Christine & Vinky's visit to Yokosuka

Back in early October, my cousin Christine and my niece Vinky were here in Japan so we got the chance to spend a few days together in the local area. First on the list was to take them to the best chu-hi bar in all of Yokosuka for some melon flavored chu-hi's...

Then we had some dinner at a Japanese Izakaya

Then the following day we took them to the famous Buddha statue in Kamakura (a must see!)

And off to Yokohama where it was a beautiful autumn day...

We went to one of the local malls and discovered that they have a Lenard's bakery serving fresh malasadas; we had to stop by a grab a box of course...   

After our delicious snack it was off to the Yokohama Oktoberfest. This was the first time Bern and I had ever been to an actual Oktoberfest celebration and we were not disappointed. With so much good food & the number of German beers to choose from, we had a blast to say the least. 

The German style band went into the crowd to pick volunteers to help them play the song Edwelweiss from the Sound of Music on cowbells; and what do you know they picked Vinky to go up on stage...   

And no trip to Yokohama would be complete without a trip down to Chinatown. My cousin Christine is also part Chinese so it was definitely on her things to do list here in Japan.  

While there, both her and Vinky enjoyed a Dr. Fish session to end the night...  



Even though the their time here in Yokosuka was short, it was just so nice to see them again. We always have a lot of laughs everytime we see each other at family gatherings and look forward to seeing them again soon.  

(Goofing around at the local karaoke joint) 

Matsunaga Family trip to Japan!!

For those of you who may not know yet, I finally got a job back in July as a Purchasing Agent for the hospital on base...basically I'm the guy who orders all the supplies for the different departments I oversee. September was a very busy month in the Federal system because it's the end of the fiscal year and all these departments are trying to use up as much of their allotted budget as possible to make their final purchases. Luckily, I managed to get time off in the middle of the month to spend time with the entire Matsunaga clan who made the trip to Japan. It was so nice to see my Mom, Dad, my sisters Karen and Laura, and my new brother in law Honesty again after being away from home for so long! They were only here for about two weeks so there was really no time to waste. I wanted to make sure they got to see all the main sights of Japan so the first day we went to Yokohama for the Cup of Noodles Museum & dinner in Chinatown

Mom & Laura were so ticklish at the Dr. Fish place in Chinatown...

Then the following day we packed our bags and took the bullet train down to Kyoto

This was my Dad's first time in Japan so I was incredibly happy for him to be in the land our ancestors. The most important activity on his "to do list" was to do a little family research and visit Okayama, the area where his father, my grandfather grew up. It's located about 45 minutes south of Kyoto so after we checked into our hotel, we immediately hopped back on another bullet train. 

This spot is on the former grounds of where my grandfather went to elementary school

Right across the former school is Okayama castle, what a cool view it must have been for him to see

After we spent the afternoon in Okayama doing some family research, we headed back to Kyoto and noticed that they too also have tower right next to the main train station

Our first full day of sightseeing in Kyoto we got to see Kinkakuji Temple, or Golden Pavilion  

Then off to Kiomizu-Dera Temple up on the mountain for great view views of the city...

Kyoto was once the former capital of Japan from 794-1868 so it still has many traditional areas including Gion, an old Geisha district...   

The next day we headed to Western Kyoto to the Bamboo Forrest of Arashiyama where huge bamboo trees lined both sides of the pathway...

We also got to visit another very popular site called Fushimi Inari Shinto Shrine where thousands of torii gates are placed paying homage to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Trying to get a clear shot was a bit difficult because we went during a Japanese national holiday so the place was packed.    

We also decided to take a full day to visit Osaka which is only about a 35 minute train ride from Kyoto. Osaka has much more of a metropolitan feel than Kyoto, so Laura suggested we check out the top floor of the Umeda Building for a bird's eye view of the city... 

Next stop was Osaka castle, Dad wanted us to take a group picture in front of the castle wearing samurai costumes. At first we were all kind of hesitant but looking back I'm glad we decided to do it; he called it our "Seven Samurai" photo (after the famous samurai movie).

  

Shin-Sekai (New World) is a long narrow street filled with many unique restaurants & bars, but it's more well-known for their "fugu" or blowfish specialties. Blowfish are actually poisonous and can be lethal if the fish is not cut properly, so it takes very experienced sushi chief to cut the fish just right. Nonetheless, we wanted to give it a try and luckily we all walked out of there alive! haha It tastes just like any other typical sashimi except the texture was a bit more chewy, but not bad overall.

At the end of the street is Tsutenakaku, a famous tower in Osaka.

Our final stop in Osaka was Dotonbori is one of the more popular tourist attractions with it's bustling nightlife and entertainment. The main canal have huge signboards that look even more amazing at night.

After a full day of sightseeing, some of us wanted a late night snack so Bern, Laura, & Honesty tried one of Osaka's popular dishes, Takoyaki....a fried batter ball filled with octopus and covered with takoyaki sauce and dried shavings of bonito flakes.They are extremely hot when they first come out as Honesty discovered. haha

After our trip, we made our way back down to Yokosuka to relax for a few days. Dad's way of relaxing was going out fishing:

Since Laura is the vending machine business back in SD, she was so amazed at all the different Japanese vending machines. 

Had Karen try the chu-hi bar..

Of course Bern and I took them out to some of our favorite restaurants here in Yokosuka including the tonkatsu house with papa san...

And the sushi go-around next to our apartment...

We dared Laura to eat wasabi ice cream...which she actually liked:

Karen even managed to get a really cool tattoo on her upper right back;

We then packed our bags again for a few days in Tokyo, seeing all the major spots including Harajuku where Mom & Dad got matching tourist shirts (most likely Dad's idea!)

Akihabara where Laura and Honesty had fun shopping for all their favorite anime items & Karen was on the hunt for some special teddy bear collectibles store:

And got to see the Tokyo Tower at night:

The following morning we went to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. We didn't go to the actual live auction which you have to start lining up for at 3am, but it was nice to make there early enough and 

eat some fresh fish & seafood for breakfast. 

The final night in Tokyo, Karen and I had fun checking out the Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku

After our Tokyo adventure, we then made it back to Yokosuka for the final weekend of their vacation. We took advantage of a tour being offered through the military base of Mt. Fuji and the surrounding areas. The first stop was the Peace Park...

The Cariaga's were able to join us for the tour which was nice because Ted used to work at Paradise Valley Hospital so it was a bit of reunion for them and since Honesty's last name is Cariaga as well, it made for a great group photo. 

The entire family here at the 5th Station of Mt. Fuji...

Mom and I at the final stop of our tour, where climbers can start their ascent up Mt. Fuji at the 1st station.

No trip to Japan is complete without seeing the famous Daibutsu, Great Buddha in Kamakura.

Bern and I were so happy that everyone made the trip here to Japan. We managed to do a lot for two weeks they were here and enjoyed every minute of it. We miss them terribly but can't wait to see them again next year on our required home-leave in 2016. Love you all!