Let's take the train!

When I was my boys age, which Liam is convinced was sometime around the 1940's, the primary mode of transportation was riding my bike or walking.  There wasn't the opportunity to catch a bus or train to go anywhere.  Ellington CT was a small little farm town.

Now Japan has an extensive train and bus system.  The roads are small and congested.  You can pull over and park your car, IN THE TRAVEL LANE, to run into a store for 5 minutes to get milk or something.  While you're inside travelers stuck behind you either have to wait for your return or try to pass against the on-coming traffic!  Can you imagine trying to pull that in the states?  In addition to that all the highways are toll roads, so the subliminal message is...take the mass transportation.

Okay, so getting around on the train looks daunting, it's mostly symbols and numbers and not easy to decipher the first few times, but it actually isn't that bad.  Once you figure out that the symbols "skinny man, fat man, TV" are the symbols to get to Yokosuka...no sweat!  Oh and the colors, the color of the lines are very important...catch the black line and hit every stop, catch the green and skip most stops and only hit certain major ones...huge difference in time.

So I decided that it was time to push the birds from the nest and see if they could fly!  I told them a couple of Saturdays ago, that I wanted them to catch the train to Yokosuka and back.  From our house, that equates to one train for two stops, change trains and hop on another train.  It's a small station where they change trains, so not a huge concern.  The idea went something like this...

Me: Boys, I have an idea, why don't you take the train to Yokosuka?
Boys: When are we leaving, what are we going to eat?
Me: No, you guys go by yourselves.
Boys: Can we get something to eat?
Me: Yeah, I don't care.  Take the train, check out Blue Street, get something to eat and come back.
Boys: Can we eat where ever we want?
Me: Yes, fine, I don't care where you eat, I just want you to ride the train and make it back alive!
Boys: Can we have some money?

So being a concerned parent, I resorted to Aviator mode and had a very thorough 'pre-flilght' brief.  I had a white board with multiple color markers, a pocket size train map, a time table, a list of landmarks and made sure they had fully charged cell phones (aka survival gear, because Google Maps on the iPhone is AWESOME).  Then I gave them a bunch of yen, don't ask how much, it was probably enough to buy a hotel on Park Avenue...it is just monopoly money!

Out the door they went and after a few hours they returned.  They only made a couple small mistakes but they made it back!  The high-light of their day was not that they took the train by themselves, but that they got to go to McDonald's and KFC for lunch!

Since then, they hit the train a lot.  They take it home from practice without me if I am running late.  Last weekend they took the train to Yokosuka then up to Yokohama!  That's a big trip.  It's about a 30 minute train ride and Yokohama is a major city!  They explored the city, or at least part of it, because the city is huge!  Needless to say a majority of their adventure involved food.  At least this time, they ate at an Indian place, curry and cheese naan, but they spent a good chunk of time looking for a Krispy Kreme near the Yokohama train station.

Of course we'll definitely avoid the trains during rush hour in Tokyo.  The train attendants wear white gloves.  Here's why...

Is there room on that train?

Brockzilla Meets Godzilla!!!

Man: "Oh no.  There he is.  The huge Green Monster! What do we do?"

Official: "What the drunk guy on St Patty's Day with that cute girl in red?"
Man: "No that other one!"

Official: "Oh him...Don't Panic!"

Official: "Well then.  Too late.  RUN!!!"

That's right.  We found Godzilla.  Not far from our house at the Kurihama Flower Park.  Evidently Godzilla made land fall here at some point in his long career.  He is generally a metaphor for nuclear weapons in many of his early films.  The metaphors are less serious in later films when Godzilla is actually the hero.  In most of the movies Godzilla is still a massive destructive monster, who just happens to be the lesser of two evils who saves the day!

So Godzilla now guards the kid's play area.  There is actually a slide built into Godzilla, climb in through his gut, slide out the tail.  Not the best image I am sure.

Anyways, Kurihama Flower Park is near the eastern coast, just south of Tokyo Bay.  It is a 2000 meter trail that takes you through various flower beds and blooming trees.  Amie wants to go back in a few weeks when the blossoms are out in force.

