Chocolate Fountains! Healthy & Smile!

My mom's visit was quickly coming to an end, but we fit in all the fun we could before sending her to Seattle on a red-eye.

We ate a nice buffet dinner at her hotel after our day lounging at her pool. This provided John and me an educational opportunity to teach the girls about the ways of a chocolate fountain. Apologies to whomever wanted to use the fountain while the girls were filling their plates.

For mom's last day in Okinawa, we headed back up north to the aquarium again. Although Maddox and I had already been there a couple of time, the Ocean Expo Park is enormous and we were able to explore some new parts of the park, both inside and outside. First, Maddox educated Grandma Jean on the finer points of starfish and sea cucumbers.

Any good day in Okinawa ends with kakigori (at least according to my kids). For my mom and me, it ended with a coffee float. Because sabbatical.

Saying goodbye to my mom is always hard, and when she left Okinawa, it marked the end of our visitors. It was great to show all the grandparents around, and to feel like experts for a few days on an island where we were usually out of our element.

In an effort to find more restaurants close to OIST that our kids liked, Maddox and I went with our friend Erica to a local burger joint just about 5 minutes from our apartment. I don't know what the Japanese name of this restaurant is, but any burger place that goes by "Heatlhy & Smile" is a good bet.

I think the "Healthy" is a joke that is then supposed to make you "Smile" when you laugh. I don't recall the name of this burger, but it had avocado and some wasabi-based condiment and it was fantastic.

Maddox loved her burger with "cheese only"; she ate every last bite.

I wish these guys had been for sale.  That would have been the best souvenir and future centerpiece of all of our backyard get-togethers.

Healthy & Smile became a favorite go-to place for us (well, 75% of us thought it was good). Good thing we have Only Burger when we get back home!

Ryukyu Glass with a Side of Whipped Cream

On the same day that we visited Peace Memorial Park, we also took in the artistry at the Ryukyu Glass Village. Okinawa is known for its unique Ryukyu glass, including the techniques and materials used. Stepping inside of the main building at the Glass Village, this is the beautiful sight above:

Ceiling at Ryukyu Glass Village

When we first arrived, we were able to watch the craftspeople at work making glassware. The gentleman who we watched was able to amuse the girls by setting small pieces of newspaper on fire with the molten glass. All of the tile mosaic you see on the walls in the pictures below is made of small pieces of glass. It's a beautiful place, and a must-see for anyone visiting Okinawa.

The craft of making Ryukyu glass goes back well over 100 years; however, after WWII, glass was in short supply. The local Okinawans recognized that Coke bottles could be used for raw materials, and so the uniquely Okinawan way of glass craft began again. Eventually, they were able to learn more about adding the vibrant colors that you see in the photos.  We bought two beautiful glasses with an orange-colored base that are perfect for a whiskey (or a margarita). Stop by when we get back to Durham and we'll pour you a drink!

Despite the incredibly long day, we wanted to head somewhere scenic for dinner so we headed to the place in Yomitan where we had made salt earlier in our stay. We plugged in the address and initially thought it would take 30 minutes. We had read the clock wrong and it was actually 1 hour and 30 minutes. Add slow roads and traffic, and we were all ready for the cold beer and the below-average pizza.

But Okinawa never fails to disappoint when it comes to natural beauty, and so this was our view after our long day.

The next morning, we needed a day off from the sight-seeing and so we planned to swim and relax at my mom's hotel in Onna.  We started our day off at a Hawaiian Pancake house called Paanilani. The kids were a bit skeptical of trying a new place since we loved the Dutch Pancake house Jakkepoes that served M&M pancakes.

Suffice it to say that the skepticism ended when Maddox received her "side of whipped cream". You know, because two chocolate chip pancakes the size of her torso wouldn't provide enough sugar.

I selected the pumpkin pancakes which were presented as delightfully as any meal in Okinawa. The pumpkin is not the kind we are used to and they don't add all the cinnamon and sugar to make it sweet, but it was still delicious, and indeed made for Good Morning! Good Pancakes!

With our svelte, post-pancake bellies, we headed to the Sun Marina, braved the wind, and enjoyed some time at the pool and waterslide.

Grandma Jean and Zo-Zo

Sisters

The absolute best part of the day, however, is the part for which I do not have a photo. It was an 'enjoy the moment' kind of thing.  Grandma Jean wanted to treat us to something special, and so Grandma, Maddox, and I hopped on the BIG MABLE!  This is essentially an inflatable couch that is pulled on a jet ski around the ocean. I am not sure I have ever seen my mom laugh so hard. I couldn't hear her laugh for the screams from Maddox: "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!"

If any of you are photoshop pros, feel free to photoshop a BIG MABLE photo of me, my mom, and Maddox. It could be amazing!

Nuchi Du Tokara

Nuchi du tokara is an Okinawan saying which translates to life is a treasure.  For an island that was nearly destroyed during World War II, this peaceful saying carries a special significance.

I knew that my mom would want to go to the Peace Memorial near the Southern tip of Okinawa. She has memories of life in America during WWII -- air raid drills, victory gardens, ration books. She lived in Washington, D.C. during the War which I am sure impacted her experience as a young girl. In addition, she had traveled to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii earlier in 2014 with my sister's family. Coming to Okinawa and seeing Peace Memorial Park would be a way to bring some of it full circle.

In the Memorial Hall, displays like this, made mostly of origami paper, are abundant.

