Sunday at the beach

The previous typhoons that have been stirring up the weather seem to have abated for the time being - which means it's HOT and SUNNY!  As soon as the sun comes out, the temperature feels like it goes up an extra 10 degrees....now, I know I'm from Arizona and used to the heat, but when you add in 70%+ humidity - it's pretty nasty!

Sunday was another bright shiny day and the only reasonable thing to do was find a beach!  I loaded my bag with towel, sunscreen and a big bottle of water - and off in search of a beach I went.....

Okinawa is an island, so you'd think there would be lots of beaches but some of them are a little hard to find.  There are lots of reefs, rocks and seawalls but sandy beaches are not a common as I would like.  The beach I found was by the Kadena Marina.  By the time I arrived, quite a few families had staked claim to much of the small sandy beach but I was able to settle myself on a patch of pebbly sand and enjoy the sun, breeze and water for a few hours.  It was a great day - a few too many kids but, all in all, it was a great few hours in the sun!

As I was laying in the sun, I was surprised to hear the roar of motorcycles in the air....

 I had managed to find myself on a beach that was hosting a Okinawa Harley riders rally!

I talked to a couple of the riders and found out they were ending a ride that included a poker run to the far end of the island.  He told me they generally ride in groups or organized runs due to the unpredicatability of the drivers on Japanese roads.

It's difficult to tell from the angle of the picture but the bikes were lines up all along the side of the road- all together there was close to 30 bikes, a surprising number given the small size of the island!

Following my beach adventure, later that evening, I took a walk along the seawall.  I was greatly amused when I passed a shop that doubled as a nail salon AND a bar - now that is truly a one-stop shop!

$$ ok - Yen or dollars, it's all good here for whatever you're buying - nail services or cocktails!

I ended the day at my new favorite bar, Sidelines - the second floor balcony was a fabulous spot to watch the tide come back in and unwind from the day- one beer was good, two were excellent!!  And the best part is this place is within walking distance of my place - absolutely no reason not to spend an afternoon or two!  The legal limit for drinking and driving here is 0.03% - which equates to less than one drink.....it's just not worth it to even consider having a drink and driving so my drinking will be at home or anywhere I can walk to/from!
CHEERS!

Saturday baseball

On my Saturday morning adventure, I came across something my friend Jenifer Johnston and my almost-kids Zach and Logan will appreciate!  Apparently Saturdays in Japan for teenagers and their parents are spent the same way they frequently are at home - at a baseball stadium or field for a weekend tournament!

This team was actually staying together as they crossed the street to the stadium....their coach must have some serious control over his players!

Baseball stadium for the weekend tournament!

 Mom and dad are part of the action-giving advice and helping to haul stuff!

Selling programs - 500 yen apiece

Funny to see that kids are the same everywhere (or maybe it's just baseball players!) - piles of equipment, clothes and assorted "stuff" dumped in the nearest convenient spot!

Weekend Adventures

I currently have a temporary roommate, Deb Mullen, who arrived in Oki last Sunday.  She's going to be moving into her own place next week and we've been sharing housing in the interim.  She will be working with me at the naval hospital as well.   Anyway, my weekend adventures were scaled back some due to the situation - she needs to get acclimated to the temperature of a south pacific island.  I started the day by myself with what was intended to be a quick stroll to the market....and then I dicovered stores here don't open early like they do at home.  I ended up at Sunset beach where, by 9:00 AM, families were arriving to strike out their patch of sandy beach.  It turned out to be a GORGEOUS sunny (translation: HOT) day.  Later in the morning I ventured out to the infamous Gate 2 Street....an area they warn about in Newcomer's Orientation!  Its definitely not a place for the faint of heart - and most of the establishments (bars and tattoo shops!) don't open until sometime after 2 in the afternoon, due to the fact they are open until who knows what time in the morning.  If you're wondering what time last call is here, it's when the last person in the place orders a drink OR the owner decides he's ready to call it a night.  I didn't take any pictures here - mostly because there is no way to adequately convey the atmosphere......I will be back sometime though because I have a connection to a DJ at one of the bars there...now I just need to work up enough nerve to go there after dark!  It was still early in the afternoon so not much going on today..... 

After scoping out Gate 2 street, I made my way to the top of the hill and passed a place to eat I had heard good reviews on.  It was funny to realize I was in the Japanese version of a Chipotle......

