Our Trip to Japan

While we left Hayes in South Carolina to spend some quality time with his extended family, Kyle and I gallivanted across the world to see Chris, Cindy, and Kellen in Okinawa, Japan. We traveled for about 24 hours each way, including 13 hour flights between Atlanta and Tokyo (which was not altogether terrible in that we had new release movies "on demand" in screens built into the headrests of the seats in front of us---a great time passer). The travel time was completely worth it---we had a terrific time and would go back in a heartbeat!

I won't bore you with every single detail of the trip, but I'll hit the highlights. OK, so we spent the first few days in Okinawa, which is a tropical island---beautifully green, hilly, and pretty steamy. We basically were introduced to the island and began our journey of gaining several pounds by inhaling tons of Japanese food. Then, we trekked to a military resort in Okuma, which is on the northern part of the island, to spend the day at the beach and the night in air conditioned cabins. Along the way, we had THE BEST pineapple we've ever had in our entire lives from a roadside stand---so good that I had to share this detail with you.

We flew back to Tokyo to spend a couple days/nights and explored a Buddhist temple, a Shinto shrine, Tokyo Tower, and a huge fish market, among other things. We had a great time exploring a little of the remarkably clean and safe city, navigating mostly via subway.

Back in Okinawa, we had a cookout for the 4th of July and did a little more exploring. We went snorkeling, swimming, and my personal favorite: zip-lining! Mostly, though, we just hung out with Chris, Cindy, and Kellen. It was rather nice to sleep in a little (no 15 month old waking us before 7 am) and relax with no definitive plans and no set time we had to be somewhere.

Because of the weight-gain inducing food intake we indulged in, I decided to devote a separate paragraph to it. We ate a nice variety of Japanese cuisine, from soba noodles to sushi to fast food curry to teppanyaki, using chopsticks all the while. My favorite was a do-it-yourself dish. At one restaurant, I was served a sizzling hot skillet with rice, butter, green onions, and an egg cracked over the top. My job was to create my own "fried rice" by sauteing everything together in the skillet---it was yummy! Kyle's favorites were the gyozas (Japanese pork dumplings) and all the noodle dishes, particularly the golden ramen and Okinawan soba. (I must add that he indulged in something he has always sworn he would never touch-----Dunkin Donuts!!!!! I have pictures to prove it!)

Overall, it was the perfect vacation; it was a nice mixture of sightseeing, beaching-it, activities, and relaxation. Thank you so much for having us, Chris, Cindy, and Kellen, and for showing us such a great time. We will remember our trip to Japan forever!