Who would have thought.

I noticed this particularly amusing vending machine while I was running to the ATM to get cash for lunch yesterday. I went back today to take a picture because I couldn't believe that someone would have a need for a hot dog vending machine. I will note that the machine was out of hotdogs this morning when I snapped the photo, so obviously people do need vending machine hotdogs.  This vending machine is just one in a long line of convenience food and beverage machines that I encounter everyday here in Okinawa.  The only difference is most of the other machines I encounter are off base, this hotdog vending machine is on base which surprised me a little bit. As I was taking my picture someone came up and asked if I'd tried one of the hotdogs yet. I replied that I hadn't but I definitely will. He said that it's great for a late night snack when the standard vending machine chips aren't enough.   Personally I prefer the Japanese vending machines. They have a lot of very interesting things in their vending machine. In previous posts I've extolled on the virtues of the fried food vending machines and the beer vending machines. When we were in tokyo we even found a Disney souvenir vending machine at the train station. Think of the convenience of this machine. Imagine, you as a parent hauling your exhausted and cranky child up to the train station, as the train is pulling into the station he/she reminds you that they were promised a toy, the tantrum starts and low and behold right on the platform for your convenience is a vending machine selling adorable Disney shwag.  At that moment it would seem that the vending machine was sent by God.  Unfortunately, there are a number of things wrong with this scenario, first Japanese children are very well behaved, I've never actually seen a child having a tantrum. Second, if the train is pulling into the station you'd better be sprinting to the door because the trains are incredibly punctual, they won't wait for you to buy that vending machine souvenir.  Thirdly, if you've really had a full day at Disney your child would probably be asleep.  But the point is made, it's a cool vending machine, far cooler than the hotdog vending machine.  I can't wait to see what other vending machines will pop up. 

Home again Home again Jiggity Jig

Our vacation is over and we are back home in Okinawa. I've already started doing the laundry and last night I slept really well in my own bed.   Gabriella is still getting up early, but was able to sleep in for an extra 15 minutes this morning. It was only 7 am when she came in with an arm full of princesses asking to come into our bed for her morning snuggle.  I'm starting preparations for my parents arrival on Thursday. We are so excited for their arrival, especially Gabriella.  

I desperately need to go to the grocery store, the fresh markets, and the fish market.  Last night as we were driving home the car was making some funny noises, I'm hopping it's nothing.  In fact I'm going to be telling myself it's nothing as I drive around today running all my errands. I'm sure Gabriella and I will be spending Monday at BC motors getting the car fixed. It's going to be a huge pain in the patella and I hope it can be fixed in one day. I still have a birthday party to get ready for.  Greg and I were planning to get Gabriella some gifts from Disneyland but we never really had a chance to shop.  That leaves me with a huge amount of things to do this week. I'm starting my list and it's already over a page.  Well enough of this blogging I have other things to do. 

An Ocean Apart: Disney Sea

Thursday morning rose full of the possibility of more rain. Once again we bundled ourselves up and headed out the door. The line for breakfast was huge so we decided to pick up a few drinks from the Lawson's (a type of convenience store) in the lobby and get in line for the bus.  Today was a big day, Disney Sea, a theme park that was completely new to us. I'd read blogs before we came on this trip and every single one said that the lines would be huge and that it was the most unique and interesting park in the Disney family. Those statements were both completely true. The lines were huge and it is the most well themed and interesting park I've ever visited. 

We got to the park about 10 minutes after it opened and once again we waited in a long line to get in.  Once inside the first thing you see is a huge globe spinning in the middle of a fountain. The first themed area looks like Venice. There are canals and beautiful italian architecture.  All the stores are located in this area.  Greg's first priority was to get a fast pass for the Journey to the Center of the Earth while Gabriella and I headed over to 20,000 leagues under the sea.  We thought that we would attempt to be sneaky and get Fastpasses for 2 different rides with height restrictions at the same time, then use a child switch to get the second person on the ride.  It didn't work out, they saw through our trickery so only Greg was able to ride Journey to the Center of the Earth (think rocket rods) and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (exactly the same as California Indy).  I was disappointed, but not too upset.  The first ride of the day was 20,000 leagues, it was an amazing ride.  Greg and I thought it was really well done and exciting while Gabriella thought it was a little scary. 

