Hiroshima Trip

This year is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the end of the war in Japan.  Since we hadn't been to either location yet, we figured it would be a good time to do so.

Hiroshima is 9-10 hours (estimated by Google) away from us by car, and after looking into the other options, we decided it was the cheapest option for us due to the great car rental options available to us on base.  For about $60 a day, we get a car and free toll tickets.  We estimate it saved us about $400 for this trip, and avoided wear and tear on our car.  But I hate driving long distances...so I wasn't sure how it would go.  Luckily we happened on the idea of listening to audio books and sermons to make the time go by faster.  We had recently started listening to C. S. Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet" as a family, so we decided to see how much of the space trilogy we could polish off on the trip.  We ended up getting through to the end of Perelandra, and got caught up on Rick Booye's sermons from Trail Christian Fellowship.

Our first stop were some friends that we had never met.  There's a blog I've been following since before we arrived in Japan called "Life in the land of Wa" and we had just begun emailing each other a month or so before our trip when we found out that they live near Hiroshima and we'd be passing right by.  They offered for us to spend the night with them and we gladly accepted.  So we got to meet their family and spend time in their lovely home.  It's so wonderful to be able to just sit and talk with people in similar circumstances and with similar beliefs.  We talked all evening and most of the next morning before bidding them farewell.  They also introduced us to a new fabulous ramen restaurant for dinner.   I had heard of Ippudo as it is also international, but hadn't ever tried it before.  I must say it was excellent (especially the spicy ramen).

The next morning we drove the relatively short distance to the famous island of Miyajima.  They are famous for their beautiful shrine and oysters.  In fact, the annual oyster festival (kaki matsuri) was in full swing that day!  When we got to the town across from Miyajima, we drove all over the place looking for a parking spot.  Finally, past all the official parking spaces, there was a lady directing traffic and she took pity on us and gave us her spot.  The lines at the matsuri were insane!  We waited in some of the shorter ones to get a bite to eat, then walked through town (snacking along the way) to see the famous tori gate.  Unfortunately the tide was out, but it was still pretty.

It was getting close to 4pm, so we decided to head to our "hotel" 88 House.  It was in the middle of a ravine about 10 minutes drive from Hiroshima.  Typical with Japan, we took a sharp hairpin turn off of the main road and found ourselves next to a little river and several rice fields.  The house itself used to be a bonsai shop, and though built in the old style, it must have been either renovated recently as it didn't look or feel like it was old.  The proprietor was very nice and when we asked about a local onsen/sentou (public bath house) he gave us directions to one nearby.  So we promptly drove over there and used the facilities.  Then we drove back and stopped at a local store that sold mostly varieties of nikuman (siopao/meat buns) with local types of meat.  Then we passed out at our hotel at about 8pm.  The futons were very comfy and the place heated up nicely for the night.  Our one complaint about the place was the lack of a full washlet.  The shared bathroom was very clean, but I'm sorry, this is Japan and there is no excuse for not have a real washlet.

The next morning we slept in, ate hand made local rice onigiri with miso soup for breakfast, and made it into Hiroshima proper by 10am or so when most stuff started opening.  We went straight for the Peace Museum.  It was of course very sobering, and a different kind of weird to be able to touch so many things that were there at the explosion.  I am glad we watched the documentary "White Light, Black Rain" prior though.  It was in some ways more personal as it focused on the experiences of several individuals who survived but were still affected by it.  That documentary was in my opinion more disturbing than the Peace Museum, but like I said, there is a different sort of reality to be experienced by physical contact with objects that were there.

After that it was lunch time, so we made our way down to the famous "Okonomiyaki Village" (Okonomimura) where floor upon floor of little okonomiyaki stalls greeted us.  We walked every floor and chose the one with the cute older lady who seemed the least annoying.  What a strange feeling to be "solicited" so insistently for something in Japan!  We chose kaki (oyster), hotate (scallop), and cheese/mochi types and watched them carefully prepared in front of us.  This was our first time eating Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, and we all loved it!  Personally, I'd prefer this style any day over Osaka style.  The main difference is that Osaka style (which is what we have mostly over in our area) is just mixed up ingredients and then fried like a pancaked until done.  Hiroshima style is layered carefully one at a time.  I hope we can find some Hiroshima style places near us at home.

