This past week I can say that we definitely started the countdown toward leaving Okinawa. Ahh, alas the event has been in the process for the past two plus year, and Stevie and the kids have been ready for a while, but now it's beginning to feel real to me. And I can say that I feel ready - don't get me wrong, I will miss this place immensely, but it's also our time to go.
On Thursday, I sat through the TMO class which allows us to officially set our move dates. Mark your calendar, folks, and may I hear a drum roll? Well, this doesn't really affect you, but it's all I can report for right now as we'll probably not have our actual flight dates for a while. Our main furniture shipment will be packed out on May 8th and then our "express" shipment will be packed out on May 29th. We're hoping to fly out on June 2nd. Having our furniture and belongings packed out early means living bare bones for almost a month, but it also means we will have our stuff sooner on the Washington end.
The kitties and I will be flying to the States at the end of this month. We decided it would be easiest to get the kitties over to the States when I go back for house hunting so it will be one less thing to worry about in June. Although negotiating the way to get these furry friends on the flight with me has not been easy. Of course, it didn't help that United decided to drastically change their pet policy right when we wanted to fly! Anyways, fingers crossed, they will fly with me and stay with our good friends and former neighbors, the Paynes in Anacortes, WA until we get there and get settled in. Mike and Kelly were Obi's surrogate parents here in Okinawa so we have no worries about them during their temporary sojourn (only that they'll give us Obi back!)
Entering the final countdown led me to ask the kids and Stevie about what they want to do before we leave the island. We've hit it pretty hard trying to cover all things Okinawan and Asian since we've been here so I don't feel like I've missed a lot. Saying that, I always have a list of things to do! Here's our Okinawan "Bucket List":
Cannon - go to Forest Adventure (zip lining through the forest!)
London - go to the Coral Garden (a new living museum about the coral in the seas)
Emmy - go to Monakids Jungle (a crazy indoor play area for kids)
Stevie - go tuna fishing one last time
Me - hike Todoki falls, go to Okuma, go snorkeling in the Keramas, go to "our beach", snorkel off the sea wall, have a family photo shoot, eat at Laxmi, go to karaoke, eat sushi, see Mt. Fuji (at least from the airplane!)
Like I said, I ALWAYS have a list!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Soccer Girl
I can't believe it - I'm now a soccer mom of THREE soccer players! Yes, soccer season officially started again on Tuesday with Cannon, London and Emmy on teams. It's going to be a load of busy Saturdays this spring with three soccer games.
Unfortunately, the much anticipated soccer practice kick-off on Tuesday was marred only by the weather. Here are my eager beavers in the car on the way to practice.
And here's the weather out the front of the car...
Not good.
But, fortunately, weather here changes fast, so after a few soggy moments to open the season, the rain stopped and Emmy was off and running on her first official practice.
Stay tuned for more soccer shots...
Unfortunately, the much anticipated soccer practice kick-off on Tuesday was marred only by the weather. Here are my eager beavers in the car on the way to practice.
And here's the weather out the front of the car...
Not good.
But, fortunately, weather here changes fast, so after a few soggy moments to open the season, the rain stopped and Emmy was off and running on her first official practice.
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| Practice kicking |
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| Ready as a goalie |
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| Bossing the other kids |
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| Does she make the goal??? |
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The toilet bowl and the prayer cave
I've recently been trying to add to this blog my "email posts" made when we first got here - pre-blog format - and was rereading a post about a beautiful spot that we went to when we first got our drivers licenses: the toilet bowl, or so it is affectionately called by the Americans. Since we needed an adventure on Sunday (it had been a hard week for both Stevie and me), we loaded up and started driving toward the bowl.
The view of the "bowl" is a Japanese tourist destination - or at least a stop on their bus tours of the island - which consists of a trek through the parking lot full of junk vendors, a short jaunt down the path to the edge of the cliff, a quick group photo on some rusted out bleachers and then back on the bus.
We, however, chose the more scenic route. After seeing the view from a far, I remembered reading something about a cave down a little known about road behind the a fore mentioned junk vendors. The cave is supposed to be a holy spot for Okinawans. Since we (meaning I) were in the mood for more of an adventure, we found the road and started driving. About a mile long, we parked at the end of the road and found a path leading toward the sound of crashing waves, so we followed it...
And came out on this...
The bottom of the bowl - a churning mess of waves looking so beautiful, but so dangerous too. I can only shudder to think of the danger you'd be in if you got in the water here. Apparently, the fish must not think it's dangerous since there were surprisingly quite a few fishermen perched high atop the cliffs and even a little fishing shanty.
