CONTRIBUTED BY EUGENE MCFADDEN
One of the greatest things about Okinawa is the way it hides all manner of little cultural treasures and experiences; if one knows where to look it is simply amazing what one can find, often in the most unlikely of places.
One such great find sits just off Kokusai Dori, at Shobosha Dori (Fire Station Street); here...
Join the Howe Family as they prepare to PCS to Okinawa. If you've missed any of their journey, you can find more here: PCS I, II, III, IV, V, VI
CONTRIBUTED BY RJ HOWE
Sorry about the delay in updates to our ongoing PCS adventure; life threw us a bit of a change up. My wife’s grandfather passed away and between...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE
You could travel the world just to eat at Samurai Sushi restaurants. Want to “chill” at a Samurai Sushi in northern North America? There are Samurai Sushis in Vancouver and Whistler in Canada as well as Anchorage. Find yourself in Iowa? There’s a Samurai Sushi in Des Moines. There are three Samurai Sushis in New Jersey...
CONTRIBUTED BY REBEKHA SMITH
Following up on a tip from a local friend, my coworker and I took a long lunch one slow summer afternoon and wound through the hills of Nanjo city searching for the signs that would direct us to a locally-famous cafe: Vegetarica. Don’t let the name trick you, however -- this is not a vegetarian cafe,...
I have received some wonderful cooking posts from Penny over the last weeks and started an email conversation about how she came to be in Okinawa. I'm always curious about those non-Japanese, non-military, non-ESL teachers living on island. If you are curious too, I've attached her bio at the end of the post.
CONTRIBUTED BY PENNY VAN HEERDEN
Last night I...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE
Karaoke Trivia:
• Karaoke (カラオケ) is a blend of Japanese kara (空) "empty," and ōkesutora (オーケストラ) "orchestra."
• Although there is some debate about who invented karaoke, it is generally accepted that it was invented in Japan in the 1970s. Sadly, it was not patented by the inventor who consequently lost out on a great fortune.
• In 2003 a Chinese automaker...
CONTRIBUTED BY PENNY VAN HEERDEN
My two-year-old daughter loves miso soup and even enjoys the seaweed. As she can sometimes be full of nonsense about food this is a great discovery for me. Another healthy food that she actually enjoys, to add to her repertoire. The great thing about miso soup is that once you have bought the main ingredients...
CONTRIBUTED BY BETH OLMO
We’ll be stopping in Hawaii for a week when we PCS back to the States this fall, which promises to be a lot of fun for us but maybe not too much fun for our dog, Sky. Initially, we were told she would have to go into quarantine, probably the whole time we’re there. This, thankfully,...
CONTRIBUTED BY RJ HOWE
Doldrums: a depressed or bored state of mind; a state of inactivity or stagnation. Ref: World Heritage Dictionary
Well the family and I are officially stuck in the doldrums and the worst part about it is that there is nothing we can do to help our situation. We’ve done everything we can do to get our orders, so...
CONTRIBUTED BY MARY RICHARDSON
Walking around Okinawa City one night, my husband and I wandered into Porky’s. We expected a 50s theme bar, and we were not disappointed. The small space is decorated like a retro soda fountain with red checkered tablecloths and 50s paraphernalia on the walls. Servers wear baggy mechanics uniforms. Think “Greased Lightening.”
But Porky’s is more than...
CONTRIBUTED BY KRISTY DEMOE
So the other day my family and I were out looking for a quick place to eat near the house. We wandered over toward the farmer's market and saw a restaurant that looked promising.
So in we went. After standing around for a bit and looking at the menu with pictures of the food, but no English,...
CONTRIBUTED BY KATHERINE MOORE
Whenever I go out with friends, they quiz me about eating out in Japan. Some of them are more concern with etiquette, while others are just for fun and good to know kind-of-stuff. To give you some ideas, here are some things I think it would be nice for you to know about eating out in...
CONTRIBUTED BY BRYAN WINZER
Before coming to Japan, ramen was a 20 cent package that I scarfed in college. Rubbery noodles lying in super salty and resuscitated chicken broth were hardly something I craved, but simply satisfied the hunger of a broke bachelor. When I came to Japan, I knew I'd find fast food noodle shops providing a quick and...
CONTRIBUTED BY JOY BARNES
My husband and I were feeling the itch to set out on another vacation, but we were looking for a weekend family get-away, close to home. And on a recommendation from our neighbor, we set our sights on Tokashiki Island.
Tokashiki is one of the Kerama Islands off the coast of Okinawa and is accessible by a...
