Posts on the way!

I hope you enjoy all the new pics below! (UPDATED October 4th 11:30am) I'm slowly but surely getting up to date here :o)

What's to come soon?

*Jason's trip to Tokyo (from Sep 1)
*More around base, Jusco novelty shop (from Sep 21)
*Ocean Expo Park and Churaumi Aqaurium (from Sep 27)

Okinawan Sunrise

August 30th 2008 6:14am

I was up early enough to catch the beautiful sunrise last month! I am not too pleased with all the poles and wires in the way, but there is nothing I could do about it. You can still see how stunning the sunrise is! I hope you enjoy them :l)

Lunch at Four Seasons, and Mihama American Village

August 16th 2008
We heard about Four Seasons from quite a few of our new friends here, and decided to try it out for ourselves one day for lunch! Ahhh Four Seasons...considered by many to be one of the best places to eat on the island, and now we know why! (We still love our Sam's Maui though ;o) ) Four Seasons is one of the many Teppanyaki restaurants here on the island. Here is a little excerpt about teppanyaki from Japan Update.

"Dining at a teppanyaki restaurant is like going to a comedy club and being served by the performer. For those of you who have never eaten at a teppanyaki restaurant, this style of cuisine consists of a Western-style dish of cubed steak or seafood, bread or rice, some vegetables and a cup of coffee or tea. What makes these restaurants memorable is that each group of people at a table has their own chef, who puts on an often-humorous performance of slicing vegetables, juggling salt and peppershakers, and telling jokes. Even if you can't speak Japanese, the humor is easily understood. Teppanyaki restaurants are quite popular with both foreigners and locals alike.
"

That just about covers it! It was delicious and we had a wonderful time :o)

Just a short walk from Four Seasons, Mihama American Village was built to be a "taste of home" for the US military and their families stationed in Okinawa. It is filled with entertainment, food and fun! The ferris wheel (resting on top of a building unusually enough) is beautiful, as it lights up in many different colors and patterns. I could sit and watch it all night! We have no plans to ride it anytime soon though, as it is a 30 minute ride, and I can just see myself being terrified and having to wait 30 minutes for it to be over, lol! There is also a starbucks in American Village, as well as a multiplex movie theater and arcade! At nighttime, there are usually performers out on the main square. We stopped to enjoy a young and very talented band one night. Japanese music is beautiful! It almost seems instrumental when you don't speak the language, their voices just like another instrument :o)

I have a few photos the restaurant and our evening, but unfortunately not very many! The first ferris wheel photo would normally be discarded as the humidity found its way onto my lens, eek!...but I kept it to show everyone just how humid it is here!!! The last photo is of a little Fruit Bat that happened to be in the same folder as the rest of these. I know many people find bats scary, but I think he is just the most darling little thing! Okay...just a TINY bit scary perhaps :-P

Hibiscus in the rain

August 7th 2008

I won't normally be sharing straight photography on this blog, as it is meant to document our experiences here in Okinawa which are mostly taken with quickly capturing any and all memories in mind, rather than getting that perfect manual shot. (I have a separate blog as my creative outlet that I haven't updated in months)...but I just adore these shots of the hibiscus flowers out in the front of our house. I had a great opportunity to photograph them because it was raining off and on continuously, and I waited for the rain to create the pretty droplets I wanted, and then 2 minutes later as it dried up, I could go out and shoot the photo without worrying about my camera getting wet. Perfect huh? :o) These are still not with manual mode, I used the auto macro setting. They are also my first photos taken with a brand new camera, the Canon Rebel XSI (which is AMAZING and I highly recommend it) but I have since returned that camera, and am waiting patiently for a Canon 50D this winter.

Celebrating our second anniversary, in Naha City!

August 4th 2008


We had a lovely little 2nd anniversary celebration in Naha City. The Kokusai street market was lots of fun to check out, and very busy! Just as with Jusco...color is everywhere, people are everywhere, things are everywhere! It has the tendency to be overwhelming. I loved seeing all the little toys, especially the little mi-ja (I think they're called) dolls! I found a kimono-wearing Minnie Mouse cell phone trinket that I fell in love with. Mickey and Minnie, and all of Disney are very popular here in Okinawa!

Our anniversary dinner at Sam's Maui restaurant was just perfect! It took us over an hour to decide where to eat because there were endless places to choose from. Sam's Maui ended up being all we hoped for and more! The food was simply the all-time best we've ever had from any restaurant! Words can't express how delicious this food was. I can still taste the sirloin steak with lemon butter sauce ahhhhh! We both ordered the three course meal below with special tropical drinks, complete with sugar cane sticks and little parrots that delighted our hearts! The ruyuku glasses our drinks were served in, were also given to us as an anniversary present at the end of the meal!

Course 1

Starter: Tropical Dish -Meatballs with sweet tangy mustard
Appetizer: Shrimp Cocktail Supreme
Entree: Sirloin Steak Sam's Cut

All of Our Dinners are Served with Curry Soup from Our Big Cast Iron Pot,
Crisp Fresh Salad with Your Choice of Dressing, Island Seasonal Vegetables,
Potatoes and Either Garlic Bread, Steamed Rice or Garlic Rice.

We spent hours walking along Kokusai Street. It was fun-filled and romantic. There was so much to see and do, we left plenty of new experiences for next time! :)

I'll never forget the $65 taxi fare to and from Naha though! Thank goodness for our wheels which we now have in the form of a 1996 Toyota Ipsum.









A few from the point n' shoot (Jason's Camera)