Take me out to the ballpark!

One of the things that Bridget and I planned to do from the beginning was to go to a Japanese Baseball game and thanks to our hotel we were able to get tickets to the Tokyo Giants at the Tokyo Dome. We were able to see the Tokyo Giants play the Lions; I have been told that this would be equivalent to a Yankees vs. Mets game. When you come out of the train station you see a huge dome, we thought it was weird to go to a game inside of a dome but it was pretty cool, across from the dome is an amusement park and they have a roller coaster that gore thru a ferris wheel there. We decided to walk around the dome just take everything in; this included people selling bento boxes in front of the dome. One of the weirdest things we saw was a young girl, probably about 8, got her head stuck in between the railing and the wall. I guess she thought it was a pretty cool idea to see if she could fit it, I guess her mom didn’t stop her, but she couldn’t get it out. The interesting thing about this scene was how everyone seemed to ignore it, we seemed to be the only people watching it, and how the stadium workers and the girl’s mother just seemed to take it all in stride. We were surprised that it all took to free her was two of the worker putting their legs onto the railing and pulling toward them and she was able to slip her head out.

Now once we got into the game the fun began. We walked around looking for some food and they didn’t have your typical U.S. stadium food, bento boxes were a plenty, but I was able to find some pizza. Now in the US pizza at baseball stadiums would be a personal pan pizza for around $7 or $8; however, here it ended up being two small slices (probably equivalent to half a pan pizza but flat) for 7 or 8 yen. Another weird thing is that in Japan you cannot smoke in freely in public; instead, they confine all the smokers in one small space and this was true at the Tokyo dome. In the basement of the Tokyo dome, where some of the food is located, is also where the smoking box is. So just imagine walking in a basement at a game and looking to the right and all you see in a glass box with people standing and smoking inside.

Once at our seats, o they are smaller seats with hardly any leg room, we began to notice something very interesting. Instead of asking people in our row to move in order to get or leave your seat they would jump over empty seats throughout the rows; it was normal to see a man in a suit start two rows up and jump over empty seats in a zig zag fashion in order to get to the seat next to you. I have been to baseball games in the US and so I am used to people coming around and selling beer in the stands, well the Japanese have a different take on that, they have keg girls. Keg girls are exactly what they sound like, they are girls who have mini kegs strapped on their backs and they walk up and down, in the beginning of the game a lot faster and with a lot more pep then in the 9th inning, selling beer. Each beer company has their own girls so there are many of them walking around in bright neon outfits and baseball hats; Bridget noticed something very interesting about these hats, instead of having the hair on and pulling their pony tails through they had the back half of the hat folded under and the hat was then bobby pinned to their head.

Now to the game and the fans, the fans were like no fans I have ever seen at a baseball game in the US instead, I think they would be equivalent to European soccer fans. Before the game even started they started with their chants, their hand gestures, and their clapping toys. These are all well organized and well choreographed but the amazing thing is that every single fan in that stadium seemed to know them and they did them all in perfect unison. This even included using the Giants version of the terrible towel when they scored runs. Behind us was the most amazing fan I have ever seen in my life, he was probably about 16 and was there by himself and he did not stop screaming, chanting, and clapping for the entire game. When he did take breaks, when it was the other team’s turn, he looked beat. I would be shocked if he had a voice at all the next week. He was the best super fan ever, I wanted to him bottle him up and take him home. I feel like he definitely could have a career being a super fan. What also was amazing that even though the Lions were down by 8 they still chanted until the very last second.

If you ever get the chance to go to a Japanese baseball game take it because it was an amazing and surreal experience; hey, you can even get standing room only tickets!








Tokyo Giants version of the terrible towels!


A Keg girl


Super Fan - I think he caught me taking his picture!

Tea Ceremony at Happoen Garden

As part of our tour we also went to a tea ceremony at Happoen Garden. The tea that is used is green tea but not the normal green tea that we all drink instead it is powedered green tea. In order to make it sweet you eat a piece of sugar (ours were shaped like flowers).

