Japan - Day Two

Reggie got home from work at almost midnight last night. Manami fixed him a quick dinner, he scarfed it down, and slept afterwards while watching some movie on cable.

Donna and I woke up early this morning. She went back to sleep, but I couldn't so I updated my blog. Reggie woke up around 9 and got ready for work. When he left, the three of us went to Livin to pick up some lunch. They have all kinds of sushi and sashimi in bento boxes. Donna also got some chicken to cook adobo for dinner.


After lunch we went out and walked around downtown Yokosuka. We went to the familiar department stores Seiyu and Saikaya.


I mentioned I started watching the Japanese movie Departures on the plane but didn't get to finish it. Manami has heard of it and said we may rent the DVD later. It's about a cellist who lost his job when the Tokyo orchestra he was playing in got dissolved and he got hired in as an undertaker after moving into his rural ancestral home.

Japan - Day One

At a little past 9 Dan took us to the airport after a delicious dinner of chicken tinola, the last dish cooked by Donna in La Mirada. Dan crammed our suitcases in his rental Avenger. We ended up taking one large, one medium and one small suitcases with a backpack for a carry on. I try not to think how we're going to lug around these 4 pieces of luggage in the trains.

Our check in process at the EVA Air counter went perfectly smooth. The flight from LAX to Taipei was another story however. We encountered air turbulence for almost an hour with the Boeing 777-300 tossing and turning as if we're on Six Flags Magic Mountain's Viper. Donna and I got sick enough to skip and turn down our last flight meal. I'm surprised she didn't toss her previous meal. I guess the motion sickness pill she took before boarding helped a bit. The flight was long enough though that I was still able to watch Paul Blart - Mall Cop, The Reader, Milk and the end of that Japanese movie K-20 which I didn't get to finish on our way to California last time. We got hungry when we arrived in Taipei so we had us some nice and hot chicken noodle soup. The flight from Taipei to Narita was much smoother.

Since we came from the US, we had to fill out extra paperwork for the Narita quarantine area regarding the Swine Flu breakout. Manami was already waiting outside customs after we picked up our luggage from the conveyor.


I've been worrying about our luggage but it really wasn't too bad. The first train from Narita to Funabashi had a section for luggage storage and the trains to Aoto and Yokosuka stations had room enough for us to sit down with our luggage in front of us. At around 5:45 pm, we arrived in Yokosuka, then took a cab to their apartment at Moriya Mansion.


After kicking back a few minutes - carrying the suitcases up to the 4th floor was a bear, we walked down to nearby Tajima Ya Restaurant and had our first fill of authentic Japanese ramen.

Eph's Pre Birthday Bash

Eph's 32nd birthday will be on Friday the 29th but since Donna and I are leaving early Thursday morning and have to check in Wednesday night it was decided that we'll be celebrating early by having dinner at Ten Ten Restaurant on Pioneer in Artesia.

Emy couldn't make it because she was working and Nido was sleeping because he's going to work but everyone else was there: Jun and Rose, Dan, Genessee and friend Joon, Romar, Rachel and of course the celebrant, Eph. We had quite a bit of leftover, Dan probably wouldn't have to eat out for the next few days.




After dinner Mareng Malou and our god son Jarvie met us outside the restaurant. We're surprised on how big Jarvie has grown. I guess he should be, because he's now a junior at Whitney. Mareng Malou sent her regards to Reggie and Manami with an envelope for their upcoming wedding.

Japan Trip - Part 3

We got a call this morning from EVA Air. They changed our Narita to Taipei flight on June 12 for an earlier one. They further informed us that we cannot stay overnight at the Taipei terminal. You see, originally we were supposed to arrive there from Narita at around 10 at night of June 12 but our flight to Manila won't be till the next morning. But they told us there's a curfew in the terminal. So right now our agent is trying to book us a reservation for a night's stay at a nearby hotel.

I was chatting with Reggie on AIM and he said his boss, who's from Taiwan, would pick us up if he's there but he'll likely be in Sasebo at the time. Oh well..

..and the saga continues.

Japan Trip - Part 2

I've told people that in my experience where in I've had problems which felt as if the whole world was on my shoulders but in the end, things always work out somehow. As evidenced per my last blog, Donna and I were starting to lose sleep over the issue of our booking confirmations. However, the day after I posted that blog, a rep from EVA Air called first thing in the morning saying our flights have all been confirmed!

Truth be told, I don't really have any right to complain what with all the blessings that we continuously receive. We had the cool chance to retire at age 53, we're now in California and we'll be leaving for Japan tomorrow!

Is that cool or what??

We're checking in tomorrow Wednesday night since our flight will be at around 1 am Thursday morning. We'll be arriving in Taipei on Friday morning of the 29th and we'll be in Narita at around 1 pm. Manami should be waiting for us at the airport. Reggie couldn't be there, he had to work. We'll end up riding the train that's why we're trying our best to travel light as much as we can. Donna had already packed two door-to-door boxes so we don't have to lug all kinds of luggage around and pay so much for storage at the Narita airport. Yes, Donna, bless her heart, as usual is packing for the both of us. This time I sort of have an excuse. My allergies turned to a severe chest cold and I was miserable during our last night in Las Vegas. Oh, didn't I mention we were in Las Vegas for the Memorial Day weekend? There were a lot of people taking advantage of the long weekend in spite of the on going economic crisis. We had the chance to watch Terminator - Salvation at the movie theaters at the Orleans. The only downside with our Las Vegas stay - Donna's team, the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets by a lot!

So, yes our luggage and accommodation issues are just really minor things at this time. Reggie was saying the apartment is packed with stuff so there might not be enough room for us but I figured how hard is it to make room for us. We're not that big!

By the way, another catch to our trip - we have a really long layover in Taipei before our flight to Manila on June 13. We'll arrive in Taipei on the night of June 12 but our flight to Manila won't be till 9 the next morning. When we were in Europe we spent the night at the Madrid airport TWICE! So we figured, hey no biggie, Taipei should be no different.

I guess I'll have to post Eph's pre-birthday dinner blog and pictures when we get to Japan.

JAPAN, HERE WE COME!