Bye Bye, Maya

We just got back from our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Jammin', where we said goodbye to one of the waitresses there. Maya, whom we've gotten to know over the past year and a half or so, is headed for a three month trip to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. She's an independent spirit, and apparently, every year spends a few months traveling. Last year, it was to Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, we think). Anyway, there were quite a few of her friends there for her last night of work, including some of the other regulars like us.

It was a great evening, with lots of pictures and lots of toasts. We plan to see her again when she comes back in May, though she won't be resuming her position at Jammin', which is a shame.

In any case, Bon Voyage, Maya! Have a safe trip!

Excitement

A few days ago, you may have seen news about attacks on Camp Zama...it's not the first time, as there are folks here in Japan opposed to our presence here. As it turns out, it was the so called usual suspects who used their typical MO of improvised mortars that were fired from a nearby park. The attacks happened late at night, and caused no damage or injuries. The police continue to investigate.

The funny thing was seeing a post on ABC News' blog that speculated that this was an attack by Al Qaeda in Japan. It seemed ludicrous to those of us here, but made its way to the top Google posting as a result. That was probably ABC's aim all along.

Anyhow, all is fine. Neither of us were anywhere around...

I've been out in Osaka for the past week and a half for exercise Yama Sakura. We finished up yesterday, and I was fortunate to catch one of the first flights out...

Only one picture taken this trip, that of a new (to me, anyhow) type of coffee. A Coca Cola product, it had a pretty amusing name..."Deepresso." Not necessarily the best name for a drink that's supposed to be a pick-me up!