The Journey Begins

July 18, 2012

Our trip began how it always does...staying up half the night, getting all the laundry done.  Sweet Brenda not only got us to the airport in plenty of time, she agreed to take my birthday packages for Troy to the Post Office, since it was closed yesterday and I forgot.  

{And as if she didn't have enough to worry about, I came out to her van from the house after locking it up, said, "Here's the keys," and instead of placing Cliff's keys between the front seats of her van, like I intended, I slid them into the front pocket of my purse, where I keep my keys.  Only I had no idea what I had done, until we arrived at the hotel and I saw Brenda's email asking about the keys.  It's a good thing we overfilled the cat's food and left her two dishes of water.  It's also a good thing that Brenda has the patience of a saint.  Spending the afternoon at the housing office, jumping through hoops to get a duplicate key is not anyone's idea of a good time, I'm certain.}

Anyway, back to the airport...we got there with lots of time to spare, so in addition to grabbing breakfast at Starbucks, we decided to take advantage of the sticky-pic booth, conveniently located at our gate.  

What are sticky pics, you ask?  Well...it's like those photo booths outside of KMart that give you a strip of silly, black and white photo poses.  Only on steroids.  Because in Japan, you go BIG or go home.  We managed to squeeze the five of us into the booth, take some wild guesses at what buttons we should push (not being able to read Japanese), and hoped for the best. 

Funny, our pics didn't come out looking quite like this.  I wonder what's up?

After you are done with your photo shoot, you step out into the next booth to do your post-editing.  Again, taking wild guesses, unless you know your Kanji.  Then, while the machine speaks to you in (what else?) Japanese, you cross your fingers and pray she's not trying to tell you anything essential to obtaining your finished product, and that you didn't just waste 400 yen and 15 minutes you'll never get back.



About a minute later...this is what the machine spit out. 
(Click to enlarge.)
I'm thinking Christmas card pics, no?

Once we got on the plane, Patrick didn't take long to zonk out at all.

Neither did Jake.

 

Cliff chose to use the time to bone up on his leadership skills.

And I slept until it was time for refreshments.  And then I slept some more.  You know...just like at home.

Is it just me, or is it crazy that all airlines don't do their trays this way?  Like that little dent in the seat-back tray is going to do anything to save your beverage if you hit significant turbulence.  THIS is a cupholder, people!  But yet, I only see these on domestic, Japanese flights.  Hmmm.

In no time at all, we were in Tokyo, with very little time to make our connecting flight to LA.  But JUST enough time to slurp some Udon noodles.  Well, those of us with taste buds slurped Udon.  The rest ate McDonald's.  *Shudder*

We were all thrilled that Cliff took the time to upgrade all of us to Economy Plus the night before, for our longer flight.  Six inches may not seem like a big deal, but when it means the difference between having your knees jammed into the seat in front of you for ten hours, vs. being able to extend your legs, it's HUGE!

Sobaya Chirugwa (Red Roof Soba)

We have been to (and blogged about) Sobaya Chirugwa before, but never knew its real name. We just always called it Red Roof Soba. We still do. It's easier. You can read our other posts about it here and here. (The kids look so much younger in just a couple of years time!)

Anyway, when we were in Hawaii, poor Jake just wanted to go "home." One day he asked me, "Mom...can we go eat at Red Roof Soba as a family as soon as possible when we get back? You know, to celebrate our return to Okinawa with authentic Okinawan food?" After all that kid had been through, of course I told him we would go ASAP. Well, we kind of forgot about it with all the other travel going on...and Jake reminded us a couple of times before last night.


We finally went, and it was worth the wait.



Coree likes to order the kids plate just to get one of those corn snacks on the left (like a single, giant cheeto with corn seasoning instead of cheese) that we could buy for ten cents at the grocery store. They never question her age, so we just go with it.



I kept looking around at everyone, trying my best to soak it all in.



We are definitely counting down the days we have left as an intact family unit as Troy prepares for his mission.



Coree is counting down the days until she can leave for college.



We ordered some gyoza to share. It is pretty good here. A little on the greasy side, so I only had one.



Then the soba started arriving. Nom, nom, nom.



Cliff, Troy and I ordered the (aptly named) Yummy Combo.



Because of the presentation, it actually looks bigger than it is...



But it is still a lot of food. Starting from the left, (bottom row) a grains-rice mixture, soba noodles with fish and pork; (middle row) a mixture of stewed root vegetables, tofu and a pig's foot, fish and vegetable tempura and dipping sauce; (top row) pickled seaweed and a cabbage and corn salad. I enjoy everything but the pig's foot. Troy eats that while I close my eyes.

