Kumamoto City

The day got off to a interesting start as you read in the earlier post, but after that the day was all good. The weather couldn't of been nicer: a nice crisp fall day with hardly a cloud in the sky. Our first stop was at the Suizenji Jojuen Garden. This garden took 80 years to construct starting in 1863 and was made to mimic all the prefectures (states) of Japan with their geological significances. Mt. Fuji was the only obvious natural landmark. The garden included a very beautiful shrine dedicated to all the Daimyo (Lords) of the garden and surrounding area.

The second and most recognizable stop of the tour was of the Kumamoto Castle. Originally built in 1607 what mostly remains is not the original building after it was destroyed three days before the Seinan Civil War (1877). In 1960 the main tower (shown below) was rebuilt and in 1998 the restoration project began. The main tower is about 6 stories high and it sits in the middle of the overall castle. Next year is the 400th anniversary of the completion of the castle. All the restoration projects should be completed by then. Most likely I will be coming back to see the finished project.

The final stop of the tour was of the Kyu-Hosokawa Gyobutei of the former Hosokawa Clan. Hosokawa was the name of a powerful family in the days when the castle was built. Okitomo Gyobu built this house and it was remodeled several times to fit the ways of the samurai. In 1871 the Imperial Army took over headquarters at the castle which forced all samurai houses to be evicted out of the castle. The head of the Gyobu clan at that time moved the house and made it the primary residence of the clan. Kumamoto spent four years moving the house and restoring it to where it is now and the shape its in. This mansion seemed to be an endless maze of rooms. As we wound our way through it they were several displays on items used by actual samurais and the servants of the house.

Pictures of Kumamoto City

Editors Note: As always Click the Picture to see a bigger copy


A room inside the Former Samurai House of the Hosokawa-Gyobu Clan





Fall hit this tree quicker than the others outside the Samurai House




The Suizenji JoJuen Garden next to its pond. Can you see Mt. Fuji?




A picture of a bridge crossing the stream in the garden.



The main Castle Tower located in the center of the Kumamoto Castle



A map of the entire Kumamoto Castle

Ever Have One of Those Weeks?

I didn't write about something from my trip on Wednesday due to its disgusting nature, but some events that happened yesterday kind of made me feel bad for this man:

FLASHBACK to Wednesday

A guy that went up with the group to the baseball game decided to drink alot of beer during the game. And when I mean alot it seems like he was going up to the concession stand every half inning or so. Anyways I don't think he had done that in a while because alot of it came back up when we were about 20 minutes into our 2 hour trip home.

The bus driver had told us before we left that he wasn't the usual trip driver he was just volunteered for some extra bucks. But with the drunk passed out and immobile, it was the drivers job to get the mess cleaned up so the rest of us wouldn't throw up to due to the smell. After about 20 minutes and some help he got everything in line to the point where we could go home and not worry about the smell too much. All I could think while he was cleaning was he would never drive for a group again.

BACK TO YESTERDAY

I was suprised when I got on the bus to go to Kumamoto when I saw the guy from Wednesday behind the wheel. "He must be really in need of money" I thought as I took my seat. When we had the few people from the first stop we started out from our Harbor View Club. Now this club has a covered driveway that is about 12 feet or so high. The bus driver (my guess) forgets what bus he's in and takes it under the awning. I was reading so I didn't really catch the dragging noise until we were halfway under the thing. He stopped and then gunned it to the point where the bus actually dipped due to the pressure that the roof was under, and then the big crash and he were free and driving out. Getting off the bus he totally ripped up the bottom of the awning and AC/heat fan that was probably sticking an extra foot from the top of the bus, was ripped clean off. The awning had several 2x4's protruding from under it. Quite a bit of damage to say the least. Base security had to come to file the damage report and we had to get a new bus. Overall we started our trip and hour and a half late.

After one of our stops I was watching the bus driver as he got back onto the bus, just when I thought his week couldn't get any better he slammed his head into the base of the TV that rested above his driver seat. You know it hurt as he said something in Japanese and sat down in his seat and held his head for a while. Bummer.

All Star Series 2006

After Missing out on an NFL pre-season game last year I knew for a fact that as soon as I could get a ticket for another professional sports appearance by any American team I would. That chance came this week as the MLB all stars and the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) Teams were squaring off for a 5 game series, one of which would be held in Fukuoka.

The Yahoo! Dome in Fukuoka is where the Softbank Hawks play their regular season gaems. I haven't made it up here to watch any, but after tonight I promised myself I would get back up here to see an all Japanese game.

