Thursday, May 03, 2007

bye bye okinawa

It feels great to be unemployed! We've had four beautiful sunny vacation days so far and we've taken full advantage of them. Papa left on Monday morning with a bit of a sunburn and Matt and I are trying to squeeze as much in as possible before heading to Tokyo on the 8th.

Here's a lovely picture our student Shoko drew...


Here are some pics from our BBQ at Tropical Beach




We ate delicious yakisoba, bbq'd chicken, beef and pork.....yum!



See y'all soon!!!
Xoxoxoxx
Delphine

Saturday, March 31, 2007

on and around kokusai

here's an idea of what i see to and from work...






Listening to okinawan rappers outside my bedroom window.

Monday, March 26, 2007

good holiday so far

here's a birthday card miriam made for me : ) i think the d in delphine is from disney and the p is for peanut in some sort of peanut butter bar. any other ideas?


on saturday morning matt showered me with gifts and we had cake for breakfast. we were a little groggy from 100 yen beers the night before but that didn't stop the celebrations.
after that we met our friend toshie at 10am and headed to the famous italian restaurant.i had the hair of the dog that bit me with this delicious apricot liquer drink...


then our delicious pizza arrived...yum!


this little cat peared out from some sakura to wish me a good day...


on the 25th kokusai street shut down and kids had the opportunity to show their talent with chalk drawings...




today yoshiko and her niece noriko made us a delicious tsukiyaki meal...


here's a pic matt took...


here's a photo of matt being scolded for putting some trash in the wrong bin...tsk tsk.


and here's some more cake...


one more day off, it's been a fabulous few days so far!

listening to LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

five days off

Ahhhh one more day of work and then I have five days off. It’s going to be great! On Saturday we have a friend who’s going to drive us north for a wonderful birthday lunch at Pizza Café Kajinhou. We’ve heard terrific things about this place. It’s a small restaurant located right on the coast with a great view of Ie, Minna and Sesoko Islands. The owner is a French chef and the only items on the menu are pizza, salad and fresh juices…sounds intriguing n’est pas? We think so too. Hopefully the weather will be nice and clear.

On Monday my student Yoshiko is going to have us over for tsukiyaki. First we’re going to go to the local market to help her out with the shopping and then we’ll watch and learn as she works her magic.

I saw Yoshiko on Monday and she was kind enough to show me her wide selection of kimonos. She has 20 in total! It was a real treat sitting on the tatami mat and having her show me all the beautiful fabrics and sashes. It takes the average person about an hour to put a kimono on and they aren’t built for comfort.

Here are a few pics I took on Monday afternoon…


Listening to Fugiya Miyagi – Transparent Things

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

back on line

Sorry for the long pause. We lost our free internet back in January and finally got some wireless hooked up yesterday.

Well, my time working here in Japan has paid off. I finally got my baby a couple of weeks ago and she’s so sweet. I especially love shooting from the hip. I’ve never had the luxury of an auto focus camera so I’m having so much fun.

7 more weeks of work and I can kiss my job goodbye. I’m a little nervous about what I’m going to do when I get home but hopefully I’ll find something quickly…but not too quickly. Our sense of time has been so bizarre as of late. The days are long but the weeks are fast. Summer is teasing us here and there, we caught ourselves some sunburns whilst whale watching with our friend Sao a few weeks ago but nowadays our cheeks are rosy due to more chilly temperatures.

This is my private student Yoshiko. I go to her place once a week where she serves me tea and mochie and we chat about current events. She's wonderful to hang out with.

Here's a pic taken inside a noodle shop we like going to...


I’ve posted a few pics on my flickr site so check em out when you get a
chance.

Xo

D

Listening to Air – Pocket Symphony

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

the adventures of rowsom in okinawa

After a pleasant flight back to the island via the Pokemon plane, we did a little grocery shopping then had a delicious meal at home whilst watching Little Britain and Borat.

On Thursday we cashed in on Justin’s Christmas present of 4 hours of all you can drink karaoke! It was great fun! We pulled out such great hits as “Barbie Girl”, “Run To The Hills”, “Pour Some Sugar”, “Burning Ring of Fire” and Matt serenaded us with “Delilah”. Unfortunately Jenny accidentally smacked her wrist on the edge of the table as we were leaving but she courageously ventured on.


