Mainland Japan: Tokyo

Our Japanese teacher asked what the occasion was for our recent trip to Tokyo.  We paused and looked at each other.  It was the first time we had been asked this.  "Because it's November."  I finally responded with a large grin. 

We left on November 2nd.  Hiked from our house on Camp Lester to the bus stop.  Boarded the 120 bus, and were dropped at the Naha Airport an hour later.  

Arriving in Tokyo is different than arriving in Naha.  Daniel happily slipped into a tag-a-long role as he let his partner navigate the Tokyo Train system.  Until it was midnight, and we were still not at the hotel.  A stop at one of the always plentiful street-side vending machines for a sugary beverage and another hour of hauling our luggage around the streets of Tokyo later, we collapsed into our room.  

We did a lot of exploring but one thing seems to follow us wherever we go in Okinawa and apparently in mainland Japan as well.  Every time we try to find a restaurant by following our instincts, we end up walking into a Soba (Japanese noodle soup) restaurant.  We've had several experiences with the Okinawa variety, none of which we've particularly liked.  Okinawa Soba is edible but barely.  In Tokyo, however, it was an entirely different experience.  The first soba place we walked into caused us to look at each other and groan in horror, but we were pleasantly surprised. Tokyo's soba is very different (and we think much tastier) than Okinawa Soba we've eaten.  The second place we walked into, assuming it was a curry restaurant, "Yellow Spice," turned out, of course, to serve a curry flavored soba.  But, again, was surprisingly delicious.  We have since resolved that when in Tokyo soba places are fair game but we will not go out of our way to visit them back in Okinawa, at least not by choice.

Here are some pics of Tokyo for you to enjoy/entice you to come visit.  :)

Shibuya Intersection.  The famous Tokyo intersection.  Many scenes from "Lost in Translation" and other movies shot in Tokyo were filmed here.

Early morning egg breakfast at the Tsukigi Fish Market.  The largest fish market in the world.

The fish sold at the market got a lot bigger than than these lil' guys.

Salmon roe for sale.  

Imagine 20 aisles of this for several more blocks.  

A park near the Ueno stop in Tokyo.   We followed the signs to the "pond." Which looked more like large lily pads to us.

This picture was taken just before we spent 30 min looking over the edge of the bridge watching the many large coy fish swim around beneath us.

Probably one of our favorite spots in Tokyo.  A large green park next to the Meji Shrine outside of the "young peoples shopping district,"  according to our fantastic volunteer tour guide.  "You can see a lot of young people in costumes there."  Not surprisingly, it is also Lady Gaga's favorite place to shop in Tokyo (not the park, the shopping area nearby.)

I thought trees only looked this perfect in paintings.  

Bonsai exhibit.

View from the top of one of the Tokyo Towers.  

      

2nd Impressions

Daniel

• The way everything is built around here, typhoons are to Okinawa what blizzards are to Minnesota;  A day or two off from work or school.
• Produce isn’t all that expensive as long as you know what to buy where.  It’s good to know at least a couple different farmers’ markets and grocery store options.
• If you’re willing to go “adventure fishing” and risk your safety on the way to the fishing spot you can catch some amazing fish from shore!
• F-15s are really cool up close!
  

Lydia

• I’m sorry Minneapolis.  Okinawa takes the cake for scenery and terrain during long rides.
• Tofu is CHEAP.  And FRESH.  I don’t know how, but people make it here and it is awesome.  Almost every meal we make we find a way to incorporate tofu.
• If you want to up your food game, marry Daniel Dahl.  The best meals and coffee consumed on the island so far came from our own kitchen.
• I don’t like fishing.  Unless it is extreme adventure fishing!!!!  Daniel is not too keen on extreme adventure fishing.  Until he sees the size of the fish that can be caught from shore at the mere cost of risking your life to get to the fishing spot!
• Persimmon’s are delicious.  An unexpected new contender to my favorite fruit the blueberry.  
  
  
  
  
  
  The following are  photos from our "extreme adventure fishing" trip to Cape Zanpa.
  
  

  

  Lydia at the top of the cliff that overlooks, the fishing spot

  
  

  

  Daniel made it down the cliff with his gear, only 300 yards more of this stuff..

