My birthday

As I mentioned yesterday, neither of us are feeling too hot. Jetlag combined with illness makes me feel like I am living in a fog. Danny got sick while we were in Japan and passed it on to me. Every morning I hope to wake up and feel better, but I don't. When we were staying in Providence there was a small cardio gym in the hotel. I did sit-ups and squats which made my muscles incredibly sore. Feeling queasy and congested doesn't help that at all. Yuck.
Anyway, I made reservations for a local restaurant last night for 6. Danny got back just before 5. I got in the shower and by the time I was out, he was asleep. So I changed the reservation for 7. When we left the hotel I forgot the piece of paper I had with the phone number and name of the restaurant on it. We thought our map of Newport was in the van, but it wasn't. We drove around aimlessly and tried to get directions. We thought we were lost, but I found the place completely on accident. It was a cute little place and they had an awesome dinner for 2 special. I think it was both our meals plus wine for $25 dollars. I am a cheap date. :)
We got back to the room, crashed in bed and I didn't get up until after 11 this morning- just in time for lunch. I had to take nyquil to make sure I would sleep through the night. I don't think that helps me in the feeling like I am still in a fog at half past 1!

An Update in Newport

We made it to Newport yesterday morning. Danny started class today. I was sleeping when he came back for his lunch break. We've been having a hard time sleeping lately and haven't been feeling too well either. I have this horrible trend of being sick on my birthday.
We are settling in here since we'll be here for three weeks. I am having problems with my phone too, so you can't call it yet. You can contact us at the hotel though. The phone number is (401) 841-0800. You will get a prerecorded message- our room number is 518. Feel free to call us. If we don't answer you can leave a voice mail.
Newport is beautiful. It is cold here, but very clear. The water is amazing and the trees are wonderful shades of orange, yellow, and red. I promise that I'll post pictures once I have them.
Well, we don't have internet in our room so I want to finish doing my things on the internet and go back upstairs.

Rhode Island

Yup, we made it. It is 2 pm Saturday and we're just getting moving. It was a LONG day yesterday.
During our 4 hour layover in Chicago we had lunch with Ryen in the Hilton.
By the time we made it to Providence it was nearly 11pm. We got our bags, the rental car and headed to the hotel we reserved in Providence. I am really glad we didn't drive all the way to Newport last night. Not that it would be that bad in our Kia Sedona. :) We rented a Ford Fusion (or another car of comparable size), but they "upgraded" us. Danny doesn't really want to be driving it, but its what we've got.
The front desk at the hotel gave us directions to the Walmart here that is open 24 hrs. We drove out there and got some snacks which really consisted off our midnight meal (easy mac) and a breakfast snack (bananas). Guess now we'll have to get lunch/dinner.
Tomorrow morning we will check out of here and head to Newport. Danny starts class Monday morning. The next few weekends we plan on traveling to Boston and NYC. Wish us luck.

On our way to Chicago

We're in the airport now (and have been for the last few hours!) Everything is looking good so far for our flight to Chicago. We will try to call, but don't expect to hear from us until Saturday morning. Our flight doesn't land in Providence until 10:00 pm or later.

Goin' on vacation

We leave for our long trip to Rhode Island in four days!!!
I am very excited. Wait for pictures within the next three weeks.
We plan on seeing my friend Hannah in Boston, the Bakers in DC, and I can't forget Ryen in Chicago!
We'll go to the Yankee Candle Company Factory too. If you want anything while we're there, put in your order now.

Dead Computer

Well, my computer (less than a year and a half old) apperently died last night. Windows won't start, I get all sorts of errors and it seems the computer doesn't even recognize any hard drives installed on the computer. I honestly don't know what happened and I am a little pissed off since nothing is backed up.
There are two points to this post. 1, don't expect to hear from me too much since I now have to use Danny's computer to do anything. 2, back up anything important on your computer. You never know when it may die without warning.

Flying to Rhode Island

Here is our rough itinerary. Danny and I will be flying together.
American Airlines LEAVE Narita (Tokyo) 620 pm on 26 Oct FRI
ARRIVE Chicago O'Hare 355 pm
LEAVE Chicago 740 pm
ARRIVE Providence 1055 pm

United Airlines LEAVE Providence 915 am 17 Nov SAT
ARRIVE Chicago O'Hare 1055 am
LEAVE Chicago 1155 am
ARRIVE Seattle 228 pm

United Airline LEAVE Seattle 1219 pm 2 Dec SUN
ARRIVE Narita (Tokyo) 400 pm 3 Dec MON

Yes, Ryen we will be in Chicago for a few hours. We would be more than happy to see you if you are available to come to the airport.

We'll be in Seattle just over two weeks before I fly back to Tokyo and Danny flies on. We'll give more details in person.
Now you guys can fight over who is picking us up again. Does Grandma have to take the airporter home?

More laser chasing

This video has been waiting to make it onto the internet for a long time and I was finally able to upload it on to myspace this morning.