It was a great day.   At the top of the hill they have a bell, not sure what it is there for, but the views were amazing.  Lila drove away some of the locals who were sitting quietly enjoying the scenery.  I guess they didn't appreciate it that Lila was hanging from the bell rope like Quasimodo!

Hunting for Dragons on Enoshima Island

Rumor has it that there once was a 5 Headed Dragon that terrorized a part of Japan just to the south of us.  This fierce dragon lived on a small island, now called Enoshima.  Benton, a popular goddess of good fortune, wealth, music and knowledge, subdued the dragon and saved the area.  Of course there are still stories of dragons loose on the island...so naturally Brockzilla had to go check it out!

We spent Saturday exploring Enoshima Island, a little island attached by a 1/2 mile long bridge.  We drove out there, which was an adventure in itself (thank you Google maps on the iPhone!).  The island is known for its shrines, observation tower and caves down by the sea.  The view of Mount Fuji is supposedly excellent on clear day.  Unfortunately it was a little too hazy.  No worries, we'll definitely be going back!      

The island itself is not that large.  Like many areas of Japan it is quite hilly! You can buy an 'EnoPass' to get into the caves, the observation tower and multiple gardens, and it also allows you to ride a number of escalators to the top.  Very helpful with Lila!  The down side is that these escalators don't exist on the backside of the island down to the caves.  So at the end of the day we had to climb back up! I had Lila on my back...workout complete!

This is a shot back towards the bridge...only slightly up the hill.  The street is full of shops.  Evidently squid pressed bread is a real treat?!  Towards the top of the street is where the Benton shrines are located.

We were looking for dragons.  Found this one, but supposedly the dragon we were looking for lived in the caves (where else would a dragon live?).  Of course, before we explored the caves we took a look around the garden, had French Toast for lunch, a big hit, and checked out the observation tower.

Even in February the flowers are starting to look great.  After lunch we climbed down to the waterline, where the caves were located.  Inside the caves we looked around by candle light.  What better way for a tall American to make his way through a dark, low ceiling cave!  Brilliant.

This shot is one of the high ceiling points.  Even Liam had to duck a number of times to get here, but it was worth it.

We finally did find the dragon.  He is supposedly sleeping, but if you clap really loudly you can wake him up.

Back outside the caves, after a head count, we checked out the flat rocks leading to the water.  The tide was coming in but nothing threatening, we just had to avoid a few puddles.  Ironically, with all the people around on the rocks, the local park attendant felt it necessary to come out and warn us of the tide and suggest we not go too far out.  I think she was afraid of the bad press that would be generated by the big, dumb Americans getting pulled out to sea!  I can understand her concern.  She was very nice and took our picture.

So what do you do after climbing over 200 steps back to the top of the island?  You dare your kids to eat SQUID on a stick!

Ethan did get in on the act.  Of course, he was skeptical at first, he didn't trust us that it tasted good.

It was an awesome day!

Buddha's House

We kind of got out of sync with the blog events and posting, so this one will try to catch up!

Couple of weeks ago we took the kids to see the great Buddha.  The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a huge bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha in the Kotoku-in Temple.  This guy is massive!  He is about 45 feet tall and weighs about 110 tons...and he's hollow.   You can actually pay an extra 20 Yen...that's about 16 cents (thank god for COLA!) and go inside.  So naturally we had to go into the belly of the great beast!  It was really cool.  Of course, Lila wasn't really impressed.  Now if there was an ice cream place inside, she'd be all over it.

Anyways, the Buddha's been around a long time, since about 1252.  He used to be covered in a huge wooden temple, but that temple was WASHED AWAY by a massive tidal wave in 1498!!!  Then in 1925 a massive earthquake struck but only damaged the base, so they re-enforce the neck and made it possible for the Buddha to move freely on a new base to avoid the shocks of another earthquake, kind of like a surf board!