After lunch we walked over to the actual Hypocenter directly below where the bomb detonated (a tiny back road area with no one around) and the Peace Dome.  The Dome was sadly being surveyed so it had scaffolding all around it, but the area by the rivers was lovely.  Then we walked up to the castle, which was very lovely and the grounds were quite peaceful.  We didn't go inside (we've done that many times by now), and it started to rain, so we walked almost all the way back to where we had parked.  Near by was a Shisha cafe called Kugrass so we stopped in there.  Previous shisha experiences in Yokosuka had put me off shisha in Japan, but I had never tried shisha prepared by a Japanese person before (in Yokosuka it's done by middle eastern folks, and you'd think they'd know what they were doing, but you'd be wrong).  It was a quiet, cute little cafe, well ventilated so even Rowan didn't have an issue with smokiness (he's quite sensitive).  The shisha was amazing, some of the best I've ever had. Perfectly smooth, cool draw, smokeless coals, and it never got nasty towards the end as it sometimes does.  The masala chai tea was excellent too.  I really hope they get more business.

We had decided we wanted to eat dinner at an excellent indian place we had heard of (Roopali) but it was a bit early for dinner so we decided to drive down to Iwakuni and the marine base there to fill up our fuel tank with cheap, subsidized american cheater gas.  We arrived as it was getting dark so had to ask for directions around the base, and we didn't get to see much of it in the misty rain that was falling.  Mission successful, we headed back to Roopali.  In Yokosuka there are tons of Indian restaurants nearby, but none of them approach great, let alone excellent. The curries are uncomplicated, the naan is sweet, and bread selection is...well...only naan. So we are always looking for "real" indian food wherever we go. The best we've had so far was a total accidental find near Yokota Air Base, but that's quite far and we hardly ever get up there.  We were hesitant to spend one of our food time slots while visiting Hiroshima on another probably bad Indian place, but this hugely popular spot looked worth it. We were very glad we risked it. First, there's more than one kind of bread on the menu! They had naan and roti, and lo and behold, the naan wasn't sweet! And the roti was big, thick and brown. Oh so delicious. Also, they let me order a *salty* lassi, even though it wasn't on the menu! Oh heaven! The curries were popping with flavor (not just spiciness though they did that well too). The boneless tikka chicken we ordered was also amazing. Of course we ate way too much, but it was so much fun. Highly recommended if you need a real indian food fix. It is a little expensive compared to other Indian places in Japan, but worth it.  After that we headed home for our last night at 88 house.

The next morning we started the long trip back home, which took about 10 hours.  We did stop several times for breaks and lunch along the way.  But we made it back in time to turn our car rental in and avoid a another day's charges.  It was nice to have the next day off of work too, and we used the time to clean around the house and do some grocery shopping.

Overall, for our first really long road trip in Japan, it went very well.  I still don't like driving much, but it really helps to have something to listen to (i.e. audio books/sermons) to make the time go by.

Roller Derby in Yokota!

Last weekend we spent the night at Yokota Airbase because Kerri had a roller derby game there.  This was my (Jesse's) first time to watch an actual game, and it was a lot of fun!  The Yokosuka team won due to overwhelming numbers, skill and solidity, at least, that's why my limited perspective told me.  I'm still pretty new to the sport.  We'll get some pictures up soon.

We decided to stay Saturday night at the base because it's so cheap ($60 a night) and their base store has different (cheaper) stuff than our base's store.  So we were able to get some clothes for our upcoming trip to the Philippines (last two weeks of November).

And of course, there was the food.  Not on base, yuck!  We had heard of a nice Japanese Sakery that brews some beer too, so Kerri and I set off to find it in the rain after the game, leaving Rowan at the hotel happy with Chili's mac'n'cheese and a portable gaming system.  After about 45 minutes of walking we found the place, but it was almost 9pm and they were closing up.  It looks lovely though and we'd like to try to get there some other time (http://www.tamajiman.com).

So we decided to find the first thing we could and eat there.  As we approached the nearest restaurant we saw in front of us a small sign advertising curry.  Now Japanese curry is not like Indian or Thai curry, and while we like it now and then (and used to make it at home at least once a week), we weren't looking for that tonight.  As we got closer, we saw an Indian flag and two guys working behind bar seating in what was likely a repurposed ramen shop.  We went in and were amazed to see, in addition to the usual naan bread, chapati on the menu!  Our hopes were rising.  We had yet to have truly good Indian food in Japan.  Most Indian food is toned way down in terms of complexity of flavor to accommodate the Japanese palate.  Makes good business sense, but the food suffers.  They also rarely have more than naan for bread, and it is slightly sweet, to the point where I refuse to order it anymore.  We asked if we could order chapati and they said yes, and proceeded to make it from scratch in front of us!  We also tried a roasted chicken that was a nepalese specialty, samosas, and a couple of curries.  As each dish arrived we were blown away by the strong and complex flavors.  It was truly the best Indian we've had in Japan.  It's a tiny place with hardly any room to work, but those guys churned out amazing food.  (http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1329/A132902/13149952/).

Now, finding one "best in Japan so far" restaurant would have been enough to make this weekend a huge success, but two?  Are you crazy?  On the way home that night (another 45 minute walk), we passed by a Thai restaurant just outside the main base gate.  It had a colorful tuk-tuk in front and was brightly decorated.  We decided to give it a try the next day.  As with Indian food in Japan, so with Thai.  While there are some decent Thai places in Yokosuka, none of them are what we would consider excellent Thai, again with the toning down and simplifying of flavors.  So we didn't get our hopes up, but hey, you never know.  The next day before we left for home, we had lunch there, and again...blown away.  The best Thai we've had in Japan so far.  All the sweet/sour/spicy flavors were represented.  You could even order a plate of lettuce and herbs to eat your food with.   Rowan wanted roasted chicken that they were cooking on a barbeque in front.  It was deliciously marinated.  We got some fermented sausage fried rice, red curry, and ground chicken with Japanese pumpkin (kabocha).  Nothing was one-note flavor, every bite was a surprise.  We wished we could have tried everything on the menu, but sadly, we got full, and we don't get out there very often.  (https://ja-jp.facebook.com/khaomangai.16)

"When we get in we'll take some pictures and post them"

Haha, haha, hahahahah!

Sorry, I shouldn't make promises, I know.  Anyway, we've been in our apartment now for quite some time and we love it!  It's so nice to be close to work again like when we lived in Portland.  It's about a 10 or 15 minute walk to work, so sometimes I come home for lunch.

In other news, Kerri has taken up Roller Derby (I'll let her post on that some time if she wants), we've finally started back up with Japanese lessons, and we're hoping to start up meeting for the church plant in December.

Otherwise, we just got done volunteering at the Love Japan conference (lovejp.org), which was really fun.  We got to attend most of the talks (that were in English) and made lots of new friends among the other volunteers.

We're planning on visiting the Philippines for the last two weeks of November, and are looking forward to visiting with family and friends.  We're going to take a trip up to Sagada, Banaue and Baguio, and hopefully visit Luming and Mayen's family too.

Kerri and Rowan are planning to visit the US next summer some time, and that's the extent of our plans for the future.

Just wanted to put something up for anyone who still follows us.

-JC

New Apartment

Here's a diagram of what we hope will be our new apartment.  It's on the 11th floor of a building that is just about equidistant between the two base entrances.  It's on a road that's about a 5 minute walk from the main train station in town.  About 10 minutes gets you to the local mall.  Most of the apartments in this building are rectangular with the only real windows facing out over the balcony.  This one is different because it's on the side of the building, and that means more windows.  The genkan (entrance) has lots of storage space for shoes and other stuff, and there's a small alcove with a window directly across from the front door.  The area is fairly narrow, but as you turn right and proceed into the apartment, the walls V out and expand resulting in a fairly powerful psychological effect that makes the living room area feel more spacious than it probably is.  There is a large window to the left the looks out over the city, and you can see Tokyo bay in the distance dotted with ships, and Sarushima (Monkey Island) as well.  There is an odd large closet that was passed by earlier on the left.  We have contemplated making it Rowan's room, but I don't think he'd appreciate it.  The kitchen is essentially part of the same room, which Kerri likes, and I'm not quite sure if we will have a proper "dining" area.  We might go with a kitchen island with bar stools.  The tatami room is ours (of course), and Rowan will get the adjacent room.  There is no carpet (thank goodness), and we'll probably have to get a bed from Rowan's room.  Kerri and I will sleep on the tatami using futons, and we'll put them away during the day and use the room with our kotatsu (low table) for schoolwork or whatever.  The balcony looks in towards the city, but there's not much of a view that way.