Yummy -just like at home!

The burrito add-ins are all in English, with Japanese subtitles!  The staff all spoke fairly good English too although it was a bit strange to hear them say Pico de Gallo!  I wonder if they know what it means?

 After lunch, I crossed the street to try and get a picture of the view from the top of the hill across Camp Foster and out to the harbor.  It's difficult to see just how gorgeous the view is from this spot.  The new Naval hospital will be located up high and the patient rooms will have a view of the bay - that should speed any patient's recovery!

The scary looking buildings in the foreground are some of the original housing units - they are gradually being demolished and updated housing units built.  Since these are likely from the 50's....might be a health hazzard in the destruction....a little asbestos and lead never hurts, right?

I finished the day with my co-worker/roommate and I driving to a place I found this morning called Depot Island....it has something of a Cabo San Lucas feel to the place - lots of little shops and lots of restautrants on the second floor

This is one of the many entrances into Depot Island - very new, clean and nice shops....although after a while I realized the stores are all "typical" tourist shops - overpriced and not exactly "local" goods

I think this is the newest addition to the complex - the parking lot was completely filled when we came back at 7 PM in the evening - this picture was from 8:30 in the morning.  It's within walking distance so if I come back and have a drink, I can always walk home.

Okinawa orchids

I'm not especially a fan of orchids as a flower - they look suspiciously fake to me, even when they are real!  However, I know many people, including my uncle Bill, have struggled to grow orchids in locations and climates other than the tropics.  Most have been unsuccessful in their endeavours.  I was a little bit surprised when I started to notice the orchids growing profusely throughout the neighborhoods here - silly when I stopped to consider that this IS a tropical island,   This is a collection of random orchid pictures I've taken so.....they're starting to grow on me as a flower, LOL!

This was growing in front of a store on one of the main roads- it is exposed to car exhaust all day long - with no apparent ill effects!

The local hardware store sells orchids in its garden section!

Another random sighting as I walked down a side street in a nearby neighborhood.

Sunday June17

After Saturday's adventures, my exploration partner Dewitt bailed....(I think my driving might have scared him just a bit, LOL!)  I was left own my own to travel in any direction..........so I headed south (at least I think that's the direction I was headed??)

First stop, well actually the first drive-by, was Camp Kinser, the Marine base I was looking for yesterday weh I ended up in a completely different place!  I actually looked at a map before I headed out this time so I had a general idea of where I was going....

First discovery - lots of casinos!  Japanese people apparently have a bit of a gambling problem particularly with slot machines and pachinko - something I always thought was more of a kid's game!

The casinos are on just about every corner - some of them look quite similar to Las Vegas casinos too.

Next stop - Pineapple House! 

Don't know if I mentioned this but fruits and vegetables are quite expensive in the grocery store.  Most of the military people buy produce at the commissary, and the local folks have gardens where they grow their own vegetables! There are quite a few community gardens where neighbors come together and each claim a plot in the garden for growing their veggies. I'm not sure if it's the fact that Okinawa is an island or what, but a single apple costs 200 yen - about $3 US dollars - APIECE!  Pineapples are not any cheaper - in the local stores they run around 1300-1500 yen ($18-$20 US).  This is interesting because Okinawa has it's own pineapple plantation on the north end - and even better, there is a "branch store" closer to my end of town.  I had heard stories of the pineapple wine and was quite curious to check things out.

This is a view of one side of the store - this was the wine section.  There was another section that looked suspiciously like pineapple tequila or some other liquor......There may be a tasting party at some point in my future!  I did buy (and eat) a very expensive (1050 yen) pineapple that was DELICIOUS!!

The Pineapple House is most famous for its Pineapple parfait sundaes....it was too early in the day for me to try one but it looks YUMMY!

NEXT STOP - Flea Market at Camp Kinser!

 Park and Swaps ( or Flea Markets, depending on your terms) are pretty much the same world-wide.  You collect up all the miscellaneous "junk" you have laying around, especially the clothes and toys your kids have outgrown and haul them to a pseudo-yard sale where people but your stuff for pennies!  I was hoping for a patio chair but it was mostly clothing up for grabs.  The flea market rotates among the military bases each week so my hunt may continue.....

 This picture is for my sisters.....and yes, those bowls are EXACTLY like the ones mom and dad received as a wedding gift.  I had to force myself NOT to buy one or two!

