finishing up okinawa….finally

Well.  I originally started this post two weeks ago.  Due to my job, I have not been able to finish it up.  Imagine the audacity that my job has to interfere with me posting about Okinawa.  Jeez.

So, my final day in Okinawa started out pretty much as normal as could be expected…with a can of Chu hi!  Haha, just kidding.  But since it is juice I think it could be placed in the category of breakfast cocktails.  However, I won’t be lying when I say lunch was spent at MOS Burger.  Heheheh.

I forgot to mention in previous postings how Mr./Mrs. Tater took me to the JUSCO that is located in Mihama American Village. 

I should say a little something about these hypermarkets.  Asians seem to have the right idea when it comes to shopping complexes.  In the States we tend to build a large strip mall that contains at least two of the following stores: Target, Best Buy, Office Depot, Home Depot, Borders, and a grocery store.  Sometimes there may be a movie theatre.  Usually there is a chain restaurant like Applebee’s or Don Pablo’s that is not connected to the strip, but within the same complex.  They take up a lot of space and look like concrete or brick warehouses with no character.  Over here, imagine all of those box stores in one five to seven story building.  The structure is operated by one company; JUSCO is Japanese and Korea we have Lotte and EMart.  Selection is the same as having seven different stores, but you have them all in one single building.  And quality is not something that is skimmed over…clothing, electronics, and household goods are all name brand.  Food and other grocery items are the same as what you would find in a Wegmans.  One delectable item that I picked up in the bakery section was a round pastry filled with mini sausages.  It was about the size of a small pizza.  I thing maybe 10 inches in diameter.  YUM.  Everything is located in one super convenient shopping complex that takes up less ground space.  Also, since the building is usually owned by the operating company, architectural design is sometimes opened up and can result in some pretty wacky creations.  I found out JUSCO also has something else that is not easily found in the states: Japanese-style crepes. 

Ah, Japanese-style crepes.  One of the greatest creations on Earth.  I was informed about these by a Japanese friend before Karena and I had a Tokyo stopover on the way home from China.  I pulled Karena’s arm off when I first noticed one while walking around in Shibuya.  You want ice cream, custard, and fruit?  Okay!  You want ice cream, cheese cake, and sprinkles?  Check!  You want a cutlet smothered in curry sauce?  Roger that!  How about tuna fish salad on lettuce?  Sounds fine!  You can get so many different sweet and savory combinations.  I think if there was a crepe stand in Gunsan I would stop there every night.  It is probably better that there isn’t one.  Check out the sample selection below:

Okay, back to my last day.  So we lounged around and entertained the idea of visiting another castle or temple.  Instead we decided on checking out the Ryukyu Glass Village (fun Okinawan website here).  It was an entertaining drive to the village.  We got to hop on the expressway.  The last time I was on the expressway, Tater and I accidently drove through the lane for pass-holders and didn’t get a toll ticket.  Whoops!  This time we didn’t make that mistake, however, we did exit off the expressway too early.  Time to break out the phonebook map.  Yes, the island map is in the phonebook.  And it is not the greatest map in the world.  First off, it is spread over 25 pages.  Second off, not all the roads are labeled…and when they are, it is inconsistently.  We had to pull about two U-turns before we figured out that we were headed in the right direction.  Also, the maps don’t give you an accurate gauge on the amount of time a drive will take.  A long portion on the map could only be five kilometers, depending on the scale.  So, once we ended up on the correct road we had no idea how long it would take.  The drive was fun though.  We went through some less-trafficked areas of southern Okinawa.  It was pretty cool driving down the two lane road and seeing farms and small homes dotting the landscape.

Arriving at the glass village, we were presented with a pottery center AND glass-making center.  There were some tours going on in Japanese and some people who were making their own Shisa.  I love these little things. 

It is such a fun activity to walk around and check out all the different designs that you see on people’s homes, shopping centers, businesses…everywhere.  They give people a chance to show some individual flair! I bought two the last time I was on-island to protect our home.  They now rest comfortably on a bookshelf.  Quite a nice life for a pair of Shisa.  Tater joked that we should have a Shisa-making contest, but he was vetoed on that one.  We walked down to the area where the magic happens.  There were a lot of people milling around and not a lot of glass-making happening.  We stood around for a bit and watched what we could. 

