Dirty Dozen +1 (Around the world...)

[mizanation]

a couple nights ago, we went to the jiji cafe for some interior decorating inspiration. the jiji cafe is run by robin-san who is a very cool guy. he is half japanese, half indian and you can taste the influence of both cultures in his food.

the place is absoutely beautiful. i didn't take pictures of the more festive areas, but will do so next time. i did take pictures of where we ate which was a separate room with a very chill vibe.

[mizanation]

the food was delicious.

quiche with indian-style cumin potatoes and japanese-style carrots with gobo root.

salad with a tangy, creamy dressing.

japanese-style pasta made with okinawan sea grapes and shiso mint. okinawan sea grapes are seaweed with these little air bubbles that pop in your mouth. it's got an unique texture and subtle taste.

desert. cheesecake with fresh whipped cream and vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce.

kamida wallet rope with a new belt buckle i picked up from him the other day.

[mizanation]

i've been eating pretty good recently. okinawa has an incredibly diverse array of foods available for me. however, there are some foods that i've started to crave that i've never really craved for until now. for instance, over the past couple weeks, i've been yearning for a bologna sandwich. it's crazy. i didn't even like bologna when i was in the u.s.!

maybe it's because bologna reminds me of america? what's more american than a bologna sandwich with some sliced cheese, mayo and mustard? when i think of bologna, i immediately think of lunch time in elementary school. in fact, the taste and smell of bologna instantly transports me back to my childhood. perhaps, i'm regressing? after i became an adult, i stopped eating bologna sandwiches--we all do. afterall, grown-ups don't do bologna. now that i'm in a new and foreign environment, i think i am searching for things that are familiar to me, things that are comforting to me, things that i know.

unfortunately, they don't sell bologna in the supermarkets in okinawa. luckily, i had a friend on base get me some deli-sliced bologna, some sharp cheddar cheese, some best foods mayo (hellman's for my peoples east of the rockies), a loaf of whole wheat bread and some grey poupon. yeah, that's right. grey poupon, bitch!

the result was a masterpiece! here's looking at you, my old friend, mr. bologna sandwich.

[wesc]

im so loving miz's entries... makes me feel like im not really living life. man you do so much miz. i feel so useless.

[pomata]

evisus look ridicolously good in this pic.

oh and robin's place is so warm and sexy

[Akira]

I love the outline of the fork in this picture, it looks like a picture a restaurant would take to put on its website

[beatle]

pour one part mollasses into a measuring cup. while i was doing this, i found out why they say, "...slow as mollases."

pour one part EM into a measuring cup.

This looks really scary.......

[mizanation]

pour one part mollasses into a measuring cup. while i was doing this, i found out why they say, "...slow as mollases."

pour one part EM into a measuring cup.

This looks really scary.......

hey beats! it looks scary, but the stuff is harmless. you can even eat it. it's great for pets. it eliminates their odors but is completely safe to spray on them. just dilute it with water first.

[mizanation]

this is an okinawan snail. after a good rain, sometimes you will see these guys.

[mizanation]

yesterday, we visited toma-san's lumber store. he has been running this business for over 40 years. everyone who opens a business knows toma-san. he's the guy you need to see if you need wood or flooring. he has the best prices in the city. on top of that, he's a super nice guy with a big heart. toma-san can seem very tough, but inside he's a sweetheart.

the cool thing about his store is that it is a huge maze of wood. take a wrong turn and you might never get out! sometimes you will find a little room with some old machinery. sometimes, you will just get stuck in a deadend of 2x4's. it's dark and scary, but very cool.

[mizanation]

we finally found toma-san. he appeared from behind a bunch of wood.

he generously offered to deliver the wood to our store and then explain how to build a wood floor japanese-style.

he gave us a tutorial on how to build our floor and answered all our questions. he even offered to lend us his miter saw! no wonder everyone comes to him whenever they need to build something.

then, he was off. hope to see him again soon.

[mizanation]

afterwards, we got a call from nakanishi-san aka ism. he had just come back from his trip to new york. sounds like he had a great time and got a lot of work while he was there.

he brought back some gifts for us! chocolates and shot glasses. he knows us well.

he then gave us a bunch of ideas on how to decorate the store. the guy is a very talented interior designer and has designed some very cool bars and stores. he even offered to help us out on the construction and lend us some tools! i feel very lucky to have met such generous people in okinawa.

[beatle]

Hey miz..what kind of store are you guy opening up ???