I must say that this entire theme park is so well themed. Every single nook and cranny of the place is wonderfully decorated, there are so many restaurants and each one serves something different. Speaking of food they have a lot of flavored popcorn. Here are some of the flavors we saw: curry, strawberry, chocolate, carmel, honey, soy sauce, black pepper, and salted butter. 

Gabriella's favorite place was Mermaid Lagoon.  Ariel had an amazing show and a whole area devoted to kids sized rides. They also had a great little restaurant with delicious scallop chowder and popcorn shrimp.  We spent most of our morning exploring the lagoon. We also checked out Agrabah, where we were able to sail with Sinbad and ride the Aladdin inspired carousel. Later in the evening we also say the Genie 3-D show in the magic lamp theater.  The next area of the park was the Lost River Valley, where Indy was located. After that was the waterfront type area, there we rode Stormrider.  Stormrider was similar to star tours in concept but was done so much better. It takes you into the eye of the storm where of course everything goes wrong and you start a harrowing journey trying to get back to base in one piece.  Greg loved it, it was a little over the top and I was feeling a bit nauseous by the end of it. Next to Stormrider was Aquatopia, it uses the same technology as the Pooh ride at Disneyland except it's on water. We did both these rides late in the evening and didn't wait long in line for either. 

We took a cool trolley car over to the NYC area.  We had lunch in Cape Cod and got to see a cool show while we were eating featuring Donald Duck, Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale. It was so nice to be able to watch a show that we didn't have to wait in line for. We also visited Venice and took a gondola ride through the canals.  We rode a steamer to the back of the park.  The last ride of the day was Tower of Terror. It was really well themed and the ride was as scary as ever. The picture above is of all of us on the ride. Greg is the only one who looks like he's having a good time. 

The center water area is the focal point for a few shows on the water. We saw one that featured all the characters, jet skis, fire, huge floating barges and daytime fireworks. The shows at this park were simply amazing, it seemed as if no expense was spared in the creation of these productions. 

We missed a few rides and shows at this park.  So we will have to come back.  

Tokyo Disneyland

Again I'm a few days late in posting, but we've been dragging ourselves home from Disneyland so late that I couldn't make it back downstairs to hook into the internet. 

Tokyo Disneyland was amazing.  I should just stop there because no amount of description will do it justice.  I suppose I'll do my best at describing our day and leave it at that. 

We got up early and came downstairs to have breakfast then headed out on the shuttle bus to Tokyo Disneyland.  We got there about 15 minutes before the park opened and there were huge lines to get in.  If anyone has been to Disneyland with my husband Greg you know the kind of schedule that we run.  He lives by the motto, get the most for your day. That motto means get there when it opens and stay until it closes. That's what we did and that's what everyone else who went did too.  As the gates opened everyone surged forward into the main plaza, all the characters were out greeting children and taking pictures. I didn't really see any characters signing autographs, so I'm not sure if they do that here or not.  Gabriella said a quick hello to Pinochio and then we were off to the rest of the park. Our first stop was to get a fast pass to Pooh's Hunny Hunt. It's "the ride" to go to at Tokyo Disneyland. I assume it's fairly new because the fast pass line was huge. It was barely 8:30 and our fastpass time was 10:55. The line itself was 100 minutes at 10 am.  While I was in line for Fastpass Greg and Gabriella went on the Rockets as the first ride of the day.  Our next stop was Autopia, then we headed into Fantasyland.  Small World was our first Fantasyland stop, it was so interesting to hear the song sung in Japanese throughout the whole ride.  Next was Pinochio, Dumbo, the tea cups, etc. On a general note all the "dark rides" go much faster than their counterparts at Disneyland in California.  Once our fastpass time arrived we rode the Pooh ride. It's so cool!! There is no track, the honey pots run on a magnetized floor, so as you go through the ride you are constantly moving in and out of other honey pots and seeing different sections of the scenery. It's a very unique ride system. Just as a note, by the time we got off the ride the wait time was 180 minutes.  All the lines at Tokyo Disneyland were long, really long. They were previewing a monsters inc ride and the weight time was 200 minutes at one point.  Even though the lines were long, everyone waited patiently, no one complained and everyone still had a smile on their face.  

