Spontaneous Trips: New Braunfels

Last year Joy and I were going to open a wine and coffee bar called Alegria, and we wanted it to have some interesting, unique items, so we went antique shopping and met a guy named Shawn who owned a place called Junkology. He had a fantastic piece of Texan history for sale: a gondola from the HemisFair in San Antonio in '68. He also had the banner. We thought it would make a great addition to our cafe and put down $200 until we could make it back and give him the rest if the money and take the gondola home in a bigger vehicle than what we had with us. Well, the cafe fell through for various reasons and we told Shawn that we couldn't take the gondola. I said I would mail the banner back, but we thought it would be better to just deliver to him at his shop in New Braunfels so we could check out the rest of his shop and find something we could use at our new home, and that we did. Check out our new bikes! Well, old bikes but new to us. It's been a while since I've ridden a bike, so I'm pretty excited about our new adventure. They definitely need some clean up work, which we've already started on. Yea! for learning new things.

While Shawn was cleaning up the bikes a bit and adding air to the tires and so forth, he recommended we walk across the street to a restaurant called Huisache Grill. Boy, are we glad we listened to him. The food was amazing.For starters we had the shrimp cocktail with avocado. Amazing! Then we shared a spinach salad with blue cheese, green apples, candied pecans, pickled red peppers with a vinaigrette on the side and a cup of tortilla soup. For the main course I got the steak medallions. If you go, definitely get the pecan dusted steak medallions with Jack Daniels butter sauce. Delicious! It had green beans and roasted potatoes on the side. Everything was so good. For dessert we had the chocolate buttermilk cake. That was my least favorite thing, but everything else was amazing! Oh, but the ice cream on top was made in house, I believe, and that was really good.

After that we went to Natural Bridge Caverns, a place Joy has been wanting to go to for some time. It had been a while since I'd been. It was just about the same except now they have another cave you can go through but you need special equipment and you have go spelunking to get to the cave and crawl through other parts. I don't think I'm quite ready for that. Maybe next year. We also logged a geocache finding.

Next it was time for dinner, and we debated about going back to Huisache Grill. Yes, it was that good, but instead we went into San Antonio to go to La Fogata to get mole enchiladas. They were perfect. Not too spicy, not too chocolaty. Perfect. Then we drove home. It was truly a great day trip.

Happy New Year!

First day of the new year so far has been pretty good. I got to spend it relaxing with loved ones and tonight we're going out for 80s night at #'s. It should be fun. When I arrived at my parents' house, I smelled something I wasn't expecting but had been craving: menudo. My dad learned how to make it and today was his first attempt. For a first try on a difficult dish, it was pretty good. It definitely needs the chile my grandmother always has freshly prepared at her house when she served menudo, though.

Last night was spent at Boheme. I worked the door while DJ Joy De La O played a very eclectic mix. It was a pretty great night of music, as it usually is when DJ Joy De La O is spinning. Wikki wikki! Another great thing about last night is that we contributed half of what was made to HATCH.

Last of the Last

Since I'm in my last week of being in Okinawa I've been trying to get those last bits of my favorite things in like tiramisu parfait at Bikuri Donkey and Mos Chicken. I've also been enduring the hardship (not really) of an endless run of soubetsukai (farewell parties). Friday was yakiniku at Yakiniku Jack with the other ALT at my base school and my coordinator. After yakiniku we went to karaoke. Fun! Fun! Fun! This was soubetsukai, part one, at my base school since my ALT buddy left last Saturday for a two week trip to see his family.

The other reason we, as a department, couldn't celebrate all together that Friday was because the teacher test was on Sunday. In the English department alone, we have five substitute teachers at the moment. All of them were cramming last minute studying in while we were grilling meat and drinking beer and singing until we lost our voices. Zannen. So to make up for it, for soubetsukai, part two, we went to OmoroHouse in Shintoshin. Oishiiii!! The maguro sashimi was especially delish. Seriously, how can raw fish be better at one place than any other. It's just raw fish, right? Everything else was really yummy including the somen champuru and ume budo, and that was probably the last time I'll get to have those two foods for a while. Zannen. :( I even had some awomori just to make sure I covered all my last of the last Okinawan bases. I still like it, but I think I might like to try it with some cranberry juice and lime, perhaps. Throw in a little soda... Mmmm. That might also explain away any questions you might have about why this post is kind of rambly. I'm not hung over so much as just really sleepy and mellow and ready for a nap. Yep. Definitely. Zzzzzzzzz...
;)

