CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER DEMPSEY
Hamburger Steak is one of our family's favorite restaurants. The decor inside and out definitely stands out in Okinawa, as it has a country feel. So if you've wondered about that building with all the old looking wood all over -- it's Bikkuri Donkey: Hamburger Steak Restaurant!!
The hamburger steak, my favorite, is stuffed with cheese and...
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
As I write this post, I’m sitting in front of my computer in Honolulu, HI. The gentle trade winds are blowing through my windows and the usual passing showers are pitter-pattering on the mango trees. I’m longing for Okinawa and that long drive I took not so long ago. Sometimes I find myself...
CONTRIBUTED BY AVIVA BOWMAN
So i was wrestling with my air conditioner remote the other day, and thought of something I could do that would be handy for the masses who read Oki Hai.
When we first moved in, I got some photocopies of translations for my Japanese appliance buttons. I put the dryer one on the fridge right next to...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FILLMAN
Songda View
Typhoon Before
These are before and after shots that I captured of Typhoon Songda that swept over Okinawa on May 28, 2011. A day or two before the storm, I was on a walk and thought this vine-covered building would make a neat photo. We passed the same building the day after Songda and...
CONTRIBUTED BY EILEEN O'REILLY
Snorkeling Thumbs Up
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a control freak. I freely admit it. I won’t SCUBA because the idea of trusting that…machine…to breathe for me…nope. But I sure do love the fish and reef life here on Okinawa…so what’s a girl to do? Snorkel…where? How? Do...
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
I walked to the door of Hanabi, trying every which way to open the door. I couldn’t figure out how to get in! I saw people enjoying themselves through the windows and I immediately felt like the outsider who wasn’t invited to the party. My five-year-old walked up, saw my frustration, and easily slid the door...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE
On base jobs
SEEKING EMPLOYMENT: I am new to the island. I have an education and viable skills. I am looking for employment while living on Okinawa, but am lost about where to start.
WANTED: Competent employees with education and skills to work on a US military base. Many career fields offered and experience may not be necessary....
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FILLMAN
My husband and I are pretty new to Okinawa and we went by the Schilling Community Center on Kadena AB to grab some good maps of the island. While we were there, I noticed a table full of drawings and giveaway. I dropped our names into a few of the drawings, without really knowing...
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to one of our readers: "Pro Wrestling is back on Okinawa under the name Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling. Several of the wrestlers from the group that used to wrestle on Kokusai are now wrestling on the 3rd floor of Naval Kadena (located just past Seaside Ristorante on 58)." The post below reflects the show in its...
CONTRIBUTED BY CALYN PAQUIN
When you think of KFC, what comes to mind? For me, it's the phrase, “finger licking good!” from all their commercials I’ve seen since I was a little kid. Now you may wonder why with all the great eatery options we get in Okinawa, I ever chose to go to KFC. Well, I knew I wanted...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FILLMAN
Spicy Sauce Ingredients
Inexpensive, delicious and fun!
My husband and I tried some of the local sushi the other night at Sushi Zen, along the Sunabe Sea Wall. It was good, but sushi can get so expensive! SO, I decided to take a trip to small Japanese grocery and find some fresh fish, seaweed, sticky rice...
For all you parents looking for a preschool that suits your kids, we’re hoping to add a little something to aid in your search. Parents of children who attend various preschools on island have filled out a series of questions about the schools for the benefit of the rest of us. We welcome more than one voice on each...
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
Pattaya Croc
Another port call, another request by our wonderful deployed Marine for the family to visit. My whole life, I’ve always loved Thai things: Thai food, Thai jewelry, Thai décor, Thai clothes—in fact, the first child I ever sponsored almost 15 years ago was a child from Thailand. However, from what I heard about Pattaya Beach...
CONTRIBUTED BY LEEANN STEVENS
Sukiya Front
Last night, I felt like I wanted to try some local food. So we decided to go to Sukiya. I have often passed it but never tried it before.
Sukiya offers rice and curry bowls, gyudon (a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onions) and donburi (a rice...
CONTRIBUTED BY LEEANN STEVENS
Ocean Breeze
Ocean breeze is one of my favorite on base restaurants. The two-level consolidated Club is a 44,000-square-foot facility that includes a 165-seat Mediterranean-themed dining room called The Veranda with booth- and banquet-style seating; two banquet rooms, the Northern Breeze and the Southern Breeze, to accommodate private parties and professional functions; a 118-machine gaming area; and...
