On Saturday night Jason's friends from work were going out to dinner as a send off as one of their wives is leaving the island (lucky). We decided we would call Josie (our baby-sitter) and go. They picked the place - Poco a Poco. A restaurant literally half a block away from our house. Another night with the baby-sitter where we are within 500 meters of our house. I like it better this way, then if anything would happen, we are so close! So we were going to meet up with the other people at 6:30 and it was only 10 to 6, we snuck out unnoticed by Colton and we were ready to go. Jason and I took the long way to the restaurant - we still ended up being 10 or so minutes early.
We looked around and saw a Pachinko place. We've always wanted to try these to see what the hub-bub was all about. We went in and there were children running around everywhere and people chuffing down cigs. So strange in today's world. We get some change and pick a machine next a few other people who are trying their luck. We put our money in and the credits register. There are now 2 blinking lights near where we put the coins in - one is red and one is green. With nothing but kanji all around we try pushing one. Hm... it changed one of the numbers we saw. We figured that meant we had bet. There was one other button on the machine - it said PUSH. We pushed it and nothing happened. Hm... We pushed it again and nothing happened. Hm... Luckily the man to our right saw us struggling and tried his best broken English to tell us what to do. Turns out there is a small knob towards the bottom of the machine that you have to twist and this allows little pin balls to drop through a maze and thus causes the characters on the screen to spin! We were finally losing our money! Just what we wanted to do. We only put in 500 yen (about $5) and it seemed to be lasting so much longer than $5 would last you in any machine in the states so we were satisfied. We eventually lost all of the money and Jason thought we should try one big spin and bet $5 on one spin. We walked over to the machine that we wanted to play and dropped the 500 yen coin into the slot. It fell right through. Again - all kanji - we tried again. We tried while holding down this button and we tried while holding down that button. Just fell straight through. One of the information girls was nearby so we showed her our dilemma. She seemed to understand our problem right away and seemed to have an answer. "Chotto-matten-a" she said. This means one minute please. She opened the machine and showed us a token. "Ohhhhh! Where is the token machine?!" She kindly showed us the token machine. There was a large sign on the front of the machine that said, "DO NOT CONFUSE COINS WITH TOKENS - IT IS AGAINST JAPANSES LAW TO GAMBLE. TOKENS CAN NOT BE TURNED IN FOR MONEY OR PRIZES." So... we realized that all these people were playing for fun. Needless to say, we had wasted our 10 minutes and were off to Poco a Poco.
Upon climbing the stairs to Poco a Poco we realize the parking lot is full and we should ask if there will be room for a table of 8. They ask if we have a reservation and of course we do not. They say we should try Okinawa City (they must have another restaurant there). We thank them and quickly call the guys to let them know we will need to find another place to eat.
They are talking to Jason and they say that they will go to a Korean BBQ. OMG! I love Korean BBQ and I've been wanting it for a long time. Perfect! I say, "I know where they're talking about. It's by the starbucks." They confirm my destination and Jason and I are off on foot. Its not far from our house either.
After getting to nearly every corner and saying, "Its not here? Must be the next one." Jason decides to call them and let them know that we essentially had no idea what we (or rather I) were talking about. We try explaining to them where we are (again there are no street signs). We are right by a VERY large drug store called MORI with a giant apple - they know this place and are coming to pick us up. Jason asks them again what the name of the restaurant is. They say it is Bovino's. WHAT!?!?! That is not Korean BBQ. That is Brazilian BBQ. We ate there once and it was not good. Not terrible, but Jason and I seriously get out about once a month by ourselves and I REALLY don't want to eat there. Jason tells them and we are on our way. By now we've walked close to 2 miles all around town and are headed back towards our hood. By now its 7:30. I am hungry. Mean hungry. I start ranting as we're walking about how mad I am. "Those guys are idiots! Who eats Brazilian BBQ in Japan?" "I want to eat Korean BBQ!" I was even grunting and groaning. A full on temper tantrum. Jason is quietly walking beside me.
