Xystus: Indoor Playground

12-22-15

So it has been a bit rainy these last few days. Have to maintain our annual average of 80 inches (thanks mom for that fun fact.) But we don't have to worry about missing out on all the crazy fun parks. Nope, Okinawa has already thought of that. There may only be 3 of these great indoor playgrounds on the island, but one is just right around the corner from us!

I really didn't know what to expect before going here, but this place went above and beyond. We met one of Kayden's buddies here for a little play date. You pay by the hour and we decided to stay for two.

 By the time our two hours we over, the kids faces we bright red and they were sweaty all over. Yuck, but I know they had fun. This place has just about everything you can think of. Rock wall, race track for trikes, swings, Lego corner, ball pits, and of course your normal indoor playground fun. I loved the comfy mom section with snack/drink bar. lol Now I might be looking forward to some more rain to come hang out here for a few hours.

The other moms were poking fun at me for loving this so much, but I think it is adorable.

 

Kanucha Resort

12-20-15

Second light display outing, at Kanucha Resort. Their light display is called Stardust Fantasia. First, this resort is amazing. I’ve never been to a fancy resort so I don’t know if they are all like this, but it's like its own little village. There was everything from gyms, store, restaurants, condos, golf courses, and everyone gets their own golf cart to get around. The light display took place all around the resort with two main attractions. There was a trolley going around that helped you get place to place or you could rent a golf cart. Unfortunately we didn’t know about the golf cart until we were just about done. The first main display was all in white lights. The trees were covered in them. We started calling them “tinker bell” tree since it really looked like fairy dust was pouring out and covering them. We were even surprised with a special light show that took place over one of the pools while we were seeing all the white lights.

The second big attraction was at the bottom of the resort, right off the beach. This display was all in colored lights. To be more specific it was all in rainbows. I felt like I was in the land of care bears and my little ponies. Right when we got to the bottom this light show started. I was able to witness dancing rainbow hills. There was also huge diamond light displays (to go with their gem theme) Here you can walk the path that takes you through the rainbow hills and over tiny bridges where you find hidden rainbow hearts. It was definitely an awesome light display, but you didn’t really get a Christmas feel from it. Lol

I almost forgot the coolest part. Once you walk into the resort you are given a map and 3D glasses. These are no ordinary 3D glasses, each one shows a specific shape. Makayla had hearts, Kayden had smiley faces, and Mckinley had music notes. While wearing these, every LED you looked at would appear in the shape you had. So Makayla was seeing trees covered in hearts. When the trolley came by, Kayden would see smiley face headlights and Mckinley saw dancing rainbow musical note hills! I thought it was an excellent idea. We recommended this place to everyone we know and they all loved it as much as we did.

We got there a bit early and had time to hang out

The kids were very excited about the glasses, they couldn't wait for the lights to turn on

It was neat being there when all the lights switched on, the kids checking out their shapes

Tinker Bell Tree

Can you tell they were getting tired of my picture taking?

Preston noticed this one, the outline of the palm tree. Neat.

I tried this, it works the same :)

 

You can leave a special message

Waiting for a trolley. You can see how big this resort is by the map right there

Rainbow Heart

My pretty peanut

I will take two please

"The hills are filled with the light of rainbows..."

And for your viewing pleasure:

https://youtu.be/fjRfdMZdU6U

 

American Village

12-19-15

I really wanted to take the kids to see some Christmas lights. There are four big light displays around the island so we just had to pick one. We decided to check out the nearest place first, American Village. We have been here before. This is where the giant Ferris wheel is and a lot of fun shops. They really go all out for Christmas. All the trees we lit up and light displays up and down the street. There were a ton of Santa's and cardboard gingerbread houses. Being there at night with all the lights and walking around the river was amazing. 

I love how even the shishi dogs got to dress up

Such a goof ball

Too much sweetness!

I laughed for about 5min on this, one just seems out of place lol

Reaching for the snowflakes

 

Melody Road

12-12-15

 

There is a road up North in Futami (Nago area) called Melody Road.