On our way back home we hit a local Canadian bar where Jenny requested some Trooper but the bartender had no idea what she was talking about…hrmmm. They are also known for carrying Labatt Blue on tap but I guess too many local Canadian’s felt like taking a swig of home during the holidays and simply drank the bar dry. After listening to too many Chili Pepper songs we headed to a local watering hole called The Good Life. We ordered some fancy coloured martinis, took flash photographs of strangers at the bar then called it a night.

The next day was cold and rainy so we decided to rest our tired, hungover little heads.

On Saturday we rented a car and headed south to Itoman city. We went to Okinawa World Cave Park, walked around in some humid caves with mini lights and stalagmites.

We found a photo booth on site...


Jenny was still suffering after our karaoke shenanigans but still soldiered on. I can't believe she was lifting her arm in these pics!!! We managed to find a pharmacy with some tensor-type bandages and put some ice on her wrist to keep the swelling down. She was in a lot of pain but she kept taking super shots. Her left-handed photography just may be her best pictures yet!

On Sunday (New Years Eve) we headed north towards Cape Hedo. Matt and I decided to take the East road for a little change in scenery. On our way there we dropped into a store called The Ammo Box to look at some army fashions and used goods. We came across these fashionable ball caps.

"Go Ahead Buck...Make My Day"
"GOD GUNS GUTS Made America FREE. Let's Keep All Three"
Heeeeere's Johnny!

After that we stopped in a ghost town across from Kadena Air Base in Ginoza city. It was very bizarre. I felt like I was walking around the set of Carnival of Souls. There were old weather-beaten bars and eateries and only a handful of people walking around.

A few military boys were walking around and givin their New Year celebrations a kick start but other than that it was pretty much abandoned. I’m curious to see what it would be like at night. Perhaps it’s a hopping town when the sun goes down and the marquees start winking at passers by.

When we got home we popped open a bottle of Moet and started to celebrate. Jenny was still in a lot of pain so we made her a sling out of her fancy orange scarf and took a cab over to a coworkers place for the countdown.

After some delicious sandwiches and a few Coronas we headed to The Good Life bar for some martinis. I was rather tired so I left the bar around 4 am but Matty and Jenny hung in there until the sun came up, about 7am.

On New Years Day we woke up to a beautiful, peaceful neighbourhood. I can’t tell you what a pleasure it has been living here since the construction peeps went on vacation.

When Jenny woke up, her arm had gone from bad to worse so we decided it would best to have someone look at it. We went to the hospital where some very friendly doctors and nurses took great care of us. After a bit of poking and prodding we were sent up to the xray room and the results were not so good. Jenny had broken her Ulna (the lower part of her forearm)!!!!! Nooooooo!!!!

We were all in quite a bit of shock. How could such a small fall have broken her arm?

So yeah, Miss Rowsom is heading back to Canada with her arm in a cast. I have to admit, she has been very brave for the past 4 days. To top it all off, it’s her right arm so she’s going to be out of commission for a little while. Send her lots of flowers (preferably orange or pink coloured ones) give her lots of kisses and shower her with love.

This morning we went to the local market to find her a much more fashionable sling. Here’s a photo of Jenny in the cab on the way to the airport.

Matt drew a picture of Anpaman on her cast to give her strength on her long journey home. I wish I could have accompanied her back. I hope she’ll meet some good travelers who will help her out and cheer that pretty little face of hers up.

It’s now 5pm and a balmy 23 degrees. The holidays went by quickly and now it feels like spring. I’m going to miss my sassy red headed friend. There were tears at the airport as I watched Jenny pass through another x-ray machine. I hate being so far away but the time here is so miniscule in the grand scheme of things. I need to enjoy my life here while it lasts.

Happy New Year!!!!!
xoxoxoxxoxod

Listening to Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block


Wednesday, December 27, 2006

2nd jenny in tokyo

hello, it's me Jenny, reporting from Okinawa after a whirlwind tour of Tokyo. The rocking back and forth of the trains (and we took many many trains ) could put anyone to sleep...witness this gentleman making himself a little too comfortable...




on Christmas day we went for a very decadent brunch at the Park Hyatt Tokyo (as featured in Lost in Translation). We were feeling a little bit woozy being on the 52nd floor

or was it the combination of jet lag, train journeys or champagne?
after that we walked off our dessert with a little window shopping and much to my delight, discovered an orange foyer!

where I decided to show a little leg in an impromptu fashion shoot. cheers!