At this point we walk past a Ramen house we've eaten at before and it was not very good. I say, I'm so hungry, I want to eat here. Jason quickly talks me out of it. It is so lucky he did because literally right next door is a... (wait for it.... wait for it...) KOREAN BBQ!!!! I hugged Jason and thanked God for sending us here. There is no English on the sign - hence the reason we never noticed it before. The only reason we noticed was because they had the open grills in the center of the tables. Jason had to put out his cigarette before we went in and there were 2 small dishes with salt (at least that's what I thought) next to the door. "This must be an ashtray. Put your cig here." Just as Jason pushes his cig down into the "salt" he realizes it is rock hard and that it is not even slightly dirty. This must not be an ashtray. As we entered we almost expected them to shun us for putting our cig in their possible "traditional spirit warder-offer." When they didn't we graciously accepted their smiles and were seated.
We were the only Americans in this restaurant. It was packed too. People were chuffing cigs in here too! Good thing we never went with Colton. We would've had to leave. They sat us in the way back of the restaurant - basically behind a partition - but we didn't mind. We had just put out our cig in their Holy Salt.
We order a TON of food. Mixed veggies, mixed mushrooms, scallops, a salad, shrimp and premium beef. All of the ordering went very smoothly except for the shrimp. On the menu it said,
SHRIMP (4)
To me that means 4 shrimp in an order, right? Wrong. Who knows what that 4 is there for. We said 1 shrimp and pointed to the menu and I think the lady was confused because she thought we only wanted 1 shrimp, but we didn't. We wanted 1 order of shrimp. She held up 3 fingers and I pointed at the menu and said 4? And she held up 3 fingers and said, "OK?"
"OK."
Everything gets delivered to our table at different times which is fine because the grill is small and we have to cook everything ourselves. When the scallops arrive I peek into the foil to see what we had gotten this time. It looked as though the scallops were wrapped up with carrots and onions and stuff. Yummy!
When the scallops were finished we opened up the foil only to learn that that was no carrot and onion, but the entire scallop. Pink gushy stuff and all. Jason mustered up the guts and swallowed the whole shit. He said it wasn't that bad. I mustered up the guts and tried it too. Not bad. We waste that stuff in America and it just tastes like imitation crab. It was not very appealing to the eye, though, I suppose that's why we don't serve it in America.
We asked for our check and as the waitress went to get it for us Jason asked me how to say, "That was delicious." The Japanese is - oishi desu. Jason mumbled the phrase under his breath about 12 times and felt prepared to say it to the waitress. When he said it, the young waitress put her hand over her mouth and busted out in giggles. We don't know what was so funny, except that maybe this white man was possibly completely screwing up her language. The check was completely in kanji so its funny that they even show it to us like we would have any clue what it said or if they were ripping us off. You just have to pay and smile and say, "Aragato ga zai mas!"
We drove past the restaurant the next day and Jason asked me to look if his picture was on the door with an X through it. It wasn't, so we will definitely be frequenting this place on date nights to come.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Japanese Piñata
So we tend to spend many of our days beachside as it allows to Colton to move around freely as he is really cruising now! Colton loves people watching, and let's admit it, trying to eat everything in sight. We usually just sit and watch and don't participate in the hoopla that is ensuing around us, most times we don't really understand what's happening. People are smart. It's hot here and where else to go but the beach.
Most of the people here are just BBQing and drinking and listening to the music, occasionally taking a dip. It would be just like any American beach, except that a lot of the women that are there cover themselves from the sun from head to toe. They believe a fair skinned woman is more attractive. Large visors, face masks, long sleeves or arm covers, sometimes even jackets and sweatpants. It's hot here, sometimes with the humidity it says, "feels like 116." No wonder they're so skinny! You couldn't get me dressed like that for anything. I always want to take a picture of them, but I can't do a secret picture and I don't want to offend anyone.
At the little "snack shack" you can buy food or drinks or get shaved ice (which is very inexpensive here and I LOVE it even though it's just sugar). They have about a million different types of mojitos and beer for sale. I decided to get a mojito for myself one day, just because Jason isn't allowed to drink off base doesn't mean the fun should be ruined for everyone, right?
Soon after sitting a large group of women came near us and they had watermelons in plastic bags and large wooden dowels. Now, we were confused too until the blindfold came out and the spinning commenced. A Japanese piñata! How fun. We got a little closer for a better look and of course the women loved Colton, again, who wouldn't?!
In the end, this was the first thing Colton's ever gotten us out of his own money ;)
Life's a beach!
Most of the people here are just BBQing and drinking and listening to the music, occasionally taking a dip. It would be just like any American beach, except that a lot of the women that are there cover themselves from the sun from head to toe. They believe a fair skinned woman is more attractive. Large visors, face masks, long sleeves or arm covers, sometimes even jackets and sweatpants. It's hot here, sometimes with the humidity it says, "feels like 116." No wonder they're so skinny! You couldn't get me dressed like that for anything. I always want to take a picture of them, but I can't do a secret picture and I don't want to offend anyone.
At the little "snack shack" you can buy food or drinks or get shaved ice (which is very inexpensive here and I LOVE it even though it's just sugar). They have about a million different types of mojitos and beer for sale. I decided to get a mojito for myself one day, just because Jason isn't allowed to drink off base doesn't mean the fun should be ruined for everyone, right?
Soon after sitting a large group of women came near us and they had watermelons in plastic bags and large wooden dowels. Now, we were confused too until the blindfold came out and the spinning commenced. A Japanese piñata! How fun. We got a little closer for a better look and of course the women loved Colton, again, who wouldn't?!
In the end, this was the first thing Colton's ever gotten us out of his own money ;)
Life's a beach!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Churaumi Aquarium
We had a long break for Labor Day weekend so we decided to conquer one of the "bigger" tourist destinations here on Okinawa. The aquarium. Everyone talks about it and says how you HAVE to go there. So Jason went to the ticket office on base to buy tickets (we saved $1) and we were on our way. Its about an hour drive from where we live in Chatan. We got McDonald's breakfast on the way, (it was the same old Egg McMuffin you get anywhere) Jason thought the yolks were yellower... We followed the signs after getting off the "freeway." I put that in quotations because its nothing like what you're thinking of. Its something like highway 23 in Wisconsin. 2 lanes on each side except that the speed limit is 80km/hr. That's something like 50-55 mph I believe. When you get on you have to pull a ticket, this says where you entered the highway, and upon exiting you have to pay for how far you traveled on it. The cost for our trip was the equivalent of about $7. Kinda steep for driving on a road, don't you think? You can take the city streets to get there but, get real, you'll spend way more than $7 in gas!
We got to the first sign that said "South Entrance." We assumed this was it. We parked and noted that, "Wow! We must be early. There's hardly anyone here. Sweet!" We got EVERYTHING out of the car. We were going to be here all day, so you can imagine what EVERYTHING entailed. Colton, Colton's diaper bag (huge), stroller, camera bag, purse... I think that's everything. We walked over to the map and realized we were at the Botanical Garden part of the park. Hm.... Not what we were looking for. We decided since we already unloaded the cargo we should at least walk around a little and stretch our legs.
This was the only cool thing that was here. These Ficus trees' roots were braided and they were still living in the ground. No matter how much I stared at them, I couldn't figure out how they did that! There was a fountain that wasn't working (all full of green sludge) and a few other gardens that were mostly overrun with weeds. We decided this was silly and went back to find the aquarium.
We are headed north looking for the different parking lots that we had seen on the map. We get to one where there is a parking attendant flailing his arms at us to come in. I say, "I think this must be it." and Jason says, "I don't think so. I think its farther." So we continue driving as the road gets smaller and smaller and there are less and less people and no more parking lots we decide to turn around and find the arm flailing parking attendant. Sure enough, this was it. We weren't the only ones there like we had previously thought either. Easily 4 levels of parking garage already full. After all, this is the 2nd biggest aquarium in the world.
What a view, huh? I don't think it gets much prettier than this! This was all before even going into the aquarium! After checking out this view I realized that we had dropped Colton's teddy bear. Jason went to go see if he could find it. He did find it. It was a famous teddy bear now. There were people taking pictures of it as it was laying on the ground. Not picking it up, not touching it. Just taking photos of it. Things that make you say, "Hmmm..."
