We met a group of people and joined them for dinner at a mexican restaurant. They all got kinda lit, though, and none of them made it out to the bars afterward.
Max doesn't smile for pictures.
Max, Kelsea, and Nate.
New Years Eve
We met a group of people and joined them for dinner at a mexican restaurant. They all got kinda lit, though, and none of them made it out to the bars afterward.
New Years Eve's eve - The drive to Tokyo
At eight in the evening the day before New Years Eve, Kelsea, Nate, Max, Dan and I rented a van and took off for Tokyo. We drove straight through the night and arrived at about eleven the next morning. It was a long but exciting drive.
Kelsea and Nate in the back of the van.
A great view of Mount Fuji from the Highway.
Kelsea and Nate in the back of the van.
A great view of Mount Fuji from the Highway.
Christmas Day - Other Temples
Main Buddha statue inside the Toji Temple.
The Yasaka Shrine is near the Gion district (Geisha). This shrine was a very popular one for Japanese people to visit during the day. At night it was lighted with thousands of Japanese lanterns.
Toji Temple from the outside.
This is the Buddha at the temple dedicated to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWII (but the Japanese one). Under the Buddha is an ornate temple filled with gold statues and very friendly (and talkative) monks. I don't think they get many visitors here because they wouldn't let us leave with all of their questions.
Christmas Day - Philosopher's Path
Christmas Day we decided to walk on the Philosopher's Path. This path follows a canal lined with famous temples.
In a wooden pathway at the Eikan-do Zenrin-ji temple.
A picture of the path
A rock garden behind the Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion).
A garden at the Ginkaku-jin. This temple had a path leading up a hill and through the most elaborate ponds and landscaping I have ever seen.
In a wooden pathway at the Eikan-do Zenrin-ji temple.
A picture of the path
A rock garden behind the Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion).
A garden at the Ginkaku-jin. This temple had a path leading up a hill and through the most elaborate ponds and landscaping I have ever seen.
Christmas Eve in Kyoto - Yasaka Koshin-do
While walking, we came across the Yasaka Koshin-do temple. Here, you take a kukurizaru (a monkey with it's hands and feet tied up forming a little ball) and you hang it on the shrine. On the monkey you write a desire you have that you would like to eliminate from your life. After it is hung, you are free of the desire and granted a wish. There is no translation for it, so in English, everyone calls them "desire monkeys," which I found funny.
The Koryuji temple at dusk. It is the oldest temple in Kyoto.
A close up of the Kukurizaru
I saw a Geisha walking around so I had to take her picture. I saw a few while in Kyoto, but rarely did I see them just strolling down the road.
Christmas Eve in Kyoto - Kiyomizu-dera
I took the bullet train from Fukuoka to Kyoto to celebrate Christmas. Jess had been in Osaka the week before so she met me at the train station. We rented a room a few hundred meters from the Kiyomizu-dera temple (pure water temple), which ended up being my favorite temple in the city. It is also one of the most famous shrines in the world.
At each temple or shrine there are calligraphers in little huts. It's a Japanese custom when traveling to carry around a small, blank book. For about $3, they stamp the temple's symbol and personalize it with it's unique prayer and the date in Japanese calligraphy. It's like an autograph book but for temples.
This is one of the main shrines. A natural spring runs off of the mountain and into a little pond. As the water falls, you scoop it up with a tin cup attached to a bamboo pole and then drink the water as you say a prayer.
Still at the Kiyomizu-dera near one of the many mini-shrines.
The lovestones are set 18 meters apart. You are supposed to touch the stone, close your eyes, and then try and walk to the other stone. If you can touch the other stone without looking, you are rewarded by finding true love. Usually, however, you end up crashing into piles of Japanese people.
Most of the shrines have some kind of action you are supposed to perform... whether it be drinking something, ringing a bell, throwing a coin, rubbing an stone, lighting a candle... It's a cultural way of solidifying the prayer or wish that they make. I like it because each shrine has it's own unique ritual and people seem to often go back to the ones that mean something to them personally.
One of the stairways leading up to the main temple.
At each temple or shrine there are calligraphers in little huts. It's a Japanese custom when traveling to carry around a small, blank book. For about $3, they stamp the temple's symbol and personalize it with it's unique prayer and the date in Japanese calligraphy. It's like an autograph book but for temples.
This is one of the main shrines. A natural spring runs off of the mountain and into a little pond. As the water falls, you scoop it up with a tin cup attached to a bamboo pole and then drink the water as you say a prayer.
Still at the Kiyomizu-dera near one of the many mini-shrines.
The lovestones are set 18 meters apart. You are supposed to touch the stone, close your eyes, and then try and walk to the other stone. If you can touch the other stone without looking, you are rewarded by finding true love. Usually, however, you end up crashing into piles of Japanese people.
Most of the shrines have some kind of action you are supposed to perform... whether it be drinking something, ringing a bell, throwing a coin, rubbing an stone, lighting a candle... It's a cultural way of solidifying the prayer or wish that they make. I like it because each shrine has it's own unique ritual and people seem to often go back to the ones that mean something to them personally.
One of the stairways leading up to the main temple.
Christmas in Sasebo
Japanese people LOVE Christmas. Here are a few photos from the winter lights and market in Sasebo. They celebrate it similar to the way we celebrate Halloween or St. Patrick's Day.
My spaces on the ship
My Office. It was a storage closet for X-ray equipment, but I took it over when we switched to all digital.
My stateroom that I share with the Combat Cargo Officer.
Medical/Dental hallway. It's lined with the OR, Dental Operatories, Ward, Marine OR, and offices. You can see the patient waiting room is a bench in by the firehose.
My main dental room
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