At the end of the day, it is still a shrine and temple where many people come to worship, pray and meditate.  So each of the kids gave some yen and then 'made a wish'.  Liam went the extra distance getting his Zen on.

Television...I'm not bitching about Armed Forces Network this time, that's later.

In terms of television, let me explain, no, there is too much, let me sum up...we went from 4 TVs in Florida to 1 here in Japan.  We only put one TV in our express shipment and we are still waiting on the rest of stuff.  Why is that a big deal you may ask?  Why are we not out exploring the brand new country that we are in, taking in the sights, experiencing the culture etc? 

In a simple answer, because we still have to live a normal life...work, school, grocery shopping, whatever Amie does all day blah, blah, blah. 

So after we do all that stuff, we settle down like an average family and relax, and like many families it most of the time involves the television.  In  Florida that actually worked out to satellite TV in one room, PS-3 for Call of Duty in another and typically Mac-Mini on a third TV in another.  Sometimes if Amie was watching 'Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo' or 'Real Housewives of whatever city', I would watch something else on a 4th TV.  

So for those who are mathematically challenged, going from 4 to 1 is a problem.  I know what some of you would say...what a great opportunity to get closer to your family.  You can share your days and talk to each other and really get to know your kids better.  No offense, but that is a load of crap!  At the end of the day, I just want a little peace and quiet and anyone who would say otherwise is lying to themselves.  Don't get me wrong, I love my family but claustrophobia can set in quick.

The TV issues usually boil down to a fight over who gets to play Playstation with Lila wanting to watch some cartoon.  By the way, when did kids cartoons get to be so LAME.  She wants to watch this show Caiou(?).  It's about this wimpy little kid that cries all the damn time.  I mean if you stay up too late, and had a little too much to drink, but had to get up with the little one at 6 in the morning, this is the worst show in the world.  Even just hearing the kids voice while you are trying to sleep on the couch is nauseating!  Seriously, forget water-boarding or any other torture, just make an adult watch this stuff.  If I could find the "let's talk to our children and explain why they are miss-behaving and how everyone would feel better if they understood what they did was wrong" type of parent who wrote this show, I'd kick him in the Caiou.  Whatever happened to Super-friends, and the Hall of Justice, Underdog, Bugs Bunny.  I mean who wouldn't want to wake up to Wonder Woman and her invisible Jet?  

Sorry, slight tangent, what was my point?  Oh yea, so we have 1 TV, 6 people with diverging interests in a room that is about 13x20!  

The answer is simple, expensive, but simple...iPads, iTunes, Hulu, and really good headphones!  Our living room has never been quieter.  I don't care that the older boys are quoting Family Guy and SouthPark.  I'm also not so worried about the money spent on down loads.  One song/app at a time can't add up to too much money, right?  

We'll explore on the weekends, but during the week, it is a new found heaven.  Hell even watching Ethan play Batman: Arkham Asylum on the PS-3 can be cool if your listening to the right soundtrack!

The Universe has a sense of humor...

Let's flash back a few months when my darling husband said "I think I got us order to Japan".  After my first response of stunned silence, Phil tried to ease my worries and fears and said "it will be great".  Hold on there Mister.  I will be the judge of that.  First things first.  "Where in Japan?"

I know you are all thinking "why does it matter?".  Well, it does.  To give you an idea, Japan is roughly the size of California, meaning it offers a range of different and volatile climates.  Knowing that there are several US bases in Japan, location (to me) is everything.  Had my brilliant husband said "Misawa" (in a northern prefecture) he knew my answer would have been "Sayonara.  Have a good time".  But like I just said, my husband is brilliant and he said Yokosuka.

As the planning for this massive move began, my first stop was Google where I promptly searched
"Average Climate for Yokosuka, Japan".

I was pleasantly surprised.  Average lows of 44 F in the winter and mid 80's F in the summer.  Comparable to the temperatures of South Carolina.  South Carolina is nice...I can do that.  So, when it came time to pack up our clothing, I diligently laid out jeans, long sleeve shirts, sweat shirts and fleeces for all the kids.  But hey, I am a good mom so I remembered to throw in some hats and Lila's new winter coat for good measure.