This is what Jason and I were calling the "touch tank." We don't know what the Japanese were calling it because we can't read kanji (duh). There were some small fish, sea cucumbers, 2 different types of star fish, sponges and a few other things that you can reach into the water and touch. We put Colton on the ledge thinking he wouldn't really get it. He got it. He reached right into that tank and grabbed that poor sea cucumber and squeezed the lights out of it. I think that sea cucumber may have seen his last day (unless they are like worms, in which case there are now 2 sea cucumbers where there used to be just 1). We never could have guessed how much Colton would love this aquarium. He touched the star fish and the sponge, too. He laughed and laughed and thought it was the silliest thing he had ever seen. At this stage of his life, it may have been.
A photo cannot do this place justice. This is as good as it gets without being there. Some of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. Colton loved the fish. They would just swim past him and he would get all giddy. Squeezing your neck and kicking his legs like he couldn't believe what was happening! It was so fun just watching him!
There were 2 of these whales in this tank along with a bunch of mantarays(?). I thought these were sharks and kept referring to them as such until Jason told me they are actually whales. Either way, holy cow are they ever amazing! This was the largest tank in the aquarium. Colton loved this one too.
When I put Colton inside this whale mouth (I think that's what it is) so many Asians were snapping pictures and laughing and thinking Colton is so cute. Well... he is.
Next were the sea turtles. I had only seen this no tv and in movies. They are so cool! So big! They totally seem like they would talk like the sea turtle in Finding Nemo. Surfer dudes for sure!
Our timing was perfect! Just as we were exiting the aquarium a dolphin show was starting. It was free! We sat down hoping Colton would at least watch a little bit before we had to go. Colton was content the whole time. Just watching the dolphins and flirting with the little girls around us. It was like any other dolphin show I've ever seen except that the poor guys had to see the real ocean every time they did a jump. I bet they were plotting to get out of there! I would be.
We got to the first sign that said "South Entrance." We assumed this was it. We parked and noted that, "Wow! We must be early. There's hardly anyone here. Sweet!" We got EVERYTHING out of the car. We were going to be here all day, so you can imagine what EVERYTHING entailed. Colton, Colton's diaper bag (huge), stroller, camera bag, purse... I think that's everything. We walked over to the map and realized we were at the Botanical Garden part of the park. Hm.... Not what we were looking for. We decided since we already unloaded the cargo we should at least walk around a little and stretch our legs.
This was the only cool thing that was here. These Ficus trees' roots were braided and they were still living in the ground. No matter how much I stared at them, I couldn't figure out how they did that! There was a fountain that wasn't working (all full of green sludge) and a few other gardens that were mostly overrun with weeds. We decided this was silly and went back to find the aquarium.
We are headed north looking for the different parking lots that we had seen on the map. We get to one where there is a parking attendant flailing his arms at us to come in. I say, "I think this must be it." and Jason says, "I don't think so. I think its farther." So we continue driving as the road gets smaller and smaller and there are less and less people and no more parking lots we decide to turn around and find the arm flailing parking attendant. Sure enough, this was it. We weren't the only ones there like we had previously thought either. Easily 4 levels of parking garage already full. After all, this is the 2nd biggest aquarium in the world.
What a view, huh? I don't think it gets much prettier than this! This was all before even going into the aquarium! After checking out this view I realized that we had dropped Colton's teddy bear. Jason went to go see if he could find it. He did find it. It was a famous teddy bear now. There were people taking pictures of it as it was laying on the ground. Not picking it up, not touching it. Just taking photos of it. Things that make you say, "Hmmm..."
This is what Jason and I were calling the "touch tank." We don't know what the Japanese were calling it because we can't read kanji (duh). There were some small fish, sea cucumbers, 2 different types of star fish, sponges and a few other things that you can reach into the water and touch. We put Colton on the ledge thinking he wouldn't really get it. He got it. He reached right into that tank and grabbed that poor sea cucumber and squeezed the lights out of it. I think that sea cucumber may have seen his last day (unless they are like worms, in which case there are now 2 sea cucumbers where there used to be just 1). We never could have guessed how much Colton would love this aquarium. He touched the star fish and the sponge, too. He laughed and laughed and thought it was the silliest thing he had ever seen. At this stage of his life, it may have been.
There were 2 of these whales in this tank along with a bunch of mantarays(?). I thought these were sharks and kept referring to them as such until Jason told me they are actually whales. Either way, holy cow are they ever amazing! This was the largest tank in the aquarium. Colton loved this one too.
When I put Colton inside this whale mouth (I think that's what it is) so many Asians were snapping pictures and laughing and thinking Colton is so cute. Well... he is.
