Final Japan/Guam thoughts!

So I know that I am a little slow on the Japan / Guam blogging. With the issues with the iPad and the moving directly after returning from Japan, then the holidays it has been literally crazytown here!  But I wanted to share some final thoughts on my fabulous 50^th birthday trip!

So the most difficult part of the trip for me was definitely the food. The shrimp/shellfish allergy makes food choices nearly impossible in an Asian country. I knew that. But I didn’t realize the extent of the language challenge would contribute to this. Explaining cross-contamination is difficult when there is a language barrier. I made do, but going forward any Asian trips that I take (and there WILL be more- looking at your South Korea) I will make sure to pack loads of snacks, granola bars, peanut butter crackers, etc. At least this gives me something to snack on while I walk around for two hours looking for a place to eat that won’t kill me!

The trip itself was harder due to the length of time it takes to get over there, and the jet lag. Jet lag is a real thing and although I have had multiple trips internationally before, Western Europe normally provides me with a one day jet lag and then I am good to go. Not so in Asia. It took weeks (literally) after I returned to the US before I slept through the night. Sigh….

There is also a difficulty with simply finding places. Often I find a shop or restaurant that I am interested in finding because it holds some interest to me (the chopstick store in Tokyo or perhaps the leather purse and shoe store in Rome). I want to visit these places and in Japan I found that the streets are more difficult to navigate. There may be street signs (sometimes) and if you find one, sometimes they are in Japanese only, or both English and Japanese. But I found it to be a bit more difficult; perhaps because many places are in the lower level or basement areas (due to the real estate shortage in Japan) and often times there are no signs pointing the way. Realize that going forward you would need more time to navigate.

All in all I loved the trip. Even with the food issues, my wonky back and my knee injury it was a great trip and I am so lucky to have been able to travel to Japan and to Guam to see family. Until next time (and I am looking at you, London)…….

November 24 & 25

November 24 was Thanksgiving in Guam and I thought a short blog post about the wonderful day spent with family was in order.

Sabrina and James live in base housing on Guam and their neighborhood is similar to other base housing neighborhoods, the kids run rampant and the neighbors all know each other and have get together. One of their neighbors hosted Thanksgiving this year, with about 20 people (plus who knows how many kids!) all gathered at her house. I was invited by default!  :)

It was nice to hang out with the neighbors and visit/ meet new people. Most of these folks are around 30 or so, with young kids. I think that Andrew is the oldest one there and he is 11. I even got to hijack a 4 month old baby and held her/rocked her to sleep. It had been so long since I held a baby!

All in all it was good food, good company and the necessary food coma to put us all in the Thanksgiving spirit! I appreciate everyone inviting me and making me feel welcome!


November 25th in the morning was the day I left Guam to go back to Japan and do the Tokyo portion of my vacation. I had to leave super early in the morning, so James graciously agreed to get up at 3:30 and drive me to the airport! The check in and the majority of the flight was uneventful. I have TSA precheck and apparently I am the only person on the Island of Guam who does. First one ahead of everyone else. And I managed to get in front of the throngs of Japanese schoolboys in their uniforms. So it was a win-win!

The flight itself was mainly uneventful. I say mainly because although I got a great nap at the beginning of the flight, 3/4 of the way into the flight turned into a little bit of drama. Not my drama, however. The young 20-something couple in front of me (Japanese tourists to Guam, I imagine) had the drama. The female 20-something of the couple had got up out of her seat to head towards the restroom. I could tell that she wasn't feeling well, and 20-something male passenger was pushing the call button for the FA. Well as the FA come up the aisle, 20-something female got all wobbly on her knees and basically fainted. And when she fainted, on the way down she hit her head on the seat back (the aisle seat). Luckily she hit the padded part. That's when you see every FA on the aircraft come running with oxygen, blankets, cups of water, you name it. And the obligatory call on the PA for "is there a doctor in the house?". There wasn't.  20-something female was conscious and she was just laying in the aisle with all the FAs well, attending to her. 20-something male was a bit useless, but really they all are. And this is the point where I say to myself that I am glad I had got up about 20 minutes before to use the restroom. Because that's the bastard I am in a crisis. Yep, I went there.

