City sidewalks, busy sidewalks

“In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas”?  Well, not really, not with the beautiful 82 degree weather and bright sunshine, but we went Christmas shopping today anyways.  The postage deadline is looming for us on the other side of the world, so even though I’m a month or so ahead of most of you, I’m right on schedule here. 

We headed down to Naha (Okinawa’s capital city), specifically the Kokusai-doori area, for some lunch, a bit of shopping and lots of sightseeing. 

It was a great day just to be outside . . . and hey, check out that McDonalds!  (No, we didn’t eat there.)

We were lucky enough to stumble across a group of eisa dancers performing in front of an office plaza.

And then there’s this T-Rex head sticking out of a storefront.  Why?  I have no idea; probably just because it’s Japan :)

There’s a great market tucked into a covered alleyway off the main street that’s lots of fun to explore.

A lot of the stalls in the alley-market look something like this . . . 

. . . but then you look closer and realize that they each have something unique to offer, like these frog-skin coin purses made from real frogs!

And if you need a snack, apparently you can grab some Puffy Snow.  In case you don’t know what Puffy Snow is, the sign helpfully explains “Sweets of topic ‘Dragon ice’”—no, I have no idea either.

Back out on Kokusai, we found some goya-shaped benches to rest on after all that shopping.

Logan made out quite well today.  He seriously was given FOUR cookies by different shop owners who cooed over him.  He loves to make people smile and has almost no fear of strangers right now.  Luckily Japan is extremely safe!

As we headed home, this was our view looking out over the base and towards the East China Sea.  Perhaps I haven’t mentioned this before, but this is a great place to live!

Check back soon; we’ve got a lot going on this week so I should be updating several times.  USMC ball coming next!