Castles and Sand

What a wonderful weekend! Ryan and I had a fun weekend exploring Okinawa. Though Saturday was a bit chilly and windy, Ryan and I checked out our new neighborhood, Sunabe. Sunabe is next to the more boisterous area of Chatan. I likened Chatan to Times Square, while Sunabe is more like the East Village - a little more residential with lots of quaint cafes and bars as opposed to the bright lights and hustle of Midtown. We started out by getting cappucinos at Coffee Casa. They had delicious coffee and the pastas and naan pizza looked good, though we didn't try it. We then went to Gordie's for some of the best burgers on the island. Deelish! After an afternoon of checking out the PX on Kadena Air Force Base and the Living Design Square in Kitanakagusuku, we went out for our first Sushi meal at Yoshihachi's. While I didn't love the gyoza and tempura, their spicy scallop roll and Chatan roll were devine. We came home overstuffed and exhausted!

Sunday, we got to spend the morning with our new friends, the Shinns. Russ works with Ryan in legal assistance. We went out to Cafe Caracalla for pancakes with Russ, his wife Tonya, and their two adorable children, Anthony and Audrey. I loved my chocolate banana pancakes and the view of Araha beach. After checking out Jusco (and getting a new camera battery YAY!) we ventured off on our own to the Nakagusuku Castle Ruins.

The Nakagusuku Castle was built by the Ryukyuan Commander, Gosamaru, to defend against attacks from the East. They are high atop a hill only 10 minutes from base. Here are some pictures from our visit:

The Pacific Ocean is in the background.

The ruins from the front lawn.

After visiting the ruins, we weren't ready to go home, so we decided to check out American Village near Jusco one more time. We walked around the village then headed to the beach on the East China Sea. Here are some pictures from the beach next to American Village:

I can't believe we get to live here!

Now that my camera is working, I'll hopefully update the blog more often. Arigato Gozaimasu for reading it!

We're going pink!

We have a new apartment and a new car and both are PINK! I didn't put Ryan up to it (okay, maybe a little for the car) it just so happened that the best apartment and best car for the price are pink. I'm not even much of a "pink girl" but I love our new home and our new car (which will be mine when we get Ryan a much more manly colored car in the future).

Our new home is a duplex (or triplex if you include the first floor garage) which is about a block from the East China Sea and the beach by the Sunabe Seawall. There is a covered garage on the first floor which will be great during typhoon season. The second floor has a beautiful, modern kitchen (where I will put our registry gifts to good use), a decent size living area, a half bathroom and a balcony where Ryan plans to put a grill. The third floor has two bedrooms and a full bath. The master bedroom has 2 closets and a large balcony. The second bedroom is pretty small, but big enough for a desk , bookshelf, and a bed for when we have guests (*hint hint* family and friends!). We can't wait to move in even if our shipment isn't expected to arrive until the middle of March!

Here are some pictures from the housing company's website:







And here's what our new Toyota Vitz, which goes by the name "Yaris" in the States, looks like (we won't be able to pick it up until Monday)!



We will post more pictures when we move in and pick up our car!

Konichiwa from Okinawa!

Greetings from Okinawa! Since we have been here for a few days, I thought it was about time I updated the blog to document all the fun we've been having! Ryan and I took a 14 hour flight from JFK to Tokyo followed by a 3 hour flight from Tokyo to Okinawa. The flights weren't too bad. We watched a few movies and a few episodes of the office, slept, and ate airplane pizza on the first flight. We basically passed out for the entire second flight. The only rough patch came when we had to claim our baggage in terminal 2 in Tokyo and then load all of it (and it was heavy) onto the shuttle for terminal 1. It's a good thing Ryan is a Marine!

Our sponsor picked us up at the airport and brought us to the hotel. He even bought a few groceries for us. The Japanese apple juice and peanut butter on bread was a lifesaver the next morning. Our sponsor, Tim, and his wife, Christa, picked us up the next morning so that Ryan could check in. They then took us to Jusco, a Japanese mall, in the American Village part of Chatan Cho which had some of the weirdest Japanese grocery items as well as household goods (and a Starbucks!). They also treated us to Japanese burgers as Mos Burger. Deelish! That night, Ryan and I decided to try the restaurant next to our hotel, the Macaroni Grill, mostly because it was within walking distance and we don't have a car yet. It's basically like the Olive Garden. While I'm sure the food was delicious, we were too exhausted to enjoy it. We had it packed up and promptly passed out...at 9pm!

On Sunday, we started looking for cars. We both really like the Toyota Vitz (which I just found out is the same thing as a Toyota Yaris). It's fuel efficient and compact for the tiny Okinawan streets. However, we have only found the car in pink for our price range. I'm not sure Ryan wants to be that marine driving to work in a pink car. What do you think of the Vitz though? We went to the 100 Yen store for all things unnecessary and Japanese such as minature soy sauce bowls, dried fish snacks, and baskets. They did have some cool things though and I do plan on going back once we get an apartment! We also had our first Japanese meal...Soba! Soba is buckwheat noodles in broth. We ate it sitting down on tatami mats. Though the seating position became a bit uncomfortable after awhile, the gyoza (dumplings) and soba made up for it! It's a good thing we had a hearty lunch because we didn't make it to dinner. The jet lag caught up to us and we fell asleep on the couch at 6:30pm.

