The Fowler Family Blog

We just got back from a two week vacation to the U.S. It was absolutely wonderful! Ryan attended the USAFP Conference in Hilton Head the first week and Kristi Garlow came down to visit us. We also got to see a bunch of our friends from Camp Pendleton- (Jackie, The Palmers, Sanchack, Cormac, Donnelly) which was awesome.

Me and Kristi

While we were there Ryan ran a 5k race. Of course he had a great time and enjoyed running on the beach.

Ryan and Gordy Zubrod from Camp Pendleton

Then we spent the following week in Folly Beach and rented a beach house. It was fabulous! We saw Ryan’s parents, my parents, Ryan’s sister Christine, her husband Tom and new baby Ella, my grandmother, my Uncle Mike and Aunt Sharon, Ryan’s Aunt Joanne her significant other Howard, our friends Jeremy and Sara, their two kids Trent and Megan and Ryan’s friend Melvin.

Grandma, Me and Mom

Grandma Linda with Ella Grace

Being back in the States made us miss our family and friends even more as well as the convenience of being able to run to Target or the grocery store. We certainly did not realize how great we had it there until we were gone.

Christine did such a great job planning everything and we really appreciated it! The beach house was awesome and the surprise baby shower was really cool!

Christine and Tom

Mama Mia’s in Folly Beach- Delicious!

We love you guys so much and miss you already!

We are back from Australia. The conference that I worked out was great- I got to meet a lot of our Australian clients and set up some future business.

Ryan joined me and we stayed in Sydney for 5 days. He did the Bridge Climb! At first he looked scared to death, but

then he was fine as he continued going up. I was nervous just watching him from the lookout point! You can sort of see his head. He’s one of the few people not wearing a hat.

Notice me gripping the protective glass from the observatory tower?

We visited the Opera House which was absolutely beautiful!

We visted Watson’s Bay and the northern beaches- Thank you Bill and Jonathon for showing us around.

We went to the Ka Ru Gai Chase National Park and saw a Wallaby and it’s baby in the wild!

We visited the Blue Mountains. This is called the Three Sisters and is one of the most famous areas of the Blue Mountains.

Here are a bunch of zoo pictures. The Taronga Park Zoo quite possibly could be our favorite zoo.

Check out the view of the city behind the Giraffes!

A picture of us getting ready for the Bird Show.

Notice my baby bump… ??? Yippee!

Adorable Koala Bear!

Gorgeous Lion!

We then flew up to Queensland to see the Great Barrier Reef. It was raining most of the week so we didn’t get to see the Reef afterall, but we did visit Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island and Hamilton Island. They were both beautiful!

While in Australia we ate a variety of wonderfully delicious food- Italian, Greek, Thai, Taiwanese, Indian and then “American”- Hamburgers and French Fries. It was fabulous! Of course I was thrilled beyond belief!

Australia was amazing! We loved it there! We want to go to New Zealand next year, so that’s what we are planning next. Well actually we are going to Hilton Head in March, so we are looking forward to that first. We can’t wait to see family and friends!

Last Sunday we decided to go along on a road trip with Tolu (first mistake;-) and a few other people from base. We were going to go to Osan Air Base which is about 4.5 hours from here. Ryan said that the night before he “had a bad feeling” about going, but didn’t say anything. The sheer fact of having to leave at 5 am might have been reason enough.

So after being on the road for about 2 hours, snow starting falling. We saw 4 car accidents in a row- a bus, larger than ours was on it’s side. This wasn’t about to slow Tolu down. She kept truckin’ through. We all kept saying, “TOLU SLOW DOWN!”.

When we finally got to the base, it was “closed”. Um, how can a military base be closed due to weather? After a few phone calls and frantic questions to strangers, we found out that another gate was open, but only to foot traffic. I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of traipsing around in the ice, so as soon as we got there, we decided to eat lunch at a place the guard recommended- Bobby’s Tacos. They were actually wonderful and we were thrilled to have Mexican food.

Right after lunch we found our way to the train station and headed back home. Two trains, and a taxi ride later, we were finally home. (There was no way we were going to risk our lives riding back to Chinhae with “speed demon” Tolu)…

Gas money to ride with Tolu $40 (and risking your life)

Lunch $15

Train $30 per person

Taxi $20

Best Taco’s in South Korea PRICELESS…

They were the BEST $120 tacos we have ever had!

It is quite possibly my favorite city in the world… Ryan and I had a wonderful time first in Tokyo and then at Navy Base Yokosuka.

Ryan met all of the “major players” in the U.S Navy. He met with the Director of Branch Medical Clinics and was assured that Chinahe and his clinic would be given a higher priority. He attended meetings most of the days, but his evenings were free.