I should probably mention that it was raining for almost the whole day and that it never got above 40 degrees. We were freezing cold even though all of us were wearing multiple layers of clothing. Most of the ride lines were indoors but walking around between rides or watching parades was uncomfortably cold. Speaking of parades we saw 2 of them. The day parade was a 25th anniversary parade and the night parade was their version of the Electrical Parade.  Both parades were stunning they were my favorite parts of the day.  The Electrical Parade is outfitted with LED lights which made all the colors more vibrant.  

All and all we went on most of the rides at the park.  We did miss Splash Mountain, the line never dipped below 90 minutes, even in the pouring rain.  We skipped Peter Pan and didn't make it to Monsters INC. I must note that Tokyo Disney closes off their lines at the end of the night. Our last ride was Space Mountain, we waited 70 minutes in line for it and we were done with the ride with 8 minutes before closing time. As we walked out every single attraction was closed, people were all walking out quietly and the stores on Main Street had already started closing their doors.  It was a far cry from running into line for something with 1 minute before park closing.  

I think that's all for Tokyo Disneyland. Everyone was incredibly polite and friendly.  Greg's favorite part of the day was taking Gabriella on the canoes for the first time.  He said that she was a really good paddler, so good even the canoe guide complimented her on her skill. Gabriella's favorite part was seeing Marie (the kitten from Aristocats) in the electrical parade. My favorite part was all of it, I'm thrilled to have been able to mark another Disneyland off my list.  I also liked my piece of Snow Crab Pizza.  

Tokyo Part Deux

Another post, because I wanted to get caught up and I'm worried if I don't post now I'll forget something.

Today we got up at the crack of dawn. The wake up call came at 6 and it seemed as if we just went to bed.  On a side note we received a call from Greg's parents saying that Tati Sam's flight was cancelled and therefore they wouldn't be able to come out and meet us. Needless to say we were heartbroken. We didn't know it at the time but a Fed Ex plane had crashed at Narita earlier that day. 

The reason we were up so early was because we had a city tour planned for this morning. Included in our travel package is a free breakfast, this one is a buffet. When I think of a buffet at breakfast it is usually some breakfast pastries, eggs, sausage and bacon. This place is so different. They have all the traditional japanese breakfast items, like rice, something similar to grits, and hard boiled eggs but they also have miso soup, sausage, bacon, egg casserole, stir fry, breakfast curry, salad, fruit and much more. Breakfast was delicious and I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow.  

After breakfast we took the shuttle back to Disneyland and headed to the train station. We were headed to the Hato Bus terminal. It was quite a distance and we had to be there by 8:40 in order to make the tour.  We made it with 20 minutes to spare thanks to Greg's amazing navigation.  An added bonus was that because of the time of our tour we got to experience Tokyo rush hour.  I'm sure you've all seen the pictures of people being stuffed into train cars and I'll tell you that those images do not do the actual event justice. These train cars are so packed that you can see peoples faces smashed against the glass doors. We stuffed ourselves onto one of these trains in order to get to where we needed to go. Gabriella hated it, the whole time I couldn't even look down at her for fear of looking like I was sniffing the hair of the person in front of me.  It was an experience that I'm pleased to have had and that I hope never to have again. 

