American Village Tuesday

And that is the ocean you can see out the front door from their house--

even from the kitchen window on a clear day.

I took a walk on a couple morning around the base which is HUGE and really like a city with Burger King, a Chili's, Subway, and the BX which has everything American you would want set up just like an American grocery store with a Walmart on top for everything else. (And yes, it is called a BX, it is different is some way from a PX--if I got that right).

There were view of the ocean from a couple of angles as I walked around the residential area that they lived in.

After finally getting my permanent pass to get on and off the base, we headed down to the American Village.  It was just about 10 minutes away and is basically built along the sea wall we went to on Sunday.  It was like Stanley Market in Hong Kong, a place which catered to foreigners especially Americans with a variety of shops and restaurants.

One fun thing about Okinawa is that if there is a blank wall, they paint something fun and colorful on it.  Here are a few around the American Village.

These fire trucks were amazing.  They are complete with real lights and bumpers attached to the wall.  You never know what you might find painted on a wall.

One of the features is the Ferris wheel which helps you keep your bearings as you go in and out of the blocks and blocks of shops.

This is one of the things that I think when I think of Japan.  These are actually flowers arranged like a cake for Mother's Day which was the upcoming Sunday.

Orchids are everywhere.  These were in the green house/garden area of the local "hardware store" as ready to buy for your mother.  If I remember correctly these were over $200 US.

Here like in Tokyo cars stop in all directions and you can cross to the left, right or diagonally.  You don't see these type of sidewalks painted in the US, although some people try to cross like that to save time.

While at the American village, I hunted for the item that I had seen the day before in the shops with no luck.

Austen had to head to work but the rest of us went to a Japanese Curry restaurant for lunch.  The chicken curry was great and the naan was good although it wasn't the same style of garlic naan that I have had in the past.  It had a garlic cheese on the top.  The cheese part I could have done without.

We took some curry lunch to Austin so we were able to drive more around the base and get close to the "Flight line".  Those airplanes are huge even from a distance and they make loud noises as they take off and land.  I didn't take any pictures of the planes on the ground or taking off as I wasn't sure that was allowed.  They were impressive.

We then had a quiet night with leftovers for dinner and enjoyed playing with Niki.