The Okinawa Peace Prayer Park and Memorial Hall are built in the location of the last fighting of the Battle of Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa, known as the "Typhoon of Steel" in Okinawa, was fierce and devastating. The Japanese used Okinawa as a way to delay the Allies arrival to their mainland, and the Japanese soldiers chose fighting to their deaths or suicide over surrender. Many civilian Okinawans were conscripted into service of some kind, perhaps as soldiers or field nurses. Other civilians were just trying to protect themselves, and often ended up hiding in caves or in family tombs. The Battle of Okinawa lasted 82 days from April 1st, 1945 until June 22, 1945. When it was over the death toll was stunning: 12,000 Allied forces; 110,000 Japanese soldiers; and around 100,000 innocent civilians. Somewhere between one-quarter and one-third of the civilian population of Okinawa was lost: men, women, children. The ferocity of the battle and the incredible loss of life certainly played into President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb just 6 weeks later.

A Shisa surrounded by garlands of origami cranes, a symbol of peace

While there are parts of the museum that detail the events that unfolded during the battle, it is indeed a museum and memorial to peace. Not the peace of a treaty signed, but a peace that is a way of life.

This Buddha statue is the largest lacquer representation of Buddha. The artist, a local Okinawan who lost two sons in the battle, created this over 18 years. The statue is at the center of the Memorial Hall. It is 12 meters high and 8 meters across. 

Outside of Memorial Hall, on the expansive surrounding grounds, is Peace Memorial Park. Here are 1,200 granite slabs, upon which are engraved the names of over 240,000 people who lost their lives in the Battle of Okinawa. Regardless of nationality. Men. Women. Children. All are remembered here. At the center of the circle in the left portion of the photo below is where the eternal flame lies.

The geography surrounding the Peace Memorial Park is dramatic, and the waves crashing into the cliffs are in sharp contrast to the peace one can feel within the park itself.

These cliffs are sometimes referred to as the suicide cliffs, as soldiers and civilians alike chose death over capture. For soldiers, perhaps it was the result of an order by their officer; for civilians, it was a choice borne out of utter fear created by horrifying propoganda. 

Up the hill from the Peace Prayer Park is a whole series of additional memorials, given by government agencies, or by other prefectures in Japan, to commemorate the loss of life and to look forward to the prospect of peace.

The museum that outlines the battle and the reconstruction of the island was incredibly well done, putting stories to the statistics, and making meaning where it often seems there can't be any. How can one make meaning from such devastation? The Okinawans' answer? Nuchi du tokara.

A few books and videos that I found were helpful in learning about this history -- as with any history of a war, the material in all of these can be incredibly difficult to hear, watch, or read.

Above the East China Sea by Sarah Bird

The Girl with the White Flag by Tomiko Higa

HBO Miniseries: The Pacific (a companion mini-series to Band of Brothers)

Nuchi du tokara: Tales of the Battle of Okinawa Survivors in California (YouTube video)

Paging Dr. Fish!

I know, we're not even in Japan anymore. We've been back in the States for almost four months, and there are few excuses for not blogging. I can't blame my broken laptop (it's fixed) or the weird way my computer kept trying to translate everything into Japanese-inspired English. I blame jet lag. It's rough to get over. 

Previously on the blog....(theme music)...you may remember that my mom, a.k.a. Grandma Jean, had arrived in Okinawa, post-typhoon.  Let's continue with our adventures!

For Day 2 of my mom's visit, we decided to go to Culture Kingdom Gyokusendo, also called Okinawa World. It is a theme park (minus rides) of all things Okinawan. The drive was about an hour from OIST and required a great deal of faith in the GPS navigation. There was a great deal of "follow the road for a while."

To begin, we went through the Gyokusendo Cave, which is Japan's second longest cave. The entire cave is about 3 miles in length, though less than a mile is actually open to the public.  The stalactites and stalagmites were impressive. Now that we are in New Mexico (hey, did y'all know that?), maybe we'll take a trip to Carlsbad Caverns and I can compare caves.

Watch your head! I hope this photo can give you some sense of scale of the caves and of the still-growing formations.

We then went to see the Eisa performance which was amazing, as all Eisa performances are to me. No cameras, but if we could have taken photos, you would have seen Grandma Jean and me dancing in the finale. Okay, so everyone was allowed up for the finale, but we definitely nailed it.

After some Blue Seal Ice Cream (of course), we toured around the crafts village, listened to a talented performer play "Let It Go" on a Japanese recorder of some sort, and bought screw-on earrings for Maddox. For some reason, she had focused on screw-on earrings early in our stay in Okinawa, and was determined to find a pair at a reasonable price. She has worn them exactly twice since then.

We saved the best experience for last, and braved the Doctor Fish! For a few hundred yen, you had the privilege of putting your feet in a pool filled with these fish for 10 minutes. They are apparently a big thing in Turkey (so naturally they should be in Japan, too?) and they love to feed on dead skin cells.

I expected to look exactly like this when we were finished:

Grandma Jean and I went first while Maddox debated on the sidelines.  Our feet were like heavy hors d'oeuvres.

Maddox eventually braved the pool with her own feet and could not stop giggling.  The fish feeding frenzy definitely tickled! Based on our multi-generational experiment, the number of fish around one's feet was directly related to the age of said feet, so Maddox didn't get completely swarmed.

This smile was worth any amount of yen.

Who would have thought that one day my mom and I would be in Okinawa using our feet as fish food while taking a selfie with this all-in-one phone-camera thingamajig? It's ridiculous and true.

Note to my post-sabbatical self: install pond with Doctor Fish in backyard. Or better yet, turn the baby pool at the clubhouse into a nice tank.