Paradise Cafe

One of my Japanese friends is married to a chef who just opened a new cafe in Shuri called Paradise Cafe. It is definitely not to be missed. I had the Japanese curry. I am a fan of Japanese curry, but the one they serve here is exquisite. The chicken is fried with a thin coating making it extra crispy. The curry sauce itself is complex in its deliciousness. (Is that a real word?) Suffice to say the meal was chou oishii! Oh, and the bull dogs everywhere are super cute, too. If you'd like to check it out, it's right across the street from the lake by Shuri Castle.

Ikei Island

I know I haven't seen much of the world, but I must say Okinawa has some truly incredible, beautiful beaches. If I weren't so afraid of driving here I think I would have liked to have gotten a car just to drive around and visit as many beaches as I could here--and I'm not really a beach person. I do love seeing beautiful things in nature and this is the place to do that.

By the way, if you're wondering why a non-beach person chose Okinawa, I'm also a Cheimaphobic or Cheimatophobic, a person who has a fear of the cold. (For more phobia names, check out phobialist.com.) When I applied for JET I asked for a place that had mild winters. I didn't care how hot the summers were, and that's how I was placed in Okinawa.

I was invited to a BBQ and beach party at a friend's house. Really, it was her grandmother's house, I think. Apparently, to have a house on Ikei Island is something special, and after having been there, I can see why. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at the house, it was low tide so I wasn't able to go snorkeling. I was able to see some new things I hadn't seen before in other tide pools, so that was nice. Oh, and if you go, be careful. It's very slippery. The beach was nice. the company was fun. And the food. When I was told it was going to be a BBQ, I assumed they meant Japanese BBQ, like yakiniku, which I also love. It was a very nice surprise when I found out they meant Western BBQ with BBQ sauce and ribs and hamburgers. It was too delicious! I ate and drank waaaaay more than what's good for me, but I don't care, It was so good. I was definitely a nice break from my everyday fare.

Gordie's Burgers

I was having a wicked craving for a good burger. Mos Burger is fine, but let's be honest. It's not very close to the American burgers I'm used to. I tried to tell myself that satisfying this craving was not going to happen--at least not until I returned to Texas. Then, a friend told me about this magical place near Chatan (I think) called Gordie's. I'll admit, it wasn't exactly what I was craving but it was pretty darn close. It was almost reminiscent of Fuddrucker's. Almost. It was good enough, though. I can't wait to go back. For you vegetarians out there, no luck for you on them having a veggie version. I checked. They only serve burgers and hot dogs and yummy onion rings and fries, of course. After that we went to a man made beach in Okinawa City and did some shopping. All in all it was a good day.

Taco Rice

Yes, more on food. I'm not a connoisseur or anything. Food's just a daily part of life and that makes my daily life different here. Let's take, for example, taco rice. Now, I love Tex-Mex food. Really. I told my supervisor the other day on the way home that if Mexican food were a person I would marry it. If it were a child, I would adopt it. Yes, in case you hadn't realized this yet, I can be quite silly, but I digress. When I arrived here in Okinawa, I wasn't really expecting to find much in the way of Mexican food, so when I heard about a dish called taco rice, I had to investigate. 

Taco rice is just that. Think of a taco, but instead of a taco shell, it all sits on top of a bed of rice. It's not too bad and it's cheap. It costs 150 yen at school, which about $1.50. Maybe a little less. And it somewhat satisfies my cravings for Tex-Mex, but I really miss the chips and the crunchiness of taco shells. If I really needed a chip fix, I could go all the way to Okinawa City to get them at the import store, or I could go all the way to Chataan to the somewhat decent Mexican food restaurant there, but I can't, so for now I will just count the days until I return home for Christmas break where I will probably gain ten pounds eating all the Tex-Mex food I can. Good thing I have to do so much walking here, ne?