A little history lesson first:

 In 1945 sometime during the war, two Okinawans, by the direction of US Forces, were told to vacate the Mabuni area (present day Itoman). They had first moved to Yonabaru, but then finally settled in Futami on June 20th, 1945 just days before the end of the war. Shortly after (perhaps out of inspiration for surviving a hellish and war-torn region), they decided to write a song about their new home, Futami. For two months they worked on it and in November of 1945, the Okinawan folk song, Futami jōwa, was born.

Over a Half-Century Later. Sixty-seven years later, inspiration returns to Futami once again. This time with the help of science. For several months using math and the laws of physics, road crews carved out specially cut grooves along 340 meters stretch of road. Driving over it makes a special sound. The end result; a road that plays music. The song,...Futami jōwa. Late November 2012, in the same month that the original song was created 67 years ago, an official ribbon cutting ceremony was conducted and 'Melody Road' was officially open to the public, and the villagers of Futami were once again filled with great honor.

The Song's Meaning. The song is written as a duet between a man and a woman. In summary, it is a song of love and of hardship about a man from Shuri and a woman (origins not specified) longing to be with each other, never to be separated again. The song starts out describing a wonderful place with pretty mountains next to a beautiful ocean,... a place called Futami. And it is there, the couple wish to marry and to forget the past, to forget the war, and to live happily every after.

I needed a little google help to find out more information about this road. The website where I got the information also have a video to play so you have hear the song.

http://www.mapitokinawa.com/2013/01/melody-road-futami-nago-city.html

It is amazing how clear it sounds as if it is coming from the radio. We had to turn around and drive over it three times! Such a beautiful song. 

The blue music note marks the beginning

You have to drive 40kph to hear it correctly

The city takes great pride in keeping the road well maintained

View of the ocean next to the road







Since we were already up north we had to stop at our favorite "dump" beach.

It helps to close your eyes?

 Kayden needed to practice some more skipping rocks

Makayla really loved this piece of coral she found. We also collected about 30 shells that actually look like a rock almost. They are very neat. I feel like they should be used for currency. They are fun to keep in your pocket lol

 I thought this was a good picture. The rocks looks like shark fins

I guess I didn't take any pictures of McKinley, but this was her special find at the beach




 

Kokosaui Street

11-6-15

Kokusai Street is the most famous shopping street in Okinawa. It is located on the southern end of the island in Naha. It is packed with stores and restaurants on both sides of the street for as far as the eye can see. They sell everything just about everything and is a great place to find handmade crafts and souvenirs.

I found out that this street used to be called “The Miracle Mile” because of its rapid recovery after the post-war era.

This street also holds many of the more important festivals including the Big Naha Tug-of-War (we didn’t make it this year, but on the to-do list for next). There is also a side street off of Kokusai Street that they call the “bargain street” for even cheaper items.

There is no doubt you could spend an entire day exploring all there is to see. We walked a good portion down one side and then back up the other, but still didn’t see everything. I did feel like some of the stores were kind of the same, but I would love to go back and shop the rest of it.

Im so happy she loves to shop

Very random statues all along the street. The kids enjoyed pointing them all out

We weren't as adventurous with our food choice, but thought we'd give this A&W a try.

11-11-15

Veterans Day Parade on Kadena Air Base. This makes the 4th parade Makayla and I have been in representing Girl Scouts. This was Kadena's first Veterans Day Parade and there was a very successful event. This was one I wished I was able to watch. Preston took lots of pictures for me.

Watch out, He can touch those pedals!

This looks like trouble

 

Makayla and her friend Zoe

 

Makayla should be in a brown Brownie vest, but she let her friend wear it and she wore her Daisy one.

I must have made about 150 of those red, white and blue spirit sticks for the girls to pass out to kids watching. I thought I would end up with extra, but ended up running out before the half way point of the parade. At least we know for next year now!