As expected the game surely excited. We (MLB All Stars) got into a hole after two solo homeruns. But in the bottom of the sixth we tied it and then took the lead as the heavy hitting was too much for their pitching. The NPB tied it in the top of the ninth with a bloop single and we couldn't muster a comeback in the bottom. So extra innings was a great way to end the game, and the series. The second batter for us in the extra frame was Jose Reyes from the New York Mets. He blasted a 2-1 pitch into the right field stands for a beautiful walk-off 2 run homerun. As I stood and aplauded you could see the only ones standing were Americans scattered around the park. The locals weren't to happy about it though.

It was great to see a professional game live again. Along with Reyes, there were All stars such as Ryan Howard (Phillies), David Wright (Mets), Andruw Jones (Braves), Chone Figgins (Angels), Jermaine Dye (White Sox), and many more.

Click on the picture to see it bigger:














Me in front of the field


















As they Introduced the All Stars


















The MVP of the entire 5 game series:Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies

Teeing Off

Well it finally happened. Nick joined the real golfing world, and not just the Tiger Woods game I usually play on Playstation.

Several of my friends on the softball team are avid players. One of the guys, RJ, offered to take me and let me use his clubs because he had scheduled a tee time and couldn't think of anyone else that wanted to go. He later found one more that was new to the game too so we were good to go.

Saturday morning we set off to the closest 9 hole course to the base. Oh and let me point out now that the weather here is beautiful right now, 60-70 degrees and no wind. RJ showed me the rope as we warmed up and described the clubs and their different uses and then we set out. After a quick brief on 'golf etiquette" we teed off.

The first nine we did we played best ball where we all hit and the next shot comes from the best ball that was hit. This way I wasn't getting scored for my first round of golf. The second 9 we played for individual score. I reached the maximum number of strokes for every hole except three, which I think is pretty good for my first time. The ones I didn't RJ was there to beat me by one stroke just to take away any hope for winning a hole. He did help out alot and encouraged me alot.

He talked about how quickly he had gotten addicted and it was likely to happen to me. I soon realized what he meant. As we were walking back to the club house once we had completed I was already thinking about the next time we would be coming out and remembering the clubs I used for certain shot and the clubs I should of used on the bad ones.

All in all I had a blast and am already looking into buying my own set of clubs. I've came along way from using dad's old set to hit balls into the neighbors field in just one game and hope to play enough to where I can actually say "I'm ok"

Official Debut

It's harder than it looks. That's what I found out last Thursday as I had my first football game not as a player, but as a referee. A couple of weeks ago the sports director here said they were short on flag football refs and were looking for anybody who wanted to do it. Never really feeling in place on any of the teams I played for I decided to sign up since I was out there to watch every night I got the chance to. So I figured while watching I might as well get some money for doing it.

The training was a couple of weeks long and included several videos and hours reading the rule book. And it all paid off as I quickly remembered how fast the game went. You almost have to act instinctly on some plays due to the quickness at which they happen. But the best you can do is get in the right position to make the best call. Overall I did rather well and got used to it quick.

The funniest (most embarassing) moment came late in the last game. I was the side judge reponsible for the side line. A pass was launched quickly down field and as I turned to run the 20yd sideline marker jumped out and tripped me. I did a full nose dive and scraped my arms up on the turf field. I quickly got up and continued to call the game, which included a penalty on that play. I got kudos for keeping watch even though i was laying flat on my chest in total embarassment. Luckily it was late and there weren't alot of people out there. But the ones who were have given me grief every time they have seen me since.

Apologies

Sorry it's been a while but I have been extremely busy with my schedule here.

I had a business trip to Camp Zama to do some training that couldn't be done down here in Sasebo. While up there we got to go downtown Tokyo and see what the big city was all about. We had a great time and I can't wait to get another chance to go back up there. Maybe New Years....

School is back underway and the class that I was avoiding as long as possible was up next. Algebra was never one of my strong subjects and now it's been 6 years since doing any of it. Now it's like learning it all over again. On top of that I have an intro to computers class which was another requirement. A degree is very close.

Softball is still going on, but only for another month. We have come alive it seems in the last couple of weeks reaching our homerun limit in several games. Since coming back from Okinawa we have only lost 3 games. Football started and this year I tried something different. The sports director and I were talking and he mentioned that they were short on officials for the games. I thought about it and I'm usually out there watching all the games, even the ones I'm not playing in. So why not make a few extra bucks while being out there. I've learned alot more about (flag) football by studying the rule book. I think it'll be a fun year. We had our first games the other night, I was a little nervous but overall did really well.

And for that little inconvenience between sports and sleep that we call work, things are going well. We cut back our hours at the clinic but being military I have to be in everyday. Usually it's to do paper work but alot of the time I go and assist the other army personnel in their food inspector duties. The animals are all doing fine.