4 and Counting.......

So far in our kitchen this summer, we have come across 4 very well fed cockroaches. I say "well fed" as in humongous cockroaches. 3 out of the 4 have met their maker, or should I say "perished" under the back side of a pan. 1 little bugger got away. It doesn't matter if my kitchen is clean. The disgusting creatures just love to surprise me when I open a drawer or flip on the light. Late summer is the season in Japan for insects to pump up on their steroids and scare us gaijin women silly. There truly are hoards of insects in Japan. It's much like a prehistoric island that time forgot when one looks at the shear size of the bugs here. Picture wasps the size of a human thumb. Just yesterday we came home and discovered on our satellite a spider the size of a small planet feasting on it's, moon-sized dinner. As soon as I saw it looming over our front door, I huddled by our front gate with Josh. I wasn't about to walk under this black widow looking thing. We had just invested smartly in some spider spray from D2 (A discount home store). Mike braved the pass under the spider into our house and retrieved the spray. After..... Oh, I don't know like 15 minutes of trying to spray it down, it still was pretty much unphased. Mike finally took a ball and knocked down it's web. It had been slowed down a bit by the spray but was still trying to make an escape. It had fallen to the ground by that point and I ran through our pathway to the front door. Mike battled away with the thing until he finally squashed it. He said that when he squashed it, it made a Pssssssss sound. GROSS!

Although this spider was big, I have seen bigger crawling around our front door. In fact, I think I got a glimpse of our roof-residing friend prior to the following front door incident. I was opening the storm shutters one afternoon when I thought I accidentally might have frightened a praying mantis. I looked again and realized that it wasn't a praying mantis at all but a leg of something much bigger. I quickly shut the sliding glass door and let it continue hiding outside. Several days passed and I forgot about my run-in with this 8 legged monster. One hot day while getting ready to run errands, I ran outside to the car only to find the spider-monster skittering across our front door. I kid you not, this thing was about the size of a large man's hand and it was fast. It was light brown with a skinny body and fat long legs. I picked up Josh and ran off not even going back to lock the front door (Hey it's Japan I knew our house would be pretty safe). I stopped by Mike's work and told him the tale of this beast. He, of course, in typical husband fashion, scoffed at me... telling me that the only big thing by our front door now is Bob the Robber coming to take all our household goods because of our unlocked door and that the spider is probably long gone, frightened away by all my shrieking. 'You'll See' I thought.

Sure enough, we came home and the spider was parked right under our porch over the front door. It was pretty skiddish, so after throwing a ball at it several times, it skittered on top of the roof. Man, it was fast. Mike was just about as startled by the size as I was. It's been several weeks and to this day, I still shake the front door in the morning before going outside. Just in case it's there. Hopefully the shaking will startle it away!

Despite my dislike of the enormous spiders and cockroaches, I'm actually enjoying the other bugs that are hanging around in the warm weather. I don't hear to many Japanese people complaining about the bugs either. In fact, it's considered good luck to see a spider first thing in the morning. I secretly believe that maybe this Japanese belief was inspired by a Buddhist monk who remembered his past life as a spider and wanted to save his "past life" buddies! Most Japanese spiders are harmless to humans. It's the ones that us westerners have brought over that are the harmful ones.

The cicadas here are extremely loud & large. The meeee meeee meee mating call that they create can drown out any conversation. There's also praying mantises, rollie-pollies, caterpillars, locusts, and big beautiful butterflies all over the place. On the boardwalk by the bay, there are thousands upon thousands of water beetles that scatter about as I come racing through with my jogging stroller. It's fun to watch all the children racing around with nets and small aquariums to catch all kinds of these critters. It's definitely a favorite past time for Japanese children. In fact, at the local Daiei and other stores they sell huge rhinoceros or stag beetles (Mushi is Japanese for beetle or insect). All or most Japanese children apparently have kept these creatures as pets. I recently read an article about how they now have live beetle vending machines! Apparently, a popular Fall season gift in the country side are "Autumn singing" insects which are primarily crickets and grasshoppers.