After that we got antsy and went into the gift shop.  IT WAS HUGE.  And there wasn’t just one.  There was THREE different galleries.  Pieces got increasingly expensive as you moved from gallery to gallery until you reached the shop where things cost into the millions of yen.  I won’t lie.  I was a bit nervous walking around this place with so much glass.  The message “You Break, You Buy” kept passing through my head.  I walked out of the shop only having purchased two glass cups made in the village, and a Okinawan talisman called a susuki.  It is basically a knot of grass.  I can’t help that I’m a sucker for things that are supposed to help my luck.  Sometimes you need the extra help!

We returned to “home, sweet Hamagawa” after a short detour through downtown Naha.  This time we picked up the expressway all the way to Kadena.  Much faster.  We decided to search for dinner options.  I don’t know how we go on the topic, but I started telling Mr/Mrs. Tater about Shabu-shabu.

I have been depressed ever since Bob’s 88 closed.  Karena and I have been searching for a good hot-pot place in DC ever since.  Anyways, I found this restaurant, Miruku (Japanese here), and insisted that we would be going there for my last dinner.  We geared up and took the best directions we could find (see the English link) and headed out.  I love driving directions in Okinawa.  Sometimes they crack me up.  You never get straight-forward directions.  They always involve navigation by landmarks which is sometimes difficult in unfamiliar areas…100m past CoCo (not Coco Curry, but the convenience store) turn left, continue until you see a sign for Highway 401, make a U-turn, drive 20m and turn right.  Look for a house with Japanese writing and Christmas lights on it.  Hilarious stuff.  It took us 20 minutes longer than it should have to find the restaurant.  We drove through a residential neighborhood because we kept miscounting the number of streets.  I’m sure this block is gorgeous during the day.  It is situated right on a bay in a quiet little area.  Arriving at the restaurant, we see it is closed.  SO SAD!  Now we are scrambling and decide to head back to the American Village.  There are tons of restaurants over there that we know would be open.  So, instead of shabu-shabu on my last night we settled for some delicious Thai food at a place Tater and I discovered last year.  The food made me happy, as did the cold Orion, and the fine company.  Besides, dinner in the American Village meant we could sneak over and have a couple of crepes for dessert!

I hope you guys have enjoyed my writings about Okinawa.  I know it seems like a lot, but I only included the highlights.  There is so much delicious food and the island is so beautiful.  It was real hard to leave the next morning.  I was helped by the fact that it was a rainy day.  The rain eased me back into realizing that I would be flying into the snow covered land of Korea.  Okinawa really is a wonderful island…great people…great food…and so much to do.  I can’t wait to go back.  And trust me when I say that it’s not “if,” but rather “when.”

yes, new year’s celebrations

Sorry for the delay in posting, but thinking about Oki makes me somewhat depressed in coooooold Gunsan. Ahhh…Okinawa. So the following day I woke up feeling better than expected. It has been a while since I found myself drinking and gorging on food at 400am. Luckily, It was New Year’s Eve and I had nothing better to do than take a leisurely tour of Tater’s neighborhood. We left around lunchtime because Tater and his wife had several restaurants that they wanted me to try. We strolled around the seawall north of Mihama American Village and there were so many little hotels and condos and fun places that it made me a little sad that I didn’t know about this area my first time on-island. It was a bit windy so there weren’t many people out. It was beautiful down by the seawall.

The water close to shore was clear like glass and then transformed to sky blue and then to a wonderful azure color. Tater told me that there were usually surfers out along the point, but not this time. I guess everyone was with their family celebrating the new year holiday. We soon found out that this holiday causes mass closure of tons of locally-operated establishments. First up was Transit Cafe….with a note on the door stating they would not be open until 3-Jan. Next was another local cafe/bar with the same type of note. We stopped at a good taco place next and were met with the same result. Finally, we staggered by Gordies Hamburgers AND IT WAS THE SAME NOTE!!!!! Tater and his wife kept joking about how I came back to Oki for all of the food and all of the restaurants that I wanted to visit were going to be shut down during my visit. This was not a laughing matter! A Korean BBQ joint was suggested and I agreed to take on grill master duties for lunch. The restaurant was tantalizingly close to MOS Burger and it was all I could do to stop myself from running back to my number two love. We dined. It was good. Here I am conducting my orchestra of BBQ. In honor of my subs I ordered up some soju. It was enjoyed only by me :) After lunch it was time to retire to the condo to watch TV, check up on emails, and rest for my triumphant return to Gate 2 Street.