Next were the sea turtles. I had only seen this no tv and in movies. They are so cool! So big! They totally seem like they would talk like the sea turtle in Finding Nemo. Surfer dudes for sure!
Our timing was perfect! Just as we were exiting the aquarium a dolphin show was starting. It was free! We sat down hoping Colton would at least watch a little bit before we had to go. Colton was content the whole time. Just watching the dolphins and flirting with the little girls around us. It was like any other dolphin show I've ever seen except that the poor guys had to see the real ocean every time they did a jump. I bet they were plotting to get out of there! I would be.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Okinawa World
One of the friends I made out here (thank God) told me about a place that she had visited last weekend called Okinawa World. I thought it was just caves, but turns out there is more to it than just that.
After finding it no problem, we're getting so good at navigating. The only reason for that is we realized that our iPhone will let you load the directions at home where we are connected to the wireless internet and then somehow still leads you as you go on your route. Only problem is it can't re-route you and it doesn't tell you how to get home. Those are the fun times. The first time we used it and realized it didn't take us home we were like, "Well, here we go." We got turned around a few times, but overall we do ok, I think. We bought our tickets and headed down into the caves. People say you should wear pants and sweatshirts when going down here. If you ever come to Okinawa and go to Okinawa World do not listen to them. We were sweating in our shorts and tank tops and Colton was in the Ergo and he was a hot mess when he finally woke up and got out of it. DO NOT WEAR PANTS. It was so amazing. I had never been in a cave before, Jason said he was in some when he went to Arizona or somewhere with his mom. Caves rule.
This lady and her dog (there behind Jason) were just outside the caves entrance. We had gotten some vouchers for 1000 yen so we decided to get one and use that to get the copy of the pic. Turned out pretty good. I'm glad we did it (Jason tried getting them to use our camera to take the pic, hehe).
Inside the caves there was water all around the bottom (I suppose that was what was carving it out in the first place...) We were so surprised when we saw fish! Weird white fish sitting completely still in the water. At the exit to the cave there was a little "market" I guess you could call it. Samples of pickled daikon, fresh fruit juices and some crafty stuff. Jason and I got some fresh squeezed juice. I got pineapple (yum, but warm) and Jason got some weird mix with passion fruit, needless to say it was not so delish.
After that we walked down to catch the Eisa Drum Show. It was maybe about 10 drummers and a few men dressed up as the dragon in the show. It was a pretty neat show. At one point though, they were taking members from the audience (quite a few) and had them all line up. Each volunteer walked up to the dragon, the dragon opened its mouth and the person put their head inside the dragons mouth. Nothing happened and then the person went to sit down. That was it. Weird.
Then we got some lunch at a buffet that they had on site there. It was right next to the drum show. After browsing the buffet tables we realized we didn't like much that was on the menu. There was curry (which is delicious) but it was almost gone and the Japanese people that were there showed no sign of stopping. There was a lot of vegetables - fried, steamed, roasted - you name it. They had it. Of course white rice and fried rice (also almost all gone). They also had a salad bar. Mind you, the salad here consists of cabbage sliced super thing with sesame dressing (which is delish) and croutons - if you're lucky. This place had croutons! I guess we should've been impressed. I did find the kiddy table of food. This is where I filled up. Meatball things, French fries and what I thought was spring rolls. I got back to the table and realized that the spring rolls were not that at all - they were little hot dogs! Ew! They looked like spring rolls because the way the "casing" was getting loose toward the end. Ick - needless to say, I didn't eat those.
After I filled up (sorta) on weird kiddy Japanese food and lots of cabbage salad (with croutons) Jason wanted to see the "Snake Show." I was not thrilled about it, but what the heck? I'm so glad we went. Hilarious. Not only was it funny sitting in a room where EVERYONE was speaking Japanese, but they were doing a little information (I think) prelude to the show. All Japanese. Needless to say, it was the longest 10 minutes of my life - listening to someone ramble on and on basically speaking gobble-dee-gook. After all the rambling and showing us how a snake can pop a balloon - not sure what was so interesting about that, I thought we all knew a snake could pop a balloon, they brought out the thing that made Jason want to go. A snake racing a mongoose (I know - we thought the same thing you're thinking). They were in these little cages at the far left side of the stage about to be dropped into a tube filled with water where we guessed they would be racing. The mongoose was so cute by the way - Timon doesn't do him justice, not even close. You would just assume that the snake would win - it would just have to swish it's "tail" twice and it would be done, but the snake was completely confused and going in the wrong direction while the mongoose was booking it to the other side. I'm not sure if the mongoose normally wins because everyone seemed pretty shocked. Again - I'll never know because of the gobble-dee-gook.
