House guests are awesome!!

We were smart enough to invite a very fun guest at Aaron & Masayo's wedding to spend the week with us. Jeremy is a former coworker of Aaron's from Vancouver (BC, Canada, eh?) who has been quite a treat to get to know. He also cooks well (another smart decision on our part): * Note that the above is the first in a sequence of 6 shots of him cooking us some yummy fettucini alfredo, so click on it & check out all 6. We are going to be sad to see him leave, although he'll just be continuing his vacation/decompression from his most recent web design venture. He's off to Thailand for several weeks (which could very well turn into months, we suspect). Everybody wish him well!!

Naha

The day after Aaron & Masayo's wedding, we spent much of the day in the southern & largest city of Naha (where the airport is) before dropping off Mitchell & Tomomi to catch their flight back to mainland Japan. We found a fish market (where Jeremy made us all try some fresh Salmon) & then Kokusai Dori (street) for some shopping, sight-seeing & lunch (traditional Okinawan fare).

Naha

The wedding of Aaron & Masayo

We had an awesome weekend attending the wedding of new dear friends that we've met since coming to Okinawa. Aaron Wheeler (who hails from Josh's hometown of Birmingham, AL) got married to Masayo Kusumi, originally of Nara, Japan (that's on the mainland). And we got to witness it! We enjoyed making new friends with other wedding guests & helping video record the reception festivities. Good people, food & fun. Josh was pleased with his first few days as a 30 year old! ;-)

Wedding - Aaron & Masayo

One of us is no longer a 20-something

I got awesome gifts for my 30th birthday. Thanks, y'all!!

Awesome Birthday Presents!

Bicycle Race

After Betsy heard about a 30 KM (that's about 18 miles) bicycle event going on at Torii Station (US Army base not far north of us), we decided to enter with our cheap-o mountain bike & another borrowed from a friend. Turns out it was a pretty serious race for pretty much everyone else that entered & participated, whereas our goal was to finish. ;-) We both finished (the last 2 of all 107 participants). And Betsy even medalled! She came in 2nd in her division (women 18-29 years of age). Here we are posing on Torii Beach with our borrowed bicycle after the pancake breakfast: And here are a few more shots of the quite nice Torii Beach that day. The weather was just gorgeous, but somehow it never occurred to us to bring along swim attire & towels to actually enjoy it. :-(

Okinawa - Beaches!

Learning to Roll Makezushi (sushi rolls)

We enjoyed another lovely evening with our good friends Aaron & Masayo. We ventured to our nearby San A grocery store to learn what to purchase, before returning to our apartment & learning to put together sushi rolls (makezushi). It was yummy & fun!!

Learning to Roll Makezushi

Easter at Araha Park

We attended Calvary Chapel's Easter service at Araha Park's amphitheatre (about a 2 min walk from our apartment). The rain held off & we enjoyed the spirit.

Easter at Araha Park

Churaumi Aquarium (again - hey, I have an annual pass!!)

Rick Miller (who is the husband of Denise, an OT that works with Betsy at EDIS) enjoyed a week-long visit to Okinawa by his brother Dan. And being the thoroughly time-flexible man that I currently am, I volunteered to play chauffeur. On Thursday I got the chance to use my annual pass to the aquarium again & took a few too many photos (again). After we toured the fishes, we also found time to check out the Emerald Beach facilities (at low tide). And we checked out the free manatees, sea turtles & dolphin show. To top off a beautiful day up north, we ate an early dinner at Kajinho Pizza (aka Pizza In The Sky). It was yummy as usual!!

Churaumi Aquarium (with Dan & Rick)

Chatan Sunsets

We've discovered that the rooftop of our building can be quite a wonderful place to capture sunsets over the East China Sea!

Chatan Sunsets

Cape Hedo-misaki

After watching Florida trounce Ohio State in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Champtonship, the Miller brothers (Rick & Dan) decided to join me in a driving tour to the northern end of the island & back. It was a beautiful day & a very scenic drive. These photos were taken at the park that lies at the northern end, Cape Hedo-misaki.

Cape Hedo-misaki

Sea Turtle at Onna Point "Toilet Bowl"

On our first dive ever at the much heralded Onna Point "Toilet Bowl" dive site, we saw a sea turtle! And one of our fellow divers captured it with his fancy digital equipment! Link to Google video of sea turtle swimming