Thursday, April 9, 2009

Misawa Main Streets- Friday Shootout

Friday Shootout- My town's main streets

Today I joined Patty of Crisfield and Reggie Girl of Newnan and the rest of the group for their Friday Shootout.

The main street of Misawa is located right across the Misawa Air Base, this road is popularly known as the "White Pole Road" but Misawa City recently announced in February its new name as "Main Street." The other major roads new names are, City Hall Street, Falcon Ave (POL Road), Veedol St and Battery Ave.

The following photos are "drive by snap shots."


Misawa Air Base Main Gate




Look at the building with the American and Japanese Flags, these buildings are right off the Misawa Air Base Main Gate



KDDI office and other business establishments, also right off the main gate of Misawa AB



HeroNet office is the company who provides internet service to Misawa



American Park is at the corner of main street just right off the main gate, this was recently built when we just came here last summer of 2008; last winter there were food stalls inside this park




Right across the American Park is the "Lalala Karaoke Bar" and the first floor is the "Tubes" Hawaiian Restaurant, this is along the traffic intersection coming from the main gate of the base which is still along Main St.




This is the night shot of the Lalala karaoke bar



Misawa Civic Center along City Hall Street



Along Falcon Ave ( known as the POL road)



Misawa Public Bus along Veedol Street, this reminds me of the Japanese cartoon movie "Totoro"



This is still along Veedol St, McDonald's restaurant


This is the street from the main gate of Misawa Air Base; this is full of food stalls during Tanabata festival


Finally I found a student, biking as he goes home from school


Train Park, right after the civic center; the trees along this park are the cherry blossom

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As you can see, there's not much to be seen here in Misawa. The main streets are not actually busy, there are few people walking mostly are old people. It's a small city with approximately 44,000 population. You have to go somewhere else or your stay here will be "boring" hehehe.
The nearest city is 30 to 40 minutes away here which is the Hachinohe.

I was wondering what would be the life in Misawa without the US Air Force base??

27 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice Stuff!

Commendable Blog indeed!

Great Going!

Dear Blogger, need your valuable feedback for:

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Regards,
Mehta

HalfCrazy said...

Is it just me or the two seems devoid of people LOL. Like there are not a lot of people scattered in the streets! Just cars.

That's a beautiful show of the Karaoke Bar, it's really cool you captured that! Now I wanna go party haha!

Haha it's funny how the Bus doesn't even seem to have passengers and a driver.

HalfCrazy said...

I meant shot, not show, in my previous post LOL.

Bagman and Butler said...

I want to drive that bus! And I think HalfCrazy's show-shot typo works either way. I love Freudian slips. Great shoot-out post. I think I will also put Karoke on my bucket list...

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

WOW!!!!!!! I love these snaps!!!
I sooo want to ride that big kitty bus all the way to the lalala and sing a lil duet of "I Got You Babe" with Butler and Bagman. Can you arrange that? Then, we're al three coming to your house for martini's and more karaoke :)
Great Shoot-Out. Love, love, love it. Lots.......

Steady On
Reggie Girl

Missy said...

mehta- thanks for dropping by

halfcrazy- yes there are no people walking along the streets unlike in Manila :-)

I just took the picture of the bus this morning, every time I see that bus I have no camera with me. I watched Totoro movie and I saw the kitty bus too hahaha (btw Lea Salonga was the voice over of the mom's main character and she sung the theme song too, just google it )

Butler and bagman- I think I have the symptoms of that Freudian slips too hahaha. Actually I haven't been to that karaoke bar yet, they say it's pretty cheap though.

Reggie Girl- the kitty bus is really cute huh? Every time I see that bus I really wanted to take photo of that and finally this morning I was able to capture it through the help of my daughter since I was the one who's driving the car :-) singing in karaoke is fun but never been to that karaoke bar yet. Just come here and we'll go together and have some fun :-)

Lei said...

hi missy! hahaha... =P

nice shots you have here!

it seems like the place you live is a ghost town! where are all the people?? =O

i like the picture of the cat-bus! meoww!!! =D

hahaha

okay byebye :)

GingerV said...

I like very much the fotos devoid of people - this really shows us the differences in towns. I like to see what is not there as well as what is... for example the road with all the telephone wires, this is a simularity with NF. welcome to our shoot out group I will enjoy following your blog.

HalfCrazy said...

Hahaha, sobrang nakakatuwa talaga i-compare. Dito puro tambay eh, kadalasan nag iinuman pa sa gilid accompanied ng malalakas na videoke sessions! Kahit ngayong Holy Week hahaha!

Cool to know about the Totoro movie thing, this is the first time I knew it. Lea Salonga is really amazing, I've seen her accomplishments and I get all teary-eyed!

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Once again Missy......as GingerV says "Welcome, welcome, welcome" and so very glad you joined us all!! Isn't it so cool to see other people's worlds??
No one has to notify in advance at all,,,,,,,if we just list it in the title everyone can see it on the dashboard and have a lil look-see into your world as you see it.

I do still want to ride that bus, lol.

Steady On
Reggie Girl

tonialiani said...