So let us fast forward to the nighttime. It is 900pm. We are getting fashioned up for a night out in Oki. This means changing from thongs to normal shoes. I also put on a button-down shirt since it is my special night. Tater comes running in as I’m in mid iron and says “I have a taxi downstairs and the meter is on.” This throws us all into overdrive and we zip out the door. We arrive at Gate 2 Street 20 minutes later and the Air Force personnel are already making their presence felt. We see a boyfriend/girlfriend arguing in the middle of the street. Three airmen,in their finest striped shirts, are dancing around a homeless man who is playing the guitar. “Gentlemen” are walking up and down the street with their “buy-me drinkie” for the night. For those not in the know, Gate 2 Street has a seedy reputation to is. But for Tater and me, it holds some special memories. We made some good friends at one western/cowboy bar that has no name. It became our nightly watering hole as we tried to escape certain people on-base. We ate delicious yakitori and yakisoba at a small little restaurant (if you want to call it that) called Lucky. One of our new bartender friends told us about Lucky and we’re glad they did.

I’m going to fast-forward over the details of NYE. Let me just tell you that it was a lot of fun. I’m glad to have spent it in such a special place. WE tried a new bar out that only had locals in it. The beer was cold and the proprietors nice. They chased out any people they didn’t like. Funny enough, a lot of military folk were trying to use the bar as a bathroom pit stop. One bar tender was like a junkyard dog…harassing these fools into buying drinks or food so that they could use the facilities. It was great. Some of them she actually chased out. After the new bar we went to ‘Ol Reliable and I was happy to see one of our former bartenders slinging drinks. Highlights of the night were ringing in the New Year (obviously), calling Ms. Karena when it was my birthday, and setting the bar on fire! Yes. We ordered flaming shots and I got to light them up. Except the bartender spilled some 151 on the bar and I lit it on fire. Whoops!! Luckily the owner was there with a wet rag. Calling Karena was hilarious because all I talked about was yakitori and how I wanted to eat all the delicious parts of the chicken that you can’t eat back in the states. It also took Tater and me about 15 minutes to figure out how to call using the calling card. OH, and did I also mention that it was a normal workday for Beana? Hahaha. Happy New Year’s and Happy Birthday to me and my brother from another mother who happens to share the same B-Day. Details are fuzzy on how we got home. I know we stopped at the USO and were turned down for a cab. We also stopped at the Shogun and no cabs wanted us there. Finally Tater flagged one down in the street (he has really gotten the hang of hailing a taxi) and we made it back to home, sweet, Hamagawa.

The next day started off with a fine visit to MOS Burger. Tater’s wife had been reading about New Years celebrations in Okinawa so we decided to head off to Naritasan Temple to participate in the first shrine visit of the year (also known as Hatsumode). Getting to the temple was a trip. We had to sit in a line of traffic for about 45 minutes.

But because it is Oki, everyone was very pleasant about it. Imagine sitting for 45 minutes to get into Pentagon City Mall back home. PANDEMONIUM. We got to the temple and bought our fortunes. Tater and his wife opened theirs and I opened mine. My fortune said a lot of funny things, but it also said that this year was going to be “good.” Tater and Mrs. Tater’s fortunes said “exceptional” and “very good” which left me a little displeased with mine. Luckily, you can tie your fortune onto something one the temple grounds with the hope that things do not come true. You know the awesome thing about participating in this tradition?…Carnival style food. You know I had to buy some takoyaki. I make Karena cook a traditional Danish dish (go figure) called aebleskiver that is similar, but sweet instead of savory. They had some other delicious looking dishes (like a half-rack of deep fried pork ribs). After that we decided to hit up Nakagusuku Castle ruins and roam around for a bit. Let me tell you, whoever decided to build that castle picked an excellent location. Fabulous views of Okinawa and the ocean. I actually liked it better than Shuri castle because I could imagine what it must of looked like. That and it was cheaper to get and and a ton less tourists. Don’t get me wrong though…Shuri is very impressive and beautiful but I liked to walk around without the hordes of people pushing their way through the grounds.

