Author Archives: spikekalashnikov

After another visit to the dentist,which is how I spend my Saturdays on Okinawa at the moment, I have lunch in an adjacent restaurant. I point at a picture on the menu. It looks like pork ramen and so it … Continue reading →

When in Japan you eat rice. My idea of cooking rice is a huge pot of boiling water with a little oil. You wash and strain the rice and splosh it into the boiling water. You then watch it with … Continue reading →

Check out this site  – I love it. What is it about the Americans that makes them want to share? In San Francisco, indeed all over the US, you have Craigslist. You can get anything you want at Craigslist’s restaurant. … Continue reading →

So the village where my place of employ is, is called Tancha and it has a long and lovely beach Last Sunday  was beach cleaning day. About 100 volunteers showed up, were issued with special bags and gloves and hit the … Continue reading →

One  surprising facet of Okinawa is the popularity of French bakeries. One of my preconceptions about Japan was that the Japanese did not eat much bread. Not so, it appears. There are three Boulangeries within striking distances of my place. … Continue reading →

I do not know where my liking for fish came from. I do not think I ate very much fish as a child. What I did eat came in the form of fish fingers. There was however an exception -Scotland! … Continue reading →

The learned Geoff Carr points out that living in Japan gives insight into illiteracy.  For the first time in 55 years, I am illiterate. It really cramps your style. Try filling up at a self service gas station. There is … Continue reading →

So this is fun. In Okinawa and I guess in the rest of Japan, a thing you gotta have is an ‘Inkan’. This is your own personal yet official seal. To approve a document,  er like a budget thing at … Continue reading →

I lie on my futon looking out of the huge windows that make up 50% of the wall space in my bedroom. I contemplate the rising sun and wait.  At 7:00 exactly speakers concealed in trees, trash cans, disguised as … Continue reading →

So, as far as sites for a restaurant go, this has to be pretty high on the reckoning. Perched high on a hill in Yomitan, it has an unobstructed view over the East China Sea, which today runs from wine … Continue reading →