#navy base

[nocternalrandomness]

West ramp at NAS Lemoore

[hunter-of-light]

[May 2019] United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka @ Yokosuka, Japan

Check out my IG: @vfc.jpg

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“GOING TO SCHOOL in the navy are these British bluejackets, carrying their school-books past a line-up of planes. They’re learning the technical aspects of gunnery and radio, for service with the fleet’s air arm.” “NAVAL GUNNER, in training at a navy base for service with the British fleet’s important air arm, squints along the barrel of a fast-firing gun used in planes.” - from the Toronto Star, November 18, 1939.  Page 19.

[traveling-couch-potato]

Japan Day 32

Woke up this morning and had a wonderful breakfast at Megan once again with my Korean hostel buddy. Short light conversation compared to last night and then we parted ways.

I’m addicted to the croque madame at Megan. The pancakes were quite good too! Fluffy but definitely a very “healthy” feeling whole grain type texture.

From there it was off to Yokosuka to visit my friend Wesley at his navy base. We explored the More City mall right by Yokosuka Chuo Station. There was a cute little flea market on the rooftop and plenty of food options in the food court. We settled for a quick meal at rotating sushi bar on the 7th floor (partially cause of that sweet sweet 10% military discount).

Nothing too fancy here. Simple but nice mall and typical conveyer belt sushi. Can’t complain about a discount either.

After lunch we did a small tour of the town and visited random shops before heading off to the Yokosuka naval base. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I have no experience with the navy at all but it was all quite simple.

Quick paperwork checkin at their main office. Really easy with a passport and an escort.

From there my friend just took me around this little mini America town in the middle of Japan. Everything felt so familiar but also strangely surreal. American flags, American grocery stores, American fast food. Everything felt like I was on a mid-size American college campus.

I never realized how much an American grocery store SMELLS like an American grocery store. I was also almost impressed how bad the sushi looked. I thought since this was Japan it’d at least be better than the stuff from the states but it absolutely looks just as awful.

A little part of me was craving a taste of home so when I saw a diet coke I absolutely ran toward it. We also got some Taco Bell (well he got some, I took a bite), because homesickness be real. It was all just a nice break from Japan. It felt like I could turn my travel brain off for a second. After food we visited my friend’s work place on the USS Shiloh.

Partially I needed this picture just to confuse and annoy my foodie friends.

Got to visit 2 destroyers w/ a slightly more thorough walkthrough of the USS Shiloh. I also got a look at the USS Reagan from a distance. I love seeing where my friends work since all I’ve ever known is healthcare so seeing something different is fascinating. It also contextualizes some of the weapon sizes that they deal with and wow I just can’t imagine it.

It was about time for me to head back to Tokyo. We walked around Yokosuka a bit more. My friend pointed out the largest building in town and informed me that is where the mayor of the town lives and that the top two floors are apparently almost entirely rented out by Chinese and Russians to keep an eye on the navy. I definitely had a good laugh imagining this.

I said my goodbyes to my friend and got on a train toward Tokyo. I wasn’t too hungry at first but by the time I arrived in Ebisu I was starving. I decided to go for some tsukemen at the nearby Afuri Ebisu. I must’ve been really hungry cause I polished the whole bowl and still had room for dessert at a taiyaki booth called Narutotaiyaki Honpo Ebisu. Besides some food that was more or less the end of my night. Did some laundry, got some work done, and that’s about it. An interesting day that I didn’t quite expect to have in Japan but glad I got to see something different (or familiar?)

I’ve never had a taiyaki filled with sweet potato. I thought it’d be too starchy but it was fluffy and had just the right amount of sweetness.

[monkismymoniker]

[shane-cmyk]

USS Rafael Peralta.

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Green Sea Turtles!

Finally! The post all of you have been waiting for!

The company I work for has a partnership with two local turtle sanctuaries, and I get to spend time at them both!!!! (<- I'm not excited at all...)

The day usually starts by being told what tanks need to be cleaned. We then drain the tanks, remove the turtles, and place them in baskets.

Or, in some cases, the turtles are too big to put in baskets! In this case we leave them in the tanks and scrub around them.

Note: This big guy on the bottom must weigh at least 100lbs! You should have seen me trying to scoot him around the tank so I could get the algae underneath him...

Now comes the scrubbing! We only use water (the same salt water that goes into the tanks) and scrub brushes. This involves a lot of elbow grease and sweat in the Thai heat/humidity. After giving the tank a good scrub to remove most of the algae (while taking care to make sure that we don't remove too much algae - we don't want them to scratch the bottoms of their shell on the tank!), we start to refill the tanks.

Now the hard work is done, it's time for the turtles! First, we place them in an antiseptic solution and then wipe them down with a soft sponge.

Next, we take a purple solution called Gentian Violet and treat any infection we notice. Then the turtles go back in their basket for about 15 minutes while the Gentian Violet dries and does it's job killing any fungus or bacteria. This solution leaves your fingers stained a nice purple color - a reminder of the turtles for days to come!

Then these little happy buggers are put back, swimming around in their clean tank with a higher rate of survival! 

“A clean tank is a happy tank.” - Every turtle, everywhere

I love my job.

[nocternalrandomness]

Flight line at NAS Lemore, California