AEON Mall and a Festival

When I hear the word mall I think Gap, Macy's, Bath and Body Works, etc.  Unfortunately, we do not have any of those stores here.  We DO have a mall...there are a few actually.  I have no idea what the names of the stores are because the writing looks like this  インターネットをもっと快適に.  Maybe one day I will learn how to read the writing here.  Probably not.

Today we went to AEON Mall in American Village.  It is difficult to describe the malls here.  The stores are packed together and it is hard to tell where one stops and another starts. 

I ignored my diet and went straight for Mister Donuts.  You will be proud, the three of us shared one donut.  And by share I mean I had three fourths of it.

Yes, those are green donuts...melon flavored maybe??

                

You can see Blue Seal ice cream in the back...those are everywhere.  Most of the food is in English, ha!  They must know Americans like to eat.

There are several clothing and home good stores.  They have a lot of places to eat, and they even have a grocery attached.  Some of my pictures are blurry.  I'm sorry.  I was trying to take photos as we were walking.  I was using my iPod because I didn't want to draw attention to us (never mind the fact that once again we were the only Americans there and I am a good foot taller than any woman around....and some of the men too).

This afternoon we went to the Camp Hansen Festival, held on another Marine Corps base.  It is about 30 minutes north of us.  Landen met a friend.  This little boy is 2.  Landen turned 15 months today (he is in the 89th percentile for weight, 96th for height and 99th for head size....so in short I am growing a football player with a big brain).

They have a lot of entertainment planned.  The main attraction was Alien Ant Farm.  We were there for the Eisa performers.  Here is a short video:

   

And of course a festival wouldn't be complete without a lot of yummy, greasy food.  There were vendors with traditional festival foods such as pizza, snow cones, BBQ, and funnel cakes.  There were also Japanese vendors with yakisoba, yakitori, and tempura.  I chose a grape slushy for my treat.





Almost as good as chocolate.

When my friend Brittany asked me to go get a pedicure, I was game.  Now I know what many of you are thinking...Devin?  Pay for a pedicure???  Is she feeling okay??  Well, first of all I am always excited to try new things in my new country.  Second, after living with two fellas, I could REALLY use a "girls date".  So off to Cocok  for pedicures we went!

Let me first introduce Brittany.  Brittany and her husband just moved to Japan this past winter.  They came here from Beaufort, SC, same as us. So we have been friends for a few years now.  Meet Brittany:

Cocok is an amazing place to get a pedicure.  I am now addicted and will be spending much of my disposable income on this treat.  This is not just any old pedicure.  It is "me" time.  We gossip, we sit in comfy recliners, we drink Japanese tea and eat Japanese candy, and we do all of this while enjoying a beautiful view of the ocean.



The manicurist is a true artist.  We have pages and pages and pages of designs to look through.  The binder is quite thick.  It takes me forever to decide. 

The pedicure took an hour and a half.  The first hour consisted of oil massages and hot towel wraps.  The last 30 minutes was spent painting (they do it all by hand).  So...if you need help deciding what to get me for my birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day/Valentine's Day/Saint Patrick's Day/National Donut Day...or any other day...now you know.      







Sometimes you will look stupid...

For those of you who are not all that familiar with the military life, there are things I need to clarify.  For one, we do not get free housing.  We pay to rent our house.  We pay the government $2,405.77 per month to rent our crappy little quad-plex that is less than 1000 square feet.  Number 2, our medical and dental is not free.  We pay premiums, and many expenses are not covered.  Many, many expenses.  And number 3 (there are more but I won't continue as this is not what this blog is about), the PX and Commissary (grocery store) are not all that cheap.  The PX is filled with high priced brand names such as Coach, Ralph Lauren, and Kitchen Aid.  The commissary is hit or miss.  In the states, it's usually a better deal.  Overseas it's highway robbery.  For example, the other day I went to the grocery and paid $3.88 per pound for apples and $2.77 per pound for bananas.  So, I decided to start produce shopping out in town.

Now, I have been to the market in town before to purchase small items.  One or two things, here and there, basically just exploring and trying new things.  I have never bought more than a couple items at one time.  But, today I bought a whole cart full.  I should clarify that a cart is not exactly what you are thinking.  Most Japanese women shop daily for fresh meats and produce, so the carts are really small.

