(Update: I've uploaded Sasebo photos) Monday was my first full day in Japan. We went to one of Joe & Gwyn's favorite local sushi places for lunch. It was one of those conveyor belt places where the sushi loops around the restaurant. One interesting twist was that each table had it's own hot water spigot for making your own tea. That afternoon Joe took me on a tour of his ship, the USS Essex. Although Joe is on vacation, nearby typhoon Ewiniar means that Joe had to spend a bit of time at work that day. For dinner that night we went to a local kabob-type grill place. The owner was very friendly.
Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating with my vacation plans. It was cloudy and rainy both Monday and Tuesday. For Tuesday we had hoped to do some local sightseeing in the hills, and also tour the 99 Islands. But rain put a damper on those plans. Instead we went into the shopping district in downtown Sasebo. For dinner that night we went to an Italian restaurant. The Japanese version of Italian is interesting — for example, one of the pizzas available was tuna, corn, and mayo.
Prior to the trip, Joe & I decided to make a trip up to Seoul for a tour of the Korean DMZ. Next to Cuba, it's one of the last remaining pieces of the Cold War. It makes even more sense considering the bad weather in Japan. Rather than flying to Seoul, Joe suggested we take the Beetle hydrofoil from Japan to Korea, then take the Korean bullet train to Seoul. So on Wed morning we headed up to Fukuoka to catch the Beetle. The hydrofoil rode more like an airplaine in light turbulence rather than a boat. Although it lifts up out of the water at speed, the transistion is so smooth you can't even feel it. The peak speed on the Beetle was 50 mph. The bullet train ride was also pretty cool. Most of the ride was at around 80 mph, but on some of the longer straightaways we got up to 180 mph (300 km/h). It was a very smooth ride, although Joe said that the Japanese bullet train was even smoother. The bullet train ride was surprisingly inexpensive — about $45 per person for the 2 1/2 hour ride.
So tomorrow we see the DMZ, then head back to Japan on Friday. Hopefully the weather in Japan will have improved a bit for the local sightseeing, and also a trip to visit nearby Nagasaki.
"Next to Cuba, it's one of the last remaining pieces of the Cold War". Talk about an understatement, with missle tests flying over your head yesterday, I'm definitely interested in hearing about the DMZ, and if you even made it to the 38th parallel. I would imagine tensions are very high, another understatement, right now between the North and South, and Japan, and Russia, and NATO, etc… Good luck!
Corn was such a common ingredient on pizza in Seoul that I learned how to identify the Hangul word for it, so that I could object if I saw it on the ingredients list.
On one of my trips, an IRC friend asked me to bring him back something. So, I went to the local LG (Lucky Goldstar — one of the three business that own practically everything in Korea) store (like a 7-11) and purchased a can of "Pizza Tuna" for him. He wasn't impressed.