Heading back down the path to the road, we found a hiking path. Hazzah!!!! I know, it doesn't sound like a rare thing to find, but on this island it is. I've only been looking for one since we moved here and know of only one or two other hikes on the entire island!
This was a beautiful, gentle path that made us think of being back in the States and not on Okinawa. I think it was the pine trees and the neatly carved out trail. Here's where the trail ended:
We got to this spot through a cave that you descended into and came out the other side. Was this the mysterious Okinawan prayer cave we set out to find? I'll never know, but the beautiful nature path was definitely an answer to prayer!
The view of the "bowl" is a Japanese tourist destination - or at least a stop on their bus tours of the island - which consists of a trek through the parking lot full of junk vendors, a short jaunt down the path to the edge of the cliff, a quick group photo on some rusted out bleachers and then back on the bus.
We, however, chose the more scenic route. After seeing the view from a far, I remembered reading something about a cave down a little known about road behind the a fore mentioned junk vendors. The cave is supposed to be a holy spot for Okinawans. Since we (meaning I) were in the mood for more of an adventure, we found the road and started driving. About a mile long, we parked at the end of the road and found a path leading toward the sound of crashing waves, so we followed it...
And came out on this...
The bottom of the bowl - a churning mess of waves looking so beautiful, but so dangerous too. I can only shudder to think of the danger you'd be in if you got in the water here. Apparently, the fish must not think it's dangerous since there were surprisingly quite a few fishermen perched high atop the cliffs and even a little fishing shanty.
Heading back down the path to the road, we found a hiking path. Hazzah!!!! I know, it doesn't sound like a rare thing to find, but on this island it is. I've only been looking for one since we moved here and know of only one or two other hikes on the entire island!
This was a beautiful, gentle path that made us think of being back in the States and not on Okinawa. I think it was the pine trees and the neatly carved out trail. Here's where the trail ended:
We got to this spot through a cave that you descended into and came out the other side. Was this the mysterious Okinawan prayer cave we set out to find? I'll never know, but the beautiful nature path was definitely an answer to prayer!
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| Fearless Emmy heading down. |
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| Going down into the cave. |
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| Coming out of the cave |
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Rugs
I received a flyer over email this week advertising a rug auction to benefit the Kadena Gift Shop and their supported charities. I have to admit, I know nothing about rugs except what I think is pretty. I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that - like hand-knotted, knot count, material, country of origin, age, etc. - but my knowledge before last night was knowing what was only knowing what I thought was "purdy". So there, I've said it, I'm intimidated by rugs.
Why did I even have interest in this auction then? Well, because every single house I've been looking at online in Washington state has hard wood floors and I'm going to need something to cover those floors! So I asked Stevie on a date, which he happily agreed to after he saw "open bar to registered bidders" on the flyer, and off we went last night.
There were 86 rugs laid around the ballroom at the Kadena Officers Club and we felt overwhelmed. We tried to get as well educated as we could in the 45 minutes of preview time we had, but basically just marked on our sheet which ones looked appealing.
And then the bidding started! The auctioneer was extremely knowledgeable (and funny) and I can now say I know a whole lot more about rugs. Which is good, because we are now the proud owner of 6 beautiful works of art that are meant to be to be trod upon! We were continuously told throughout the night that these were investments, not just rugs, and to calm my mind I'm going to believe that. No, really, I believe we got some incredible deals and some incredibly beautiful works of art. Just remind me never to take Stevie to an open bar auction again! Ha, ha.
This one is from Iran and is a tribal pattern that is not often seen. When we asked for this to go on the auction block the owner of the rugs told Stevie that he had very fine tastes in rugs!
This one is amazing! It was done (and signed) by a master craftman and took him three years to complete.
Why did I even have interest in this auction then? Well, because every single house I've been looking at online in Washington state has hard wood floors and I'm going to need something to cover those floors! So I asked Stevie on a date, which he happily agreed to after he saw "open bar to registered bidders" on the flyer, and off we went last night.
There were 86 rugs laid around the ballroom at the Kadena Officers Club and we felt overwhelmed. We tried to get as well educated as we could in the 45 minutes of preview time we had, but basically just marked on our sheet which ones looked appealing.
And then the bidding started! The auctioneer was extremely knowledgeable (and funny) and I can now say I know a whole lot more about rugs. Which is good, because we are now the proud owner of 6 beautiful works of art that are meant to be to be trod upon! We were continuously told throughout the night that these were investments, not just rugs, and to calm my mind I'm going to believe that. No, really, I believe we got some incredible deals and some incredibly beautiful works of art. Just remind me never to take Stevie to an open bar auction again! Ha, ha.
This one is from Iran and is a tribal pattern that is not often seen. When we asked for this to go on the auction block the owner of the rugs told Stevie that he had very fine tastes in rugs!