White Pole Road? When I lived there, 91-93, Green Pole Road ran perpendicular to the main road coming out of the base. Also, there was no kitty bus...love that! I really only saw Misawa at night...there was some alley (can't remember what we called it) just off base with all the drinking spots. Also, is that GREAT curry place still there with an extremely hot curry, that if you can eat it's free? Loved all the curry, cheese gyoza and chicken nuggets I had in Misawa...also the chuhais at Forever's. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Gordon said...

I need one of those buses! I own a Pest Control company in Florida. It would be great to arrive in a cat to get rid of rats! I love your posts. It is good to be in the group with you. Walk With Faith! Gordon

Missy said...

lei- thanks for dropping by

gingerV- thanks for following my blog, good to know everyone's town from Friday shootouts. It's really just making a tour from other's blogs :-)

halfcrazy- yup, we live in a different world :-) here with no people walking around compared to the Philippines that anywhere you go there are lots of people. This is the one I miss in the Philippines though.

Reggie Girl- yeah that's how I did I just followed everyone's blog who joined the Friday Shoot out and visit their blogs :-) Thanks for inviting me in this wonderful Friday shoot out, I really enjoyed it.

tonialiani- I think I heard the people are calling different names of that white pole road to green pole road or whatever color that is. When I first got here I was wondering why they are calling it white pole road :-) Good thing the Misawa City came up with a nice name, "Main Street" but it takes time before the people can be familiar with its new name. ITT driving directions are still calling it as "White Pole Road."

Papa and Mema- thanks for dropping by and yes you need to design your own bus with the same kitty bus here :-) to get rid of rats

Papa and Mema-

Anonymous said...

Oh! I remember that "Totoro" movie! I loved it. The car reminded me of the movie too.

Your blog is awesome!

The night shot was cool too.

Japan must be amazing!

aurbie said...

What a great post. Everything looks so clean, too.

I love the Karaoke bar, and that bus made me giggle. I needed that after a long day shooting. We need one like that in Crisfield, except it should be a crab.

Thanks for another look at your town through you lens. I love it all!

Sidney said...

Looks like a charming little town.

bertN said...

You are a good drive-by shooter. You managed to capture the essence of the town while on the go.

BTW, when you are in LA avoid being tagged as a "drive-by shooter" because they shoot with guns instead of cameras LOL. Have a Happy Easter!

Missy said...

Patty- yeah most of the comments here, they liked the kitty bus and the karaoke :-) it would be better if you have a crab bus hahaha

sidney- thanks for dropping by, yes it's very peaceful here and the people are very friendly

bertN- hahaha I know and I will never be a drive-by shooter in LA :-) now I miss LA ....I miss the traffic and how I drive in LA (you have to change lane first before making a signal hahaha, that's what I did when changing lanes otherwise you'll get stuck in your lane LOL)

hensly said...

I liked the pic with the "Tubes" Hawaiian restaurant. Hawaii is big in Japan isn't it?

Great pic of the "Totoro" bus, you won't see that in the US!

cpsanti said...

whoa! love love the vegas-like lighting of the lalala karaoke ;-)

Garando said...

Cool! A Cat-bus!! ...only in Japan. :D

J9 said...

I love that the karaoke place is called lalala! Thanks for sharing!

Loida of the 2L3B's said...

Dearest Missy,
You can almost feel and smell the cleanliness of Japan. Thanks for bringing us there. We nearly had the chance to get to Yokusaka, one of the US Navy Airbase in Japan through our friend Joey Maurillo but there was this problem so we missed it then. Thanks to you at least we'd been to another base but I presume it is similarly cool.

The name of the Karaoke Bar really made me laugh. The owner must be a joker naming his bar a LALALA KARAOKE BAR..? Hahaha, as if bringing you to Lalaland once you get inside.

Hope you had a nice Easter..

Care,
Ate Loida

Missy said...

hensly- I guess "Hawaii" is famous in Japan, every time we tell Japanese people that we met that we came from Hawaii, you can see their huge eyes and they're surprised why we're here :-)

cpsanti- thanks for dropping by, yes I like the karaoke bar but I haven't been there yet LOL

Garando- yes the cat-bus is I think only in Japan and in totoro movie hahaha

J9- thanks for visiting my site too

Ate Loida- we missed Yokusuka when we went to Tokyo but yes, it's propably the same as MIsawa; the Lalala karaoke bar really an interesting name looks like the owner only knows english words as la la la LOLO *joke hahaha

Joy said...

I like the way the houses seem like matchbox houses :-) That's a very interesting bus!

Hey, maybe you can photograph the rice fields and everything in it from all sorts of angles.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Come back tomorrow!


joy
A Pinay In EnglandYour Love CoachI, Woman

gigi said...

Loved these shots from last weeks assignment.

Anonymous said...

Good commentary of the sights and scenes around town and the gate, however, the 'public bus' is not public but a private 'pre-school' bus that picks up and drops off the kiddies. There are a few in town as it has become the vogue to dress up a bus into some kind of character to make it more fun for the kids. You will see them in other cities like Towada and Hachinohe, too. I don't know towhich pre-school this bus belongs to, but perhaps the Catholic Pre-School which has grown in size and popularity.