Ie Shima

For the long holiday weekend (President's Day) and to celebrate my 31st birthday, Kevin and I went to one of the smaller islands off of Okinawa--an island called Ie Shima. Ie Shima is off the north-west coast of the main island of Okinawa and is about a 30 minute ferry ride away.

The island is known as the "peanut" island for its shape and because peanuts are famous here. Ironically, during World War II the island played a big part in the war. U.S journalist Ernie Pyle was stationed here and died on the island. Even today, U.S Marines still have a small presence on the island.

Anyway, back to our trip...

Here's a view of the port at Ie Shima, once we arrived.




Being a tiny island, accomodations can be a bit limited. However, we lucked out and found a great little beach resort called the YYY Resort. This resort mostly caters to Americans, but we were fine with that. Let me just say....The food at the hotel restaurant was soooo good. The first night we got there, Kev and I decided to choose the BBQ option from the menu. BBQ in Japan usually means "yakiniku." A plate with seafood, chicken, beef, and vegetables is provided to you and you do the cooking yourself. In our case, our table top had a gas grill. Take a look at the spread!



A grinning Kevin.


Me holding a plate full of fresh shrimp and fish. The local shrimp is called "kuruma ebi" which means "car shrimp." Don't ask me why they call it that!


It was a bit chilly outside, but we didn't mind.

The next day, we rented some bicycles to explore the island and visit the sites.

We went to a cave called "Niya-Thiya Cave." This cave is very sacred to the Okinawans as it serves as a reminder of WWII. During the war, hundreds of Okinawans hid and took shelter here, trying to get away from the Americans and the bombings. The cave has many shrines paying respect to those who lost their lives here.







In the cave, there is also a legendary rock. Legend says that if a woman lifts it, she will be blessed with a child.



Naturally, Kevin and I decided that I would need to lift the rock immediately. I lifted it twice. Does this mean I may have twins?!?!!?



After the cave, we cycled a bit more around the island. We passed a lot of tobacco farms, sugar cane fields, and cow farms. Some of the cow pastures had baby cows.



Here's a photo of Kevin trying to pet the cows. They were pretty curious and came right up to the fence. :)



Here is another WWII site. This is a pawn shop that was damaged by U.S mortar shells. The locals decided to keep the shop in this state as a reminder of the ravages of war.






Eventually, we cycled all the way to Mt. Gusuku. This is a rocky mountain on the island with great aerial views.



This is a view of the island at the base of Mt. Gusuku. You can make out some cherry trees in the foreground. Cherry trees or "sakura"--bloom early in Okinawa, around January-February.



Here's another aerial view of the island from the base of Mt. Gusuku.



This is the top of Mt. Gusuku (Kev looks exhausted because the climb up to the top was very steep. Geez!)



If we get another chance to go to Ie Shima, we hope to go in the summer when we can enjoy the beach... Until next time!!!

Can you believe it?

Okay, I don't normally post this many posts to the blog during the week---but several people have told me that I should share the news with all of you, so here it goes.

Much to my surprise, I have been nominated for a WATCH award for my performance as "Sally Brown" from Montgomery Playhouse's production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown." I'm one of 6 nominees in the category of "Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical."

For those of you who don't know, WATCH stands for Washington Area Theatre Community Honors. The award ceremony will be held in March (back home in Virginia), so unfortunately I won't be able to make it. But I have to say, I'm just so surprised and excited that I was nominated (that sounds so cliche).

Anyway, I guess that is reason enough to post!

I also wanted to let you all know about a great movie that Kev and I recently saw. It's called "Juno." It is both hilarious and heart-breaking at the same time. I'm not going to give the plot away, but it stars Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, and newcomer Ellen Page. Page plays the main character, a 16 year old teenager who finds herself pregnant.

The movie has great acting and really superb, quirky dialogue. So go out and see it if you haven't already. You'll be glad you did. :)

“Everybody keeps telling me how surprised they are with what I've done. But I'm telling you honestly that it doesn't surprise me. I knew I could do it.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The New Do

Happy MLK day everyone! Just wanted to post a quick note about my new "do."

It's been about 3 months since I last had my hair cut. It was really starting to look a bit ragged, so I finally dragged myself to the base beauty salon and got it chopped off.

I now have a short bob. Check it out!



Guess I can clean up well. :)

Love, Chrissy

My former self....

I just found out that my Discovery show "Cash Cab" has been entered into the Emmys this year.

