[SpecMode]

Well, OK...that's not completely accurate, seeing as I'll be paying a couple visits to San Diego and Pearl Harbor in a few months, but for all practical intents and purposes, this is my last week in the good ol' US of A until sometime in 2012 or so.

My ship (the USS George Washington, if you didn't see that over to the left) is deploying to Japan on Monday, where we'll be taking the place of the USS Kitty Hawk in Yokosuka. It's been quite an experience so far getting the ship ready for the move; for myself, it involved my fifth cross-country drive (the fourth inside of two years) to drop my car and a bunch of "excess" stuff off at my parents' place in CA.

I'm looking forward to seeing Japan up-close and personal for the first time; I've been to a few countries/cities/territories on the Pacific side (Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, Guam, Hawaii [x5]), but I have yet to visit Japan. Looks like I'll have plenty of time to enjoy the country on my first trip, seeing as I'll be living there for the next four years or so!

Which leads me into a question, for those of you who have been to Japan before: what did you enjoy the most about your time there? Food? Sightseeing? Shopping? Favorite places to visit?

[artesc]

lol. for a moment there i thought you were giving up your citizenship, that you were so fed up with our society that you were leaving for good to become a monk or something in tibet.

good luck!

i've never been to japan, but i would personally go crazy about the food and the video games (tech in general)

[SKMDC]

Originally Posted by artesc lol. for a moment there i thought you were giving up your citizenship, that you were so fed up with our society that you were leaving for good to become a monk or something in tibet. good luck! i've never been to japan, but i would personally go crazy about the food and the video games (tech in general)

for a minute there, I thought we were invading Japan!
guess not, damn! maybe next time.

If I went to Japan I would go to the place Tony Bourdain went to for Sushi in his book A Cook's Tour, but unfortunately I'm putting up shelves and all my food/cooking books are stacked up, if I get to it tomorrow I'll repost.

Also Japanese Baseball looks like a tremendous amount of fun, and they have great Horse Race tracks.

I would also stay in one of those little capsule hotels in Tokyo, with the pay per view porn, since you're a sailor I don't have to tell you, nudge nudge wink wink say no more.

Mind you, I've only stopped in the Tokyo airport on the way to China, but I have a notebook that I keep when watch travel shows that I make copious notes in for when I hit the city, or area.

[apple007]

I've never been to Japan and don't have any advice. Just wanted to say "good luck" and safe travels.

I assume you'll still be posting here and look forward to your reports.

(BTW, is there a publicly-posted itinerary of the "Partnership of the Americas" exercises? I'm in Mexico right now and will be in the Mexico/Caribbean region for the next few months.)

[Schnauzer]

Enjoy your trip man, should be fun to live in Japan! What do you do on the ship? Anyways, good luck!

[turtle]

I've been to Yokota Japan before. In fact, I lived there for 2 and a half years. Right here to be even more exact!

I was only 4-6 though so I don't remember too much.

[Mancomb Seepgood]

SpecMode, are you married?

Being American over there is like fishing with dynamite...

[Luca]

I've got a friend in the Air Force who spent three years at Misawa. I didn't keep in perfect touch with him while I was there, but we have talked about it a bit.

Try to get out a bit and enjoy the culture a bit. A lot of the people he knew rarely left the base. That seems like a waste to me. Obviously you're going to be busy, but there are so many cool things you can do on your downtime.

Oh, and try not to get addicted to anime. My friend did, and now he has a few hard drives dedicated entirely to storing anime episodes.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by SpecMode Well, OK...that's not completely accurate, seeing as I'll be paying a couple visits to San Diego and Pearl Harbor in a few months, but for all practical intents and purposes, this is my last week in the good ol' US of A until sometime in 2012 or so.

Hey, I remember you telling me about this at Macworld. It sounds like a really great opportunity. Have a good time over there and keep us updated.