Our tour took us to 4 sites. The first was Tokyo Tower, it reminded me of the CN tower in Toronto, fast elevator, pretty view and a hole in the floor so you can see how far it is to the ground.  We even used the hole in the floor to recreate a picture that we have at the CN tower. After the tower we headed to the Imperial Palace. Only 2 people live in this residence, the Emperor and Empress.  We were only allowed to see the outer garden, but as an unexpected bonus we got to see the crown prince and his family drive out. The crown princess even waved to us as they passed.  It was very excited this was the first time I've ever seen a real life princess. I asked Gabriella what she thought and she seemed ambivalent, she was probably expecting someone who looked like Cinderella to come storming out of the castle.  The third stop was Akaska and the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan.  It was a beautiful temple and the surrounding market place was fun to explore. I was able to get a steamed bun as a snack and Gabriella and Greg enjoyed some cookies.  I also got a new bag!  Once we loaded ourselves onto the bus we headed through Ginza to a pearl factory where we learned how cultured pearls are made. The demonstration was amazing and the jewelry they had for us to view afterwards was truly mind blowing.  We had lunch at the World Trade Center and then decided to head to Yokohama.

Why Yokohama you ask? Because there is another Hard Rock there. We took the train again and Gabriella was able to take a 20 minute nap.  We walked to the Hard Rock from the train station and passed through the biggest mall I've ever seen. It was 7 stories and full of every type of store imaginable.  We made our purchase at the Hard Rock and headed back to the hotel. We once again stopped at Mihamma and had dinner at Ishikara (downtown disney). I had a wonderful 4 course meal and Greg and Gabriella both had pasta. We finally got back to the hotel and hopefully as I'm writing this Gabriella is sound asleep and Greg is resting.

We have a huge day tomorrow.  Tokyo Disneyland! 

By the way if you are interested in the 100's of pictures we've already taken they are up at our sharesite on Shutterfly. 

Tune in Tokyo

This post is a day late but I don't have in-room internet so I had to find time to slip down to the lobby and plug in my laptop. 

We arrived yesterday morning after a pretty uneventful flight. Gabriella was fine for takeoff but her ears started to hurt on the landing.  She complained that she didn't feel well until we got off the airplane, I'm sure it was ear pain related. Once we got off the plane and grabbed our bags we headed for the transportation desk. Our hotel provided us free transportation from the airport via Airport Limousine, which is not a limo but a well appointed bus.  They pick up every 5 minutes and like everything here in Japan it is incredibly punctual.  Once we arrived at the hotel is was after noon.  We were able to check in and set up our room. The room itself is completely utilitarian, no closet, just a beautiful wooden rack to hang a few things on and a low shelf to place your suitcases on. We also received a robe and slippers incase we want to take a trip to the public bath. I haven't been yet, but I will eventually.  The toilet has it's own room and the top of the tank also serves as a sink.  I think we still need to take a picture of it, because honestly seeing is believing.  The other room has two sinks and a small room with a bathtub and a sprayer (not in the bathtub). Needless to say bathing Gabi last night had a huge learning curve which included a rather large spill on the floor.  

We didn't stay in the room for long, once unpacked we headed out for the train station and onto Tokyo. Lunch was eaten at a italian restaurant in the mall area outside the train station. Once our bellies were full we headed into Tokyo for our first stop, The Hard Rock Cafe in Uedo.  The trains here run with punctuality and precision, so far only one train has been late and it was only a minute behind schedule.  Our tour guide today said that the Shenhazen  or bullet train on average runs only 6 seconds behind on it's whole route.  Once we got off the train in Uedo we started to look around for the Hard Rock.  The first thing we found was a beautiful park and we wandered through it. This time of year is Cherry Blossom time so the park was full of vendors selling all sorts of delicious snacks. The park itself is huge, we only wandered through a few sections of it. We would have nipped into a museum or 2 but being Monday they were closed.  Once out of the park we headed back to the train station still searching for the Hard Rock. We walked into a side entrance to check a map and found it.  Once our purchases were complete we headed out to find Hard Rock number 2 in Roppongi.  

