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.

First trip to Yokohama

Well after a couple of frustrating days of trying to check-in while everyone is on holiday routine, we decided to take advantage of a sunny day and venture a little further out along the train line.  We left Yokosuka and traveled to Yokohama, the second largest city in all of Japan located just south of Tokyo.  Once again we were led by some phenomenal tour guides, Michele and Carl Netzler!

Yokohama is far too big a city to take in one afternoon, but we started with some of the basics; Landmark Tower and a small amusement park in the center of the city for the kids.

This picture Amie took shows the park starting right at the base of Landmark Tower and extending to the right with a huge ferris wheel.  The ferris wheel takes an hour to ride one full rotation!  Next time we'll dump the kids on the wheel and go across the street to the Yokohama Bath House (On-sen).

The kids had a fun time at the park.  They paid way too much to find out that a haunted house doesn't necessarily mean it is scary.  Amie and Lila went into an Adventure Maze!  It was so amazing that once they found out that Amie didn't speak or read Japanese they assigned a tour guide of sorts to make sure they eventually made their way out!

The boys and I decided to ride something called the Super Planet or Planet Whirl, something like that.  It started off a simple fast merry go-round, then tilted near vertical.  At one point someone shouted "Oh Kelly Clarkson" so it was definitely a fun ride.  Here's a shot from Amie's phone while she and Lila rode the traditional Merry Go-Round.

The bottom of Landmark tower is actually a large mall including L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Godiva to name a few.  I am beginning to think that the primary commodity in Japan is food.  Every where you look is another restaurant, food counter, or shop.  We ate at Garlic Jo's, no Vampire attacks in our house that night, and then stopped by an ice cream shop and another great French Bakery.  The French Bakery's are awesome mostly because they have excellent food without the French attitude!

Finished the day off with a simple train ride home, where the boys and I got to witness some drunk Japanese guys try to stay on their feet on the train.  The annoying thing was trying to avoid getting our feet stepped on as they tried to stay upright.

Allow me to introduce...'Chu-Hi'

As with many Naval Installations, immediately outside the front gate is an area of ill repute.  The area outside of Yokosuka is known as the "Honch".  The Honch is known for its massage parlors, seedy bars and tattoo joints along with restaurants and shops.  A key component are the homemade "Chu-Hi" stands.

"Wow, that drink tasted pretty good and now I'm blind."

"Oh, you just had Chu-Hi."

The best part of the night, wasn't the Chu-Hi itself, but the stand it was in.  First, to properly find a great Chu-Hi stand you need to find one with 3 or 4 Shore Patrol sailors located outside.  Second the stand can't be more than a 15x15 foot space, but must be full of 20 patrons, 3-5 employees, 1 wooden bar and 1 wooden table located in the middle of the space.

This particular space had everything a successful stand needs.  Three employees behind the bar; one making the Chu-hi, one cleaning glasses in the sink, and a third making Vienna sausages with mustard to go with the jar of saltines.  It also had two obvious regulars, the American Ex-Pat who spent 20 plus years in Yokosuka and stayed after retirement and the Japanese business man, who just left the bank and is tying one on before heading home and all he said was "Hai, Merry Christmas!, you look like James Coburn."

When I met these guys I thought I was replaying a scene from Star Wars!  You know the bar scene when two guys go up to Luke Skywalker, the first guy says something unintelligible and the second guy says, "He doesn't like, and I don't like you either!"

Actually, the locals were awesome.  We had a great time.  Thankfully the shore patrol scared away all the young sailors.  I don't know if it was the Chu-Hi or the clothes smelling of smoke causing the college flash backs.

If you find yourself in a Chu-Hi stand, try to follow these basics rules:
1) One's enough.
2) If you have more than one, make sure the person you are drinking with can physically carry you home.