  
  

  

  The scenery

  
  

  

  Daniel gets partial credit for helping this guy get his fish out of the water with the gaff hook.

Typhoon Alley

June 1^st – November 1^st is typhoon season in Okinawa.  At this time last year, 6 typhoons had already hit the island.  This year, there haven’t been any.  Until this past weekend.  We started hearing about the potential of Typhoon Fito hitting Okinawa last Monday.  Nothing new, there was another typhoon forecasted to hit the island a couple weekends ago that was a false alarm.  But, when Wednesday rolled around and the forecast continued to confirm, Typhoon Fito is heading straight for Okinawa we started to prepare.  Another seemingly tell-tale sign that this one was for real is that small talk begins revolving around “the typhoon.”    

“I’m heading to the grocery store, to stock up for the typhoon.”

“Better get there early.  The lines are going to be terrible, because of the typhoon.”

“You all ready for the typhoon? 

“Yep.  All stocked up on video games and food.”  

“So what if the power goes out?” 

“All hopes lost.”

“Of course, this one would hit on the weekend.  Last 4 typhoons in a row. All over the weekends.  Don’t even get to take off work.”

Daniel left work on Friday only after closing all the blinds on the windows to minimize damage, and, for offices and operatories on the 1^st and 2^nd floors, placing a plastic bag over the computer and ensuring all electronics were elevated from the ground.  When he arrived home, we proceeded to bike to the grocery store to buy 2 water jugs to supplement the one that I had gotten already to put in our “typhoon readiness kit,”  something that everyone new to the island is encouraged to create.  Daniel filled up the bathroom tub with water for washing and flushing toilets if the electricity and water pressure went out, parked the car securely next to the curb with the emergency brake locked, and I moved all the trash bins and outdoor furniture indoors.  

The sky lit up in an orangey glow color as the sun set that evening.  Similar to the peculiarly radiant colors that sometimes occur before a tornado.   And we went to bed.

Orange sky and Daniel :)

We awoke to a rainy windy Saturday morning.  Since we do not have internet, we turned on the radio.  There is one English radio channel in Okinawa and that is the military station, AFN.  We eventually heard the information we wanted, the weather report.   TCCOR-1 Caution.  This means winds of 35-50 knots are occurring and winds of 50 knots or greater are likely within hours, stay indoors.  Schools close and all support centers close and, you have to stay on the base. 

So, we spent much of the morning watching the gusty winds blow the trees and rain around out of the window.  By the afternoon, I could no longer resist the urge.  I put my raincoat on and went outside for an adventure walk.  I came back soaked and happy.  My curiosity was satiated as much as it could be without violating military guidelines too much.

Overall, it was a great typhoon day.  We did not lose electricity, we did not need the bathtub full of water, and we were not scared.  Some of the highlights: a huge pancake breakfast, fresh baked cookies, some home projects accomplished, lots of storm watching while snuggling, and we starting the new book we are listening to, “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell.  I even got a work-out in on my new bike trainer.

The best part of our first typhoon experience?  Another typhoon is forecasted to hit the island on Monday!... 

J

And it did, Typhoon Danas was forecast to be much more severe than Fito with predicted affects for this area being straight line winds of 90 knots gusting to 110 knots (that’s 104-127 mph).  The dental clinic was closed at lunch time and all personnel were sent home to prepare for the storm, meaning Daniel got the afternoon off! Alas, the storm passed too far to the north of us to raise the alert to TCCOR-1 Emergency (meaning winds of 50 knots or greater are occurring) so we didn’t get to see the full potential of a typhoon for ourselves but we did get more quality time together and some more workouts on the bike trainer.  (We’re not really wishing the brunt of a typhoon on Okinawa but everything here is built to withstand them so it wouldn’t be that big a deal anyway).

TCCOR-1 Caution: quick go for a run before the gate closes!