Once if Roppongi we headed out of the subway into a chilly wind. We instantly regretted not bringing all our warm clothes out with us. Needless to say we were underdressed for the cold. But we soldiered forth and after making a wrong turn we found the second Hard Rock.  After our purchases were made we wanted dinner. We went to a delicious Chinese food restaurant where I got soup and Greg got a delicious stir fry, we also got some really tasty dumplings. Gabriella just sampled off our plates.  We haven't found too many places with children's plates, so we are stuck between ordering Gabriella a full meal or having her share off our plates.  

After dinner we decided to head back to Mihama which is were Disneyland is located. We got off the train and explored Ishikara which is similar to Downtown Disney. We had some delicious gelato and enjoyed perusing the shops. 

We headed back to the hotel on the free shuttle and arrived back here around 9.  We were exhausted.  

To Market To Market

Today Greg, Gabriella and myself went on a Farmer's and Fish Market tour. Originally I was going to go with Rachel, but she got stuck in Tokyo while coming home from the states.  Since I didn't really want to waste the ticket Greg and Gabriella agreed to go with me.  This tour made 4 stops. 

The first stop was JA Market. It reminded me of a green grocer, only veggies and fruits, although they did have a few snacks and flowers. This store is stocked by local farmers and the veggies and fruits are brought in daily. They have freshly made tofu, other baked goodies and bento box lunches. The store was quite crowded but we were able to browse through the aisles with relative ease. We purchased some fresh green beans and some strawberries. I need to take a moment to tell you how ridiculously expensive strawberries are at our commissary. Less than a pint of strawberries can cost upwards of $7.  One would think that for $7 these would be the greatest strawberries ever grown, the fact is that they are sub-par at best, already spoiled at worst. Needless to say finding strawberries for 200 yen (about $2) was a very pleasant surprise. Gabriella and Greg had them for desert tonight and said they were delicious. We also got some fried dough balls and a pink cake for a breakfast snack. 

The second stop was the VegeVege store. It was a covered stall attached to a small store that specialized in fruit and veggies. We saw a  wide variety of apples for about 80 yen each (about 80 cents) which is a big difference from the commissary price of $2.50 per pound for already spoiling apples. This store also had watermelon which I've never seen on the island.  Gabriella bought herself an apple, she took the apple to the counter, paid and received her change. She thanked the shop keeper in Japanese and while we were walking out one of the stockers gave her an orange. She was thrilled and immediately said Arrigato.  

The next stop was by far the most unique. It's called Mini Mini and it's a zoo/egg store. They have a menagerie of animals including 9 peacocks, a llama, monkeys, donkeys, birds of every sort, turtles, a wallaby, and a large number of reptiles.  Greg's favorite was an armadillo which he'd never seen in person before.  Once we finished checking out the animals we headed into the store. They had a lot of eggs and some tasty looking custards and desserts.  I bought a cream puff for Greg.  He hasn't had it yet but it is huge and looks delicious.  Okinawans take the freshness of their eggs very seriously. A typical Okinawan breakfast is steamed rice with a cracked raw egg mixed in.  Therefore most Okinawans buy their eggs at mini mini because they are the freshest. In fact the little store was packed with people picking up 2-3 dozen eggs at a time.  It was at Mini Mini that our camera batteries ran out, we were disappointed, but I'm sure we will be back another time. 

The last stop was Yakamada fish market. The fish market was small and busy. It's bigger than the fish market we have on base and had a greater variety of fish. The most surprising fish was the parrot fish, it was huge and looked like it was wearing lipstick.  They had a large variety of fresh fish, including red snapper and mahi mahi, they also had tuna, octopus, squid and cuttlefish.  The market included an extensive frozen food section including huge prawns and scallops still in their shells. This market was our stop for lunch. Greg got a huge order of fried squid and I got the lobster meal.  My meal included a bowl of miso soup, rice with banana peppers, a few pieces of sashimi and 1/2 a lobster covered in a delicious buttery sauce.My lobster meal was 1400 yen ($14 US).  Gabriella and I shared most of my meal, although she wasn't really interested in eating as much as playing with her chopsticks. The meals included hot tea or water, they also had a beer vending machine. Outside of the market was a stand where you could buy freshly fried Tempura.  

