Hawaiian Get-A-Way

Aloha everyone, I must apologize for not doing a better job keeping up with my blog. Ever since February, Bern and I have been blessed with the opportunity to see some close friends both here in Japan and abroad. But before I get to that, let me just say Thank You for your continued support. I can't believe it's been a year now since we've been here. It feels like we've only begun to scratch the surface of the Japanese culture and hopefully you'll stick around for two more years as Bern and I continue this amazing journey.

So back in February, we decided to meet with some of our dear friends (The Bayona's, The Park's, Christine & Allan) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Right when we got off the plane at the Kona airport, the warmth from that Hawaiian sun was just amazing. Bern and I were still dressed in our winter clothing so we immediately took off some layers and slipped on our flip-flops as we started our week-long stay in paradise.

 



Being back on U.S. soil was a relief to say the least; the simple fact of being able to communicate to people and understand my surroundings was so comforting. Now it also meant getting used to certain things that I forgot we Americans do - like driving on the right side of the road or even tipping after meals; but it only took me a day or so to get re-acclimated to those minor changes.

For accommodations since there were 11 people total on this trip (including 3 kids), we all unanimously decided to rent out a huge house rather than staying at a hotel. But our reservation had to start the day after we all arrived so the owners of the time share put us up at the Royal Kona Resort for one night. Since Bern and I were the first ones to arrive and had some time to kill, what's the FIRST thing Bern wants to do? Shop at Ross, Target, and Macy's! Who am I to stand in her way? So of course we went to local mall (which she had already mapped out a week prior) and by the time she was done, it was time to check in to the Royal Kona. It was a simple but elegant Polynesian-themed hotel with a balcony in each room that overlooked the beach, so nice!

 

       

Christine and Allan were the next ones to arrive so by this time, it was Happy Hour and we all decided to get something to eat and drink as we watched the sunset over the horizon. What's unique about the sunsets here in the Big Island is that right before the sun goes down, for a quick half-second, there's a green flash that goes off which is something we've never seen before. I was unable to actually catch it on camera, but here's that beautiful scene:

Shortly after happy hour ended, The Bayona's (Vince, Kim & Jacob) and The Park's (Charles, Liza, Charlie & Nico) arrived, so now we were all together at last on this Hawaiian adventure.

The following day after breakfast, we headed to Costco to pick up a week's worth of groceries before checking into our rental house. And man was this house awesome!! The middle portion of the house was the kitchen, living/dining room, media room, two bathrooms, laundry room, and a covered lanai with a pool, hot tub & BBQ. On both sides were two separate bungalows each with a king sized bed, sitting area, & private bathroom...this house was perfect for four families!

Kona is on the western side of the island, and when you think of Kona you automatically think of coffee. Luckily, there are plenty of coffee farms in the area offering free tours (along with free coffee too! haha) so we went around the Greenwell Coffee Farm.

 

No Hawaiian vacation would be complete without a few days maxing and relaxing on the beach...

 

 

 

as well as checking out all the life that's under the sea...

 

 

The Big Island is so unique due to all the volcanic activity that is still changing the landscape today. Many parts of the island are covered with hardened lava rock that make it seem like you're on another planet. We were hoping to see some of the lava flow in action at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park but unfortunately there was no volcanic activity at the time. But we did go through an old lava tube, drive up to Kilauea's crater rim and see its active steam vent, and experience up close what one of these steam vents is like...

 

 

 

One of the items on my personal "things to do list" was to visit the Kona Brewing Company; home of my favorite beer, The Kona Longboard Lager. In addition to their fine selection of craft brews, they have an extensive food menu- so we all ate there for dinner one evening.

 

 

 

Eating is just one big aspect of any vacation and we definitely got our grub on during this trip. Aside from the fresh Hawaiian Poke and plate lunches, we managed to squeeze in a few home-cooked meals that included steaks, lobsters, & chicken. Charles was our head BBQ grill master, with all of us pitching in whenever we could. Being that we were one year removed from San Diego, Bern and I also had our fair share of Jack 'n the Box as well as Panda Express. Kim and Vince were even nice enough to bring over some carne asada burritos which was probably the best thing we ate in Hawaii! haha 

 

 

We even got to celebrate Vince's birthday with some cupcakes that Kim and Christine found at a local bakery.

