A Thoughtful Gift

The mom of one of my students made me this little tote as a going away present! She is amazing with a needle and thread! She even made her daughter's Minnie Mouse Halloween costume and it looked store bought!

Takoyaki Party

Last weekend I hosted a Takoyaki party at my house with some of my adult students and coworkers. Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack (Osaka is best known for it). It's comprised of diced octopus, pickled ginger and a wheat flour-based batter. Here is the special pan we used to cook the Takoyaki in. Thin wooden sticks are used to consistently flip and rotate the batter to make little ball shapes. We had a great time!

Japanese Dolls

This is an acrylic painting I made of little Japanese dolls in 2009. It currently resides with my cousin in his apartment. Yup, he's a very supportive cousin; he must have like 15 of my paintings hung up all over his place! I really need to get back into painting...I haven't created anything in years!

Waffles

Thanks yet again Miyuki San for baking us these delicious chocolate chip waffles!

Tokashiki Tradition

This weekend we went to Tokashiki Island, it's about an hour ferry ride away from Mainland Okinawa. We left early Sunday, well that's what we were aiming for at least. When we arrived at Naha port, there were so many people. More so than usual because there was a typhoon the day before so the ferries were not operating that day...and on top of that, there were a ton of tourists. So tickets for the 10:00 am ferry were all sold out. We ended up taking the 1:00 pm ferry instead. It wasn't too bad, we still had plenty of beach time when we arrived on the island. We stayed in a cute hostel near the beach. The view was like how I remembered...BREATHTAKING! The water was every shade of blue you can imagine...it was a little murkier than last time because of the typhoon but still gorgeous. Kevin tried to swim out to touch the buoys but quickly turned back when he saw a fish that, at first, resembled a water snake! AHAHA! I saw a white fish, the size of my hand, swimming close to the shore. The sand was honestly so soft and the sun against are skin was soothing. The hostel provided us with breakfast and dinner, we only stayed there one night and came back today (Monday) at around 3:00 pm. We had a lot of fun and I'm ten times darker now...no burns though so YATTAAAA!!!

Tokashiki Tokashiki!

Here's a little vid from Tokashiki Island. Sorry about the audio, it was pretty windy! But thank goodness the typhoon was over by the time we headed out! It did make the ferry ride to Tokashiki extremely brutal though. It was like a roller coaster ride...on which I wanted to throw up. But it was sooo worth it!

Okinawan Family

I believe this was after visiting the Sea Salt Factory on Miyagi Island. These photos were taken at a nearby beach.

Keychains

Here are some bizarre keychains I picked up in Hong Kong at Stanley Market. They're so goofy looking...but in a cute & endearing way!

Gamer's Paradise: Round 1 Arcade

Sketchy

Food With The Broski

We went to Chatan today and hung out at the beach but it was low tide so we couldn't really swim. We kind of just sat in the water as the tide slowly came in. After that we got some froyo, a.k.a frozen yogurt and then we went to Capricciosa's and ate pasta (yes, in that order because we like living life on the edge...dessert first, YOLO). Haha!

Japanese Yukata Look

My friend generously gave me one of her Yukatas because she knew I always wanted one. A Yukata is a Japanese garment, similar to a Kimono, but a lot thinner in material and easier to wear. They are usually worn in the summer at festivals. I apologize for how sloppy it looks! I had to Youtube how to put it together but even then, I did a crummy job! Sorry to my Japanese friends, who will probably be the first to notice how wrong it looks! I did my best :(

Miyuki San, The Bread Whisperer

Best students ever! They, without a doubt, know the way to my heart...and that's through my stomach...with food! Delicious, delicious food! A lot of my adult students bake bread from scratch as a hobby and I'm so glad they do because I'm their number one taste taster! MUAHAHAHA! feed me! They are a primary reason why I don't starve out here! That may be a slight exaggeration but I suck at cooking which really just results in me buying bento boxes at the convenient store! I know...I'm horrible. I can hear my mom kissing her teeth. Anyway, my student Miyuki San made this chocolate bread with chocolate chunks and raspberries! Mmm...just finished it and it was yummy. Well, that was a great dinner! I KID. Off to the supermarket to buy, NOT groceries to cook, but yet another bento box. Don't judge me...I already judge myself.

Floral & High Waisted Look

Floral Top: Village House- Individuality Xyzzy High Waisted Shorts: Aritzia Shoes: Thrifted in Okinawa This top has a cute floral pattern laced back. And of course I love anything floral or lace! TEEHEE!