Mat's Visit to Okinawa

Our friend Mat came to Okinawa to teach the water survival instructors up at Camp Hansen! We were able to get him out of the lodge on the weekends so he could re-experience the island (he was stationed here back in the 90's). The first weekend he was with us, there was some serious monsoon-like rain. We made it to Four Seasons for some teppanyaki and beer, but that was about it!

ok ... quite a bit of beer :)

The next weekend we first got our curry fix over at Fab on the Sunabe Seawall.

Here is Mat going through the plethora of curry to choose from:

Not too bad of a view, eh?

Michael really likes curry (so do I though, so it works!):We walked along the seawall for a little bit so Mat could really experience the paintings :P I think they were fixin' to trade sunglasses here ... they really enjoyed this part, can you tell?
After a brief stint on Sunabe, we headed north to hit the Nago glass factory. I think Michael is trying to explain something to Mat and Mat didn't really care:
Mat in front of the furnaces where they melt/mold the glass:
I tried to get Michael to stand in the female spot, but sometimes he just flat refuses. I may have a little too much enthusiasm for a true Japanese woman:
The glass Shisa in front of the factory:
Next, we headed to the Orion brewery for a quick (and I mean QUICK) tour:
Guess who the DD was :*(
We literally walked up the stairs, saw some "mash" cyclinder-thingys and then saw the area where they bottle and package up the beer:
That was it. Then the boys got to drink some free beer!
"KANPAI!"
... and a free tea for the DD.
I guess the boys were really cute b/c they got TWO free beers, instead of one, from the bartender lady:
Piggy and her original boyfriend. She went nuts when he first came in the house :)
On Saturday night we went down to Sushi Zen for some sushi. Here is Mat with his plate of sashimi:
Our flower rolls:
Michael with the delicious Zen roll:
The Zen roll is our absolute fave. Its wrapped in bean curd instead of the traditional nori (thats why it is pink).
Mat debating whether or not to help us out with the rest of the rolls:
YUM!
We may get him for one last weekend before he gets to go home to Sara and baby Steven!