Okinawa Mama's Perfect Sticky Rice

After intensive investigation into how you make sticky rice sticky, I found the secret! It's so easy! I'll be rolling sushi in no time. No I won't. I don't even like sushi. Why would I waste my time? Here's one secret I'll reveal and don't expect many more.

Okinawa Mama's (that's me) Perfect Sticky Rice (every time)

Rice Cooker Method:

Rinse rice well in a strainer cold water to remove talc and dust. Make sure you rinse until the water runs clear. Not all rice has talc or dust but the kinds I buy do. We use Basmati rice and another type of rice from Japan. I don't use Basmati rice for sticky rice although it would probably work.

Put rice in the rice cooker and cover with given amount of water. I usually have 2 cups of rice and let it soak for 1 hour in 3 cups of water. My rice cooker has the lid with the handle that seals the cooker. It "knows" exactly how long to cook whatever amount of rice and it comes out perfectly every time.

2 cups rice
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt

This will yield 4 cups.

Use short or medium grain white rice. It's a 1 1/4 cups water per 1 cup of rice ratio. Do NOT use instant or Minute rice.

1 cup uncooked rice yields approximately 2 cups cooked rice. I know you already knew that.

So, it would look a lot like this...

3 cups rice
3 3/4 cups water
3/4 tsp. salt

4 cups rice
5 cups water
1 tsp. salt

Super Typhoons vs. Major Hurricanes

I was watching the weather yesterday and I took a long look at Super Typhoon Jangmi that hit Taipei yesterday. Somehow Taiwan seems to be a lot closer here. Hmm... Jangmi had reached winds of 180 mph and its radius was 174 MILES WIDE. By the time it struck Taipei it was down to 135-140 mph. Whew! What a relief. That's got to be better than 180, although not by much.

We check our weather on the Kadena Air Base website. The picture below is of a hurricane and it's one of the best ones I've seen.

So, here are explanations of the two storms...

Super-typhoon" is a term utilized by the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center for typhoons that reach maximum sustained 1-minute surface winds of at least 150 mph. This is the equivalent of a strong Saffir-Simpson category 4 or category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin or a category 5 severe tropical cyclone in the Australian basin.

"Major hurricane" is a term utilized by the National Hurricane Center for hurricanes that reach maximum sustained 1-minute surface winds of at least 111 mph. This is the equivalent of category 3, 4, and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

You know, the buildings might be really ugly here...and they are...but, apparently there's a pretty good reason everything is built out of concrete. Yesiree, The Bunker's going to be a safe place to wait out a super typhoon. I do have some concerns about the windows. I wish there were bars on them. Of course, that would be bad in a fire but with a super typhoon it can block those big pieces of what I can't call "debris" because that seems to cheapen it a little. But the bars would block those large trees and other things from shattering the window. Then we'd be in serious trouble with the wind and rain after that.

All bases are under what is called TCCOR-4 during typhoon season. That means Tropical Cyclone Condition Of Readiness. When Typhoon Sinlaku was expected to hit Okinawa two weeks ago we were bumped to TCCOR-3. Now, there are several things you are supposed to do to ready your house and family for the storm. From what I heard it's more of an order than a suggestion. The TCCOR changes with the severity of the storm and the recovery period following. Fortunately, Typhoon Sinlaku decided to go on a different course and we only received 2 mornings of heavy rain. But, I know the big one's comin'...

After a Google Investigation...

After a Google investigation I'm adding a little info on one of the plants. The mother-in-law's tongue is, in fact, NOT a member of the Dracaena family. I didn't take Botany in college. It is a member of the Sansevieria species. Also, the name "mother-in-law's tongue" comes from the sharpness of the leaves. Only the messenger. Don't shoot the messenger. If it makes all of you mothers-in-law feel better then we'll just call it the snake plant (because of the shape of the leaves) or Tiger's Tail which is what they call it in Japan. When in Rome... or Okinawa...

Meet the Money-Saving Maven...

