Shopping for Food for Tommorrow's OVERNIGHT TRAINING

This morning we visited the Japan Coast Guard near Osaka Port. In response to the inquiries we had made beforehand such as; approximately how many ships travel monthly between Asia and the West Coast of the U.S., the conditions of debris from the tsunami, locations of fixed fishing nets, the number of cases where ships were rescued by the coast guard last year, etc., they explained it to us and gave us the information which was a 1.5 cm thick book. It is important that we make is safely to San Diego without having to trouble the Japan Coast Guard or the U.S. Coast Guard so we are assessing and preparing for all the risks to the best of our abilities. I am very grateful that the coast guard is so cooperative.

Afterwards, Shinbo-san and I went shopping for food items to prepare for our first overnight training. The first thing Shibo-san picked up in the store was Yotchan Ika (a classic Japanese 30 yen snack which is a piece of squid marinated in vinegar). We filled the shopping cart with Gomokugohan (flavored and cooked rice usually with some chicken, carrots, burdock etc), curry, cooked rice packs, cup noodles, cookies, Calorie Mate (energy supplement cookies), coffee, chocolate bread, gum, water, carbonated juice...maybe we got a little too much for just one night. On this trip, several people in addition to Shinbo-san will be joining me like the satellite communications staff,  a director for the documentary etc. but I still think we may have bought too much. I wonder what it's going to be like when we go shopping for our actual trip across the Pacific. I will blog about it so please look forward to it!

Originally posted by Hiro in Japanese on 4/19/2013
Translated by SWIS Project