Terrace Garden Mihama Resort Okinawa

... learn in person!). Each plant only produces one pineapple and it takes around 2 years for the fruit to ripen. No wonder it's difficult to compete with low-cost producers! I also did not realize that there were so many applications for pineapple -- from cakes, to wine, to vinegar. For those of you that have been to Hawaii, this is probably not a revelation. For me though, it was interesting.

Today is our last day in Okinawa and it is with mixed emotions that we leave ...

Today we decided to do something that I don't normally like to do -- go on a guided tour with a bunch of other people and get caught up on a commercial racket. Given that neither of us have ever been to Okinawa and don't know our way around, we decided to go on a bus tour and are we ever glad that we did.

The tour took us to a number of historical and interesting spots, most notable of which was the old Imperial Navy Underground Headquarters that served as ...

... this though, I probably would not have noticed this at all -- the signs that this prefecture is a bit behind others are subtle. A shabby building here, some litter in a river there -- things that one tends not to see to such a degree in other parts of the country. Nonetheless, this is quite a nice place and definitely a sub-tropical paradise.

We will definitely see a lot more of rural Okinawa over ...

... a stunningly hot day and the indoor area was air conditioned. After Shuri Castle, we went to Kokusai street in Naha City. This is a palm-lined street with tons of small souvenir shops, with a surfer atmosphere. I picked up quite a few gifts here! My favorite purchase was a red coral necklace for myself. The store's owner was so happy to see me for some reason that she gave me free shisa keychain. Riley was getting restless, so ...

... we saw how Okinawans lived in the past (obviously). The Okinawans lived in squat wooden houses on shelly lawns. What's interesting about this island is that it was not always a part of Japan- that only happened in the last century. It had its own special Ryukuan culture, as evidenced by many things around the island that are different from Japan's other islands. One of Okinawa's most special features is the shisa dog. Shisa dogs are ...

... that I dont have a camera yet! Man, I really hope we can get one soon so I can start posting pictures. I think we are going to get our cell phones today and hopefully they will be bomb diggity and have cameras included in them.
Cant wait till this jet lag passes! I have had the worst neck head ache since this morning, Must be a mixture of lack of sleep and weird sleeping positions on the late night flight we had.
will be writing more later-cheers!

... me in the process. I greatly appreciated it. Anyway, we had our first visitors come and visit. My parents came in for almost a month. They arrived on November 5 and left on December 2. Ava and Sam tried their hardest to stay awake while they waited but didn't make it. They did wake up in the car. The next day I had to work, so my ...

So, he is finally back!!! When we walked in the door Noah was running to me saying "mommy mommy" then he saw Jonathon standing there and he slowly stepped around the couch as if he wasn't sure if Daddy was real, and slowly walked over to him. Then Jonathon pulled out the lightening McQueen and Mack truck that he had ...

Well, we finally have our stuff! I am not too sure if that is a good thing or not, but it is here. I can definetly say that we have way too much stuff. Moving from a beautiful new 4 bedroom house with garage and inside storage in Dover to an old 3 bedroom with, waht they call, storage in Okinawa. It is a beautiful ...

... sityskyvyn ulkopuolella ja aina pitää olla tasaraha kolikoina! Kuljettajan yläpuolella on joku helvatin taulu johon syttyilee summia ja numeroita kuin jossain eläkeläisten bingossa ja sitten sydänkohtauksen partaalla jännitetään nitrot suussa, että mikäs summa se meidän pysäkillä näyttöön pärähtääkään? Ei siinä mitään, mutta kun nämä summat on vielä jotain täysin järjettömiä tyylin 1460 ja pitäisi vähintään olla joku siwan muovikassillinen erilaisia kolikoita, että tuosta selvi ...