Adventures in Japan

On Valentine's Day, only the boys get chocolate

Okinawa's got a lot of stuff we haven't seen in a while. Like Dr. Pepper in vending machines (extra big cans, to boot), A&W, and Spam. Lot's of stores selling Spam. I think it's considered an Okinawan souvenir or something. Other souvenirs we see everywhere are Hawaian shirts, pork noodle soup, a vegetable called goya (I think it's also known as bittermelon), glassware, and pairs of stylized clay lions (or representations thereof). They're called shisa, and seriously, they're for sale every shop, in an astounding variety of styles. Some are scary, some are colourful, some are weird, and some are really, really cute. If you can't find a clay shisa to suit your tastes, their likeness is also available on T-shirts, fans, mugs, pens, keychains, magnets, ashtrays, Hello Kitty costumes... you get the idea. Funny thing is, if they're so representative of Okinawa, why haven't I seen many outside of souvenir shops?

Something else they have in Okinawa that I'm pretty sure you won't get anywhere else is taco rice. It's a plate of rice with a pile of ground beef, lettuce & tomato on top. Tastier than it might sound. Also, deep fried tacos. And steak. Okinawa must have a lot of cows, because there seems to be a steak house on every corner. Not crazy expensive steak houses, either. We found ourselves in one this very evening. We were the only people in there besides the ten or so employees that stood by and watched us eat, and the music was an odd mix of forgotten 80's tunes (such as the Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney duet, The Girl Is Mine), but we got a good meal, and a flashy teppanyaki show (where our chef flipped around his knives and tossed the salt & pepper shakers around) so we were pretty happy. And full. And a little sleepy.

There was more shopping, and a little napping, and now Tyler's getting a crash course in colloquial Japanese in the guest house common room.

Sorry there are no pictures. We haven't found a way to post them yet, and might not get them up until we're back in Osaka. I just hope we don't run out of room on our memory cards...