Lets Learn!

Lets learn a little bit more about where my hubby and I will soon be moving: Okinawa Japan!

OKINAWA
"While Japan declared Okinawa a prefecture in 1879, this ancient "Kingdom of the Ryukyus" retains its own unique language, culture and cuisine.

The group of islands in the Ryukyu archipelago that encompasses Okinawa lies southwest of mainland Japan in the East China Sea. Its capital city, Naha, is a two-hour flight from Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei or Manila. Although people on the main island of Okinawa speak what is known as Okinawan, dialects on the other 43 inhabited islands differ considerably.

Its sub-tropical climate keeps Okinawa balmy even when neighboring countries are in the dead of winter. Okinawa's pristine white beaches, stunning coral and array of brilliantly colored flowers make the islands an ideal resort destination. In fact, Okinawa is in the same latitude zone as other famous beaches including Florida, Hawaii and the Bahamas.

Okinawan cooking is generally spicier than Japanese food, and is more heavily influenced by Chinese cooking styles. Pork is a dominant ingredient in Okinawan cuisine, along with local seafood and native tropical vegetables and fruits."
(Taken from AmeriForce Magazine)

~Okinawan Language Lesson~

Hello................Chuu Wuganabira, Moshi Moshi
Goodbye......................................Guburii Sabira
My Name Is - ........................................ - yaibiin
I Don't Understand.........................Wakayabiran
Please Write It Down.........Kachi Kwimisheebiri
Excuse Me/Sorry........................Guburii Sabitan
Thank You...................................Nifee Deebiiru

ENJOY!!

Picture Sharing time!

I just recently made a nice road trip from MN to NC. This is not the first time that I have made this trip. I have made it at least 5 times. All of them I have done by myself, except for two when I had a wonderful companion of some sort. I LOVE to drive, I really really do and I challenge myself to find things that can keep my mind occupied. This time I let time fly. I focused on not worrying what time of day it was, just let time pass and don't start to schedule it or count it down, like "okay I have 4 more hours" instead I just thought, "alright, its noon, what city am I going through next?" or something along those lines. I seemed to help a lot!

Anywhos, here are some pictures that I took while on the road!

My faithful travel companion!

Fred the turtle to keep me company as well!

Pilot Mountain in North Carolina

Pretty clouds 

Flying hand! I totally loved doing this as a kid!

Hahaha! A horses butt!

Wind turbines

What kept me awake at night! 

ENJOY!!

Things are going great!

My hubby has been home for over 24 hours! THIS IS AWESOME! Tehehe

Here is one of my awesome photos of him...

ENJOY!!

Oh yeah! I listened to this awesome band: Alpha Rev. Their album New Morning is really good! They are alternative and its some awesome chill music.

Reason for the UPDATED site...

Okay, there are going to be some changes around here! First off, I am going to make it a goal to post semi-daily. At least 3-4 times per week. I am going to have a lot of time on my hand over the next few months so this should be doable! I need somebody to be accountable to, and that is going to be my readers. I am going to try and market my blog and increase the number of readers that I have. I hope the design changes help as well.

The other good news is that my Hubby is COMING HOME!! He has been in Afghanistan since December 14th and with return on July 11th. So about 7 months we have been apart. I this is the second deployment in less than a year! He return from Iraq in October 2009 and left for Afghanistan in December 2009...do the math...he was home for a whopping 3 months! Yeah, thats my love, and he wanted to do it. Who am I to say no? Things worked out really nicely for us. Time really did fly by! (Work helped for me!)

And, to update everyone as to what the future holds...it is this: We are moving to Okinawa Japan sometime in October 2010. The plan as of right now is to be there for 3 years. Note: this may be shortened or elongated. It all depends on what the Corps and my Husband decides.

Am I excited, nervous, scares, apprehensive? HECK YES! I cannot wait to go and explore a new place, people, and culture! I cannot wait to actually LIVE WITH my Hubby for more than a few months! I know it will be hard to get used to, but I am willing to make mistakes, and to learn from them. I have been kicking myself for a long time for not studying abroad in college (excuse: hockey) and I see this as my chance to make up for that! I am excited to try the new food, meet new people, go to new places, have new and exciting experiences..etc, etc. I hope and pray that things work out for the best! And I appreciate the support from family and friends!

