Sunday, February 11, 2007
Sunny Sunday
My throat was on fire during the night but my hoarse voice disappears with my first cup of coffee brewed in our very own apartment. Art loads my computer into his backpack and takes off by bicycle for the internet café. He is hoping to get me connected at last. He returns an hour later with three days of my e- mails downloaded. A bouquet of flowers chocolate or champagne couldn’t have made me any happier!
We still can’t connect at our apartment but I am able to answer important messages that I can send later at the café.
Mid morning John, Art and I ride our bicycles back over to the internet café. John does homework diligently, while Art installs a Japanese Font onto my computer so that the internet card he wants to buy may finally work for me. Tadashi is picking us up at 1:00 P.M. to take Art back to the company that supplies these cards. Tadashi arrives promptly and we all pile in his small Honda. John and I are dropped off at the head of Kokusai Street while Art goes with Tadashi to get the internet card. It’s a beautiful lazy Sunday and Kokusai Street is blocked off to traffic. This is the first time I have been on Kokusai Street when there isn’t traffic and everyone is out strolling and enjoying this beautiful sunny Sunday. A crowd gathers around a juggler and tables are set in the street where families are eating and watching the parade of people. A pair of shamisen musicians gathers another crowd and I take photos of an elderly man in the crowd dancing happily to the traditional Okinawan music.
Our main purpose in coming to Kokusai Street is for John to look at the beetles in the market place again. We turn into the covered Heiwadori market, in search of lunch and beetles. The plastic food in the restaurant window is looking very monotonous 6 days into our trip and this may be the first time I have gone into a local restaurant without Art, but we must eat. The menu has no pictures so I motion the waitress outside and point at the two “sets” that John and I want. John orders a large bowl of soba with Okinawan pork. I order an eggplant and tofu stir-fry. I choose this in an attempt to eat something healthy but it is swimming in oil and there are pieces of spam mixed in. I am not surprised by the spam since spam is an Okinawan favorite that we have encountered in many dishes, but it is not my favorite. I push the spam to the side and pick cautiously at the contents of my bowl. We pay the 1,390 yen for our two lunches. ($12.00) and continue down the market in search of beetles. At the next fork in the market John spots the beetle stand and the merchant is kind enough to take the little “buggers” out of their plastic enclosures for John to admire. I take quite a few photos.
We decide to walk home, but are not completely certain which direction to walk. John suggests we follow the canal. The monorail runs high above the canal. We head in the direction that we hope is the Shintoshin station. After walking for 30 minutes I realize that we are going in the opposite direction. We get our bearings and wander back home in the late afternoon sunlight. (Dear Daddy, I know you are grimacing as you read this. I promise that next time I will take a map with us on our excursions.)
When John and I get back to our apartment I see my computer set on the table and it has internet connection!!! Art’s bicycle is gone, a good indication that he is out riding and enjoying the afternoon.
Deciding on dinner is often a challenge, but tonight we walk to the top of the hill and stop in at the first restaurant we find. It’s a small 10 table “steak” house and it’s very busy; a good sign. The décor leaves much to be desired, but the menu looks good and I really don’t want to walk back to the Shintoshin district tonight. Dinner is surprisingly good; not anything that I would recommend in a guide book, but it includes soup, salad and desert and the filets are flavorful, tender and wrapped in bacon. The total bill for the three of us is $3,600 yen; about $32.00.
As I type my blog tonight, Art and John are watching Romancing The Stone. It’s funny to hear “Jane Wilder” speaking in Japanese. I hope some of the language rubs off on John.