I was almost sorry that we couldn't buy more food to bring home. I wouldn't be prudent seeing as we are leaving for Tokyo on Monday.  However, I will be going back to all these places once we get back into town. I will never buy produce from the commissary again. Why would I when I can get fresher, cheaper and locally grown food out in the economy.

Greg Montoya's day off

Today was the first day of Greg's vacation. Technically it was yesterday but we didn't do anything interesting. So, officially today starts the vacation. We went to Urasoe City Park and finally found the playground. We've been before and were unable to find the actual playground. We had a nice walk through some dense forrest and saw a beautiful river, there were also a lot of stairs, but all of us were able to make it up them without much difficulty.  Greg attracted a very friendly butterfly who followed us for quite a bit of time. I was even able to get a video of it. We watched it at home and it looks like the butterfly is CGI'd into the movie. Hopefully you will be able to see it at the end of this post. Alright it didn't load so I've put up a picture of Greg and his other butterfly instead.

Once we arrived at the playground Gabriella got to work, choosing as her first activity a loop de loop rope crawl through. She was amazing, she only faltered once, Greg gave her the logistics of how to make it through the loop and she was home free. She also got to check out the small train and the slides. There was also a tether ball like swing which she liked a lot, if we had a tree here I would definitely get her one.  

After the park we headed back near home to ride the Ferris Wheel.  We've been wanting to ride this attraction since we've arrived. Although it was cloudy we still enjoyed the view. We were able to see our house and pirate ship park. There was also a festival going on called Laugh and Peace, so we got a birds eye view of the festivities.  After our ride we went for sushi at the sushi go round. Greg and I tried some delicious octopus and Gabriella devoured her shrimp tempura roll. Greg and I also tried some flamed crab and scallops, there were delicious. Gabriella actually tried the crab and seemed to enjoy it. She also got to pick her dessert from the conveyor belt. She choose some apple juice and yogurt milk.  We got home and she went right up for her nap. It was a fun day. Although I think tomorrow may be better. 

Hey Cupcake

Today was once again rainy and very cold, so outdoor activity was thwarted.  Instead I asked Gabriella if she'd like to make cupcakes she eagerly announced that she would like to make strawberry cupcakes, for all her friends.  We made some delicious cupcakes. Greg and Gabriella were in charge of decorating. I think they did a fabulous job.  Gabriella helped me do all of the measuring, mixing and decorating. She's become quite a diligent baker. We are considering these cupcakes as our test batch for her birthday party. 

Tuesday to Play

Today Greg was post call and was able to get home around 2:30.  It was so nice to see him and play a little Wii while Gabriella was taking a nap.  After her nap we went out for a mini family trip. We went to the park that we searched for a while back. It has a huge rollerslide and lots of nets to climb.  It also has a some beautiful walking trails which were filled with Okinawans walking and running.  It was filled with kids, it was 5:15 and the kids were playing after school. They were all dressed in their uniforms and had their backpacks in a huge pile. The little boys were in one group and the older girls lounging on the ropes playing with their cell phones. Gabriella and Greg headed up the stairs and down the rollerslide. The slide was huge and at the very end of the slide it speeds up. All the kids were hanging out at the bottom of the slide, as Greg and Gabi came down they got out of the way then applauded when Gabi and Greg came to the end of the slide. Gabriella was thrilled by all the clapping, she had a huge smile on her face.  While she and Greg climbed the stairs for another trip down the slide, I tossed back a few baseballs to the boys playing. Each time I got a very nice thank you, in english. I complimented them on their english and they seemed to blush.  After Gabriella and Greg tired themselves out we headed out to dinner.  

