Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Weekend Round-Up

So far my 2010 to-do list success rate is off to a great start. I'm down to one diet soda a week, I've done yoga once a week for 3 weeks in a row, and we've been very good about trying new recipes. For the one this week we made a dish that used tofu that was actually made right here in Okinawa. Pretty cool, huh?
Months ago my mom had sent me a citrus sesame pasta with shrimp recipe. I modified it to have tofu instead of shrimp, but other than that kept it the same. The sauce had fresh orange juice, soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil, and some other stuff. Along with the tofu, the dish included whole wheat pasta, carrots, and green beans (meant to be snow peas, but you take what you can get at the commissary). The final product was delicious. And I like it because you could change out the veggies or the protein to fit your tastes.
We started the weekend off with dinner with our friends Mary and Jason.
They introduced us to a great Korean BBQ place. We couldn't really read the menu so we just ordered what they got. We were not disappointed! The food was great and came in ridiculous quantities.
Here we are digging in:
The only problem with this place was that it's traditional Japanese seating - very low tables and you sit on the floor. I was ok, but Mary has a bad back and the boys have traditional boy inflexibility so everyone was pretty anxious to get up by the time we were done feasting.
On Saturday I did a community service clean up with the Youth Center's leadership club. It's a great way for them to make a difference and get volunteer hours. I thought we were going to be doing an easy beach clean-up, but it was hard work. They had us back in the jungle hauling out tires. Here's before:
And after (I know there's still 1 tire, but a tree had grow up through it and we couldn't get it):
Here are the tires we removed (remember this is the work of 4 women and 5 girls):
They gave out cotton gloves which were nasty by the end:
This crab was found out in the jungle about 200 yards from the beach. This guy was going to move him back to the water. I said he looked pretty fat and happy and we should leave him where he was, but nobody listened. Who do I think I am - a fisheries biologist or something?
While I was working Chris was keeping his private pilot's license current (you'd think the number of hours he has as an Air Force pilot would count, but they don't). He took his friend Chuck up for a little island tour. It was a gorgeous day for it.
Sunday we went hiking with Chick and his wife Katie. They took us to a waterfall north of Nago.
It was so cool because you had to walk in the creek bed to get there. It was literally so cool because that water was freezing! After a few minutes your feet went numb and it stopped hurting.
After about a 30 minute trek we were rewarded with this beautiful site:

Boys will be boys and climb trees, but it had Rana very nervous for Chris.

This was an absolutely perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
On the way home from the falls we got a call with a dinner invitation. We agreed and we ate at the barrel restaurant, also known as Tonneau.

I was a little leery, but the inside was really cool.
My food was only ok, but Chris' was some of the best he's had on island. My favorite part of the night was when we were leaving and Chris says "we could live in a barrel." It's times like these that I wonder what I've gotten myself into!
I hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks for reading.

5 comments:

Liza said...

I love reading about all your adventures Amy!

And you know, if Chris needs to log in more hours flying, Joe and I would be happy to keep him company up there! *hint hint*

Courtney said...

So many fun things in that post!! That is great about moving those tires...how the heck did those end up in the jungle? And that hike to the waterfall...looks amazing. And then dinner in a barrel?! Too much fun!
Courtney
adventures in tri-ing

healthy ashley said...

You two are so fun. I love following everything you guys do.

Nice job on keeping up with your 2010 goals! The pasta sounds so yummy!

Tyler Tuszynski said...

you could totally live in a barrel.

Anonymous said...

just want you to know that you really do an awesome job. i love keeping up with you guys. sharon will be so excited that they have a puffer fish topariary at the aquarium. love and miss you all very much. mom