Train/Plane Travelin'

*First, let me apologize for the crazy fonts.  Blogger is NOT cooperating with me tonight.*






So this past week my friend Liz and I traveled to South Japan (Sasebo) to meet our husbands when they pulled in to port. It was killing me not to blog about how excited I was, but being the Queen of OPSEC I resisted the urge to talk!  Shocking since I'm a woman, but I digress.  


We decided to take the trains down there and then we flew back. I am a TERRIBLE flyer, as Liz found out, I prefer the comfiness of the ground and yes, flying is probably the safest form of travel but...well...I don't give a rats ass about that, it's terrifying. 


Before the trip, I was literally sick to my stomach, worried about navigating the train system and thinking about what I'd do if we got lost.  We had good directions so we basically were just hoping for the best.  Prior to this trip, I rarely took a train anywhere.  I find the Japanese train system confusing as all hell if you want the truth, but NOTHING was going to stop me from seeing my husband.  Not to mention we had a cool way to make sure we were doing the right thing.  If you're ever in Japan and are nervous about navigating the trains, use this link if you have a smart phone.  There is also an app for the iPhone, but it's only free for 30 days, so plan accordingly. 


So...I dropped the kids off with my YOKO BFF, Sarah and her husband (YALL SERIOUSLY ROCK...Love ya girl!) and we started our little journey across Japan.  Surprisingly, there were only 5 trains we needed to take to get to Sasebo.  Luckily one of those trains was Shinkansen "Nozomi," better known to American's as the Bullet Train.  Ummm...hell yeah!  Now after our Earthquake adventure, we were able to ride the bullet train for a little under an hour.  It was not Nozomi however, and apparently not as fast.  We made it to Shin-Yokohama where we caught Nozomi with no problems whatsoever.  Every stop we made, the train was either there waiting for us, or we had a 3-5 minute wait before it arrived.  Spectacular!  One thing I will give Japanese trains...they were extremely punctual.  

As you can see from the photo, Nozomi 35, bound for Hakata will depart at 1329, and at 1329 on the dot, the train pulled away from the station. 

Liz and I ON Nozomi.  Nevermind how amazingly awesome we look...we were going to be traveling all day with no one to impress but ourselves. 

 If you'd like some information on the Shinkansen, you should definitely check out the link provided.  We took Nozomi, obviously since I've said it a blue million times, we got on at her second stop in Shin-Yokohama and stayed until her last stop in Hakata.  The trip was made in 5 hours.  Nozomi travels at 300 km/h (186 mph) so it's no wonder we traveled well over 1,000 miles in that time frame.  They come down the aisles with food/beverage carts, as well as a kind of, Duty Free cart.  It was very interesting.  Unfortunately, we did not see Mt. Fuji.  But almost all of the stops the train made are places I want to visit inside Japan.  Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima.  It stopped in Nagoya, but some of you will remember we were forced to land there on 11 March 2011, it was not a place I wanted to see again.  

An extremely cool building in Nagoya. 

I had all I needed for the trip.  Dark Tower VII and wine.  

Once we got off the train in Hakata, we caught the Limited Express "Midori" to Sasebo which took 2 hours and wasn't nearly as cool as the Shinkansen.  But - we didn't care, we were ready to get there for the night at this point.  

We arrived in Sasebo a little after 8PM I'd say, caught a taxi to our hotel and called it a night.  Afterall...we needed our beauty sleep since we were seeing our husbands the next day!!  


FAST FORWARD to a restless night of sleep in an itty bitty Japanese hotel room, with nothing to watch but Japanese television...  

Bathroom

Room...barely room to turn around.

...Told you it was small.  I finally wake up to "SEE MY HUSBAND DAY!!!"  Got up, rushed to get dressed, caught a taxi to the base (which, by the way, is only 500¥ for an off-base taxi...here in Yoko it's 710¥...Sigh) and then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Then finally...

MY LOVE!!!! <3  The one I've been missing and needed to see more than anything!

Now...I shall send you on a photo montage of our adventures in Sasebo.  

Our ship moored in Sasebo

A FANTASTIC little number Kendall had made for me in Hong Kong by the ever famous Ying Tai Tailors.  It fits....like a glove! 

