Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 11:08AM | Post a Comment 
The baker hard at work
Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! I spent most of the day baking eight loaves of kuchen (my wonderful husband washed the dishes for me, multiple times today to help out.) We're looking forward to eating kuchen Christmas morning while we open gifts.
Monday, December 21, 2009 at 11:10AM | Post a Comment 
Chicken noodle goodness!
So, leave it to me to move to a subtropical island and manage to catch a nasty head cold the week before Christmas. Figures, right?
On a happy note, my wonderful husband surprised me with Chicken Noodle soup when he got home from work. Such a sweetie! Hoping I wake up tomorrow feeling much better. :)
---Arielle
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 10:58AM | Post a Comment 
You'd never guess Dick and Brandon were big fans of beni-imo, would you?
Today's word of the day is "beni-imo." Beni-imo is the Okinawa Purple Sweet Potato. It is often times made into a paste and used for filling delicious tarts. The boys are also big fans of beni-imo ice cream.
Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 11:16AM | Post a Comment 
Dick and Brandon in the courtyard of Shurijo Castle. The castle is under repair...again.
We took a trip down to Shurijo Castle Park in Naha at the beginning of the week. According to the pamphlet, "Shurijo Castle functioned as the central structure of Ryukyu Kingdom over a period of approximately 500 years, and was restored in 1992." The castle is a three story wooden structure. We paid a small fee to do the walking tour of the inside of the castle. This was my first museum-type place where we had to take off and carry our shoes in bags they provided. It's a typical Japanese custom to take off your shoes before entering a house, so I suppose it makes sense that we'd take off our shoes before entering the king's "house."
Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 11:14AM | Post a Comment 
A group of Japanese school girls that ran up to us and wanted our picture.
Dick and I went to the Japanese Underground Naval base where:
