Laura's Tattoo: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Literal translation is loose nothing gain nothing, however it has the meaning of nothing ventured, nothing gained. We had to go on a day when the guys had duty, because tattoo parlors are off limits for the navy in Japan, although, while we were there we ran into a couple navy guys.

Didn't it turn out really well?

Laura got the tattoo in Yokohama at Fanatic Tattoo and the artists name was Sue (soo-eh:).

Getting hit with a cane!!

The subway was so nice, excluding the time that Laura got hit by an elderly man with his cane, lol. We were in a hurry and she tripped over his cane, as she was starting to turn around to apologize he rose his cane in the air and whacked her. So we ran away, fast, not sure what else to do. So we ran:). Funny story though:). Rather odd, considering how nice and proper everyone else was. We probably insulted him in some way, that's all we could figure.

DomDom

The Japanese form of McDonalds and the kids meal I accidentally ordered by pointing at the sign. Turns out the guy actually spoke English really well, and I could have just asked. Darn my assumptions. :)

Discoveries at the mall in Yokosuka

The best crepes I've ever had and Rocky Mountain Marshmallows, mmm.

Temple in Kamakura and samurai sword

After we left Diabutsu we went to a temple that had pond gardens surrounding it.
They were full of Lotus flowers that were just beginning to blossom.




Laura is examining the prayer ties out front of one of the temple buildings.

Jeffry also got the chance to practice with the training sword he bought at the gift shop out front of the Diabutsu.

Dragon Fish

Meet Poseidon, the crazy Japanese fighting fish that Jeffry won, unfortunately he was left behind and donated to a nice family, we hope.

Diabutsu: Giant statue of Buddha

Laura is washing her hands before entering the temple area. This is the famous statue of Buddha, and there is a picture of his giant sandals:)

I don't really have a story about this day, other than the walk was long and in a relative temperature of at least 90 degrees it was even longer and as usual I attracted whatever kind of bugs it was that were biting me all over:-/. However, the statue is breathtaking and was worth the walk.

The statue is hollow and during the days you can go inside of it, we got there an hour too late.

Haw to use chopsticks?

This is one of the many funny attempts at English writing:). Most of the mistakes we saw gave words connotations I should not post online, lol.

Pouring each others drinks

This was the best ramen I have ever had in my life!! Yummy!! Laura is pouring my water, as is customary in Japan. Pouring your own drink is considered greedy and doesn't allow for the graciousness of those you are eating with.:)

Night in Roppongi, and the bowing competition

I was trying to catch a picture of jeffry's newly shaved head, but he chose to put his shirt on just as I snapped the shot. Good technique:). He's my flying man:). We are on our way out to spend the evening in the Roppongi district of Tokyo where the night life exists. I tried sake for the first time:). Wow, that stuff burns on the way down, but so yummy:). It was a fun evening with the nice backdrop of the Tokyo Tower all lit up. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the room and don't have any pictures of it. I got to wear my nice belt I bought in Tokyo, 3900 yen, the most I have ever spent on a belt, but it is so cute:).

Speaking of the belt, as I was checking out I would bow and say arigato, and the cashier would bow lower and say arigato gozimasu, so I returned the bow even lower, so on and so forth for about ten bows, until I realized I had to end it. As per customer service, she would get the last bow in, lol. It was an interesting sight.

Oh, to end the evening, we found out the hard way that the subway closes down for a few hours every night. So it's two am and we need to get back to the hotel. We got into a taxi and the driver did not know any English! We had these cards to hand a taxi driver that supposedly had directions back to the hotel we were staying at, just in case this happened. He could not understand that either! Wow, so much for being prepared, lol. I still don't know how we made it back to the hotel, but we did eventually, after many hand signals and our best attempt at japanese.

Kabuki'za Theatre

These are pictures of the Kabuki'za Theatre, its is one of the oldest style buildings in the area, although it has been rebuilt two times since WWII, it's original architecture was maintained. It is surrounded by sky rises and modern architecture. Jeffry and I went on one of the two days every other month that it closes down between plays:( . Sad day, we wanted to go see a traditional style Japanese play. Maybe next time.

Trains and Banana Cases:)

The train system:) The cleanest trains and subways I have ever been on. Train etiquette is as follows: no eye contact, facing people is better than turning your back on them, especially those that are seated, so your butt is not their faces, pregnant women, elderly and children are priority seating, sections of the trains are designated as electronic free zones so as not to interfere with pacemakers and such, when the car is full, it isn't, just keep cramming on, lol, and do not board a green car unless you have a special ticket, those are for people that pay extra, because they get their own seat, no standing room.

Next is laura holding a banana case:) Cute huh:) for your lunch box, because bananas don't naturally come with a case.

Day 1: Lost in Japan and Italian food???

First day in Japan, we finally found the guys and went out to dinner at a Japanese rendition of Italian restaurant. Not exactly Italian, but yummy. Jeffry defined it as gourmet chef boyardi. mmm, lol.

So, the story behind why we, "finally" found the guys. We arrive in Japan, get through customs and miss our DOD bus ride. We have no idea what we are doing other then we need to get to Yokosuka. We look around until we see a sign with a train on it. I approach the counter and say the name of the town we need to get to. Only problem being I was pronouncing the u and they had no idea what I was talking about. Laura and I are watching the signs as they run through Japanese, then four other languages and then English flashes, we had to wait for this cycle four times before we find the line that has tickets to Yokosuka. Laura approaches this time, thank goodness she actually knew how to pronounce the city. The lady behind the counter motions to us by pointing at a paper with the name of the town and 2100 yen written next to it. We nod our heads in agreement, pay the price, and head the direction she points us in. Even so, it took us about fifteen minutes of pausing in front of signs and wrong turns and stumbling through security gaurds trying to find one that knows some English before we figure out what train to board. We are on the train and we were told before coming that the train takes about an hour to get to Yokosuka, an hour passes, two hours pass, and we are concerned, but the map seems to be guiding us in the right direction. There is one other "white guy" on the train, so we start a conversation from across the car. Thank goodness he's a navy guy who's stationed in Yokosuka. Good, we are on the right train. We arrive in Yokosuka an hour later (3hours total) and he gratiously escorted us about a mile to the main gate of the base. Thank you Jesus for sending us this man:).

So, it turns out we took the train that stops at every stop as opposed to the express train, that only stops at the major cities. Hence, 3 hours instead of one. :) One adventure, one day and we survived:).