6164B Camp Lester

Collaborative Post:

As of August 9, 2013 Daniel and I have been living out of the luggage we were allowed to carry with us on the plane to Okinawa.  The first three weeks after our arrival we lived in “temporary housing” on the air base.   The room had a kitchen with 2 of all basic utensils.  Forks, spoons, plates,  bowls, mugs etc.    Two weekends ago, we were assigned and allowed to move into our permanent place of residence at Camp Lester, a marine housing base about 2 miles South of Kadena.   So, Saturday evening after having dinner with a small group from the dental clinic, we packed up our luggage and joyfully left our temporary roach infested and smelly residence.  The military provided temporary furniture until the two shipments with the rest of our belongings arrived.   A bed, couch, table, 2 chairs, and a dresser were there waiting for us.  We were happy and hungry, so I offered Daniel part of my sandwich. 

Crap.   No knife.  

The next morning:  “Hey Daniel, would you like oatmeal for breakfast?” 

Crap. No saucepan.

“How about cereal instead?”

Oh wait.  No bowls or spoons.

We ate bread that morning.

That is how the next couple of days went.  We drank milk and juice straight out of the cartons, ate with our hands, tore our food, or went out for ramen. 

Luckily, ( I talked to a lot of people who lived in their empty house for months before their things arrived) all of our stuff arrived one week later.

Our Stuff arrives :)

Almost all of our stuff arrived safe and sound including two large mirrors, three glass end tables, and countless other items that could easily have fared the long journey differently.  Part of their secret may be that they wrap everything in paper.  Everything.  This made the un-packing process feel like Christmas.  Except better!  Because every gift that we opened was something we forgot we owned and already know we use.  Some of our favorite arrivals:

-Highlander grog coffee beans and a French press   (Good coffee is Haaaard to find in Okinawa so this was a real treat)

-Kitchen knives (much sharper than the two alloted to us in temporary lodging)

-“Basically everything in the kitchen”  -Daniel

-towels (we were continually washing and or re-using the two towels we had packed, my tiny dry wic REI towel and a small hand towel that Daniel packed)

-a really comfortable bed with sheets and pillows (the temporary bed provided did not come with bedding so we spread Daniel's sleeping bag over it for our bedding and woke up every morning to find one of us on the sleeping bag, the other on the mattress, and both of us wondering if it was actually a cardboard box disguised as a bed that we had slept on...)

-biore face soap

-hammock

-fishing gear

-oatmeal

-4 bags of dried beans including garbanzo (for hummus) and split peas (for soup)

-….and  Bikes!!

A random list.  But truly, these items were opened with extra jubilation, possibly a scream, and definitely a large smile. 



Daniel demonstrating how his handiwork and design for hanging the hammock he brought home from Belize holds up.

Lydia displaying her bike rack that, on the second attempt, successfully holds and displays our bikes in a corner of our living room. 

Our barracks.  6164B Camp Lester

Collaborative Post: The Story Behind the Cube

"Have you guys gotten a car yet?" 

Is a first question we have gotten numerous times from new acquaintances here.  Lydia's automatic retort usually goes something like, "Naw, our bicycles are on the way!"  or  "What about the bus?  Doesn't anyone here ride the city bus here?"  

At the "newcomers briefing" anyone with a current US license had the opportunity to get their SOFA (Status Of Forces Agreement, so military members and their dependents with a US drivers' license don't have to get a Japanese license) license.  A surprisingly easy process.  We sat through a 60 min lesson on road rules, road signs, and driving hazards on the island, took a 20 question test, and now, along with the 60 other people at the briefing, are licensed to drive.  Which brings us back to the original question,  "have you guys gotten a car yet?" 

No.

Thus began our search.  We looked at a place known as the "lemon lot," officially called the "Auto Resale Lot."  The cars there all seemed to be way outside our price range.  Our next resource was a site called bookoo.com which is like an Okinawa specific form of Craigslist.  This resulted in some promising leads but we wanted to check some other options as well.  We then took a city bus a ways away from base, got off at a random stop, and started walking.  We stopped at every dealership we passed.   Walking from dealership to dealership looking in vain for cars in our price range and/or English speaking salespersons.  That adventure did afford us the opportunity to sample several new beverages from the abundant vending machines along the way (which saved us both from dehydration),

Lydia demonstrating the her first beverage pick of the day "Apple Tea"

 but lead us to the conclusion that our best option would be one of the cars from bookoo.com.  We sent  out numerous messages to potential sellers but unfortunately most of the answers were "sorry, just sold it."  Then we saw... The Cube! It was a listing that had been up a few days and from the sound of her reply it seemed that the seller hadn't received much interest.  So, after arranging a time to meet, Daniel taking it on a short but harrowing test-drive on the left side of the road from a right-side steering vehicle we decided it was a good option.  Later that day, after our other option was sold before we could even see it, we decided to make a low-ball offer and to our happiness and amazement it was accepted!  A few days later we took possession of our white 2001 Nissan Cube.  :-)

Now our answer will be; "Yes, and we'll only have to use it until our bikes arrive!"