The Japanese love for insects is apparently rubbing off on me. Don't get me wrong, I still can't stand the site of a giant cockroach sitting in my kitchen or a cicada flailing about across my face. However as summer winds down, their (cicadas) meee meee meeeing is becoming less and less prevalent. It's a reminder that soon we will have to start preparing for the cold cold months when summer just seems like a long ago dream.

A little side note, we are now locked into the JapanBloggers Webring. If our readers are interested in more things Japanese, click on the icon above our Blogger button on the left hand side of our site. The left and right arrows take you to the next or previous blog in the ring, while the question mark option will take you to a random blog. Happy reading!

Another Early Morning in Kamakura

It's been a while since my last solo excursion into the great wide open to shoot photos. So on Saturday night, I set my alarm for 05:00AM with the intention of heading to Kamakura the next morning.

Rolling out of bed was surprisingly easy on Sunday morning. I actually woke up several times throughout the night, excited about the early morning adventure, like a child on Christmas morning. So when my alarm went off as scheduled, I ran downstairs, performed a fast-forward version of my morning routine, then headed out for Maborikaigan Station. I've never been a morning person, but I love this time of morning in Japan. As the sun is rising, there are very few people out on the street and even the busy Japanese cities so close to Tokyo and Yokohama seem desolate. The only sound, as far as my ears could hear, was the early morning chirping of the summertime cicadas.

As usual, it took about an hour to get to Kamakura from the house, since the journey includes a short walk between Shioiri Station on the Keikyu Line and JR's Yokosuka Station; not to mention the waiting I had to do for trains at each station. I got to Kamakura a little past 06:30AM and headed out the west exit - away from all the typical Kamakura tourist locations - and headed towards Sasuke Inari Shrine and Zeniarai Benten Shrine. A bit about each:

Sasuke Inari Shrine: Built around 1195AD, this lesser known shrine is dedicated to Inari, the harvest Shinto god, who as legend has it came to Minamoto Yoritomo in a dream and advised him to build an army while in exile in Izu and overthrow a rival Clan. For more on the history, click here.

They could probably change the name of this place to Spider Inari Shrine, because the only other living things that appeared to have visited this shrine all summer were Japan's famous large colorful spiders. As some of you may know, I'm not a big fan of spiders, but I braved the web-covered pathway and saw a very interesting shrine. The place reminds me of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, with all of the torii gates lined up, but on a much smaller scale. The Inari god must have a thing for foxes, because both Fushimi Inari and Sasuke Inari are filled with them.

Zeniarai Benten Shrine: One of the more popular shrines in Kamakura, Zeniarai Benten was also inspired by a dream of Minamoto Yoritomo, in which a Shinto god recommended he build the shrine to bring peace to the country (seems like these two dreams have conflicting gods). For more, click here.

Zeniarai means "coin washing", and one of the popular things to do at the shrine is to take one's money and wash it in one of the natural springs within the shrine's large cave. Legend has it that the money that is washed here will double, so many people have been seen washing large denomination paper money, even though zeniarai means "coin washing", not "money/bill washing". It's a fun little tradition, so I gave it a try and I will keep you posted if I get rich. On a side note, I actually washed both my Japanese Yen and my American coins that I had on hand. My logic was that maybe it would work for both denominations. We will see...

More pictures are in our Gallery - you'll find them in the 08/28/2006 category. Enjoy!

Like Father, Like Son

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." - Mark Twain

Procrastination... It's the thorn in my side that I'm slowly beginning to remove. And I'll start here.

If you've been a reader of our blog since May or if you've checked out our May archives recently, you'll recall that my parents came over to Japan for a 3-week visit around that time. My dad and I have a little father/son rivalry when it comes to shooting pictures - he shoots with a 35mm film camera and I shoot digital - but I like to think that I was fortunate enough to inherit his "cameraman's eye" for shooting, so I have always respected the shots that he takes and the photographs he makes, especially since he doesn't have the instant gratification of seeing his pictures immediately pop up in a digital image display window with the option of "delete" or "save". When he shoots, it gets recorded as a 35mm negative, and then *gasp* he has to wait until he's developed the entire roll of film before seeing the results of his work.