Tokyo is completely bi-lingual and quite a few Americans live there. It’s very easy to get around either by Taxi or on the subway. What impressed me so much about the city was how clean it was. People are also very respectful and follow the rules. Smoking is only allowed in designated areas and it is respected. Here is a sign that I really liked.

We stayed at The New Sanno in Tokyo, which is a military hotel. It was very fancy, had a spa and several shops located there.

There were French bakeries throughout Tokyo and we took advantage of the fancy, beautifully designed treats. (You will see a resounding theme throughout our review of us eating excessive amounts of food…)

We ate at the Restaurant where Kill Bill’s famous fight scene with Uma Thurman was filmed

We met up with our friend Toshi (who is best friends with Hiroshi- who we know back in Columbus, Ohio). He spoiled us rotten and he spent the day Tuesday showing me around Shiboya, Harajaku and Roppongi Hills. We visited the Tokyo Tower, which is 330 meters tall (one meter taller than the Eiffel Tower)

On the way up… After we were finished…

The three of us taking in the views

Oh, we ate and ate and ate and ate. We were craving sushi and had to get our “fix” while we were in Japan. Toshi took us to a great restaurant in Shiboya.

Do you like my funky hair wrap?

Cindy and Norm

We were walking around a park in the city and happened upon a German restaurant. Norm is fluent in German and began talking to the owner as we walked by. We ate delicious brats and drank some fabulous German beers.

The Japanese are very in to fashion and love shoes. Everywhere you look all you see are glorious pairs of shoes.

We also got to see our friends Joel and Nicole from Pendleton. They are due to have their baby this week, so we visitied her in the hospital. It was great!

So overall we had an amazing time in Japan. I would highly recommend it!

We are so excited!  We will be going with the MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) group on base and it will be very affordable for us to go.  We’re going for 5 days and will be visiting the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and taking advantage of great shopping opportunities. 

We leave on Thanksgiving Day. 

Self portrait taken with our new camera that we bought in Seoul 

Ryan and I went to Seoul for the weekend and stayed on the Army base at the Dragon Hill. The Dragon Hill is surprisingly resort like and was a great getaway for us (and I was able to get a mani and pedi)… A friend of ours watched Duke for us so he was okay. There was a typhoon when we got home, which was a bit scary.  They are similar to hurricanes and the winds were 60 mph!  The weather now is perfect- it’s fall here now and we’re experiencing an “Indian Summer”. 

On Friday we went to Oktoberfest at the hotel- here I am drinking a big beer.  We split this one.

For those of you not familiar with Seoul (we certainly weren’t before we moved here), here is a little info about it. 

Seoul Korea is the capital and largest city of South Korea (Republic of Korea). The city’s name derives from the ancient Korean word Seorabeol or Seobeol, meaning “capital city”. The city has been known in the past by the successive names Wiryeseong (위례성; 慰禮城; Baekje), Hanyang (한양; 漢陽 and Hanseong (한성; 漢城; Goryeo and Joseon). The city served as the capital during the Baekje and Joseon Dynasties. Upon the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, Seoul became the capital once again and was designated the nation’s only Special City. With over ten million people living within its city limits, Seoul is one of the most populous cities in the world. However, with an area of only 605 square kilometres, it is also one of the smallest and most densely populated major cities. Seoul’s population density has allowed it to become one of the world’s most digitally-connected cities. It also has more than three million registered vehicles which often cause widespread traffic jams. 

Me and Ella in front of a map of Korea

We visited the DMZ which was eerie yet interesting. We toured a tunnel that the N. Koreans had dug in case they ever wanted to invade South Korea and most recent one was discovered in 1990!

The Gray building is the “Welcome Center” for North Korea.  As you can probably guess, it isn’t used very often.  The guards stand with half of their bodies behind the buildings to use them as shields.  On the left hand side of the picture, you can see a concrete slab which is the line that separates the two countries.  We went inside of the building and stood at the Northern end, so technically we stepped foot in to North Korea.  Creepy. 

Guard Keeping Watch

Ryan looking very happy 

Beautiful picture of North Korea

Ryan  thought it would be funny to put Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto!!!  Domo Arigato means thank you in Japanese.

Ryan has to go for work for a week next month and I am tagging along.  We will get to see Cindy and Brad that are stationed there too.  They were in Residency with Ryan and are stationed at Yokosuka- which is about an hour from Tokyo.  We can’t wait to eat authentic sushi and visit a different country.  We will be able to visit Tokyo and get a taste of the big city life.  Maybe we can see a sumo wrestling event.  We probably will bring back a bunch of cool chop sticks, Geisha dresses and other souveniers–could be Christmas presents.  We will post pictures when we get back.  Domo Arigato for visiting our blog!!!

