Day 6: Shuri Castle and Battle Sites

The 6th day of the Cook visit was a big site-seeing day. Since Zac and I have been here, we've done plenty, but we've saved a lot of the "touristy" stuff until we had visitors. Shuri Castle (or Shurijo - what it says on the road signs - castle) is a big stop on the Okinawa tour. It's a centuries old palace (though it's been revamped a few times) and the center point for the Ryukyu kingdom.

 [A little sidenote: Okinawa is part of the Ryukyu (pronounced "rye-you-koo") chain of islands, Okinawa being one of the biggest. Before Okinawa was taken over by the Japanese, it was its own kingdom, and a major hub for the Asian trade routes.]

We also combined our Shuri Castle tour with a mini battle sites tour. Zac took his MEU platoon on the "official" tour at the end of June, so he took us to the same spots and shared the knowledge that he got from the tour guide.

Gun hole (I know there's a better/real name for it, I just can't remember). It's a place through which  someone shot a machine gun back in WWII. 

From a lookout point. All of the buildings you can see from this vantage point are from after WWII. During the war, most of the buildings and vegetation were wiped out and it was all basically mud. I also think this is a funny pic with the Japanese grandpa and grandson. 

A fighting cave from the war.

On to Shuri...

One of the main gates/entrances to the palace grounds.

The Castle has its own centuries-old water system combined of little pools like this and small ditches running throughout.

Bell building. 

I think this building was a main eating hall

The workers at the castle wore old Japanese/Okinawan dress

These rooms were where the emperor would conduct his daily business and meetings. The floors are covered with grass mats called tatami mats, which are still very common in Japanese homes. Not your average office, huh?

Gardens surrounding the emperor's work place.

A gateway within the grounds.

The emperor's throne for official business.

exit gate.

TCCOR 3

While most of you back in the states are prepping for Danielle and Earl, Okinawa is gearing up for a typhoon!

There is always a typhoon status (ref: title) that goes from TCCOR All Clear to TCCOR 1E. Outside of typhoon season, it is always labeled TCCOR All Clear, while during typhoon season, it is TCCOR 4, which means typhoon wind speeds possible within the next 72 hours. For the first time since we've lived on island, we've been upgraded to TCCOR 3, or typhoon winds possible within the next 48 hours (expected to hit around Tuesday). PS, I have no idea what TCCOR stands for...

See the pink dot with "Kadena' near it? That's Okinawa...pretty much a direct path!


I have no idea what strength this typhoon is, so it might not be serious. I was ahead of the rush at the commissary, though, and stocked up on some supplies. I have plenty of tuna, bread, peanut butter, vienna sausages (haven't had those since I was 4), ravioli, wine (duh), extra propane tank for our camping grill, batteries, and bottled water. I'm totally not worried about it...growing up in a coastal city with parents who grew up in a coastal city, hurricanes just weren't that big of a deal. Serious, but doable. And since everything around here is earthquake- and typhoon-proof, I'm not worried in the least.

I'm really quite jazzed up about the possibility of a typhoon coming our way...it's the closest thing we get to a snow day in the sub-tropics! A few days off would suit me just fine! I have TV shows, Season 1 of Lost on standby, and books and magazines and a painting project to keep me busy if the power goes out.

I'll be a little irritated if it goes on by without being "serious" enough to cancel work, like a couple of weeks when we got sideswiped a couple of weeks ago and last week when we got some residual rain and wind from various tropical storms. In that case, we just have to drive and be out in crazy wind and rain. And my little Toyota Will feels like it will up and blow away when winds get too crazy. (oh, and Zac's car battery is dead, so I can't use his...whoops. Should probably take care of that sometime soon...)

En Okinawa

This post is a continuation of the Cook invasion series...dinner on Day 2. In real time, it's a regular ole Sunday morning. I'm finally catching up on some blogging, TV, and hopefully some projects, cleaning, and reading. It's been a great weekend with a little beach time, a looong nap, karaoke, doggie cuddling (pathetic, I know), etc. ON the other home front, Zac is officially in another country, en route to his final destination somewhere in Afghanistan (I guess?). He was semi-stuck in North Carolina for almost two weeks, so it's good to know that he has safely arrived (back) on the Asian continent and to get this deployment on the road. We'd really appreciate your prayers for: Zac's continued safety on his travels, our other friends/neighbors who are also travelling in the same "direction," communication opportunities with Zac, and continued patience and reliance God throughout the coming months.


(Update: I just found this post wasn't published, though it was written a couple of weeks ago. It still is a Sunday morning, but way after I originally wrote this...and also makes the cook trip saga a little out of order! My bad!)


Day 2 was fun-filled, and we ended the day with a really fun dinner at a great Okinawan restaurant, En Okinawa. It was a great Japanese eating experience and the most exciting part of the evening was a Eisa dancer show in the restaurant. Eisa (pronounced ace-uh) dancing is a cultural Okinawan dancing comprised of sharp moves and drumming. The restaurant also has a HUGE drum that is hundreds years old.