Dinner was at Ono Kau Kau, a Hawaiian joint popular with military folk on island. Before I even arrived Tater had been talking about the garlic chicken. So for a rather modest price, I decided to go with a pork cutlet, garlic chicken, and braised pork belly. I do love my pork. The dish came with a large serving of rice and a modest bit of macaroni salad. It is similar to the picture below, but this was not my meal

I found this picture on the internets. Pork Cutlet is top, garlic chicken is middle, and I’m not sure what is on the bottom. Everything was delicious and very filling. I only wish this place was open at 200am because it would be perfect after a night New Year’s celebrating. It was a good end to a nice day enjoying the “island life” on Okinawa.

Next up will be crepes, glass making, attempts at shabu-shabu, and notes about driving in Okinawa. Enjoy!

okinawan arrival

Hello all. I am going to help Karena out here since her little laptop has imploded. This is going to be all about my time in Okinawa over the New Year’s holiday. There will probably be two to three more posts about my trip.

My close friend (aka Tater) is currently working at Kadena Air Base. He really lucked out with his posting because he doesn’t have to work in the snow, wind, and frigid temperatures that I work in. His workload is about ten times mine…so I guess it evens out. Most of yall already know that we were both TDY Kadena last year. We had a great time and got to explore a bit of the island. I have been trying to figure out a way back ever since I returned to the States. The food is excellent (lots of pork and seafood), the people are very friendly and helpful, AND it is a nice tropical island with mountains and beaches.

PERFECT!!!!!

It has all of the necessities for the type of place I could see myself living. Ahhh….daydreams are nice :)

My trip from Gunsan to Inchon Airport was a little nerve-racking. I got on the airport bus (it is about a 3.5 hour ride to the airport) and within one hour we had hit the mountains and a nasty snow storm. We’re talking four-ways on, single lane, 25 mile-per-hour slog through snow and ice. It was very depressing as we continued on and on and thoughts crept into my head about how the airport would be shut down. I really thought I wouldn’t be able to leave Korea and visit Tater and his wife in sunny Okinawa. Luckily, about 45 minutes outside of the airport, the snow stopped and the sun came out. WHEW. Crisis one avoided. I got inside the terminal, walked around, ate some dolsot bibimbap, and took a two-hour nap since I was a bit hungover from my night out with the subs.By the way, Inchon Airport is absolutely beautiful inside and out…there is also tons of shopping and places to eat inside. It was easy to spend an hour just cruising around and window shopping. Once I woke up from my nap it was time to board my Asiana flight to Fukuoka, Japan.

We arrived at Fukuoka early, so I had an additional hour between my flights. This extra hour proved useful as I was about to be faced with crisis two. After I came out of Customs & Immigrations in Japan, I entered what I thought was the airport at Fukuoka. I had to check into ANA to continue on to Okinawa so I wandered over to the check-in terminals…all of them were down :( and there was nobody at the ANA desk. I thought “this could be normal. when flying abroad in other countries, they sometimes don’t open ticket counters until two hours before the flight.” So I decided to wander around the shops and see if I could find an information kiosk. Well, an hour went by and I decided to try the ANA counter again. Same deal as before, but at least there was a counter representative. So, I pushed aside the metal barrier meant to keep people like me away from the check-in counter and walked up to inquire about my flight. I pointed to the portion of itinerary that said FUK – OKA, 30-DEC-09, 2030. The ANA rep just gave me a confused look. I said “Check in?” Another confused look. I said “cancelled…delayed?” Nothing. Finally, he came around the counter and motioned for me to go with him. He took me over to a door where he had to swipe his ID and punch in an access code. I remembered now how I thought it was weird there were no flights listed for Naha on the Arrivals/Departures board. At this point, I started thinking that Okinawa was having some bad weather and my flight was cancelled…depression struck again.