The history of the tea ceremony is that around the end of the 12th century, the style of tea preparation called "tencha", in which matcha was placed in a bowl, hot water poured into the bowl, and the tea and hot water whipped together, was introduced by Eisai, another Japanese monk returning from China. He also brought tea seeds back with him, which eventually produced tea that was of the most superb quality in all of Japan. This powdered green tea was first used in religious rituals in Buddhist monasteries.

It is a very peaceful ceremony where the hostess makes tea by purifying all of the tools and grinding up the powder and it can be done in a smaller room.






We also had the chance to walk around these beautiful gardens, too bad it was raining!

Tokyo with Soto

Bridget and I took a day tour of Tokyo; I like taking a tour every once in awhile because you will see things that you might not necessarily see if you were on your own. We really enjoyed our tour with leader Soto.

Some of the things that we did on the tour were:

Tokyo Tower Observatory: Tokyo tower was built in 1958 and the structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations. It is the second tallest artificial structure in Japan measuring at 1,091 ft. There are two observatory decks one at 492 fett and one at 820 feet.





They had windows in the floor so you could look straight down


They gave us flowers as a souvenior


Imperial Palace Plaza: it is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It includes the main palace (Kyūden) and the private residences of the imperial family.





View of Tokyo from the Plaza



Sumida River Cruise : The Sumida Rive flows through Tokyo. The Sumida runs through Tokyo for 16.7 kilometers and under 26 bridges spaced at about one bridge per kilometer. During the river cruise you go under 12 bridges.



Asahi Beer Building

Meiji Shrine Part II

As Bridget and I were wandering around the Meiji Shrine we saw a LOT of weddings. Before I left D.C. my co-worker made me this amazing Tokyo guide (it was invaluable!!)and she stated that you could see some weddings, some is an understatement. In the short time we were there we saw at least 3 weddings.
It is an unique experience because as you are walking around looking at the Shrine all of a sudden you will see a Shinto priest and shrine maidens leading a bride in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono (Uchikake)and the wedding guests.

Starbucks Love

Starbucks in Shibuya, Tokyo

If you know me you know that I am a Starbucks Addict. I mean come on people I have a gold Starbucks card engraved with my name on it, my barrista makes my drink when she sees me crossing the street, and before I left I said goodbye to her. When Bridge and I were in Tokyo we saw Starbucks everywhere!! However, I was good and waited until my 4th day to go and we only went so we could use the bathrooms. Side note: when traveling in Europe always find a Starbucks because though everyone else charges for bathrooms Starbucks does not. Anyway back to Japan, a cool thing about Starbucks in Japan is everyone had smaller sizes - before getting a Tall (a small to you Starbucks amateurs)you can go a size smaller and get a Short.

I joke back at work that I need Starbucks Anoynmous. Well I have realized that this really is not a joke.........I have been DYING here! I did not realize how dependent I have become on it to work and as I noted earlier Seattles Best is just not the same. At the Naval Base in Sasebo they have Dunkin Donuts; however, they do not sell their sugary Chi. So this all led to my near accosting of somebody in the Navy Lodge yesterday. He was at the check in desk with his back to me and I noticed the Starbucks cup sitting on the desk. Well a normal person would just keep walking but ummmmmmm have you met me, normal is not a word my friends would use to describe me. Therefore, as I walked by I asked (um maybe too enthusiatically) where he got his Starbucks. As he told me that he bought it in town but they had coffee on base I tried to explain to him that normal coffee is not what I was after. Another side note: I don't drink coffee, I HATE coffee, chi is where my <3 is.

So today after work I decided to walk into Sasebo to locate Starbucks, my plan was to only locate; however, I am weak to the power of Starbucks. It is located in the Ginza, a covered arcade filled with restaurants and bars. My co-worker was right when he said there would be many Americans in this area, especially at Starbucks. I took a seat outside and sat with my magazine and some of the best people watching I have experienced took place. I found it hysterical to watch a young (probably 20 year old) American try and hit on some Japanese girls as his friends (and everyone else) sat back, watched, and laughed. I guess I stand out because I had at least 2 members of the Navy start conversations with me and inquire why I was there (I guess that means I don't look Navy!). I seriously think I was laughing out loud and smiling for 2 1/2 hours. Overall, this was a great Friday nite because I got in some extremley amusing people watching, talked to some interesting people, got my Starbucks addiction filled, and found a fantastic place for future people watching.

