Japan

Japan was the next stop on deployment for Lars. The REAGAN pulled into Sasebo Japan at the end of July and Lars took a 2 hour train ride to Fukuoka, Japan to watch a baseball game. It was kind of a small taste of America, but some parts of the game were a bit different.

For instance, the fans all wear scarves and headbands for their team....

The teams only get 2:30 minutes to warm up between innings...

There were cheerleaders on the field...

And in the seventh inning the entire stadium blows up yellow balloons and releases them at the end of a song. If the home team wins they do the same thing with a white balloon after the game is over. The weirdest part of the game was that there were men who stood in the outfield bleachers and beat out chants on huge Japanese drums and the whole crowd chanted with them. They do that for the entire game, but only when the home team is batting. Weird.

You could also get a draft beer from a little Japanese girl who wears a keg backpack for the entire game or a glass of this stuff called Sochu which is basically a local Japanese vodka. The food was pretty interesting too. You could eat real Ramen noodles, shrimp, or strawberry crepes.

Guam

The next stop on deployment was Guam. Lars spent four days on the island in the middle of July. It rained a lot, but all in all it was a good time.

Lar's cousin is a hospital corpsman stationed on Guam and he gave him a tour of the island. This is one of the caves the Japanese hollowed out of the rock to shoot machine guns at U.S. Marines during World War II.

And this is the beach head where the united States Marine Corps landed during World War II. Overlooking it from the hills above you can kind of feel what the Marines were going through. The terrain is very densely covered with trees and vines and the hills are pretty steep once you leave the beach.

Hong Kong

Lars' first stop on deployment was Hong Kong. He got there the last few days of June and had a pretty decent time. He stayed in the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons overlooking Hong Kong harbor. The room looked out towards Kowloon and at night the entire harbor lit up with the light reflecting off the buildings.

He visited the famous Stanley Market in Hong Kong. It is pretty much a Chinese flea market, but it was a pretty interesting way to spend part of a day.

He visited a few small Chinese Buddist temples set up to bring good luck on the Chinese fishermen who fished the local waters.

And as always, he found time to hang out with a lady friend and throw back a few tasty beverages. Lars loves the ladies!

Lars had more planned for the last day of Hong Kong, but a typhoon hit the Philippines and the REAGAN got called away from port a day and a half early to go to the aid of those who were in need after the typhoon rolled through. The ship spent two weeks off the coast of the Philippines and the helicopters and C-2 COD detachment on board literally delivered tons of food, water and medical supplies to the people of the Philippines.