I've never been to Japan, but I agree with Luca's advice about getting out and learning about the culture, even becoming part of it to some extent (since you'll be there for a while). That really applies anywhere you go. If you don't get out, then you didn't go to Japan. You were just on a boat for a really long time.

[Capella]

Congrats! I've always wanted to go to Japan. You're going to have a great opportunity. I totally agree with everyone who says "go out and enjoy the culture." I'm sure you'd be bored if you just stayed on the ship and base 24/7, even if you're not working, right? Japan has a lot of diversity in places you can go, so I'm sure you'll be able to find destinations you'll like.

[SpecMode]

Thanks for all the well wishes and suggestions so far. I should note that my number one priority as soon as we pull in is to get a place to live out in town - probably a bit outside of Yokosuka proper.

I fully intend to get as far away from the ship as I can as often as I can; "stay on base 24/7" is not an option for me.

[Mugge]

So, I guess this means that the Kitty Hawk is heading for it's decommissioning now.

Originally Posted by Mancomb Seepgood SpecMode, are you married? Being American over there is like fishing with dynamite...

Might want to adopt a low profile if you are going to Okinawa, though.

Originally Posted by Luca (...) Oh, and try not to get addicted to anime. My friend did, and now he has a few hard drives dedicated entirely to storing anime episodes.

Oh, you mean like this guy?







Sunday hangovers are best cured with the Weekend Web.

[drewprops]

Oh.
My.
God.

Ohmygod.

That last post has wiped anything I had to say about your Japan tour of duty..... holy crap!! O.o

[artesc]

is he wearing a freaking set of jedi robes?

[Mugge]

Originally Posted by artesc is he wearing a freaking set of jedi robes?

That was also my initial thought, but on second thought I think it's some traditional Japanese garb.

Obviously no hit with the ladies.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by SKMDC for a minute there, I thought we were invading Japan!

We've always been at war with Japanesia.

[autodata]

My cousin and his family, also navy, recently came back from a few years there and loved it. They took the opportunity to do a bunch of traveling throughout asia. His teenagers, though, didn't want to come back. Apparently they consider it to be somewhere in the awesome-FTW range.

[Moogs]

Wow, that is one of the newer carriers that's been commissioned, isn't it? Pretty awesome to be a part of a ship like that. Nothing like a little Pacific power projection to get your motor runnin', eh? That'll teach those damn North Koreans to fire missiles into the ocean! Crazy bastards.

ANYway, if you ever get to Tokyo, visit the Ginza shopping district (not to shop but to watch in amazement) and the Roppongi district (which is where all the westerners are). When at the latter, go to the Inakaya restaurant (not sure if it's still there but the food and experience is awesome - also very expensive bring you some serious Yen!). Also Roppongi has a great night life / lots of hotties walking around between bars, etc.

If you want more authentic Japan, take the bullet-train to places like Kyoto and Kamakura, but best you take someone who speaks Japanese with you if you don't. No westerners out there. Just be polite / humble, and the Japanese people will treat you very well. Not sure if you have to wear your unis everywhere but if you don't, don't. Just dress like anyone else; you'll probably get more of an authentic reaction from the people.

[SpecMode]

So, we're at our first stop: sunny (and occasionally cloudy and stormy) Rio de Janeiro. Beaches, bars, and a disturbingly large number of old men in Speedos as far as the eye can see.

Rio would be a great place to visit, if:

A) You could go further than two blocks from the beach (we could not),
B) You could drink (my group could not),
C) You actually brought stuff to swim in (I did not),
D) You were allowed to spend the night off the ship (we were not).

I actually only spent one day (out of the three I was off duty) out in town; there really wasn't all that much my group could do other than walk around aimlessly, drink water or soda, and eat. In their defense, the parts of Rio we were allowed to roam around in were alright; good food, and the scenery (of sorts) was mostly great.

In any case, we'll be heading back to sea soon, off to our next port. Next post: see y'all in the Pacific!