CONTRIBUTED BY RJ HOWE
This last weekend, my wife (whom we call Red), Alexis and I were out shopping. Red needed her weekly therapy session (shopping at Target & Kohl’s), I needed to run to Academy Sports and we all needed to go to the HEB (big grocery store) to get some stuff for dinner. I coach youth soccer and...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARRA MCMILLAN
Shintoshin is an area in Naha that has been culturally and socially created from land returned to Okinawa from the American military. The developer’s of Shintoshin imagined it as a new centre of Naha with a range of urban functions. My favourite urban function is the cute and classy, non-touristy eating establishments that are abundant in...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE
My husband and I knew before we came to Okinawa that we wanted to get scuba dive certified as soon as possible once we arrived here. Once settled (and work schedules permitted) we did just that! My 2010 New Year’s resolution was to get certified and about 14 hours into the year I had checked that...
I was so excited to receive this post from Penny because Hechima is the one common Okinawa veggie that I've never figured out how to cook! Thanks for the step by step!
CONTRIBUTED BY PENNY VAN HEERDEN
Hechima or Nabera, as it is known in the local Okinawan dialect, resembles a cucumber and is from the gourd family. In mainland Japan,...
CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE
Curry! If you love curry you have come to the right island! The Japanese love their curry and according to one 2005 survey they eat it an average of 125 times a year! Here on Okinawa you can sample a whole world of curry: there are Japanese curry places like Coco Ichibanya, curry buffets likeFAB Curry,...
CONTRIBUTED BY JENNIFER SHUE
This is one of my favorite places on Okinawa to go for coffee. They are a little bit cheaper than Starbucks, extremely delicious, have a lunch menu, and free wi-fi. Can’t shake a stick at that. Well, you could... but why would you?
I first saw this place just after we moved here, but wasn’t sure what...
CONTRIBUTED BY KATHERINE MOORE
Counting in Japanese is easier than you think. You can actually count up to 99 by just memorizing the first 10 numbers. So here is how it goes:
OneIchi
TwoNi
Three San
FourShi or Yon
FiveGo
SixRoku
Seven Nana or Shichi
EightHachi
NineKyu
TenJu
Once you memorized these 10 numbers, all you have to do is combine them to move on to 11. For example,
• 11 is a 10...
CONTRIBUTED BY RJ HOWE
We had a yard sale this weekend. Like most Americans in the states we have WAYYYY too much stuff, but didn’t have a compelling reason to get rid of any of it. Our garage was filled with all sorts of wonderful items: scooters, coolers, random items and of course, boxes that hadn’t been opened since we...
CONTRIBUTED BY JENNIFER SHUE
You know how sometimes you’ll be sitting at your computer, rain pouring down outside (as it has done for days on end), staring at some maps thinking to yourself, “I wonder what’s over there?” And then the sun comes out and you get in your car and go?
Yes? Maybe?
Well, recently such a scenario played itself...
Several years ago, Lucia wrote a post for us about packing for trips. You can find it here. For those of you who want the advanced tutorial, keep reading. Lisa takes us on an Organizer's Dream Trip with her post! May I someday be this organized!
CONTRIBUTED BY LISA D.
I’m a Girl Scout type of packer; I like to be...
CONTRIBUTED BY RJ HOWE
This last month was very difficult for the family and me. Apparently, the joy and excitement we have been experiencing about PCSing to Kadena has not been shared by most of our extended family.
When I called my mother to tell her about our PCS, she nearly started crying. Unlike us, her first thoughts did not include...
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
Just when we were about ready to give up looking for this place, we see a corner restaurant with the words “en Okinawa.” We parked excitedly and started out of the car and practically by the time we set foot on the ground, we were greeted by a man holding a small notepad. He welcomed us...
Last week, we introduced you to the Howe Family. Barring any catastrophic event and/or fickle military change, they'll be PCSing to Okinawa at the end of this year. They've agreed to let us peek through the windows and watch as they prepare. You can follow their story here on Saturdays.
CONTRIBUTED BY RJ HOWE
Well, so much for the afterglow…reality...
CONTRIBUTED BY CHRISTY SUTTON
{Editor's Note: This post was originally published as Tadake Falls, but we have since learned that is a different set of waterfalls in the Nago area. We have changed the name of this post to its correct name: Ta-taki Falls. Thanks!}
Get ready for one amazing Okinawa adventure! Ta-taki Falls is a combination of hiking, river...
CONTRIBUTED BY JENNIFER MARTINEZ
Okinawa is full of amazing tourist spots. For some, the places that are pin pointed on the map will be the only places they visit while here on The Rock. Yara Castle Ruins (Okawa-Jo) may be a bit more for those looking to get off the beaten path. Not to worry, this remote location is not...
CONTRIBUTED BY KATHERINE MOORE
If you live by Kadena Gate 3 or use that gate frequently, you have probably seen this large green building with a wave and some kind of fish on it. I drive by this building everyday for the last 5 months and I finally thought, "It’s time to find out what it is."
It is called Sun...