My final adventure for the day was lunch...well it was more like lunner since it was quite late in the afternoon by the time I got around to finding food.  This place is about a 3 block walk from my home and I had heard it was good.  Japanese restaurants do not generally provide "table service" - orders are placed and payment made at the front counter when entering the restaurant and a server brings the food out once it's ready.

I am familiar with Hawaiian food - thanks to a job that allowed me to spend a few months in Honolulu...and my friends Jason and Julie Vastine who eat "Hawaiian" on a regular basis thanks to Julie's heritage.

Jason and Julie - if you ever come to Okinawa, Eat here!!

Kahlua pork, garlic chicken, macaroni salad and rice...YUM!



Surf City - Okinawa style

I took a walk along the seawall this afternoon - and found the "Huntington Beach" of Sanabe.....

There was a huge crowd out in the water.....I'm not a good enough photographer to catch anyone riding a wave but they were all doing pretty well - the waves weren't too big so lots of kids out in the water!

Apparently the surfers rule is wear your flip flops to the steps leading down to the water, kick them off before you get to the waterline-surfers honor they'll be there when you get back.

The parking totally looks like Cali.....just pull your car over whenever you can wedge it it!

On my walk back home, I ran across a rather unusual building.....I've never actually seen a purple tile building before so I felt obligated to take a picture and share.  It seems this particular "chain" has several housing units in the area....all identifiable by the gorgeous grape jelly bean color.

Fish market.....and other sights

After my morning adventures, food was becoming a priority on the list of things to discover........and since I am on an island and was currently on the coastline, it seemed a reasonable conclusion there would be seafood nearby.

I continued my adventure ending up at the Kadena Marina and lucked into a shopping center.  It's hard to know exactly what you might be getting into since the signs are Japanese so going into places is a game all of its own.  This one was a great find though - a fresh fish market where the food was all caught, apparently that day!  They were finishing up the butchering of a beautiful tuna (I will be going back again earlier in the day just to watch!) however there were still a wide array of extremely fresh fish offerings at the market.

This Napoleon fish saw his last day today.....it was a little sad for me because these are beautiful fish underwater.......but someone has to be dinner!  I was a little surprised at how vibrate the colors are, the picture doesn't quite do it justice but the fish is a beautiful iridescent turquoise color.

This is just a small sampling of the fish that were available at the market, along with squid, octopus, live slipper lobsters, prawns and sea snakes.  The sea snakes were live in a tank....the kids at the market were all fascinated by them so I wasn't able to get a picture because there were kids all gathered around the tank.....just as well because sea snakes give me the creeps ANYWHERE I happen to see them!

What would a visit to the fish market be without fresh fish for lunch?  This was the tuna bowl special - for $8.00 I got fresh tuna sashimi, sticky rice, sunomo salad and soba noodles in miso....YUMMY!!!!!  There were lots of bowl choices and for anyone who didn't want their seafood raw, half of the fish market sold prepared foods included freshly fired fish, tempura, seafood salads, etc.  This may be my new favorite place for weekend lunch.....until I find the next place!

After the day of adventures, it was a quiet evening at home.  I decided to run down the street to the grocery store to grab something for dinner....and on my way back home found this......

This is the BIGGEST snail I've ever seen....that's my phone on the ground next to it - I needed something to give perspective to the size.  It was huge....and I will be watching the ground and where I put my feet from now on!!!!

Cape Zampa exploration

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Okinawa, despite the fact that we are once again on a typhoon watch!  Apparently in preparation for bad weather, we were blessed with great weather - clear skies, fluffy white clouds, a breeze and temperatures and humidity both lower than they have been.  I decided I needed to explore......Dewitt agreed to come along!  (LOL, I'm fairly certain he will think twice the next time I ask if he wants to hang out for the day!)

We actually started with the intent of finding the weekend "flea market" that rotates among the military bases.  This weekends event was to be held at Camp Kinser. 

I have no idea where Camp Kinser is.  Neither does Dewitt ( as I later discovered!)

First stop, Camp Foster so Dewitt can get some money from the bank.  He went to the bank, I wandered around the scuba shop.  It is a TERRIBLE scuba shop and made me appreciate how awesome Scuba Specialties is as a dive shop!  There rest of the building around the bank were typical anonymous buildings - I still don't know what most of them are and they're rather dreary looking, like most military building are!

