A Georgraphy Lesson

Although we know exactly where Okinawa is located in relation to mainland Japan most people do not. When the March earthquake hit, our families were panicked and we were going about our daily life like nothing had ever happened. The reason for that was because we are a considerable distance away from the mainland, about 450 miles away from the most southern tip and about 950 miles away from Tokyo. Here is a map that gives you a better idea:

The Okinawa Prefecture is one of Japan's southern most prefectures and it is made up of hundreds of islands called the Ryukyu chain. The Ryukyu chain starts at the southern tip of mainland and extends all the way to Taiwan. Okinawa is the largest of the islands and it directly between mainland and Taiwan. 

Here is another map that shows Okinawa in relation to other countries, we are only about an hour away from Taiwan and China, I feel some weekend trips coming on!

Now on to our lovely island, I thought readers would enjoy a map of Okinawa to see where we live and where all the bases are located. 

Now let me give you the run down. Trevor works on Camp Hansen and we live right near Camp Foster in Chatan-Cho (I'll put a better map up of Chatan). We used to live in between Camp Courtney and White Beach Naval Facility but living out in the boonies was no fun. 

This shows how much of the island is occupied by bases, quite a lot actually. Not the best quality, sorry!

I hope this helps everyone's understanding of where Okinawa is located and what our little island is like! I hope everyone has a great week and hopefully I will have more posts to come in the next few days! P.S I am taking requests for posts so if there is anything you would like to read about bring on the suggestions!

Twenty years later......

So it has been weeks since I last got on here. Everyday I vowed to update but I just never got around to it. The truth is I haven't gone on too many cool adventures lately, partly due to not feeling that great and Trevor has been working almost every weekend. But, finally things seem to be back on track and I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (tunnel=living on Okinawa). We are creeping up on our one year mark living on this island, can you believe it??? We are also close to our one year wedding anniversary! Crazy! As much as I want time to fly by so I can move back to America (to be with my family, be neighbors with Alexandra, own a vacation home on Boca Grande with Lauren and Ryan, and plan lots of summer and holiday visits with my California besties) I don't want time to fly by too fast that I don't enjoy everything this island has to offer..... Hmmmmm let me think, actually I just want both at an accelerated rate! But let me slow down for a minute and allow me to present my top 5 things I love and don't love about this little island home away from home. We will start with the "don't love" list so we can end on a positive note!

Top 5 things I do not love about this island:

1. It is an island (65 miles long, average 5 miles wide), can you say stir crazy?! Side note, I saw an RV sales lot the other day, where in the world do those people plan to drive to???

Do not let the length fool you.

2. The humidity aka mold breeding grounds. I about died when we first arrived in July but I slowly grew accustomed to it. I think my blood has thinned because when I go back to California I feel like I am in Antarctica. 

3. The crazy price of produce (on base and off)!!! Maybe I am overreacting but $6.00 for a small bushell of asparagus, 1.27 for an apple or (drum roll please) 3,000 yen for two mangos (that comes out to about $37.00). What really gets me is that even after I pay an arm and a leg for produce it isn't even that great. FRUSTRATING!

These silly melons are about $26.00 each, it better be the best dang melon I have ever had!

4. The language barrier ON BASE. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect anyone to speak English on this island especially because it is their wonderful country not mine but man o man when I am trying to find something in the commissary, trying to get pants hemmed on base, or calling information I want to pull my hair out! This is my diva moment but if HR is going to hire people to work on an American base to interact with American personnel I think knowing English would be a fantastic idea. (background info to my rant: it is virtually impossible for military spouses or dependents to obtain the jobs that the Japanese locals fill. Not everyone can live off a single income so help those ladies out and hire em!)

5. Roads and speed limits. The roadways here are awful! When you are not sitting in the congested expressway exits you are chugging along at 20 miles per hour because that is the speed limit. Okay, I am exaggerating but the fastest you are allowed to travel is 60 KPH= 37MPH (on the 35 mile long expressway you can go a whopping 50 MPH, speed racer)!

Now on to happier things....Top five things I love about this island!

1. Bella Napoli. This cute little restaurant has the best pizza in the world! Who would have thought?

And it has a beautiful view! (it's on the 3rd floor of the pink building if you can't see the picture).

My favorite, the margherita.

2. Blue Seal Ice Cream. This chain has the best smoothies, crepes, ice cream and just writing about it is making my mouth water.

I'm loving their plastic smoothie spread. My favorite smoothie is the mixed berry with soft serve on top, yummm!

Their crepe display, I have yet to have one of these bad boys because I am on this special diet that consists of me never ordering what I really want and then not shedding a single pound. When I don't eat for a week I will order one and let you know how it is!