Well actually we’ve been here for a little over a month now (here’s a picture of our house).  We are really enjoying it a lot so far.  For those that missed it, here is the email that Ryan sent out to friends and family:

To all,

I hope this message finds you all well!!!

Day, Duke and I have been in Korea for about one month
and we are adjusting quickly.  The base is really nice
and there are many activities to do most days.  There
are a lot of really nice families here too.  Day’s
already made a few friends and is staying busy. 

Our house is super nice—we already have it set up as
we received our household goods and have unpacked.  We
are still waiting on our car, so our only mode of
transportation is our bikes.  I plan on continuing
that while we are here as the base is really small. 

My job is going to be challenging, but not really
medicine wise.  They moved into a brand new 3.4
million dollar clinic before I arrived.  The staff is
7 including me, I am the only doctor.  That means I am
on call 24/7/365, but I don’t receive many calls.
Most people here are relatively healthy.  Most of my
job is administrative- running a clinic is a lot of
work.  Budget, supplies, new digital xray, pharmacy,
not too mention all the Navy stuff–awards &
promotions.  Many meetings.  By the way I have to
dispense my own medicine in the pharmacy!  So I am
doctor and pharmacist.

Day is still working as a contracter with EOS,
through web and VoIP (phone)–telecommuting.  She is
already volunteering in local schools teaching
english.  She will hopefully be teaching english to
several corporations soon.  She is loving the
photography opportunities too.  We will send you links
to snapfish so you can see some pictures. 

Duke likes it a lot.  He has his own backyard and he
doesn’t have to wear his leash much.  There is a
running trail in our backyard.  Haven’t gone into town
yet with him, so no one looks at him like lunch.  He
told us to tell you all “woof”.

We get to spend much more time together here.  We
exercise everyday and ride our bikes everyday.  The
commissary is good, although the beer selection leaves
a lot to be desired.  Koreans don’t have much beer.
(They like a rice wine called Soju). Hite is like
coors light. 

We signed up for 5k Labor Day Weekend.  We went to
Seoul on the bullet train–300+km/hr.  Went to  Pusan
last weekend to see beach (ate at Bennigan’s-an
American restaurant and had Starbucks- that really is
“four bucks” here).  10-11 million people together in
those cities and it is very homogenous- about 98%
Korean in Pusan.  Seoul had more Americans due to the
large Army population.  Of course people stare at us,
but they are very friendly if you smile at them. They
like to practice their English too, especially the
kids.  They will come up to us and (loudly) say
“HELLO”.  I ran in to a bunch of school kids on a hike
last weekend and they all wanted to take my picture
with them. 

We are learning Korean slowly, and we signed up for a
class.     
We know how to say hello, good-bye, thank you and of
course Dayspring knows how to say “how much does this
cost”…  She went to a fabric market yesterday and is
going to have a tailor make a bunch of stuff really
inexpensively.

I went hiking in mountains around base.  The outdoors
remind me of WV, lush green, but there aren’t any old
trees here.  When Japan took over country in last 50
years or so they cut down all of the trees and planted
cherry trees everywhere (as a symbol of Japan).  There
is a cherry blossom festival in spring, supposed to be
best with DC second.  We toured the ROK (Republic of
Korea) navy base.  Got to go in the first presidents
house of korea.  We visited the ROK Naval academy too.
We saw a life sized rebuilt version of the first iron
clad ship, built in like 14th or 15th century.  It’s
normally very difficult to do those tours, most
americans will never see that stuff, but it is part of
our command indoctrination here.  We went to a New
Zealand ship reception, which was really cool.  The
drinks and food were great.  Did a native dance which
reminded me of stuff we saw in Hawaii.  I guess I
didn’t reallize New Zealand is in South Pacific and
would have indigenous people much like Hawaii.  New
Zealand navy people were cool, but much different than
us.  They could have beards and earrings, I guess like
old time pirates.  There is so much stuff to do here,
the base is great in organizing trips and activities
so so we won’t get bored. 

Here is our new info:

Ryan and Day Fowler
PSC 479 Box 219
FPO, AP 96269

Mail costs the same to send here as it would in the
states and it arrives really quickly.  Thanks to those
of you that have already sent us cards and stuff.

We are 13 hours ahead of East Coast time and 16 hours
ahead of CA. 

Home# 011-544-0964
Ryan Cell# 011-857-0900

Ryan email–bikeryanrun@yahoo.com

Day’s email–dayspringneff@hotmail.com

Please email, snail mail, call, IM, etc.  We would
love to hear from you all.  We feel kinda isolated
here as we have some difficulty talking to friends and
family. 

We are doing great.  We miss you all!!!  Talk to you
soon.

Oh BTW, we will be getting a web cam soon if anyone
wants to talk for free through web cam and Skype. 

Love

Day, Ryan and Duke