It will cost about $1180 a month (that's including a $150 maintenance fee), and we are hoping to get a base parking spot which will save us about $300 a month in parking fees.

They are going to put a single air-conditioner in (not sure where), so we'll probably need to get another one on our own dime.  Additionally we'll need to buy a range (standalone ovens being somewhat unheard of here) and possibly light fixtures.  Otherwise we have most everything we need already.  We were thinking about hiring  movers (something we've never done), but now it looks like we'll get to overlap significantly with our current house and be able to move leisurely.

The apartment hunt began in earnest at the beginning of the year.  We scoured various online sites and saw several good candidates and sent off our inquiries.  We got to see a few places at first and were pretty disappointed by what we saw.  The apartments were small, cramped, old and dingy, and were going for about $1000 to $1500.  And that was a Japanese lease.  A $1000 apartment jumped to $2000 when it was converted to a "Navy Base Lease."  The main difference between the two types of leases is that the navy lease allows us to break the lease with 10 days notice, and we're pretty much guaranteed to get our deposit back (barring egregious damage).  Also, we don't need a japanese guarantor (japanese citizen or company willing to pay your rent if you flake out).  Needless to say, we decided early on we'd probably end up needing to get a japanese lease if we wanted to realize significant savings.  We figured we'd get a guarantor company to cover the guarantor requirement.

We had a falling out with one of the first agents that showed us around.  I could never quite figure out what his issue with us was, but it was the first time I'd ever encountered such unprofessionalism from a Japanese agent.  He flat refused to show us any more apartments and we were very disappointed as that company seemed to have all the apartments we were interested in.  We proceeded with other contacts for a while, and then we took a break as I had to travel to Bahrain for work for 3 weeks.

After returning, we started up again, contacting our current agent for our house (who we love and would like to keep working with) to see if she had anything.  She showed us one apartment that was again disappointing, but we wanted to take one more shot with the previous company to see if we could see some of the apartments we were most interested in.  I called the main Tokyo office and requested to not speak with the person they would usually refer us to.  The gentlemen who ended up helping us was very nice (an American citizen but 2nd or 3rd generation Japanese Hawaiian) and came down to Yokosuka one saturday to show us several apartments.  There was one that Kerri absolutely loved, but it was a little far from town and the base.  Then there was the one that we settled on above.  There were actually 5 or so different apartments in this building available, but we liked this one the best.

Kerri made us wait 24 hours before deciding, and then we told the agent we wanted it.  Since then there have been some hiccups, but hopefully everything will work out.  First, the guarantor company that the building accepts rejected us, probably due to our strange visa situation (we don't fit in any of the normal boxes).  So we asked some friends that we have made here if the wife would be our guarantor (she's Japanese).  They said yes, so we go their info to the agent.  I need to get a "signature certificate" from the US Embassy tomorrow morning which is in Tokyo.  This is a notarized document that says my signature is actually mine.  Here in Japan they use official seal stamps for important things like buying a car or getting a new apartment, and since I don't have one my signature has to do the same thing.  This enables that to be official.  Also, we were told by our agent that he found out our apartment is actually owned by the prefecture, so it would take longer to process everything.  This has us a bit worried as I've scheduled our current lease and payment cancellations for next week.  We are hoping to hear something more solid before then, otherwise we might postpone.

So that's where we are at the moment.  When we get in we'll take some pictures and post them.  For now, there is the layout above, and here's a picture of the building.  Our apartment is the 3rd from the top on the side closest:

Moving time

We have found an apartment closer to base and are looking forward to moving in soon (hopefully!).

