Adventures in Mainland: Part 1, Osaka

We are currently in our last year of living in Okinawa and we have several trips that we'd still like to accomplish in our short time left here (a bucket list of sorts). One of those trips happened this past holiday weekend. We took a four-day trip with our friends, Sara and Gabe, to mainland that took us through parts of Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Hiroshima. These next few blog entries will give highlights of this whirlwind trip.

We left Thursday morning (Thanksgiving!). Our itinerary started us off on a morning flight, but due to overbooking we ended up spending most of the morning in the airport (good times...yeah....). Anyway, we finally got on a plane and headed to Osaka! After arriving, we hoped on a bus that took us into the city right to our hotel. This ended up being a great way to get an overview of the outskirts of Osaka.

Look! I spotted Ikea!

Entering the city...

After getting to the hotel, the first order of business was to get to BIC camera - a huge conglomerate of camera products and accessories. The easy-to-navigate subway system made it easy to find.

Unfortunately, they didn't have what I was looking for - so we hit the streets to find a place to eat dinner. There were plenty of sights along the way, especially since we were in an area known for food.

Bicycles were everywhere!

I loved the outside of the restaurants, especially this one with the fish...

...and this one with the moving crab. Okay, actually the moving eyes freaked me out.

And finally, we found it! Mmmm....Okonomiyaki! Osaka is apparently famous for creating this yummy Japanese food item that is often referred to as a "Japanese pancake." We've had them before in Okinawa, but they tasted much different than the Osaka version.

The boys ordered it regular style, with cabbage, meat, and fish flakes on top. Sara and I preferred to try the version made with green onion instead of cabbage (and minus the fish flakes).

The boys' okonomiyaki:

Ours (oops, forgot to take the picture until after we started eating!):

It was so yummy!

Our traveling buddies: Sara and Gabe

After our delicious dinner, we walked around and took in the sights. It was so fun to explore a new city. Check out the fancy sewer covers (yeah, I take pictures of sewer covers - call me crazy).

I affectionately named this "poop sushi" after spotting it in a restaurant window. It did not look appealing.

Sara and Gabe pose with the giant raccoon guy.

We eventually found an arcade and the boys got to playing a Japanese guitar game.

Meanwhile, Sara and I took pictures in a funky photo booth.

On the way home, I fell in love with this subway mural. Isn't it fun?!

And then, back to the hotel.

Next up: Kyoto!

Surprise!

Noa's last birthday gift arrived on Thursday....Mike! Mike flew in to surprise Noa as a belated birthday gift. Noa came home unsuspectingly on Thursday from work. It was a typical day and we were planning on working out when he got home. He came in, handed me the mail, and briefly glanced around the apartment (it was pretty clean mid-week and I think he was impressed). It was then that he saw Mike sitting in our armchair and Noa simply collapsed to the floor. He couldn't believe it.

It was the best! Noa is still on cloud 9 having his BFF around. They are planning on golfing, although the weather seems to not want to cooperate. Still, Noa is walking around with a big smile on his face. I think he still can't believe it.

More Halloween Costumes

Sara took a lot of photos at the Halloween party, so I can't take any credit for these photos, but here are some of the great costumes from the party and I couldn't resist sharing!

Christa and Adam dipict Reno 911 characters. He won the costume contest for the venue.

Sara, with he lab-researcher-getting-attacked-by-rats costume (so cool and yet so disturbing since there was blood involved) and hubby Gabe as the Grim Sweeper (you can't see, but he's even wearing bunny slippers).

Noa, AKA the Chick Magnet hanging out with Kenny as Clyde. Amanda was dressed as Bonnie (not pictured).

Allen and Mary Ann as Bleeker and Juno. Cute, eh?

Good times!

Halloween Weekend

It's been a busy holiday weekend in Okinawa. The festivities started on Friday with our annual Storybook Parade at school. The Sure Start (preschool) and Kindergarten students and teachers dressed up as a favorite storybook character. This year my costume was the peddler from Caps for Sale (which was written in 1940!!). Some of my students were wondering how I grew a mustache. Guess I should have gone to that wax appointment after all....

As you can see, I have way too much fun at these school events.