Last September, I was in LA, hob-nobbing with the stars. Host Ben Bailey was nominated for "outstanding game show host," so I went. Unfortunately, he didn't win. The Emmy was given to Bob Barker...

This year, I won't be attending the Emmys at all. It's funny, sometimes there is a part of me that misses my former self...My former life in Maryland/DC. My life as a TV producer for the Discovery Channel...

I have to remind myself of the reasons why Kevin and I chose to move to Okinawa. The crazy-hectic 50 hour work weeks. The migraines I got every Friday--like clockwork.

Yes, we came to Okinawa for a change.

But change is not easy. I've had to adjust to a new role as a "spousal dependent," assimilate to the military lifestyle and decorum, re-learn my Japanese language skills & customs, and re-evaluate & prioritize my goals and aspirations.

Yes, change is not easy. But change is necessary. We are stronger because of it. I know now that I don't want to live in the shadow of my former self... No, I want to create a new & better me. :)

I think Winston Churchill said it best:

"To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often."

Only In Japan....

The Japanese are smart. They seem to be leagues ahead in technology than the rest of the world.

I remember living in Japan as a child and seeing all the new gizmos and gadgets that came out every year. Now as an adult, I actually appreciate the genius of the Japanese. They seem to have a knack for making life simpler. Take these for example.

1) How often do you go to a restaurant and end up waiting forever for a waiter/waitress to come and take your order? Well, let me tell you folks--in Japan--you don't have to wait. In some restaurants, you place your order with a machine, pay for it, print out the tickets, and hand it off. That's it.

Here's an example of one such machine at a local ramen noodle shop.



There are pictures of the entrees, so if you can't read Japanese, you can at least recognize what you want. You can choose your quantity, customize your order, and add even a beer if you wanted. Additionally in other restaurants, instead of having a machine, each table is equipped with a buzzer. Once you have the read the menu and know what you what, all you have to do is push the buzzer and wait for a waiter/waitress to come take your order. It's a no-hassle way of ordering. Just fast and efficient service.

2) I'm sure you have all heard that Japan is the land of vending machines. Well, this is true. You can find vending machines literally on every street corner. You can buy almost anything in a vending machine. Soda, beer, cigarettes, canned soup, canned coffee, iced tea, hot cocoa, ramen, ice-cream, ahem...porn. Anything you want. But it's not just what the vending machines offer that make Japanese vending machines smart, nooooooo, it's much more. Here's the best part. In Japan, when buying a beverage from a vending machine--you can either get it hot or cold! And from the same machine no less....Genius, I tell you. How come the U.S hasn't adopted this yet? Who knows....

Don't worry if you can't read Japanese, the beverage vending machines have a blue line for "cold" and a red line for "hot." So, all you need to do is put in your money, choose your beverage, and choose to make it hot or cold. Take a look at the vending machine below, you can see the blue and red lines under the cans.




One little sidenote. In Japan, American celebrities are big here. While you may not believe Tommy Lee Jones to be an appropriate "spokesperson" for coffee back home, in Japan, his famous "mug" graces canned coffee called "Boss."

Greg & Denise's Visit to Okinawa!

Okay so I'm still playing catchup. I've finally posted all my pics from our trip to Dubai/Abu Dhabi--so now I can move on to my brother and sister in law's visit. I want to thank Greg and Denise in advance for providing some great photos!

Right after Kev and I returned home to Okinawa, my BIL and SIL (Greg and Denise) came to visit us for a week.

Neither one of them had ever been here before, so Kev and I really wanted to show them all the sights and expose them to as much Okinawan culture as we could. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very cooperative. It rained A LOT. And it was cold. I know I shouldn't really complain, but when you're used to a subtropical climate-- rainy, windy, 50 degree weather is not at all pleasant.

With the weather being less than stellar, Kev and I did our best to entertain.

We managed to go to Nago Pineapple Park where Greg and Denise had their fill trying all the free samples. This place is great because you can see how the Okinawans use pineapples in almost everything: wine, chocolate, cookies, cakes, I mean EVERYTHING.



Here's a photo of Greg and Denise at the Pineapple Park.



Kevin and I at the park.




I even got a pic of a local Okinawan speciality. Habu Sake. Yes, that is a snake in there. The Habu is a poisonous snake that lives on the island. Drinking sake with habu is said to increase stamina and virility, especially in men. Drink up, boys!!!