Ah, yes. That's me! But, where has she been for the past two weeks? Well...I've been unpacking boxes. Incredibly enough, when Lonnie called to see where our household goods were on September 02 it's as if all 6, 200 lbs. (we were 1 ton over our weight. Oops!) just materialized from out of nowhere in that warehouse. Believe it or not, they were on our doorstep delivering everything the very next morning at oh-800. That's a miracle of Biblical proportions, friends. It either popped up out of nowhere or it had been sitting there for who knows how long and they were just waiting for us to call begging for it. Hahaha!

I have surpassed my most impressive personal best at the commissary. This week I saved 21% of the total bill. That was over $51.00! Wow! Coupons are a wonderful thing! The best I had ever done before that was 18% of the total. It's just a big game for me. It's pretty helpful that the commissaries take coupons that are up to 6 months past their expiration date. I don't believe I had a single coupon in the pile that wasn't expired. The lady behind me said, "oh, my goodness! You're such a great coupon shopper." You could see it in her eyes. She hated me. She didn't have one single coupon to offer. Tsk, tsk, tsk. At the end of checking out the cashier did something wrong and the manager had to come with the key before the payment was processed. Then the woman behind me said that I must've reached the maximum number of coupons allowed. LOL

I've had people make comments about my coupons several times in...now, what's the name of that little store I used to go to?...starts with a "W"...Wa...Wal...Wal-Mart? Oh yeah! THAT'S the name of it. I almost forgot. I had the DT's after several weeks of no Wal-Mart. I go to a support group three times a week now at the grief center. "Hi, my name is Deanna and I'm a 'What-am-I-going-to-do-for-3-years Without Wal-Mart Wailer'". Hyperventilators are given those white plastic bags to breathe into. The first thing we're going to do when we come back to visit is eat at Chick-Fil-A (in the South) or In-n-Out Burger (if we stop in CA) and go to Wal-Mart. I just want to stand there and take it all in. Oh...and a mall...I'd like to go to a mall...

Also, there is a family moving out of housing that will be condemned and torn down at the end of the year. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I wouldn't have wanted to live there either. You've got to think...the end of the year is how many months away? Well, she had these gorgeous, and I do mean gorgeous, plants that she didn't want to see destroyed when the buildings were torn down. Well, she wouldn't have seen it but you know what I mean. I had posted a wanted ad on JapanUpdate.com for plants and she emailed me. I have 4 of the largest aloe plants you've ever seen. There are 4 HUGE elephant ear plants and a bunch of what I believe is in the Dracaena family..."mother-in-law's tongue" is the more common name. Apparently, they're hard to kill. Look, don't lecture me about it I didn't come up with the name. Let's see what else... Oh yeah! There's this incredibly large palm-type tree. She said that she saw one that was less than half of the size of this one at Makeman's and it was $750. Wow! Look at all the money I saved this week! LOL

So...we all know that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Most people say that MONEY is the root of all evil. They must be reading a different version. So, if I'm saving all of this money what category does that put me in? Hmm. You could say that I love money so much I want to be miserly with it; however, I just look at what else you can buy with the money you just saved! Look, honey! I just saved $50! Now we can go get that rug at the exchange I've been wanting for the hallway... It's just what we do. Men don't understand it. Most women do, but those that don't take the time to use the scissors pay the consequences...and the extra money!

Where East Meets West

Yesterday we went for a ride. Our intentions were to head to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. The aquarium here on the island was the largest one in the world until Atlanta opened its aquarium in 2005. We inadvertently put that off for a spontaneous trip to the northern cape of Okinawa. You guessed it. We got lost. How can you get lost on an island? You can. When I pulled out the map to see where we were it was closer to head on to Cape Hedo than to turn around. We stopped there for a few minutes and saw where the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. It was absolutely beautiful!