As I was writing this post, I realized that I didn't take many (errr...any) photos this night. I do have a couple of videos and some pictures from another time we went to En Okinawa with some friends.


En Okinawa was also the first time the Cooks tried sashimi! Zac loves En Okinawa's sushi/sashimi, so when in Rome...I think they did VERY well with their first try with raw fish, and maybe even enjoyed ?!

(These pictures are from a separate time we went to En Okinawa. I also tried to upload some videos, but after several hours of not uploading, I gave up.)

The Shisa dog dance. It isn't in this video, but the shisa dog would go around "biting" peoples' heads, which is said to bring good luck! 

Cook Visit: Day 3, 4, 5

Continuing on....

I don't have much for Days 3 & 4....because I was working : / At the beginning of every month, we close the books for the month prior, and have an 8 day time crunch during which we have to get everything on the books before they close. Therefore it's a busy(er) time for us, and we're not allowed to take off during those days. I think they filled the days shopping, snorkeling, and hiking the falls.

As soon as I was out of work for the week, though, I was ready to par-tay. For dinner Wednesday night, we went to one of our favorite places, Transit Cafe. I think it talked about it before, but it's a hip, delicious dive right on the seawall. We timed it perfectly to enjoy the sunset over the seawall. What a treat!

After our leisurely dinner, we headed to a karaoke place so the Cooks could have a truly authentic karaoke experience. In Japan, karaoke is not the same as karaoke bars in America...you don't have to stand up in front of hundreds of strangers and sing. You and your group get your own individual room with a TV, microphones, and phone book-sized catalog of songs to choose from. [Fortunately, the songs are played on the screen in English and Japanese!] So you only have to be brave enough to sing in front of your closest friends and family with whom you came! Plus, you get to pick all YOUR favorite songs.

I think the night was a success with homage paid to the Beach Boys, Four Seasons, Eminem, Taylor Swift, Frank Sinatra, and many many more! It was a great night, and I was really looking forward to my first "vacation" since I started working!

Zac's Address

I added a new little feature-ette on the sidebar over there ----->

It's Zac's new overseas address. I'm sure he'd love to hear from anyone and everyone...even just for a little "Hey, how are ya!"

He's getting into his new job and is doing well! He also has access to email and Facebook, so you can still reach him through those modes of communication. Maybe one of these days he'll catch us all up on the blog!

Oh, and if for some reason you cannot see the address or it's not working as I thought, please let me know so I can fix it!

Military Homecomings

So this video has been viral on Facebook lately (at least in my friend circles). It's a good watch, especially if you're looking for a good cry. The kids' reactions especially just MELT MY HEART. The little girl at about 1:35 (time into the video) is my fave.

Word of warning...don't watch this at work...;)

Cook Visit: Day 2

We started out Day 2 with church and brunch. We have brunch at the club on base, which Zac and I take advantage of every once in a while. It's so great - omelet station, crepe station, mimosas, salad bar, full breakfast layout, full lunch layout, sushi....etc. So we had to share it with the Cooks! The club, Tengan Castle, sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and fortunately it was a beautiful day which gave us a great view!

My camera fogged up a little when we first got out there

The Cook family

And the Cook Family

Then we headed north to Nago (the other larger city on the northern part of the island.) Our first stop was a glass blowing factory, somewhere Zac and I had discovered on our anniversary weekend. Ryukyu glass is definitely very popular on the island, and at this particular spot you can make your own glass. Zac opted out since he already made one, but Jeff, Veronica, and Holly all made a glass of their own. Veronica claimed that "hers would be the prettiest." She may have been right ;)...

Holly showing off her glass

Jeff blowing his glass.

Jeff shaping his glass

Veronica showing off her "prettiest" glass

We also spent a little while perusing the glass shop that was part of the factory. You could not imagine the intricate and crazy things that they make out of this glass! Not to mention the beautiful colors and varieties of regular glasses.

After glass blowing we headed up the road to Pineapple World. Yep, you guessed it, a theme park dedicated to...pineapples. It may have been the best $5 we ever spent. ;) When you first arrive you get in line for (for lack of better term) a pineapple-mobile in which you tour some of the pineapple fields and learn more than you could imagine about the types and life cycle of pineapples. 

Zac and I just as excited to be at Pineapple Park as the Pineapple guy.

This "music video" of sorts was playing the entire time we were in line. They sang and danced to a very repetitive jingle, and even taught the dance at the end of the video. "Da da da da da da da da Pineapp-oo" (that's how the Japanese pronounce "pineapple")

Getting in the "pineapple-mobiles"

I had some ice cream while in line...What kind? Pineapple, of course.

Lots of pineapples!

At the end of the tour, we got to sample pineapple wine and probably a hundred of other pineapple creations. Oh, and of course, we ate some pineapple. Deeeelish.