This is the movie theater at Camp Foster.  Most of the bases have their own thearter and they show a different movie each night.

After finishing up at Foster, we set off in search of Camp Kinser.  Neither us knew which way to go......we drove for about 4 miles headed towards the airport before I decided the odds of the camp being in that direction weren't great so we executed a U turn (there are a lot of U turns that happen here!) and headed back in other direction.  We passed Kadena AFB.......we passed through three or four towns (the towns are all connected, sort of like how Phoenix blends with Glendale that blends with Peoria) no sight or indication that Camp Kinser was anywhere near.  I decided I didn't really need to go to a flea market anyway and when I saw the sign for Cape Zampa, we headed in that direction.  The road had followed the coastline from a distance up to this point but now we were right on the shoreline.  I found a place to park and we found a beautiful, and completely deserted beach.

 
 After strolling a bit, we continued on our way, looking for more interesting sights.  I realized we were on the leeward side of the cape and we made our way to the actual tip of the point.  First stop, a great park area with lots of picnic ramadas, a HUGE cooking area, and a gigantic Shisa statue......a perfect photo opportunity!

The Shisa or Lion-dog is a symbol of good luck and protection.  They are most often found in pairs and are used to catch the bad spirits and protect homes from harm.  You can see how big this one is with me standing next to it!  Most of the houses in Okinawa have small Shisa on their gates or patio walls. 

 We finished taking photos at the statue and drove a bit further down the road to the point and lighthouse.  The water here is GORGEOUS, deep vivid blue and the breeze had picked up considerably.  There were plenty of signs marking this as a dangerous area - I was told in my newcomers briefing the military has lost a number of men from this area as a result of cliff diving and drowning from the tide surge. 

This is a picture of the area, the first beach pictures were taken along the leeward side where the pretty light blue water is.  The lighthouse is located at the very tip of the cape and the split between the sides of the point creates treacherous waters.

 The water is beautiful but the rocks are sharp....flipflops were not the best choice in footwear for this part of the adventure!

You can see how much harder the wind was blowing at this spot - gorgeous views though and definitely a place I want to explore further!

Working at the Naval Hospital

The job that brought me Okinawa is a position working as a contractor with the US Navy at the US Naval Hospital currently located Camp Lester.  The hospital is outdated by today's standards, having been built in the 1950's.  The history of the hospital can be found here -

http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nhoki/News/Pages/History.aspx

The facility is one of the largest overseas hospital in the US Navy and they provide care for more than 50,000 people on n annual basis.  Although all four branches of the US military are located in Okinawa, the Navy is the primary source for medical care for all branches other than medical clinics staffed by the Air Force.  Patients requiring medical services beyond the scope of abilities of this location are transferred to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.  The hospital will be moving into a brand new facility under construction at Camp Foster, located about 1/2 mile from the current Camp Lester location.  Once the new facility is finished (completion is expected in late summer/early fall 2012) the entire hospital and all related services will be moved.  The current plan calls for the complete Camp Lester facility and lands to be returned to the Japanese people once services and housing has been moved onto the Camp Foster grounds.

Ssign located at the main entrance to the hospital. 

My work area is located outside the hospital itself.  Due to space constraints and, as a result of available space on the adjoining grounds, the outpatient coding department is perched in a lovely facility on the top of a hilltop.  The building itself was formerly used as a visiting officers quarters and it is secluded among a beautiful garden setting.  Unfortunately that hilltop location also means a steep climb down and back up every time I need to attend a meeting at the main hospital.  (This explains why I'm not too terribly motivated to go to the gym-I'm already walking at least a mile every day just traipsing back and forth between buildings!)

View from the bottom of the hill up to the OP Coding office.  We share the building with overseas processing department.

The picture doesn't do justice to how steep the hill is, particularly on your third trip up it.  It's also a bit treacherous when it rains as it can be slippery.  Needless to say, I wear flat shoes to work because, although I could climb it wearing heels, coming down it would simply be a comedy in the making....along with a broken ankle!

Front door to the outpatient bungalow

This is Ron, he's a retired military man who is now a contractor and working on his coding credentials.  He handles a tremendous amount of administrative tasks related to the outsourced coding contract and has been a wealth of information and assistance as I fumble my way through learning the systems and military process!

James - another co-worker who handles administrative duties and data entry functions.