More puzzles and Zootopia

I've been cranking out 1000 piece puzzles it seems.  Here are my recent completions:

This one is shiny and very pretty

I found a very difficult 1000 piece puzzle and have started it.  It will keep me occupied for quite some time!


We went and saw Zootopia as a family.  What a great movie!

At the theater before the movie starts

Dinner?

Manta Park & Thrift Store

A fun thing to do on Okinawa is to go to the park and play on the roller slide(s).  We haven't been to one yet as each time we go the weather caves in.  Today was a gorgeous day and we stopped by Manta Park when we were out and about.  Sadly, the roller slide was closed.  I'm not sure why it was closed but it was very disappointing to find it like that.  We will try another park another day.

View from below

View from the top of the slide

We went and checked out a thrift store.  Thrift stores are not very common and there are only a few on the island.  It was a very interesting walk through the store.  They sell the normal thrift store items: clothes, shoes, household items, toys, books, etc.  They also sell expensive figurines and vintage American items.  Our favorite section was the musical instrument section.  Caleb showed strong interest in a violin...I am going to try and find a teacher for him.  If I can find one then we will buy him the violin and he can start his lessons.  I didn't take a picture but there was a mini trumpet that looked amazing, an electronic clarinet, and an interesting looking keyboard/stringed instrument I've never seen before. 

They have the most interesting items when you go into stores.  This dinosaur met us when we were walking down the stairs from the parking on the 2nd floor. 

We also went to another Aeon Mall and bought gifts for family.  All malls have an arcade...something Caleb is learning to remember.  We stopped at the arcade and played a bit.  There were rows of claw machines...a big hit here.  You have toys, electronics, food, etc. to choose from.  I found one that was hilarious; a big stack of potato chips.  The arcade also has a lot of adult casino machines.  And of course, Caleb's favorite fighting arcade games.  And we found a Caleb look-alike when we were in the mall.   

The Fort

What do you do with all those moving boxes when you are done with them?

Why, you make a ginormous cardboard fort!

We spent a good part of Sunday making the fort.  Caleb choose all the locations for the cut-up boxes.  Jack and I worked on the cutting of the boxes...Caleb worked on taping them all together.  We built it in our second family room, which will be the guest bedroom once we have guests. 

The fort has an entrance/exit tunnel with door.  It has multiple viewports with the ability to close or open them. 

Caleb and I had a sleepover in the fort...so much fun!  We played Nintendo DS and watched movies on the portable DVD player.  Jack and Caleb will be having a sleepover in the fort next weekend.  The small Japanese futon with ottoman was Caleb's bed.  I had a cot sized blow up mattress. 

Eating Out

We went and ate at Tenkaippin, a ramen noodle restaurant.  It is very good.  I've eaten there before Jack and Caleb got to the island.  I was very excited to go again.  I got Miso with a side of chicken dumplings.  Jack and Caleb shared a meal...they got a different type of noodle but I don't remember the name of it.  They also tried green tea ice cream...wasn't the best.

Whale Watching

Humpback whales migrate to the warmer coastal waters for a few months each year to mate and give birth.  Okinawa is one of the places they tend to congregate to.  During the months of February and March, whale watching tours are very popular.  We decided to take such a tour and go see the humpback whales in person.  We booked the tour through the Kadena ITT (they offer busing and a tour guide/translator, along with the cost of the boat). 

It took us about half an hour to get to the port in Naha.  We boarded a little 2-decker boat and headed out to sea.  The weather was gorgeous; partly cloudy and in the 70s.  It took us 20-30 minutes to get to the area where the whales were.  We got to see multiple pods in the 2 1/2 hours we were out on the ocean.  In order to see the whales, you have to look for their plume.  Once you see their tails flip up and then down, you know that they are diving deep.  They can stay under the water for up to 30 minutes!  Out of the 2 1/2 hours we were on the ocean, we had about 10 minutes (combined) of whale watching.  The tour guide said it was a very good day and we were lucky to see so many pods. 