The other day, I received an email from my mom that had a link to a Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper article (click the link to see the article and picture). One of my dad's pictures from their trip to Japan had been published. He shot it at the Sanja Matsuri in Tokyo. Congrats, Dad!

My dad's brush with fame inspired me to put a stop to my procrastinating ways. You see, I took a ton of pictures while my folks were in town, but as time went on I slowly let my collection gather digital dust. So this past week, I did a little bit of house cleaning in my picture files. I started with my pictures from the Dosun Festival.

The Dosun Festival is held annually towards the end of May at Araihama-kaigan Beach in Miura City, which is at the tip of the Miura Peninsula, which is named after the Miura Clan. The Miura Clan was famous for the "Kasagake" style of mounted archery, and this event celebrates the history of the Clan and their unique archery traditions. This year, the event was held on Sunday, May 28. I won't begin to describe the event, because I am completely unfamiliar with the traditions and history involved, but the photo opportunities were excellent, so I will let the pictures do the talking.

You can check out the long-overdue photos in our Gallery, dated 08/24/2006 (which reflects today's post date).

The Boy who Turned Three

As many of our readers may have noticed, we love to brag about our son, Josh. Well this entry is no different. Our little prince will officially be turning three on the 23rd, but this past weekend we had his super-duper swimming pool party. We had two inflatable pools in the backyard. I made a "Sand" cake along with homemade ice cream, and ice cream sandwiches. Mike "manned" the grill and produced some awesome hamburgers and hotdogs. There were also loads and loads of Chu-hi and Beer to go around. (Don't worry mom, we didn't give to much to the kids! There were also lots of sodas, juice and water.) My guacamole was a pretty big hit too. We had a great crowd and lots of kiddies. Josh made out like a bandit with all of the presents he received. Check out the fantastic photos that we took in our gallery.

Living "Off Base" in Japan

Ok, so I said I was going to only do a blog about Josh's birthday party, but I thought that I would also include my most recent excursion last week to Costco. Yes, they have a Costco in Japan. In fact there are many in Japan and our readers may be pleasantly surprised that about 70-80% of the products sold are the same things that can be found in the States. One of my most important purchases? The Kirkland brand men's size medium undershirts. Mike has been pining for these ever since we left San Diego. In fact, has asked for these on holidays or birthdays. Kirkland brand is the generic Costco brand. However, these undershirts are extremely high quality and and can be purchased at a very fair price. They are thicker and softer than any undershirt that we've come across (for the price). They wash beautifully and hold up well with everyday "wear and tear". Although Mike likes to used lighter shirts during the humid summer, these are perfect for fall and winter. Along with the shirts, I also bought some garbage bags & produce. I know I'm not a very big spender. Lucky for me I have full access to the commissary, so the prices weren't that competitive with what I was paying already. Plus, in my kitchen I really don't have space for mass quantities of things.

To get to Costco, I took a tour bus from base. This actually worked out well for the first time. I brought an ice chest with me, and I didn't have to deal with trying to sing "twinkle twinkle little star" while at the same time trying to navigate/drive to Costco for the first time. When Josh and I boarded the bus, I was suddenly met with a cheer. "Oh Yay, it's Nicki from the webpage!! I'm so glad your on this tour." I was pretty stunned. Wow, I thought, I'm famous. What a kick in the pants. It turns out that Caroline, her husband, and her son were here visiting Japan partly to decide whether or not her husband would accept a job and if they would consider living in Japan. During the trip, we chatted a lot and I was asked a lot of questions. She said that she found our site while searching about information on Yokosuka. Anyway, it got me thinking about how many other folks out there might find our site while searching for information about living in/PCS'ing to Yokosuka and after hearing some of her questions, I thought I would put up a little more information about living off base and some things that I've learned in the almost year that we've been here.