East China Sea

Pacific Ocean

Since the cape was a long drive we had to scope out "the facilities" which brings me to the introduction of a somewhat delicate topic. Bathrooms. The bathrooms here are...well...they're different. Depending where you are there is only what looks like a urinal buried in the floor of the bathroom. I don't know how else to explain it. That's what it is. It flushes...from what I've seen. Logistically speaking, I just don't get it. This is how it works with me...I walk in, see a hole in the ground, turn around and leave all the while muttering that it's just not worth the trouble. It's one of those things that I'm just not ready for yet. I've got 35 months left. Why rush? Plus, the handicapped bathrooms are normal. As long as those are around life is good. Oh yeah...and I have heard there are bathrooms like I just described in some places that are not gender specific. So, yes...men & women...in the same bathroom. If I walk up and see one sign with two people on it then there's really no need to even go in, is there? And that's your Japanese culture lesson of the day. You know what? Why stop there? I know people are going to want pictures so I took the liberty of Googling one. Here you go...

Can you say awkward?

Well, we did finally make it to the aquarium but, I'm going to save that for another day. We're going back on Jenna's 4th birthday...this Thursday. I have to devote a whole post just to the aquarium. It's pretty awesome!

The Commissary: Commodity & Oddity

An easy way to describe a commissary is that it's a military grocery store. In order to even enter the building you have to have a valid government ID or be with someone that does. Your ID is checked at the door and then it's off to the proverbial races. I say that because if you end up going on the 1st or 15th of the month (paydays) you will never make that mistake again. Nor will you decide to go after 1500 when school is out and all of the kids are in tow with frustrated mothers of four trying to steer two grocery carts filled to overflowing.

Don't get me wrong. The commissary is a wonderful commodity to take advantage of. Prices may only be a few cents cheaper but the wonderful thing about it is the commissary takes coupons up to 6 months after their expiration date. Don't throw them away! Send them this way! One time when I was on top of my game I was able to save 18% on one grocery bill. There were even a couple of items they paid ME to take away. If they had a double coupon day then it would be on! Another wonderful thing about it is that you don't pay any sales tax. If it's $2.49 then you pay $2.49.

There's a downside to the commissary here. The bread is just not good. I think they ship it frozen. There's always a weird smell to it when you open the bag and it's always a little stale. The other thing is what I thought I had been missing every time I looked for it. It's the biggest oddity since our arrival here. Our favorite thing to eat for dinner is chicken. It doesn't matter what kind. Just chicken. I went up and down the meat counter of both commissaries here and made a monumental discovery. NO FRESH CHICKEN! Can you believe it?! There is plenty of Tastybird, Tyson, & Foster Farms frozen chicken but you aren't going to find any fresh birds here. I say it's because there's not a good way to ship it here since they obviously have problems with the bread and that should be easier than chicken. Lonnie brought up avian flu. They're kinda up-in-arms about that here...in case you hadn't heard. You know, every now and then when you look around you'll still see people in surgical masks. It's apparent that they haven't just closed on a triple bypass so...there must be another reason.

The other odd thing here? You can't get a gallon of milk. Look all you want...it's not there. What could be the explanation for that? I don't know. The dates are all pretty...well, I think pretty incredible. I had to get milk this morning (27 AUG) and the expiration date is 22 SEP. I think we can go through a 1/2 gallon by then. I think it may be because the 1/2 gallon cartons ship easier and take up less space than the gallon jugs. Oh yes. And hairspray. Where do you get the stuff? It is so slim pickins over here you really wouldn't believe it. Even Lonnie was surprised when I told him that. When we were together at the exchange one day I mentioned it and he went to look saying, "they have to have hair spray!" No, apparently they don't. They do have some but it doesn't hold a candle to the shampoo and conditioner inventory.

So, all I can say about that is this...we miss Chick-Fil-A and fresh chicken. Where's the first place we're going to go when we come back? Chick-Fil-A. I'm going to go to Wal-Mart Super Center just to look at the dates on the milk cartons and pick up a fresh loaf of bread. Then I'm going to go stand in awe looking at the hairspray selection in the Health & Beauty department. After I get what I need I'll hand my expired coupons to the cashier, she'll snicker and say, "these expired 6 months ago!", then I'll pay the total PLUS SALES TAX and be on my way thinking I should've picked up that package of fresh chicken!

