Wednesday, July 7, 2010

TOKYO AND BACK TO OKINAWA

We went to Tokyo the day after our trip to Fuji. We decided to bypass the Buddha at Kamakura Beach as we were a little worn out from Fuji. We arrived at the New Sanno Hotel and it was awesome! We did have to make arrangements, however, for a cab to pick us up the next morning at 4am to get to Yakota Air Force Base in time to catch our Space-A Flight back to Okinawa as it was the holiday weekend and that was the last flight (and I could not be later than the 4th because my leave ended).
We had a great dinner and reunion with my fraternity pledge brother Dale Caldwell and his wife Meg and their boys (their daughter was away at her grandparents). The dinner and conversation were excellent and the kids (even Morgan) were adventurous with trying new things. The "roll your own" sushi and fresh wasabi were unbelievable! After beer and sake and wine, though, it was time to call it a night so we could get up in 4 hours to catch our cab.
Back in Okinawa, we watched fireworks on the 3rd of July on the Sunabe Seawall and it was amazing! We figured we would avoid the crowds at Kadena Air Force Base on the 4th. We went to the Shuri Castle and Ben and I had a great view from the Castle of Naha, Okinawa. Steph finally got to rub the "Buddha Belly" on a statue on Kokosai street when we went shopping!
The next day, Ben and Morgan and I went "diving with the whale sharks" off the coast of Okinawa in a big net. It was awesome and we even got to touch the whale shark! I thought Morgan was going to get us kicked out as she kept chasing and grabbing the shark!
Great trip and great 3 weeks with my family in Japan. It was awesome!
LCDR Butler

1 comment:

  1. Aren't you supposed to rub the buddha's belly for luck? Yay! I hope that works! I can't believe that Morgan was chasing the sharks, really? Or are you just kidding me? Steph didn't want to swim with the sharks? Beautiful water was it warm? Can't beleive it is over. Wishing you a speeding 90 days! :-) Love you!

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