Japanese shopping cart

I spent 2166 yen and left with a bunch of wonderful produce and other items.  I got drinks, apples, carrots, egg plant, bananas, plums, potatoes, garlic, sushi, salmon, and a few other things that I have no idea what they are called.

Guy's favorite drink here is called Aquarius.  I continue to try new drinks, but he just buys the same drink every time.  He claims it tastes like Gatorade.  This drink is only 147 yen at the market!  Super good deal. 



They have an entire section of fresh fish.  Some of it is marinated.  Here are some marinated salmon patties I got for 67 yen a piece.  I am going to broil it for dinner to tonight.

Fresh fish - pretty sure it's salmon.  I couldn't read the sign.

I also bought what I think is Gyoza, little dumplings filled with meat and cabbage that you fry up.  Once again, I couldn't read the sign so I am not positive.  I guess we will find out at dinner tonight.

What shopping trip wouldn't be complete without sushi?  Sushi is super cheap at the market.  You can get rolls for under $1.  The selection is amazing.  Makes me wonder why people are buying sushi at the commissary for $6 a roll?  This was our lunch today...

The produce was so hard to choose from.  The selection at the commissary is very small and picked over.  Everything at the market was fresh and beautiful.  There were two items I decided to try out.  I had no idea what they were.  One looked like a weird apple and the other a hairless kiwi.  The weird apple turned out to be a cross between a pear and an apple.  The hairless kiwi was in fact a kiwi, just a little sour.

After selecting my items.  I got in line.  The cashier smiles and talks in a bunch of Japanese.  Probably saying something like "hi, how are you?"  I smile with a look of ignorance.  She rings up my items, I pay.  What happens at this point is the cashier puts your items back in your cart.  You go to a bar area at the front of the store and bag your own groceries.  There are no bagers.  I know this, remember I have shopped here before.  She points at something below her register and asks me something...I have no clue what.  I just say no thank you and continue with my clueless smile.  I thank her, "Arigato"...take my cart and go to the bagging area.  It is here that I realize what just happened.  Everyone brings their own bags to the grocery.  You put your stuff in your own bag.  I didn't have one.  I didn't realize this because I have only bought one or two items in the past.  The cashier was pointing at bags under register, and asking if I wanted one.  Ugh.

I go back to her... "Sumimasen" I say (excuse me).  Then I point like an idiot to underneath her register.  Trying to show her I needed one of those bags she was pointing at.  She gestures for me to hold on.  I watch her ring up other people.  She has a line.  I realize suddenly, I am going to have to pay for this bag.  So...I get back in line...behind this older man that looks at me like I am a stupid American.  I am pretty sure he is one of those protesters that stand at the gate (believe it or not not everyone wants us here and protests are frequent).  I am mentally thanking myself for learning the word for I'm sorry (gomennasai) two days ago.  I buy my bag - 3 yen.  Stuff everything in it and leave as fast as I can.  Next time I will be prepared, but I am sure there are many other times I will look stupid.

Ocean Expo Park

Our time here is precious for a multitude of reasons.  Primarily because we are only stationed here for 3 years 2 years and 10 months.  But as many of you know my husband is a Marine.  And what do Marines do?  They deploy.  And what do they do before they deploy?  They leave for numerous trainings for months at a time.  So, because Guy will be deploying the first of the year, he is training now.  Meaning we don't have a lot of time to explore together.

Yesterday we took advantage of a beautiful (and sinfully hot) day to explore Ocean Expo Park.  It's about an hour and half north of the island.  There is so much to do there.  By the end of the day we were exhausted.  Our first stop was the aquarium.  We were told it was amazing, wonderful, a great attraction, etc.  All I have to saw is Okinawan's obviously have never been to Sea World.  Don't get me wrong, it was nice.  There was some really neat ocean life we had never seen before, but it was much smaller than we had thought. 

The Japanese women were more interested in Landen than the fish.  At one point he had 7 women surrounding him.  He was the only blond there.

There was also a dolphin show.  We didn't understand one word of the entire thing because it was in Japanese.  Here is a short clip so you can better understand:

My favorite part of the day was lunch...surprised?  We went to the Ocean view restaurant where lunch was a Japanese buffet.  We ate noodles, rice and curry, pork, tempura, sake, and many other yummy foods.  The dessert bar consisted of frozen sorbet, 4 flavors, each serving about 1/4 a cup.  This is why they are so skinny here.



The restaurant




The view




The eaters




After lunch we headed over to Old Okinawa Village.  The title is self explanatory.  We only saw two other American families the entire time we were there. 

 

An old home







Japanese tourists



Next stop was the Tropical Dream Center.  Three greenhouses with more than 2,000 orchids and a magical world with tropical and subtropical plants.

 

Right before leaving we decided to let Landen play in the fountain.  He became King of the Fountain and stood right in the middle, despite the fact that he was the youngest one there. 



Can you spot the American?




King of the Fountain



Flashback Weekend

It's here.  Monday.  Landen started daycare today, Guy went back to work, and I am still unemployed.  On the bright side of things I was able to spend 2 consecutive hours at the gym this morning and I am contemplating reading a book on the beach this afternoon.  Two things I have not done in over 455 days.  Simple joys.

This past weekend was full of fun and excitement.  We started off with a bang Saturday morning, waking bright and early for a 0700 5k on Kadena Air force Base.  I have ran several 5k's with Landen and always thought there should be a category for people who run with strollers.  Have you ever tried running and pushing a stroller with a 28lb baby?  Not easy.  So, I was super pumped to find this 5k has a stroller category! 

There we are!  We won 2nd place!  Beat by a man.  Boo.  Now, I have never been the competitive type.  I am usually the one to let others win so that I don't have to listen to them whine.  But, after being beat by a man I have new motivation! 

Enough about that.  We continued to have a fabulous Saturday, despite dealing with a teething pre-todd (who has 4 molars coming in at once).  We took a trip to the city of Naha to visit BabiesRus and this really cool play area.  Now those of you who don't have kids...I know this doesn't really sound exciting, but take a look at this play area.

I know what you are thinking.  Where is the one for the adults?  Sadly, this is only for really small children.  I mean, who wouldn't want to run around in an area surrounded by floating balloons?  So while Landen is screaming and playing, with his hair blowing wildly, I sit on a bench and eat Japanese candy...never going to loose those 5lbs (technically 7, but we're rounding here folks).

Next we hit up Sam's Anchor Inn for dinner.  Some yummy goodness cooked on a teppanyaki grill.  We dined on shrimp, tenderloin, and fish.  We ate salad, soup, sauteed veggies, and garlic rice.  It was amazing.  And expensive.  $100 later we were full.  The yen rate is now 75 to the U.S. dollar.  So 75 yen = 100 pennies.  Not good.

Hall of business cards

Drinking out of skull and shark cups

On Sunday we started off the day by going to church.  Lanny loves to play in the nursery.  We have started going to Koza Baptist Church.  Now, I am a born and raised Methodist.  I am used to 30-45 minutes of praise and worship, a 15 minute sermon, and snacks after service.  Baptist's have 30 minutes of praise and worship, a 45 minute sermon, and no snacks.  I am learning to adjust.  Also I learned what a Deacon was yesterday.  Baby steps. 

Ready for church

Sunday evening we had some friends over for dinner.  Sadly, I did not get any pictures.  We have met some great friends here already.  We were also fortunate to have some friends here from prior duty stations.  The friends we had over for dinner last night were our sponsors when we first got here.  Every family moving to Japan is assigned a sponsor.  The sponsor is a volunteer who helps get you settled in and answers the million questions you have.  We were very lucky to have an amazing couple with a daughter close to Landen's age.   

Me, My-self, and I

After careful examination of my mental state of being, I have been self diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.  This is no joking matter.  Do you have any idea what it’s like to feel like you are constantly being pulled in different directions?  Let me introduce me, my-self, and I to you.

Me:  What Me wants is to work part time.  What could be more perfect then working half a day and spending the other half with your family?  However, this is absolutely not possible for me because (a) there are no part time positions available, and (b) daycare spots only go to those who work full time, thus I will lose my spot at daycare (which is really, really hard to get over here).

My-self: This girl is career driven.  She goes to work every morning wearing a freshly pressed suit, carrying a coach briefcase, and sipping coffee.  She is confident in her abilities as a professional, but misses spending time with her family.