After the Pineapple Park, we headed to Ocean Expo Park and the Churaumi Aquarium. (Kev and I went to the aquarium when we first arrived on the island. We liked it so much, we decided to get "annual passes" :)).

Now I've been to many aquariums--the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, the New England Aquarium in Boston, the Waikiki Aquarium in Hawaii, even the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I have to say the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is definitely my top favorite. Why you ask?

Because of the whale sharks. That's right. Whale sharks. This aquarium actually has a tank large enough to hold 3 whale sharks. And they are huge....

We lucked out on the day we went because the Expo Park was hosting several special events in honor of the New Year. We were able to get Denise and Greg to try their hand at "mochi" making.



We also saw some Eisa dancers and a lion dance.


(Greg took this one!)




Here's a photo of Greg and Denise posing with some girls dressed in traditional Okinawan kimonos. (These last two photos are compliments of Denise.)




Later in the week, Kevin went back to work. So I played tour guide for a day and took Greg and Denise to "Ryukyu Mura." This "village" attraction is designed to look like a traditional Okinawan village during the Ryukyu Kingdom. The village has several houses dating back to the era and even has live entertainment.

This is a photo I took of a "shisa" in front of one of the houses in "Ryukyu Mura."



This is a traditional water wheel.



This is all of us after we were entertained with a live "skit." Although I can speak Japanese, I had a hard time understanding them. Okinawa has its own language and it's completely indecipherable to me....



This is a photo of a traditional Okinawan-Ryukyu dance. I'm not sure what it's called.



We also read our fortunes (called "omikuji" in Japanese). Normally, if you receive a bad fortune you are supposed to tie them onto a tree (in this case, a house) so that your fortune doesn't come true. In this case, since all of us received good fortunes, we decided it would be best to tie them so that they WOULD come true.



Here's a photo of a water buffalo. During the Ryukyu kingdom, Okinawans used water buffalo to grind raw sugar cane plants into sugar. Brown sugar is still a very popular product here in Okinawa.



Here are some photos from our trip to Naha's Shurijo castle.






I think Greg and Denise really enjoyed their visit to Okinawa. They are now on their way to Tokyo and Kyoto (on the mainland) for a few days before they fly back to the States. I hope they are having a good time. :)

Sayonara...

Part III of Dubai/Abu Dhabi

Here is the last and final chapter of our trip to Dubai/Abu Dhabi. I know there are 3 parts--but hey--we took a lot of pictures!!!

We had a great time in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but our trip was far from complete. With just a few days left before we needed to head home to Okinawa, my parents came up with an idea to take Kevin and I to a really "exotic" location--the country of Oman.

Kev and I had never been there before and didn't realize that it wasn't too far from the UAE.

We got up bright and early at 5am and drove about 4 hours when we reached the UAE and Omani border. We showed our passports, paid our fees for our visas, and then drove further until we reached the Musandam penisula. Our aim was to reach the fishing village of "Khasab."

"Khasab" is a sleepy fishing village with beautiful views. Tourists from Oman and the UAE flock here to enjoy the Arabian sea and the mountainous cliff-like fjords that end right at the water's edge.



Once we reached "Khasab," we decided to take a boat trip on a "dhow"--a traditional Arab sailing vessel with one or more sails. I don't usually do too well on boats, but decided the view would be worth it.



The "dhow" had an open deck with carpet and cushions for us to sit on.

That's Mom, Dad, and me on the deck of our "dhow." It was a bit chilly, so that's why we are all bundled up. :)



During our 3 hour boat trip, we passed small little fishing villages. Hard to imagine that some of these villages have no land access. The only way you can get to these villages is by boat.



We were even lucky to get a glimpse of some dolphins. There were so many of them. They surrounded us.

Despite the fact they were everywhere, it was not easy trying to get a photograph. The minute I would push the shutter, they were gone.

Here are some photos I did get. I admit I "zoomed" in on these so you can actually see what you are looking at. :)




Can you see them?



It was funny to see the other tour boats racing to catch up with the dolphins!!!

As our "dhow" headed back to shore, the sun began to set.



The view of the sun reflecting off the water was beautiful.

We spent the night at a small hotel in Khasab. Here's a photo of Mom and I in the parking lot of our hotel. You can see the mountains in the background.



The next morning, we headed back to the UAE. Kev and I had to pack to get ready to head back to Okinawa...

Oman was a perfect ending to our Dubai/Abu Dhabi trip.