Church in Cambodia

I'm currently in port in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. One of my fellow officers mentioned he had found a Cambodia church online, and was interested in attending a service. It sounded really interesting to me, and E've been missing attending a church, so I joined him. It was quite an adventure. First, we aren’t allowed to take taxis, so we had to walk to the church. We had some rough directions that we printed off the website (http://www.c3sihanoukville.com/), but they weren’t very clear. We ended up walking for almost 3 miles before we finally found it! I should not have worn flip flops. . . The service was nice; it was a very similar set up to Life Chapel (our church in Japan) – the pastor preached in English (he’s Australian) and then it was translated into Khmer. He spoke on money, and being wise with what’s been given to you. It was a good message, but the real incredible thing about the night was when we talked with him and some other Australians after the service. The church was started a couple years ago by the Australian couple: Ben and Cherie. They initially came to Cambodia several years ago and ministered directly to the villages in the area; not by starting a church, but living with them and building up a program to help children get jobs picking up trash, so they don’t get kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. I am amazed that they just picked up and moved out here, living in the villages with the locals. They even have two small children! That’s so scary! They had so many cool stories of God providing for them, and some of the congregation shared testimonies of miracles that God had done in their lives. The pastor was really likeable – he confessed that he initially didn’t want to go be a pastor (his wife really felt like God was calling them to South East Asia), but God worked to change his heart. He was really high energy – I guess he loves to skydive and snowboard and do extreme sports. Apparently the church has a location in Tokyo as well! Ben is actually coming to Tokyo in a couple months to speak. If you want to read more about what Ben and Cherie are doing in Cambodia, this is their website: https://www.benandcherie.com/

Helicopter Aircraft Commander!

I'm finally finished! I passed my HAC Board (with the CO, XO, 3 department heads, and the NATOPS officer) on Monday, passed my HAC check flight with the CO this afternoon, and now I'm officially a Helicopter Aircraft Commander.

Bathing in Coffee (and Red Wine, Green Tea, and Sake)

There are many things in Japan that are commonplace and totally normal to the Japanese that would turn heads in the U.S. of A. One of the strangest-seeming customs is the Onsen (pronounced own-sen). It's a public spa, separated by gender, where you bathe totally nude. Picture a stone jacuzzi. I can say from experience that they are really relaxing, especially if you've spent a day snowboarding/outside and then get warmed up and cleaned up in a giant spa. My sister (Lisa) who lived in Korea for a time, said that the Koreans also have similar public baths, so this is not merely a Japanese custom. This past Saturday, Kylee and I were able to go to a different kind of onsen, the Yunessun. This is a family-friendly onsen, where you can bring children, and is not separated by gender (don't worry, everyone wears swim suits). It's a perfect way for a westerner to ease into the idea of an onsen. It also offers a traditional Japanese onsen, with the standard gender-separated rooms. There was an indoor area, with kid play pools and fountains, and several different themed rooms. There were Roman columns, an aroma-therapy room, and a special Valentine's Day pool (complete with rose petals on the water). There was also a special pool filled with the "fish-doctor". You sit on the edge of the pool, dip your feet into the water, and small (1-2 in) fish will swim up and start nibbling away at your toes and feet! I guess they clean off all the dead skin and anything else that might be clinging to your feet. Kylee screamed. My favorite part was the outdoor area, Yu-topia. Although the weather was quite cold, the water was hot, so you'd have a nice contrast of cold air on your face while your core was warm. Additionally, Yu-topia offered pools filled with liquids other than water! They had coffee, red wine, green tea, sake, a natural rock pool, a charcoal heated pool, and a cold water pool (not sure who would go in that one). Every couple of hours they would have a demonstration of pouring the above mentioned liquids in their respective pools. I'm sure it's still mostly filled colored water, but still a cool idea! Website here: http://www.yunessun.com/english/

27 for the Front Nine

The Palm Lakes Par-3 golf course is a wonderful thing.  Not because you can work on your short game, or because it's cheaper than a full round, but because of the atmosphere that it creates.  It's not pretentious or stressful, and creates a great opportunity for new golfers or rusty players who want to take an hour or so to play some golf.  Nobody is going to make fun of you, or tell you to hurry up; after all, it's a 3-Par.  If you want to play a serious round of golf, go play at Vellano or Los Serranos.

Chip shot

The sunny California Christmas weather was perfect for playing a round of golf - mid 70s, sunny, and crystal clear skies.  Only one problem: the Porter Family is terrible at golf.  Karen tried to marry into some ability, but Thomas has yet to impart his skill to his wife.  The perfect solution was to head to Palm Lakes!  We split into two groups - Thomas, Karen, Stephen, and Kylee teed off first, followed by Chris, Doree, and Lisa.

Follow through

Luckily, most members knew enough about golf, and had swung a golf club before, that there were very few whiffs and strikeouts.  However, we certainly enjoyed watching everyone's golf balls go everywhere but towards the hole!  There's a certain level of anticipation as the amateur golfer addresses the ball, swings it back, and brings the club down - will it be a worm-burner? A shank? A hook? Perhaps the stars will align, and the ball will go sailing down the fairway with a satisfying THWACK!

Thomas was the best, of course - the only one of the group to actually end up on the green in one shot. Kylee had some of the highest arc shots I've seen.  Although they wouldn't go much further than 60-70 yards, she was very consistent.  Stephen and Karen would be all over the place - sometimes making good shots, but more often walking off with a pitching or sand wedge in hand.

Overall, a great way to spend an afternoon.  Relaxing but competitive, and lots of laughs.

The Family that golfs together stays together

Pull!

I'm nursing a bruised cheek at the moment, and it's due to a fight.  The score is: 12-gauge shotgun - 25, my face - 0.  Of course, the clay pigeons got the worst of the deal, as every single one of them ended up broken.

Die pigeon!

Shooting isn't an activity that I've spent a lot of time doing; none of my family grew up shooting guns/bows, so I naturally gravitated to other sports.  However, being in the military has given me the opportunity to at least be familiar with guns and the basics of shooting.  When my brother-in-law, Grant Petruzzelli, suggested that we head to the range and do some shooting during my Christmas leave, I jumped at the chance.

Kid, meet Candy Shop

Eye of the Tiger

The first day I went with my father-in-law, David Lollis, and Grant, while the wives went out to do some shopping.  Dave was like a little kid in a candy shop; telling everyone at the range that it was his first time shooting a shotgun.  Grant and I tried to assume the role of more experienced shooters, with limited success.  We got a 20-gauge shotgun and 25 shells each, and headed to the range.  After a brief demonstration of how to load and fire the guns, we set our stances and started firing.  When the dust cleared, I had barely edged out Grant for the win.  Final score: my 15 hits to Grant's 13.  Dave laid an egg.  We then headed over to the pistol range and got a 40cal pistol and 50 rounds.  We took turns shooting 5 rounds at a time from 10 yards out from a silhouette target, and took our bullet-riddled targets home to proudly show the womenfolk our prowess.

This gun's kinda heavy. . .

I guess old dogs can learn new tricks

We showed the pictures and videos from the day to our wives, and told my parents, and they expressed a desire to also do some shooting.  So, we took the afternoon today to head back to the range with Kylee, my Dad, and my Mom.  We got two rifles to share, and hit the range.  The assistants running the range were very helpful for all of us, giving pointers and tips for better shooting.  Everyone in the group hit some pigeons, though it was a nail-biter for my mom.  She went 0 for 23, then nailed the last two targets to the applause of all.  Kylee and my Dad were quite good - shooting down 8-10 pigeons each.   This day, I rented a 12-guage shotgun to try.  Though I shot better than the day before (hitting 20 pigeons) due to the greater power and spread, my cheek paid the price.

The weather was gorgeous, the kind of weather that only California can offer in December - mid 70s and clear skies.

Eye on the prize

More pictures at:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100638891273681.1073741832.12004504&type=1&l=7e32759cb4

Clearly, You've Never Been to Singapore (and Hong Kong)

Alright, time to catch everybody up on what happened over the summer of 2013.  Yes, I was deployed a decent amount (added up, I think it was about 5-6 months, broken up into 3 deployments), but I also got to visit a lot of very cool ports and foreign countries.  The first deployment, I went to Vladivostok, Russia.  The second deployment headed down south to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.  To round out the year, we hit up the famous Asian ports of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Singapore was a surprise visit, so it became a geo-bachelor port call - almost nobody's wife came out to visit due to the short notice.  As a result, the detachment stayed together as a group.  We all got the same hotel, visited the same locations, and generally had the same experience.  Additionally, it meant I got to keep my mustache for another couple weeks. I apologize for those photos.


Singapore was a very interesting city to visit - there are some strange rules, and things that are commonplace in the US or  Japan are illegal in Singapore.  For instance, it's illegal to chew gum in public, bring smelly Durian fruit on public transportation, or eat/drink in trains or train stations.  There are also laws against "outraging the modesty of a woman." Not sure what exactly that would entail, but needless to say, the men were on their best behavior.

We traveled the city exclusively by train and foot, visiting the Botanical Gardens (where we saw the National Orchid Garden, which had more orchids than I can count), Little India, and a park with Avatar-esque towers coming through the trees.  We stayed at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, living the life of luxury in a gigantic hotel with rooftop infinity pool, impressive views of the city and bay, and built in mall/casino!

Hong Kong was a very different type of port call than Singapore, largely because the spouses were there!  Kylee flew down with several of her friends (also wives of the detachment) and met me at the Bishop Lei International House - a small hotel with a stunning view of Hong Kong Harbor.  The next 48 hours were packed full of rooftop bars, fancy dinners, eating dim sum on the top of Victoria Peak, braving the intense night life of Lan Kwai Fong, and taking in as much of Hong Kong as we could.

I could have spent another week in Hong Kong - I felt like I only saw a glimpse of all there is to see, and what we did see was very rushed.  I look forward to more visits in the future!

More photos of Singapore:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100635216328301.1073741830.12004504&type=1&l=951bc6adbc

More photos of Hong Kong:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100635222540851.1073741831.12004504&type=1&l=d1ef906b07

Fuji-San

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to climb Mt. Fuji.  Kylee was in the States, so the three day weekend was wide open.  A friend from the squadron, Steve Aspholm, invited me to join him on our Monday off and climb Mt Fuji, as the season was just ending.  The season had actually technically ended on Sunday, but the trails remain open.  The climbing "season" of Mount Fuji only guarantees that the checkpoint huts along the way will be open.

We met at the squadron at 0530, bringing some egg burritos for breakfast on the car ride up.  The weather was clear and warm in Atsugi, but Fuji was ominously covered with clouds.  We crossed our fingers and drove up to the base camp.  There are several different trails that ascend Fuji-san, so climbing experiences can be quite different than someone else, or even on a different day.  They range from about 4-7 miles one way, with varying degrees of steepness, and the general consensus is that it will take 6-10 hours round trip.  Steve and I had chosen the shortest trail, clocking in at only about 4 miles up.  I was brimming with confidence - no matter how steep the trail, I could hike 4 miles in a couple hours. No problem.

Although it was still warm at the base camp, it was covered in fog and mist.  We expected the temperature to drop as we climbed, so we had backpacks with jackets, long pants, beanies, and gloves.  After topping off our water and a bathroom break, we headed up!  I was really excited to finally be climbing Fuji, and sang the song of the Lonely Mountain to Steve.  I don't think he appreciated it as much as I did.



The trail immediately started climbing, and didn't lessen the entire way.  We set a quick pace, and passed by several other hikers on the way up.  The trail was mostly volcanic rock, with some patches of dirt/scree, and was steep enough that I was basically scrambling up on all fours! As we got higher, the temperature dropped, and the fog/mist started collecting on our clothing - soon, we were as damp as if it was raining!  We passed several groups of people on their way down, and they asked if we were headed to the summit.  When we responded in the affirmative, they laughed and said that the weather got much worse.

They were right.  Soon, the wind was whipping around us, driving pellet-like rain into our faces.  Added to the ever present fog, the volcanic trail made it look like I was in Mordor, climbing Mt Doom!  I was underprepared for the rain with my hiking pants, and they were soon soaked through.  Luckily I had a waterproof jacket on, so my upper body was warm and dry.  Undaunted, we continued onwards and upwards.

We eventually reached the summit, cold, wet, and tired.  Victorious! Unfortunately, the clouds had not yet lifted, and we could barely see 100 yards.  We decided to finish the trail that goes around the circumference of the volcano summit.  The wind had gotten even stronger at the top, and several times we felt like it would blow us off the mountain!  Good thing we had our hiking staffs to stabilize ourselves.

We got a hot bowl of ramen at the one noodle shop still open on the peak, and then headed back down.  Going down was much quicker, though my legs were still shaking by the time we reached the parking lot.  We were still soaking wet, but that mattered less as the temperature rose.  I started warming up again, my cheerfulness returned, and I was annoying Steve with songs once more.

The total round trip took us about 4.5 hours.  Not bad for a first time!  I definitely want to do it again, but this time I'm packing waterproof pants, and praying for a clear day.  I'll post pictures soon!

More pictures here: