Better Together

Denise is back, the blog is back, and we are ready to bring on the excitement from Japan. We will get better at this blog thing since we are getting a few helpful reminders that we need to keep it up to date. For the record, Denise did make it here safely. Since the last blog entry and this one; Denise arrived (Yes!), I got sick, we celebrated Valentines Day, we went on our first Japanese weekend trip together, and now the blog is back. Sit back, relax, and read about the last week and half.

Nothing exciting happened until Denise got here. I worked lots of hours up until the Sunday Denise arrived here.

(Sunday, February 8)

I started out this day by talking with Denise before she boarded her plane in Seattle. Afterwards, I went back to sleep before eventually waking up and actually checking out different parts of Yokosuka. I have not spent a lot of time strolling through the local streets unless I had to get somewhere or get something to eat. I had two missions today with finding a nice flower to give to my wife upon her arrival and getting to the airport on time. I looked forever, but I finally found a flower that was worthy of my lovely wife. I later learned that it was a carnation, but it was beautiful.

I took the bus from Yokosuka Navy base to Narita airport for Denise's arrival. I knew that she was going to be late from the voicemails she left on Skype while I was sleeping in. Silly me, I forgot to bring the flower with me when I left the apartment to go on base to catch the bus. The bus was quick and got me to the airport about the time she was planning on arriving, so I had two hours or so to kill before she arrived. It was a magical time once I saw Denise coming out of the arrivals gate even though it took me a few moments to see her behind her stack of luggage.

{D} I arrived on Sunday. It was definately a long flight. Our plane left SeaTac 3 hours late because they were having some kind of computer problem. They had us on the plane the entire time as they tried to fix the problem. We arrived in Japan around 6:30pm local time. The customs process was fairly easy and quick. It took about 20 minutes from when I got off the plane to go through customs and meet up with Sean. The van ride from the airport went pretty fast.

(Monday, February 9)

The infamous cold bug that had been hitting everyone at work and at the hotel finally got it's grips on me starting on Monday. I was not very happy to be at work and was starting to become a space cadet. I was looking forward to seeing Denise when I got home from work, but I also felt bad because I was feeling so bad and she had just arrived.

{D} I spent the morning with another girl that was on my same flight and her boyfriend who is one of Sean's co-workers. He had the day off to show his girlfriend around since she is only here for two weeks. It's so easy to walk to places here. The three of us went to a shopping center and looked around at shoes, clothes, and also went to the 100 yen store which is like our $1 stores. I came back around lunch time and got some rest since I was feeling a little tired. On Monday when Sean came home from work he wasn't feeling very good. He was coming down with a cold and just wanted to go to bed. He rested a while and then we went to the Navy base so I could get my pass to go on base. Then we went to dinner at this great place called Pepper Lunch which is a place Sean had been to before. It kind of reminds me of when you get fajitas at a Mexican restaurant. They bring you a hot skillet with the steak, rice, and green beans that you move around the skillet and finish cooking yourself. After dinner we just came back to the the hotel/apartment.

(Tuesday, February, 10)

I felt like a ragged doll that was all stuffed up with who knows what. I was feeling so bad that I did not even get up for the free breakfast. I thought that I could go into work after a few hours of rest, but I made it as far as the commissary to get medicine and walk back to the hotel. I had been quite healthy up to this point, but with the stress of work piling on my body could not fight it anymore. I rested the rest of the day.

{D} I got up and went to breakfast in the hotel lobby. We get breakfast everyday which is nice. For me to get breakfast everyday Sean had to give up his laundry service, but we are lucky to have a washer/dryer in our room since we are in the apartments. I would call this more of a studio instead of an apartment, but other people have far smaller rooms and don't have washer/dryer or a small kitchen area like us.

Well Tuesday was more walking around and exploring the general area with two ladies, Carol and Anne, whose husbands also work at the shipyard with Sean and happened to be on the same flight from Seattle as me. I took them back to the shopping center I had been to before since they really hadn't been out to see much. We also found a shrine up on this hill that we walked to. Sean stayed home from work on Tuesday since he was not feeling too well. I told him that his co-workers would think he was playing hooky since I was in town now. He definitely wasn't play hooky since I couldn't even get him to leave the room. On Tuesday I made grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for dinner and we just watched some TV.

(Wednesday, February 11)

Another day of sickness for me. I of course thought that after a few hours rest I could make it in, but I was wrong. I felt bad for calling in sick again because work has been quite busy lately that I did not want to let down my coworkers.

{D} Sean was going to try going into work a little later this morning. He and I went over to breakfast but he felt like he was burning up so he went back to the room and went to bed. I spent the day with Carol and Anne and we went to see the historic Japanese battleship here in Yokosuka near where we are staying. That afternoon after getting back from the battleship I came back and made tacos for Sean since he misses Mexican food. They turned out great. After dinner we got Sean out of the studio apartment for awhile and went for a walk. He took me to the train station where I got a train card and went on a short train ride so I could learn the system.

(Thursday, February 12)

I made it back to work today and struggled to get through the day. I was definitely feeling like a better day, but I was coughing really good at work most of the day. Today, was my mother's birthday, but I had to wait until Friday to call her since the time change. We sent her some local Japanese gifts that she received just before she took off on a vacation of her own to Florida.

{D} Sean returned to work. I went with friends Carol and Anne to Yokohama which is about a 30 minute train ride from Yokosuka where we are staying. With my new train riding skills I just learned the night before we made a trip to a very large train station. When we arrived it took us awhile to even figure out how to get out of the station. Once we got out of the station we didn’t go far since there was a big mall right above where we spent several hours. We went to this great market in the mall that had all kinds of different vendors – seafood, teas, chocolates, cookies, pastries, and potstickers also known as gyoza. We sometimes had to look away as because I was not accustomed to some of the things I was trying. My friend Anne said she knew when not to try something because I didn’t do a good job hiding when I didn’t like something I tasted.

We went into the department store at the mall where most of the stores were small shops. The department store was very expensive with most items costing $100 or more when I looked at the price tag. We made our way up to the Kimono floor where we were in awe of the beauty and the price. The robe part of the Kimono cost around $3000 depending on the one you choose or what accessories you got like the wide belts which alone costs $5000. I could hardly believe the belt cost more than the robe. Then there were the little sandal shoes that cost around $400. It was crazy but they are so beautiful. I’m actually going to be taking a class on Kimonos here in a couple days so I’m sure I will find out more about the different parts and the true names for them. After looking at all the kimonos we had lunch and headed back to Yokosuka. We wanted to make sure we hit the trains before rush hour so that if we had any problems we had time to figure it out.

That evening after getting back, Sean and I joined some friends of his from work for a wonderful little restaurant near base. The name is in Japanese and so is the menu and there is no plastic food to point to. The chef is amazing. He could probably only fit about 10 people in the restaurant and you watch him prepare every piece in front of you. We had breaded pork also called tankatsu in addition to all the other wonderful things that came along with the meal. Definitely don’t go there hungry because the chef takes his time to prepare everything perfectly. You watch him prepare everything for close to an hour before you get to eat your dinner.

We will be writing again tomorrow evening about our past weekend, so you can find out about the longest tourist day, followed by relaxation in Tokyo, and finishing the weekend at the happiest place on earth. Stay tuned...