It's Been a Minute...

Where has the time gone?  I’ve been here for 5 months now and some days it seems as if I’ve been here for years and then there’s the flip side…sigh, but it’s getting better :)  

Without much to report or pictures to post, let me just fill you in on what’s been happening.  Of course I’m still sampling the excellent cuisine of the island.  But let me be truthful, I’m not sure if I could really enjoy the food as much without the hospitality of the local nationals.  Anyone that knows me knows that I’m always making comments about good customer service or the lack of it when I’m out dining.  But I have yet to experience any bad service here…the only drawback is that the locals consider it disrespectful to leave a tip.  Their disposition of how they receive and treat customer is deserving of more than kind words and smiles.  Every restaurant I’ve visited so far has something distinctive, from the way food is being served, to a favorite dish or the ambiance, but they’ve all provided the same level of care and service to the customers…I love it! 

There’s this great restaurant called Torid, they serve their food one dish at a time…my dessert of sweet potato sticks came out second :)  Oh yeah, the sweet potatoes are purple here…sometimes I close my eyes when I’m eating them…I do have pictures…check below.   Then there's HottoMotto’s, great fast food stir fry and the vegetables are so fresh.  After I finally got them to understand niku nashi (no meat), then I had to go into ee eh (no) spam, ee eh corn beef, and ee eh pork…they don’t consider these to be meats so you must be specific.   They did a little laughing because of how I was pronouncing everything, but the guy dropped some tofu in for me…so sweet.  And some of the restaurants aren’t smoke free…be careful!  Went to this one really sweet all you can eat place that gave me the feeling of being home, the name was in kanji and I was told it’s called “Something, Somewhere”, the bottom line is I don’t the name of this place, but I can take you there :)  Anyway, one area was set up with sofas and very large coffee tables and going to the buffet was just like eating at home.  Very comfortable and relaxing, then someone lit a cigarette…the visit was cut really short :(  I did have a chance to sample a few dishes with seaweed, that’s an acquired taste, but they did have the best vegetable tempura I’ve ever eaten.   I could go on and on about food, I do try to visit at least one place a week and there’s something about every place that I love and it’s not always the food!

Typhoon season has officially started June 1^st, but we’ve had a couple in May already.  The first one was nothing much, it only reached a TCCOR 3 (destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are possible within 48 hours), it turned out to be a tropical storm and I still had to go to work…lol.   But this past week we had a super typhoon and it reached a TCCOR 1 E (Actual winds of 50 knots or greater…all outside activity is prohibited).  Super is determined by the size of the typhoon and it was a big one with winds coming in around 125 mph in some places…which equals to about a CAT 3 hurricane.  Being from the South I’m no stranger to hurricanes and I’ve even had to ride a few out, but this was a little different…there was nowhere to go!  The good thing about the infrastructure of the buildings and homes here is that they’re all built with cement.  A few cars got tossed and large trees everywhere was pulled up from the roots, but damage to buildings were minimal.  Unfortunately the mansion I was hoping to rent is very close to the beach and it sustained some damage.  That’s bittersweet, I loved the area and was looking forward to living within walking distance of some great eating establishments, but I’ve had to rethink living that close to the beach and we’re just kicking off typhoon season.   

I’m still in awe of the island and the views I get to see everyday…this morning I watched the sunrise from the north side of the island.  It came up out of the water and I was able to see some smaller uninhibited islands right in front of it…it was so bewitching.  I was afraid to blink. 

With all that said…let me get busy so I get some pictures for you guys ;)  Until next time…

Sweet Potato Pie...it was good.

Sweet Potato Stick from Torid...great too!

Zanpa Park...Just Beautiful!

Zanpa Park

This will be another blog for viewing proposes only...I'll ramble next time about some things I can't take a picture of :)  Anyway, went down South to this place called Zanpa Park for a nature walk.  The day was absolutely beautiful and the weather commanded people to be outside.  I'm still amazed when I look out on the East China Sea, realizing that I'm surrounded by it...I live on an island!  

I can't tell you what the inscription says...where are the signs?????

There had been several large ships in the water...the lighthouse came on at sun down.  Just in time to guide them in the right direction.  You can't see it clearly or at all, but there is a ship in this picture.

Can you see the manta ray in this picture?  It was just chillin and posing for pictures...LOL 

Just to let everyone know, Spam is BIG over here.  You want a Spam wrap...got it!  Interested in a Spam burger...the picture isn't lying.  

Shurijo Castle

Konbanwa,

I had just seen the movie "The Last Emperor" a few days before visiting Shurijo Castle this week, the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom and I could almost see the Shaolin monks practicing their martial arts in the very spot I was standing. The palace had been destroyed in 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa, but was restored in 1992 with the help of historical records, memory, and photographs. Everything was breathtaking, from the shishi dogs guarding the gates, the worship places, to the King's  throng and the views are indescribable. These pictures cannot really translate the beauty and splendor of this Castle. 

And about that snow ball or favored ice in the last couple of pictures...YUCK!  If you make it over here don't buy it...take that 400 yen and go to McDonald's.

Kankaimon Gate...front entrance to the Castle

There's always two, one with it's mouth open to catch the spirits and one with it's mouth close to keep it trapped.

Roukokumon Gate

Suimui Utaki, a place of worship  

Bezaitendo Shrine and Enanchi Pond, held precious Buddhist scriptures

Bezaitendo Shine

The King's seat

A seat the King used to address the people or his court

We were all happy before I tasted this flavored ice!

Doesn't it LOOK inviting?  Don't do it....

