms and having everything coordinated just right makes things a little tough. One of the greatest things about being in the Navy is that we get Tuition Assistance. There is a cap per fiscal year, but with our busy lives, it is almost impossible to fulfill the maximum. Well, it has been a while since I have taken a college class and it is kinda like a new experience. I have decided to enroll at the University of Maryland University College. That looks like something I can proudly hang on my wall after graduation. I have heard too many times that the University of Phoenix is for dumb people. Soco told me that on the news, someone actually tried to fail a course and they couldn't. They make it impossible. Any monkey can earn their degree through University of Phoenix. Funny. Anyways, the paperwork and getting the TA approved wasn't too hard, it was just waiting in lines to get your questions answered. I had to wait almost an hour and a half to be told that I had to reserve a class before getting Tuition Assistance. What a huge waste of time! They should make a list of things to do before coming to the Navy College Office so no one else makes the same mistake.

The Disney Store, Kawasaki, Japan

A Day in Kawasaki

Big Hat at Baby Gap
Nayeli hates Volunteer Projects. Picking up trash at the Yokosuka JR Station.
Nice Kimono for Toddlers
Gundam Heads at an Arcade
Nayeli got us lost coming back to Yokosuka. It is all her fault.

Para Para Dancing, Mickey Mouse Style

Parapara dancing with Mickey Mouse! What is Parapara dancing? It is synchronized group dancing that follows european style techno beats. It utilizes on key hand and leg movements while maintaining an expressionless, uninterested face. This style of dancing is popular at clubs across all across the Pacific Rim and is quickly catching on around the world. It has become so popular in Japan, Disney is Para Para Dancing!

Family Garden

Clock on Mikasa
Nayeli and Dad poses in front of a Japanese Seafood Restaurant

Last week, we ventured out on van to discover a popular area of Yokosuka that most people would call, "The Red Lobster". It is where the Red Lobster is at, but many avoid it because of it's pitiful overpriced seafood. Instead, many go to the restaurants surrounding it and eat there instead. They have a couple of sushi places, a fancy seafood place, and a Family Garden. We decided on the Family dining experience. It turned out to be pretty good. We ordered pasta, pizza covered in mayo, miso soup, steak and rice. Good stuff. Worth going again. I also had to go out and find rechargable batteries for Nayeli's Jumperoo because my old ones died. Consumable electronics such as batteries are fairly priced and is comparable to that of the United States. However, if you decide on purchasing a CD player, expect to pay double to 4X. Me and Soco were looking at a nice little CD player to put in our living room and the price on the shelf was $250. That's Ridiculous! Thanks but NO THANKS!

Tonkatsudon my Favorite!

Family Garden, Japanese American Food

Train Ride in Southern Japan

Clip of houses going by in southern Japan.

The Day of a Thousand Broken Umbrellas

Yesterday, mainland Japan felt the heavy winds and rain of the outskirts of a typhoon. Although the typhoon didn't make landfall, the effects were still felt and seen throughout. I tried to go outside for a couple of seconds to run to the van, but my umbrella broke and my temperature dropped superfast. The rain smacking into my skin felt like freezing pellets. Me and Soco decided to get pizza and I had the bright idea of picking it up. The pizza place where I picked it up is on the harbor and the waves were crashing onto the parking lot. My van was rocking back and forth, but the naval ships were somehow uneffected by the winds and rain. It was a cool sight to see. I ran inside and picked up my pizza. The warmth of the pizza box was comforting as I ran back into the van.
Jumperoo! She loves the Jumperoo!
Nayeli likes to sleep with her feet in the air.
Trying out Gerber Baby Food

Navy dot Com Era

In the past few years, I have noticed a decline in the number of new enlisted sailors coming in and an increase of retention in Naval Medicine. It seems to me that more people are wanting to stay in for the long run. Because of this and the fact that the Navy can't keep everybody, the Navy has tried to downsize itself by kicking out the people who can't pass their physical fitness exams. I have seen a few people I know who got the boot because of this. Well, life is tough. It appears that the Navy is still wanting to shrink itself even more. It has already done so by shutting down bases worldwide. It has actually proved to be more of a cost savings to shut them down than to keep them open. Now the new strategy is to have a more "deployable" force.

With all this retention, the people I work with are now becoming more competitive. The evaluation system runs on a 5.0 scale with 5.0 being outstanding, highly recommended for advancement. It used to be that 3.0 was alright to have. It means that you have done your job. But now, 4.0 is the new average. Everyone is striving to go beyond and get that early promotion. Five years is about average for someone to reach E-5. I have heard of people advancing to E-6 in three years or less. Amazing. I personally don't mind about advancing except for the fact that, people who haven't reached E-6 by their 14th year will get kicked out. That is kinda brutal, but like I said before, life is tough.

With more competition, there is less "looking out" for each other and a decline in comraderie. People will do anything to protect their own butts even if it costs the career of someone else. I may be wrong, but that is my observation. Someone once said, "Why should I help??? He's my competition." There is the potential for this type of behavior to get out of control. The only cure to this is to create a less stressful work environment which focuses more on accomplishments at work than pitting people against each other in things such as "Sailor of the Quarter" boards, Evaluation Boards, Uniform Inspections and things like that. I say, get rid of that crap, what a waste of time.

The Navy is really good at keeping their people employed. They give their sailors something called watches. Now some people, like me, stand more than one watch. Some stand none. But in all reality, it is a complete waste of time. We don't get paid extra to fulfill this need. I understand that some places need to be manned 24 hours a day, but gosh, at shore duty, people should be standing less watches. Shore duty is a break from sea duty, duty with the marines and deployments which require you to work your ass off. More time with family should rule.

Nayeli and Soco at a Chinese Restaurant inside the Daiei Mall

Late Night Out

KFC


Watching TV
Curly Hair