Veronica sampling some sweet pineapple wine.

There was also (very randomly) a "gallery" of seashells. Because obviously pineapples and seashells go hand in hand.

Zac playing around with some fun things in the Pineapple Park shop. 

After a fun-filled day in Nago, we headed south for dinner at En Okinawa. But that deserves a post of its own...

Update

So I never finished the Cook visit week, but I will. Promise. It just seems like I have more time to write while...errrrr....at work...(don't tell anyone) than at home with my computer that has the pictures, which definitely MAKES the posts. Alas, no pictures, but I suppose our lives have been somewhat interesting lately, so I'll just talk about it and you can imagine our lives in your head.

We'll start with July 31st, since it was my b-day, and since it's the day that I started (life), we'll start there. (Such a good sentence.) Zac promised me he would finish packing before my birthday, and he did, so we were able to spend the whole day enjoying ourselves. Zac was such a great husband and brought me doughnuts and a caramel macchiato in bed. Then I got to see my whole family on Skype...I think they were having a birthday party for me...without me...in Katy. That was super fun, and I can't believe how much all those little nieces and nephews are getting! Please stop growing, niece and nephews, until I move back to the states...k thanks.

Then we headed off to lunch at one of my favorite places, (which will soon be featured WITH PICTURES in a Cook visit post) Transit Cafe. It's a little cafe right on the seawall with delicious food and drinks and a great view. We stuffed ourselves with cheese fondue, bellinis, teriyaki chicken naan pizza, open faced sandwiches, etc. YUM-O. After that, we checked out Chula-U, which I guess you could say is a cross between a country club pool, spa, and bath house. It had a couple of pools, a hot spring pool ("healing waters"), sauna, and public baths and more. We did not participate in the public baths...we're not that brave or Japanese yet. It was fun, but a little too crowded and crazy. The hot spring pool would be awesome in the winter. The regular pool had tons of kids crazing around, but when you put your head underwater there was some very relaxing Asian tunes playing underwater! So to make my underwater escape, I floated while Zac kept me from floating into other people. We also tried Dr. Fish, which is where you put your feet in a tub with a bunch of small fish and they eat the dead skin on your feet. It was crazy and ticklish. I'm glad I tried it, but I think I'll stick to conventional pedicures in the future. 

We were going to try a new place, Sam's by the Sea, a teppanyaki (or hibachi for your Americans) place for dinner. There are tons of "Sam's" restaurants on the island...kind of the Japanese equivalent of Landry's or Pappa's lines of restaurants. But we were still so stuffed from lunch we didn't want to go out for a big dinner. So we ate some cheesecake with our friends Jon and Alayna and ended up having a great, light sushi dinner at one of our faves, Delicious. (Really, the name of the restaurant is Delicious.)  I was glad that Zac got to have some sushi before he left, too, so it really worked out perfectly! Overall the day was relaxing and fun, and most importantly I got to spend some wonderful, last-minute, quality time with Zac.

We woke up nice and early the next day (4:15 am to be exact) to head off to the airport. Zac loaded up his 4 huge bags into my little Will (that's the make of my car, I didn't name it) and left behind apartment 306 for the Middle East. I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't emotional. But I tried my very best to put on my brave face as he left. You can't really prepare for how you will feel when you're saying goodbye for ~7 months, but we survived. I think it still hits me (and will continue to hit me) in waves. Our best way to deal with it, though, is to just live in the present and enjoy the life that we have because no amount of wishing or hoping will change anything!

An enormous blessing to me has been the amazing support system around me. Thoughts and prayers from the states mean so much, but it's the friends here that are physically with me to support and distract(!) me that really keep me going. The morning Zac left, two other girls went to brunch with me. It was perfect so I didn't start the whole deployment thing out sulking at home...just jumped in and got busy! We sat around, ate like crazy, and talked for almost 3 hours! Afterwards, we did a little grocery shopping, I did some other shopping, and one of them cooked dinner for us. It was so perfect, I hardly noticed Zac was gone!

Throughout the first week, I literally had something every night, whether a kind dinner invitation from a neighbor, or bible study, girls night, cook out, etc. It made the week fly by! I couldn't have imagined how much easier it all is with a couple of good buddies and lots-o-plans (oh, and a little wine splashed in there doesn't hurt either!)!

This week hasn't been bad...but perhaps a bit more emotional. I think when things around me are going good, it's easy to move through it, but when they're not, it magnifies the "missing him syndrome." Yesterday was one of those days - some "difficult" people at work and horrible weather because Okinawa was being side-swiped by a typhoon - just made for one of "those days." But I think that we all have "those days" and they are normal and you eat Ben and Jerry's & pizza and chat with a neighbor and move on tomorrow. And I'm ok with that.

So anyway, that's a little glimpse into life as of late. I've chosen to enjoy my married-bachelorette-dom and just keep on living...