Getting ready to head out!

Family picture

About 1 1/2 hours into the tour Caleb got sea sick.  He felt a bit better after "feeding the fishes" but elected to stay in the back part of the boat with Jack.  Once we got back to land, he lost his paleness and was back to his usual self!

We got some great video of the whales.  Check out the video at: https://youtu.be/rhovBLLG0YI

Dragon Palace & Sushi

While I was away at work a few weeks ago, Jack and Caleb went to Dragon Palace.  While we were in the area, we decided to stop by so I could check it out.  What a fun place!  It is an arcade building; the arcade takes up two floors.  Inside the arcade area is a card store (sells card sleeves, cards for various games, etc.).  There is a range of arcades; from toddlers to adult.  The adult arcades (like slot machines) are on the edges of the arcade area.

Inside of Dragon Palace

Arcades!

Caleb showed me a Pokémon arcade game.  Seemed fun.  Though we had no idea what we were doing since we couldn't understand what the game was trying to tell us to do.

Japanese Pokémon game

Next to Dragon Palace was a sushi-go-round.  Jack had been before with some co-workers and he highly recommended it.  Caleb tried a type of fish (don't know what it was).  He also tried a yaka-tori chicken and octopus.  I wasn't a big fan of this restaurant and prefer the other sushi-go-round I've been to previously.  Another day I will take them to that one and see if Caleb likes the food more.

Trying seafood

Later, on the way home, we stopped by Dominos and decided to try a pizza.  The menu is very different than one in the states.  We tried the "American Special".  Jack and Caleb didn't mind it...I did not like it at all.

Delivery scooters

Most places have these or bicycles that deliver to your home

Pokemon Store

High on the to-visit-list for Caleb was the Pokémon Store.  Now, we are eagerly looking forward to visiting the Pokémon Center in Tokyo when we make our way up to the mainland.  For now, we wanted to check out the one and only Pokémon Store on Okinawa.  It was about a 40 minute drive to its location near Naha.  We were a bit shocked on how small the store was; however, it was still very exciting for Caleb.  He had a blast looking around.  Not as many card sleeves or cards that we were wanting to choose from.  It had a lot of stuffed animals.

The Pokémon Store is in a building with other stores.  We walked around and checked them out.  In a gourmet food store we found Habushu (alcohol with Habu snake in it).  According to Wikipedia, "The snake may be put on ice until it passes out, at which point it is gutted, bled and sewn up. When the habu is thawed and awakens, it will quickly die in an aggressive striking manner, which is what most producers look for. The manufacturer will then put the habu in an ethanol bath for a month to preserve it.  To continue the process, the habu is put in a 59% alcohol mix for 40 days and finally put in a 35% awamori mix to prepare for consumption. Removing the intestines of the snake, as in the second method, is thought to decrease the drink's particularly unpleasant smell."  I am 99% sure I will never try this beverage...

Habushu

Various sizes of Habushu to choose from

Close up view...you can see the fangs as it is in a "striking attack"

Caleb found a banana cake that he wanted to try.  He loved it!  It tastes like homemade banana bread.

This might be weird but I have been wanting to try McDonalds since I arrived here.  We decided to try it out today for lunch.  Absolutely delicious.  The sauce has a unique taste to it, nothing in the states compares to that taste.  I liked it a lot.  Plus the french-fries are made with delicious trans-fat oil...yum yum.

Love McDonalds

They do McDelivery here!

We checked out a shopping alley.  It had a lot of neat little shops in it.

While we were out and about we picked up the chair I've been wanting from Nitori.  It is sooooo comfortable.  We also selected the couch/bed that we will buy sometime in the next few months.  This will allow us to host a guest in our house. 

My new chair!  Matches our décor.

Last place we went was Don Quijote...had to show Jack and Caleb this store!  I picked up some local puzzles for me.  Also found the very popular coin bank!  Picked one up for me and one for my sister (she's been wanting one).  It's so much fun!