So, for your viewing and reading pleasure, here are some pictures and facts about where we are headed

OKINAWA JAPAN
Capital: Naha
Population: 1,379,330 (2008)

"Okinawa is one of Japan's southern prefectures, and consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 km long, which extends southwest from Kyushu (southwestern most of Japan's main islands) to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of the largest and most populous island, Okinawa Island, which is approximately half-way between Kyushu and Taiwan."
(courtesy of Wikipedia)

The climate averages about 70F annually and in the winter it averages about 60F.




ENJOY!!

UP

Dated! Yes, This blog has been updated! Stay tuned for more info!

Ummm, yeah....

So I am really really bad at this "updating" thing that comes along with having a blog. BUT....I am going to make up for it with an AWESOME lemon bar recipe! As for my excuse for not blogging...Life has gotten in the way...work, friends, hubby, etc. and an upcoming move! (more on that later)

Here is the recipe!

~Awesome Lemon Bars~

(recipe courtesy of Paula Dean)

Crust

2 c. AP flour

2 c. powdered sugar (plus more for dusting)

Pinch of Salt

1 c. (2 sticks) butter at room temp.

Filling

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

6 tbsp. AP flour

6-8 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (about 5 good sized lemons)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease or spray a 9 x 13in. pan. Make the curst by combining the flour, powdered sugar, salt and butter. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press crust into the pan evenly, making sure to get the corners. Bake for 20 min. 

Meanwhile, make the filling by combining the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice and whisk to combine. Pour over the baked crust and return to the oven to bake for 25 min. longer. When done, remove from oven and let cool before dusting with powdered sugar. Cut and ENJOY!

Its high time for a....

Restaurant Review!!


So, needless to say, once again, it has been a while since I have last written! I am here to inform my readers about a wonderful new restaurant in my good ol' home town of WBL, MN. 


Restaurant: Manitou Station
Location: Downtown White Bear Lake, MN
Food: English Pub style food


This is the newest eating establishment in the downtown area and it is located next to the newly renovated Avalon mall. The food is down home, made from scratch goodness and news is spreading quickly of its delicious offerings! I first went to this restaurant with my parents for my mother birthday. I had the steak salad with med-well steak and a simple vinaigrette as well as seasoned pub fries. My papa had the fish and chips with mushy peas. My mother had the Rachel: turkey, sauerkraut, and swiss, along with horseradish mashed potatoes. 


The salad was very good, simple, for a salad. The steak was cooked perfectly and very tender and juicy. The Rachel, according to my mother was very good as well. She noted that they sauerkraut was very mild and it was perfect on the homemade rye bread. Her mashed potatoes came out cold at first, but after they were reheated, they were very yummy, with a pleasant kick. My papa loved the fish! It was light a crispy and overly greasy. The filets were of a good size so that you could actually taste fish. The pub fries are wonderfully seasoned and thick and potato-y. My favorite is to dip them into their homemade tartar sauce which is made with dill! One of my favorites! 


For dessert, since it was my mothers birthday, they served us some of their homemade bread pudding. It had a wonderful caramel sauce on it and it was wonderfully moist and warm and made perfect by the presence of vanilla ice cream. 



The next time I went there I split the Avocado Chicken Ranch sandwich with my mother. I believe this also had some cheese on it. It was very good too, but there was not much of a ranch taste to it, but thats okay because I was satisfied with the avocado! 



And, the most recent time I went (all three times, i went with different people) I had the Chicken Wild Rice soup. We also split the Scotch Eggs: Hard boiled egg encased in ground pork and deep-fried and served with a spicy English mustard. These were yummy! Personally I liked them plain with out the mustard, I liked the seasoning in the pork and the egg was a nice accompanying flavor. My friend had the Ale Cheddar soup, and boy oh boy was that good! I had a taste (maybe a few...) and it was wonderful, cheesy, and you can actually taste the ale/beer in the soup! Is that not why you order this type of soup? To get both the cheesiness and the wonderful flavor of beer? Both were present in this soup and they were balanced very nicely, according to my friend! 


I would highly recommend this place for any meal! I believe that they do a brunch on sundays, but I am not familiar with the menu for that. 


Go here...it is GOOD!! REALLY REALLY GOOD!!
Oh yeah, when they give you the bill, they bring out some of their, once again, homemade after-dinner mint truffles. They are yummy, yummy, yummy! They seem to be of the cookies and cream variety with mint tossed in, but I have yet to ask what flavor they actually are, I just know they are good! I have seriously contemplated asking if they can be ordered in bulk....but have yet to tread down that path...haha!

Hope you can make it to this wonderful restaurant and that you enjoy it as much as I did!