This is us watching the show.
Colton more cared about the ladies behind us.
Overall, I'm glad my girlfriend told me about it. It was definitely something worth seeing. Colton was a perfect angel the whole time and slept the whole way home. We just love that little stinker!
I have more pics of the show with the race happening and some other ones, but I can't find my memory sticks :( Wish me luck. They have every picture from when Colton was little on there. WHEN I find them, I will add more pics!
After finding it no problem, we're getting so good at navigating. The only reason for that is we realized that our iPhone will let you load the directions at home where we are connected to the wireless internet and then somehow still leads you as you go on your route. Only problem is it can't re-route you and it doesn't tell you how to get home. Those are the fun times. The first time we used it and realized it didn't take us home we were like, "Well, here we go." We got turned around a few times, but overall we do ok, I think. We bought our tickets and headed down into the caves. People say you should wear pants and sweatshirts when going down here. If you ever come to Okinawa and go to Okinawa World do not listen to them. We were sweating in our shorts and tank tops and Colton was in the Ergo and he was a hot mess when he finally woke up and got out of it. DO NOT WEAR PANTS. It was so amazing. I had never been in a cave before, Jason said he was in some when he went to Arizona or somewhere with his mom. Caves rule.
This lady and her dog (there behind Jason) were just outside the caves entrance. We had gotten some vouchers for 1000 yen so we decided to get one and use that to get the copy of the pic. Turned out pretty good. I'm glad we did it (Jason tried getting them to use our camera to take the pic, hehe).
Inside the caves there was water all around the bottom (I suppose that was what was carving it out in the first place...) We were so surprised when we saw fish! Weird white fish sitting completely still in the water. At the exit to the cave there was a little "market" I guess you could call it. Samples of pickled daikon, fresh fruit juices and some crafty stuff. Jason and I got some fresh squeezed juice. I got pineapple (yum, but warm) and Jason got some weird mix with passion fruit, needless to say it was not so delish.
After that we walked down to catch the Eisa Drum Show. It was maybe about 10 drummers and a few men dressed up as the dragon in the show. It was a pretty neat show. At one point though, they were taking members from the audience (quite a few) and had them all line up. Each volunteer walked up to the dragon, the dragon opened its mouth and the person put their head inside the dragons mouth. Nothing happened and then the person went to sit down. That was it. Weird.
Then we got some lunch at a buffet that they had on site there. It was right next to the drum show. After browsing the buffet tables we realized we didn't like much that was on the menu. There was curry (which is delicious) but it was almost gone and the Japanese people that were there showed no sign of stopping. There was a lot of vegetables - fried, steamed, roasted - you name it. They had it. Of course white rice and fried rice (also almost all gone). They also had a salad bar. Mind you, the salad here consists of cabbage sliced super thing with sesame dressing (which is delish) and croutons - if you're lucky. This place had croutons! I guess we should've been impressed. I did find the kiddy table of food. This is where I filled up. Meatball things, French fries and what I thought was spring rolls. I got back to the table and realized that the spring rolls were not that at all - they were little hot dogs! Ew! They looked like spring rolls because the way the "casing" was getting loose toward the end. Ick - needless to say, I didn't eat those.