Fast forward to Monday, January 14th.  I send my motley crew of men folk out the door for school and work while planning to spend the day with Little Miss.  Having a perfectly good, nothing wrong in the world morning when...BAM!  The Universe lets out a mighty chuckle.

IT'S FLIPPING SNOWING!!!!

Are you kidding me?  Snow?  Not impressed.  We aren't supposed to get snow here.  Maybe it's just a passing snow shower.  No!  It's four dang inches of irritating white stuff dumped on my unprepared ass.    I haven't had to deal with snow in over three years.  And there is good reason for that.  I do NOT enjoy!  However, Little Miss is giddy with excitement.  She has never seen snow and wants to go out and play in the winter wonderland (read "wet nightmare").  But her eyes glisten with anticipation of snow angels and frolicking she's only seen on TV, so I bundle her up for her first snow adventure.

I do the best this unprepared Momma can do and I dress her up as warm as possible.  Remember, I am a good mom, so I did pack her winter coat.  Crap!  Shoes.  A quick checklist of what footwear I brought...crocs, sneakers and ballet flats.  None of which are adequate for playing in the snow.  Pleading little eyes look at me..."please, mommy.  I want to play in the snow".  Well, girl, it's gonna be a white trash play day.  Yep, I put bags on her feet!  Not just any bags.  Navy Lodge laundry bags secured with hair ties.  I knew I would be thankful for the Lodge one day.

The day continued and the white crap continued to fall.  It took 5 (!!!) hours for the boys to get home from 7 miles away, leaving this Momma a worried mess...without any wine in the house, nonetheless.  Everyone finally arrived home safely and I was able to let out a sigh of relief.  The boys were safe and had an unexpected snow day, Little Miss had her first taste of snow that she thoroughly relished , Phil was able to come home early, and I was relieved knowing this was rare weather occurrence and my unpreparedness left no lasting scars.

Until the next day when I had to scrape off the car windshield with a spatula.  True story.

Out of the Lodge, and into a temp house?

Well after 30 days in the Navy Lodge, we have finally moved out into temporary housing.  In the lodge we were staying in two rooms, next to each other but not connected.  Each room had two queen beds and a small kitchen.  Definition of kitchen is 2 burners, microwave, sink and refrigerator.  Despite the lack of size and the limited number of utensils, Amie did a great job coming up with meals so we didn't have to each at Chili's, the only restaurant near by, more than twice!

For a greater appreciation, cooking in that small kitchen for a family of six is all about timing.  It's kind of like cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  You have to work extra hard to get everything out at the same time.  Well in the lodge with the small kitchen it was the same.  Needless to say it is nice to be in a house with a large kitchen and an actual dining room table.

So anyway, we moved into a house in the Ikego housing complex.  It is military housing, just located about 10 kilometers down the road from the base.  As of now it is temporary as we wait to see if a house on Yokosuka itself will come available.  That would be ideal, and the sooner the better because that is where the kids schools are, and of course work for me.  Even-though Ikego is only 10 km down the road it can take up to 25 minutes to drive, and with the eventuality of the job calling me in, in the middle of the night, it will be nice to live on Yokosuka and be close.

The house is about 1500-1600 sq feet.  The average bedroom is 11x11 feet.  I say average because the master bedroom, about 12x13, is off-set by Harrison's room approximately 9x9!  Or as Harrison has stated, a large walk-in closet.  What's most striking about the house is that is white...all of it.  Every wall, floor and appliance.  As a matter of fact the only non-white part are the stainless steel counters.  Yes counters!

As we've said before, "Home is where the Navy sends us."  So for now, Ikego is home even with our temporary Navy furniture.  It looks like furniture you'd find in a doctor's waiting room.  One really cool part is that Lila has taken over the storage space under the stairs and made it her "Club House".  It is a lot like the room Harry Potter had under the stairs, only we aren't locking her in under there.