Count Dracula lives on Okinawa and other stories

Bats

So we're sitting at dinner last night and I'm looking out the window waiting for the food to come.  It's dusk.  I watch a "bird" flying by and think, that's a big bird and a bit late for it to be out flying.  Then Stevie sees it and says, "Holy Cow, did you see that bat?"  Yes, like the banana spiders, they grow bats a little bigger around here - like the size of a large crow!  The kids have decided that Count Dracula lives here!  London asked first thing this morning, "Did Dracula come by last night?"  Need to check my neck for marks…

Bike manual

So I mentioned yesterday that Stevie bought a new bike from a Japanese bike shop.  Said it was the best shopping experience he'd ever had for after he bought the bike, unlike our usual customer service, the salesperson took the bike down and proceeded to give it a 45 minute tune up checking every bolt, seat height, gear setting, etc. and then put a spit polish on it!  Last night he pulled out the manual to read up on it and got a surprise – it was all in kanji (Japanese characters!)  Houston, we have a problem…

Indian restaurant

Apparently, Japanese people are big fans of curry and last night we tried one of the Indian restaurants.  It was fantastic!   Some of the best Indian food I've had.  Best part was the kids loved it too.  Why we haven't tried them on international foods before, I'm not sure.

Dryer

Now I've written before about my conquering the Japanese washer, but yesterday I had another laundry experience.  Apparently if you leave your wet washing in the machine for more than 24 hours it mildews because of the humidity.  I washed the same load 3 times before I gave up and called my friend to borrow her "American" washer that has a hot water setting.  Returning home with my now clean smelling laundry I needed to try the Japanese dryer.  Unlike the washer that is in our unit, there are only 3 dryers in the hotel.  I went off looking for the "laundry room", searched the entire hotel before my eye caught site of a funny box high on the wall outside a unit.  A small sign taped to the outside said "Dryer".  Yes, this funny little box was the "laundry facilities".  So I stuffed my clothes in, plugged in 100 Yen (10 cents) for 40 minutes, pushed a few buttons (no idea what I pressed as it was all in kanji) and hoped I wouldn't fry my clothes!  See pictures attached for a true visual on this experience.

 Stevie asked me yesterday in regards to my emails, "What happens if you have a boring day?"  My answer, "I don't think there will be one!"