The Unscheduled Life

The hubby was supposed to leave for a month of training in Korea on September 2nd....then it was moved to August 29th...then pushed back to September 1st...then September 4th....now they are saying sometime next week.  Ahhh, this is my life....hurry up and wait.   

Meanwhile we have been doing more exploring!  Last night we headed to American Village AFTER DINNER.  We stayed out until 9PM!!  We are such homebodies.  And very scheduled.  We like to be home at night.  

Okay, so we made a random decision to go to American Village.  Lots of shops.  Lots of places to eat. Bands playing, people drinking.  I felt a little out of place.  Like I was too old to be there, despite the fact that everyone there was my age.  Hmmm....I don't need to grow up, I need to grow down.  If that makes any sense.

We have been here several times before.  It is one of the main attractions on the island, and it is only 10 minutes from our house.

Ferris Wheel and huge 3 story indoor shopping area.

Across the street is more shopping

Two story shopping area.

I think my camera was over stimulated....

Look, the Japanese guys are giving us peace signs...something they all do in pictures.

This was Friday night.  Fast forward to Saturday morning and we made another random decision to go to breakfast.  The second "unscheduled" event in the Drake household this weekend.  I am breaking out of my rigid, scheduled, organized, planned shell.  


We went to the Ocean Breeze on Camp Foster.  Camp Foster is the base we live on, the Ocean Breeze is about a mile down the road.  It is a restaurant and holds the enlisted clubs.  Breakfast was buffet style.  You name it, it was there; waffles, pancakes, french toast, eggs, omelet bar, sausage, ham, bacon, cereal bar, grits, oatmeal, gravy, biscuits, taco bar, pastry bar, plus more!  

  
After our yummy breakfast we headed out to the Camp Foster flea market.  It is held at a different base each weekend.  The first weekend of the month they hold it at Camp Foster.  My find: a Japan T-shirt for Landen that I got for $1.  I was super pumped to buy this off a Japanese lady.  I had been looking at the T-shirts at American Village, but they were 1900 yen ($25.27). 

The next stop was Mona Kids Jungle.  I know, I know, we were super busy today!  This Jungle is an amazing place for kids.  Okay, I admit it's pretty cool for adults too.  There are a ton of yummy snacks for purchase and it is so much fun to watch the kids run wild.  For 500 yen ($6.65), Landen could play for 3 hours!  He tired out in 1 1/2. 

Can you find Landen?

We ended our perfect day with a trip to the Rocker NCO (non-commissioned officer) Club on Kadena Air Force base for cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.  This base is about 15 minutes down the road.  So tonight I will savor white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and dulce de leche cheesecake.  I am going to have to work out extra hard tomorrow.

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