Per some previous comments, some of you wanted an idea as to why we would do something so unexpected.  We've always said that we didn't want to live too near the base as we really wanted to feel like we were "living" in the country and not be too dependent on the base.  While the sentiment remains true, since living here for 2 plus years now I think we've been able to reformulate just what constitutes "living" here.  What follows are my attempts to break down the various reasons for why we have changed our minds about living in Yokosuka.

1)  City life:  In our experience, the areas close to a US base tend to cater to the baser needs of that community, resulting in some of the seedier neighborhoods we've encountered (encrustations I've called them).  We assumed that was what Yokosuka would be like.  However, in reality stepping off base is really like stepping into Japan, literally into the center of Yokosuka city.  There is a particular street/area that is known to cater to the young sailor types, but it's actually very small and there have been some attempts to make it nicer.  But beyond that, Yokosuka really has its own identity separate from the base, and it's the closest thing to a "city" that we have around here.  It has the most restaurants, the closest mall with movie theaters, and the closest thing to a real "vibe".  And it's pretty darn cool, no matter how you look at it, to glance over at the bay and see ships, submarines and an aircraft carrier on any given day.  My personal preference has always been city life and while we have enjoyed our house in a small fishing village, the call of the city definitely pulls on me.  Since moving to Yokohama or Tokyo (which some of my coworkers have done) would also mean an even longer commute, the closest thing to "city life" going on here is Yokosuka.

2)  Activity vortex:  We currently live about 30-45 minutes from the base (depending on mode of transport and traffic).  We don't really know any of our neighbors and there are no kids nearby.  We have zero social reasons to be where we are currently.  Kerri and Rowan are very frequently driving in to the base or the other area where people from base live (Ikego) to meet with the homeschool group for activities.  Consequently we are *always* at the base regardless of our preferences.  The reality is, 90% of our weekly/daily activities really do revolve around the base, so exiling ourselves 30 minutes away for no good reason has started to make less and less sense.  Also, we are never able to really stay and enjoy Yokosuka because we always have to "get home".  I can count the times we've had dinner there on one hand.  I'd rather live close to the base so that I can be home quickly, and then still have energy to go out and explore the city.

3)  Cost savings:  We currently pay about $2000 a month for our house.  It's a really good price for the place, given it has 6 rooms and 2 toilets.  Of course, there are only 3 of us.  It just doesn't add up.  And anyone who knows me knows I have an aversion to big places as we will inevitably fill them up with junk we don't need.  How did we get here?  Well, when we arrived, it was confusing due to the fact that I was told one thing about how I would be paid housing, and then it was changed as soon as I arrived.  But we didn't really have enough time to understand the implications of the change, plus we didn't have much of a context with which to evaluate the available options when it comes to housing.  Most people here are paid a set amount for housing based on their "grade" or "rank".  We were going to be under that system originally and figured we would get X amount of money per month to spend on housing, or we would lose it.  We budgeted between $1800 and $2000, and found a place that fit our budget.  Also, Kerri really wanted a house, so we weren't looking at apartments.  Again, for the price, it's a great place.  But...my contract changed (I was the first one to sign it) the week we arrived, and actually we are paid our housing as a set amount that is lumped in with our paycheck, and we get to keep whatever we don't spend.  Now, we didn't really think we could find a place much cheaper than what we had, but as time went by and we became more educated on what was available, we realized we could probably find an apartment that actually fit our family size for somewhere between $1000 and $1500.  That's a lot of savings to be had, money we could be putting towards retirement or at least preparing for a future in which we don't make as much as we do now.  If you also include my personal desire that we might eventually get rid of our car, and the savings add up that much more (closer to base/city = less need for a car).  When I really got our budget under control last year (thank you YNAB), the sheer magnitude of how much we could be saving really hit me.

4)  Adoption and the future:  About a year ago, we started the adoption process that eventually ended in disappointment.  Part of our motivation for that was to see if we had this big house for a reason.  Maybe we were meant to focus on having another child and building our family life there.  But as anyone who has kept up with this blog knows, that didn't happen.  While we were saddened, it was also freeing in pointing us towards the direction we are now headed in of consolidating, getting smaller, saving more and getting ready for the eventual move out into Japan separate from the base.  Oddly, moving closer to the base is going to help us be better prepared for that eventual separation.  Meanwhile, Rowan's friends and activities are all base centric, and for the next 5 or so years he's going to need some stability in his life.  We are aiming to stay put until Rowan is out of the house and embarked on his own life, and we think it will be better for him if he's closer to the locus of his activities.

There is still a chance this current apartment will fall through, but so far so good.  I'll do another post on the process.

Holiday Season

Sorry, no pictures...those of you on Facebook can ask Dad and Mayen for pictures if you want them. So the holiday season is over, and it was a lot of fun! Dad and Mayen visited us during Christmas and New Years. We were really looking forward to it, and we had a couple of special things planned. First, we went to nice onsen ryoukan (japanese style inn with hotspring baths) in Hakone. This was our first experience staying at higher end place, and it was really something special. The ryoukan (Fukuzumiro) was made up of several different buildings connected together and it just rambled on and on. The baths were interesting, unfortunately indoor, but man did they get hot! Hotter than anything else we've experienced I think. The rooms were big and the futons comfy. I think the most different aspect was all the attention the staff paid to us, much more than we are used to! In Nagoya, we actually commented on how nice it was to be totally left alone to our own devices. Definitely a different experience in Hakone. But it wasn't too irritating. The most incredible part was the full on kaisekiryouri meal that we had on our second night.  I had heard that this was a specialty of the nicer ryoukans and boy was it ever!  At first we didn't know what to expect, so when the first course arrived, we thought that was the meal.  We were a bit concerned by the lack of any rice, so we asked for some.  They brought one bowl for Rowan.  We expressed a desire that all of us would like some rice, at which time we were told that we would get rice *later*.  That's when it dawned on us that this was a multi-course meal.  Sure enough, by the time the rice actually arrived, I wasn't sure if I could eat it!  Each dish was an amazing collection of tastes, textures, colors and designs.  It was incredible!  Also, we didn't know what we were getting until it arrived, including the fugu tempura!  I had already decided that I wouldn't bother eating fugu since I was told the flavor wasn't really all that impressive and it's usually insanely expensive, but oh well, I guess I've tasted it now (tastes like fish...).

For Christmas and New Years Eve we mostly just stayed home, ate food and watched movies.

For New Years Day and the day after we had managed to get rooms at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo.  This is a military run hotel that we have access to and it's very reasonably priced given it's location.  We weren't sure if there would be anything open after New Years as most Japanese have the time off and stay home, but we figured we could at least try.  As we thought, most things were closed, but Dad did manage to get footage using a new camera he brought along to learn with.  Apparently someone in the Philippines wanted footage that might be used in something.

Anyway, we were glad that we could share the holidays with family, and glad to show our lives as well.

Coming up we don't have any big travel plans really.  The next thing on the horizon is a visit from Kerri's sister and her husband in the summer!  That should be fun.

In other news, we are actively looking for a new apartment, close to the base, smaller and cheaper.  Kerri and I are really excited about it (Rowan not so much).

We are also continuing to try and round up anyone interested in starting a Reformed church near the base and are getting ready for another push.

-JC

2012 Missed Photos

In preparing the previous Nagano post, I realized we had tons of photos from 2012 that we never got around to posting, mostly due to my procrastination.

So here are some photos from 2012:




 This was a short day trip we took on the ferry from our town of Kurihama to a temple complex in the mountains just across the mouth of the bay from us. It was such a surprising experience as we had no idea what we might find over there, we just took the ferry to see what was there.

 
 Here are the pictures from our trip to Kyoto over Thanksgiving weekend in 2012. We thought we were being clever to go on an american holiday, but turns out there is a Japanese equivalent that usually runs on the same weekend, so it was crazy, especially with all the beautiful fall colors. However I don't think we enjoyed it as much as we could have for some minor reasons. Next time.

 

 Rowan and I took a day trip to Hakone to see a sulphur pit. I know sounds like a ball of fun, and it was! We got to check out the sulphurous emanations, and eat black egg shell eggs cooked in the sulphur water, and eat delicious food at the restaurant there. We also took a walk around a part of the lake.

 

 These are miscellaneous 2012 pictures that didn't really make their own category...

 Enjoy!