$1 Sushi and Maeda Point

What a weekend! It was amazing, wonderful, crazy, and exhausting. We love this place already. We are amazed by it's beauty and sometimes have to remind ourselves that this place is now our home.

Saturday morning our sponsors came to pick us up. They had kept Lexie for the night and so we had to take her to the kennel. It was very sad dropping her off, but I know she will be just fine. We then drove around and stopped at a really cool dollar sushi place.

The sushi comes out on conveyer belts. Each plate is $1

All the plates have different designs. I want to get a set of cute little plates

You can order something off of the touch screen. When it's ready, it comes out on this racecar

It was a perfect first meal on the island! We loved this place and will most likely be frequent visitors. Jake and I combined only spent $8 on sushi.

Then, they took us to the base where Jake will be working. We got to see his building. We also went to the post office to get our mail box (if you want to send a package, it is a domestic rate! How awesome!). We also got some yen(japanese money) from the ATM. The exchange rate is around 100 yen to $1. It is so weird seeing so many zeros on prices. 

 Right outside of Jake's office buidling

Jake and the Yen

We then headed back to the other side of the island. We looked at some cars on base and then headed over to the Bx to get cell phones. We were both so excited about getting new phones since we both had  ones that needed to be replaced. Jake is adjusting to having an iphone, though, since this is his first one. We also walked around the Bx. There is so much stuff and it is all American. It is basically like a Macys or a very nice Walmart. We were excited to see that we can get all of the American stuff we need. We want to immerse into the culture as much as possible, but we know there will be some American things that we can't live without. 

Waiting in line for cell phones

Sweaty selfie with our new iphones

Our sponsors took us to some places around their area of town off base. They showed us their view from their apartment first.

Not too shabby, eh?

They also took us to the Japanese version of Walmart, Gap, and the Dollar store. The walmart type store was crazy and overwhelming. There is stuff hanging from the ceiling and stuff stacked as high as it could go. Everything is also so colorful here. It was interesting to see, but it could give you a headache after awhile. The Gap type place had some pretty cute clothes! They have really funny sayings on their graphic tees that are in English. It is kind of funny and I want to find some good ones to buy at some point. The dollar store, or 100 yen store, is WAY better than our dollar store. Most of the stuff is pretty nice and they have such a great selection. 

Don Quixote, Japanese "Walmart"

We then headed to a restaurant referred to as The Garlic House. It serves lots of types of food made with garlic and is very popular. I ordered deep fried mashed potatoes with cheese for everyone to try. They were INCREDIBLE. I guess you can't go wrong with mashed potatoes, anything fried, or cheese. Jake got some sort of Okinawa traditional food that as pretty good. I also got an avocado tuna salad that came in an avocado. 

This is what the main populated areas look like. Large roads and concrete buildings.

Jake and I went home and crashed. We have been waking up at 6a.m. (thanks jetlag), so we are exhausted by the evening.

Jake and I got up early the next morning and hung out. For lunch, we went to the Macaroni Grill next door. Boring, I know. We don't have a car, the shuttle wasn't running, and all of the delivery places were backed up, so it was our only choice. It is the largest Macaroni Grill in the world, if that makes it any more special.

Our sponsor came and picked us up and we headed up north to Cape Maeda. It was absolutely breathtaking. This is what we had heard so much about, and it did not disappoint. We seriously had to pinch ourselves.

 We then headed back south to meet some people about cars (more on the car buying process later). We also went to see Lexie to make sure she was doing ok. She was sleeping away when we got there and was so excited to see us.

After, we headed to American Village. This is a place that was made to look like Venice Beach, CA. The locals love this place. It is very lively and interesting.

After exploring for a bit, we headed to dinner at a ticket place. A ticket place is a place where you walk in to a machine and push a button for whichever meal you would like. You take your ticket to your table. Fortunately, this ticket restaurant had pictures or else we would have had no idea what we were ordering. We also sat on the ground around our short table. Jake's legs didn't really like it. The food was  pretty awesome. I had a ramen dish with pork in it. Jake had some sort of skillet rice dish. 

 We then headed to the commissary for groceries and headed home. We also got to see our first East China Sea Sunset. It was cloudy, but we could only imagine what it looks like without the clouds.

You all, I am seriously in love with this place. I can't even describe the magic I see when I look around. I love the people, the culture, the sights. I honestly can't believe we live here. It honestly feels like a vacation. 

This week we are finding housing, cars, and checking into the base. We are so excited to start creating our life here. I can't wait to share with you all of the exciting things going on!

Until Next Time,