Statue of Liberty Park

We went to the Statue of Liberty Park over the weekend. It is the largest Lady Liberty in Japan, only about 10 minutes away from us. It is on the same latitude as the real Statue of Liberty. There's a really nice park and playground and equipment for kids. Theres even a really long roller slide! If it didn't start raining we would have probably checked it out.

SKYPE

P.S. On the very bottom of this blog page shows recent pics added to my Flickr account. Also a link to see them all. I am trying to add all my pics to Flickr as backup. Only Flickr users can comment, but all can see. I can only add 5 pics a time to this blog, not as quick as I'd like. So this will help if you check out the other pics!



I'm sure most of you know what Skype is. If you download this to your computer you can call any other Skype user through the computer. If you have cam, you can view each other or not--whatever you chose.

For those that aren't computer savvy, (Like my dear M-O-M, and this other way is soo much easier!!) I found another way for Skype to work. I have a online number that is local to US that will ring directly to my computer in Japan!! No charge to you! Just whatever your cell or house plan is to call a MN area code, and will reach us in Japan! So, Berto and I were very excited about this obviously! We miss our family and would love to hear their voices!! Please remember the time difference though!!!

So far we have talked to:

1. Ana -1st prize :)
2. Lisa
3. M-O-M & Larry
4. Kellee
5. Berto's mami y papi
6. My Dad
7. Grandma Rachel & Grandpa Frank



You can also leave voicemail in case we don't answer!!

Since this blog is public, I won't post the number. I will try to send email to everyone. If I missed you, sorry, just send me an e-mail.

Dress blues

These pics are from this morning. It's a little after 7 am right now. My eyes shot open at 6 am, I don't know why!! Berto had to go in early because of a uniform inspection. Since I have pics of the other 2 uniforms, I thought I'd better take some of him in this one.

(I didn't take a full shot because he was wearing his house slippers.)

Lots of pics--new camera

JAMES, Tia Kiki misses you!!! We can link between laptop and new TV to watch our shows from online!! Great since we still don't have any channels!!


Field across the street is growing!!
Playing with the zoom function on camera.

Pachinko across street, zoomed from our bedroom.

Scarecrow!!
On the way to campsite.



Pachinko parlors EVERYWHERE!! Like literally every 5-10 minutes of us driving!!







The beach at our campsite


Aaliyah
In case it rained-we had perfect weather the whole time! When we were packing up it started to get foggy.


Kitchen tent
Bert and Donna

Geno and Bert

Geno, Miguel and Marjorie

This was the national park.

Drying out and selling seaweed.
Observation deck





Here you can see some of the 380 stairs down!!!


B-2, Geno, Miguel, Berto (B-3) and Bert.






Yakisoba and steak. Thought it was soo great to use chopsticks while camping!

Camping weekend

Berto works with a Puerto Rican guy, Geno (Navy) and they have become good friends. Geno and Berto were anxious to have the wives meet. LOL. Marjorie is Filipino and they have a 6 yr old son named Miguel. So, we have hung out a few times already, and we get along great! There is another couple, Bert (Air Force) and Donna also both Filipino with their 5 yr old Aaliyah. And another guy, also Albert or Bert. They call him B-2, since he is Bert too. Then they heard me call Gilberto, Berto-so it's a big joke now and they nicknamed him B-3. This is the group we went camping with. (The guys also all go golfing together and are excited for a tournament this Friday)

We were able to rent our equipment on base from the "Weasel's Den" lol. We got sleeping bags, tent, a table, cooler. We also bought an air mattress, firewood, flashlights, bug spray! The area where we camped at was about a 3 hour drive. We caravaned it the whole way. Once there, we set up the tents (well, the guys did) near the facilites. They had a bathroom and these huge sinks with running water. There was also showers, but they were locked up. Ok, the bathrooms.....Were very clean when we first arrived. But they are non-flushing "squatty potty's". I have posted a pic of this before. Its just like a hole in the ground. You have to squat or hold yourself up over them while trying not to drop your tp down the hole. Not too fun. By the last day the bathrooms had the strong ammonia smell.

When we first got there, there was only one other tent. By the time we left, there was about 4 more tents of people. From the tents to the beach was very close. It was just soo beautiful there. There was also a small lake on other side. This was for the kids to go in to. The ocean waves were just way too strong. Even for the guys!! And man oh man, the water was freezing cold! The guys had fun getting tossed around by the waves.

