Canyoning Videos

Here are videos from our canyoning trip. Enjoy!

Canyoning

A few weeks ago I got to partake in one of the coolest things I have ever done! It was definitely an experience I will never forget. 7 of us girls went on a canyoning trip. Now, I won't lie and tell you that I knew exactly what I was getting myself in to when I said I wanted to go on this trip. In fact, I was completely clueless (although, I didn't know that I was completely clueless until we got there). I thought we were going to slide down some natural water slides.... and we did, sort of. Canyoning involves a lot of sliding and jumping off of things into water. Some of the jumps were really high, some weren't so bad. The entire thing was a blast! Our two guides took photos and videos the whole way through, which I was quite thankful for. I was so glad to have so much to take home...and proof that I did all of this to show my husband. ;-) 

                                             Getting used to the water before we started.

                                                           Here we go! Floating away!

 Sitting on a waterfall. We are making the "fox sign" because the canyon we went through was called Fox Canyon.

Of course, my photo here was the only one that came out blurry, but this was the "big" part of the trip. It was the highest waterfall we went over. We got lowered part of the way down and then let go to slide the rest of the way.

Our whole group at the end of the day. 7 of us girls, the Japanese couple that was with us and one of guides, Guy, who was from Wales!

Check out the next post for videos from this day!!!!

Kuala Lumpur

Early in October I took what will probably be my last port call trip. One of my very good friends and I traveled together to meet our guys in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was a short trip, but I fell in love with the city, we got to do some pretty cool things and the quality time with my husband was priceless!

                                          View from our hotel room; The Petronas Towers.

 We took a tour while we were there that started in the Bantu Caves. This was the Hindu statue outside of the cave. You can also see the steps up to the cave.... 200 of them!

         Inside the cave there were un-friendly monkeys. Can you find them climbing up the wall?

                  The second part of our tour was feeding some friendly monkeys. Isn't he cute?

 These monkeys would hop on your shoulder and eat whatever you gave them. We even had to hide our bag of snacks because they would take it right out of our pockets.

 When these particular monkey's are born, they are bright orange. They only stay that color for about 4-5 days and then they start to turn black. They were adorable! And, the hung on to their mothers like this while she ran around and got in the trees.

 I got jumped on from behind quite a few times, hence the expressions on my face!

The last thing we did was have dinner and then take a small boat trip to see synchronized fire flies. This was our view for dinner and a pic of all of us together.

Our last day there we went to afternoon tea and then took a tour of the Petronas Towers.

                                 Yes, I do claim him....

                                                  View of the towers from underneath.

                                                           The Kuala Lumpur Tower.

                             Cori and I were amused by this table that was attached to the wall.

                                                            Out to dinner one night.

Furniture

It was brought to my attention (by some of our blog readers) while we were home that I never posted pics on our blog of our new furniture. Enjoy!

                                                        This is our step tonsu.

                                                     Our new China closet.

                                                 And the new TV stand.

Congratulations Andy and Jewel!

Last week we took our last trip home before we move back there permanently. It was great spending 10 days in the country that we love, with the food and shopping that we love! The main reason behind our journey was the wedding of A.J.'s brother, Andy on Friday, August 10th.

Despite the rain during the day, things cleared up in time for the outdoor ceremony and reception and everything went off without a hitch! It was a beautiful day! Congratulations again Andy and Jewel! We wish you lots of love and happiness!

                                                                    Brothers

                                           A.J. looking very dashing in his tux!

Mt. Fuji Climb

On July 28th, A.J. and I took on the infamous Mt. Fuji! Fuji-san (as the Japanese call it) is an active volcano located outside of Tokyo. (Note: the last time it erupted was 1707.) On clear days we can see it from base and in the winter, we get beautiful views of its snow covered top. Given the elevation, the only time of the year that you can climb it is between early July and late August because it is too cold to do so the rest of the year. So, seeing as this is our last summer in Japan, we decided now was the time to climb so that we could do it together. Little did we know what we were in for!

Mt. Fuji is 12,389 feet high; we started our climb at 8,000 feet. There are multiple stations and huts on the way up where you can get snacks and take breaks from the hike. You can also purchase walking sticks at the start of the climb and get stamps on your stick at each stop on the way up. These made for a very cool souvenir! A.J. and I did the one day climb through our tours office on base. This meant catching a bus from base at 4:00 in the morning and returning around 10:00 that night. That makes for a long day!

We started our climb at the 5th station, which as I mentioned is at 8,000 feet. We spent 30 minutes or so there so that our bodies could adjust to the altitude before we started.

The view from the start of our climb...doesn't look so bad from down here!



The short walk from the 5th station to the 6th station isn't so bad. It is mostly flat and you even go downhill for a little bit. After the 6th station is where it gets rough! Most of the trail is a mixture of gravel, dirt and volcanic ash, which makes walking tough. The entire trail is extremely steep and when you aren't dealing with the gravel, you are climbing on large rocks that involve the use of your hands at times. Needless to say, it's not easy.

Now, I know there are people who really enjoy hiking and doing this type of thing... I however, am not one of them! So this whole thing was very difficult for me. If it wasn't for A.J., I never would have made it!

Pics from about half way up. Please note that I was not as happy as I appear in this picture!

                                                            We finally made it to the top!

                                                          And I was really excited!

We took most of our pictures on the way down. These 2 shots give you a good idea of how steep the trail was!

The crater at the summit. It was still filled with ice at the end of July! The temperature at the bottom of the mountain reached about 96 degrees that day. At the top, it was probably in the 50's.

We made it up in 6 1/2 hours, spent about 45 minutes at the summit and then took 3 hours and 15 minutes to get down. Coming down wasn't much easier as the gravel and such caused you to slip and slide most of the way down and it was extremely steep. Needless to say, our knees were pretty sore by the end!

Overall, we were both so glad that we did it and that we made it to the top, but have agreed that NOTHING would ever get us to do it again. Just another thing checked off our Japan bucket list!

Hong Kong

Our life in the Navy has lead us on yet another exciting adventure to... Hong Kong! The GW pulled in to HK last week for 5 days and I flew over to join A.J. for a mini vacation. It was great to spend time together after our 2 months apart and for me to put another check in my traveling box. We also happened to be there over my birthday so we did a little extra celebrating! Our week was full of shopping, sight seeing, Disneyland and delicious food! Not to mention insane heat!!!! Nonetheless, Hong Kong is a beautiful city and offered breathtaking views. Enjoy the pics!

Heading for a night out on the town with the Diamondbacks!

We spent the day in Disneyland for my birthday!

A.J. with his tailor, Linda. She made him a suit last year and some new shirts this year. She is awesome!!

Looking stylish with my Vera Bradley camera case.

Badman Ball

Every year in Japan, the air wing celebrates Badman Week. The whole week is spent with the guys competing in a variety of sports (squadron vs. squadron), and the wives playing volleyball against each other. The week ends with Badman Ball. Here is our pic from this year. Enjoy!

Cherry Blossoms

Japan is famous for their cherry blossom trees; it's one of the first things you hear about when you move here, and they definitely don't disappoint! I didn't get to see any of the blossoms last year because of the evacuation after the earthquake, and I pretty much missed them this year as well being in Guam. However, I managed to get some good photos today before all the blossoms fell off. Enjoy! They are gorgeous!


















I saved these for last because they are my favorite. This tree is in our neighbor's yard and they are just amazing. Love them!