How I spent my time today...

Last night, I went to coworker's house after work for dinner. I was very interested to see what on base housing looked like. It was very nice like your average townhouse. Her and her husband made lasagna and we drank some red wine. However, they were not big drinkers and after the first bottle was finished that was it. We chatted, ate, and watched part of dancing with the stars. Her friend took be back to the hotel and I continued on with free tv. If you type in your search project free tv the website will come up. Anyway, I could not sleep and ended up having a nice chat on the internet with Rosalind. I am becoming so Internet savvy. This morning I was running so late that I missed two buses and got to work an hour late. No one noticed and I realized me knowing this is a bad thing. I tried to get my military id but of course nothing is easy with the navy especially if you are a contractor. So I will have to wait and get another letter. I went back to my office and researched Thailand. I spent all morning doing this. I thought it was very close to Japan and realized it is like 3000 miles away. However, I am pretty sure coworker and I are going. After my thrilling morning, I ate a Manchu Wok like the one in Lakeside it was ok and then back to work. This evening I am planning to leave base since I have not left in two days and hunt for a nail salon. However, I plan to go to the gym first maybe Chilis since I missed last night :) Not to exciting today

I have been a busy bee today!

Yesterday, especially at work I was very homesick and missed my monkies and magee. I wanted to get in my truck and go get my nails done. One problem, I have no car, am 7000 miles from home, and after two weeks still have not found a nail salon. I have an appointment at the salon on base for 10/11, but that seems yrs away. After work, I finally made it to the gym. I was so proud of myself for going, seeing that it was freezing and raining. The gym was fine not like my gym, but fine. I caught the bus and went to what seems to be my favorite hot spot Chilis. I really love that black bean burger. The bartender remembered my name and it was nice to have someone whom seemed happy to see me. However, it was so crowded with young sailors and families that I quickly ate my food and left. My coworker had told me about free tv and I did a search for free tv. I don't know the site, but it is awesome. I started to watch the L word since I have only have seen a couple of epoisides. I love it since I am not a fan of the military cable. It sucks that is all I have to say about it. Anyway, today at work I did this and that, filled out forms, I have a navy email address now, and discussed going to Thailand with my coworker. Another coworker invited me to her house for dinner so I have to have my social pants on. I really want to take them off.

I'm concerned it is freezing here today

I woke up and barely could get out of bed because it was like Antarctica in my room. I stepped outside and it felt like a cold day in December in New Orleans. I thought to myself what if it gets colder. I truly hate the cold. I cannot function in it. As you know, I do not have a car here and have to walk everywhere since I frequently miss the bus. Right now, I am doing nothing at work. The other counselors are locked away in their offices probably taking naps or maybe they are working on their blog. I don't know my big debate of the moment is where I will go to lunch. After work, I am going to start back at the gym and try to get on some sort of routine. My mission for the week is to find some place that does nails. They have hundreds of places to get your hair cut, but I have not seen one nail salon. Also, it could be that I don't read, speak, or write Japanese and have no idea what I am looking at. I saw the Saints won the game and hope everyone I know that went had fun. I hope that Rosalind made it to the game.

It seemed like there were a million people in Kyoto...

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 4 AM to meet my coworker to get on the bullet train bound for Kyoto. Kyoto is an ancient city in Japan that was the capital before Tokyo filled with shrines, temples, geishas, and a shitload of people. We made it to the bullet train and had rocken seats in the first row. On the train ride, we saw Mt. Fuji. It is massive don't think I will be hiking it since I complain about the hills and steps here in Yokosuka. Anyway my coworker and I chatted it up talked about this and that. We both thought the train was fast, but both thought it would feel much faster. As we got off the train, we were both shocked to see how modern Kyoto was. It really felt like a mini Tokyo with a million people off to see shrines. We checked into the hotel. It was very nice with one of those fun toilets that spray your butt and have all kind of gadgets to it. I keep meaning to take pictures of the different toilets for Jessica. I promise to do it next week. We found a restaurant where you had to take off your shoes and sit on the floor at a little table. We ordered sake and food. The sake was good and the food was pretty, but for the most part I ate the rice. There was a lot of raw fish and stuff that looked/smelled weird. After that we, walked to the first shrine. I was very tried and my coworker looked at my face when I saw the hike that laid before me and suggested that we split up. I thought this was a great idea because I was in no mood to hike up to the shrine. I looked at the shops, bought a box with a monkey on it, and found a place to get massages. I had to check out that it was legitimate massage and not the the kind with a happy ending. My coworker was very excited when she returned apparently she had hiked very high and was excited about her accomplishment. I was excited I did not go. The massages were great and after we were looking forward to relaxing with some drinks. We thought this would be an easy task, but it was not. We went down this very busy side street and did not find a bar, but did see a Geisha. There shoes look so painful. We looked around for a bar for hrs and finally found an English pub where a Japanese baseball game was on. The Japanese really are crazy for baseball. They got drunk and cheered the whole time it was on. We had lots of drinks, hung out watching the Japanese and went back to the hotel. The next day we hiked up the biggest hill ever. I wanted to throw myself on the ground and tell her to leave me behind. But, I made it up to the shrine and it was worth it, lots of shrines, lots of space, and lots people praying. Overall, Kyoto was a nice city and I liked the bullet train, but the massage place was my favorite.

This is the view from the shrine. The city of Kyoto is down below. It was great to get out of the main part of the city where it seems there are millions of people.

I thought you might like to see inside of one of the shrines. It was very pretty and I saw people praying to it.

This is a shrine in Kyoto. I had to hike up a very very high hill/mountain my calves felt like they were going to burst into flames. It was worth the shrine was amazing and even saw groups chanting in the shrine.