Torii Beach

Joey and I went to the beach here for the first time, with a friend and her son. I know what you're thinking. 'You haven't been to the beach yet, and you've lived in Oki how long?' I don't know why Joey waited this long, but as for me, I hate baking in the sun! So we went in the evening to Torii Beach, which is located within an Army base, the closest base to our apartment. Surprisingly, for a weekend (Sunday), there was no one! Maybe because they were all at the Eisa Festival or the Beer Fest ... or they were at the BX shopping for their kids because the school year started this week for most schools.

Joey's trying to be the next Michael Phelps.
(Ahh, my picture isn't straight, sorry!)

Our beach shoes. Flattering huh? They're the only colors available at the BX.
The sand over here is mixed with coral, which sometimes doesn't feel too nice on your feet.

Orion Beer Fest 2008

This past weekend was the Eisa Festival and Orion Beer Fest 2008, both at Koza Sports Park. We went to the Eisa Festival first during the day, then to the Beer Fest at night to meet up with some friends. It was fun and a hot, sticky, sweaty, ordinary Okinawa day.

Entrance for the Beer Fest. Legal age for drinking here is 20 years old.

Joey and I with some friends we met up with at the Beer Fest and our new Okinawan friend whom we shared a table with.

On our way to get food, we saw this guy. Check out his beer hat!

Promotion ... and Liza Driving?

First off, I just want to say that I am so proud of Joey because he just got PROMOTED! Woohoo! Today was the promotion party, so Joey picked me up and brought me. I'm glad I got to spend this celebration with him, since I've missed out on past promotions.

Forgot to tell you, the day I got my license, Joey bought me a car, but wasn't ready for pick-up until today. So at the promotion party, Joey asked if he could drink along with his fellow promoted celebrants, and afterwards, we could go to the dealership to pick up the car ... so I would have to drive home (I can't drive his car because it's a stick shift). Me? Driving home for the first time? At night? With a drunk passenger? I said no, meaning he couldn't drink. But he found out about a taxi service called Daiko, which picks you up at the base, along with another driver to follow behind driving your car home, so you have your car in the morning! When we were ready to go home, we found out that they don't start their taxi service until 8pm, and it was 5:30pm when we found out ... and this was AFTER Joey was already drunk!

I fortunately didn't drink, and therefore, was forced to get our car that night and drive home! I have to say, I did pretty well, considering I was shaking from my head to my toes as I got into the driver's seat! I haven't driven in two months! Only trouble I had was using the wind shield wipers as my turn signal (they're switched on either side in Japan).

Driver's License

I finally got my driver's license! At first, I didn't mind not driving and not having a car. But after a while, I started feeling bad that Joey had to drive ALL the time. Especially, since we live far, and if he wants to have a beer when we go out, he can't cause I can't drive us home! Only thing left to do is buy a car!

6 Months

Joey and I just celebrated our 6 Month Wedding Anniversary! Yay! Everyone always asks us, "So, how's the married life?" All I can respond is, "Great!", because it is! I'm living on a tropical island, finally done with school, don't have to worry about working just yet, and I have the best husband in the world!

Our transition into married life has been a breeze, so far. Zero fights. 100% love. Corny, I know! But really, I'm having so much fun being married! I guess being in a semi-long distance relationship prior to getting married and having great communication can also attribute to our happy marriage.

So, what did we do on our anniversary? The night before, Joey came home from work and surprised me with 6 pink roses and a 'Happy Anniversary' balloon. The next day, we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant called Marino's. Then we went to the PX to get Joey a PS3 (which he asked for constantly every weekend for the past months), Guitar Hero - The Aerosmith Edition, and the movie '300'. I started to get jealous, so Joey bought me a red DS Lite and the game 'Gourmet Chef'! On our way home, we stopped by Family Mart and got some bento boxes, with the intention of going to the beach later to eat dinner there. But once we got home, we couldn't wait, and played our games!

Joey's presents.

My presents.

Getting a DS Lite is a pretty big deal for me. Growing up with all girls in my house, we played with Barbie's, talked on the phone, played games on the computer (i.e. 'Oregon Trail'), and shopped. The only game consoles we ever had in our house was the old school Game Boy, which upgraded to a Game Boy Advance for a short period of time, until we stopped playing with it. Before that, we had the original Nintendo, where you had to blow into the cartridge, and bang on it a couple of times before you insert it in. Oh, the days of playing 'Duck Hunt' and 'Zelda'.

We Got a Video Camera

We got a video camera, a red JVC GZ-MG330 to be exact! It's cute, it's small, it also takes still pictures, and it's HDD. Joey has been bugging me since the beginning of spring to get it, and we finally did. So just as soon as I figure out how to post videos online, we can show you some of the places we visit or maybe a tour of our apartment (after we get our last shipment of Joey's furniture ... and after I clean)!

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

We went to the Churaumi Aquarium in Nago, which is northwest of Oki. We took the scenic route to get there, which was about one hour away. We passed a bunch of beaches, so we might scope those out later!

The Churaumi Aquarium is the world's second largest aquarium, so we had to check it out!

Looks a little postcard-ish, right? Anyway, it's beautiful out there!

Ignore my hair = wind + humidity

There was a dolphin show outside, but we decided to see it another time, because look at those clouds!

One of the first exhibits is a hands-on exhibit where you can touch different types of starfish, sea cucumbers, and other aquatic species.

This is the world's largest acrylic glass panel, which is 8.2 meters high by 22.5 meters wide and 2 feet thick. It holds whale sharks, manta rays, various schools of fishes, etc.

10,000 Eisa Dancers Parade

Joey and I went to the 10,000 Eisa Dancers Parade in Naha on Sunday. Eisa is a form of dance where people of all ages chant, sing, dance, and pound on drums all together, wearing colorful clothes. Naha is south of the island and we went to Kokusai Street, which I'm assuming is equivalent to their downtown.



It was really fun seeing these dancers perform. The youngest performer I saw had to have been at least 3 years old!

In between performances, Joey and I strolled the street to look at the various shops. Some had been closed because of the parade, so I think we'll try going there again, sans parade. After an hour of watching, it began to RAIN! It wasn't even one of those "warning" type of rains. It was humid and hot (as usual) one second, then a downpour of water the next. Luckily, we brought our gigantic umbrella we got at Universal Studios, which was able to cover Joey and I ... and a few more surrounding people.