A Really Great Weekend

Burr and I shared one of the best weekends we've had on the island this past week. Friday night we joined a group from "Joseph" at a cafe on the beach to listen to one of the cast members sing and play guitar. The music was good, the food quite tasty, and the company great fun.

Saturday morning marked my third baby shower this month. Burr was nice enough to take me so that I wouldn't get lost and afterwards we made plans to go to a Reggae Festival with some friends. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we spent it at an ampitheatre listening to the Japanese version of Reggae. Their Reggae is quite different than that to which we are accustomed. Instead of featuring steel drums and live instruments the preference is for recorded music with random sound effects added in by a DJ. I don't think we'll go next year, but it was a great experience. We were the only Americans around and had as much fun people watching as listening to the music. Here is a picture of the stage - it's the only one we got because our camera was confiscated! If we could read Japanese we probably would have known not to take pictures, but alas, we are illiterate!



Saturday night we continued the fun with a MAG event on Kadena Airbase. We had drinks and appetizers with friends while listening to speeches from all of the Commanding Officer's in the Marine Air Group. When they were done and we headed out for dinner, the fun really began!

About ten of us caravaned back to our side of town and tried out an Italian restaurant near our house. It was GOOD. The food was yummy and fairly priced and the wine flowed like water. From there it was on to KARAOKE!!

Japanese karaoke is different than the US version. In Japan you get your own room for you and your friends with a karaoke machine, songbook, and two microphones. There is a phone for you to call in food and drink orders through the night and off you go! No waiting your turn to sing one song and no standing in line at the bar forever... you just pass that mike around and have a blast! I could seriously do it every weekend. It was SO MUCH FUN!! We stayed out WAY too late, but it was worth it.

Sunday saw a walk on the seawall with Gabe followed by a bath for the dirty puppy dog. We grilled out for lunch and finished off the afternoon with errands. Burr watched "Juno" while I puttered around in the early evening, and then we crashed for an early bedtime.

It was a great weekend. Hope yours was too!

rachel