Welcome home (late) Jake. We're glad you are back among your people.

Eat, Shop, Laugh (Curry House Paradise)

We had another lovely date night. Our kids had all been to the new curry buffet, Curry House Paradise, but we had yet to eat there, so we gave it a whirl.


It's part of the new section of American Village, Depot Island.



There were many varieties of curry. I tried four of them because I wanted to arrange my plate like they did in their advertisements. Doesn't it look terribly clever? They were all wonderful. I don't even remember exactly what they were, other than a couple of them were chicken, one was pork.



We started with soup and salad, which were also included.



The decor had a very Latin flair (as did the music)...which I was not expecting from a curry place. But if I have learned one thing on Okinawa...it's to always expect the unexpected.



Afterward, we decided to do some window shopping.



And found some very interesting items. I don't know what fruit has to do with waist size...



Or what peace has to do with underwear, for that matter.



Utah is famous. Who knew.



There's even a whole line of CTR clothing!



They should really open up a Wasatch Front location, don't you think?



It even comes in Primary colors!



And on redneck hats, too!



I wonder what kind of music the CTR channel would play?
Give Said the Little Stream?
Popcorn Popping?



Look, Lisa! (I didn't see a Bee's Knees volume, though.)



And as if we needed more hideousness in the world, there is an entire store of Crocs (as opposed to a small rack in the Target garden department, where they belong). This is another store that would do well in Utah, me thinks...judging by the number of children I see show up to church on Sunday wearing these. (Can I get verification from any of my Utah peeps?) Apparently, horrid, brightly-colored, foam is the new leather. For the love of good taste, PLEEZE let this fad pass quickly...along with those horrible sandals that squeak with every step.

Anyway, that was our exciting date night for this week. We give Curry House Paradise four thumbs up. We'll be back, I'm sure.

Tortilla Factory

Since reading about this place on OkinawaHai, Cliff and I have been eager to try it. We miss Chipotle back in the States...we miss good Mexican food of all kinds, in general...so we are always hopeful when hearing about someplace new. We knew better than to think it was actually going to be as good as Chipotle (for some reason, Mexican food does not translate well here) but we hoped for some resemblance, since Tortilla Factory was patterned after it.

We were helped by the owner or manager and he was very enthusiastic. Two other parties had just left; it was just us in the place so we had his undivided attention. It was sweet how he stood there near our table waiting with anticipation as we took the first bite. We nodded enthusiastically...and by his bowing, I think we were adequately animated for his liking and he returned to the kitchen.



First, document the moment...now let the feeding frenzy begin!



I'm getting hungry again just looking at this. We both opted for the pork carnitas. I would have loved chicken (ala Chipotle), but they use solid pieces of (reheated) chicken, instead of shredded chicken, so I went with the shredded pork. I have texture issues and didn't want to take any chances.



It was super-yummy! Here's a look at the layers inside.

The tortilla soup was also very good. We will go back, for sure. We were correct in assuming it wouldn't be Chipotle, but it was still delicious. Does it sound terrible to say, "Go in with low expectations and you'll be pleasantly surprised?" I know that's not what I'd want reviewers to say about my restaurant, but it's just that when you live near "the border," most of your life and have access to all manner of Mexican food (from large chains to holes-in-the-wall), it's hard to measure up. By Okinawan-Mexican standards, however...this place gets 4 stars!

Hot Date and Sea Side Cafe

I love lazy, weekend, daytime dates! Cliff and I decided to park in a neighborhood near the sea wall and take a walk along the water.


You just never know what you are going to find around here. Exploring never gets old. This is a bar made out of an old bus. See the sign by the door? We were pretty sure the place was abandoned by the looks of it...but you really never know.



Beautiful stained glass...



Interesting architecture...



And of course, fishermen.



We walked from one end of the sea wall, as far as we could down to the other, and then came back for lunch nearer to where we started at the Sea Side Cafe. We've heard rave reviews about this place and were eager to try it. There was a family with wild kids running roughshod over the place inside (it's a very small restaurant) and it felt like they had no AC going, so we did an about face and opted for the front patio seating. It was hard to beat the view. A couple of the other tables on the patio had chillin' dogs tethered to them while their owners relaxed and ate. Combined with the sound and smell of the water, the whole scene was very serene.



A little peek at the menu. While hard to pass on a "Big velly burger"...



