Wordless Wednesday

Symphony Cruises

One new adventure during my family's visit was a Tokyo Bay lunch cruise. I've never had the cruise ship experience and sometimes even the thought of open water sends me running for the tallest mountain. I am a mountain girl. But I am also a hungry girl so food was an enticing factor.

We decided to go with Symphony Cruises because they had a buffet that would provide more options for vegetarians.

It was definitely a fun experience, but not one I would repeat. Tokyo Bay is very industrial so circling the area provided only a few new sights. It doesn't help that we had already done a day and night city-scape viewing.

Seeing Disney Sea from (hehe) the sea was enjoyable. Also we were able to view Haneda airport for a while.

The Pikachu Plane!

And as usual with Japanese restaurants, the food was superb!

News

It can be difficult to keep up with news and daily events back in the States. Dustin and I usually watch a day-old morning news program while getting ready, but it is mostly fluff. I'm glad we live in such a technologically connected world, otherwise I would have no clue what the status of our nation was day to day. Thank you Internet! Recently, however, I began acquiring updated events from a new source.

The public toilets in my office building.

Yep, every day when I shut the door for some personal time I get three updated messages from the Pacific Command. Not sure who is responsible for updating the daily toilet report, but I really like it. I mean, really, it's about time our government got on board and provided bathroom reading materials. (Just kidding, for all you literal-os out there!)

North Korea is a repeat offender on my toilet report. Updates on the China-Japan battle for the Senkaku Islands is another common message.

Today's report included an update on the USS Guardian that has been stuck on a protected reef in the Philippines. The images that accompanied the paragraph-long snippet were so striking so I though I would share:



(Know who took these? Help me give a photo credit.)

Having been a part of the military family for a few years I can honestly say - someone is in a lot of trouble.

White Water Rafting

Finally we get some good weather. All this rain was not in the brochure!

This weekend was supposed to be our trip to China, but Dustin had some work issues that kept us from leaving the country. So instead we decided to take a road trip down to Shikoku and go white water rafting. Shikoku is one of the four main islands of Japan.

Star is Iwakuni, marker is Yoshino River

The drive was about four and a half hours. We went over some remarkable bridges, but none of my pictures came out during the drive. When we finally arrived at the HappyRaft base camp I was so excited. Dustin was eerily calm. I think he was a little apprehensive about what was coming up. This was his first time going white water rafting and my stories weren't assuring him too much.

The water was a chilly 47 degrees. I'm pretty sure I felt icebergs while drifting along in the water. To prepare for the cold water, we were given wet suits and the option to wear a fleece. I decided I would rather be warm so I took both.

So after gearing up we took a short bus ride and then we were on the water! The Yoshino River had some major run off (according to the group guides) so were going to experience some "rough water." The rapids were classified as class four. Many times our guide (who spoke very very very little English) would tell us to just ride through the rapids in the boat. "Get down!" So in the boat we went. Better than getting thrown out I suppose.

Class Three Rapids

The river is broken up by long stretches of deeper water so a game was created. The goal was to knock, pull, or push everyone out of a boat and then capture it. Dustin and I were with a group of about 40 other Marines. Needless to say, I started just staying in the water rather than try to get back into the boat. The only bad part was when water would touch skin inside my wet suit that it had not touched before. It was an icy stab!

"Get down!"

So along the river we went. Get back in the boat when we were coming up on rapids, take over another boat (or just float in the water, like me) when we weren't. At one point, we didn't get in the boat fast enough and went though some rapids with just out life jackets. We called it "the economy trip." It was definitely a different experience! Feet down river... go! Hopefully you don't swallow too much water!

If the rapids and boat-commandeering weren't enough to keep you occupied, the view would have made up the difference. We went though some beautiful gorges and saw two tall waterfalls. At one point we came to an area that we were allowed to get out and cliff jump. So up the rocks we trekked and off we jumped!

Not me, but a better picture

Then it was back in the boats for another set of rapids before breaking for lunch. At the end of the stretch was a great place to go "surfing." The goal is to see who could stay in the boat and keep it upright. I posted the videos on my Facebook page so you can see the fun. Definitely some crazy water!

Sagoi = Awesome!

Then it was time to break for lunch. We crawled out of the boats and hiked about a mile up the ravine to a flat grassy area by the road. There a team had made homemade (and delicious) bagels. We used them to make tuna or ham sandwiches. Fresh tea, fruit, and a sweet orange cream on crackers rounded out the meal. Amazingly they had plenty of food for the forty or so Marines and families. We eat much more compared to Japanese customers!

Back in the water we had some quick rapids and then a deeper period where we flipped our boat.

Hang on!

Then we went down the last set of rapids with the boat upside down. It is very hard to stay on a slippery boat going down the river upside down! Once at the end it was time for a couple group shots and then the bus ride back to HappyRaft base camp.

Whew! What a fun day! We changed into dry clothes and watched the slide show from our trip. We will definitely be back to Shikoku to see what else it has to offer. I've heard rumors of great beaches, exciting spelunking, and thrilling canyoning. Who will join us on the next adventure?

At the end... very tired!

Boat Ride!

So I may have challenges to overcome at work, but I learned of one perk that makes me happy. We have a remote ATM at a small army base in Kure. Once a month an associate must go up to refill it and balance it. Now I volunteered to take it because of one thing. You have to get there by BOAT!

My first trip out was very exciting. I got on a small navy boat with two sailors and rode out through the Seto Inland Sea. It was freezing cold and my layers were not enough! I stood in the back on the way out enjoying the scenery.

All of a sudden a submarine surfaces almost beside us! I raced to get out my camera, but as only able to catch these last couple of shots. How cool is that!? A sub just whooshes up next to our boat!

Submarine!

The American part of Kure is tiny. It has the world's smallest commissary. There are no barracks or family housing. I'm pretty sure the entire base would fit in a Walmart. And I mean a 90's Walmart. No groceries. On the way back I decided to wrap up in a blanket in the front. I was hoping to get some good pictures.

FREEZING!

On the way out we passed the Japanese shipyard. I've never been to Norfolk so I was pretty impressed with the boat display. I've never seen so many battleships. They were stacked together like sardines!

Huge submarines!

1 ship, 2 ship, 3 ship and 4

Big ships, little ships, more more more

The boat ride was very scary. The water had gotten very bad and Iwakuni advised our boat pilot to wait thirty minutes or so to see if conditions would improve. We got the go-ahead after lunch, but we probably should have waited. The waves were so big they came over the boat and we were trying to stay on the crests to avoid falling in between the swells. At one point we lost radio communication with Iwakuni and tried communicating with Morse code. I just hung on to handles inside and tried to stay on my feet. I got soaked! It was soooo cold!

Finally our boat pilot didn't think our boat was going to make it so he called in (with Morse code) a larger boat to pick us up. It met us on the way back, but they decided to just stay with us rather than try to get us off our boat.

It was scary! Next time I will wear more layers and take better pictures!