I:  This is my current state of being.  I is an unemployed, full time, eek…do I dare say it….homemaker.  She yearns to hit the pavement with her heels, head to work, drop the kid off at daycare, and make the big bucks.  But she loves all the time she has to spend with her family, keep the house clean, and make dinner that doesn’t come from a box.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.  To work or not to work, that is the question?  Slightly more difficult than choosing a Halloween costume for my son.

Every minute of every day I am filled with thoughts of what to do and I can’t make up my mind.  One minute I am completely satisfied staying at home, because well among other things I can go to the beach whenever I want to.  I can grocery shop in the daylight.  I can volunteer.  I can, I can, I can.  BUT then, it’s not all that perfect.  The kid starts whining, boredom eating sets in, and the day seems wasted.

I have a mental list I go over and over.  Me created it. 

Pro’s to working:

• More money
• Value the time with my family more
• Build my career
• I don’t have my child whining and rubbing snot on me all day long
• My son prefers daycare, he needs socialization and he gets bored with me
• More money (it deserves to be mentioned twice since it is the leading factor)

Con’s to working:

• Spend less time with my family
• Higher tax bracket and daycare fee’s mean I really don’t make as much
• My house gets dirty again
• Dinner is whatever I can throw together in under 30 minutes
• No time to volunteer
• Activities (like the beach) can only be done on the weekend
• Less time to focus on graduate school (I only have 3 classes left!)

Nevertheless, the decision has to be made and I am running out of time!  I have a daycare spot and I have to choose.  Take the spot and continue to job search or decline the spot and stay at home until I finish my MBA (December).  If I decline my spot I may never get it back.  It could take months. 

 

Typhoon Alley

You know the sound you hear when you are waiting in line for a roller coaster ride at an amusement park?  The loud screeching and swishing sound.  People screaming as it goes up and then drops.  That is what it sounds like inside my house.

When we first received orders to Japan I quickly found out that Okinawa is smack dab in the Pacific's "Typhoon Alley".  Typhoons are known as hurricanes in the United States.  The typhoon season is from June to November with as many as 26 typhoons hitting in a season.  We are going on day 3 of experiencing our first super typhoon.

Just to clarify, this is actually the 2nd typhoon that has hit since we have been here.  We arrived in the middle of a typhoon.  I remember seeing the ocean water turning as we were flying in and praying we would land safely.

We have been in typhoon condition 1 emergency (the worst condition classification) for over 36 hours.  We are waiting on them to put us into recovery, but from the looks of things outside that may not happen for a while. 

In the mean time I have been pulling out my hair enjoying time with my family.  Landen has been very busy.  As soon as this storm is over I am buying him some new toys.  He does not have enough.  I wish I would have realized this before the storm hit.

I have been occupying my time with thoughts of Halloween costumes for Landen.  One of the hardest decisions of my life.  It is so tough to find cute things for boys.  Why do they make all cute stuff for girls?  Disney for instance has 18 Halloween items for boys.  They have 55 for girls.  After extensive searching I have pretty much narrowed it down to these:





I know, I know, the decision is just so dang hard.  Any thoughts?

A typhoon is a good way to deter anyone from getting in trouble with the law.  I have only been confined to my house for 3 days.  I can't imagine what it would be like to go to jail.  Plus, I have all my amenities (computer, TV, food).  Before the typhoon hit I stocked up on rented movies and snacks.  I bought jelly beans, dots, tootsie pops, candy corn, and gummy sharks.  Yes, I am aware that is the diet of an 8 year old. 

I also have not been able to workout this entire time.  I can feel myself growing.  I refuse to step on the scale (actually that is a lie, those of you who know me well know I have an emotional attachment to my scale).  Yesterday I got out my exercise ball and dusted off the cobwebs.  I am sore today. 

For our typhoon dinner I made really good turkey fried rice.  Here is the recipe:

2 eggs, scrambled

1/2 lb ground turkey

2 green onions, sliced

3 cups cold cooked rice

1/4 cup of fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 cup soy sauce

2T chunky peanut butter

1t sugar

1/2t garlic powder

2T chopped red pepper

1/4t ground ginger

Cook turkey and onions in a larger skillet over medium heat.  When done, add rice and cilantro.  Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.  Stir well, then pour into skillet.  Add egg and stir until heated through.  I served it with steamed broccoli.