We absolutely enjoy living off base. However, it wasn't all roses I might add. There were definitely some things that I would change/look out for if I could go back in time. Such as:

1. I would suggest taking a little more time to look for a house. If you know or meet folks who have homes off base, ask if you can check them out. Also, asked who their realtor is. All realtors here compete with one another, so go see as many houses with as many realtors as possible. When we were fresh off the plane, we had no idea what to expect on living conditions. Everyone kept on saying how small all of the homes were. We didn't run into a size problem at all. In fact, this place is a mansion (an American mansion, not what Japanese call "mansion") compared to what we were living in back in San Diego. However, we were used to San Diego weather and the high quality of homes. Japanese homes do not age gracefully. We scooped up one of the first homes we saw, which is a big no no. Realtors here will show the shopper some cruddy houses at first, or maybe I should be more "PC", they will show homes that have been on the market for a while. Things to look for in a home might include:

-hook-ups for a washer and dryer
-is there a space for an American style stove? (Some only have room for a fish cooker)
-Japanese or Western style bath tub? Which would you prefer?
-How old is the place?
-Can a Western style refrigerator fit in the kitchen?
-Are the floors hard wood or carpet? Rugs are a costly investment.....
-Check on base to see if any past tenants have given reviews of the place and landlord.
-How close is the market, your work, the park, schools, and for many the most important....how close is the train station?

Again, these are things that were most important to me. Some people moving to Japan may not have these luxuries to consider. We love our place. Readers may notice that I mentioned twice to check on the age of the home. This is because, as I noted earlier, Japanese homes to not age gracefully. The Japanese are famous around the world for their demand for high quality and efficiency in their products. Unfortunately, this standard is not extended into their homes. While an American home at 30 years old would maybe be outdated, is usually is just being broken in. However a Japanese home at 30 years is typically on it's last leg, if it even is up at all. Many times, Japanese people will demolish and rebuild their home after 7-10 years, just to keep it new.

The Japanese do not add insulation to their homes. On some of the newer models they are starting to, but it's still not very common. Some believe that it's for spiritual/religious reasons, some believe it's to cut costs. Whatever the reason, it makes for very cold winters. One thing that I learned from a friend of mine is to invest in curtains. It will help insulate the windows a bit and cut cost on the heating bill. Remember, because the home is not insulated it means that whatever temperature it is outside, it's about that temp inside, too. We woke up many a morning to see 5 degrees Celsius on the thermometer. Also, one of the first investments that should be made after renting is to get a kerosene heater or two depending on how big a house it is. While most homes include wall units with heaters, these are inefficient for the entire winter and the electric bills get costly. Also, check and see if there is an outlet to hook up a gas heater. While these are expensive, they may be a great investment if you're planning on an extended stay. Some other investments may be worth considering for the winter time:

-electric heated mattress pad
-electric heated blankets
-kotatsu (tables with heater units attached on the underside)
-electric heated rugs

Hope that this helps. I'm no expert, but this is what I've learned along the way. This may be the first of many installations.

SPASSO: The Sequel

Nicki wasn't kidding in her last post when she mentioned that she wanted to go back to SPASSO as soon as she could. And it didn't take her long to fulfill that desire... in fact, it took a mere eight days. And this time, I went along for the adventure.

Josh's friend, Zelig, and his wonderful parents, Doug and Darlene, were kind enough to have a playdate with Josh tonight while Nicki and I went on a date together (and separate) at the spa resort. We got to the spa just after 6:00PM, and after taking off our shoes and paying the entrance service people, we agreed to meet again at 7:30PM to call it a night.

In all honesty, I didn't have any positive pre-conceived notions about what to expect. All I could imagine was the idea of hanging out naked with a bunch of other men in a hot tub and admittedly, it didn't seem all that exciting or relaxing. I mean, at the gym locker room, I change in front of guys all the time and don't think twice about it. But at a Japanese spa, one's nakedness doesn't just occur while changing one's clothes; it involves hanging out (literally) in the buff, soaking in tubs, sitting in saunas, and relaxing. I honestly didn't know how comfortable I would be with the situation.