We brought lots of food (us girls went grocery shopping together the day before after going to lunch at a Indian Restaurant-buffet style....very good) We had marinated steaks, spare ribs, brats, hot dogs. Corn on the cob, rice, we made yakisoba. (Yakisoba has been my favorite food in Japan so far. Its a mix of soba noodles, meat-pork or chicken usually, cabbage, carrot, bean sprouts. The vegetables vary. Usually with a garnish of pickled ginger) We had eggs, bacon, or pancakes for breakfast. We grilled on 2 small grills and had a great box for the camp fire. And of course there was marshmallows and s'mores!!

I just adore Miguel and Aaliyah. They fight sometimes just like brother and sister. They are both really cute and well behaved. Except for Miguel when it comes to eating his food! He gets distracted easily and has to keep getting a "talking to" from mom and dad. Miguel is very affectionate and is quick to hold my hand, give me a hug or sit on my lap. Geno kept telling Berto that he was obsessed with me!

We went driving around one day in search of a better beach. We drove around for a good hour, and nothing looked better than where we were at. The short video is when we were lost. We went down the narrowest road I've ever seen!! It just kept winding and getting smaller! It wasn't until we were done that I pulled out the camera for video! I was disappointed in myself for that one and wanted to go back through so I could video it.

We stopped at a national park with a breathtaking view. It had 3 observation spots, with 380 steps to go down!! It was beautiful though, and had some small stores and restaurants. We also went to a Onsen or "hot bath". That was quite an experience. It was part of a hotel. You paid to shower and to soak in a 130 degree bath. Modesty is out the window because you shower in front of others and walk around naked. (I got over myself real quick, "When in Rome") There was also a smaller pool that was cold water, you are supposed to go back and forth. Since we were up in the mountains, the view was unreal!! I mean, I was shocked!! All you see is the ocean below and a lighthouse. I found a link that explains it very well with pics. The one we went to was very similar.

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/onsen_japan.htm

On the way back we went to a cave!! I was thinking it would be alot more rustic and the thought of hiking a cave didn't interest me much. But it was alot better than I thought! I have a brochure but it is mostly in Japanese. It says: Ryusendo-The Japan's three biggest stalactite cave. A country appointment natural monument. A dragon's blue beyond imagination. So, it was very cool or cold in the cave. Some spots were very narrow or you had to duck down in several spots. You had to climb up and down stairs throughout. One long set of stairs was very steep and scary!! The 3 lakes were deep and clear blue water was gorgeous. The 4th lake is the deepest but not open to public. I guess the cave is estimated to be over 5,000 meters but only 700 meters is open to the public. Such a great experience!!!

http://www.mizuhiroba.jp/en/meisui/ryusendo.html

Long time no blog

Hello everyone!!

I know it's been a long time since I've blogged. But have only had internet for a week now. The first couple of days was getting my fix on tv shows we have missed. I love the show True Blood and Berto and I both like Weeds and Entourage. Then over the long holiday weekend we went camping! Can you believe it? It took some convincing from our friends and Berto to get me to agree. I haven't been camping since childhood!! I will post pictures soon. Also will try to put a link to my Flickr-its easy to put ALL my pics there. This blog only lets me upload 5 at a time, so is time consuming. And links to some places we have been. But, I am getting ahead of myself.....

We moved in to our house and we LOVE it!! We are using loaner furniture and appliances we can keep for as long as we need. We should be getting the rest of our stuff in the next couple weeks. Can't wait for that!! Our house has lots of storage which is great! I just ran around counting all the remote controls. There are 13!! The fans and a/c remotes are posted on the wall. The heaters have the remote in a holder on back. Every room has a ceiling fan, and heater (1 remote is missing) and for the 2 a/c units. Oh, and 2 garage door openers. Hahaha.

Our stove is gas, so had to get used to that. It has a knob to turn gas on. That kinda scared us-have to make sure to remember to turn it off! Yesterday, Berto left it on for about 3 hours on accident. I'm just glad I wasn't the first one to make this mistake! I'm soo bad, I know.

We also have our cats with us! The lady at the kennel, told us most people take their cats home as soon as they get into a house. But, also made sure to tell us that we DIDN'T hear it from her!! They were supposed to be in quarantine for another 2 months!! Zeus and Zorro love their new house and we are happy to be a complete family again. They love when the windows are open so they can look out. They both spend a lot of time in front of the sliding glass door to the porch. There is also a window "seat" (but not really a seat) that Zorro loves to perch up on.

Another cool thing about the house. Both showers have their own waterproof floor with a drain. You can stand in the tub or out with the hand shower. I bet this is convenient for people with kids.

We still need to find blackout curtains and some for the sliding door. Anyone can look in and see the whole living room!! We are shopping for some furniture too. We need a computer desk and new kitchen table. I want a kitchen island, since there isn't very much counter space. There are some furniture stores we need to check out that I've been told about.

OK, need to post pics and links. Sorry my writing was more like random thoughts. There's just soo much to catch up on!!