Kinugawa River Cruise

Ok, so when you hear the term "river cruise" what comes to your mind... a slow ride down the Mississippi in a River Boat perhaps... well not in Japan.  In Japan a river cruise is sitting down on your butt in a giant wood canoe looking thing with your legs criss-crossed for 40 minutes!  It really was not all that bad... the views were spectacular and it was definitely a fun experience.  We rode on a bus for three hours each way for this tour and were able to see a lot of neat stuff.

Can you find us in this picture?

We also went to Oyaji Temple where there is a 700 year old Kannon image carved into the side of the mountain.  It is a sacred area so we were not allowed to take pictures of the actual image but this one is of the kids standing just out in front of the temple.

This Kannon statue was made in 1954 and is called a Peace Kannon since it was made after the war as pacification for fallen soldiers.  It stands 27 meters high.



Nick was happy to finally find someone with a head bigger than his!


Next we went to the Oyo Stone Musuem.  Oyo stone is very famous for its softness and many colors.  Frank Lloyd Wright used the oyo stone while designing the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo in 1923.  We went deep down into the quarry and it was really cold and wet down there.  There were giant rooms where the rock had been removed.  Come to find out that the Japanese used this area during the war as a secret underground airplane factory for the Zero fighters.

 Our last part of the tour took us across this suspension bridge over the Kinugawa River - we went under it on our "cruise".  While we were crossing it, some people thought it would be funny to move side to side and make the bridge sway - so not funny!

Destination Singapore!

Well, after being in Japan for two weeks, we really got bored of things so we decided to go meet up with Tony in Singapore!  That meant six more hours on a plane - fun!  Singapore was beautiful!  It was like a rain forest - everything was green and there were flowers everywhere.  We stayed at a beautiful hotel called Siloso Beach Resort on Sentosa Island.  Here is a picture of the kids in the pool..

We also had fun at the Singapore Zoo - the kids got to feed a giraffe, we saw kangaroo's that were just out in the open, and we saw an elephant show that was amazing:



Nick intentionally put that carrot in Ally's hair so the giraffe would lick her -
what a nice brother!



Ally's dream came true and we rode an elephant!


We had lots of fun that week.  We did the tourist thing and went to Universal Studios Singapore - not as good as the one in Orlando but they had the coolest thing - they had sections of the park that were enclosed overhead that you could go into if raining and it was air conditioned.  We also went on a Night Safari which was a separate Zoo from the Singapore Zoo - this one allowed you to see all the animals that are awake at night.  We went into a room full of bats flying around - that was not cool!  I was so happy because we got to eat at Chili's and Hard Rock - I miss my American restaurants!  We also went to see a show called Voyage de la Vie - it was like a cirque de sole - amazing!  We went on a luge down a mountain and more amazing than that, we went on a zip line - yes, I, Brenda, went on a zip line and survived - who cares if I would not let go of the rope to save my life - here is the proof...

Tony and Michael were riding together and were the ones taking the pictures!

 We had a really nice week with Tony, but it was so sad to have to say good-bye to him once again... we miss you Dad and can't wait for you to come home!



The Merlion statue is in the background - the symbol of Singapore!



Our First Trip to Yokohama

Nick and I went on our first outing in Japan.  We are required to take an AOB/ICR week long class as soon as we get here (Area Orientation Brief/Intercultural Relations Class).  We learn a little about the people here in Japan and what to do and not to do when out in town.  For instance, we learned you shouldn't talk on the trains, it is rude not to slurp you noodles and you shouldn't eat and drink while walking down the sidewalk. We were required to go on a trip on our own after learning about the train system so our group chose to go to Yokohama and Nick came along for the day.  We went to one of the tallest buidlings in Japan and there was a mall there - they had a Pokemon Store can you believe it and a Krispy Kream donut shop!  They also had a giant ferris wheel behind the building.  Within walking distance was China Town so we went there as well.  Yes, we moved to Japan and went to China Town our first time out.  This is a picture of Nick and I in front of a Shinto Shrine in China Town:



This is a picture of us in front of the building:

We had a really good time that day - Michael and Ally were at a summer camp that week.  We went to a Ramen shop and fortunately they had a menu that had pictures so we were able to point to what we wanted.  Nick "slurped" his noodles like a champ while a little Japanese boy sitting across from him just stared at him the entire time.  We made it back on the train after we got on the wrong one first but realized it before it left the station - good times!

First Days in Japan

Well, we arrived on "Our Great Overseas Adventure" to Japan on Saturday, July 24, 2010.  It was a very long flight but the kids and the dog did great.  We found out that day that Tony had to leave Monday morning to meet the boat so he did not have much time to spend here with us before he left.  The first thing we did upon landing at Narita Airport was to use the bathrooms.  Ally came out in awe saying we had go see the "pimped out" toilets.  I am attaching a picture - we still don't know which buttons to push!

The kids and I were happy to arrive on the base and see that it was like a little slice of America in the middle of Japan.  They have all the same things we would have on a base back home.  One of the first things we had to do was to take Michael to the hospital in Yokosuka for his nose that he broke right before we left for Japan.  Unfortunately, it was set by the time we got to the hospital and they didn't want to re-brake it for fear that it would affect the growth of his nose - so we have to wait until he is about 17 now to get it fixed - it is  not that bad.  But... when we were there, we saw this really cool mailbox...

The kids love the fact that they can walk to everything.  Nick goes to the movies by himself - he just saw Inception - which he says is the best movie ever - I still have not seen it.  Ally and Michael walk to school, which is only a block from our house.  Nick goes to high school at Zama Army Base which is about 20 minutes away (with no traffic).  They have all dived right into activities.  Nick is learning to play acoustic guitar at school, is taking Japanese for his high school language requirements and is playing JV football.  Ally is learning to play the violin, joined Girl Scouts and just signed up for the swim team.  Michael is learning piano, is attending Cub Scouts and playing soccer.  It is so nice because everything is right here and the kids just go do their stuff.  I am no longer having to run kids all over town every night which is amazing!  Tony is still out at the boat and not sure yet when he will be back.  He is enjoying flying in a tactical setting again but can't wait to get home and see where we are living!  I am going to the gym a lot more - I no longer have my "I don't have time" excuses.  I am doing a Zumba class twice a week and it is a lot of fun - for those of you that know what that is!  I also just registered at University of Maryland University College to obtain a second Bachelor's degree while I am here in Accounting.  I also volunteered to be the assistant Religious Education teacher for 5th grade - so keeping busy.  Well, I wanted to get this up and running and we will post pictures here of our trips and adventures.  So we hope you enjoy!