After Nicki and I went our own separate ways, I found my locker and started stripping down. Nicki had briefed me previously about getting two towels... the smaller one being my "walk around" towel for use in the spa, the larger one being for drying off afterwards. So once I was in my birthday suit, I grabbed the small towel, threw everything else in my locker, and headed for the spa room. I learned very quickly that I was definitely comfortable in my own skin... mostly because of what happened next.

You see, as soon as I got close to the spa door, I looked up to see someone entering the changing room from a different door. That someone happened to be a SPASSO female employee. And when she saw me, she couldn't take her eyes off of me... all of me. Honestly, she just kept looking me up and down... as though I was the first gaijin that she ever saw naked. Finally, after a few seconds that felt like an hour, she finally looked down to the floor and said, "sumimasen" (excuse me). At that point, she stayed looking down until she passed me by and I honestly thought that she could have run into a wall if she didn't look up to see where she was going. I just laughed at the situation, because at that point any qualms that I had about being there had vanished.

Once inside the spa room, I took my pre-soak shower, to rid my body of any dirt/sweat/grime that had accumulated throughout the day. Then I made my way to each and every different pool in the place. There was a communal pool with individual lounge seats for soaking, a small side hot tub with water jets spraying from all angles, and an outdoor pool. I tried them all. I also found the hot sauna and cold sauna... I had never been in a cold sauna before, so that was pretty interesting to me (and refreshing). Pretty much everywhere in the room was on the volcanic side of hot, but the cold sauna was kept at a steady zero degrees Celcius. I think that was actually my favorite spot in the entire spa, just because it was such a sharp contrast from the surrounding area.

After about an hour, I decided that I was as relaxed as I could get, so I showered off again and headed back to the locker room to put my clothes back on. I was out waiting for Nicki by 7:00PM, but didn't mind the wait because I bought some barley tea from a nearby vending machine and just relaxed.

All in all, it was a great time. I would definitely go again. Probably not in the next 8 days, but definitely sometime soon.

SPASSO

There are days when I definitely miss the States. Days when all I want to do is drive to Target and shop til I drop or days when I wish I could go to some hole in the wall restaurant and order some greasy unadulterated Mexican food and just eat until I burst. Oh, how I miss the forearm-sized carne asada burritos! Last Tuesday night was definitley NOT one of those days.

Spasso is a Japanese spa resort located just 2-3 kilometers from our home. One of my mommy friends, Darlene, suggested that we go there for a ladies night out. This place is going on the list of things I will miss when I leave Japan. Darlene had been there several times and said that it was fantastic. They have a Summer evening special for August. For 1000 yen (about $10.00), we were given access to their onsens, jet pool, sauna, and "healing room" (laying on hot stones). An onsen is a Japanese communal bath. Yes, ladies and gents, we strip down to our skivies and relax in the hot baths. (The "ladies", of course, seperated from the "gents"). I hear from Jeff that this is a pretty nice place and that folks from Tokyo often spend several nights here to get away from the city. I hear also that their lunch specials are a good deal.

To tell the truth, I was a little nervous when the actual time came to hang out in the buff. When we checked in, we were given a small bag with a big towel and a little towel. Once I placed all my clothing in my locker, I naturally assumed we would cover up with the big towel (You know, being the stereotypical American prude). Until Darlene wispered, "Nicki, little towel". OK, strike one for being the super-cool-up-for-anything mum. I probably turned several shades of pink (my face people!) as I slowly pulled the small towel out of the locker. The large towel was for drying off before departing the spa. Despite my initial nervousness, after several minutes of relaxing I didn't care about the whole naked thing. After all, there were all shapes, sizes and ages there. Including the occasional toddler splashing about.

Before we even got into the baths/pools we had to scrub off head to toe. All the soap, shampoo, conditioner, and face soap was supplied and the notorious little towel served as our wash cloth. Darlene gave us a little tour of the place and the 3 of us stuck together for the most part while we were there. It's a small enough place, but still, we were the only America-jin in the place. There were 3 pools indoors. Two baths were the same, except one being warmer than the other. The temperature of the pools were posted on a digital monitor on the wall. The 3rd pool had jets that we could turn on and off. All of the water was salt water. There was one last pool (where we spent most of our time) outdoors. It felt so good to feel the cool night air after sitting in a super warm pool. There were also "single size" tubs outdoors about the size of a sake barrel tub. The sauna was a wet sauna also with salt water. There were cold water hoses to use just in case we were overheating. There was also a room where we could get massages (for a little extra yen). Also there was a "healing room" where apparently, there are hot stones that we could lay down on. None of us tried that however. If any of our readers have tried it, please let me know how it was!