[ctt1wbw]

Well, have fun on your 8 month deployment. I just came off the USS Enterprison, I mean the EnterPRISE. And I DO NOT miss the shipyard, man. That 35th street parking lot sucks much ASS. And it's a loooong walk in the wintertime.

[SpecMode]

Originally Posted by ctt1wbw And I DO NOT miss the shipyard, man. That 35th street parking lot sucks much ASS. And it's a loooong walk in the wintertime.

Yeah, I can definitely agree with that; I got to spend my first few weeks on GW in NNSY (Norfolk Naval Shipyard, fer ya landlubbers) and it did indeed suck.

So, we're now at stop #2: Valparaiso, Chile. I have yet to actually see land; I've been too busy down in my plant (yes, my plant, complete with almost three dozen minions to do my bidding! Muahahaha! *ahem.*).

Getting back on track, though, it's been an interesting trip so far...not quite so much as my last journey through these parts, but still enough so that the days are kinda just blurring together - it really doesn't seem like we left VA over a month ago. There's something to be said about keeping yourself busy, especially out here.

[Anonymous Coward]

The Exchange on Yokosuka is pretty big. I don't remember much (20 years ago) but I think there was one big building exclusively with Japanese goods.

There's a Navy Federal Credit Union on base. It's not as big a deal as when only overseas service members could join, but maybe knowing it's there will help you set up your finances.

Transportation is no problem. There is a train station very close to the front gate. I remember taking a couple of day trips to major sights. I only remember Tokyo and a place with many Buddhist temples, and I don't think either place was more than and hour and a half away.

For some reason, I remember being impressed by the radiac calibration services.

I don't think you missed very much in Rio. Can nuclear vessels tie up at the dock now? I remember being envious of the surface ships. Subs had to anchor offshore and the constant rolling made things very uncomfortable. We were able to go ashore using water taxis, at least, when it was calm enough for them to pull alongside.

[Moogs]

Good to hear the news, Spec. Keep us posted... So I took it you went through the Panama Canal a few days back, given that you're on the west coast of South America, or did you guys go around Cape Horn? Either way did you get to see any of that above-decks? Would be pretty awesome if you can get some shots of Patagonian mountains from off the coast!

In brushing up on my carrier knowledge I discovered the USS Ford (CVN 78) is next in line (being built now) and is the next class of super carrier. Apparently will be the first to use electro-magnetic catapult technologies, maybe something analogous to a mag-lev system, like those used to propel trains? Anyway, nothing against Gerald Ford but I am having a hard time understanding why an entire class of carriers will be named after him, or even one carrier. Near I can tell the worst thing he saw in WWII was a typhoon, though his service record is otherwise an admirable, if unremarkable one.

Nimitz I can understand... Ford... not so much. This is what happens when cronies run the show in Washington IMO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ger...d_%28CVN-78%29

I find it impossible to believe there are not more deserving people to have a carrier named after than Gerald Ford. Even the HW Bush is a stretch IMO but at least he was well known as a war time fighter pilot and for invading Iraq for good reasons.

[Moogs]

BTW this is possibly the coolest carrier graphic I've ever seen.





Also, check out the end (roughly the last 1/3) of this catapult testing video for CVN 77. Totally sweet when the sled gets flung off the deck and crashed into the water. Talk about power!

http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/me...81005_384k.wmv

[Ryan]

That's awesome! My dad was stationed in Japan for a few years when he was with the Navy.

[SpecMode]

Moogs: I find I feel slightly better about the name when I leave off the "Gerald" part.

Anonymous Coward: Nope, we had to anchor out. Same with Valparaiso -- all the more annoying, since the Kaufman was pierside right where our liberty boats pulled in.

So, I got to see a bit of Chile today during my 13-hour bus tour (which was only supposed to be 9 hours). Nice countryside, reminded me quite a bit of back home while we were up in the hills. Got a decent number of pictures and even a bit of video, which I hope I'll have time to review and maybe post sometime this year.

It's been a long day and I've got to get up early, so that'll be it for today.