Sunday began just like any day off (that I remember anyway, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the light of day). I woke up and instantly began thinking of the many activities, places, restaurants in Okinawa that I still need to visit. We decided to drive up north to attempt to find The British Wine and Tea Shop. The attempt to find equates to following sketchy directions provided by an outstanding website. Now keep in mind there are no road names/signs and everything is in kangi, so we weren’t entirely sure we’d ever find the place but an adventure we wanted and an adventure we were going to get. Danielle, Pat Parker, Dustin and I piled into Danielle’s death machine (her car) and were on our way. We almost died multiple times on the way up, having nearly been blown off the road by hurricane forced winds. I’m fairly certain that with a car vs. a curb, the curb will always win in Okinawa.

It took us a few u-turns, even more wrong turns and a phone call to the owner for more precise directions to finally find the house. The tea shop turned out to be a big house tucked away in the hills of Nago quite off the beaten path. There is absolutely no way anyone would happen upon this place by accident. It’s actually up a private driveway, off the main road, no where near anything remotely considered civilization. I still can’t figure how people find themselves there but he insists that they do. When we arrived the owner, John (who’s from London), excitedly welcomed us into his home. He introduced us to his Japanese wife, Maki and their 2 dogs, Ollie and Cromwell and then sat us down to what turned into a 3 hour lunch extravaganza. Not only did we get some pretty tasty food, but we received a crash course in British hospitality and culture. John proceeded to converse with us throughout the entire meal, pausing to occasionally bring out food, taunt the other Japanese guests, and explain to us his theory on “the temple of love” (i.e. his body). He also introduced us to “nipple stoppers”, what John would prefer to call macaroons. John schooled us in British tea etiquette (at one point I thought he might smack me for not sitting up straight). The following is your free tea British tea drinking lesson. Take notes, because it seems the British take tea drinking very seriously and I would hate for any of you to someday be beaten by a British chef. First, you should never add milk to Earl Grey, the milk always goes in 1st and then you pour the tea into the milk so as not to stain the very fancy cup (and “for $#%*’s sake don’t put too much milk in, you’re ruining it”). Secondly, the tea and saucer always go to the right of your serving plate (even if you’re left handed). Never hold the tea cup like a mug (“bloody Americans and their mugs). And finally, NEVER, EVER lick the sugar spoon and “for Christ’s sake” don’t then put that spoon on the table or your plate, “that’s what the bloody saucer is for”. Turns out Dustin had the right idea. He made no attempt to add anything to his tea and then waited while Pat, Danielle and I did everything wrong so that he wouldn’t get yelled at. Nice Dustin, thanks for throwing us under the bus! No matter, the tea was delightful and the freshly baked rock scones were well worth the verbal and emotional abuse!


The adventure begins!


Success!


John, Maki and the bloody Americans

Below are precise directions on how to get there.

take the expressway or 58 north to nago
follow signs to pineapple park and aquarium
take L on 84 (towards aquarium), go 5.8km on 84 and take a left (you will pass the intersection for 72, look for a small brown sign on the left that says Izumi, there is an immediate left after that sign, DO NOT take this left but the next one), you should also see a sign in kangi with a big shrimp on it, take a left here, after you take this left you will curve past the shrimp shop and take a left where you see the sign for the british cafe (you will also see another sign for another cafe), go down the hill approx 0.4 km where you will come to a driveway (you will also pass the other cafe)
turn R and go up the driveway to the big brown house. you will see flags hanging out on the porch seating and you will feel like you're about to enter into someone's house (you are, but you are in the right place), if you get lost in this general area, the phone number is 098-047-7133

Silver Diner, eat your heart out!

Those of you privileged to work with me in Bethesda know how dearly I cherish breakfast at Silver Diner after a stretch of night shifts. There is nothing quite like a big hearty breakfast after slaving away the night. Well since my arrival here in Okinawa I have been hard pressed to find any place that substitutes for the Silver Diner, or any breakfast place come to think of it. You see...I've noticed that the Japanese are not quite the breakfast eaters that we Americans are. When I get off shift at 7am there is scarcely a place to be found that serves food, let alone a nice big plate of greasy eggs and bacon with a warm Waffle House hello. That is until now... My friend Danielle and I were starving, it was early and I had just gotten of a night shift and I suggested we try again to find another option for breakfast (at this point we had only found 1, The Rose Garden, which is good but I needed more options). She had done her research and found this place that looked promising. We even googled it for the hours and directions. However, upon arriving to said destination we found the doors locked and the lights dim. Apparently Japanese restaurants fail to adhere to any set schedule with any rhyme or reason (how they stay in business is beyond me). Anyway we walked away disappointed, dreams of yummy pancakes dashed once again. We proceeded to The Rose Garden, stuffed ourselves full and I vowed that we would return try again another day.

Last night being one of those nights that deserves a breakfast reward at the end of the long shift (I had just had a change-of-shift-near-baby-in-the-toilet-delivery); I suggested to my co-worker that we get breakfast. Now I had been falsely been mislead to believe that Chili’s on Kadena Air Force Base had breakfast starting at 7am. Although I had no overwhelming desire to eat at Chili’s, I was desperate to find decent breakfast food and the sign I saw the other day at the gym (nice place for a breakfast add!) lead me to believe that I could count on Chili’s to fulfill that dream. Alas it was not to be so. We got there. The doors were closed. The lights were dim. Blasted!!! This can’t be happening again!?!? Then I remembered Café Caracella…would it be open? Dare we try? Please don’t ever ask Catie how we finally got there but we did (I blame my low blood sugar and the excitement of the evening on my getting lost) and OH how we were rewarded!

