Valentine's Toes

Sorry to anyone who is grossed out by feet. Here is a pic of my toes done up for Valentine's Day. Hopefully I can get them done before St. Patty's Day as well! Just an FYI~they let the Marine accused of rape out of Japanese custody today without charging him (he is still in military custody though).

The little Japanese lady at the pedicure salon drew the teddy bear's free hand!

New Obsession

I have a new fixation (and Michael will probably make fun of me for this one too). I've already posted about my fascination with alligators...but that has since grown into gigantic "anythings". Little known fact about me?? Completely obsessed with the megalodon shark. There was this article on the Pliosaur aka "The Monster" on foxnews.com today. Here is a picture from that article:

This is a comparison of a killer whale, a blue whale, the new Pliosaur and a human diver.

(I hope the picture shows up, b/c gov't computers won't let it be seen on blogger).

Is it not amazing??? 60 dagger-like teeth the size of cucumbers, 10-foot-long jaws, 10-foot-long flippers--wow! Somehow, through some miracle, I'm still willing to get dive certified! I'm a little more terrified, but I think it is worth it to see the wonders that the ocean is filled with.

As a sidenote...I really don't like Feb 29th. Seriously. Do we really need to put another day b/w me and my birthday?? I doubt anyone else really notices that it gets slipped in every 4 years besides those of us with early March b-days. Maybe I won't be so hateful when I get older and then I'll be grateful for the extra day...we'll see.

Still on Lockdown :(

Looks like the restrictions won't even be re-assessed until March 3rd. Hopefully we'll get to eat out for my birthday **fingers crossed**, otherwise Michael will have to cook for me (probably would be better than eating out anyway).

I had my teeth cleaned today by military "professionals" for the first time. It wasn't as bad as Michael scared me it was going to be. They even replaced a sealant. Phew!! Only 5 more times I'll have to have it done over here! The Sonicare toothbrush was a great investment :)

I'll try and put pictures of my cute-painted Valentine's toes on here tonight while Michael plays tennis. I was hoping to get something for St. Paddy's day, but we'll see if we're allowed out in town before then.

My tulips were an absolute bust over here. I know...I know...it was a pipedream to think I could get them to grow in this climate, but I had to try. I broke down and planted a hibiscus plant instead. Hopefully I'll have some good results.

Bento Boxes

Here are some pics of the bento boxes that I have for lunch. Even on lockdown I can get some authentic Japanese food :) This one was a really "skinny fish" (that is how it was described anyway) and the soba noodles were really good--all for 300 yen! I have a bento box for lunch about 1-2 times a week now. However, last Friday I had kind of a bad experience and went hungry for the rest of the day--too much tofu.

Okuma

Let's lighten the mood a little bit...

Here are some pics from our trip up to Okuma last weekend. The next two pictures are of the view once we stepped out of our "cabana" (military-buildings called cabanas).

We went on all the hiking trails. Even the ones that had big CLOSED signs on them. In the picture directly below you can see another one of the trails we went up (it just looks like a rock formation) and at the top there was a brand new picnic table with a spectacular view:

This area was right outside the restaurant and near the "singles campground". I guess that is to keep all the crazy people away from the family area:

It was REALLY cold...I mean, we're talking lower 60's here people. Way too cold for us to be outside :)

Pictures

Here are some pictures of this mess:

This is the ferris wheel you can see from our house (evidently it is where the SSgt "met" the girl):





We both work on Camp Foster:
What a proud time to be a part of the Marine Corps stationed over here.
(please catch the sarcasm)
oh yes...I definitely did not take any of the pictures myself and borrowed them all from major news websites.

Lockdown

Yep. Because of stupid people we are now in lockdown. We can only go from base to base and those living out in town are restricted to their quarters. I have seen reports on cnn.com and foxnews.com saying that it is only "troops" being punished. Ummm...no. ALL SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) status personnel, are on lockdown. This includes the Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, civilians, dependants, etc. Good thing we were able to take our trip to Okuma last weekend!! I'm surprised it has taken them this long to put such strict regulations on us. There were no new restrictions over the weekend and two more people were stupid enough to cause trouble out in town.

However...
I do have loads of neat pictures from our trip up North! We came back in time to help our neighbors build a great deck too. At least if we're stuck on base we can go have a heck of a bbq at their house :)

The Latest...

Here is what we are dealing with now...

(I took this from the Stars and Stripes, stripes.com)

Demonstrators stand outside the Headquarters Gate of Camp Foster on Tuesday night protesting the alleged rape. The banner proclaims opposition to a new Marine Corps air facility planned for Camp Schwab to replace MCAS Futenma. The white sign at right states, "Okinawa never welcomes U.S. forces." The rally, attended by about 300 people who snake-danced in front of the gate for about an hour, was sponsored by the Okinawa Peace Activities Center, a group opposed to U.S. military bases on the island.

Stupid People

Yes. The headlines on CNN, Yahoo, MSNBC, etc. are from our very own Okinawa USMC Base. Stupid people making stupid decisions. A 38 year old Marine is accused of raping a 14 year old Okinawan girl. Stupid Stupid Stupid. Besides bringing the international spotlight on a horrific event that highlights ALL servicemembers in a bad light (regardless of branch), now we may not get to take our trip to Okuma this weekend for our "romantic getaway" --how selfish is that?! It seems as though the LtGen may make ALL Marines come into work for the entire 96 weekend, or at least lock down the base. At least we always plan on a low-key Valentine's Day with pizza and a movie :)


What a Stupid Person!!!

Japanese Cherry Blossoms!

Even though it was cold and windy, Michael and I drove up North to see some of the cherry blossoms! We actually went to the Nakijin-jo Castle ruins which were GORGEOUS!! It was one of our better excursions since we've been on island. We won't talk about getting kicked out of the museum because we didn't realize you had to pay but nothing was in English...whoops :)

This was in the city of Nago:

They had this random amphitheater:This was the entrance sign to the castle (it was further North than Nago):
This was looking from the bottom of the ruins:
Up at the top we took quite a few pictures. It was too pretty not to, even if the weather wasn't the greatest :)
Cold, but loving every minute of it!
Looking down at some of the lower walls. There was a DEEP valley that dropped off after the walls:
Michael up at the very top:
Cherry blossoms!
Me eating the cherry blossoms:
Looking down at where they trained the war-horses:

A really nice little Japanese man came and took our picture for us (thank goodness for handsignals and bowing...)

Michael with the beautiful view behind him:
Another view of the lower area:
From the horse training area looking up to where we were standing:
This was a big rock and I thought it looked really cool (it was like this across the entire surface area of the rock):
Two pretty Japanese women all dressed up:

Walking down from the top of the castle:
A real picture of me and the blossoms--where I'm not eating them:
Eating delicious chicken yakitori!! We also found some yummy oranges (the ones from the commissary are gross) and giant tomatoes!
The drive off the hill had lanterns up in the cherry trees that lit the path: