Lake Pukaki

Our drive to Queenstown today brings us by Lake Pukaki. Pretty amazing views!

Sumner

We arrived at our beach house in Sumner today. It's a cool little beach community. We've got 3 days to soak up the atmosphere.

Auckland

Troy and I are staying at the Sky City Hotel in Auckland. Here is a picture of the Sky City Tower. It is the highest point in Auckland, and you can jump off it for 300 dollars. No thanks! Off to Christchurch this afternoon.

Heading to New Zealand

In the lounge at LAX, getting ready for my trip to New Zealand. I got a business class seat, on the upper deck of the 747. We are connecting in Sydney.

Asakusa

Temple in the Tokyo old town of Asakusa

Breakfast in San Juan

I took an earlier flight out of St Croix, so i would have a few hours to spend in Puerto Rico. I took a taxi to Old Town, wandered around the city wall (pictured), and had breakfast at an old style soda shop called La Bombonera.

Snorkling in St Croix

We ate some late lunch and went Snorkling today. Weather was great and the water was clear.

Rainforest Snacks

We took a drive through the rainforest today. Found a great shop that made great drinks from the rainforest fruits.

Safe in St Croix

Choppy but fun short hop!

Its not business class anymore

But at least I snagged am exit row! I am not eligible to upgrade since I bought the ticket with my miles. But the plane is very empty so its been comfortable so far. Maybe it has something to do with hurricane season!

Leaving LA again. East this time

Well less than a week removed from Tokyo, here I am on a plane again. I am off to St Croix, to spend the weekend with my friend Jason at his new place. Connecting through Ft Lauderdale and San Juan. (Sending this from the tarmac at FLL)

Above the clouds

We are staying in Kumamoto, a small town at the base of active volcano range. Our daily commute takes us up these mountains and above the clouds. Windmills in the distance.

Tokyo hotel view

Our hotel view on Sunday morning. Buildings as far as the eye could see in all directions.

Back in Japan

Well here we go again. We arrived in Tokyo on saturday. This photo was taken on the bus ride from Narita airport to our hotel which is in west Tokyo, near the other Tokyo airport (Haneda). We fly from Haneda on Sunday to Kumamoto.

LA Public Transport result

Well I made it home alive. The train from Santa Clarita was very nice. Comfortable and not crowded. See photo. The buses from downtown to Manhattan beach were pretty gross. All together i spent 11.25 and it took 2 hrs 45 min. A car would be about half the cost go fuel and about half the time. But it was an interesting experience.

My LA Public Transport Experience

Well I decided to take the public transport from Santa Clarita to Manhattan beach after work today. I needed to leave my car at the office.

S.S. Lane Victory

Dad, Gramps, and i took a cruise on this WWII ship to Catalina Island today. This is a fire boat saluting us on our return.

Beach volleyball

This weekend at manhattan beach!

Back home

Went surfing this afternoon, them grabbed some El Tarasco tacos for dinner. Now just relaxing on the beach. It is good to be back!

Heading home

Our trip is finally coming to an end. Taking the bus back to Tokyo to catch our flight. I beleive this is a 3 level highway.

All of your fears

Speaks for itself.

Saturday Taxi Ride

No bus service for Saturday so we have to take a cab. Quite a long week for us.

Long days and Coolish

We have left the hotel at 7:30 the last two days and returned around 10:30 so we have been working pretty hard. Our saving grace is that we must catch the last Honda Bus service for the day, some of the Japanese guys have worked later! The good news is I found my favorite snack. Coolish. Ice cream in a tube.

Honda Bus

Honda has a bus service for employees. We just show our Honda badge and it is a free ride to the engineering center.

Roynet Hotel

We are staying at the Roynet Hotel. Here is the view. Same as last pic but i bet you can see more. Off to work this morning.

Finally here

Finally made it to the room at 930. We took a 3 hour bus ride which after a long trip already was grueling. Not to mention it was right when our clocks were telling us we should be fast asleep. But here we are!

Made it!

And my phone works too!

Business Class

Cant really take a good photo of my seat before boarding, so this will have to do. Prepare for takeoff!

Boeing 777

We are taking a 777 to Tokyo. Last two times i was on a 747, so this will be a new experience.

Breakfast

I gotta find out how to publish more than 1 photo at a time.

More lounge

Full bar and a decent amount of food make it a nice place to relax.

Airline lounge

The terminal just opened a new lounge a week ago. It is pretty nice, very big with many rooms. sweet

On the way to LAX

Well off i go to Tom Bradley Terminal. Hope i remembered all the important stuff.

Japan

I am heading to Japan tomorrow. Should be pretty cool.

Testing this.

Flag in my room