I'd have to say that when we first moved here, I was never really excited about shrines and temples. I was so much more excited to see the bustling city of Tokyo and finding out where to find the best sushi or learn the language. I respect them (temples and shrines) and realize that, to get an understanding of Japanese culture, I need an understanding of their history. It's just, given the opportunity I'd much rather go to a bath house, go shopping or go to some authentic Japanese restaurant, than visit yet another Temple or Shrine. Most of the time when I go, I end up making sure Josh doesn't crack his skull open on the ancient stone steps or jump in the pond while Mike gets lost in photography. I don't really have the opportunity to just sit and enjoy the serenity of these magnificent places. Going to a bath house in Japan was definitely on the list of things I wanted to do before leaving. Now, I think I'm going to have to do it over and over and over again before leaving! My first experience with an onsen last Tuesday at Spasso was very positive. It pushed the envelope of my comfort zone but only for a moment and then I was past it. I'm looking forward to going back and trying out different onsens besides Spasso. It's something that I'll really appreciate during the cold nights of winter. I suppose my grandma was right when she instructed me to "always try new things". It was comforting to know that if I wanted, I could bring Josh with me also. The 3 of us ladies where able to chat and lay back for hours. When I got home I was so refreshed & relaxed. I went to bed and slept like a log. I have a feeling that Mike is going to regret that I ever found out about this place! Thank you Darlene for being a tour guide for Patrice and me. I would have never tried this place had you not been there to show me the ropes. So now, as I scrub the toilets and clean up pee pee pants, I have something to fantasize about and look forward to.

Oh yes, a little side note that we've added a couple of new links so check them out. It's been a long time coming. My girlfriend from back home in San Diego has her "mommy blog" (Gingers Mom). She's a Navy spouse with 3 kidlets and has a fun writing style. She and her husband actually were the ones who hooked Mike and I up on our blind date. Our other link is also a frequent visitor to our site. Boston Jeff is an NC State Alumni planning on spending some time here in Japan. He looks at our sites along with many others to prepare for his time here. Plus, we've got a special place in our heart for the Wolfpack. Before coming here, Mike was actually the President of the NC State Alumni Club, San Diego chapter.

Sweet Home Yokosuka

My nine days in Okinawa ended a week ago, but I have been swamped - both at work and at home - since getting back. My trip was work-related, although I did get a little bit of time over the weekend and after work on the weekdays to enjoy the sun and sea that seem to cover the island from all angles. Okinawa is a beautiful place, but I definitely preferred the trip we took down there in March over being there in July. July is hot and humid all over Japan, but Okinawa is like a sauna this time of year.

A coworker of mine, Ed, accompanied me on the trip down to Okinawa. We got down there on a Thursday evening and after work on Friday, decided to check out the "pub row" just outside the gate at Kadena AFB. We heard it was a fun place to hang out on the weekends, with energetic people, loud music, and good times. It was all of those things. Ed and I found a little dive called Al's Place along the strip. Al's Place is owned by an expat and had a pretty diverse crowd... several young soldiers, quite a few retired military folks, and a few local Okinawans in the mix, too. A pool table stood in the middle of the room, with a small stage area in the corner, complete with its own house band that played a bunch of covers from the 1970s and 1980s and a few originals every now and then. The bar was being tended by attractive young Okinawan women who spoke very good English - who pretty much were the only women in the entire bar, but it didn't make the place less entertaining at all.

