Shopping in Naha

Saturday we ventured out to Naha for some shopping. I have heard and read about the market on Kokusai Street and wanted to check it out for ourselves. Thanks to Morris' navigation skills we found it with no problem. It was quite interesting to say the least. We walked and walked for hours. I especially liked the market where all the fresh fish and other foods were being prepared. We saw some crazy stuff. This area was the closest to what my mind envisioned when I found out we were moving to Japan! Enjoy the pics!

Ocean's Pizzaria

Okay to blog or not to blog that was the question right, well I decided to attempt to blog. I will be the first to admit I am not as witty or interesting as my husband but I am going to give this a try. Mainly I just want my family to be able to keep up with our daily lives. I will try not to bore you to death but I can't make any promises.

Okay today the boys, myself and my friend Rachael got into the car with my handy navigation in tow and headed out seeking the salt museum and pizzaria. Morris and I found this place a few weeks back while we were out geocaching. Today he was not with us so finding this place I knew may be a challenge. My courage increases when I at least hava a friend in the car so I won't completely panic when I get lost. It is crazy that a place can be only 5.5 miles from my front door but it took us a good 30 min to drive there with the traffic and narrow roads. We made it without any problems...and enjoyed our pizza. The Ocean's Pizzaria had a buffet....hawaiian, cheese, and seafood pizza..YUM!! The kids really liked the seafood pizza....clam, shrimp and calamari topped. No thanks....needless to say I passed that one up. The view was beautiful, right out the window was the blue water. I swear it feels like I am on vacation sometimes and I have to remind myself that I actually live here. After our bellies were full we looked around the shopping center before we headed out for our next adventure...ice cream!!! We tried out the "Big Dip" ice cream shoppe and happily ordered some blue bell heaven on top of a waffel cone...delish!! Overall I was proud of myself today...I drove and didn't get lost. Hey I may be taking baby steps but I am getting there. It is a good day if I make it back home and my car is still in one piece...(hehe) I actually drove around like I live here or something:) It is getting easier, I can actully see that now. Rachey and I have decided to make each Friday a new adventure, a new place to find or try. I have a feeling Fridays could be dangerous with us on the roads....you have been warned!!

To blog or not to blog....that is the question

Holy Mackerel! It's been 2 months since my last post....errr....blog.....or whatever you call these little thoughts of mine that I hurl onto the information super highway. I'm wondering if I should keep this thing "alive" or let it rest in peace. I think I'll keep it on life support for now. Maybe I should try to talk Michelle into taking over for me....or be my coauthor.

So have you ever heard of a dorky little hobby called "geocaching"? Long story short, it's a treasure hunting game played all over the world using a GPS unit. Some people go as far as calling it a sport, but that's a stretch if you ask me. For more info on geocaching, click here. The reason I bring it up is because we have seen so much of this island that would've otherwise never seen if it weren't for geocaching. It's something fun, safe, and easy for the whole family (all ages, young and old) to enjoy. Most of the amazing pictures we've taken have come from our geocaching adventures. A piece of advice though: Don't tell your buddies at work that you're into geocaching....you'll catch a rash of sh*t for being a nerd. :-) The pictures accompanying this post are just a fraction of sights seen during geocaching.

Later peeps.

La Familia Reunites / Drinky Drink.....

Our family is together again (Can you see the clouds above my head parting and hear the angels singing?). My beautiful wife and two boys arrived last week on the "Patriot Express". The blog posts have been scarce because I've been busy familiarizing my family with the base and what little of the island I know (this is not alot mind you). The boys have taken to their new surroundings like fish to water, and my better half is still experiencing a bit of culture shock but adjusting quickly. I took them all to "American Village" the 2nd day they were here to break them in slowly. More to come in future posts documenting our adjustment to life in Okinawa.