I had to go with the number one Smoked Salmon & Avocado (with lemon cream french sauce).

Cliff thought about the classic burger, but rumor has it, it's number two...



So he opted for the fish and chips.

The food was simple, but delicious. I think it's a perfect spot for lunch. They even have (not free) Wi-Fi if you are interested...and it's pet (and apparently kid) friendly.

Underwater ROV

One of the reasons Jake was looking most forward to getting home, was checking the mail for his underwater ROV robot kit, sent from his awesome homeschool science program, Supercharged Science. The postman did not disappoint.

Most of the stuff SCS sells comes all-inclusive. Except (of course) the one Jake wanted most. So in addition to the $69 plus shipping for the kit, they said we could also expect to spend about $80 in supplies at our local hardware store. {That's if you're not paying in Yen.} Also not factored into the equation would be the frustration of trying to guess what you are really buying since it's all in Kanji...or the confusion that comes along with conveying English measurements (in the English language) to the Okinawan man who is going to be cutting your PVC pipe. All 57 pieces of it.

It made for a fun evening at Make-Man, pushing a cart and a wheelchair...and of course I forgot the camera. Jake couldn't wait to get to work this morning. He set up on the back patio and got to sanding, gluing, drilling and snipping. I left the back door open, just in case he needed emergency assistance. I figured he'd be awhile and I'd get back there to get some pictures when things were really in full swing. I missed my chance. Pretty soon, he came in and announced that it was drying.



That was fast!



Can't wait to see phase two, once the silicone dries. I sure hope the pool lets us try this thing out. Who knows with the government. Otherwise, this is going to be one big fish in one very small bathtub.

I've sure missed hanging out with this guy

This past several weeks have been so crazy for me, but they've been just as crazy back home. I felt so guilty leaving when I did. As Operation Tomodachi was kicking into over-drive here, I left with Jake (leaving Cliff to manage the other three and their busy schedules) indefinitely. Cliff's boss left for the US for a conference and leave for several weeks...leaving him to manage working 14-16 hour days doing his part in the coordination of the relief efforts, while trying to handle things on the homefront, too. I did my best to try to stay connected with the kids via Facebook and email, but it's just not the same. I so wanted to be able to be that support and sounding board for Cliff when he came home at the end of a long day, especially under the current, stressful circumstances. It hurt my heart not to be able to be there for him.

The kids don't seem to have suffered much. There were some tough times with school stuff where I felt one of them really needed me here, but all in all, they did fine. One of my Visiting Teachers from church asked Patrick during Seminary carpool, "I feel bad that I haven't done anything for you guys...could I bring you dinner?" To which Patrick replied, "No, we are doing great! My dad bought all kinds of good food! White bread, toaster strudel, Chef Boy R Dee..."

It made me laugh when she recounted the conversation, because I could totally see Cliff walking into the commissary with the purpose of getting the most easy to prepare, most kid-desired food possible to last the rest of my absence. The kids knew a good thing when they saw it...and who wants to risk the Relief Society bringing over something actually nutritious?! (Now it's back to wheat bread and non "shelf-life" food. Mom's home. Bummer.)



Today was a real treat. We just had some mundane errands to run...but how lucky am I to have this man to run them with? It's SO good to be home!



We managed to squeeze in this lovely tempura and miso lunch at a Japanese restaurant in Jusco (Aeon, whatever! I'll never get used to their new name. Just like it took years to make the switch from Price Club to Costco...and I will NEVER call the Wild Animal Park "Safari Park." Won't happen!)



Even as we sat here with this wonderful meal in this cute little restaurant, things were different. We were more quiet than usual. I think we were kind of struggling to reconnect after fighting separate battles for the past almost-month. I know in the grand scheme of things, what we had to endure was nothing compared to what some people handle on a daily basis. Certainly nothing compared to what the people of Sendai are dealing with. We've had WAY longer deployments, and we've dealt with medical issues, too...so I'm not exactly sure what made this time so hard...except that I wasn't home. In the five deployments Cliff has done, the two that were preceded by a move were the hardest. There is just something about being settled that makes things easier to bear. Obviously for us, home varies greatly. It's wherever the Navy sends us, it's whatever structure happens to house our little family at the time...but having our family split in so many pieces, each of us dealing with our own battles just compounded the stress, I think.

At any rate, it's so good to be back home again. It sure makes one appreciate the little things, like grabbing a quick lunch in between shopping, getting keys made dropping off kids, etc. I'm sure we'll be back to normal in no time.