I think Mommy has e-mailed or called or Facebook-ed or Myspace-ed or Babyfit-ed everyone she knows in the past few days. But in case you somehow missed it, I'M GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER! I have no clue what's going on, but Mommy sure is excited. She drug out the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and the journal she kept when she was pregnant with me (so she can compare how she felt then to how she feels with this baby). And she bought a new journal for this baby that's identical to mine. Plus she's reading "What to Expect the Toddler Years" for me. So there's big stack of pregnancy/toddler books/journals on our end table. Daddy is impressed. Mommy is already calling the baby "Alex" since boy or girl, that will be the nickname. (Either Alexander John or Alexandra Jade).
That's all for now. There is other news, too... but it's still pending. Mommy or Daddy will post when we know something for sure. (Hint: I might be back in CONUS soon!)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thailand TDY
Took my first TDY (Temporary Duty) only 20 days after arriving in Japan. I went to Udon Thani, Thailand to help out with a few aircraft we had there. It was an interesting trip. I was there long enough and in a non-touristy enough area to really get a feel for the culture a little bit.
I left on my birthday (12 March). Flew from Tokyo to Bangkok. Landed a little before midnight. They have two airports there, which I know only as "the new one" and the "the old one". I landed in the new one. Problem is, I had to fly out of the old one the next day. I took a taxi...well it turned out to be a "limo service" which was using Nissan Maximas. I always heard Maximas were fast; the driver left no doubt. The trip which I had been told took about 1:15 was over in :45. The traffic wasn't especially heavy, but was definitely steady. We averaged 4-5 lanes on the freeway and we used every one of them in the weaving pattern. I convinced myself he was a professional and took in the views. Bangkok is big. Much bigger than I expected, although I never gave it much thought. I arrived at the motel not long after 0100 and went to sleep.
I had to check out by 1200 so I was out at around 1130. I was the old airport by 1145. My flight took off at 1845. So....I went exploring where ever I could get to by foot. What I saw (and more importantly smelled) took my apetite away for the better part of a day. Crowded, dirty market. Dogs scavenging around. Clearly homeless people occupying their spaces. A general sense of chaos and acceptance of it. I found an internet cafe that charged 15 baht/hr (about 40 cents). I sat and checked the news for a bit, although the computers spent most of the time lagging or locking up. I headed back to the airport, which is an odd site in and of itself. It looks like a train station out of the old days and is more than half way shut down. I'm guessing it's slowly giving way to the new airport. Anyway, I went through security and found a Burger King. At this point I basically hadn't eaten in a day. The food on the 7 hr flight from Tokyo was bad at best. No chance to eat that night. No way was I eating in that market. I ordered the double whopper combo thinking I would scarf it down, but after sitting down with it realized I just didn't want it. I ate maybe a dozen fries and nibbled on the burger. Finally my flight boarded and I made the short 1 hr flight to Udon Thani.
My boss was waiting for me. He took my to the hotel to get me checked in and swept me out to the bars. The bars themselves are actually a very cool atmosphere. Thailand is in general hot and muggy (at least in March). For the most part the bars are open air with limited seating inside and a few tables outside. Pretty much any of them are at the capacity they can handle about 15 people or so.
There are blocks and blocks of these bars. Drinks are fairly cheap- 80 baht or $2.50. The surprise that comes with the bars is the hookers. They are actually employed by the bar. So, their first job is to keep you at the bar. This means they flirt, try to talk to you although they understand about as much English we do Thai, and play games. It's kind of funny to sit at a bar with a buddy and play Jenga or Connect 4 with a couple of hookers. So their second move is to try and get you to buy them drinks. You find out later that "lady drinks" cost about twice as much as your drinks. This is because the bar gives them a cut for helping sell alcohol. Finally, hookers do what hookers do. To take one home you actually pay the bar "fine" of 400-600 baht $13-$20.
There were also the "lady men". I guess the girls get enough attention in Thailand that it is popular to take upon yourself to become one. There are many works in progress out and about. There are also some who I think take pride in fooling Americans. Most have had some the necessary surgeries to look the part, others just dress for it. I suppose they're just part of making Thailand what it is.
I went on some lengthy walks from my hotel while there. More poverty and people just trying to get by. I'm confident you could sustain yourself there for not much more than $1/day if you had to.
The streets absolutely hum with traffic, but maybe 15% of it is cars. The rest are tuk tuks and scooters. It seems everyone has a scooter there. Weave carelessly through slow and stopped traffic. Because they are so unpredictable, tuk tuks and cars don't even try to watch out for them. I saw one accident and many close calls. Tuk tuks are basically three wheeled motorcycles with a cargo bed.
They are commonly used as taxis for local trips. Instead of buses, they use what we call cattle cars.
The people just get off and go up front to pay the driver when they get off. They can be hard to picture so I took some snapshots.
One day I took a tuk tuk to a park I heard about to run. What a gem. A beautifully manicured park with a nice lake and a 2 mile running track around it. Had a nice relaxing run and enjoyed the scenery. My tuk tuk driver even waited for me. I think he was amused that someone would go to the park just run and get hot n sweaty. I tipped him nicely for waiting for me.
I also got to golf one day. There is a nine hole course on the base. We had to rent clubs, which meant caddies were mandatory. We paid $17 each for green fee, club rental, caddie, and a half dozen balls. The course wasn't fantastic or anything, but definitely a good track and we had a great time.
Of course, throughout all of this I had to work too. I worked nights 1430-everthing's done, usually around midnight. We stayed busy for the most part and kept the C-130's going. We had some impressive maintainers down there. I think it's going to be a good unit I'm assigned to.
After being gone 10 days I was definitely ready to come home and to see Jenni and Jackson. It was a good trip, a definite learning experience. Hopefully I'll get to see a lot more of the world while I'm here. I'll try and keep everyone updated.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
A TDY, Household Goods, and LOTS of unpacking!
Mike found out Wednesday night that he'd be leaving on Thursday to go TDY. (TDY=Temporary Duty, meaning somewhere other than your regular station but not long enough or in a location to be considered a deployment.) So we scrambled on Wednesday to get laundry done and get him packed, not knowing how long he'd be gone. Thursday was his birthday so we talked to family to make sure everyone got a chance to wish him Happy Birthday before he left. He left Yokota at about 1pm on the bus for the airport in Tokyo. He called on Friday to say he should be home on Saturday the 21st. So, only 10 days. I'm sure we can manage without him for a week and a half.
The biggest thing was that our household goods (our crap) was being delivered on Friday. So I had to direct movers and arrange furniture without him. Luckily, our friends Shane and Ellen took Jackson for me Friday morning so he wouldn't be underfoot while the movers were here. THAT was a lifesaver! Another guy from Mike's shop stopped by to help out for a few hours, too. Also very helpful.
A few things got broken. The headboard for Jackson's crib when it converts to a toddler bed. The bottom of the floor lamp for the living room. A small tear in the back of the loveseat. None of those were really that big of a deal to me. But the tiles to our end tables and coffee table got broken. They moved 60 and broke 15. The packers in Little Rock were apparantly idiots. They just put them in two stacks of 30 and put them in a box. No paper, no wrap, nothing. Just in a box. Um, DUH! Of course they're going to break! The biggest fight will be that we need 81 tiles to have full replacement. The 60 they moved plus the 21 in the sofa table that's at Mike's parents' house. Hopefully we won't have to fight too hard.
After the movers left at about 12:30 came the unpacking. Oh joy. But I was able to get all the boxes emptied by Saturday night. And that even included a break on Friday night for dinner at Shane and Ellen's. Thank goodness I didn't have to try to cook in that chaos!! I finished organizing and putting almost everything in it's place this morning. Going out in a little while to buy a few things, then I'll organize the last little bit and be done! So, all moved in and unpacked in 3 days flat. Not bad for doing it with a 1 1/2 year old if I do say so myself. Of course there will be a few things that will wait until Mike gets back, like hanging the pictures.
Jackson had fun with all the paper and "helping" me unpack. He's also trying to sign Daddy even though we weren't really teaching him. We've watched his signing video twice this last week and I think he picked up "Daddy" from that. He is asking where Mike is, which is adorable. He point to himself and makes his question noise. I say, "Jackson." Then he points to me and questions and I say, "Mommy." Then he points to the door and tries to sign Daddy. Like, "Where the heck is that dude that's always here?!" He cracks me up. I'm sure he'll be just as glad as I am when Mike gets back!
That's all for now. Just a quick update while Jackson's asleep. No new pictures at the moment. Mike has the camera with him.
The biggest thing was that our household goods (our crap) was being delivered on Friday. So I had to direct movers and arrange furniture without him. Luckily, our friends Shane and Ellen took Jackson for me Friday morning so he wouldn't be underfoot while the movers were here. THAT was a lifesaver! Another guy from Mike's shop stopped by to help out for a few hours, too. Also very helpful.
A few things got broken. The headboard for Jackson's crib when it converts to a toddler bed. The bottom of the floor lamp for the living room. A small tear in the back of the loveseat. None of those were really that big of a deal to me. But the tiles to our end tables and coffee table got broken. They moved 60 and broke 15. The packers in Little Rock were apparantly idiots. They just put them in two stacks of 30 and put them in a box. No paper, no wrap, nothing. Just in a box. Um, DUH! Of course they're going to break! The biggest fight will be that we need 81 tiles to have full replacement. The 60 they moved plus the 21 in the sofa table that's at Mike's parents' house. Hopefully we won't have to fight too hard.
After the movers left at about 12:30 came the unpacking. Oh joy. But I was able to get all the boxes emptied by Saturday night. And that even included a break on Friday night for dinner at Shane and Ellen's. Thank goodness I didn't have to try to cook in that chaos!! I finished organizing and putting almost everything in it's place this morning. Going out in a little while to buy a few things, then I'll organize the last little bit and be done! So, all moved in and unpacked in 3 days flat. Not bad for doing it with a 1 1/2 year old if I do say so myself. Of course there will be a few things that will wait until Mike gets back, like hanging the pictures.
Jackson had fun with all the paper and "helping" me unpack. He's also trying to sign Daddy even though we weren't really teaching him. We've watched his signing video twice this last week and I think he picked up "Daddy" from that. He is asking where Mike is, which is adorable. He point to himself and makes his question noise. I say, "Jackson." Then he points to me and questions and I say, "Mommy." Then he points to the door and tries to sign Daddy. Like, "Where the heck is that dude that's always here?!" He cracks me up. I'm sure he'll be just as glad as I am when Mike gets back!
That's all for now. Just a quick update while Jackson's asleep. No new pictures at the moment. Mike has the camera with him.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Fire Walking!
We made another adventure out into Japan today: a fire walking ceremony at Mt. Takao. It was an organized trip through the base and was scheduled to be about 10 hrs. We decided that was too long to take Jackson along so some of our new friends here babysat for us.
We spent the first half of the day exploring the mountain. We took a cable car about halfway up the mountain to start the day off.
View from the cable car on the way back down.
We spent the next several hours exploring. The ceremony is put on by an isolated group of monks who have shed off civilization and accepted religion to form their own spiritual sect. They essentially worship two mountain Gods and aspire to be as close to them as possible.
The series of shrines and temples scattered across the mountain are beautiful. Many required a good hike to get to, but were well worth it. The detail and artwork is amazing (it's hard to appreciate in the pictures).
There are aspects of Hinduism and Shintoism mixed in, but also unique portions.
After hiking back down
to where the cable car takes over we had an interesting snack: sweet bean mush in a pastry. (It's actually called ningyoyaki if you want to google it). We didn't really know what it was when we bought it, but it looked safer than other things we've dared to eat since we've been here. It was actually not bad, but decidedly un-American (maybe if it had been fried and coated with sugar).
Once back at the base of the mountain we found some very safe noodles for lunch and geared up for the fire walking ceremony. I should say, geared for WAITING for the fire walking ceremony. A line was forming hours before the ceremony to walk across the coals. We got in line at 12:15 (ceremony starts at 1:00). We were probably 300 people back. So we stood in line for :45 waiting for it to start. I guess just lighting a fire and walking across it wouldn't be much of a ceremony, so they drug it out for another :45 before they even lit the fire. By the time anyone walked on embers we had stood there for 2 hours. We actually had a good view except that the people in front of started standing on the rails of the fence to get a better view, then we had none. We caught enough pieces to still enjoy it though.
Yes, we walked across the coals. They mostly put them out after the monks are done so the ordinary folk won't get hurt. When we walked across it was warm, but not hot in the least. But aside from the spectacle of walking on fire, the ritual itself was pretty cool in my opinion.
Jenni's foot after walking on the "fire".
If you want to see videos of us walking on the fire, you can check out photobucket. They were too long, and frankly a little boring, to put on here.
After walking the coals we went for one last walk. I got some potato sticks and Jenni gambled on something we know only as "three balls on a stick." They looked pretty safe, so she gambled--and lost. They were doughy (good sign, as that meant no surprise meats), and a little crispy on the outside. But they were weird, chewy, uncommon doughy. She managed to eat one before giving up. We thought about bringing them home for Jackson. We've figured out if we don't like something, there's a decent chance he'll eat it, but we gave him a break and tossed them. But we had to toss them in the trash on the bus. There were zero trash cans in the whole place, including the bathrooms. Weird.
All in all, it was a fun trip out. It was a good weekend finally getting out and seeing some of Japan. If work and weather allow hopefully we'll have lots of weekends like this one.
We spent the first half of the day exploring the mountain. We took a cable car about halfway up the mountain to start the day off.
View from the cable car on the way back down.
We spent the next several hours exploring. The ceremony is put on by an isolated group of monks who have shed off civilization and accepted religion to form their own spiritual sect. They essentially worship two mountain Gods and aspire to be as close to them as possible.
The series of shrines and temples scattered across the mountain are beautiful. Many required a good hike to get to, but were well worth it. The detail and artwork is amazing (it's hard to appreciate in the pictures).
There are aspects of Hinduism and Shintoism mixed in, but also unique portions.
After hiking back down
to where the cable car takes over we had an interesting snack: sweet bean mush in a pastry. (It's actually called ningyoyaki if you want to google it). We didn't really know what it was when we bought it, but it looked safer than other things we've dared to eat since we've been here. It was actually not bad, but decidedly un-American (maybe if it had been fried and coated with sugar).
Once back at the base of the mountain we found some very safe noodles for lunch and geared up for the fire walking ceremony. I should say, geared for WAITING for the fire walking ceremony. A line was forming hours before the ceremony to walk across the coals. We got in line at 12:15 (ceremony starts at 1:00). We were probably 300 people back. So we stood in line for :45 waiting for it to start. I guess just lighting a fire and walking across it wouldn't be much of a ceremony, so they drug it out for another :45 before they even lit the fire. By the time anyone walked on embers we had stood there for 2 hours. We actually had a good view except that the people in front of started standing on the rails of the fence to get a better view, then we had none. We caught enough pieces to still enjoy it though.
Yes, we walked across the coals. They mostly put them out after the monks are done so the ordinary folk won't get hurt. When we walked across it was warm, but not hot in the least. But aside from the spectacle of walking on fire, the ritual itself was pretty cool in my opinion.
Jenni's foot after walking on the "fire".
If you want to see videos of us walking on the fire, you can check out photobucket. They were too long, and frankly a little boring, to put on here.
After walking the coals we went for one last walk. I got some potato sticks and Jenni gambled on something we know only as "three balls on a stick." They looked pretty safe, so she gambled--and lost. They were doughy (good sign, as that meant no surprise meats), and a little crispy on the outside. But they were weird, chewy, uncommon doughy. She managed to eat one before giving up. We thought about bringing them home for Jackson. We've figured out if we don't like something, there's a decent chance he'll eat it, but we gave him a break and tossed them. But we had to toss them in the trash on the bus. There were zero trash cans in the whole place, including the bathrooms. Weird.
All in all, it was a fun trip out. It was a good weekend finally getting out and seeing some of Japan. If work and weather allow hopefully we'll have lots of weekends like this one.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Japanese adventure #1
We went out today. On our own. Oh boy!!
Let's start with the new backpack Jackson carrier we got. It retails for about $200, and used on eBay I saw some for $125. We got ours for $10. YAY! We've been looking for one so we wouldn't have to deal with a stroller on the trains. I posted an ad on yokotaads.com looking for one, and got a response pretty quickly. The lady we bought it from bought it second-hand and never used it. It is very nice.
So we parked the car on base close to the gate, and walked to the train station. I had the diaper bag (a back pack) and Mike had the Jackson-pack.
We got to the train station and bought the cards you use for fares. You put money on, swipe it when you get on the train, swipe it when you get off, and it deducts your fare. In Japan, you pay based on how far you go. We found the right train going the right direction pretty quickly. It wasn't THAT hard, but very few signs were in English so we had to kind of piece it together. So we're on this train which we THINK is taking us where we need to go and we won't have to switch trains. Wrong. We get about half-way there and since we're watching the stops very closely in comparison with our English map, we realize the train we're on is about to turn around and go back the way we came. Luckily it was a long stop so we had plenty of time to figure this out and get off the train. We found some guy in the train station that understood where we wanted to go and was able to get across to us that the train for there would be leaving at 3:15. (He did this by pointing at a lit sign that said 15:15.) Okay, so we got on the right train headed in the right direction. Meanwhile, Jackson is okay in his carrier, but not exactly thrilled. But he was very interested in the train things (seats, windows, handles, doors, etc.) 
We got off at our stop at about 3:30 (we left the apartment at 1:45--there was a lot of waiting at train stations).
Our destination was a place called Hinatawada. There are a lot of plum trees (like 2,500)
in one area, and they are in bloom right now. So there were vendors on the street kind of festival-style. We kept saying we wanted to try something, but we had no idea what any of it was. 
We finally came across something that Mike and I both kind of looked at each other and said, "That looks safe." So we bought one. It was a skewer with what we thought was chicken and beef on it. Then they dipped it in some sauce and heated it so the sauce thickened into like a glaze. I WISH we would've taken a picture, but alas, we did not. Turned out the "chicken" tasted more like pork. Okay, it was still really good. The "beef" was oh so not beef. It was some kind of chewy, slimy, seafood. We think. It was a gray-green color with dark specks in it. Hmmm... So Mike and I split the chicken/pork and each of us at least tasted the chewy slimy crap and wouldn't eat the other piece of it. But Jackson did. He's apparently more open to new tastes than we are. He made a few faces, but kept asking for more, so I just kept letting him eat it. And cringing!
The main part of the day was looking at all the plum trees in bloom. They were very beautiful and we got some good pictures.
We went up a pretty big hill
and then down the other side. Which was interesting for Mike with 30 pounds on his back. We also saw some shrines. I have no clue what their names were, and we didn't go inside any, but got some good outside shots:
More pictures:
View from a bridge.
Pretty hill. I think we took this from the top of the hill we climbed.
The way back was much less eventful on the train than the way there had been. We had to change trains once, but got off one and right on the other with no waiting, so that was nice. We were going to have dinner at a curry place by the station close to base, but it was very cramped and no high chairs. And Jackson was on his last leg so we decided to skip it and have McDonald's instead. It was interesting. We managed to order, thanks to the worker knowing some English and there being picture menus on the counter. As a side, you get fries, or for a little extra you can get McNuggets. And the fries are the old kind in the good oil, so they tasted much better. The sandwhiches were different. Not really better or worse, but definitely different. And no ketchup. Well, they had it, but it was in the same little cups as nugget sauce. And it didn't actually tast like ketchup. It was kind of watery and tangier than real ketchup.
So that's it for our big Japanese adventure of the day. Tomorrow Mike and I are going to a firewalking ceremony. That should be fun, but I'm not looking forward to leaving Jackson with a babysitter and not having a cell phone. How did people do it 10 years ago when no one carried a cell phone?
Let's start with the new backpack Jackson carrier we got. It retails for about $200, and used on eBay I saw some for $125. We got ours for $10. YAY! We've been looking for one so we wouldn't have to deal with a stroller on the trains. I posted an ad on yokotaads.com looking for one, and got a response pretty quickly. The lady we bought it from bought it second-hand and never used it. It is very nice.
So we parked the car on base close to the gate, and walked to the train station. I had the diaper bag (a back pack) and Mike had the Jackson-pack.
We got to the train station and bought the cards you use for fares. You put money on, swipe it when you get on the train, swipe it when you get off, and it deducts your fare. In Japan, you pay based on how far you go. We found the right train going the right direction pretty quickly. It wasn't THAT hard, but very few signs were in English so we had to kind of piece it together. So we're on this train which we THINK is taking us where we need to go and we won't have to switch trains. Wrong. We get about half-way there and since we're watching the stops very closely in comparison with our English map, we realize the train we're on is about to turn around and go back the way we came. Luckily it was a long stop so we had plenty of time to figure this out and get off the train. We found some guy in the train station that understood where we wanted to go and was able to get across to us that the train for there would be leaving at 3:15. (He did this by pointing at a lit sign that said 15:15.) Okay, so we got on the right train headed in the right direction. Meanwhile, Jackson is okay in his carrier, but not exactly thrilled. But he was very interested in the train things (seats, windows, handles, doors, etc.) 
We got off at our stop at about 3:30 (we left the apartment at 1:45--there was a lot of waiting at train stations).
Our destination was a place called Hinatawada. There are a lot of plum trees (like 2,500)
in one area, and they are in bloom right now. So there were vendors on the street kind of festival-style. We kept saying we wanted to try something, but we had no idea what any of it was. 
We finally came across something that Mike and I both kind of looked at each other and said, "That looks safe." So we bought one. It was a skewer with what we thought was chicken and beef on it. Then they dipped it in some sauce and heated it so the sauce thickened into like a glaze. I WISH we would've taken a picture, but alas, we did not. Turned out the "chicken" tasted more like pork. Okay, it was still really good. The "beef" was oh so not beef. It was some kind of chewy, slimy, seafood. We think. It was a gray-green color with dark specks in it. Hmmm... So Mike and I split the chicken/pork and each of us at least tasted the chewy slimy crap and wouldn't eat the other piece of it. But Jackson did. He's apparently more open to new tastes than we are. He made a few faces, but kept asking for more, so I just kept letting him eat it. And cringing!The main part of the day was looking at all the plum trees in bloom. They were very beautiful and we got some good pictures.
We went up a pretty big hill
and then down the other side. Which was interesting for Mike with 30 pounds on his back. We also saw some shrines. I have no clue what their names were, and we didn't go inside any, but got some good outside shots:
More pictures:
View from a bridge.
Pretty hill. I think we took this from the top of the hill we climbed.
The way back was much less eventful on the train than the way there had been. We had to change trains once, but got off one and right on the other with no waiting, so that was nice. We were going to have dinner at a curry place by the station close to base, but it was very cramped and no high chairs. And Jackson was on his last leg so we decided to skip it and have McDonald's instead. It was interesting. We managed to order, thanks to the worker knowing some English and there being picture menus on the counter. As a side, you get fries, or for a little extra you can get McNuggets. And the fries are the old kind in the good oil, so they tasted much better. The sandwhiches were different. Not really better or worse, but definitely different. And no ketchup. Well, they had it, but it was in the same little cups as nugget sauce. And it didn't actually tast like ketchup. It was kind of watery and tangier than real ketchup.
So that's it for our big Japanese adventure of the day. Tomorrow Mike and I are going to a firewalking ceremony. That should be fun, but I'm not looking forward to leaving Jackson with a babysitter and not having a cell phone. How did people do it 10 years ago when no one carried a cell phone?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Coupons
Coupons are a big deal here. The commissary takes them until 6 months past their expiration date. I guess since no one can get an actual Sunday paper with coupons in it, that's why we're all excited about them. The Enlisted Spouses Club has a box with a bunch of coupons in it separated by categories (cereal, dairy, hair color, etc.) Anyone who wants to can send coupons to me. I'm going to be taking over the "coupon box" soon (probably). If you want to send me your leftover coupons you can send them media mail for cheap. Cut out, full pages, separated, not separated, organized in some way or not at all. Whatever you have time to do. I guess a lot of churches in the states collect them from the newspapers somehow and will send like a stack of 20 that are all the same coupon. Not sure how they do that!
P.S. I drove to the ESC meeting last night. Oh boy! Not bad, but parking was not a first-try kind of deal.
P.S. I drove to the ESC meeting last night. Oh boy! Not bad, but parking was not a first-try kind of deal.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
New Trick
Mommy taught me a new trick. AND got it on video. Now if we could just teach Daddy how to make a decent fish face, we could be a family of fishies!!
We bought a car!
YAY! We now have transportation. Mike went off-base a few times and checked out various car dealerships. We had planned to buy one from the "lemon lot" on base which is where on-base people sell their cars to other on-base people. But we didn't see anything that looked like what we had in mind and/or a good deal. The dealership we ended up buying from is really just one guy who is retired military and sells to mostly military. He picked us up at our apartment and took us to his cars. We ended up getting a 2000 Toyota Funcargo. Here's a picture:
If you want to see more pictures you can go here: http://cars.nzherald.co.nz/car/view/vlcxsv/
Mike got in all the cars he was considering, since size is a big deal for him. After all the in and out of lots of small cars, he now has a huge bruise on his left thigh from the steering wheel. It's still a little strange with the steering wheel on the right. The windshield wiper and turn signal controls are backwards, but the gas and brake are the same (thank goodness!). The car we bought is very popular here. We see them all over the place. And it's also very common to see 1996 models for sale right now, so when we leave in 4 years, we should have no trouble selling it. The Japanese people take VERY good care of their cars. And also don't drive them very much. Most of the time if they're taking a long trip, the usually take the train or subway. So they usually just drive to and from work. Our car only has 33,000km (20,505 miles), which is not very much since it's 9 years old. All the cars we looked at were very clean and well taken care of.
The insurance here is different than in the states. You have to have 2 kinds of insurance. The JCI (Japanese Compulsory Insurance) is renewed every 2 years. They do a big inspection and make you fix anything they deem necessary before they'll certify it. But that stays with the car, even if it gets sold. The other insurance is liability like in the states, but is cheap. Since Mike's almost 30 (it goes down at 30 here instead of 25--they gave him the lower rate since he's only 12 days away), it was pretty inexpensive. $300 for a year. We still have to get it registered with the base after inspection on Monday, but the guy we're buying it from is letting us drive a loaner until then. So it's pretty nice to have a vehicle! Although Mike's going to need it most of this week so Jackson and I will be walking/taking the shuttle to story time at the library tomorrow.
The phone is working now, so if anyone wants to call us, feel free! Best time is 6pm-8am eastern time (that's 8am-10pm our time). That's all for now!
If you want to see more pictures you can go here: http://cars.nzherald.co.nz/car/view/vlcxsv/
Mike got in all the cars he was considering, since size is a big deal for him. After all the in and out of lots of small cars, he now has a huge bruise on his left thigh from the steering wheel. It's still a little strange with the steering wheel on the right. The windshield wiper and turn signal controls are backwards, but the gas and brake are the same (thank goodness!). The car we bought is very popular here. We see them all over the place. And it's also very common to see 1996 models for sale right now, so when we leave in 4 years, we should have no trouble selling it. The Japanese people take VERY good care of their cars. And also don't drive them very much. Most of the time if they're taking a long trip, the usually take the train or subway. So they usually just drive to and from work. Our car only has 33,000km (20,505 miles), which is not very much since it's 9 years old. All the cars we looked at were very clean and well taken care of.
The insurance here is different than in the states. You have to have 2 kinds of insurance. The JCI (Japanese Compulsory Insurance) is renewed every 2 years. They do a big inspection and make you fix anything they deem necessary before they'll certify it. But that stays with the car, even if it gets sold. The other insurance is liability like in the states, but is cheap. Since Mike's almost 30 (it goes down at 30 here instead of 25--they gave him the lower rate since he's only 12 days away), it was pretty inexpensive. $300 for a year. We still have to get it registered with the base after inspection on Monday, but the guy we're buying it from is letting us drive a loaner until then. So it's pretty nice to have a vehicle! Although Mike's going to need it most of this week so Jackson and I will be walking/taking the shuttle to story time at the library tomorrow.
The phone is working now, so if anyone wants to call us, feel free! Best time is 6pm-8am eastern time (that's 8am-10pm our time). That's all for now!
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