All ends well. 20-something female gets up and re-joins 20-something useless male and they stay in their seats until we land. At which time I find out that there are no paramedics at Narita airport (at least today) and that they would send a "manager in a red jacket" to speak to them and I guess make arrangements from there. I didn't stick around because 20-somethings annoy me. I de-boarded the plane with the rest of the passengers and headed to passport control/ immigration and baggage pick up.

So there you go. Some drama that for once didn't involve me falling down some flight of stairs!  Yay for that!  My next post will be about my day in Tokyo and will include pictures. Maybe I should have taken pictures of 20-something couple?  Hmmm, next time....

November 22 & 23- Guam!

November 22 & 23- Guam

Continuing the adventures on a tropical island -today Sabrina and I drove out around the southern tip of the island to see some more of the "tropical" aspects that Guam has to offer. Sabrina has been nice enough to drive me around daily after the kids go to school so that I can see the sights and we can get out. As we drove around the southern tip of the island, we passed more of the "jungle" like areas as well as the mountains. This part of the island drive snakes around up the mountain and then back down, with jungle areas as well as beaches along the way. It 's got everything!

We stopped at most of the areas set aside for cars to pull off and look over the sights, take pictures and rest. It was nice because it was a Tuesday and very quiet out- all the kids are in school.

There were some people boogie boarding in the water:

A little sun and water for me:

Me wading in the ocean. In November!

As we drove along, the heat and humidity got worse the further away from the inlet water areas. It was very stifling in some areas and we didn't stay outside of the car long. 

Some lovely yellow flowers:

 Some lovely red flowers:

Sabrina and I posing for a hot, humid selfie!

And then we came across this. This was on the side of the road in a residential area and I am now calling it Uncle Owen's house. If I have to tell you why I called it that, then you are dead to me!  :)

On Wednesday morning we took another drive to the Guam Museum that is newly opened. It is a museum of the history of Guam and in a newly built, modern building and very nice (with lots of AC!). For only $3 you can see the exhibits of the museum artifacts as well as photographs and artwork of the native people. It was very nicely done and although they are not finished with the museum as a whole, we had a nice time. It doesn't take too long to go through the museum (about 20-30 minutes) and then they have a cafe/gift shop you can rest in. Sabrina is looking forward to bringing the kids back for activities that are being planned for the kids in the new year. 

Across the street from the museum is a Basilica which is very lovely. Guam is a Catholic island and although there are many Catholic churches around the island, this one (more modern) Basilica is one that Pope John Paul II visited in 1981. It was very pretty and nice to visit and take pictures. 

Tonight we are heading out to dinner with the family and to walk along the more tourist shopping area with the kids. More on that later!

November 20 & 21- Guam

**** So a little note about my blog. I found out when I got to Japan that there was a problem with the Blogger app for iPad that I use for my travel blog. Apparently Apple no longer supports the app, and it has gone rogue from the AppStore, nowhere to be found. A bit of Google-fu research told me that what I needed to do is utilize Google Crome to access my blog and blog posts from there. In order to get my pictures accessibly, I needed to use Google Pictures and import my pictures from my iPad so that I can post them to the blog post. That will explain the rather inconsistent posts (content and format) the last two days. Now that I figured everything out, the blog will make more sense. In order news, Google has announced it's latest SkyNet data center for opening 2018!!!  LOL

******

On to the blog post. 

Guam- November 20 and 21, 2016

Got up super early on Sunday the 20th for my flight from Narita to Guam. The actual flight time is about 3 hours long, but since it is still considered an international flight from Tokyo,  you have to get to the airport early. Easy check in, security line and customs processing and I am shopping at the duty free shop and waiting at the gate. The flight to Guam was uneventful. Guam is a holiday tourist spot for the Japanese (closer and cheaper than Hawaii), so the flight was filled with tourists. Landed a little early and made my way to immigration/ passport control. Since I have Global Entry and Guam is a US territory I was the only person to utilize the Gloabl Entry line and breeze right through. Welcome to the USA!

Sabrina and the kids were waiting outside for me and we piled into the SUV and headed toward their home on base housing. She had previously done the paperwork to get me a base pass (post divorce, I no longer have any base privileges). They have a nice 4 bedroom home in a cul-de-saq neighborhood and we settled in for a afternoon of relaxation. The kids were happy to have a visitor and we got caught up and had a great visit. Until 7:30 pm rolled around and I totally crashed. Jet lag is a bitch!!

