Post Storm Pics

After a typhoon hits or travels near Okinawa, we get some incredible waves outside our place. We can always count on finding a gaggle of surfers testing the waves. This time was no exception.

While we watched from our balcony, I snapped a few pictures.

This guy jumped into the water just as the wave broke against the pier.

Gunnar and Sadie got tired of being on the balcony and watched us from their perch (the top of the chair).

It was too cloudy for a picturesque sunset, but we still had a pretty golden sky for awhile.

Have a great weekend!

Typhoon Season is Here

Okay, technically it's been here since June, but a typhoon off the southern coast of Okinawa is currently threatening us with strong winds. Wind so strong it woke me up in the middle of the night and I realized that our porch hadn't been cleared yet. So, at 1 o'clock in the morning, Noa and I were out on our balcony bringing in rain-soaked plants and shuffling our grill through the living room. Now we have to live with our outdoors in our indoors until the storm clears or the wind dies down. Check out our latest set-up:

The typhoon won't hit the island directly. We'll most likely be in the clear by Sunday. It's also a good excuse to work a little on my porch - I'm thinking of adding another plant and maybe get a chair or two. Now, I have a clean slate to work with!

The Worst Best "Dog Park" on Base

I was delighted to hear about a fenced-in area to let our dogs run loose that is close to our house seldom used (as opposed to the one at Torii in which I was kicked out when the Army had training practices). Noa and I decided to check it out yesterday evening when it's cooler out. We were excited to find that the overgrown ball field was indeed completely fenced in, had a working gate, and had no signs of "no dogs allowed" to be seen. Score! However, when we showed up, we found out that we're not the only ones to use this area for our dogs. Several other people and their four legged friends were there. This always makes me a little nervous since some dogs don't play well with our petite pups and I didn't want to risk our dogs getting hurt. Thankfully, all the dogs were well-behaved and under strict supervision by the owners. Here are a few of the doggie friends we met:

Ginger, the Pit Bull puppy (Gunnar kept playing with her and tried to {ahem} "dominate" her a few times.)

Bailey, who lives upstairs from us and has been to our place to play before

Chunk, the chocolate lab who did the most running and mooched off the other's water bowls

Upon entering, we walked the perimeter with the dogs on leash in order to get some initial excited energy out (and check for any holes in the fence). I kept looking at Gunnar because the kept walking funny, almost as if he had a limp. Then I noticed Sadie was doing the same thing too. It wasn't consistent, so I shrugged it off and we unleashed them. They meandered over to sniff out the other dogs, but took their time getting there. There was no dash to the crowd or an excited burst of energy. So, I grabbed a tennis ball to entice Sadie to run after it and Noa ran around calling to the dogs to get them to run and really strut their stuff. It was an ideal scenario - friendly dogs, fenced area, and LOTS of room to run. Still, they pretty much stayed in one place and only came when they absolutely had to - and at a snails pace, I might add.

See? There they are, just standing around. Move, you two! You were made to run!

We couldn't figure out what the problem was because all the other dogs seemed to be fine and our dogs had been acting fine all day. After further investigation, we found out that the lovely, fenced field is covered in some sort of thorny grass. The bigger dogs didn't seem to be as uncomfortable, but our dogs, who were the smallest, seemed visible displeased with the lawn. So, we relegated to the fact that our dogs would not be running around after all. So, we visited a little longer with our new doggie friends and then headed home.

Noa keeps Sadie from the painful grass. Isn't this picture great?!

One last treat before we head home. Good sit, dogs!

Adventures in Yogurtland

Tonight I convinced Noa to take us to Yogurtland, the new frozen yogurt shop in town.

Here's a quick view inside the place. It seemed to be a pretty popular place. Of course, it's located in the heart of American Village, which is always crowded on a weekend night.

So, here's how it works: pick your flavor. They offer many different flavors of frozen yogurt, such as cheesecake, pomegranate, pistachio, peanut butter, and of course the traditional flavors as well. We especially like the double cookies and cream. You can pour as little or as much as you want and mix flavors to your liking.

Then, choose your toppings. I was a big fan of all the different fruit toppings offered, especially the strawberries, kiwis, and mango.

You pay for your frozen yogurt creation by its weight.

Here are our bowls of frozen yogurt goodness. They gave Noa the pink spoon - he he he.

Yummmmm! Yogurtland is yummy!

Mmmmmmm....

Not a bite left!

I think I've found my favorite way to stay cool this summer.

Curse of the Black Thumb

It's no secret that I don't have a green thumb. My mother-in-law is blessed with amazing gardening skills and has turned her backyard forest into a lush, flowering garden oasis. I, on the other hand, can't even keep a simple houseplant alive even if it was fake (yeah, I'm that bad). So, I need your help. You see, I received this lovely little ficus plant as a thank you gift from one of my favorite students. I know, I know....I'm not supposed to have favorites, but we're getting off topic here. Unfortunately, I'm not doing a very good job at keeping this plant alive. Lately, it's been shedding a lot of leaves. Do I give it more water? Plant food? I want to put it into a larger pot, but I'm afraid the rest of the leaves will fall off and it will die. Help!

Oh, and yes, Sadie just had to be in the photo.

Diva.