Now I consider myself pretty good at throwing crap together from my fridge to create something considered edible but the breakfast sandwich I had this morning puts my fried egg combo to shame. Please witness The Okinawan Breakfast Sandwich. The tasty goodness that is 2 fried eggs, 2 fat pieces of fried SPAM, melted cheese with lettuce, onions, mayonnaise and barbeque sauce heaped in between 2 pancakes with a side of pringles. I have no idea who thought of this creation but I am nominating them for the Nobel Peace Prize. Genius, pure genius! And that was just my breakfast. The amazing pancake creations in the menu look divine and all pancakes come with the option of adding scrambled eggs and ice cream. Seriously where else can you enjoy such delicious breakfast…oh yeah and with an amazing ocean view? Something tells me breakfast at the Silver Diner will never be the same again.


The Okinawan Breakfst Sandwich


Catie and her delicious scrambled eggs and chocolate strawberry pancake sensation.

To dive, or not to dive: that is the question...

Twenty points for those of you who chose dive, as for the rest of you…shame on yourselves. Perhaps the single greatest benefit of living on an island is the accessibility to open water. Okinawa is an island 67 miles long by 2 to 17 miles wide, surrounded by the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. On any given day one can hop in the car, drive to the beach and put in 2-3 dives a day easy.

There’s just 1 little problem….work. Apparently when I hit “adulthood” it became necessary to have a job. A job being:

• A regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one's trade, occupation, or profession.

Unfortunately my job does not require regular diving activity in exchange for payment. My job is currently being held hostage by an island full of baby-crazed dependents who pop out babies at the rate surpassing the speed of sound. No matter, babies or no babies, I am going diving.

On this particular day, Pete – Jedi Master of Diving, Danielle - Shark Tamer Extraordinaire and I headed out to the Channel Crevasses on the southern tip of the island. The weather was amazing, sun shining down (it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the sun, oh glorious sun). I, having worked the night before, was operating on 2 hours of sleep and therefore placed all my trust in my diving buddies to get me through the day. Two dives later and well into my second wind, we had managed to see amazing towers of coral, numerous schools of fish and 1 well fought battle between The Jedi and a plastic bag, which fought valiantly but succumbed to it’s mortal wounds. I was hoping to see a shark or two and hopefully get a live demonstration of Danielle’s new found shark-hypnotherapy skills. Alas, that was not to be. Where are all the sharks around here? Everyone swears they’re here but I have yet to wrestle one. God willing, this will not be my last dive on the island. I will wrestle a shark and I will win.

The Jedi Master, myself and the Shark Tamer Extraordinaire


Navigating through the Crevasses

Who's The Boss??

You might have heard me mention this before, but just in case you weren’t paying attention the first time or you’ve been hiding under a rock, I LOVE Japanese vending machines. Let me repeat, I LOVE Japanese vending machines! They are everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I literally mean everywhere. It’s been said that on the most desolate islands, where there is nothing more than a shack and a beach, you can still find a vending machine. In fact, there is a vending machine at the end of my drive way and on each corner of my street, as well as every 20 feet as you walk down the street. If by chance you happen to miss the first 5 vending machines you pass, no worries, head straight 10more feet and you'll run into 5 more.

The beauty of the Japanese vending machine is this, not only can you get a nice cold beverage on a hot day, but you can also get a piping hot can of coffee. We’re talking get-out-your-gloves-you’re-gonna-get-3rd-degree-burns-from-the-aluminum-can hot. I still have no idea how they do this but I questioned not the physics as my taste buds cared not. That was until recently when I purchased a "hot" coffee that came out ice cold. WTF!?!? I paid good yen for a hot can of coffee and instead got an iced beverage. What to do? Where do I send my letter of complaint? Can I get a refund? All good questions, yet when everything is written in kanji, hiragana and katagana, what is one to do? That brings to mind a topic for a later discussion...3 forms of writing for 1 language. Is this necessary? Suffice it to say I took my cold can of coffee and went home to cry. On second thought, maybe I will write the vending machines sponsor, Tommy Lee Jones? One would only imagine that he is the true master mind (i.e. “BOSS) of said vending machines as his mug adorns 99% of the vending machines on the island.

You know what question I would like to ask The Boss? Could you please translate the ingredients on the back of this can of Georgia Café Au Lait?? Rumor has it that each can of Georgia coffee is laced with nicotine and Ritalin. Apparently my very own naval hospital here on the island ran tests on the coffee only to find that it had traces of these ingredients. No wonder I find myself wondering out to the vending machine in my driveway at 3am looking to satisfy my salacious cravings. Any attempt to translate ingredients posted in pic would be greatly appreciated as I am starting to crave cigarettes and am developing a tic.

Konnichiwa!

Well here it is...my 1st blog post. Recently I got this great idea that I'd start a blog and invite you all to share in my adventures, not just the real ones, but the mental ones too! You see, I've been on night shift for awhile now and there's something about the night shift that makes people slightly "crazy". I'm not saying that people who have blogs are crazy, but I've noticed that most blogs are dedicated to someone or something with a higher purpose like world peace and David Hasslehoff. While world peace would be nice and it's always entertaining to watch David Hasselhoff sing "Looking for Freedom" on top of the Berlin Wall, I have no topic of discussion for my blog. No single purpose, no secrets for success, no tips on filing taxes (although I must have done something right this year cause the IRS owes me BIG!). All I've got are a variety of thoughts swimming around in my head and very few people to share them with.

Lucky you, you've just been invited inside my head. This could get awkward....