Promotion List

Today was an exciting day for us!! Cesario made the major's list!! He has done so much these past 5 years and I am so proud of all his accomplishments. We should find out soon when he will actually pin. We are looking forward to our new endeavor!!

Japanese Vending Machines

Unlike the US, Japanese vending machines are everywhere. We have several on our street in less than a half of a block. You can everything from water to soda, hot or cold coffee, tea, etc. During the summer time you can only get cold drinks but once the cooler months roll around they have a selection of hot drinks as well. Coffees are sold black, black with sugar, with creamer, etc. Unfortunately I can't read Japanese so I have to rely on pictures and some are hit and miss. There are several different companies that put machines out so I have my favorites at each machine. I recently discovered a ice cocoa at work which is absolutely amazing.


I love that I can be driving and rather than stopping off at a convenient store, I can pull over and get a cold or hot drink. Another one of those great things I will miss!

Another Reason We Will Miss Okinawa

We are in the lenten season which means no meat on Fridays. I like shrimp but do not like fish at all. It makes it quite challenging on Fridays considering there is only so much cheese pizza you can eat. I had noticed that at MaxValu they sold prepared shrimp tempura. The only thing I have to do is fry in it up. I made my was to the store yesterday and was presantly surprised that 8 shrimps were 158 yen. I bought 2 packages along with 2 avocados for guacamole.


The shrimps were super easy to fry up and it made a fabulous dinner. In addition to the shrimps I made guacamole, spanish rice, beans and corn tortillas. This will definitely be a dinner I will make again. I love that we ate for under $8.00.

New Assisgment

We finally got our assignment on 16 March 2011. Out of 152 possible assignments we got our #6 choice, Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately this is an unaccompanied tour so the girls and I will be heading back to Arizona. Our plans are to leave Okinawa and proceed to Arizona so the girls and I can get settled. Cesario will stay around 40 days and then fly out to his new duty station. We are very excited to get the girls home especially Maggie as she has never left Okinawa. I am hoping they do well on the flight. I gave my resignation at work and my last day was going to be 15 April however I am going to have to put in an amendment to leave a week earlier. We will miss Okinawa dearly as we have spent most of our military career here but I am looking forward to a change and being around family and friends for a while.

We went on Friday to make our flight reservations. We filled out all of our paperwork and were told that due to the size of our kennels they could not guarantee that both girls could be on the same flight once we depart our port of entry in the United States. They said there was a possibility that Cesario and I would get on a flight with one dog but the other would take a later flight. This is not an option so we opted for smaller kennels. I spent my afternoon putting them together and putting snazzy Care Bear stickers on them. They aren't much smaller than the ones we have but apparently inches can make a difference.

Earthquake Devastates Japan

Tokyo (CNN) -- An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan on Friday, triggering tsunamis and sending a massive wave filled with debris that included boats and houses inching toward land.
The number of fatalities was unclear, but Japan's Kyodo news reported at least 10 killed and numerous injured.
The quake prompted at least 19 countries and numerous Pacific islands to issue tsunami warnings. It was followed by powerful aftershocks that were felt in capital of Tokyo.
The quake's epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said. But residents there continued to feel aftershocks long after the quake
Read more about countries under tsunami alert
At Tokyo Station, one of Japan's busiest subway stations, people grabbed each other to steady themselves. Children cried. An announcement over the station loudspeaker warned commuters to remain underground.


U.S. Geological Survey
With bus and train lines interrupted, workers and children poured into the streets after offices and schools were closed.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan appealed for calm and said there were no reported leaks of radioactive materials from power plants.
A spokesman for the U.S. military bases in Japan said there were no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries there.
The quake rattled buildings and toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers.
Firefighters battled a blaze at an oil refinery in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo.
"This was larger than anyone expected and went on longer than anyone expected," said Matt Alt in Tokyo.
"My wife was the calm one ... she told us to get down and put your back on something, and leave the windows and doors open in case a building shifts so you don't get trapped."
Richard Lloyd Parry said when the quake struck, he looked through a window and saw buildings shaking from side to side.
"Central Tokyo is fine from what we see, people are calm ... and not going inside buildings," he said.
Such a large earthquake at such a shallow depth creates a lot of energy, said Shenza Chen of the U.S. Geological Survey.
It caused a power outage in about 4 million homes in Tokyo and surrounding areas.
A tsunami is sweeping across the Pacific Ocean, with a wall of water heading toward at more than a dozen countries.
An earthquake of that size can generate dangerous tsunamis to coasts outside the source region, the National Weather Service said.
Humanitarian agencies were working with rescue crews to reach the people affected.
"When such an earthquake impacts a developed country like Japan, our concern also turns to countries like the Philippines and Indonesia, which might not have the same resources," said Rachel Wolff, a spokeswoman for World Vision.
Wolff said her agency is helping people on the ground in Japan and teaming up to help others in countries along the path of the tsunami.
In Philippines alone, the tsunami is expected to hit in the early morning and the government has ordered the evacuation of 19 provinces along the coast, which could affect hundreds of thousands of people
Authorities in at least 20 countries and numerous Pacific islands issued tsunami warnings, the National Weather Service said.
The wide-ranging list includes Russia and Indonesia, Central American countries like Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica and the U.S. state of Hawaii, where warning sirens were sounded in the morning.
The tsunami could cause damage "along coastlines of all islands in the state of Hawaii," warned the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property."
Tsunamis are a series of long ocean waves that can last five to 15 minutes and cause extensive flooding in coastal areas. A succession of waves can hit -- often the highest not being the first, said CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.
The quake was the latest in a series in the region this week.
Early Thursday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck off the coast of Honshu.
A day earlier, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off of Honshu, the country's meteorological agency said.
The largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the USGS said. Thursday's quake was the fifth-strongest in the world since 1900, the agency said.

Liz's 30th Birthday Celebration

Last night we went out to celebrate Liz's 30th Birthday. Her choice of celebration establishments was the Big Echo for karaoke. We had not been to this place since 2006 when we were all here the last time. We had gone after the Army Ball.

We had a blast!! There were about 25 of us however the group started small and eventually grew. Everyone managed to pick a song and sang. There were two big surprises of the night. The first was Tomoko!! She rocked the house!!


The second was Stephen!! Everytime I looked over he had the microphone in his hand. He sang pretty much every song that came on. We sang Love Shack together. We were quite a hit.



Liz sang a very colorful version of Forget You. We must have sang that song at least 3 times.


One funny thing I do have to point out is that the food menu contained a basket of doughnuts. I have never in my life been to a bar that offered a doughnut basket.


Over all we had a great time and hope Liz enjoyed her big celebration!!!

USO Baazar

I made plans with Cynthia yesterday to go to the USO Baazar at Camp Foster. I was on a mission to find a paticular basket they'd had there in the past. Unfortunately the baazar was not so great this year and lacked vendors. Although I was disappointed I did happen to come across a paticual vendor that was selling Traditional Okinawa Pottery "Tsuboya-Yaki." The guys name is Ikuo Omiya and he began his career in ceramic art in 1978 and established his own studio in 1984. Since that time his work has been honored three times at the Okiten (the biggest art exhihition in Okinawa), and he has received three awards from Okinawa Kougei Kouboten (Okinawa Prefecture craft public advertisement exhibition). In addition Omiya has received multiple awards from Gendan Okinawa Tougeiten, the Okinawa Modern Ceramic Art Exhibition.

I have a set of ramen bowls I purchased several years ago but knew I wanted one nice size serving bowl to add to my collection. I was quite content with my purchase.