This one is amazing! It was done (and signed) by a master craftman and took him three years to complete.
Oodles of noodles
Saturday brought us little relief from the grayness and cooler temps that we've been having for most of the week, but that didn't stop us from getting out. The kids all start soccer soon (pray for us coordinating THREE soccer practices and games), and Cannon seems to have an enthusiastic coach who wanted to start practices before the regular season. He had his first practice today, but we discovered that our Exchange doesn't have soccer cleats for his size (he's growing so big!) So after he practiced we all headed out to the Japanese sports store to find some. Man they have some wild looking soccer cleats! Well, they have wild looking shoes in general. With no success at the first store, we went for lunch before pursuing our quest.
There are all types of noodle restaurants in Japan. There are soba noodles, an Okinawan specialty which are made of buckwheat flour and usually have some sort of fatty pork belly floating around in the bowl. Sounds gross but they're actually really good. Then there are ramen noodles that when cooked fresh taste nothing like the little 25 cent packs you get at the grocery store. But Cannon and my favorites are the udon. Thick, slightly chewy strands of heaven in a bowl.
A few months back a new restaurant opened not far from our house and there were lines around the block to get in. Peaked my curiosity. I eventually found out that it was an udon restaurant and apparently the Japanese love this particular place because every single time I drive past, there is a line to get in.
A couple of weeks ago, Emmy and I went out for lunch and tried this place and it is good! The noodles are all made, cut and cooked fresh while you wait. And the tempura to go with the noodles is so scrumptious! It's been one of our favorites - in fact she often requests we go for noodles!
Today seemed like the perfect time to introduce the guys to the place and they were just as impressed as Emmy and I. What better on a cold, gray day than a big bowl of steaming udon covered in green onions and tempura bits? I'm going to miss this place...
And yes, after filling our bellies, we went on to another sporting goods store and managed to land Cannon some sweet shoes - just hope they help with his running!
There are all types of noodle restaurants in Japan. There are soba noodles, an Okinawan specialty which are made of buckwheat flour and usually have some sort of fatty pork belly floating around in the bowl. Sounds gross but they're actually really good. Then there are ramen noodles that when cooked fresh taste nothing like the little 25 cent packs you get at the grocery store. But Cannon and my favorites are the udon. Thick, slightly chewy strands of heaven in a bowl.
A few months back a new restaurant opened not far from our house and there were lines around the block to get in. Peaked my curiosity. I eventually found out that it was an udon restaurant and apparently the Japanese love this particular place because every single time I drive past, there is a line to get in.
A couple of weeks ago, Emmy and I went out for lunch and tried this place and it is good! The noodles are all made, cut and cooked fresh while you wait. And the tempura to go with the noodles is so scrumptious! It's been one of our favorites - in fact she often requests we go for noodles!
Today seemed like the perfect time to introduce the guys to the place and they were just as impressed as Emmy and I. What better on a cold, gray day than a big bowl of steaming udon covered in green onions and tempura bits? I'm going to miss this place...
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| This tasted like a giant onion ring. |
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| Stevie enjoying his bowl. |
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| Emmy and London with their lunch. |
Catching Up
I've been reminded lately that I haven't posted anything in almost 2 weeks so this post will be like the highlight reel...
Our neighbors, Eric and Ashley, went to Sapporo for the Ice and Snow festival so Wendell, their extra cute pug, came to stay with us. The cats did pretty well with him (Obi doesn't seem too bothered).
What happens when you tell a 5 year old to go get dressed? This! Inside out maroon shirt with last year's purple, green and turquoise skirt and leopard shoes. Good job she's cute!
A particularly beautiful sunset...
Pink scones with raspberries, must be Valentine's day!
This picture gives a new meaning to "cat nap". Sorry the quality is bad, I didn't want to use the flash and wake her.
Even after 2 1/2 years in Japan, it still amazes me that in a major store you can still see such gross misspellings of words! And they still make me laugh out loud.
Our neighbors, Eric and Ashley, went to Sapporo for the Ice and Snow festival so Wendell, their extra cute pug, came to stay with us. The cats did pretty well with him (Obi doesn't seem too bothered).
What happens when you tell a 5 year old to go get dressed? This! Inside out maroon shirt with last year's purple, green and turquoise skirt and leopard shoes. Good job she's cute!
A particularly beautiful sunset...
Pink scones with raspberries, must be Valentine's day!
This picture gives a new meaning to "cat nap". Sorry the quality is bad, I didn't want to use the flash and wake her.
Even after 2 1/2 years in Japan, it still amazes me that in a major store you can still see such gross misspellings of words! And they still make me laugh out loud.
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