Where's the parking police when you need them!

So, I'm really enjoying the stay so far here on the island...somethings I might want to complain about I don't, I choose to move here...the driving laws are different, but I'm getting use to them.  But this parking thing is crazy around here.  All of the streets are pretty much an alley here so why must people park on both sides of the alley.  I've almost gotten into several accidents because you can't see if a car is coming until you're out there...this is about the only thing that makes me roll my eyes right now!  Just a little ranting for the day :)

View as I'm driving to the corner.

This is me easing out and hoping no one is flying down the alley.

I had to back up to take this picture...

Okuma Beach

Resort

Last weekend I visited Okuma Beach.  It's located on the Northern part of the island headed toward Nago off of exit 10 of 10...LOL  The beach and the view was just beautiful!  From the beach I could see a few of the Ryukyu Islands, I tried to get some pictures of them so look closely.  The view from my room was just breath taking.  I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves and remember, I'm not a photographer people!

Exit sign

View from my room

Room view

Ryukyu Islands in the skyline

Another room view

One of the islands up close!

Tsunami Season is here!

I’m more than sure that everyone knows about the earthquake and tsunami that hit main land Japan on 11March.  As the world watched the devastating effects of these natural disasters that would claim thousands of lives and displaced even more, we would all learn the worst wasn’t over.   As of today, 22March, three of their nuclear plants have exploded and released deadly radiation in the air.  The news is reporting how the milk and vegetation has been tainted with radiation, some scientist or experts are saying the amounts of radiation in the foods are low and not harmful.  But there are also reports of just the opposite, warning people about the risk of cancer if eating foods contaminated with radiation.

 

There is talk of relocating some of the people evacuating here to the island of Okinawa…that seems to have sparked another kind of panic here…a food shortage!  Last week people converged on the Commissaries emptying shelves and preparing themselves for what could possible turn into a food shortage for some.  Some fear that very soon food could be rationed out because of the influx of people.  At this point everything is up in the air, but as for me food was not my top priority.

 

With so many family members and friends calling or emailing, maybe for a second I entertained the thought of returning home.  I thought about the lives that were lost in hurricane Katrina and the people that lost everything.  What about Haiti and the earthquake last year… some people are still living in the rubble and with uncertainty about their future.  Natural disasters plague this earth…we can run, but we hide.

Yes, when they issued the tsunami watch here on the island my first thought was “what am I doing here on this rock, surrounded by water” and the warning alerts were more than unnerving. On base there was a guy, with a very stern voice instructing people to go to higher ground over the public announcement system…like myself, everyone understood the urgency and was running to higher ground…it was pretty surreal and then I had to shake my head and get off that base!  What I would later learn is that Kinser (the base I was on that Friday) is on the lowest part of the island and borders the East China Sea.  So if it’s a tsunami or a typhoon warning, Camp Kinser is always on high alert…hopefully the pictures give you an idea of why.

Anyway, I have a contingency plan, but keep praying for the local nationals and foreigners in Japan.

Until next time…

This is the parking lot of the building I work in...to the right there's the sea!

When the weather is good, this is my lunch view.  

Picture taken from the high point of the base where everyone was instructed to go.

Time, weather, school…sighs :(

I know it has been more than a minute since I’ve updated you guys on the latest and greatest here on the island of Okinawa, but the truth is I’ve just been living the normal routine life the past several weeks.  Full time job + Full time school + Uninviting weather = Not much to share :(

Several of us had planned to zip line a couple of Sundays ago, but the weather would not cooperate.  A few people still braved it, but as for Stacey, hanging 120 feet in the air with only a harness to keep me supended…and there’s no net below, I at least needed the sun to pretend to shine.  Check it out for yourself http://www.okinawahai.com/my_weblog/2008/10/okinawa-hai-rea.html   My son had a few comments when I told him I was going…catch me offline for that conversation…LOL

Anyway, I have been visiting the local San (Three) A’s , it’s the grocery store.   I can’t read anything on the packages (who’s surprised), but their fruit here is amazing.  The first time someone had strawberries at their house I thought they were artificial.  You would have thought I had never seen strawberries before, I was taking pictures and asking where did you find these, were they being sold on the side of the road, what?  That’s when I was turned on to the San A’s and how the locals here take should pride in their produce.  The following week I was there and yes, the strawberries were still candy apple red and sweet.  All the fruit and vegetables were pleasing to the eyes…5000 yen later I was sampling the blueberries and blackberries, oranges, grapefruit, Asian pears and apples.  Even the carrots were different, very large and a beautiful orange color.  I have been to the San A’s at least once a week just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating the week before :)   I’m going to be really sad at the end of strawberry season. 

Oh, I almost forgot…I know it’s a lot late, but the Superbowl parties!  The 14 hours time difference didn’t stop anyone, including watashi  (me or myself).  The kick off started at 7:00 am, that’s in the morning just in case anyone's confused, you don’t have to re-read it.  It started with a kick off breakfast and during half time they brought out the regular Superbowl foods.  I was running a little late and didn’t get there until around 9:00 and the place was packed, the bar was in full swing and beers were being order by the 6-pack.  This one guy say that beer and eggs weren’t a good combination…imagine that!  It was a good time, but two things were missing, hanging out with people I knew and I just wasn't that hyped that early in the morning.  It'll be different next year! Just FYI, that Saints banner was greeting me as I walked through the doors.  Who Dat Nation Baby!!!!!

Hopefully, in a couple of days I’ll have some new adventures or stories to share…until then!

Don't they look great!



Yummy!!!






How did this get in here...LOL