Today, we went apartment hunting for the first time. We saw some nice apartments in the Sunabe Seawall area of Chatan, which is not too far from Camp Foster where Ryan will be working. The beach there is beautiful and there are lots of cafes and restaurants within walking distance. We're going to look at more tomorrow but we both have a favorite in mind! We also went out for Mexican food tonight at Mike's! What a quaint little cafe and the food was great too! While it wasn't quite as good as Baby Bo's, Ryan enjoyed his Hungry Hombre meal and I enjoyed my enchilada. We will definitely go back!

We are so excited about our first duty station and we're loving it so far! I have so much more to update and share with you all. I promise to post pictures once I get a new camera battery from Jusco!

PCS = Pain, Cry, Sad

Ryan and I are leaving for Okinawa tomorrow. Though we enjoyed ourselves over Christmas and New Year's, our holiday was plagued by the move. Buying a new television and some furniture was fun (Thanks for your help, Mic and Nan!), but packing up my apartment was not. When I took down my first picture frame, I started to bawl. I love love love my apartment! Though it was tiny, it was filled with so many wonderful memories, and it was distinctly me. It was the first place I lived in on my own and had free reign to decorate as I pleased. My pictures and stuffed animals were everywhere. The only books on my shelves were mine.


I lived there for 4 1/2 wonderful years and cherish my memories of studying for exams, cooking for Ryan, entertaining dinner guests, hosting family overnight, carving pumpkins, setting up the Christmas shrub, watching television with Ryan, getting engaged, crying, laughing and so much more. I will miss the fat lady upstairs who stomped around at 2 am, Jose the Super who would have endless conversations with me, and the man down the hall who seemed to have a million girlfriends. I will miss the comfort of my bed, my tiny kitchen, my bathroom with the beautiful sink, and the view from my window. I will miss the restaurants in my neighborhood, fresh direct, my UPS lady, and my neighborhood deli. I will miss my gym, my nail salon, the Black Sheep pub, my starbucks, and the ability to walk anywhere I please (even if it is uphill from the grocery store). Most of all, I will miss my friends and the comfort of living in the greatest city in the world.

After (almost) everything was packed away...



I know it is completely impractical for two people to live in a studio apartment, but part of me thought we would. I was so sad to leave my home - it truly had become my home - but I am excited for our adventure. I just wish I could have my cake and eat it too :(

"Start spreading the news... I'm leaving today... I want to be a part of it... NEW YORK, NEW YORK!"

A Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sorry this is so late into the New Year, but I wanted to post about our fabulous holiday, even if it's 2 weeks into 2009. Christmas was amazing! We spent a fabulous Christmas Eve at the Nutcracker Ballet before packing up and heading out to Long Island.

My handsome man with our champagne during intermission.

Me with the champagne (and my new nine west purse, thanks Mom!)

Us in Lincoln Center (oops, we weren't supposed to take a picture in here.)

We ate a fabulous Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings, thanks to Nan! She sure knows how to mash potatoes! That evening, we watched Elf and drank my homemade eggnog, which Micaela said tasted just like a vanilla milkshake. My eggnog is so much better than store bought (especially when you add brandy!).

On Christmas morning, after Ryan got the coffee percolating and I got started on the cinnamon buns, we woke everyone up to open presents. This year, all the siblings decided to do a secret santa instead of getting 5 gifts. Ryan got me a wii, mario kart, a Barefood Contessa cookbook, and beautiful white gold hoop earrings! I got him Guitar Hero World Tour, a book about JAGs, a bulldog bottle opener, and a Frasier DVD set! Kev (Ryan's secret santa) got us Japanese for dummies, a Japanese phrase book, and a Japanese cookbook (which I promise to put to good use!). Ryan's family got me a great gift - my first Coach purse!!


Mom and Bobby (it was early)

Micaela (future Hofstra superstar)

Nancy's excited for presents!

Kevin - "Are you kidding me?!"

Sasha and Paddy Boy

My first Coach purse!!


Bros Ryan and Kevin

"Look, honey! I'm going on a world tour now! "

After we opened presents and got ready, we went to visit Ryan's Dad and Ryan's Grandma. Ryan and I liked our Polo Ralph Lauren gifts and we hope they enjoyed their gifts as well.

We then visited Dad Gallagher in the hospital, though we wished he could have been home with us. Later that evening, Aunt Steph and Uncle Tommy came over with dinner - filet mignon, lasagna, veggies, biscuits, and my potato gratin followed by cookies, pie, and my chocolate swirl cheesecake. Delicious!! I always love seeing Aunt Steph, Uncle Tommy, Marisa, Samantha, and Andrew and they gave us a beautiful wedding album that I can't wait to fill! What a great 1st Christmas together!

Our New Year's plans were very last minute. We missed the chance to hang out with Joe at a party in Bryant Park, so we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in the city - Xunta's! We had our 4th date there and love going back on special occasions. What better occasion than New Year's Eve (and our last night in NYC, but that's a whole other post)!! We got lucky since there was hardly a wait and they had a flamenco performance that night. With all the yummy food, sangria, and cava, that would have been enough for a great new year's eve but then they also brought out party hats, noisemakers, streamers, and salsa dancing after midnight! It was the best New Year's ever!

Last picture of 2008

Cheers to 2009!

Boys like balloons!

I hope everyone else had a fabulous holiday season!