Ports of Call (2)

Eating in Busan, Korea

October 14th, 2008

Pic from Wiki

My Twidget Nuke Son may be stationed in Japan but his ship gets to travel all over the Far East. They had the privilege to make a port visit in Busan (Pusan), Korea, here is one story of the visit,

“So Korea turned out to be much better then I had first anticipated. My hopes weren’t that high because I had just never really wanted to go to Korea so I knew nothing about it. Walking around, the city of Busan is pretty impressive. Its size was amazing. From what I thought would be another Chile experience, Korea left a good impression. We took a bus into the center of the city and were basically cut loose. “Go out and do (good) things”, the good is implied. The stores were clean and new looking, everything was well maintained. We sort of went into explore mode and just started walking. For no purpose other then to head in a direction and see (Read the rest of the story…)

Crazy, Crazy Pizza

October 13th, 2008

My Twiget Nuke Son’s final episode of his first impressions of Japan. One of the great things about the Navy is the opportunity it provides to experience cultures outside our own – it broadens our service men and women view of life unlike any other profession can.

“We walked around for what seemed like forever. My feet hurt, and we finally decided to call it a night and go to our hotel. The rooms were large enough for a twin bed and the ability to walk between the bed and the walls/desk and that was it. The bathroom was only slightly smaller then the room itself. It had one of those fancy toilets with the buttons and gadgets on the side. One of them being a bidet, which I was too wierded out to try.

We went for dinner at this one restaurant that had a picture menu. (for ease of use. Otherwise we may have picked something not at all what we wanted). One of the things one the menu was small pizza. I was like wow, yay, pizza! So, I (Read the rest of the story…)

Beware, Porn to Follow!

October 10th, 2008

The continuing saga of a Twiget Nuke’s first impression of Japan.

“Another thing that amazed me was how much 18+ things there were in Akihabara. It seemed every single store had its own collection of hentai/porn. We went into a corner store one time just to look for a few small things, and sure enough there was porn in a section. And it isn’t covered up, its not hidden away. You just find yourself looking at like music cds, anime dvds, porn; OK, new store, magazines, porn, novels. There doesn’t seem to be a line somewhere that says Beware! Porn to follow! Some stores with basements have a sign as you go down that says, “18+ (Read the rest of the story…)

Akihabara Maid Cafe

October 9th, 2008

OK, a herd of Nukes with a food fetish? My Twiget Nuke Son’s continuing saga of his first impressions of Japan, Enjoy!

“One of the things my friend had wanted to do while in Akihabara was go to a famed “Maid Café”. In a society all about social standards and ones place in society with the dominant male and subservient female, a whole sort of fetish revolves around the idea of a female serving you. But not in the “Can I get you a drink sir?” type way, but in the “Yes Master, how may I be able to serve you today?” type approach. The term “moe(mo –eh)” comes to mind. Well a maid café is a place where you go, all the waitresses and staff are female and dressed in French maid outfits. They talk sweetly and laugh in girly high pitched sounds and always try to bow. We were trying to figure out how to get to a maid café when (Read the rest of the story…)

Japan is a Geek’s Paradise

October 8th, 2008

My Twiget Nuke Son’s continuing first impressions of Japan, enjoy

“So when we finally arrived in Akihabara, Japan. It was much much different than the small city of Yokosuka. Being a part of Tokyo, Akihabara isn’t exactly deserted. Masses of people were all over the sidewalks, and when the light changed colors a herd of people crossed the street in one direction or another. The buildings were plastered with anime characters and video game signs, and one tall building on a corner had in large letters “Welcome to Akihabara” on a huge sign at its top. There were buildings with just floors and floors of arcade games, from the simple “UFO Grabber” games where you try to grab prizes, to the more complex. The more complex being one floor with 10-12 large mock cockpits to Gundams that close sealing you inside immersing you into a brawl of 5v5 Gundam arena combat. The non-participants got to watch a large screen in the center of the room (Read the rest of the story…)

First Day In Japan – Mass Transit

September 29th, 2008

My Son who is a Nuke on the USS George Washington sent me an email with a description of his first day off the ship in the country which will be his new home for a couple of years. I decided to post the part of his day when he and his friends had to tackle getting in and around the mass transit station. He has been studying Japanese for a few years but this is his first time actually using the knowledge “for real”. I always wondered what possessed people to ask in the foreign tongue if they speak English… Anyway, the first of what I hope are many installments of my Son’s Far East adventure.

“The streets were new to us, the signs with the engrish on them (attached photo) and the way just everything was situated. This will be our new home for a while and it was a lot to take in. On the base there are cliff like faces, the area itself seeming to be a sharp hilly terrain that was molded to allow buildings.

One off the base (after stopping by an ATM and getting yen out, 103 yen to the dollar) we entered the greater Yokosuka area. As an instant immersion, everyone around us was Japanese, all the buildings were labeled in Japanese with smatterings of English below the large Japanese lettering. We walked a ways that we thought was the train station (the brief we had gotten on locations having been back in may so our memories were a little fuzzy. After walking (Read the rest of the story…)

Space A Adventure

September 9th, 2008

My wife and I have decided to embark on a “no idea where we’ll end up” vacation. As you may be aware, one of the benefits of serving in the United States Armed Forces is being able to fly on military and military chartered aircraft that have empty seats.

Flying “Space A” or “space available” is the method Bonnie and I used only once before back in 1994. Our desire was to get to Germany, rent a car and drive the Autobon. Everything went surprisingly smooth, from what I have read I think luck was on our side. To make a long story really short, (Read the rest of the story…)

Going to be Stationed In Japan?

August 25th, 2008

I enjoy reading FEWL.NET because the writer has a unique way of expressing himself, he is in the Navy and also he is stationed on a ship in Japan, my twidget nuke Son is on the USS George Washington and on his way to Japan. Well, the Author just wrote an article that should be mandatory reading for every member of the any crew headed for the Yokosuka waterfront. The following are a couple of excerpts from “What USS George Washington Should Know About Japan“;

I can see how this law might make sense,

Don’t ride with someone who is drunk – Under Japanese law, you will be found just as guilty for letting the person drive, whether you’re sober or not. Also, just having one beer and getting behind the wheel can land you in jail for a Driving While Drinking Indicated (DWDI). The base conducts surprise breathalyzers all the time, so driving drunk here is definitely Russian roulette with your career.

(Read the rest of the story…)

Benidorm Spain

August 23rd, 2008

One of the first ports I had the pleasure of visiting was a city in Spain with long sandy beaches, British pubs, bull fighting and a Burger King.

We pulled-in to the port, well, we didn’t actually “pull-in” – the USS Forrestal was a little too large to pull up to their dock so we anchored just off shore and rode liberty boats to and from the fleet landing. Amazingly enough the process of getting all of us Sailors to and from the shore was pretty efficient and the liberty boat was like an old Disney E-Ticket ride, life was good.

It was almost noon Benidorm time when I hit the Spanish shores for the first time, I was hungry. Back in the early 1980’s Americas fast food industry hadn’t yet invaded every corner of the planet like it has today and Burger King, that little slice of home, was on my list of a must visit location. But not on this day, my first day in Spain – today was going to be something authentic – today was going to be (Read the rest of the story…)

Fish On!

August 16th, 2008

Yup, we went camping again! This time I wanted to do a little fishing and not spend our life savings in gas to get there. After reviewing a few places within a half days drive from Memphis we settled on Bull Schoals – White River State Park.

We called ahead to make reservations and were able to get a site that was actually right on the fast moving river. Having only been trout fishing once in my life prior to this trip I was looking forward to the adventure. (Read the rest of the story…)