Friday night we went to a Halloween-style karaoke event for the Japanese medical interns at Noa's hospital. They didn't disappoint with their enthusiasm. The interns were great - sang just as loud with us on the American songs and sang some Japanese tunes for the crowd. Oh, and their costumes were fun - they definitely embraced the idea of dressing up. Check out their fun costume ideas:

Saturday morning, Noa joined his Ultimate Frisbee buddies for a tournament on one of the local bases. Every Sunday he plays with these guys and every once and awhile a tournament comes along for them to participate in. This time, they nailed the first place spot! Nice work, guys.

Halloween night brought us to a local venue on base where some friends were hosting a Halloween party. It was a blast and I'll have more pictures to post later, but for now, here's a glimpse of some of the costume creativity. Now, I owe all the creative thanks to my sister who inspired both of our costumes: Noa was a "chick magnet" and I am dressed as Bjork. We're with our friends Tom and Tesha who are sunburned tourists. Tom was even sporting the socks with sandals look - it was classic!

Lastly on Sunday we said tearful good-byes to our beloved Pastor Dunn and his wife Connie. After serving our church here for 12 years, they have been called to ministry in a church in Sydney, Australia. It was an extremely moving and memorable service and although we'll miss them greatly, we are excited for the new things to come for our church.

Only in my Mind

We went to Round 1 for the first time on Saturday. Round 1 is a seven floor multiplex with games, sports, and arcade games. It's right down the street from us and opened earlier this year. However, we just hadn't made it over and finally did this weekend when Noa hosted a youth event there. I summoned my courage to try the batting cages even though I haven't held a bat in years. I played freshman softball in high school and although I loved it, I didn't develop the skills to keep playing throughout my high school years. So, on this rainy Saturday, I stepped up to the batting cages with much trepidation. As I thought, I was really bad. Bad as in maybe hit every 3rd ball. Still, it was fun to pretend I was good at batting and I even got to hit several rounds since no one was waiting behind me. Here I am channeling my awesome inner softball player - even if it is only in my mind.

Tug-of-War (Tsunahiki)

This past Sunday we met up with some friends to experience the world's largest tug-of-war in Naha. This annual event is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. The event is so large that the main road is closed down for the festivities. First there's a parade for the Hatagashira, or the tall poles that represent each district. This involved lots of cute kids with flags and drums.

Here is one of the Hatagashira with the many men used to carry and lift it.

Here they are all set up. The men held them up the whole time with long poles.

Oh, and the parade had these cute girls with shell horns.

It's the east versus the west during the event. There's even a ceremonial meeting of the kings that represent the two dynasties of Naha from centuries ago. They each ride down the large rope and meet in the middle, issue challenges to each other and then the fun ensues! Here are one of the kings before the event.

And here he is on his way to give a challenge at the knot in the middle of the rope. He rode down the rope on a large wooden platform, guided by several men.

This cutie was in front of me while I was taking pictures and I couldn't resist snapping a quick pic of her.

See that gold ball high in the air above us? When it opens, the tug-of-war officially begins.

Now, for the rope. The rope weighs about 40 tons and is over 300 feet long. It's held together in the middle with a giant wooden peg. The main rope has smaller ropes coming off of it for the participants to use. After the event, spectators and participants can cut off a piece.

Before the event, people were sitting and standing on the massive rope. I had to really push my way through the crowds to get this shot. Considering around 25,000 people attend each year, it's no small attraction.

Let the pulling begin!

I'm in!

I pulled for the east side. I couldn't really understand the Japanese, but apparently they are chanting "Yoisho! Oshoi!" and "Hai-yaaah" which means "heave-ho!"

Although I was enjoying it, the pulling was actually a lot of work. The tugging part lasts about 30 minutes.

I let Noa jump in for a few minutes (while I was catching my breath and giving my hands a break). He obviously got into the spirit of the event.

At the end of the event I had a well deserved beer and got a piece of the rope. It's said that the piece of rope gives you good luck for the next year.

Afterwards, our group walked around downtown Naha and ended up having dinner at a little random place we stumbled upon. We had a great time laughing and chatting the night away. Here I am with my pal, Amy.

The only downfall of the whole day was the gigantic blister I brought home.