We're not suffering...too much.

In the fast food department we've pretty much got it made. I'm sure I can't remember everything but here are the majority of places found in the exchanges (or, as Jenna calls them AX...changes) and the shoppettes. Burger King seems to be popular. There are 3 of them on one base here. Then there's Chili's and Chili's Too. The interesting thing about Chili's is that this restaurant is the one (or one of the ones) where they do all of the "experimentation". It's where they try out new food to test its popularity and determine whether or not it makes the menu you'll be looking at back in the states. Interesting!

Continuing on...there's Subway, Taco Bell, Manchu Wok, Popeye's, Captain D's, O'Charley's, Anthony's Pizza, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin' Donuts, Pizza Hut, Starbuck's (off base), a club on Kadena serves The Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. It's not the full menu and each piece is $4.50. It's cheaper here! Right outside the club there's a little coffee shop that sells the cheesecake by the slice or the whole thing. We avoid this place AT ALL COST! That is a dangerous place for two people that love cheesecake so much. There is one Wendy's here that we haven't seen yet. Something big here is A&W. Do you remember that? They're everywhere here! They have sit-down restaurants with a drive-in. It's all the rage...no kidding.

Now, out on the economy there's McDonald's. These are not the kind that you go to over there. The male employees are dressed in pants with a BELT, their shirt is a button-up that's TUCKED IN and they wear a TIE. The female employees have a button-up shirt with a short kind of ascot tie, a jumper with nylons and PUMPS! Are you hearing this? Everyone wears those paper hats you never see anymore and they all smile and talk to you politely like it's their first day on the job. When you're finished there's a girl that will carry your trash to the dustbox (that's what they're called here). We think there was an inspection of some kind going on that day but, you know, the thing about it is they're always that polite even on a normal day. When we left there were about 8 employees outside having their pictures taken. Everyone stopped what they were doing and smiled, bowed and said arigato, arigato, domo arigato gonzaimasu! I told Lonnie that felt so bizarre! It's like they were really glad we were there.

Here is what a McDonald's menu looks like:

This obviously doesn't show everything. The prices are in Yen and one of those is still almost equal to $1. They keep a laminated one on the counter that looks like this...all in Kanji. On the backside is the same thing with Kanji and Yen but there's an English description. To order you point (which is considered rude in Japan) to what you want. Oh yeah! Everything does taste almost exactly the same here. Sizes are a little different. If you get a large drink it comes in the medium-sized cup. If you get a medium it comes in the small-sized cup. Naturally, here you can get a Teriyaki burger and a McPork. Lonnie got something that must've been a McShrimp or something. It was like fried shrimp on a bun.

I at least have to tell you about the apples here. Jenna LOVES apples so when we were in the commissary last week I picked up two. When we were doing the self-checkout and I weighed them I almost passed out. Two apples were $4.95. They're good but for heaven's sake they don't have gold seeds or stems that I could see!

Bats are big, shrews are small, but geckos are the cutest of all!

The geckos really are cute here. No, they look nothing like the GEICO gecko. Last night there was a little excitement in the house with one of these guys. I was taking Jenna upstairs and saw a little baby gecko no longer than 2 inches even with his tail...on second floor. Hmm. I wonder how long he had been in here. Lonnie had a hard time chasing him down.

Just last week one hitched a ride on the leg of Lonnie's uniform. It fell on the floor so Lonnie trapped its tail under his shoe. Well...his tail CAME OFF! He got the little guy outside but, not to be outdone...he ran back in. When Lonnie finally got him back out he noticed that part of his insides were on his outside (just trying to be tactful). So...Lonnie did what he always does to creatures in distress or facing imminent death. He stomped on it. Yep. He did that when we were walking on the campus of Northwestern in Evanston. There was a pigeon laying on the sidewalk obviously dying. He looked around for something to kill it with but there wasn't anything. He told me he had to kill it because he couldn't stand to see it suffer. I walked several yards ahead. I didn't want to see that! Well, hearing the sound of tennis shoe to feathered animal isn't a sound you ever want to hear again. Yep. One day I'm going to sick and he's just going to stomp on me.

