On Friday we went back to Torii for the Salsa Festival! This time we all went into the beautiful warm water and chilled in beach chairs soaking up the sun. I went down the slide! Because I wanted to! Lea enjoyed throwing sand everywhere and burying her daddy's feet. For dinner we enjoyed some BBQ and Japanese fried food. There was salsa lessons, a flamenco dancer and a salsa band. But they were Okinawan! It was so weird. Sounded and looked great but just a little off.
Saturday was our "quiet" day. I went to a meeting on the beach at 9am. It was awesome. Sitting outside, enjoying island life with new friends. Nothing like it. At night I went with some of my new friends to see the Lt. Dan Band! If you're not familiar with them look it up. It's Gary Sinise from CSI NY. He also plays Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump which is where the name comes from. Awesome person and organization and they go around to Marine bases and perform covers. It was more like a giant picnic than a concert. On the side they were selling soda, water & beer and chips w/ hot dogs & burgers!
Sunday we went on a group trip to a grapevine to cut grapes! It was pretty cool. We got to bring home 1kilo per adult! Needless to say we have a lot of grapes! Afterwards we went to a Pineapple Farm. Unfortunately we only got to visit the gift shop but even that was fun. Tons of delicious samples and we bought pineapple cake and pineapple juice. Yummy!
Than off to a mall for lunch. Japanese malls work differently than American ones. There is stuff laid out everywhere and you'd think you could just pick stuff up and pay at the end. Like at Macy's or something. But apparently not. Apparently you have to pay where you pick up. Even where there are no obvious separations. I learned this the hard way and after being sent to three different counters and still no one knowing where I was supposed to pay for Lea's shoes I gave up. It was a learning experience but frustrating nonetheless. Finally found shoes I liked for her too and at an affordable price. Poor girl has my tiny feet. We also got to eat at a traditional restaurant and had "sets". You order the main course and it comes with a full set of foods and sides. We chose to eat at the "American" table vs. "Japanese". Not quite ready to attempt eating with our feet folded underneath us. Lea loved the miso soup! She just drank it up!
After we got back we took our first walk off post. Explored the local shops and community. Found a mall style place or at least a maze of stores and stalls. Lea was given a local style headband to wear meant to keep her hair and sweat out of her face. Discovered a local bakery with delicious looking pastries and sandwiches. It was quite an adventurous long weekend!
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