After I filled up (sorta) on weird kiddy Japanese food and lots of cabbage salad (with croutons) Jason wanted to see the "Snake Show." I was not thrilled about it, but what the heck? I'm so glad we went. Hilarious. Not only was it funny sitting in a room where EVERYONE was speaking Japanese, but they were doing a little information (I think) prelude to the show. All Japanese. Needless to say, it was the longest 10 minutes of my life - listening to someone ramble on and on basically speaking gobble-dee-gook. After all the rambling and showing us how a snake can pop a balloon - not sure what was so interesting about that, I thought we all knew a snake could pop a balloon, they brought out the thing that made Jason want to go. A snake racing a mongoose (I know - we thought the same thing you're thinking). They were in these little cages at the far left side of the stage about to be dropped into a tube filled with water where we guessed they would be racing. The mongoose was so cute by the way - Timon doesn't do him justice, not even close. You would just assume that the snake would win - it would just have to swish it's "tail" twice and it would be done, but the snake was completely confused and going in the wrong direction while the mongoose was booking it to the other side. I'm not sure if the mongoose normally wins because everyone seemed pretty shocked. Again - I'll never know because of the gobble-dee-gook.
This is us watching the show.Colton more cared about the ladies behind us.Overall, I'm glad my girlfriend told me about it. It was definitely something worth seeing. Colton was a perfect angel the whole time and slept the whole way home. We just love that little stinker!
I have more pics of the show with the race happening and some other ones, but I can't find my memory sticks :( Wish me luck. They have every picture from when Colton was little on there. WHEN I find them, I will add more pics!
Monday, August 12, 2013
South Eastern Botanical Gardens
I just don't think it gets much more beautiful than this! This botanical garden was the most beautiful one I've seen. I've seen a lot of botanical gardens given my love for plants. It was super early in the morning (this place actually opened at a normal time) so it was extremely quiet and peaceful here. There were misquitos and Jason and I both got bit a bunch. I think I have Hepatitis B and Jason thinks he has Malaria, so just another normal day here on the island. Colton, luckily, didn't get any.
There were 2 sides to the gardens. A water side and a jungle side. The water side put the other to shame. Both are beautiful, but the water gardens with the lotus flowers that were way bigger than your head were something I would never want to miss.
Here is the non-water side. Very pretty but I think I didn't like it as much because there were even more of the banana spiders on this side.
And again, someone was all tuckered out, so home we went.
Shuri Castle Ruins
A couple that we hang out with sometimes mentioned to us that they went to the Shuri Castle Ruins one weekend and they have a young son only 2 weeks older than Colton so we figured it was a safe one to try. It was relatively easy to find as Jason sees the signs on his way to work every day. There is one thing that is confusing here though, about the signs for the monuments. Since the Japanese people read right to left and up and down sometimes if the sign says - "Shuri Castle Ruins" with an arrow first and then 3km, an American would assume it means turn and then go the 3 km and you will find it. I think it means go 3 km and then turn (because whenever we do it the American way we get lost), but Jason is sure that can't be right. Either way we still don't know and often get lost trying to figure it out. Luckily Colton enjoys car rides. Upon researching parking pre-trip I read that sometimes you have to back your car into a parking spot that is 3 cars deep. Oh boy! Jason nor I can even back into a spot 1 car deep. I was thinking we were in for a treat. Luckily we got there and the parking attendant took our keys and let us on our way. Phew! Dodged a bullet on that one. All of the Japanese cars are always parked backwards in the spots. I can only imagine the laughs and giggles that would have been pointed our way if we were trying and trying to park our car and couldn't get it. Either way, thank God, we didn't have to it!
We walked up a hill and saw the giant walls that surrounded the castle ruins. It was amazing. Each rock seemed to have been chiseled by hand to fit perfectly into the wall and it was tall! We followed the signs for the wheelchair and stroller ramps as there were a lot of stairs and we had Colton's big stroller with us. We thought we were following the sign correctly when all of a sudden we were all by ourselves. No one else had ventured this way. Hm.... We looked around and continued walking on the paved sidewalk that seemed to be going in the right general direction. A man stopped us and asked us where we were going. We said we needed the ramp (he didn't understand this). He said, "No strollers this way, all stairs." So... I guess we read the sign wrong. Maybe it was one of those backward reading things again. Either way we turned around and went back up the hill past where we started and there it was. The handicap ramp! Of course I swear we picked the hottest day of the year to hike the castle grounds (I think every day is the hottest day of the year).
There were paths all over the grounds headed to different things, this one was a look out point. If you can imagine before all of this was developed it was probably just jungle and little villages. It would have been a great place to make sure no one was coming to invade your castle. The view was spectacular (as you can see).
