Curry in a Hurry

Brad with curry and local beer Orion - label says "For your Happy Time"

If you know anything about Brad and I, you know that one of our favorite hobbies is eating. We will try (especially him) just about anything and like all sorts of things. One of the great things about this fantastic international move is the plethora of incredible eats we are on the horizon of!

Tonight we visited a local favorite (and something all people who have been to Okinawa are familier with) COCO Curry. We had heard about this WELL before coming here from the McNamara's (at OSU) as well as Brad's successor Nathanial (he and his family were here for 2 tours, so they know a little about Okinawa).

How we ended up here:

Today was a quiet day. We went to the grand PX (shopping plaza on base) here at Camp Foster. Checked out the good things on sale and bought some new sippy cups (nothing but the best for Alessandra). Pretty fun happenings I tell you.

SO, since this morning was so exciting, we decided to add some thrilling stuff to the day and go for a drive. YES, WE DROVE OFF BASE. Now this may seem silly and miniscule, but for us, the fact that we have a legal right to drive in this country was a little funny to believe, but getting behind the wheel of a loaner car and actually driving on the road... well, that was quite surreal.

First we decided to try and find our new house. We did so with only 1 small wrong turn (and since it is literally a few blocks from base, the room for error and displacement was small). We found it and also noted that the building is actually 5 floors high. It looks like we have some American neighbors - as noted by the same van that we bought with the "Y" plates (license plates that denote SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) Professional Driver) (boy, that makes us sound important doesn't it?)

After finding our house and then realizing that the Japanese streets are, for certain, quite narrow, we headed up to Kadena Air Base. This is the largest Air Force Base in the world (at least that is what we were told). We went to the "Lemon Lot" to look for car #2 and then found ourselves driving out another gate and checking out "the back way". So, in the process, both Brad and I drove on city streets, alley ways and bases and we made it safe and sound! This driving thing won't be so bad after all.

SO, onto CoCo. As we found our house, we also found that we live about 4 blocks from CoCo Curry. You go in, they shoult a welcome to you, sit down, warm towel (wrapped in plastic - it is a "faster" food restarant) and then you order. Brad got Summer Vegatables and Chicken, I got Soy Bean Croquette and the kids shared a kids meal (complete with hamburger and mini hot dog cut up), all of these yummies drowned in a perfect curry sauce and steamed rice. It was by far one of my most favorite things ever. AND, they even had a simple mango lassi.

And, to top it all off, as we watched the cabs pour into the parking lot. We came to the realization this place is really a favorite - it is close to base, so the sheer number of Marines that entered and exited the restarant while we were there, blew us away. Brad has determined this is going to be his dinner spot when I am out of town or busy.

On that note - it is bedtime, but I wanted to say hello. Tomorrow we are off to Naha and the festival of 10000 dancers (I think that is the name of it). Eisa drummers/dancers number 10,000 in the streets. It will likely be a memorable experience!