Saturday 31st 09

No big trip today just hanging around town. Went to McDonalds for breakfast. They have a breakfast sandwich called the Mega Muffin. It is two sausage patties with bacon. Talk about heart attack, looking around the restaurant I saw no takers. So I passed.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Random 6

Rainy Rainy Day Friday 30th 09

During the ride into work it was drizzling a little bit. On the other hand during the day it was dumping, I got soaked through all my layers of clothes.

Luckily the rain lightened up for the ride home, or else I was thinking about calling a taxi.

Went to Za Watami for dinner. We all ordered a bunch of dishes and tried a little of everything. Very good.


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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Random 5

Sickness continues Thurs Jan 29 09

I received an email today informing me that John Snelson had sent me a message via facebook. Well that is strange I thought. A future me, doppelganger, etc. It turns out to be a guy who lives in Manchester UK. Small world.

I went to the Green Leaf today for dinner. It is right outside one of the gates. I had a dish called "Mama Dofu", it is a chili red sauce with tofu and ground beef over rice. It helps clear up the sinus's very well.


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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Random 4

Still Sick Wed Jan 28th 09

Another day of coughing up various parts of my lung, so that was fun.

For dinner I went to Korean BBQ in More's City. I got little fish that had sweet red bean inside. Interesting to try one, but not my favorite flavor.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Random 3

Cold Season Tuesday 27th 09

I tried to avoid it as long as possible, but I am in head coldsville. I took off from work at lunch time and got some rest and lots of fluids. Hopefully I can flush this out of my system soon.

Went out to dinner at the CPO club for Prime Rib. Stopped by 711 for some snacks and back to resting. Watching Family Ties in Japanese is something else.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Random 2

Windy Monday Jan 26th 09

People are starting to get sick around here, so I am packing away the vitamin c.

Went to dinner at a Ramen shop right outside base. It was very good, had Salt flavored ramen, gyoza, and a curry triangle. One thing you do not have to worry about in Japan is finding awesome food.

Swung by the grocery store after dinner and picked up some supplies. I got a package of strawberries that are awesome. Everyone of them is sweet and ripe.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Random 1

Rest Day, Sunday 25th 09

Went to work in the morning and then stopped by the burger joint for lunch.

I rolled my ankle on Saturday and decided against going to Tokyo for church today. We just went to the church on the base.

For dinner we went to a Chinese restaurant. Very good.

Finishing up by watching the two new Lost episodes.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Milk 5

Tokyo Fun Saturday 24th

It was Tokyo time today. Before leaving town we stopped by the local 5 bucks for some morning coffee. The train ride up to Asakusa took right around an hour and 20 minutes. We stopped at the 5 bucks up there before walking through the shopping area and then viewed the Temple.

From there we went to Akihabara. After walking through a few stores and not finding anything too compelling we stopped at the pepper lunch up there. To my surprise the prices were about 400 Yen less than in town.

To end the trip we went to Tokyo Tower. It is a copy of the Eiffel Tower, except around 10 meters taller. It cost 1400 yen to ride to the first observation deck, and then up to the top. Very nice view up there.

I slept the entire way back to town, but woke up just before the stop, I seem to be getting the hang of this.

Went to Watami for dinner and had a Korean dish and Gyoza, both good. Then it was a rush to base to pick up some supplies and back to the room before curfew.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Milk 4

Fun Friday

Because of actions of a shipyard worker over here, everybody has a curfew. They told us that it would be a couple weeks to see how things go. So that was fun.

For dinner I took a group to Kamakura looking for a curry place i had found in my lonely planet japan book. After circling around this one area, we figured out that I had no idea where the place was. Of course I did not bring the book with me, or a map, or have the name of the place i wanted to go. So in retrospect, there was no way that was ever going to work.

We ate at an Indian restaurant which was very good, I had beef curry and naan.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Milk 3

Another Rainy Thursday January 22nd

After a late night at work last night, and 3 hours of sleep, it was a very long day at work.

After work came back and took a nap, met up with some folks to go to pepper lunch. Awesome as always.

No pictures as I am just beat today.

Japan Soft Drink Challenge Milk 2

Rain Again Wednesday 21st

After work I got the first taste of rain in a while. Luckily it was just a northwest drizzle, not like the torrents i have seen before.

For dinner I met up with a bunch of engineers and we went to a Thia food place. I made the mistake of asking for Hot. After crying and draining several glasses of water I realized that I had overestimated my ability to take spicy food. I don't even want to know what Spicy is like.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Milk 1

Back to the Work Part II Tuesday 20th

Sometimes it seems like the 4 day weeks start off faster than the normal 5 day weeks.

After work I stopped by Starbucks to get some liquid energy. Coming January 28th they have a new drink, called Honey Citrus Latte, sounds interesting.

Went back to Italian Gardens tonight with a group of coworkers. The special was Pepper Steak, infuses on the pepper. It was like they were training people to crush pepper over the steak. Required many classes of water to get through it. But it was very delicious.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Coffee 6

Yokohama Again Monday 19th 09

Headed up to Yokohama today. The train was packed. Spent about two hours in the Landmark mall, and then went to the top of Landmark Tower, again. Ate lunch at Wendy's, the chili tastes exactly the same as back home, which is what you expect from a fine international fastfood company.