My favorite item on the bar was a jar of awamori, which is a type of rice-based alcohol concoction made primarily in Okinawa and similar to sake. What made the awamori jar so unique was the 4-foot long habu (venomous pit viper) that was soaking in eternal rest along the bottom of the jar (similar to picture shown, which isn't one of mine, but it's a fairly representative replacement shot). Apparently, drinking a shot of "habu awamori" is a test of strength and the result is said to be similar to, well... let's just say that it's said to be a good replacement for Viagra.

Being in a festive mood, I decided to try a shot of the awamori. It actually tasted very smooth, like a high-quality tequila, but was fairly sweet on the taste buds. Personally, I didn't find it all that interesting, but was happy to find out that the Viagra-esque description of the drink was merely a rumor, at least in my case. So after the shot, I switched my order to Orion, the local Okinawan beer.

We ended up staying around Al's Place until it closed up around 2:00AM. Ed actually was holding his own in a pool tournament with some of the other guys at the bar until, during the last game, some belligerent guy tried to cheat and say that he tied Ed in the particular game they were playing, called "Three Ball". It was late and not many people were paying attention, but this guy was so hammered that he could barely stand, much less shoot a small white cue ball across a table at any three consecutive balls. The entire pot was only up to about 3,000 yen (or roughly $30) and Ed didn't feel like arguing, so he just told the guy that they could split the pot. But that wasn't good enough for the drunk guy, who wanted a tie-breaker round. Ed refused and eventually some of the other guys just recommended that they call it a wash, so everyone just took their own ante back. But for a little while there, I thought that guy was going to try to start something with Ed.

After leaving that place, we did a little bar hopping a some of the few places that were still open at that late hour. We eventually ended up at a place that reminded me of a breakfast diner, with two bartenders behind the bar - one Okinawan and one American. The American bartender started talking to us and we ended up getting into a conversation with a Japanese gentleman as well. After an hour or so, that place closed and the Japanese gentleman invited us all (Ed, the American bartender, and me) to another bar that was a Japanese-style place - basically, gaijin (foreigners) wouldn't normally be allowed in without being invited by a Japanese person.

It was a pretty awesome experience from there. Once we got inside that place, the owner came out to say hi to our new Japanese friend/host, who introduced us to the owner. Then, we were seated and the owner quickly went around the bar and came out again with our host's bottle of liquor. You see, over here, it's common for a "regular" to buy an entire bottle of liquor at a bar, then have his name posted on it. Then, on future visits, the customer can just drink out of his own bottle, which no one else gets access to unless it's offered by the owner. Anyway, I had long since quit drinking alcohol for the evening, so I politely asked for mizu (water), doing my best to prevent the host from being offended that I wasn't partaking from his offering. Eventually, we all started singing karaoke. Suddenly, random other people in the place started coming over and joined us, singing right along with us. It was an awesome time and I'm glad to have had the experience... though I was surprised when the American bartender finally got up to leave and I noticed through the open door that the sun had risen. At that point, I looked at my watch and realized it was after 7:00AM. Time to call it a night!

Needless to say, after getting back to base around 8:00AM, I didn't really do much for the rest of Saturday. But I did have a great time on Sunday. I ended up taking our rental car up the coast to the northernmost point on the island, a place called Hedo Point. Along the way, I stopped at Hiji Waterfall, which included a fun 2 kilometer hike along a stream in the middle of a sub-tropical forest. Once I reached the falls, I stopped for about two hours to cool my feet and legs off in the water and to take pictures of some of the other brave souls who came and went during my stop there.

During the following week, I was busy with work for the most part, but Ed and I did have a chance one afternoon before sunset to head up to Okuma Beach in the northern part of the island. That place was pretty amazing. I took a swim in the East China Sea off the coast of Okuma and can honestly say that I have never swam in clearer water. At one point, I was floating on my stomach and watching the colorful fish swim in and out of the coral at the bottom of the sea. I decided to try to put my legs down to reach the bottom... and I couldn't. So then I went under and realized that it must have been 10-12 feet deep at that point. I could see to the bottom with perfect visibility. Unbelievable.

Anyway, all of these pictures are mine, except the one of the habu snake in the awamori jar. The rest of my pictures from the trip are in the Gallery, dated 08/05/2006.