We went to Wendy's. There is only one on the island, at least that we've seen.  They had almost everything that the Wendy's in the states have, even frosties.  Dinner was tasty and for a few minutes it really nice to taste something so similar to home.  The outing was short and sweet and I made it home in time to watch No Reservations.   

Down for the Count

I haven't been updating lately because I've been sick.  I managed to get Gabriella to school on Thursday, but just barely. I had what Greg had, which keeps you close to your bathroom.  I'm hoping now that I feel better Gabriella and I will be able to have some adventures this week. Greg was able to take Gabriella out both Saturday and Sunday so I could get a little time to myself to rest and recuperate.  

Today we are going to run some errands, although my plan to go to a park was thwarted by mother nature.  This rain is going to force me to do something inside, perhaps a trip to Jusco. They have a cute play area inside next to the food court. We will see how it goes. 

Uh Oh, it's Roto

I had planned to take Gabi to a park with a pirate ship that she loves. I've put a picture of it above from a previous trip. However our plans were thwarted by the Roto Virus. For those of you with kids, you have probably had your kids get this vaccine. It's a nasty virus that causes vomiting and other maladies. Greg called us this morning while we were finishing breakfast and asked if we were feeling ok. We were fine, however I suddenly became a little concerned, he wasn't feeling well.  Sure enough an hour later he called to ask us to pick him up.  Gabi and I scrambled to get dressed and go get him, he looked as white as a sheet and frankly I was worried. As of now, Greg has been in bed since he got home this morning.  Greg has had this before, each time he's been completely flattened by it. I hope he feels better sooner than later.  I hope that Gabriella and I will be spared this rather nasty little bug.  

Since I've been home for most of the day I've been cleaning and planning Gabriella's birthday party. She turns 4 in about a month and we've decided to have her party here at home.  We are going to reserve a bouncy house and have a quiet party at home.  I hope everything works out the way we hope it will. Gabriella requested a princess theme and I hope we can accommodate her requests.  

Rest Not Want Not

Sunday is typically the day of rest. That adage does not hold true for us on Sunday's when Greg is off work. Today was chocked full of fun. We started our day at church, then came home, had a quick breakfast and headed out. Our first stop was Manta Park, it had a huge rollerslide as well as a playground and a concrete slide.  Above is a picture of me going down the concrete slide. I think I have a bruised tailbone. The injury reminded me of why I don't play on the equipment. Our next stop was a sports store, it had a lot of cool jerseys for all sorts of sports. We even saw a Real Madrid soccer jersey.  Next door to the sports store was a home accessory store, it reminded me a little of Ikea. Greg and I finally found a rug for our room.  After shopping we headed north to Camp Courtney. We were on the hunt for a highly recommended Thai restaurant to have lunch, alas it was closed. Instead you took a spin around the base and then headed out for Mexican food. After sating our hunger we stopped at Gate 2 street. It's a street outside Kadena Airbase full of bars and clothing stores. Nothing on the street was particularly interesting with the exception of a china store and a liquor store.  China Pete's is an institution here on Okinawa, it was full of beautiful china sets, dishes, tea sets, and decorative bowls. Gabriella was like a bull in pete's china shop, she would not stay still, so it was a quick visit. I plan to go back sometime soon while Gabriella is at school.  Around the corner from China Pete's was a very nondescript liquor store. I wanted to stop because we've been on the hunt for Helios Beer. The brewery is on Kokusi street and Greg really enjoyed it. We've seen it in bottles at the Cherry Blossom festival, but so far have been unable to find it for purchase in any stores. Unfortunately this liquor store did not have it, but they did have a lot of other beer from home. Including the elusive Newcastle, Guiness Bitter, Chimay and a lot of others. Greg and I now have a spot to go for yummy beer. We are thrilled. I was also excited because I was able to buy a bottle of Sake which I had once and liked.  After such a momentous find we decided to call it a day.  I was able to squeeze in my Wii fit exercises despite my serious tailbone injury.  Greg and I have been playing wii for most of the night and now that I've posted this I'm off to bed.