A nice lady came out and asked to see my itinerary. I handed it over and she read through it and asked if I was going to Okinawa. There was a slight bit of disbelief in her voice, like “haha, this guy has another thing coming if he thinks he will be in Naha tonight.” She thought for a while and said “this is the international terminal, you need to go to the domestic terminal.” I felt like such a bonehead. I had no idea that there were two terminals. I had only seen one when we landed. Of course, that makes sense. That is why Okinawa was not listed on the Arrivals/Departures board and places like Seoul, Beijing, and Hong Kong were. She said that all I had to do was catch a bus to the Domestic terminal. They were on the first floor and outside of the door. So with time ticking down, I dashed out the door and managed to catch a bus that was loaded up with people. After about a 15 minute ride, we arrived at the Domestic Terminal. I hopped out and wandered off to find the ANA counter. Like anywhere else in Asia, there was a line to check in. I waited and waited and finally got up to the counter. Everything was smooth sailing after that. I made it to the gate about 15 minutes prior to boarding. This gave me time to chug a nice hot can of coffee and ponder downing a chu-hi. Ahhh chu-hi a vice of mine that, luckily, can not be found outside of Japan. Who else would think of mixing akahol and fruit juice into such a delicious can of happiness that you can buy anywhere…restaurants, gas stations, corner stores, etc. It is like drinking a Snapple that has an alcohol content of 5%.

I arrived into Naha Airport on time. It felt like I was coming home. There was a smile on my face from ear to ear. I reached the baggage claim and there was a gaggle of angry looking Marines that must have landed just before me. They were all waiting on their bags. The carousel wasn’t even moving. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait at the same baggage carousel and big red soon popped up on the conveyor belt. I was done and out the door and Tater was waiting in the lobby for me. Ah, there is almost nothing better than good friends being reunited. I was very happy to be in a place that I love with my good buddy. The weather was about 60 degrees and misty at about 1000pm. Better than 16 degrees and snow at 300pm! I was immediately reminded of the challenges of driving in Oki as I went to open the driver’s side door (on the right side of the car). Hahaha…I thought I was getting in the passenger’s side. Then we started driving on the wrong side of the road, up one-way streets, and towards oncoming traffic. We also had a nice cabbie start yelling at us in Japanese. We had no idea what he was saying as he made hand gestures for us to pull over. So we did just that and don’t you know, he sped right by us. We had to turn around to get our bearings set and head out of the airport.

It took about 45 minutes to reach “home, sweet, Hamagawa” the lodging facility where Tater and his wife are living. It took me 46 minutes to crack a chu-hi and ask about dinner. Let me tell you, that Tater, he is a lucky man. He has his wife living with him, is within a five minute walk to MOS Burger and has a steady supply of tasty foods at his disposal. I was very excited to return to MOS Burger, a place that will put any burger chain back home to shame (this Singapore site has some menu items in English). Just look at that menu; hamburgers, hot dogs, soups and stews. They also serve fresh milk and fresh, healthy juices (orange, mango, guava, etc) for the little ones. Trust me when I say it is all good! My personal favorites are the shrimp cutlet burger and the original MOS Burger. The shrimp cutlet is served piping hot and is a fried patty of diced whole shrimpies (you can actually see them) topped with shredded lettuce and tartar sauce.

It is about the size of a hamburger or cheeseburger at McDonalds. The MOS Burger is a purely decadent combination of a hamburger patty, cheese, diced onions, chili, and a thick slice of tomato. Oh. My. Goodness. Prepare your eyes!!!!

You need about five napkins to keep yourself clean but you will still find little bits of chili somewhere on you. You’ll also find yourself licking the wrapper to get the bits that may have fallen off the sandwich. Of course, I guess that is why you can also order fries or onion rings (good – but not MOSB’s strong suit). After that delicious dinner Tater and I headed back to the Hamagawa to catch up on old times and chu-hi. Around 300am we got another hankering for food and decided to wander around his neighborhood looking for dining options. Well, none were open. Actually, we did stumble into one spot and were told that it was for locals only. Okay. We got the message. Tater and I entertained the idea of catching a cab to Gate 2 Street, but decided against it (wisely). Walking home we decided to stop at the all night soba hut that is on the side of the street. These places sell up some good Okinawa Soba at all hours of the night. I decided on the soki soba and a side order of fried gyoza.

Of course we also had some Orion’s. It was very delicious and I had to add some splashes of awamori infused with hot chili peppers to clear my head from those flights. It was the perfect end to a long day.