 3. My wonderful Japanese students.When I arrived back in July I was looking for something to do! I went to the job listing tab on the wonderful website okinawa.bookoo.com and there was a request for an English teacher to help Japanese spouses learn conversational English. Perfect! I started with 2 different groups of ladies, intermediate and beginner and we met three times a week for about 2 hours. When I went back to the states we put the classes on hold but when I got back we hit the ground running. This time I had almost all new students and I just have to say I love them! They are the sweetest, funniest, most eager ladies I have ever met and my experience on this island would not be the same without them!

Out to Lunch, there are a few ladies missing, we have 9 ladies total.

4. The amazing gyms on base. Okay so I cheated on this one, it is obviously not reflective of the Japanese culture or experience but the gym rocks! There are 8 different on-base gyms but I frequent the one closest to our house on Camp Foster. The facility is beautiful and the class selection is great. My favorites are spin/cycle, turbo kick, functional metal body and body sculpt. I have become a happier fit person because of this gym so that is why it makes it into the top 5.

5. The beautiful beaches. I do not even need to write anything because the pictures speak from themselves.

Beach at Naval Base White Beach, one of the first we visited. 

Torii Beach on the Army Base, I was really proud of my photography skills on this one, doesn't this belong in an ad or something? 

On our way to the Kerama Islands to snorkel

First snorkel spot, beautiful!

Last but not least!

6. Okay I have one more- The Okinawan people! Although Okinawa is a part of Japan, I think most would agree when I say that it definitely has its own distinct personality. I have yet to go to Tokyo so I am not an expert but from what I have heard Okinawans are much friendlier, in fact they may be some of the friendliest people in the world. Of course you have a few who do not like Americans and our presence here but for the most part everyone is so kind and welcoming and I just love them!

So that about rounds out my list, maybe next year I will have five more for each category or even better, ten more for the things I love and zero for the things I don't! I promise to be back tomorrow as I already have posts forming in my head, no more blogger block!

Oooooo I almost forgot for those of you who don't know, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton got married this past weekend right outside of San Antonio and they used Don Strange, the same amazing event planning/catering company we used for our wedding! How cool is that?! Unfortunately, we did not have our receptions at the same location, Don Strange has 4 venues, but nonetheless great minds think alike! Here is a link to their website: http://donstrange.com/index.php   Enjoy!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST GRANDPA IN THE WORLD!!

Today my Papa turns a young 79! You really would never know he is 79, he walks a mile and half everyday, works in the yard, mows the lawn and is even up on the latest Hollywood gossip!

Birthday greetings from my lovely Japanese students!

Birthday Gig'em from Trev!

And Lastly,

Birthday love from me!

Happy Birthday Papa, I love you!!

Weekend Recaps

To all my facebook friends, you have already seen most of these pictures and video but to our families this is new for you! Last weekend we went to Forest Adventure park with our friends. Forest adventure is a zip lining/obstacle course that is situated on top of a large hill with beautiful views of the Pacific! I have been wanting to do this since we arrived on Okinawa but Trevor was not too enthused because in his own words "I have already done this before", well bah-humbug! After our friends invited us and and the other husbands said it was cool Trevor quickly changed his mind, ahh the power of peer pressure! 

The crew

All strapped in and ready to go!

On the practice course

So once you get strapped in the staff brings a group to a small practice course where they fill you in on all the safety rules and how to maneuver around the park. After 5 minutes of practice we were on our own, I was slightly worried that there was no way that brief was thorough enough but once we started I realized the course was a piece of cake. 

Landing was tricky

At the end of the zip-line course you can opt to call it a day and go home OR continue on to their Tarzan course. We obviously continued on and but within a few minutes I was wishing we hadn't! 

I have a small fear of heights but this outing definitely helped me conquer that. P.S anyone reading this who is from Oki- I do not recommend going in the summer, you get really hot and a little worn out so try to go fall, winter or spring!

I am a little out of order but I wanted to show y'all some pictures from Friday night. I never thought I would embrace this Okinawa craze but I have to say I am now a fan of Karaoke! We met up with a group of friends at a place near our house called Big Echo. You walk into this huge building, tell the front desk how many people are in your party and they then direct you to your own personal karaoke room. The room is made up of a huge table, flat screen tv, a large remote to choose your songs and of course microphones! They also have a variety of food, desserts and drinks so when you are ready to order you pick up a phone mounted to the wall and the waiter then comes to your room, convenience at it's finest!

They were total pro's!

 

Turf is loving it!

Good Ole' Nsync

 

I'm going snorkeling tomorrow so hopefully I will have some good stories and even better pictures!