As for the banana spider I've told some of you about...here's an excellent picture to describe its size.

Get ready...

It's a pretty safe bet to say that when I do see one of these...I'm going to lose it! Moving on...

Centipedes? REALLY not into those either...

Yeah...up to 6 inches long. The chair leg is a pretty good point of reference. We haven't seen one yet. Not just creepy but...POISONOUS too. Nice.

Shrews. Cute. Probably destructive. I can live with those though as long as they stay outside. They love to run all over the front yard at night when it's dark. When we pull in the driveway the headlights tell the story.

And last, but certainly NOT least...the dreadful Habu. It's a pit viper. Viper. Viper = venomous. Should you happen to come crashing through the ER doors in a panic from a snake having bitten you they will ask you this one question..."were you bitten on land or in the sea?" That'll determine the anti-venin you receive. Apparently, there is at least one venomous sea snake here. And, the jellyfish are pretty impressive too.

Still wanna come visit?

Ube, you say?

Jenna & I were out shopping at the local Japanese Home Depot. It's called Makeman's and the logo has a monkey on it. I can't get a straight answer on the pronunciation. Some people call it Makeman's, others say MOCK ay mohn and some people just call it the monkey store. We perused the plants first. They sell orchids there for almost $200! After that, we went into the back. Let me tell you...they sell toilets & toilet seats that must come with a 200 page manual and a mandatory inservice to obtain an operator's license. I have never seen so many buttons! You can even get a bun warmer! No kidding! Just like you can get car seat warmers in your SUV, you can get them on toilet seats here. Naturally, it was time to go to the 100 Yen store. Now, 100 Yen = 1 USD. Mmm hmm. Can you say Dollar Tree?

After shopping I had the worst idea you could possibly have in 90-ish deg weather and 100% humidity. I announced to Jenna that we would get ice cream. I have never in my life seen an ice cream cone melt so fast! Both of them were all over everything and the only thing to clean up with was a box of Kleenex sitting on the table. Hmm. Kleenex + ice cream = what were you thinking?

Different country. Different flavors. I had heard about ube ice cream ever since we got here. Ube = ooh bay. Ube = purple yam from the Philippines. On a whim I thought, "Why not? Let's try it". It was sooooo good! My two favorites here so far are Mango Tango and Ube. The thought of eating a purple yam made into ice cream was pretty unappealing. Who knew it would be one of the best things I've ever tried?! Hey. At least I know for sure there's no shellfish in it!

Pass the EpiPen, please!

Mmm! We had yakisoba last night. Yaki = fried and soba = noodle. This would be the 3rd time I've had it since we've been here. Here's the thing...once I find something I like I don't really venture out to anything different. I've told many of you that Japanese food is the one kind of food I just don't like. I've changed my opinion on that. The yakisoba is amazing...until last night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakisoba

I think Lonnie had this fact or fiction/Mythbusters thing going on with my shellfish allergy. Unbeknownst to me I chose the yakisoba not knowing what the future held. This dish usually has pork in it. Now, I've heard there are some places that cook the noodles in crab broth. Being the bloodhound I am (thanks to the fibro) I can usually detect things like that either by smell or taste. I don't like the seafood taste and I definitely don't like the way it tastes.

Shortly after I finished eating the roof of my mouth started itching like crazy! Then my nose was running and itching so bad I could hardly stand it. I started coughing and then my head and eyes started itching. Now, seems to me like that yakisoba must've been near some shellfish or cooked in crab broth. I don't know. What I do know is that we have leftovers and when Lonnie gets home I'm going to test it...just to see. I have EpiPen in hand and the hospital is a 5 minute walk from the house (not that we would be walking to the ER). I want to be sure that's what it was so we can go back if it's not. And yes, when the reaction is bad enough you don't have to worry about giving the shot through your clothes.