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
Aji Ramen
This restaurant has only been open for a few months. The menu boasts that their ramen is the real thing and the soup is "deliberately cooked for 14 hours!" The menu is simple. Salt, Shoyu, Miso ramen and a few sides to choose from. If you're cooking the soup for 14 hours, I guess...
Home Business
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE
Job security. It’s one of the benefits of military life, but this job security does not roll over to the dependents. In many cases, each PCS may mean a new job for a working spouse. Unless you can take your job with you!
The number of home-based businesses is growing in the United States and with...
Gunners Sign
CONTRIBUTED BY SUZIE SMITH
I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a massage junkie; but after arriving on island I was a bit disappointed with the local shops. Now don’t get me wrong, all the places I’ve been to are fantastic if you were fortunate enough to have inherited the family wealth from your Great Aunt Mildred. All I wanted...
Car Wash Shell
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
When we first moved to Okinawa, our neighbors told us about a great car wash place right outside our gate at Camp McTureous. It’s at the Shell Station. The day after Typhoon Songda, we noticed that all the Japanese people were lined up all around gas stations on the island. They...
Xystus Front
CONTRIBUTED BY IVETTE TRUE
The kiddos and I had been exploring Okinawa during their summer vacation. Beaches, caves, parks, etc…. We love going to Wago Land, US Land, Monakids… They’re all fun… but, my friend showed me this new place called Xystus Kids Land that had just opened on July 1st, 2011.
Xystus Play Area 2
My four year old loved it;...
Eternite Front
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
There are times when I have to remind the boys in our family to ‘taste the food’ instead of wolfing it down. Often, I also find myself reminding them to breathe in between bites. In fact, a couple of my boys have choked on their food because of the quick, huge, ‘chew-less’ bites...
Marukame Front
Marukame Line
CONTRIBUTED BY CALYN PAQUIN
One of the first restaurants we ate at when we arrived in Okinawa was MOS burger on 58 next to the Kanehide grocery store. I remember eating the burgers with “rice” buns while living in Singapore and wanted to try the ones here. After that, we haven’t been back because there are so many...
CONTRIBUTED BY AVIVA BOWMAN
As a four-year veteran of Okinawa, I’ve been through a couple of typhoons, the worst of which was Man-Yi in 2007. It was a near direct hit by a category 4, sustained wind speeds were over 100mph (that's not gusts, that's sustained). At the time, people weren’t really prepping much because there hadn’t been one that...
CONTRIBUTED BY KATIE CLARY
When I lived in Okinawa as a kid, I thought that Sushi-go-Round restaurants were the coolest thing in the world. What an inventive idea! I love being able to see my food before I choose it, and sushi is already one of my favorite foods. Coming back to Okinawa as an adult slightly changed my perspective....
Oki Marriot View to Pool
CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN PARKER
Feeling the familiar itch of needing a break from the daily routine, I knew I was getting antsy to get off this rock. Unfortunately, getting out of dodge just wasn’t possible at this particular time so I began looking for an on-island escape – and one that wasn’t even remotely associated...
Nishihara Beach
CONTRIBUTED BY MICHELLE SANCHEZ
When a couple of friends invited me to spend the day at the beach, I was all game. When they suggested that we drive 30-40 minutes to go to a beach at the east end of the island, well that was a different story. Blame my hesitation on the fact that there are...
Noahs Sign
CONTRIBUTED BY ALEXANDRA KEY
For all the pet lovers on Okinawa, I need to fill you in. Vets out in town aren’t scary. Sure, the Kadena veterinary clinic is fine but the waits can be long, the waiting room cramped, and the yard a little, for a lack of a better word, “poopy”.
My Oki mix needed to get a...
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
On a recent camping trip to Okuma, we decided to see what the sleepy outskirts had to offer. We came across Michi No Eki Yuiyui Kunigami, the shopping center looking area right next to Family Mart (it’s actually a road station/rest stop). You can’t miss it. It has a red tiled roof...
MOPS Cards
CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN PARKER
Your three-year old spilled his orange juice, and while you are on your hands and knees cleaning it up, you notice the stale Cheerios from days gone by hugging the floorline that meets the wall. You crawl farther under the table, promptly bang your head, and eventually pick up the Cheerios, miscellaneous small toy...
CONTRIBUTED BY CALYN PAQUIN
What happens when you love your mother very much? You name your restaurant after her of course! At least in this case, that is the story. The lady at Sobaya Chirugwa told my friend that the name of the owner’s mother is Tsuru which is crane. When he was little, he couldn’t spell it so he...