Flea Market

Joey and I went to the Flea Market last week to sell items we no longer wanted or needed, *ahem* our junk *ahem*. One man's junk is another man's treasure - and boy, is that right!

The flea market is held every weekend at different bases - this particular weekend was at Camp Courtney from 7am to 10am. It was early, but it's better than being out in the sun from 9am to 12pm when it's held at other bases.

We arrived shortly after 6am and there already were two long lines - one for the sellers and one for the buyers. The flea market is open the locals, and let me tell you, they like bargaining!

We were placed at the corner end lot and originally thought it was a bad location. We were wrong! It was a prime location because the Japanese came running, literally, from our corner. We were ambushed!

This is what we started with.

We just wanted to get rid of everything and priced most items between 100Y to 300Y (that's around $1 to $3). Even with those cheap prices, the locals still tried to bargain. It's alright, because we ended up profiting much more than expected!

I couldn't get an "after picture" of our items because the rain came quickly at 9am, so Joey and I packed what was left, about 25% of what we started with, and drove off. It was a good experience and I wouldn't mind doing another flea market.

Newcomers Bus Tour

I know I'm not technically "new" to Okinawa, but I decided to join a friend on the Newcomers Bus Tour held by the Airman and Family Readiness Center last week. I never went on it when I arrived last year because Joey was my tour guide.

Everything we saw was in the Yomitan and Onna area - by my home, yay! We started at the Zakimi-jo Site, which is a castle ruin. It was beautiful up there!

These are zushigame - traditional urns.

Then we visited the Yomitan Pottery Village where they fire up the kiln three to four times a year, which they make into a big event.

The kiln is huge!

Next, we went to the Yomitan Glass Factory where they gave us a demonstration of glass art.

Soon it was lunch time and we headed to the Onna Farmers Market. Afterwards, we ended with a traditional Okinawan dance performance at Ryukyu Mura.

Grab Bag Post

As you may have noticed, my blog posts have been almost absent lately. Sorry about that! I don't get many comments on my blog, and I'm fine with that. So, I assume that only my friends here in Okinawa read them and therefore, I don't feel the need to blog about what we did on the weekend because they've already blogged about it!

But on my last post about Tropical Storm Morakot, I got a comment from someone PCSing to the island (Hi Caro!). Then I realized, other people PCSing may be reading the blog or even people already on the island who are too shy to leave comments read it too. Or maybe my posts aren't that interesting and there's nothing to comment on? So, I'll try to keep you updated with interesting posts!

Today's blog is just a grab bag of different things I've been doing on the island that I haven't blogged about.

As for TS Morakot, it stayed south of us, but gave us a lot of wind and some rain. Who knew that wind could be so loud and destructive? But that didn't stop me from going out with friends!

Lately, I've had an obsession with coconuts. Weird, I know! They're so cheap compared to all the other produce at the commissary, less than $2 each - versus ~$10 for just the coconut juice at the Pineapple Park or Churaumi Aquarium.

When you buy it, the coconut looks like the left one. When you take out the fibers, you get the right one.

Then you drink the juice inside.

You crack it open and eat the coconut meat inside. Yummy!

I love to cook and bake! I surprise myself some nights with the dinners I make, and it's great to have a husband who loves food just as much as I do! Of course, baking is different and I need a recipe. I used to work in a French bakery/cafe and I get some of my ideas from the items we sold there. So I made a strawberry cream cheese and mascarpone tart. It was delicious!

I also made some Biko (a Filipino dessert made of sweet rice, coconut milk, and coconut jam) and it was gone in two days!

Joey and I were excited when we found a Filipino Restaurant out Kadena's Gate 2 street, as well as another Filipino restaurant and a Sari Sari-like store. We cook Filipino food at home and keep learning new dishes, but it's just exciting because they have foods that we haven't had in a while. The food was okay, but at least it satisfied my stomach!

Rice, fried fish, pancit, and dinuguan.

This summer has been busy for Joey and I. We haven't had a weekend where we stayed at home and just relaxed! There have been birthday's, housewarmings, parties, sightseeing, and etc. that have been keeping us busy. This past weekend we had two birthday parties! One weekend we went to Camp Foster to see a comedy show at the Globe and Anchor, featuring Aida Rodriguez, Robert Zapata, and DJ Cooch. They were hilarious!

With my beautiful friends at the comedy show. My eyes look extra chinky!

Everyone's new obsession - Yogurtland. We finally have one in Okinawa! It's great because 1 - it beats the heat, and 2 - it's good!

On one of our dates, Joey took me to a yakiniku place across Camp Foster. Yummy! Yakiniku is a restaurant where you cook your own food at your table, and depending on the restaurant, you might pay per hour because it's a buffet. The pro - all you can eat. The con - you smell like smoke when you leave.

Feel free to leave a comment!

Tropical Storm Morakot

We've got a possible typhoon coming soon and hopefully it'll just pass us by like Typhoon Sinlaku last year. Currently the path is just south of Okinawa.

Morakot watch as of August 5, 2009 at 9:00 am

Okinawa is the bigger island above the 9 of "9PM THU".

This morning I had to do some grocery shopping because I've skipped the past couple of weeks, and boy, do I regret it. Don't get me wrong, I actually love grocery shopping, but the commissary was crazy today!

I got there at 9:10am, and it was packed! Some people were shopping as if they were going to be locked in their homes for a month. Some had a cartful of canned goods or a cartful of water. Then you could easily spot the single guys because all they had in their cart were lots of milk and cereal. I was pretty amused this morning!

I was in no rush today, so all I could do was smile at people because a few of them looked frantic. If the typhoon does hit us, Joey and I are stocked with food and games to entertain ourselves! And if it doesn't hit us, we'll sleep much better without the rain and wind howling outside our window!

Be safe everyone!