 

   

Vacations are funny. They can't seem to come fast enough and once it's here, it's done before you know it...and that's exactly how this week long Hawaiian vacation came to be. We were so thrilled to get to spend some time with our close friends we haven't seen in a year. Especially with the boys since they're growing up so fast!

 

 

We all hope to do this again soon! Miss you all and thanks for everything!

 

 

 

But wait, there's more!!!! So Bern arranged to have us spend one day together in Oahu before leaving back to Japan. There were a couple of things she needed to cross off her list that she never got to do the last time she was there back in 2001.

 

The first was to climb to the very top of Diamond Head.  The last time she was there, she didn't climb the last few steps up the ladder that is officially the very top ...

 

 

Second was the Dole Plantation...

 

 

And lastly we both wanted to try some local eateries:

 

 

We managed to do all this in a 24 hour period. The hotel we stayed at was a small boutique hotel which was literally five minutes away from Waikiki beach. What really attracted Bern to book this hotel was a chair in their guest rooms that reminded her of the early 90's TV show "Out of this World".

 

 

The only bad part of this entire trip had to happen of course on our last night in Hawaii. The parking garage of this hotel was really small, so the stalls were tight and very cramped. When we returned the rental car, the attendant noticed that the front left bumper had been scratched. I was unaware of the incident and assumed it happened at the hotel parking lot. No problem, we got insurance on the car...wrong. The insurance Bern purchased was online through a third party insurance company. Luckily I was able to take care of everything despite living abroad. But the moral of the story is to make sure you get rental insurance directly through the car rental company to avoid any uneeded hassles.

 

Anyhow, this Hawaiian get-a-way was just what the doctor ordered...Family, Friends, Food & Sunshine! We feel very blessed to have friends that we consider Ohana!  Mahalo!         



 

 

 

   

Mt. Fuji- Round 2

A little over a month ago, Bern and I decided to take a second trip out to Mt. Fuji. Despite the cold temperature, it was a nice clear day and we finally got some great views of Fujisan (not like our first trip). The first stop was at the Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine and Pagoda. This is perhaps one of the best places to view Mt. Fuji, but we were unprepared from the amount of stairs we had to climb in order to get there:

The snow made it even that more of a challenge but when we finally got to the top, man was it worth it:

 

 

 

We then hopped on the local train and headed toward the little town of Lake Kawaguchiko, which lies at the base of Mt. Fuji. Before exploring the small town, we wanted to grab a bite to eat and since we are in Japan, we decided to try a Japanese restaurant (literally):

Getting around this small town was very convenient because there was a bus that went around the entire Lake which were surrounded by fancy shops and hotels. But we did get off at one of the suggested photo spots to take some great pics of the Lake and Fujisan in the background.

 

The best time to really check out this area is during Cherry Blossom season because the Lake is lined with plenty of Sakura trees. We plan on taking our friends Efren, Patricia, Christine, & Mike here when they visit us in late March so stay tuned. Hopefully the trees are in full blossom by then!

 

  

Car Show Mecca

All car enthusiasts know that when it comes to the ultimate import car show, nothing beats the one and only Tokyo Auto Salon. It's a three day event held every January in the town of Chiba at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center, which is about 40 minutes east of Tokyo. Ted and I had were thrilled to check out the show for the first time two weeks ago.

