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!