Laser chasing

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Amazon.com

Yep, I don't need Amazon. Beside the fact that they sent me a lame email about how they hold service members in high regard, they gave me no good reason why it is only available to people in the United States.
I think its cruel that they allowed us to pay for and watch the first three episodes and then they took it away. Either way, AFN will start the season on November 20th. I can watch it for free after we get back to Japan and I'd already watched it in the states.
So, :P to you Amazon. You don't get my money and I don't have to deal with your lame excuses for why I can't download a show I paid for.

Book cave

I have to get myself one of these!

http://funtasticus.com/20071012/a-cave-for-a-bibliophile/

Ranting...

Okay, here is something I don't understand that I'd like to take a moment to rant about.
For those of you who have never used it (although I am sure you've heard of it), iTunes is amazing. Danny and I have used it a lot to watch television shows and movies from the US that we don't have access to here, as well as music both old and new. When I first downloaded iTunes, it directed me to the iTunes Japan site, but when I tried to make a purchase it forced me to the US site because that is what I registered my site under. Bummer but no big deal.
Since last year I've been purchasing episodes of Grey's Anatomy and I just started watching Heroes. I saw the first season on dvd. Now, iTunes and NBC quit working together and NBC went to Amazon.com's "Unbox". This was obnoxious because I had to download new software and purchase my episode through their website. The first three went fine.
Now, Amazon.com has decided that they will enforce the "no downloads if you live outside the US" policy. You can buy all you want, but you can't download. This is just another way service members and families overseas are getting screwed (excuse my language, please). This is just another complaint on top of companies that won't ship to APO/FPO addresses. I am not sure if they really have no appreciation for the sacrifice or if they are just not willing to work a little harder.
iTunes has never once told me that I could not purchase, download, or watch a show because I live in Japan because this is where the US government has taken me. I am an American citizen and I am giving them money to watch a show that I could watch for free if I lived in the states. I don't see how they're getting a bad deal there.
Besides my frustration directed towards Amazon.com, I will save some for NBC and ask them what they were thinking when they moved away from iTunes. So far, Unbox has not been too well received from what I've heard. iTunes may have control over the internet music and video sales, but people like it. Why junk a good thing?
Sincerely, Belligerent Foreigner in Japan

Thanks. I feel better now. Not that it solves my problem, but I discovered why I was so angry about it!

Earlier post

Why is everyone ignoring the first post I made yesterday?! I posted two!

Kamakura

Okay, I guess I didn't post these pictures before. Oops.
I went last month with the pastor of my church and his family to see the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is a famous landmark of Japan. It is the largest Buddha of Japan, but I believe the one in Hong Kong is bigger. I didn't see that one while we were there.














Back to Kamakura. First we rode on a small train and then walked to the place of the temple for the Buddha and after visiting there we went to another shrine some way away. This other place was very beautiful. It had nice gardens and beautiful architecture. It was called the Hase temple. The view was nice since we were on top of a hill. Here is a link to some information about Hase temple: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3101.html
I am sure I left out some information. Please ask questions if I did.

P.S. The water you see is Sagami-wan. It is basically the Pacific Ocean. The beach was dirty, but it was still a fairly nice place.

Weekend Outing

So, Sierra so kindly asked me the other day, "When are you going to post more pictures of stuff?" I asked her, "pictures of what?" and she said, "I dunno...just stuff". Yes, that was our exact conversation. I told her I'd put of pictures of Kamakura, but I'm pretty sure I've already done that. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, about a week ago Danny drug me to Akihabara where he won the "Stewie bunny". He promised that we'd go some place I was interested in, so we stopped in Shinagawa on the way back home. There wasn't much near the station besides department stores. We crossed the street in front of the station and started wandering around. We found an aquarium called the Epson Aqua Stadium. Thats a strange company endorsement...
Anyway, we decided to go if I payed. Let me tell you, it was much too small for as much as we payed. It was over 1800 yen each. The had a dolphin show, which we didn't see, and a sea lion show. That one we waited for about 20 minutes in very crowded room with no more seating available. The show was cute, but it only lasted as long as we waited. Yes, it was all in Japanese but how much of a sea lion show do you need to understand? Its like going to Sea World in San Diego without speaking English.
Anyway, I have a few pictures that turned out from the aquarium. It is difficult sometimes with no flash and fish that move too fast.

Stewie Bunny

This is in response to Grandma's comment.

New Stuff

I bought this stuff a few weeks back and forgot to take pictures and share it with everyone. I do that alot.

Funny bunny

Danny won this for me in one of those claw machines in Akihabara (electronics district in Tokyo). Isn't it strangely cute?

Quick note

Just a quick reminder that we miss you all!

Mocha pictures

Here are the pictures of Mocha jumping for the laser.







The 30 second video can be found on myspace: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=19147599
You shouldn't need an account to view it. Trust me, it is worth it. Danny's laugh sounds evil.