March 17th '06- Miso for Breakfast
Robert checking out the gear on a C-5
View from THE window!
We made it to Japan last night! After a 4 hour layover in Osan, Korea. We didn't get to see much of Korea except the flightline and the inside of the little terminal. Robert was so tired he tried to start a rebellion to stay in Osan overnight instead of flying, but my first impression of the place made me want to get out of there as fast as possible. When we landed the automatic staircase was broken so we had to download through the main cargo hold by climbing down steep stairs. When Katherine approached the stairs she suddenly refused to go down. I was really afraid we were going to have to drop her against her will(she has superhuman strength when she's scared), but she just wanted me to go first. It didn't help that there was an adult waiting at the top afraid to go down and letting everyone know that, but we made it out. Since there are no windows in a C-5 it was the first time we had seen what we had flown into. Everything was gray, dull, bare, a little fog rising. As Rob says, why in the world would anyone want to fight over this country? As follow-thru passengers we were told that we were not to leave the little room we were ushered into for the duration of the flight. Fortunately, they were merciful and would let us go out to use the restroom, but we had to give up our ID cards each time. We could use the courtesy phone to have food delivered because apparently anything in Korea is available for delivery. The Korean customs officer would come out of his office periodically and clap his hands at the poor Airmen who worked there and command that they had done something wrong. Just when it was starting to feel like we were living Tom Hank's life in Terminal it was finally time to go. Although the flight wasn't full there were so many babies on it because the Airforce is in on the secret of giving spouses Environmental Morale Leave and there was a big group coming from seeing their husbands. Somehow they were all loaded onto the plane through the cargo hold which was full and surprisingly looked even more massive full than when it was almost empty. Maybe it was all of the spotlights and the surrounding darkness but it just seemed so much like we were escaping rather than just catching a connecting flight.
We all slept the entire 2 and a half hour flight to Japan and it was midnight when we landed. The AMC terminal was dark and the outside doors locked and we all joked that they weren't going to let us leave even though we were all feeling a bit of panic, but the Marine who was the customs guy was desperate for us to get out of his way so he could go home, so fortunately he unlocked the padlocked gate and we were free. Rob called a taxi and the taxidriver kept his word that he would be there in 2 minutes. He took us to the airforce lodging, but just like in Guam there was no room in the inn. So, he drove us into Okinawa City and took us to look for a hotel. Right outside the gate we passed the usual soldier bars(I guess they're airman bars here). They were absolutely overflowing and there were what seemed like hundreds walking back to base. Thankfully we drove past that area before stopping at the first hotel. That one didn't have any room so the taxi driver took charge and started driving us around and calling around until he found us one. He was amazing, he'd turn off the meter each time we sat waiting and he just kept trying. I forgot that they drive on the left side of the street and fortunately he didn't drive like a San Francisco Taxi driver (or Rob for that matter) because it was startling enough to have lights coming toward you from what seemed like the wrong side of the street and then making sharp right turns into alleys through oncoming traffic. We ended up at a beautiful hotel (www.hotelgrandmer.com). After exchanging keys several times we managed to get adjoining rooms again so we had lots of space. The kids are in a "western - style" room with big twin beds and the toilet is actually in the bathroom. Rob and I are in a huge room with a refrigerator and bar(no liquor - got to supply that yourself and we could have really used a strong drink by last night). We have a Japanese style bathroom with a water closet and several appliances I'm not entirely sure what you do with them. Inside the front door of each room is a shoe cabinet with slippers inside. It felt so good to lie horizontally underneath an amazing comforter. We watched some Japanese TV and then Armed Forces Network for a while just to decompress.
This morning we could finally get a view of where we had landed the night before. We have an amazing view of the rooftops of Okinawa City and the ocean.
We went downstairs and had a buffet breakfast looking out at the same view. It was an interesting but delicious breakfast, semi-western and Japanese. I could get used to Miso for breakfast, it was so comforting and warm. I might even get used to the idea of salad (seems to be a breakfast staple) but I'm still not sure what you do with all of the odd looking condiment-type plates that were sitting next to the largest rice cooker I've ever seen!
After breakfast we called a taxi and drove back to the AMC terminal to check out our prospects for flight. It seems that there are 1 - 2 flights to Singapore every week. The next one is on Thursday which is cutting it a bit close to when we need to return and we couldn't manage to use the phone correctly to get through and find out from Singapore if we flew in there could we fly out again?!! There is a flight to Bangkok but not until the 6th of April. So, Karen, I'm sorry to say that we won't make it all the way to Thailand. But for those interested, it seems that it is indeed possible to get to Bangkok on Mac flights, and even to do it in a more direct way than we have attempted, but you need about a month to do this in a sane fashion. So, we are staying one more night in this luxurious hotel and then we have a three night reservation on the airbase in family lodging. Our plan is to do some shopping and sightseeing and then try to catch a flight to Yokota AB sometime next week so we can see mainland Japan and Tokyo and then fly back either thru Hawaii or Seattle and hopefully get home before school starts again on the 27th. We are all wiped out and trying to rest so we can enjoy some evening shopping. It's warm but rainy today - we have hit rain everywhere we've been so we probably won't even get beach time. However, we are all so excited to experience Japan. 
I've never seen so many brightly lit soda machines in my life! There is a row on just about every block, so no one ever gets parched here (or tired - most of the machines are full of iced-coffee type drinks). And they love their shoebox cars here. It's like living in a matchbox/hotwheels city! The only thing I am sad about is missing out completely on St. Patrick's day, but it's a small sacrifice to pay when you can have an adventure like this I suppose!
Our first images of Okinawa:
View from THE window!
We made it to Japan last night! After a 4 hour layover in Osan, Korea. We didn't get to see much of Korea except the flightline and the inside of the little terminal. Robert was so tired he tried to start a rebellion to stay in Osan overnight instead of flying, but my first impression of the place made me want to get out of there as fast as possible. When we landed the automatic staircase was broken so we had to download through the main cargo hold by climbing down steep stairs. When Katherine approached the stairs she suddenly refused to go down. I was really afraid we were going to have to drop her against her will(she has superhuman strength when she's scared), but she just wanted me to go first. It didn't help that there was an adult waiting at the top afraid to go down and letting everyone know that, but we made it out. Since there are no windows in a C-5 it was the first time we had seen what we had flown into. Everything was gray, dull, bare, a little fog rising. As Rob says, why in the world would anyone want to fight over this country? As follow-thru passengers we were told that we were not to leave the little room we were ushered into for the duration of the flight. Fortunately, they were merciful and would let us go out to use the restroom, but we had to give up our ID cards each time. We could use the courtesy phone to have food delivered because apparently anything in Korea is available for delivery. The Korean customs officer would come out of his office periodically and clap his hands at the poor Airmen who worked there and command that they had done something wrong. Just when it was starting to feel like we were living Tom Hank's life in Terminal it was finally time to go. Although the flight wasn't full there were so many babies on it because the Airforce is in on the secret of giving spouses Environmental Morale Leave and there was a big group coming from seeing their husbands. Somehow they were all loaded onto the plane through the cargo hold which was full and surprisingly looked even more massive full than when it was almost empty. Maybe it was all of the spotlights and the surrounding darkness but it just seemed so much like we were escaping rather than just catching a connecting flight.
We all slept the entire 2 and a half hour flight to Japan and it was midnight when we landed. The AMC terminal was dark and the outside doors locked and we all joked that they weren't going to let us leave even though we were all feeling a bit of panic, but the Marine who was the customs guy was desperate for us to get out of his way so he could go home, so fortunately he unlocked the padlocked gate and we were free. Rob called a taxi and the taxidriver kept his word that he would be there in 2 minutes. He took us to the airforce lodging, but just like in Guam there was no room in the inn. So, he drove us into Okinawa City and took us to look for a hotel. Right outside the gate we passed the usual soldier bars(I guess they're airman bars here). They were absolutely overflowing and there were what seemed like hundreds walking back to base. Thankfully we drove past that area before stopping at the first hotel. That one didn't have any room so the taxi driver took charge and started driving us around and calling around until he found us one. He was amazing, he'd turn off the meter each time we sat waiting and he just kept trying. I forgot that they drive on the left side of the street and fortunately he didn't drive like a San Francisco Taxi driver (or Rob for that matter) because it was startling enough to have lights coming toward you from what seemed like the wrong side of the street and then making sharp right turns into alleys through oncoming traffic. We ended up at a beautiful hotel (www.hotelgrandmer.com). After exchanging keys several times we managed to get adjoining rooms again so we had lots of space. The kids are in a "western - style" room with big twin beds and the toilet is actually in the bathroom. Rob and I are in a huge room with a refrigerator and bar(no liquor - got to supply that yourself and we could have really used a strong drink by last night). We have a Japanese style bathroom with a water closet and several appliances I'm not entirely sure what you do with them. Inside the front door of each room is a shoe cabinet with slippers inside. It felt so good to lie horizontally underneath an amazing comforter. We watched some Japanese TV and then Armed Forces Network for a while just to decompress.
This morning we could finally get a view of where we had landed the night before. We have an amazing view of the rooftops of Okinawa City and the ocean. 
We went downstairs and had a buffet breakfast looking out at the same view. It was an interesting but delicious breakfast, semi-western and Japanese. I could get used to Miso for breakfast, it was so comforting and warm. I might even get used to the idea of salad (seems to be a breakfast staple) but I'm still not sure what you do with all of the odd looking condiment-type plates that were sitting next to the largest rice cooker I've ever seen!
After breakfast we called a taxi and drove back to the AMC terminal to check out our prospects for flight. It seems that there are 1 - 2 flights to Singapore every week. The next one is on Thursday which is cutting it a bit close to when we need to return and we couldn't manage to use the phone correctly to get through and find out from Singapore if we flew in there could we fly out again?!! There is a flight to Bangkok but not until the 6th of April. So, Karen, I'm sorry to say that we won't make it all the way to Thailand. But for those interested, it seems that it is indeed possible to get to Bangkok on Mac flights, and even to do it in a more direct way than we have attempted, but you need about a month to do this in a sane fashion. So, we are staying one more night in this luxurious hotel and then we have a three night reservation on the airbase in family lodging. Our plan is to do some shopping and sightseeing and then try to catch a flight to Yokota AB sometime next week so we can see mainland Japan and Tokyo and then fly back either thru Hawaii or Seattle and hopefully get home before school starts again on the 27th. We are all wiped out and trying to rest so we can enjoy some evening shopping. It's warm but rainy today - we have hit rain everywhere we've been so we probably won't even get beach time. However, we are all so excited to experience Japan. 
I've never seen so many brightly lit soda machines in my life! There is a row on just about every block, so no one ever gets parched here (or tired - most of the machines are full of iced-coffee type drinks). And they love their shoebox cars here. It's like living in a matchbox/hotwheels city! The only thing I am sad about is missing out completely on St. Patrick's day, but it's a small sacrifice to pay when you can have an adventure like this I suppose!Our first images of Okinawa:
posted by Melanie at 3:13 PM
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