So they have "Pepsi White" here in Okinawa. You're thinking, "What the heck is Pepsi White"? Well, it turns out it is a yogurt flavored Pepsi. Don't ask me how it tastes because I had every intention of buying one but got distracted by some other weird/cool crap and totally forgot to buy the Pepsi. I won't leave you hanging too long though, look for my report on the taste in future posts. I can, however, tell you about this bangin' apple juice we bought today. I don't know what the heck it says on the label other than the letters "QOO". It's the best apple juice I've ever tasted. It literally tastes like you're drinking a fuji apple (if you've never had a fuji apple you're really depriving yourself). We also bought some orange juice made by "QOO" and it was scrumtious as well.....kind of like Sunny D but better. I just wish I could read the d*mn nutrition labels!!! How many carbs? How much sugar?!? I saw some zeros on the label and I have convinced myself that means no carbs and sugar.....yes folks, a healthy dose of denial. :-)

Finally, our household goods are on island! We have to get the government furniture taken away first though. The government furniture is like government cheese....CRAP. Oh yeah, I also bought my wife a car this week, a Honda Capa. She digs it. I dig my Honda Torneo. I watched my beloved Nashville Predators beat the LA Kings in overtime today on AFN....SWEET! Go Preds! I'll stop now before my sentence fragments get worse. :-)

BX/Commissary on Payday Weekend

So I pull into the BX/Commissary parking lot this afternoon, and right away I start to hear the Guns and Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle" playing in my head. The parking lot is at full capacity. I start to turn around and go home, but I really want the Moto GP 08 video game for my Xbox 360. I make 3 laps around the parking lot and alas, a lone glorious parking spot. I do my best Jeff Gordon impression and fly into the spot before someone else spots it and takes what's rightfully mine.

I start the long trek to the BX, as my awesome parking spot is about 300 yards from the BX.Now I make it through the door, show my ID to the ID checker and I'm in! I head straight to the video game isle and immediately spot my video game.....there are 3 copies on the shelf. The problem is that there's a mob of 18 to 20 year old video game nerds foaming at the mouth and blocking the entire Xbox section. Do I risk being injured by one of these ravenous nerds and go in for my game? I decide to wait it out and watch these nerds like I'm on a safari. The nerdy mob moves along to the computer section (what a surprise) and I seize the opportunity to snag my game. Got it! I head to the register, all of which have a substantial line. I pick the line that has people with very few items in their hands. Once again, computer nerds strike. I was unaware that the dorks in front of me were purchasing a computer, and decided to pay $1300 in cash. The cashier looks flustered with all that cash (in 20's) in her hands....uh oh, I sense a long delay coming. Ten minutes and 1000 nerves later, I'm finally out of there with Moto GP 08.

I had a commissary list with me, but after the BX experience, I felt defeated and wanted no part of the commissary. The moral of the story boys and girls is this: On payday weekend at Kadena AB, avoid the BX and commissary like the plague!!!

Base Housing: Observations

You know, if it weren't for the military and base housing, allot of the folks living in base housing would be in a trailer park or inner city ghetto. I mean seriously, bare feet, baby on the hip, sweat pants with holes, hair that looks like they just woke up.....Ughhh! I'm not saying you have to be in a suit or dress when you come out of your house, but at least be presentable! Put some shoes on those nasty feet! These are the adults I'm talking about....can you imagine what their kids look like? That's right, even worse. Some of these people make me cringe.

Why do people in base housing park in a spot that's clearly marked for someone else's house? Why do people put their trash next to a trash can that's not theirs? Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by complete retards. How do we win a war on terror when idiots aren't even capable of parking in the correct place? To make it worse, these retards are raising children who are going to be equally retarded, or worse. Common sense has left most of our society, and the future is NOT bright folks. That's my rant for the day.

Commissary, BX & Mail

If you’re coming to Okinawa, let me enlighten you on some of the things that the commissary and BX seem to always be out of (And this list will grow substantially I’m sure):

Coffee Mate Coffee Creamer (The cold stuff that is usually in the milk section)
AA Batteries
Hot Dogs
Hot Dog Buns
Pillows

Like I said, this will be an on-going list. Another thing I’m not used to is that the BX and Commissary are ALWAYS packed with people. I don’t care what time of day you go, it’s ALWAYS full of people. This is something that never happened at my last duty station. Even if it was too crowded, or I couldn’t find an item I wanted, I could always go off base to Wal-Mart, which is obviously not an option here.

I received my first piece of mail today….woohoo! I don’t know why that made me so happy. LOL I guess I was tired of going to my mailbox (which is nowhere near my home) just to see cobwebs and hear the sounds of crickets chirping.