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH STARBUCKS!!!

Survived!!!

The point of my job here is to help soldiers with the transition to becoming a veteran and telling them all the benefits that are available. I do this in terms of office hours and briefings. Well the briefings are 247 slides and do not contain everything that I need to say! While I know everything about service connection I had to learn all of the other benefits. Well today was the day that I had to give my briefing and to add to the fun I was the last part of 4 days of training and I was on Friday afternoon after lunch. But everything went perfectly!!! So I am happy to report that I survived my first week and my first briefing!

Meiji Shrine Part I

After our taxi mixup Bridget and I wandered around and found Meiji Shrine. It is a Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. When Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and Empress Shōken in 1914, the Japanese people wished to pay their respects to the two influential Japanese figures. It was for this reason that Meiji Shrine was constructed and their souls enshrined on November 1, 1920.

Torii - traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine




Barrels of conscreated wine





Barrels of Sake donated to the Meiji Shrine




Emo: Votive tablets where you write your prayers and gratitude.






My Votive Tablet

Some Other Sites:

Box vs Sumo

Here is a picture of one of my boxes. I think it went 5 rounds with a Sumo.

Home Base!

I am now at my home base! Hello Iwakuni! I am living at a Marine Corps Air Station and everyone is super nice. I am approximately 600 miles southwest of Tokyo. MCAS Iwakuni is home to approximately half of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing that is headquartered on Okinawa, elements of the 3rd Force Service Support Group, Fleet Air Wing 31 of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, and other units of JMSDF. At present the station has about 15,000 personnel, including Japanese national employees.

I have internet in my apartment but it is AWFUL. Seriously I think dialup at my dad's in the country was faster! However, I did use skype yesterday to call (not see) my parents and it worked well..........surprise surprise! However, uploading pics and paying bills is a different story!

My boxes are all here!!! However, one looked like it went thru a few rounds with a sumo! My last box got here today too (thank you Megan!!). I was walking home from the post office (about 1/2 mile) and two random people stopped me to ask me if I needed a ride! So nice!! O yes I definitely overpacked.

As many of you know (wait who am I kidding noone is reading this!) I am addicted to Starbucks........nope no Starbucks on base. They have Seattles Best and let me tell you, so not the same thing!! For a sup rise for all: Tokyo had Starbucks everywhere and I only went once and it wasn't until Wednesday! Hey that is a mini miracle for me.

I am also getting used to TV here. Armed Forces Network (AFN) carries all the shows and it just pulls shows from different stations and some of them are behind seasons and I haven't figured out quite the rhyme or reason of how it works! The weird thing is we don't have your typical commercials, o how I miss my Mini Wheats commercials, instead we have military commercials. This includes manners in Japan, Japanese language, and different military code of conduct commercials. They can be quite amusing!

Here is for hoping that my internet is better in Sasebo (so I can actually post something and not want to throw the wireless modem out the window!). So hopefully pictures will be coming soon!

Taxi Mixup

On our first day of sightseeing around Tokyo Bridget and I got up early to get a head start on the day and to try and get ahead of the jet lag. While we were eating breakfast at the Executive lounge and trying to figure out what to do with our day I heard a fellow tourist say that they were going to the markets. And as I so easily do, I became obsessed with going to the markets so we asked our bell hop/concierge where to go. After doing some reaserch he sent us off in a taxi to Meiji Park. I don't know what happened between the three members of the hotel staff telling our driver to take us to Meiji Park and our taxi driver dropping us off at Yoiji Park but this little mixup ended up being a lovely surprise.

Yoiji Park was extremely interesting and delightful. There was just so much going on and the thing that struck us the most is that people didn't seem to notice or care
what any other group was doing. There was:

Dog Park: This was strictly run with a man checking id's and turning people away. Also interesting was that there were seperate areas for different sized dogs





<strong>Dance Rehersal: I said it was the Japanese version of America's Best Dance Crew and Bridget said they clearly didn't have dance studios.








Dodgeball: about 3 feet away from the dance rehersal





Blind Running Group: There were tons of blind runners running with seeing people and they held a band in between them.





Tai Chi


Many photo shoots:



Beautiful Fountains: