New York City for Christmas

I spent a day walking around NYC a few days before Christmas. I was able to see many of my friends and it was a nice time. I spend so much time in NY, but I never go around and see the sights with a camera. I figured with all of sightseeing I do in Asia... why not do a little at home.

Brooklyn Bridge

Blue tree in Serendipity (did you see the movie?)

Huge ornaments outside of Radio City Music Hall.

With Doug and his girlfriend Kate at Rockefeller Center.

Times Square

Singapore activities

Outdoor satay food market located in the middle of the financial district.
Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple is the oldest temple in Singapore.

View from the pool at night

Dennis showing off his sweet moves in the living room of our suite

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Dennis and I stayed at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. We were upgraded to a suite on the 52nd floor because the woman behind the counter was from the US and thought we were nice. It was a $900 a night room- No big deal ;)

There is an infinity pool that extends along the roof connecting the three towers.



Me in the pool.

Dennis looking over the edge of the pool.

Our hotel from the view at the Swissotel.

Fall Patrol

2 months. Nothing interesting to report...

37th day at sea

37th consecutive day at sea so far. Exhausting.

Mount Aso, Aso Park, and Mount Naka

Mount Aso National Park is about 40 miles east of Kumamoto, or about 3 hours when you are caught in traffic. It has one of the largest active volcanos in Japan.

At the peak of Mt. Naka, an active volcano.

It stinks! Smells like sulfur

The symptom of being in bad shape?

Aso Park

The specialty here is baniku (horse meat).

Kumamoto weekend trip

I took a weekend trip to Kumamoto city for the second to last weekend before deploying until the holidays. It's about two hours from Sasebo and the second largest city in Kyushu.

Kumamoto castle

One of the rooms inside the castle

A wider view of the castle

The castle was build on top of a large stone wall. The wall was supposed to prevent enemy troop and ninja attacks. Hard to tell in the photo, but they were high and impressive.

The Kumamoto city arcade. The only arcade I have seen larger than Sasebo's.

Nagasaki festival day .... with fedoras!

Someone was in the bear.

Glover park.

They went a little overboard when they wanted to make this park easy for the elderly. There were escalators and conveyor belts throughout.

This is the only port in Japan to have trading with the Western countries during the Japanese National Isolation of the 17-19th century.

White Linen Night

White Linen and Sunglasses Night at the beer garden on the top floor of the Tamaya Building. Topped off with fireworks hosted by the city.

My house in Ogata-cho, Sasebo.

My Neighborhood

The living room

The Master Bedroom

The dining room

Front of the house

Side of the house

Backyard

Car and Motorcycle

My Suzuki 400

My brand new (as of 1996) Nissan Skyline (not available for sale in the US)

Tokyo

After eating dinner (at 1230 AM) we found a little Mexican bar with darts and Japanese people watching soccer. Due to the time difference, the games lasted until about 5:00AM. We played Jenga with some people we met. Team America won.

Leaving the bar at 5:30AM. People in Tokyo leave the bars and clubs around 6:00AM. I don't know how; it was exhausting. Two nights in a row I saw the sun rise... it's just what you do in Tokyo.

Roppungi at night.

Walking around the next night.

Me not giving up on the Tokyo subway.

My hotel: the Grand Price Akasaka