Headed up to Chinatown after lunch. Tried a custard fish snack, which was awesome. We ran into a bunch of people that we knew from back home around Chinatown. On the way back to the train station, I tried a Panda Sweet Roll, it was filled with some chocolate. It was very rich.

We stopped by Tokyu Hands near the train station in Yokohama. Found the most awesome cell phone dangle ever. A little pig with USA colors and flags on its face.

Felt like Italian food, so went on base to Italian Gardens.

Netflix streaming is working great over here.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Coffee 5

After yesterday it was just an easy day. I went and picked up a Lonely Planet Japan book. It covers all of japan, so if I decided to head south during the next three day weekend, I will at least have a clue as to what to do.

I had subways version of a cheese steak for lunch. They do not have the toaster ovens here so it was just the meat heated up.

I met a friend to go to Church on base. Next week we will be going to New Hope in Tokyo.

Had a steak dinner and then watched the newest episode of Psych. If you haven't seen it, it should be on the top of your priority list.

Tomorrow the plan is to head to Landmark once more and then hit China town for lunch.


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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Cocoa

My Feet Hurt Saturday 17th 09

Made it back to Tokyo today. After breakfast we headed to the Imperial Gardens. We took the train to Shinagawa and then to Tokyo station. On the train from Shinagawa to Tokyo there was a guy who had a cat in a harness like you would see small dogs in. It kept trying to hide under the seats.

It is about a 5 minute walk to the Palace grounds. The were holding a run around the grounds and we saw lots of runners. Several times as they would reverse lap us. When we got to the entrance to the grounds we decided to go for lunch. When headed in a direction and finally found a place which served curry. It was very tasty.

When we walked out of the restaurant I remembered that I had been there before and we headed up to walk under the huge gate. We headed back to the gardens and walked around until my feet felt like they wanted to explode. It was an easy trip back to Yokosuka because it wasn't during rush hour.

When out for dinner at a place called 12 frogs. Strangely enough they do not serve frog. Instead i had a Korean dish which ends up like a strange omelet. Also tasty

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Coffee 4

The weekend come Friday 16th 09

The weekend is clear of work so the town was alive with activity. Ran into a bunch of former coworkers today. Took my buddy Bryan to Pepper Lunch. As always it is most excellent.

I made a run to the grocery store for this weekend. And it was packed. But I got what I needed for the trip up to Tokyo tomorrow. The plan is to go to the Imperial Palace Gardens and then stop by a military shrine.

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Soft Drink Challenge Coffee 3

The Sun Comes Out Thursday 15th 09

First and Foremost RIP for Khan, passing away at 88 years.



Decided to hit the gym at an earlier hour this morning. It was a little cold on the way in but the way back to the hotel it was just right. I braved another breakfast at the hotel, not totally sick of it yet.

The internet at the hotel has ground to a crawl as everybody seems to try and communicate back home at the exact same moment. But it is better than some people have. Dial up is a thing that should have been left in the last century. At the very least I can listen to the soothing island sounds of IR 98.5.

For dinner I went to Italian Gardens. They had a Pizza called The Elvis on the menu. Basically it was a BBQ chicken pizza. Quick review, the crust was very good, the sauce was excellent but not enough, and it needed more onions.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Coffee 2

Adjustment Jan 14th 09

As expected I woke up at 2:30 AM. I finally convinced myself to go back to sleep, but the next time at 4:24 AM I stayed up. After getting all set for work I stopped by Starbucks on the way for a little liquid energy.

After stopping by 7 and i holdings to pick up the Soft Drink Challenge drink, I met up with coworkers and went out and had Tonkotsu. It was very filling.

After dinner it was time to relax and get ready for another exciting day.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge Coffee 1

Travel Day Jan 12th 09

Finally at 4:40 Pacific Time, I am settled in. After some Pepper Lunch for dinner all is well. You always get two things with Pepper Lunch, delicious beef and Run DMC in the background. It seems that everybody on the trip got to where they were supposed to be. I ended up in the same size room as I was in last time. Which is enough, especially considering where some other people have to come from.

The flight was a little late coming leaving Seattle. We were all ready to go, the doors were armed and then a bunch of flight attendants headed to the back of the plane. I overheard one of them say that someone was freaking out. So they took that person off the plane and we got ready again. But the door had to be checked by the flight crew, after 20 minutes we finally left. I didn't have anybody sitting next to me, so it was a restful flight.

On the way to customs a women in front of me fell of the escalator, her husband was very grateful.

After customs we met up in a big group and got on a bus. We made one stop in Yokohama where a few people are staying, then finally we got to Yokosuka.

Every time you come back it always seems like time hasn't moved, other than a few new shops and a few old ones that have disappeared. Also last time the air conditioner was full bore, now the same applies for the heater. It is not warm outside.

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Japan Soft Drink Challenge, in Hawaii