More 100 Yen Goodies

I haven't been to the 100 Yen store in a while but I had to pop in yesterday for a few things.  Here's the best thing I found:

These are "Mr. Clean"-type sponges, which isn't funny,

but the packaging is!!!

Do you wake sparkling or does the sponge???

Snorkeling

After kicking off the season on Mother's Day Sunday, we returned with more of the neighborhood gang this past Sunday to pursue more fish.  It was a great neighborhood outing, but unfortunately the weather was not so great.  Overcast skies and cool temperatures kept me out of the water, but some more die hard enthusiasts did jump in to swim with the fishies.

Mike, Kelly, Matt and Dave (who was so cold he was purple!)

Liz and Cannon (see his strait teeth???)

Fortunately, Kelly brought her underwater camera case so now you (and I!) can see what's in the depths.  Photos courtesy of Ranger Rick, aka Don.

Lion fish and box fish

Lion fish (I try not to think about Cannon swimming so close to these!)

Cool green coral and a sea urchin

Funky leopard sea cucumber

Don and the kids collected a bunch of hermit crabs and soon found out that they love Doritos!

Check out these pearly whites

Cannon got his braces off on Tuesday!  Of course this is just the end of Phase 1 (haven't been told how many phases there are...)  So now he's got 4 very strait, very white, very big teeth.  Hopefully the rest will follow the trend!

...Hello Golden Nugget

The Beater's replacement finally arrived last week - please welcome the "Golden Nugget" (or maybe the Honey Badger???) into the family! She's gassed up and primed for many more adventures!

Farewell Blue Beater...

The Blue Beater has been our old, ugly (yet strangely utilitarian) van since we landed on island.  It's the vehicle that our sponsor picked us up in, and the vehicle that's carted us all over this island on some excellent adventures.  But sadly, the Beater's time came to an end.  About a month ago, a strange noise started coming from the rear quarter of the old girl, and the news from the auto doc was not good.  The repairs were more than she was worth, so we had to opt to put her down.

Here in Okinawa, it's not uncommon to have to "junk" your car.  After all, when you're driving a 15 year old car, it's to be expected.  And "junk" is what we had to do with the Blue Beater.  So after farewell photos with all our friends, we drove her down to the junkyard.  Except they don't pile up rusted out hulls here like they do in the States, instead they recycle the metal and other parts.  The "junkyard" is an elaborate set up where all big metal things end up - washers, refrigerators, cars, etc.  The process is very efficient: pull the vehicle onto a giant scale to be weighed and then get a ticket with how much they will pay you for it.  Go inside the building, wait in line and then get cash money for the car - about $650 for the old Beater!  Brilliant!

So the Beater will be sadly missed (by me, at least, as I get sentimental about my car), but will soon have a replacement...

The family with the Beater.

The neighbors celebrating the Beater with us!

Emmy and Lydia helping me drive her (only in the parking lot, don't worry!)

Opening of the Snorkeling Season!

Mother's Day 2011 and nothing says Mother's Day like a trip to the beach (following a yummy breakfast in bed including chocolate chip pancakes, of course)!

We're getting to be regulars at the secluded beach we found on the south end of the island with our friends Liz, Don and Lydia.  This weekend we had to borrow a friend's van so we could all drive down together, and thanks to Joe's Delica van, we were in the perfect vehicle to go off-roading in order to get to an even remoter spot!  We were trying to find a new access to the beach in order to be closer to the "fishing hole" so the guys started blindly taking itty-bitty farm paths to weave a way towards the water.  There was a small opening after a string of greenhouses with a path that looked promising, so after sending Stevie to scout it out, we headed down the corridor of greenery using the van's 4-wheel drive.  Delicas are like super-sized vans that remind me of the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.

I love how both guys are leaning out the windows!

Up, up, up!

She'll be coming through the jungle when she comes...

This time we brought our snorkeling gear to try out some of the awesome bowls and trenches we could see from the surface.  The weather has been amazingly cool this spring for Okinawa, but we braved the cooler waters to see the fish.  Cannon is astonishingly brave and jumps right into the deepest part and paddles away.  London is a little more cautious and found a shallow pool to explore.  The girls kept themselves occupied in an even shallower pool while the adults all went in search of underwater sights.

After exploring the depths, we found a really shallow pool that felt like a bath.  We hung out in this "nature bath" for a long time floating and relaxing.  Doesn't Cannon look like a dead body washed up on shore?  What a great way to spend Mother's Day!  Thanks family!

Relaxing in our natural spa

Cannon perfecting the dead man float.

Picnic lunch under the rocks.

Liz heading down to "our" beach.

These creepy little guys were set up in a clearing of vegetation.  Don't know what they are, why they were there or whose they were but didn't want to get hexed trying to find out!

Dragon Boats

Thursday, May 5th was the culmination of one of the most important holiday times in Japan – it’s Kodomo no hi or Children’s day. The whole week has been a big celebration for the Japanese called Golden Week. Golden week is a combination of four holidays celebrated within seven days which consequently leads to one big vacation for all of Japan.

April 29 was Showa no hi which celebrated the birthday of the former Emperor Showa (he died in 1989). May 3rd was Kenpo kinenbi or Constitution Day which was when the constitution was adopted in 1947. May 4th was Midori no hi or Greenery Day. They dedicate this day to the environment and nature. Finally, May 5th, as I said, is Kodomo no hi or Children’s Day. Really, it’s boy’s day since the girls already had a day dedicated to them back in March. This is the day families pray for the health and future success of their sons and hang up the colorful, playful “carp flags” or Koinobori. I love the displays over rivers of the colorful kites, but I’m without photos this year since I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera! Camera + empty memory card slot = sad Louise.


But the other fun, festive thing going on this week were the big Dragon Boat races down in Naha. Emmy and I went to see these last year with Kelly and David, but this year Steve got the morning off so he was able to go too! Unfortunately, the rainy season has started early this year so the races were a little soggy.

Can you see the rain?

So after watching two or three heats (the whole day lasts for 6 hours!), we hit the midway and food tents and then headed home.

I love this picture!  Doesn't Stevie's face say it all?

Okinawa has great festival food like okinomayaki – a combination of cabbage, ham, batter, onions, fish flakes and special sauce – sounds weird, but really good.

And these nummy things which were a combination of okinomayaki and yakisoba (which are noodles and fixings in sauce).

But, of course, what would a carnival be without a huge bag of cotton candy???