[mizanation]

after that, we went to momo-san's party at loyd. momo-san is a very busy hairdresser and works at a beauty salon called loyd. she is also one of the more popular dj's in okinawa. her beauty salon was having a grand reopening party, so went and checked it out.

this is maeda-san. he is a dj and owns a jazz bar in koza.

shige-san, he owns a very popular bar called chemi. i will take you guys there soon. it was his birthday that night!

[mizanation]

Hey miz..what kind of store are you guy opening up ???

we are opening up a fashion boutique! right now, it's gonna be women's clothing, accessories and jewelry.

[mizanation]

lots of beautiful people there last night.

the grown-ups table.

there was a ton of good food there from the local chinese restaurant.

a nice cake.

[mizanation]

refreshments were served. free beer! gotta say it was a great night.

toasts are big in japan. whenever there is a party, there are always several toasts. especially in okinawa, you have to be able to toast to a crowd with flowery and gracious language. at one party, i was forced to give a toast and it was probably the shittiest toast in okinawan history. the party-goers were in a state of shock and awe. i definitely have to work on my toasting skills before we have the grand opening party for our store!

chillin with some chop sticks.

cutting the cake. they actually heated a big knife with a blow torch. i thought that was pretty cool.

[mizanation]

i played along with the djs.

dj momo in the booth.

shige-san got to take home a big chunk of cake for his birthday.

[mizanation]

that's all for now. today, i went to a crazy festival which also happens to be the biggest tug-o-war in the world! will post pics tomorrow.

[beatle]

Good luck with the store...and btw - wish you had given a free concert last year in NY...another reason to track u down in Okinawa...

[mizanation]

anytime, beats!

[fur]

honestly miz your posts are inspiring,i got such an itch to travel now

[mizanation]

yesterday, i went to a festival in naha with some navy friends of mine. it's called the o-tsunahiki festival and it's the biggest tug-o-war in the world.

we got there in the early afternoon. the streets were still empty.

the parade began....

they had teams from every city holding these huge banners. each guy in the team would hoist the banner as a display of strength and teamwork.

[mizanation]

[mizanation]

all that parade watching made us hungry. luckily, steakhouse 88 was nearby. it's one of the oldest steakhouses in naha and it's a damn good one.

they have some expensive steaks. their best steak is an ishigaki beef steak for about $135 USD. ishigaki beef is supposed to be one of the best beefs you can eat in all of japan.

i, however, stuck with their 88 special which is considerably more affordable. it came sizzling on a hot plate with their special 88 steak sauce. it was delicious!

[mizanation]

after steaks, we found what we came here for. the biggest tug-o-war in the world. if the west side wins, then the farmers will be prosperous. if the east side wins, then the fisherman will be prosperous. so, a lot is at stake here!

this is the end for the west side.

this is the end for the east side.

as you can see, this is a seriously big rope.

[mizanation]

there were thousands of people.

lots of kids dressed up in festive wear.

i saw this dude who looked like a complete bad-ass.

they let me play the shell horn. i think i'm gonna stick to my trumpet.

the crowd was intense.

they started handing out parts of the rope.

[mizanation]

they had these people on the rope that were directing everyone. first, we have to tie the two ends together, so we had to pull forward first.

i got my pull-on.

even little kids got in on the action. many were trampled.

after about 15 minutes of pulling, the knot was tied. gordian knot, eat your heart out.

[mizanation]

then, from far away, came the king of the west, with some other dude and another dude with a stick. they came sliding down the rope.

they met the king of the east and his homeboys at the big knot.

the two kings cursed each other out for about 5 minutes, yelling and threatening each other. then, the dudes with the sticks started fighting furiously, east vs. west violence.

after 5 minutes of mortal combat, there was no decisive winner. there is only one way left to settle this: TUG-O-WAR!

the ball above the big knot exploded and confetti flew everywhere signaling the beginning of the tug-o-war.

we all grabbed a piece of the rope.

it was complete madness!

unfortunately, my side (we were on the west side) lost in 5 minutes. looks like we're eating a lot of fish this year!

afterwards, everyone got on top of the rope.

people started chopping off pieces of the rope furiously. pieces of the rope are good luck!

my boy schneider got a bunch of rope.

[mizanation]

all that rope pulling made us hungry, so we headed to coco's, aka cocoichibanya curry house.

they have different levels of spiciness, 1-10. 10 is supposed to be unbearably spicey, so of course, i ordered it.

it came and the steam from the curry alone made your eyes water!

i chowed it down like a champ. it was spicy as hell! but really, really fucking good.

but, man, did i pay for it the next day!