China, Part 4: Shanghai

Finally! The last installment of our China trip! I know it's been much too long in-between blog entries, but well, I've been taking advantage of some of my downtime to read and enjoy my vacation for what it is - a vacation. Not too worry though - I've been doing some projects and I'll be sharing those with you soon enough, my friends.

Anyway, on to Shanghai! This city had a nice mix of old and new, although some argue that the city is becoming gentrified too quickly. Traci had not been back in 10 years, I think, and she said that the city has changed quite a bit since her last visit - so much so that parts of it were unrecognizable. Some of the construction is due to the preparations for the World Expo Shanghai 2010, an international event that begins next May. Still, even with all the construction, it still proved to be a beautiful city navigating it's way into the future while still holding on to strong roots of the past.

Here is a city skyline just past an old wall.

The older buildings simply stand alongside the newer construction. Here is a street corner with an older building in the background.

Demonstrating the juxtaposition of old vs. new:

We walked through areas of the city with top-of-the-line stores (why, hello Prada, Gucci, and the like...) international restaurants, and huge skyscrapers. The new architecture is really fun and reminded me of Hong Kong, especially at night. Here is the Oriental Pearl Television Tower that used to be Shanghai's tallest building. Fun, right?

Now the tallest building in Shanghai (and one of the tallest buildings in the world) is the Shanghai World Financial Center. It is awesome! When I first saw it, I thought to myself that the building looked like a giant bottle opener! In this picture you can see it in the background, although it doesn't quite look so massive yet. The top of it kinda looks like a handle. It's the building with the blueish line around it.

At 492 meters it definitely is tall (just for some perspective, the Eiffel Tower is 324 m and the Sears Tower is 442 meters). The building's three sides come together to form a top with a portion cut out and then an observatory at the very top. Here's a close-up:

And, yes, we went to the top! It was a bit scary for someone like me who does not really like heights. But, I wasn't the only one who was trepidatious about the extreme height and the glass floor. Kelly was nervous too!

Check out the AMAZING view! Oh, and FYI: see that building to the right of the Oriental Pearl TV tower? It's kind of shaped like a leaf. That's the building that Tom Cruise jumped off in the movie Mission Impossible 3. Cool, right?

We were able to see the city from all sides and it was truly a spectacular site. If you ever find yourself in Shanghai, go here.

Speaking of staying in Shanghai, here's a night time shot of the lovely hotel we stayed at: Broadway Mansions Hotel in the Bund District of Shanghai. The Bund District is a historical area of Shanghai with old buildings from the time of British influence and trade with other nations. And, yes, it does overlook the water!

Unfortunately, we had to send off our friends with an early morning good-bye since our flight left the following day. Which meant that Noa and I had to navigate the city on our own, which was a little intimidating.

Thankfully we survived.

We shopped around.

We got in line for a taxi.

We ate our weight in pizza. What can I say, we were craving something familiar! So we headed to Pizza Hut, which was completely different than American Pizza Hut. This one was much classier and had a very extensive menu.

I made expensive phone calls to the states. Just kidding. I was just posing with the phone. Poser!

But, the best part of our extra day in Shanghai was the Chinese acrobat show! We went and saw a performance by the New Shanghai Circus. It was a show with many "traditional" circus acts, including acrobats (awesome), magic, tumblers, dancers, and the motorcycles that drive around inside a large dome-shaped cage.

We couldn't take pictures during the performance, so I took a few pics of the signs showing the acts I liked. This is where the girls have to balance all the plates on sticks and they do all kinds of crazy moves while keeping the plates spinning on sticks.
These two guys were acrobats/strength performers.
The hat act was fun. These guys danced around with hats and were juggling them and passing many around without dropping them. Sounds strange, but it was entertaining.

The next day we made it home safe and sound.

Before I end my posts about China, I wanted to share a few pictures of the cuisine we feasted on while there. Honestly, I was pretty nervous about eating in China. I did feel better about having native speakers with us and Traci has traveled through China and survived on the food, but still I had my doubts. I didn't want to bite into fried cat....or worse. Thankfully, nothing like that happened, although there was no shortage of new and unusual food items, as you'll see.

Here are some pictures from dumpling night. Obviously, what you see here are dumplings. Mmmmmm......

Chinese beer - don't get your expectations up that they'll be cold. We've found that when it comes to drinks, you have to request that it comes to you cold or ask for ice.

This is tofu - which I normally like but I chickened out and didn't eat this. I think the topping scared me away.

Oh and I couldn't do the "gelatinous noodle." The texture creeped me out.

I'm not sure what this is called, but it's meat that you scoop and put in the bun that's shaped like a clam shell. It was good.

Chinese meatballs are delicious.

You're probably wondering what the heck you are looking at. Well, you'll have to scroll down below the picture to find out.

S-T-O-M-A-C-H. Yup, it's stomach. It was one of the options during our Szechuan style hot pot meal. No, I didn't try it, but Noa did!

Here's how we cooked our items that night. Traci is waiting for her veggies to cook up in the hot pot.

I had hoped to get more pictures of food, but alas, I didn't. It's always in hindsight that you realize what pictures you missed on a trip. Oh well.

I did learn to love a new veggie on this trip: bok choy. I even sauteed some for dinner last night. If you haven't tried it, go get some from the grocery story right now and google some recipes (it's real easy to just steam or saute it even). You'll thank me later.