So, continuing on from my previous post, we were off exploring the surrounding islands and went over another bridge to Ikei Island.
We came across Ikei public beach and stopped in to check it out. To enter the beach you have to buy tickets. I think we paid Y200 each to even set foot on the beach. From there you can use the same machines to buy tickets for mats, umbrellas, trips on boats and other fun water activites.
The beach wasn't huge or anything, but it was very pretty and I can see that this would be a hoppin spot in the summer months. Even in November the water looked very inviting!
We walked along, collected shells and enjoyed being one of the only people on the beach.
It's days like this when I love living on Okinawa!
A few weeks ago Brad and I set out to explore some of the surrounding islands. To get to most of the islands you have to take a ferry, but for a couple of the closer ones you can take bridges. We took the bridge over to Miyagi Island, a small island of mostly farmers and fisherman with a population of 800.
We were driving around and stumbled upon the Salt Factory. The Salt Factory is open for visitors and you can view the factory portion where the salt is produced. There is also a restaurant and gift shop. The salt here, called Nuchi-masu, is made from the Okinawan Pacific Ocean water, is free of additives and artificial ingredients. This salt is different in that it claims to be beneficial to your health because it has 25% less NaCl and has 21 types of minerals including magnesium in which people tend to be deficient and potassium which helps to remove NaCl from the body. Nuchi-masu has 200 times the amount of Magnesium and 10 times the amount of potassium. Therefore, they say that this salt helps your body remain balanced.
Research shows that this salt does not accumulate in the body, the magnesium in the salt helps protect blood vessels and in a taste test of 12 types of salt Nuchi-masu tasted the best.
We got ourselves some of this amazing salt and some fancy salt cookies as well. We also bought a little cup of delish salt gelato and ate it on the upstairs deck with an amazing view of the ocean.
On our way out we saw a group of ladies walking down a path and we decided to follow them to see what was down there. They were all taking turns touching a rock and taking pictures with it. They wanted us to do it too, so we got our picture with this rock having no idea why the rock is important. Anyone on Okinawa know what this rock is for?
It may have been November, but we set out to hike up a river to Tadake Falls. It took us a couple of wrong turns and my husband having to ask 3 different Japanese people in Japanese how to get to the falls, but we eventually found it. And it was so worth it. This hike is kind of off the beaten trail, literally. You have to walk through a river, over slippery rocks, fallen logs and haul yourself up over big hills or rocks with the help of ropes. This may have been my favorite hike of all time... not that I'm an expert at hikes by any means, but I loved this one particularly. We don't really have a fall season here, but there is a change in the weather and we even got to see some fallen red and yellow fall leaves. This made me way more excited than it probably should have. Oh, the simple things in life.
The hike out to the waterfall was very enjoyable. The water was chilly and I would not have wanted to put my whole body in it, but my feet and legs got used to it pretty fast and the hiking kept me warm. We did pass a couple of people, but the river was quiet and very relaxing.
The waterfall itself is very impressive. If it were warmer we could have swam in the waterfall pool. The other waterfalls we've hiked to have all been roped off so that you couldn't get close, but this one was totally open and you could do as you pleased. We stopped and had our picnic lunch on a log next to the water. There were some Japanese people there who made a swing and were very intertaining to watch.
After lunch we decided to take the trail up to the top of the falls. This isn't as much as a hiking trail as it was rock climbing. Yikes. I've never been on a hike like this! We had to use ropes to help us up the mountian side and it was pretty challenging. The trail eventually wound us around to the top of the falls and again it was worth the effort. This was my favorite part of the trip. It was a little oasis up there. So quiet and peaceful. We stayed for awhile and just took it all in.
I would definatly reccomend this hike and I will be looking forward to doing this again once the weather warms back up.
I know, what?! Two posts in one day? Yes, because...
A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing husband! Ahh, yes, the years are flying by and I just keep falling more in love.
Brad opened his presents and we had fun eating the cake I made and drinking champagne . We both had long days of work today, so we will be celebrating his birthday more this weekend.
So lucky I get to be sharing my life with this amazing man!
