This is Japan.
There is not supposed to be any crime.
I guess it is my fault for not making sure the locker was completely locked.
I guess it doesnt matter where you are, there will still be dishonest people.
My wallet is now gone.
Goodbye old friend, you have served me well since the beginning of high school.
I doubt I will ever find a suitable replacement.

For the Martin Luther King three day weekend, I went back to visit my friend in Okinawa. Unfortunately, Okinawa was having one of the coldest winters in many years. So instead of going out and doing things, I went out and ate lots of good Okinawan food. Although, I did go back to Nakagusuku castle ruins again. Also near the ruins is a run-down abandoned hotel that is a bit scary but also very interesting to explore.

The view from the ruins. It was an on and off rainy day.

Almost double rainbow all the way.

Okinawa soba restaurant

Traditional Okinawan food. I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the courses.

Soki soba

Chiruga soba

Goya chanpuru

Tebichi

Tebichi soba

This year, again, I made the traditional Japanese new year’s food: Osechi.

Kamaboko
Konbu-maki
Kinton
Kuro-mame
Matumaetsuke
Tazukuri
Namasu
Onishime
Datemaki
Nope-jiru

Another Japanese new year tradition is to visit a temple and pray for good luck in the coming year. Last year I went to the shrine at Mt. Oyama. This year I decided to go to a bit more famous place: Kawasaki Taishi Temple. Famous in Japan means crowded. There were lots and lots of people lined up even way before the entrance of the temple to pray for the new year. On the upside, there were lots of vendors and stands selling all kinds of new years items, food, and ‘amazake‘ which is the famous drink in the area.

The entrance.

The line way before the entrance.

Near the famous temple there is a small shrine with not as many people. This is more my style…

Like last year, this year I got up early to watch the first sunrise of the new year. This year was not as high of a mountain, more of a big hill near my house, but the view was nonetheless beautiful. It was also not as cold

The first sunrise of 2011

Mt. Omaru (156m)

There was also a great view of Mt. Fuji.