Collaborative Post:  History

Photo of marines in Okinawa during WWII

On Wednesday, we were required to attend a military “newcomers briefing” to the island.   Overall it provided us with helpful information for getting settled.  We especially appreciated the message from the General that encouraged empathy and understanding by explaining some of Okinawa’s history and the history behind the military’s presence here.

 Okinawa was the main island in the Ryukyu Kingdom from around 1400 to 1800 during which the closest trading partner and largest influence on the culture was China.  During the early 1800s Japan started to exert more influence over the Ryukyu Kingdom and made it part of Japan.  During WWII the people of Okinawa felt that they were not given adequate support from Japan and were treated like a “speed bump” for the invasion of Japan by America.  During the battle of Okinawa nearly 1/3 (200,000) of the population was killed.  After World War II the US government was in charge of Okinawa.   Twenty-seven years later in 1972, rule of the Island was returned to Japan however, the US military continues to be a strong presence on the island.  Seventy-five percent of US military occupation in all of Japan is found on the island of Okinawa.  To put this in perspective, if the United States were Okinawa, Japanese military would occupy the state of Texas, North Dakota, South Carolina, and two other states.  On top of that, in 1997 and 2012 one of the Japanese military members would have gone into Oklahoma and raped a young American girl (referring to 2 cases in ’97 & ’12 where an American marine raped an Okinawan woman).  As a result, it is typical to see Okinawans holding protests against US military presence on the island one to two times per month. 

Protest against military aircraft after crash in Okinawa, 2012

All of this history was explained to express the need for positive American ambassadors in every exchange on and off-base and to help military members and their families better understand the Okinawan culture and the dislike of American occupation.    

For those of you who have been so anxiously waiting for it, here is our new address at Kadena!

Lydia and Daniel Dahl
PSC 80 BOX 17368
APO, AP 96367-0076

For those of you not familiar with addresses of overseas military bases APO is the city, AP is the state and the zip code is a "California" zip code for Kadena Air Base, Japan.  :)  So, one stamp is enough for us to get your letter.

Thanks for visiting our blog!

We departed for Okinawa on August 22, 2013  

Stay tuned for updates...  :) 

Arrival & First Impressions

We are in Okinawa!
  ...we think?

Military Bases look very similar where ever in the world you are.  So for the first two days, we didn't hear any Japanese spoken, and the only hint that we were indeed somewhere else was the heat, humidity, and palm trees and other tropical looking species of plants seen here and there.  Kadena Air Force Base is a large base in Okinawa.  To give an idea of what a "large" base means, Daniel will be one of 27 dentists working at the dental clinic here.  80,000 Americans reside on the Island of Okinawa, 25,000 of which are affilitated with Kadea Airforce Base. 

So.

After a brief trip off-base for the first time yesterday, I still feel confused..  We were taken to the "Sea-Wall" a beautiful wall/sidewalk between the ocean and onshore development.  Great views of the ocean, the island, and... Americans snorkeling and enjoying the beach.   

Other first impressions from Lydia:

+  On route to Okinawa we stopped at two bases before getting to our destination.  At each base, all the millitary people "in-charge" were kids! (It felt like..)     Young 18 or 19 yr olds.  I didn't expect to feel so much older than a lot of the military folks..

+  Purpose and a reason to be here are going to be key for adapting

+  Milk tastes reeeeally good

First impressions from Daniel:

+  Military base seems like any other I have been on
+  Seafood in the grocery store off-base looks fresher and cheaper than any I have ever
    seen :)
+  I have yet to see one of the "large spiders" that everyone warned me about
+  People are extremely friendly and polite