We walked up a hill and saw the giant walls that surrounded the castle ruins. It was amazing. Each rock seemed to have been chiseled by hand to fit perfectly into the wall and it was tall! We followed the signs for the wheelchair and stroller ramps as there were a lot of stairs and we had Colton's big stroller with us. We thought we were following the sign correctly when all of a sudden we were all by ourselves. No one else had ventured this way. Hm.... We looked around and continued walking on the paved sidewalk that seemed to be going in the right general direction. A man stopped us and asked us where we were going. We said we needed the ramp (he didn't understand this). He said, "No strollers this way, all stairs." So... I guess we read the sign wrong. Maybe it was one of those backward reading things again. Either way we turned around and went back up the hill past where we started and there it was. The handicap ramp! Of course I swear we picked the hottest day of the year to hike the castle grounds (I think every day is the hottest day of the year).
There were paths all over the grounds headed to different things, this one was a look out point. If you can imagine before all of this was developed it was probably just jungle and little villages. It would have been a great place to make sure no one was coming to invade your castle. The view was spectacular (as you can see).
After we got through the initial gate there was a small courtyard where you purchased your tickets and there was even 2 geishas doing a traditional dance (I guess I don't know if they were supposed to be geishas or if it was just traditional dress). Through a small gate and it opened up to this. The castle. Just to the right of the main entrance is where they were letting people in. You had to take off your shoes and carry them in a plastic bag. Its amazing more people don't get nasty foot fungus over here. You weren't allowed to take pictures inside the castle. But it was very pretty. We can't read a lot of the signs that are inside telling you what each room is for or anything so I can't give you much historical information. We did find a window that other people were taking pictures out of, so we figured we could too.
After touring the castle there were still a couple of things on the grounds we wanted to see.
Again, I don't know what this is, but it sure is pretty. We can't read the signs. There were some little ducklings underneath the bridge that Jason and Colton are sitting on and there were some kids feeding them that we stopped to watch for a little while. They were cute, but Colton (and Dad) were sweaty so we had to head home!
I Don't Thnk Its Going To Fall Out
Here on Okinawa when you go to the grocery store or a clothing store or any kind of store, it is customary to bring your own bag or pay 3 yen (3 cents) for a plastic one. Of course Jason and I always forget a bag. Not only is it an inconvenience for us to have to pay the 3 yen (really who cares), but the cashiers tape and tie everything shut. Now, this doesn't just happen at one grocery store, it happens at EVERY store. It happens at Makeman (the DIY store), Aeon (Japanese Super Wal-Mart), the pigeon store (I don't know the real name of it) and even the Family Mart (7-11). It even happens at fast food places like A&W, which the Japanese people love almost as much as Americans love McDonald's, Burger King and KFC.
For instance, at the grocery store, you might purchase chicken, pork tenderloin, and tuna. There aren't plastic bags to wrap your meat in like in America. You just put the package into your basket and they wrap it at the cashier. This is where the tape and small bags come in. Each separate item is wrapped in a small plastic bag and either taped or tied shut. There are multiple different colors of tape too. I assume each color means something? Who knows. I don't care enough to even try to ask.
3 small rolls, almost the same size as a scotch tape refill. (this was sort of off the topic, but I just thought it was so weird.)
For instance, at the grocery store, you might purchase chicken, pork tenderloin, and tuna. There aren't plastic bags to wrap your meat in like in America. You just put the package into your basket and they wrap it at the cashier. This is where the tape and small bags come in. Each separate item is wrapped in a small plastic bag and either taped or tied shut. There are multiple different colors of tape too. I assume each color means something? Who knows. I don't care enough to even try to ask.
Here is a bathroom rug I bought just today. Folded perfectly, stuffed into this nice little plastic bag and taped shut. These bags you do not have to pay 3 yen for. Its the large one that they put all the small ones into that you have to pay for...
Here are some of my other items:
This is the large bag that costs 3 yen. It is tied and taped shut in the middle. Not only are all the small bags that are inside this bag either tied or taped and the large bag itself is either tied or taped (or both) but the handle on the large bag is twisted to make one thicker, sturdier handle. You can only imagine how long it takes to check out.
These are my baby-proofing items, tied up in this tiny bag, only to be placed into the above larger bag.
PS... I needed to get masking tape. I found it believe it or not. Strange though. Expensive too!
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