I love having fresh flowers in the house. Something I must have picked up from my mom who likes having fresh flowers from the garden in every room. I love flowers, as you all probably know by now. My favorite are sunflowers and now they also remind me of my wedding day. There is a fabulous little flower shop off of 81 that is packed full of fresh flower wonderfulness and has the nicest Japanese lady who works there named Miko. At this shop men always get a 30% discount and if you bring your receipt from last time you get 10% off. Even without the discount these flowers were a bargain. This shop is well hidden on 81, but if you can find it you'll be happy you did.
I got a large bouquet of sunflowers and purple mums(?). So very fall (I got these before Thanksgiving). The whole thing only cost be about $13. A picture of the store front is below, the sign is in Japanese. Just look for the red awning!
These beauties lasted well over a week. So pretty!
So tonight I gave Gojou his first bath. He is quilling, which is the equivalent of infants teething, and online I read that warm baths might make him feel better. He wasn't a huge fan of the bath, but hedgehogs generally enjoy swimming, so I'm going to keep getting him used to it. And he is not very good at keeping himself clean, so I see weekly baths in his future. I am so in love with this lil guy. Really obsessed and totally happy to sit and stare at him for long periods of time and am thrilled to have him sleeping in my pocket for hours as I do my thing around the house. It makes a huge difference for me to have this lil life to keep me company while Brad's gone. I was getting a bit lonely writing my Christmas cards alone in the quiet apartment and so out came Gojou to make me laugh and warm my heart.
So, here is the video from his first bath. Don't mind my outfit of embarrassing slippers, old sweatshirt and husbands green silkies ... I was not the star to this show. Just focus on Gojou and his enormous cuteness... well enormous cutness until he poops in his bath. Gojou is just like any other baby and does a lot of sleeping and pooping.
After I turned my camera off I did use a tiny bit of puppy shampoo to clean him. I was worried he'd freak out because of the smell because he is so sensitive to smells and new things. Either he was too freaked out about the water to care, or he didn't mind the soap. Afterwards he got all snuggled up in a towel and he is now sound asleep in my pocket, nice and warm.
Ok, well if that wasn't enough for you here are some of the plethera of pictures I've taken of my lil lovey. It's so hard to pick favorites, but these are a few that make my heart melt.
Ahh yes, I've been seriously slacking on the blog posts lately. So, that means I have a backlog of fun things to talk about. Brad is once again off on a short trip, so hopefully this weekend I can get caught up on a bunch of things like finishing my Christmas shopping and getting the packages mailed off by Dec 6 (it's the last day priority will be able to get stuff there by Christmas), and write up my Christmas cards. It's getting nice and cool outside and it just makes me want to curl up by the tree with a cup of cocoa. We decorated last weekend and the apartment is nice and festive. We had to get a fake tree and it's just not the same. I bought some holiday candles to make the house smell like we have a real tree. Even Gojou gets a little mini tree on his cage.
Ok so on to the carb and calorie fest part...
Who doesn't just love a bakery?! Well, I haven't been to one since we've moved here and that's probably a good thing for my thighs, but Brad was craving french toast and required fresh bakery bread. So, we visited this bakery near our apartment and were pleasantly surprised! This little shop that goodies galore and smelled like a lil piece of heaven. We had fun trying to figure out what each thing was and picking out things to try. They had perfect bread to make french toast as well.
We headed across the street to Tropical Beach to have a pastry picnic. Just take a look at our spread!
Our favorite was a flaky, puff pastry with pear and sweet cream. Ahhhh heaven in my mouth! Japanese pastry is definitely different from the US. You know that greasy feel you get on your fingers and mouth? Nope, didn't get any of that with any of these. And they just aren't as sweet. Should that make me feel less guilty?
This was really just the perfect picnic spot and I enjoyed every second!
We came across Ikei public beach and stopped in to check it out. To enter the beach you have to buy tickets. I think we paid Y200 each to even set foot on the beach. From there you can use the same machines to buy tickets for mats, umbrellas, trips on boats and other fun water activites.
The beach wasn't huge or anything, but it was very pretty and I can see that this would be a hoppin spot in the summer months. Even in November the water looked very inviting!
We walked along, collected shells and enjoyed being one of the only people on the beach.
