A Few of my Favorite Things

In no particular order:

--AFN (Armed Forces Network), the ONLY English radio station on the island, plays the most random mix of music. In one hour last week, between running errands, I heard something by Guns'n'Roses, the Macarena, some country song, My Girl (by The Temptations?), and Sweet Escape (Gwen Stefani). Best of all, one of its tags is (you've got to imagine this being said in the cheesy radio announcer voice to get the full effect): AFN-your alternative to silence.
(Sidenote: the Japanese, apparently, aren't big radio fans as there are also very few Japanese stations available and all of those are 90% talk. Ugh!)

--The colors of this island are unbelievably brilliant. There are days when the sky is so blue it practically hurts your eyes. The clouds are almost always bright white and fluffy, like they were painted by an elementary school student. The bushes and trees an intense green, accented with dots of flower-color, the most common being the exquisite coral-red of the hibiscus. You know those ads for the allergy medicine where they lift the film/haze off the picture? It feels like that, like someone lifted the film off and now, here, everything is clear.

--My husband is enjoyed his job again for the first time in a LONG time. I can't begin to explain how nice this is . . . And, as an extra bonus, he gets to come home for lunch most days!

--The Japanese have a wonderful appreciation for French pastries! (Can you see me smiling?) There is the most delicious little patisserie just across the road from the corner of the base--Jake and I picked something up as we were walking home from the beach the other day and decided that we need to make a point of trying one of everything while we are here. When you come to visit, we'll let you know which ones are our favorites!

--One of the things that I have always loved about the military community is that people (generally) are so much more welcoming, friendly, and helpful than in the "real world". Several of our neighbors have brought us baked goods and I've obtained a wealth of information from people I've met while out walking in the mornings. There's a sense of community among strangers . . . hard to explain if you haven't experienced it.

--Bad English translations! You see English on clothing frequently (and French too!) and it's usually a random smattering of loosely related words--very comical to read. But this sign from Araha Beach is the absolute best:

Got that? No leonfires and keep your pets in cluin!

--NOT one of my favorite things: TEETHING!!!

Hope you're having a great day! Leave me a comment so that I know you love me :)

Odds and ends

A smattering of things that reflect our recent lives:

Logan's favorite new toy: a stick! He carries it with him as he walks around the house, reminding me alternately of Moses or a (pants-less) knight.

This is the playground that we walk to almost every morning--I do toning exercises and stretches while Logan runs around and everyone is happy.

Logan has figured out how to climb up to and go down the big slide all by himself. (For the worriers out there: I do supervise but don't have to assist.)


This is our car! It's a 2000 Mazda Premacy; so far it suits us pretty well. If you look close, you can see the driver's wheel on the right side of the vehicle.

And this is one of our geckos. We seem to have only two in the house. This is our kitchen gecko--Ringo. Our bedroom/bathroom gecko is Oliver. I have no desire to kick them out; they eat bugs and I think they are kinda cute.

Another oddity from the animal world: the dragonflies around here are bright red!

Logan LOVES books and having stories read to him. (Yeah!)

Lift-the-flap books are particularly entertaining.

This is one of the local shopping areas. The ferris wheel actually sits on top of the building and is a dominant local landmark. The building itself is only a block or so from the beach.

Logan and Mommy enjoying a walk on the beach!

Beaches, Buddhist monks and guinea pigs--oh my!

Because I know everyone is just dying to hear about our weekend . . . (Seriously, is anyone reading this? Leave me some comments so that I know I'm not just wasting my time here!)

My two best boys at the beach.

Logan and I picked Daddy up after work on Friday and we headed out for a couple hours of fun and relaxation at Tropical Beach.

Saturday we explored Camp Hansen (Jake's old stomping ground from the last time he was here, nothing worth taking a picture of there though) and then stopped in at this nearby Buddhist temple, Kin Kannon-do.

The story goes that a Buddhist monk was washed ashore after his boat sunk in a tsunami. In gratitude to the people of the village for helping him out, the monk rid the village of habu (snakes) and made them this golden statue of the Buddha.


The Buddha statue is housed in a cave beside the temple and most of the rest of the cave is used to store awamori (a locally-produced alcohol).

A monk was offering worship while we were there. I took the opportunity to observe (unobtrusively) for a little while; there was a lot of incense-waving, bowing, putting various things into a fire in front of the altar, and towards the end he rang a small bell several times. Not sure what it all meant, but it was interesting.

Not content with one adventure for the day, we decided to visit the zoo on our way back home. Ten points to whoever can correctly identify this animal.

We got to see part of a show where they had the elephants doing various tricks (pulling tires, dunking basketballs with their trunks, etc.)--here one of them is giving the trainer a high-five.

Logan enjoyed the petting zoo.

And, because it seems like the thing to do, I'll throw in another flower shot.

Lotus flower at the zoo.

Tomorrow's agenda: church and ???

Life is Good

For those who are interested in this sort of thing, Logan's naps have made a DRASTIC improvement since we've gotten settled into the house. Whereas the pre-nap routine used to be a solid 10+ minutes of fighting, it has morphed into a pleasant 1-2 minute snuggle. AND--this is the really amazing part!--his normal nap is now about an hour!!! Occasionally we still get 45 minute ones, but just as occasionally we get ones that are an hour and a half! Seems the boy responds well to having some remote amount of stability in his world :) It's good to have a home again.

More reasons life is good: I'm exercising again (and it feels GREAT), I'm reading again (I think I've completed five books just since we've been here), and I'm studying again (learning Japanese, and yes, I'm nerd but I think the studying feels good too). I'm meeting people in the neighborhood (military communities are so much friendlier than the real world--I love it) and the house is coming along really well (got half the living room painted last night and found fabric for my project yesterday). And that, my friends, is why life is good right now. Hope it's good to you too!

Does This Make Us Japanese Tourists?

I'm going to pretend I'm fully caught up now and dig into the real fun with photos of our first major excursion into Japanese/Okinawan culture (sans Logan even!). Jake and I took an all-day tour which included Shuri Castle, a stop at Kokusai-doori for lunch, Fukushu-en (Chinese garden), and Naminoue Shinto shrine.

Translation and explanation:

--Okinawa and the surrounding islands were once their own kingdom and Shuri castle was the home of the Ryukyu kings. Shuri Castle, along with every other castle on Okinawa, was destroyed during WWII but Shuri-jo has been entirely reconstructed as it stood in the 15th century.

--Kokusai-doori (Kokusai Street) is a bustling street in Naha (Okinawa's capital city) with a very international flavor--Indian and Mexican restaurants, a German pub, a Hawaiian steakhouse, etc., intermingled with lots of shopping. Jake and I chose to stick with a traditional Japanese meal this time around: shoes-off, cushion-on-the-floor, and, thankfully, pictures in the menu!

--Fukushu-en ("en" means garden) is a Chinese-style garden. The Ryukyu's did a lot of trading and political negotiation with the Chinese (as well as with Japan and other Southeast Asian countries) and this garden is one example of the Chinese cultural influence.

--A Shinto shrine's most characteristic feature is always the torii gate entrance. Shinto beliefs combine animism with ancestor worship, and it is quite common to find a bit of Buddhism mixed in as well.

Oh, and about the pictures: I tend to find the details more interesting than the standard, full-frame, guidebook-style shots. If you want to see the full front of Shuri Castle, check out Jake's album on Facebook. And thanks for reading!

A Shisa lion guards the entrance to the castle. Btw, you see these things EVERYWHERE in Okinawa!

The front on Shuri Castle's main building, the Seiden, where the king conducted business.

The Shurei-mon or Shurei Gate at the castle--one of many impressive gates.


One of the central features of Fukushu-en is a waterfall down the front of this pile of rocks--the waterfall is just around the corner, you can see the base of it in this picture, where the woman is standing.


A piece of cool statuary on a bridge in the garden.


One of four dragon pillars decoarating one of the garden buildings.


After the bird of paradise shot and then this one (a hibiscus), I've decided that floral photography may be the one area of photography I actually have any knack for--I'm certainly no good capturing portraits or landscapes!


The rather imposing torii gate at the entrance to the shrine.


This is the same sort of drum used in eisa dance--another Okinawan tradition. I'm not really sure what role it plays in Shinto rituals but it was there in the . . . sanctuary? (not sure what to call it) along with the other religious items.


Statue of the Buddha on the grounds of the Shinto shrine.

Thought for the Day

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
--John 5:39-40 NIV

Still catching up--Hawaii 2

Hey all!

Those of you reading this obviously know me, so you should understand why I want you to see this: turtle pics! I just have to go back and show everyone because this was one of the best experiences ever. For those of you who don't share my turtle fascination, there are other amazing Hawaii shots here too.

This is the beach on base, walking distance from L & S's house--what a dream!

(You can walk to the beach from our house here in Oki too; it's not quite as picturesque as this but it has an amazing pirate ship playground!)

And this is Lanikai beach, maybe you've heard of it.

Turtle! Turtle Beach, up on the North Shore, is a natural hang out for these guys. They nibble on the algae then make their way onto the beach to bask in the sun. They don't even seem to notice the people that flock to see them.

We'll get back to more turtle pictures in a minute--I was drawing from multiple cameras so things aren't quite in order here, sorry! In the meantime, this is Logan and I enjoying the water!

Unspeakable cuteness!

Logan and Elena, our two little blond beach babies, chillin' together.

This and the next picture are courtesy of Sarah's super-cool underwater camera. No zoom here; they were literally close enough to touch. Did I mention that this was absolutely amazing?

Great times with great friends

Next stop: Okinawa, Japan . . .