The beginning of the "Chu-hi 5K" where the crazy boys walk from Sasebo to the Harley-Davidson shop, all while stopping at every 7-11 or Family Mart they see.  Before going inside, they must finish their current Chu-Hi, then purchase a new one and finish it before reaching the next store.  Sailors.  Am I right?  

And this is me just being me. 

A stream along our walk. 

Sasebo is surrounded by mountains, much different from the hustle and bustle of Yokosuka. 

AAAHHHHHH!!!!  

This was hanging in the Ginza (Mall)

Here we are in one of his favorite bars, Shooters.  We are apparently deep in discussion about something and clearly, I'm winning.  Actually, I can't back that up.  I was visiting my husband without the kids...I drank.  Don't judge me. 

Probably my new favorite photo of us.

And the night before I left, we stayed in and watched Japanese TV.  I'm quite shocked at how engrossed we were in it.

Sasebo is so much nicer than Yokosuka in my honest opinion.  It's small.  It's quiet.  It's surrounded by mountains and gorgeous scenery and I love that. As desperate as we are to get out of Japan, the thought of coming back for our last shore duty is inviting. There are some cons however.  Their commissary is the size of a 7-11.  Their pool isn't open daily like here in Yoko (but it's free).  And there is no housing on base, that I personally saw anyway.  Their Chili's is fantastic, ours sucks.  They have a kickass place to eat and hang out, all hands welcomed.  They have a CoCo's.  You can get Big Mac sauce on a regular old cheeseburger at their McDonald's.  Okay...not a deal breaker but really Yokosuka?  It's a SAUCE, just add it.  

It went by too fast.  We only had 2 days together before I had to leave and he still had to work on top of that, but getting to spend any time with my husband is better than not seeing him at all.  We drank, we ate Kobe Beef at Steak Salon.  (If you're there, you MUST find it and go. It is crazy expensive, over $200 for both of us to eat, but the food is so worth it.) We made Christen Grey look like an amateur.  TMI?  

Fine.  I'm kidding.  Although the room was small, there was still a lot of room for activities.  Kendall would've said some crazy joke too.  Again, don't judge me.  I've been married for the man for almost 7 years, his personality is starting to rub off on me.  Lord help me.  

ANYWAY...back to the point.  We were able to spend time together and I got to see a lot of his friends, who have become my friends over the course of our 2 and a half years here.  I ran in to our old Command Master Chief, CMC Davis and our current CMC. It was wonderful talking Navy with them for a few minutes.  Not to mention it was flattering that CMC Davis remembered me and CMC Haka knew my name.  Since I'm not an FRG board member anymore, that was shocking. People can complain about our chain of command all they want, I personally think we have a fantastic COC and I wouldn't change it for anything.  Unless they wanted to give Kendall time off for free...then I'd welcome them with open arms.  ;)  

Then, before I knew it, it was time for "See you later" again.  Once Kendall left for work and I stopped crying, I was ready to get going back home to my kids.  This time, we took a train to Fukuoka Airport and we flew home after that.  

My apologies, the caption feature is being screwy at the moment.

This was a very cool tile mural at the Fukuoka Airport

Only in Japan will you find a Pokemon plane.  I am not a fan of Pokemon but even I can admit that this is cool.  Maybe one day I'll get to see the Hello Kitty plane.

I usually always get a wing seat by accident, but any time I'm able to chose my seat, I get a wing seat.  As I said earlier, flying is something I do because I HAVE to, so I have certain, shall we say, traditions/superstitions I follow when flying.  I picked my wing seat and this was waiting for me when I sat down.

This was the airline we flew back with.  I highly recommend Skymark Airlines to those flying domestic in Japan.  ANA wanted over $800 for a 2 hour flight to Fukuoka while I paid 10,000¥ ($128) with Skymark.  It was a very comfortable trip with friendly flight attendants.  After speaking in Japanese, they would come over in English, something I admire since moving here.  I will never again complain about Spanish being on everything in the USA.  As a foreigner here, I appreciate English being on signs and such. 

It was a wonderful trip and I had a blast with my husband.  I only hope I'm able to meet his ship in other ports in the future.  Say...Italy or Greece on his next deployment when we're stateside?  Yeah...that'll be nice.