Fw:This Just In: Two News Stories of Interest

A couple of news items for you to check out...

Japanese Female Sumo Wrestler

There's an interesting article in East West Magazine about a female amateur Sumo Wrestler (rikishi) who wrestles for her company here in Japan.

http://www.eastwestmagazine.com/content/view/46/40/

Sinai Peacekeeper Plane Crashes
This story was of interest to me because I served in this unit for a year in 1994. I made many trips back and forth between the North Camp and South Camp, near Sharm al Sheikh. It was always an incredible flight that ended up over the Red Sea, with views that included four
countries (Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia).

It's always sad when people die, but in the business we're in, it's an unfortunate fact of life. The MFO has been keeping the peace for almost 30 years now, and if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time anything like that has happened. There was the horrible Gander crash in 1985 that decimated a battalion of the 101st Airborne, but otherwise, it has been a generally casualty free mission. If you're the praying sort, please include the French and Canadian troops and their families.
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=bc8cc9a1-f6e2-47a
d-a8fc-babd524a64b0&k=8481

Sakura and Sinatra

Despite our best attempts at estimating when the peak would be, we were off on the Sakura, or Cherry Blossom Season, when we scheduled our parents' visit. So, they missed them when they were in full bloom. There were a few late bloomers, though, and a lot of dogwoods in full flower while they were here, though.

Here's what they missed...
In the park near our home.















The pedestrian zone on the way down to the beach.. on the right is our grocery store.












Even the train had a special paint job for the season...






We also had the chance to meet a cat that has no affect on Melody's substantial allergies...not that we'd be so lucky if we ever tried to find one of our own. His name is Sinatra, and he's quite a sweet fellow. More like a dog, really. Friendly, talkative, and affectionate.

Yabusame

A few weeks ago, we went down to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine to see the Yabusame, or horseback archery, a martial discipline still trained on and demonstrated today. Requiring perfection in both horseback riding and archery, and was an incredible thing to watch. Keeping with tradition, the riders were dressed in ancient Samurai garb, and had to ride a 300 meter course, shooting at three targets along the way.

We arrived in time to meet some friends at Starbucks by the station, and then wandered down to the shrine. The place was packed when we got there, with most of the good seats (the ones that could see the targets) already taken. I found a decent spot in back of a seated family, and was able to defend it until the show got started. All in all, I was there for about an hour before anything started happening. And in reality, that was too late to really get a good spot. And don't even think about trying to sit on anyone's shoulders or climb a tree. This guy would come yell at you and tell you to get down...


Finally, the temple priest led a procession of attendants and horses down and back the length of the course. After that was complete, the six riders themselves came out. Mounting their horses at the west end of the course, they returned to the start point and prepared to ride.

The riders would come full tilt down the stretch of sandy riding course, loose an arrow, reach back for the second in time to shoot the next target, and finally retrieve the third to finish the set. I know that none of the riders missed the target nearest me (and right by the restrooms...watch your head!). Each time they thundered by, I could hear a sharp "Thwack" as the arrow hit the target. This photo shows the arrow just at the moment of release...lucky shot.

While I was watching the riders, the others were wandering around, sampling the candied grapes and candied apples, yakisoba, takoyaki (octopus balls - that's like a hushpuppie with octopus, not the reproductive organs...though I'm sure you can find that too down at the big Tsukiji fish market) visiting the baked potato man, and enjoying the festival nature of the afternoon.

After a while, we had all seen enough, though, and went up the street to get a hamburger at the Kua Aina Hawaiian Hamburger shop. My dog-friend, Callie, Lori's dog, came with us, and attracted all sorts of attention as she waited by the street. She made at least 50 new friends as people walked by, sweet Golden Retriever that she is...

It's been far too long since the last blogging episode.

Life's been really busy here lately. In addition to the work routine, we've been blessed to have had several sets of visitors as well during the month of April.

In the first week, we had our friends Paul and Karen, and their two daughters, Rhiannon and Chloe come from England. I met Paul and Karen back in 1999 while on a trip to Morocco with Encounter Overland, a now defunct (absorbed into Dragoman, actually) overland travel company. There were 12 of us on the trip for two weeks in the back of a 10 ton truck driving around the country. It was a fantastic trip, and several of us have kept in touch over the years. Melody and I went to Paul and Karen's wedding, and in turn, they came to ours a few years ago. And, forgoing their annual trip to Spain, this year they came to Japan for a visit.

We had them stay at the lodge at Zama which is a lot cheaper than comparable lodging out in town. It also provided an easy point to start out on different trips around the area. We went to Hakone, the foothills leading to Mt. Fuji, the Beach at Enoshima, went to view the cherry blossoms at the on post festival, and visited with another Morocco trip alumnus, Nicole, in Tokyo. Later, Melody accompanied them to Kyoto for an overnight stay and touring around the historic city. All told, it was a great trip for them, and us getting to spend time with old friends. The kids are really sweet, and drew all sorts of attention from Japanese who would exclaim, "Kawaii!" (Cute!). Traveling with kids is never easy, and coming to Japan was quite a daunting endeavor. Somehow, though, Paul and Karen almost made it look easy.

Last week, my Mother, Father and Aunt came for 1o days. We spent a few days up in Tokyo at the New Sanno, enjoying the great accommodations and a classy dinner at Wellington's Restaurant. Melody set up a tour on the Kitty Hawk for everyone, which may have been the highlight of the trip for them. We also got a chance to see Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Annunciation" on display at the Tokyo Museum of Art. During a couple of days at our home in Kamakura, we discovered the Onsen hot spring spa down the street, and all went for a dip. Quite the Japanese experience, that was....for more info on a Japanese Onsen experience, see the entry from 26 Jan 06.

On Monday, Mom, Dad, Aunt Frannie and I took the train up to Tokyo Station. The first leg was fine, but as we got closer , we got a first hand look at the Tokyo commuter's life, crammed into the car like so many sardines. As Aunt Frannie said, 50 people would get off, and 60 would get on...incredible. Once at Tokyo Station, we had some breakfast, and I got them linked up with their tour to Kyoto and Nara. After that, I went on to meet my co-workers for a business trip up to Sendai. I spent two days up there before heading back to Tokyo to meet my folks again and head home. We had a brief scare when the train made an emergency stop and stayed still for about 15 minutes. None of the other passengers seemed to be panicking, though, so we didn't worry about it too much. Still not sure what happened.

Their visit ended on Friday, when I took them up to work with me and put them on a bus to the airport. We really had a great time, and enjoyed seeing family after more than a year. We discovered that yes, our house can survive having 5 adults in it, and it was great impetus to finally go through boxes that have sat idle for a long while. So, it was fun, and productive. The parental units and Aunt Frannie did great, despite the "death march" that was the tour around Kyoto ("OK! You have 5 minutes to get back to the bus!! Next stop is the Imperial Palace! We will have 30 seconds there, and then will go on to Nijo Castle!"). Aunt Frannie's new knee held up well, though, and everyone returned safely back to the States. At least we think so...we haven't heard from them yet. But, they were stopping in Seattle to see our cousin, and planning a side trip to Victoria, so we'll hear from them sometime.

Will be slowing down for a week or so, with just work to worry about. But, the week after next, I got a kitchen pass as an early birthday present, and will be traveling to China for about 2 1/2 weeks with a buddy of mine following the Silk Road from Beijing to Xian, and all the way out to Kashgar which is closer to Afghanistan than the next major town, Urumqi. Should be fun...Won't be able to blog much while on the trip, but I'll do what I can.

Sorry again for the long absence. It's been nutty busy around here, but things are returning to normal for a short while. Thanks for your patience.

Blog for you to check out...

I just received an email from one of my old friends, Bill. He's a Lutheran Chaplain, and was in my first unit many years ago. We spent a lot of time in Somalia back in 92-93, and in many ways, he contributed to the love of independent travel that I have now.

He started a blog on Blogger last year, and somehow I missed it until now. It's called "The Accidental Christian" and deals primarily with spirituality and military service. He's a very wise man, and it's a well-written blog. I encourage you to go have a look.

A bit more of Bill and his influence, since this is primarily a travel blog .

While we were in Somalia, we had a lot of time where we were not decisively engaged in any operations, planning, or "Army stuff." So, we spent a lot of time chatting. He's fluent in French (got his Doctor of Theology from the University of Strasbourg), and having had a couple of years of high school French, we developed an ongoing story to kill time. It was a good refresher for my French skills (poor, at best), and revolved around me taking a trip through Quebec via bicycle. Along the way, I had many adventures, culminating in my having to extricate myself from a Canadian Cannibal family who threatened to eat me if I didn't marry their daughter. Interesting, to say the least.

Incidentally, after I got back from Somalia, I did take a trip up into Quebec, hitting Montreal, Quebec City, and all the way out to the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Gaspe Peninsula. That was the first venture into traveling for the sake of the journey itself...just going wherever my whims took me. I did not, however, run into any cannibal families threatening me with consumption.

He also brought along a small propane stove and machinetta and would make espresso every morning that we would sip out of canteen cups while watching the bats try to bite our roommate Chris. We figured it was sort of karmic, since Chris would cut open MREs and take out the M&Ms. Eventually, one did bite him, on the big toe, and he had to get evacuated to Mogadishu. After a couple of days there, he worked his way back to Kismayu where we were, via the Mombassa, Kenya R&R spot. Every time I make espresso in my own machinetta, I think back to those days.

He is an accomplished musician, and not knowing how long we'd be deployed, both of us brought our guitars. Every Friday night, we'd have "Somali Nights," a sort of variety/talent show that whoever was around would come and participate in. We had jugglers, rappers, other guitarists, and comedians all emerge from the unit to showcase their talents and break the monotony of life there.

The picture posted above is when he and I went to the local Leper Colony to provide some entertainment for the kids that lived there. We spent an hour or so singing and hamming it up with the community, and, hopefully, made some desperate lives a little better for the time being.

All this to say go and have a look around his site. You won't be disappointed.

The link...The Accidental Christian

Another new photo site

I recently started posting pictures at TrekEarth, a travel oriented photo sharing site. I like it because it's more of a "serious" photo site, rather than a place to put up pictures of you doing something stupid over the weekend (ahem...Flickr...not that there's anything wrong with that site...it is where we put up a bunch of pics).

One of the features is the opportunity to receive critiques by other members. It's an opportunity to learn more about the art and science of photography. So far I've got about 10 of my best pictures on the site, and have been working on preparing others. You can only upload one per day, so it forces you to cull through the thousands of good pictures to really pick out the best ones.

Check the site out. http://www.trekearth.com/

The link to my Trek Earth page is in the links on the right...

Thy's Tours

While we were in Cambodia, our favorite driver was Thy Srey. He was the young fellow that set up our trip to see the village at Kampong Phloc (my own personal favorite part of the entire trip). What an incredible place.

Well, I offered to help Thy out with his burgeoning business as an independent tour operator, and went into the gratis website design business.

His site address is Thy's Tours. Please take a look over there, especially if you're headed to Cambodia and Angkor Wat. If you aren't going, well, you should be. If you know someone who is, please point them in the direction of the website, and of course, my friend Thy. He'll take great care of you.

That address again...http://thytours.blogspot.com.

Check it out.

New Photosets at Flickr Site

I've recently started putting up a new photo set at our Flickr site. I've been rooting through the pictures I've got on file, and am pulling up the best "people" shots that I've got. Of all the things I like to take pictures of, People have to be the most interesting. Catching that shot of someone just going about their daily business, and then looking at it months or years later and trying to imagine what they were doing then, where they are now...it never gets boring. I've also been tweaking some with my new software toy, Photoshop Elements 5. So far, a pretty big learning curve, but I'm gradually learning a few tricks. It's not as straight forward as the other software I've used, and I still go back to Microsoft Picture Manager if I just need to shrink something down. But, I'm learning to work with layers, putting in backgrounds, and labeling them with some copyright protection as well, just in case they're any good.

Check them out, and let me know what you think. Feel free to leave a comment if you see one you particularly like. If you hate something, let me know that too (not that I'll care, since they're my favorites!).

Checking in with a Friend

Earlier this week, I had to attend a conference up in Tokyo. Work was kind enough to put us up at a local hotel, and pay for it, too. So, Melody arranged to have Tuesday off, and came up after work Monday to meet me. After I got back from my social event responsibilities (we met with our Japanese counterparts), we actually got to spend some time with one of our Hong Kong friends. Nicole, whom I met in Morocco back in 1999, and with whom we've kept in touch over the years, is here in town on business with her company. She and her long time boyfriend just got engaged, so we met up with her at our hotel for a nice, celebratory Japanese dinner. We had a great time catching up with her, since we've not seen her since Thanksgiving 2005. I headed off to bed early, as I'm fighting some sort of chest cold that's kept me in a perpetual state of near cough for the better part of a week. Melody and Nicole stayed, though, and chatted until nearly midnight.

In any case, congratulations, Nicole and Lok! We're really happy for you, and promise that we'll not give you too much unsolicited advice on your engagement! But, just in case, here is...

"Dave's Semi-Tongue in Cheek 10 Commandments For the Newly Engaged Man"

1. Remember...this is not your wedding. It's hers, and you are just as much an ornament as the flowers you pick. Just not as expensive.
2. Set a date quickly. Long enough to get everything ready, but not so long that before the big day you decide to hop a plane to Vegas because you're sick of all the preparations.
3. Decide how much you want to spend. Double it. Double it again.
4. Decide how you're going to pay for it. Try to half the time it will take to do so.
5. Don't ever say something like, "You know, honey...I really don't have a preference on what kind of (napkins, invitations, cake topper, etc.) we get. That, in the grand scheme of things, is what I would call a 'mouse t*rd." This, despite it's wittiness, is not what your bride will want to hear. Have an opinion, and allow yourself to be eventually swayed to her idea. See rule #1.
6. Suffer the advice givers. There will be many, because everyone remembers their wedding, and what a great time they had. They give advice because they want yours to be every bit as wonderful. But don't be afraid to say, "Thank you for your thoughts. We may consider something like that."
7. You can't invite everybody. You will forget people, and despite what you or your family think, they will still be your friends. If they aren't, then you probably wouldn't have invited them even if you remembered to do so.
8. At some point, it will just be easier for you to say, "Yes, Dear. Whatever you want," and write a check.
9. Remember, when the panic sets in at the 11th hour because (insert crisis here), everything will work out OK. The snow will melt, your best man will run home and pick up the ring, and the rental van company will answer the phone at 2 in the morning to field the latest change in seating arrangements. Not that I would know this from experience or anything...
10. Have fun. It truly will be the greatest day of your life!

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!