After a good nights sleep Sabrina and I got the kids off to school and took off for the morning. We drove around a bit, did some errands on base, shopped at the Navy Exchange and went to the beach. The beaches here are lovely, with water as warm as bath water and clear water. Since it was a Monday, it was nearly empty and we spent some time walking around, talking and putting our feet in the water!

After a quick lunch we headed back to the Largest Kmart in the world. Yeah, it's a thing apparently. The Japanese tourists come here and stock up on whatever and bring it back to Japan. I am not really sure of the appeal, but I can check it off my list as "having seen it". We decided to go we plhead back to the house to rest (mostly rest my knee) and so I could write out some postcards. The kids get home from school around 3ish, so we hung out after that (homework, playtime, etc). I planned for this visit to be very relaxing and for Sabrina and I do to stuff mostly while the kids are at school. They are too young to be left alone (11, 6 & 5) so we are doing stuff during the day. It has been a lovely visit so far and the kids are thrilled that someone from family has come out to visit them!

Tomorrow we are planning to go drive the southern part of the island and take some pictures. I am sure there will be more beach time and sightseeing, albeit relaxing sightseeing! 

Guam/ Japan 2016- it's almost here!

Well it’s getting close! Tomorrow evening I start the great adventure known as Guam /Japan 2016!  After work tomorrow I will take a train up to Boston to spend the night near Logan airport. I have a super early flight Friday morning and spending the night near the airport made the most sense. The trains from Providence don’t run (or at least very frequently) that early in the morning and parking up at Logan is insane. So it ended up being easier and cheaper to just spend the night, order room service and take the free shuttle to the terminal in the morning!

My flight from Boston to Detroit will take slightly over 2 hours, then when I land I plan to have a lovely breakfast before boarding the flight straight from Detroit to Tokyo. And yes, it is a long, long, long flight!  Once I get to Tokyo (Saturday afternoon), I booked a room for the night at the only hotel in Tokyo Narita airport. You see, I am doing the Guam part of the trip first. Tokyo Narita (NRT) is approximately 45 minutes outside the city proper. It didn’t make sense to go into the city to just spend the night. There are limited flights to Guam so my flight leaves the next morning (Sunday). Now it sounds like a strange way to plan things, but there really is a method to my madness. You see, by spending the night in the Tokyo Narita hotel, I can acclimate to the time change, shower and rest at the hotel, get a good night’s sleep and a decent meal. And..because I have several hours when I get into Narita (land about 4pm local time) I can activate my JR pass, get some Yen out of an ATM, check out where the NEX train into the city boards, and all that logistical stuff that you need to do. This way, when I travel back to Tokyo, I will have some things taken care of and be more familiar with things and can hit the ground running!

Speaking of hitting the ground… To make things a little more interesting I managed to fall last Saturday down a flight of stairs at my newly purchased condo (don’t even ask). I managed to injure my knee and have been babying it all week in anticipation of my upcoming trip. I’ll live but it will make things a bit more slow moving. Good news is that the Guam part of the trip is going to be relaxation and hanging with the family.

So after more than 6 months of planning the trip is nearly here! Can’t wait to see Asia (or at least part of Asia)!  Stay tuned, more to come!!!

Japan and Guam in November!!

Well dear readers, I know that it has been quite a while since I blogged about traveling (last trip was Italy in March 2015) but things have been a bit of a mess for a while. Well since things are looking up, it’s time to start traveling again!

Looks like a trip to Japan and Guam is happening!  I know, right????

Let the planning begin!

So I have some family members who are being stationed in Guam this spring. Conversations with them over the last 6 months or so resulted in me thinking that I could spend Thanksgiving with them as they will be so far away from family (and I love to travel over Thanksgiving)!

While thinking of this, I noticed that my airline of choice (Delta) stops in Tokyo in order to get to Guam. So…the rational and logical assumption is that if you have to change planes in Tokyo you might as well see Japan while you are at it! It is such a long trip to that side of the world and this December will be my 50^th birthday. It’s my big trip!!

So other than booking the actual flight from BOS to NRT (Tokyo) I will still have much more planning to do. I will have to book a separate flight to Guam as I used points to pay for the BOS to NRT flight. But still….Japan and Guam!!!!!

Oh and the points thing? Yeah, here’s the breakdown:

Total in USD= $1200.

Total Delta points = 130,00. 

Michelle’s cost  $51.00.

Yes, you read that right. $51 to fly round trip from Boston to Tokyo!!!!