Vacayyyy

So it is official, Trev and I are going to Thailand in June! Since we didn't get to go on a honeymoon after we got married we are making up for it a year later, in fact we will be on the beautiful sandy beaches of Krabi on our anniversary, June 19th! I thought I would show y'all a few pictures and fill you in on our vacay plans. We had originally planned on going to Hawaii but after some serious deliberation we decided that we might as well explore Asia while we have the chance. I took it upon myself to research amazing places to visit and stay and WA-LA this is what I came up with!

Grand Palace

We are starting our trip in Bangkok. We fly from Okinawa to Tokyo and then on to Bangkok, where we will stay for 2 full days. I haven't nailed down our itinerary for this amazing city but I do know that we will be going to the Grand Palace and the floating market! If anyone has been to Bangkok and has suggestions please share!

Floating market, As I was looking for some fun fact to tell y'all about this market I read about 20 reviews that said it is a huge tourist trap. Whatever! 

After exploring Bangkok we are hopping on an Air Asia flight (the southwest airline of Asia!) and going to Ao Nang, Krabi. The only way I can describe it is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!

Ao Nang Beach

Krabi is very similar to Phuket, but just not as crowded or touristy. Yes, it is beautiful but it has much more to offer! On our to do list is island hopping, snorkeling, kayaking, hiking and fishing (Trevor's only request). They also offer elephant trekking through the jungle which I am slightly excited about but I am not sure if I can bring myself to support poor elephants having to carry lazy vacationers. I am an animal lover, what can I say?

Phi Phi Island

I'll be sure to get a two person kayak so when I get tired after 10 minutes Trev can still get us around!

Thailand is known for being a fairly inexpensive place to travel and I am going to have to agree! (I say that now, we will know for sure when we get back and look at our bank statement) Plane tickets were a little pricey, not terrible but about $700.00 per person round trip and our puddle-jumper tickets to Krabi were $300 total for the 2 of us round trip (not bad!) But our real savings were in the hotels!! We have yet to book a place for Bangkok but the resort in Krabi is booked and ready to go!

Vogue resort and spa

Deluxe ocean suite

This bad boy is costing us $89.00 a night! Disclaimer: We are going during the low season so most hotels have slashed their prices, good for us! Normally this room would be about double but if you are interested in visiting Thailand, go between May and October and you will find killer deals! (You might also find yourself stuck in torrential downpours but it is a risk I am willing to take)!
We will be in Krabi for 5 days then returning to Bangkok for another day of exploration and then back to Oki we go! I hope y'all enjoyed this little post, be expecting a big one about this adventure after June 24th! (Might I add, the day before my birthday)
Okay time for bed, good night everyone, I'll be back in the AM with more posts, promise!!

Our humble abode

So I am going to make this quick because it is getting late here and I am tired but I am on a blogging role and I just can't stop until I finish this post. We have just about finished decorating our little place and I thought I would show y'all. Of course I will always be re-decorating and tweaking things here and there until the day we leave but here is what is looks like for now:

This is part of our small entry way, the door on your right goes into the first guest bedroom and the hall on your left is for the guest bathroom and shower.

Guest bedroom, its not the greatest but it works for now. The gosh awful wallpaper really restricts you along with the fact that there is no where on this island that has cute home stuff, I mean no where! I'm just trying to work with what I've got and its not much!

The lovely pink guest bathroom. I don't think the Japanese know what neutral means.

This is the hot water thingy that you have to turn on before showering, doing dishes or laundry. I don't really know why they have these so unfortunately I can't tell you anymore about them. 

Eating area and kitchen. Behind that stylish accordion door is our laundry room.

Our kitchen. We have American appliances and it is glorious!!

Cute little living room with my orchid that I have managed to keep alive for almost 4 weeks now, I am very impressed with myself.

The TV stand as well as the couch were purchased here in Oki. The picture doesn't do the tv stand justice but it is a beautiful piece from Indonesia. The couch is not quite as exotic, we bought it on base at the Foster furniture store.

Sunny master bedroom. Again, the wall paper has really thrown a wrench into my plans.

I love love love our Armouir. Thank you Mom for letting me take this!

If you have a pink guest bathroom it is only natural that the master be blue, duh!

The wonderful walk-in closet. As you can see I have taken over just a bit but Trevor doesn't have too many clothes so it works out.

I get the closet and Trevor gets the 2nd guest bedroom as an office, I think that is a pretty fair trade off. This room is not quite complete, we still need some curtains and a rug and desperately need to hang pictures (only problem is that all the walls are covered in paper and I am a little nervous to put a bunch of holes through it).

Another view.

Our new patio furniture! Finding a decent set was quite the feat so finally having some is wonderful!

We also picked up a little barbecue this weekend and now our patio is complete!

I feel so blessed to have found this apartment, I am glad we tried Japanese style living so we can say we did, but moving into this place was the best decision we could have ever made. It is a total American style house and those are a bit hard to come by so we are definitely staying put!