We decided to spend two days at the event to make sure we didn't miss anything which turned out to be a smart idea because there was just so many things to see. Here's a photo recap of this awesome car show:

Just to give you an idea of what the Tokyo Auto Salon show floor looked like...this was just one of four huge exhibit halls:

A number of vendors and car manufacturers where present showing off all their new products for 2015:

 

Now for the cars... there were just so many vehicles on display so instead of just bombarding you with the hundreds of photos I took over the weekend, I decided to break it down into certain categories. Of course no Japanese car show is complete without the infamous Nissan Skyline GTR, and man did the T.A.S. have a lot of these beauties:

Also a great mixture of old school & new school cars like the Toyota Corolla (hatchi-roku) & the new 86:

 

 

Full out race and drift cars:

 

 

Concept cars like this BMW:

 

 

Exotic and high-end cars like the Lexus LFA, Audi R8, Lamborghini & Ferrari's :

 

 

Everyday cars like the Toyota Prius, SUV's like the Lexus Harrier (Lexus RX), mini-vans and wagons:

 

 

And perhaps my favorite style of Japanese cars are the VIP style; it's when a luxury vehicle is equipped with air ride suspension allowing the height of the car to be adjusted...which is usually lowered to the ground. The new Lexus RC, Lexus LS, and the Toyota Crown (Avalon) are great examples of this popular Japanese VIP  style:

 

 

So if you are a big fan of the import scene, highly encourage you to come out here in January and we'll go to the Mecca of car shows, The Tokyo Auto Salon! 

We wish you a "Happy" Christmas and a Happy New Year

Season Greetings everyone! As with every passing year, we look back and think about the year that was and certainly 2014 was an exciting one for both Bern and myself. Obviously moving to Japan was huge and it has provided us with some fun opportunities we never before would have imagined. Although it is difficult being away from our loved ones for the first time in our lives, it has also made us realize just how truly blessed we are. Sometimes in life, the things that mean the most to us (family, friends, In-&-out burger, Carne Asada Fries, Carl's Jr, etc... haha) we take for granted. Certainly being able to step away for a bit puts everything into perspective and we are so thankful for everything!

Bern and I were very surprised to find out that Christmas was actually celebrated here in Japan! The Christmas spirit was alive and well evident by all the lights, Christmas trees, and holiday deals at the local malls. Yet, there were some differences I noticed for example, there really wasn't a huge presence of good ol' St. Nick or the real reason for the season; the birth of Jesus. I'm thinking maybe this has to do with the fact that Japanese people are predominantly either Buddhist or Shinto, but still have an affinity for Western culture. Also, instead of saying "Merry Christmas," Japanese prefer to say "Happy Christmas!"

Our first Christmas here in Japan started with Bern and I going to midnight mass on base where we got to hear Ted sing his first solo (Oh Holy Night). During his performance, I couldn't even look at him because he actually took the shape of a unicorn; it was that good! haha (Step Brothers movie) After church, we came home where we ate some arroz caldo (Filipino Congee) that Bern had cooked for the very first time ever. It didn't turn out quite the way she had anticipated but it was a good first attempt nonetheless. Then we opened up some presents and finally went to bed around 4:30am. Thank you once again to everyone for all the Christmas gifts, cards, and well-wishes! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas too!    

The following day, we headed over to the Cariaga's place where we basically ate all day, sang karaoke, and danced! It's true what they say that sometimes the best things in life are free; just hanging out with our family here in Japan was a blast.

 

 

Another interesting fact I learned is that while Christmas is usually a time for family and New Year's a time to go out, it's the total opposite here in Japan. Christmas is typically spent going out with friends while New Years is a time to spend with the family. In fact, many businesses are closed for 3-5 days and some public services (i.e. mail & garbage collection) are stopped in order for people to ring in the year and pay their respects/ pray at the shrines & temples. For our New Year's celebration, Bern cooked up some amazing pancit and an oxtail stew dish that we brought over to the Cariaga's to compliment the de-rishous crab-bake that Ted had made up which consisted of king crab, snow crab, shrimp, sausage, & corn (crab hut style). 

 

Since we didn't have the Dick Clark New Years Eve celebration countdown on TV, we went outside to their balcony ten minutes before midnight to get a birds-eye view of the bay where the fireworks presentation was being held. As we were taking pictures, the fireworks started going off which signified the official start of 2015.

 

On January 1, New Year's Day, we witnessed something totally strange for us native San Dieagans...SNOW! For the first time this year, Yokosuka got it's first snow storm and even though it was short-lived, it was still a pretty cool sight to see. We hope you have a year full of 1st's in 2015...Happy New Year everyone! Love Mark & Bern