2022 June List | 2022 六月清單

We bid farewell to Okinawa. I’m grateful for our friends who threw us a going away party, and even sent us off at the airport. Three years in Okinawa flew by, and we made so many great friends here that made our life in Okinawa eventful! We’ve been back in California for 3 weeks now, and the sun here hasn’t been very kind, almost making me miss the cool rainy days during our last few weeks in Okinawa.

我們離開沖繩了！謝謝朋友們對我們這麼好，不但幫我們辦歡送會，還來機場送我們。回憶起在沖繩的這三年，能在沖繩認識這麼多好朋友，讓我們的生活過的精彩！我們現在搬來加州，這裡的太陽對我們實在很不客氣！突然有點想念離開沖繩前一直下雨的日子。

Little Lapin | Lapin 小車

Selling my beloved Lapin really hit me that we were actually leaving Okinawa. When we first moved here, I immediately fell in love with the look of Lapin! The resale value on my car was great too! We got numerous interested buyers moments after we posted it online. Thank you for serving us so well the last three years, going everywhere in Okinawa with us, and letting us find precious parking spots along the Seawall. I love you and will miss you dearly Lapin!

哎，真的是要和沖繩說再見了。賣掉我的沖繩愛車那剎那，好心疼！到沖繩時，我一看到這台Lapin小車，立刻愛上！轉賣價錢也非常優秀，我們放上網賣車時，竟然出乎意料的收到一堆訊息。謝謝Lapin小車對我們這麼好，帶我們整個沖繩跑透透，還能在好擁擠的Seawall能找到車位。我愛你，Lapin小車！

TJ Tacos

802 E Valley Pkwy, Escondido, CA 92025
http://www.tj-tacos.com/

Every time we arrive in San Diego, the first meal is always Mexican food! If you’ve never had tacos in San Diego, you’ve never been to San Diego. The tacos here are Baja California style, my favorite type of Mexican food. In Northern San Diego, our go-to is TJ Tacos. Here you will find grilled tortilla overstuffed with meat, cilantro, and drenched in salsa; getting your hands dirty and making a mess is the respectful thing to do. Horchata and soda are perfect companions for your tacos. Our favorite meats are: carne asada, adobada, and langua.

每次回來聖地牙哥，第一站絕對是吃墨西哥食物！來San Diego沒吃tacos就等於沒來過！這裡的tacos大部分是Baja style，也是我們最愛的墨西哥食物之一。北邊聖地牙哥，我們的最愛絕對是TJ Tacos滿滿的肉和醬汁把手弄的油膩膩是吃tacos的基本禮儀（哈哈哈），horchata和汽水是必點飲料。我們每次會點的肉類：asada, adobada, lengua.

Joe’s Crab Shack

314 Harbor Dr, Oceanside, CA 92054
http://www.joescrabshack.com/locations/10159/

After eating king crabs in Hokkaido, we continue to eat crabs here in the US. Not as juicy and tender as in Japan, but the Old Bay seasoning is mouth watering enough. Outside of the restaurant is a harbor lined with sailboats and yachts. Taking a leisurely stroll along the piers and soaking in the Vitamin D from California sunshine is a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Be sure to put on adequate sunscreen!

在日本吃螃蟹，回來美國繼續吃螃蟹！雖然不像日本這麼鮮嫩多汁，但吃到old bay口味的海鮮煮法還是讓我們流口水。餐廳外面排著滿滿的帆船，吃飽後在附近走走享受加州陽光（記得擦防曬），舒服極了。

Shancheng Lameizi Hot Pot | 山城辣妹子

4225 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111
http://www.shanchenglameizi.com/

Convoy Street is the Asian kitchen of San Diego. I used to come here with my upperclassmen when I was in college here. This time, we came with our family to challenge the spicy hot pot, but we were left defeated, by even the least spicy level. There is an all-you-can-eat dessert bar for you to rest your overworked palette before you get back into the fight. The purple rice porridge is definitely my favorite!

聖地牙哥的Convoy St.聚集一堆亞洲美食，我在大學時學長學姊常帶我們來這裡覓食。這次和家人來吃麻辣火鍋，竟然被小辣打敗！在山城辣妹子，中場休息時有無限甜點解辣，紫米粥絕對是最吸引我的部分！

One Day in Sapporo | 札幌一日遊

（中文翻譯請往下滑）

Other than its namesake beer, Sapporo is also known for its Snow Festival, but this year it remains discontinued due to the pandemic. We were thus forced to cancel our plan to attend the Sapporo Snow Festival at the beginning of the year. But this time before we left Hokkaido, we decided to do a day trip in Sapporo.

Public Transportation

The express bus from New Chitose Airport to Sapporo downtown takes about 40 minutes. You can purchase the tickets inside the airport and then wait by the bus stop, the cost is less than 2000 yen per person, very cost efficient.

Accommodation

すすきのグランベルホテル
https://www.granbellhotel.jp/susukino/

What a delight to sleep in such a comfortable bed after our campervan trip! UN and I highly recommend this hotel. Very reasonably priced, the hotel room is spacious enough to let us spread open all of our luggages, and best of all, there is an onsen built in on the top floor of the hotel. UN and I both agree that you get a lot of bang for your buck at this hotel!

Restaurants and Sightseeings

We may have been too amazed by the comfort of our hotel room that we ended up not having enough time to check out Hokkaido University and Hokkaido Jingu, I guess we will have to save these for the next time. But as always, food crawl is something that we never miss. First time trying soup curry, big thumbs up! At first we thought soup curry was just curry with water added to make it soupy, but how gravely mistaken were we! UN and I were pleasantly surprised by the richness of the broth and the sweetness of the various Hokkaido-grown root vegetables. We tried a few soup curry places, and picked out our favorite two.

Suage+

The first soup curry place that we tried was vegetable soup curry. The recommended spice level is 3, just mildly spicy, but still enjoyable. They also sell their own curry packets so that you can enjoy soup curry at the comfort of your own home.

Soup Curry GARAKU

Our friends A&W recommended this place to us, and it turned out to be our favorite soup curry place. But the level 3 spice here does not translate to the level 3 spice elsewhere. We felt like our whole mouth was on fire and could hardly speak. The four young college kids next to us were all sweating profusely. Highly recommend that you order a lasi on the side to tame that spice level! I imagine this soup curry warming up your entire body in the cold Hokkaido winter. We too ordered vegetable soup curry here, expecting the broth to taste somewhat similar, but it's actually prepared with different spices and tasted differently.

牛たん焼き仙台・辺見

Don’t hesitate and just order the thick sliced beef tongue! Some scallion, a pinch of salt, and a drizzle of freshly squeezed lemon juice dressing the thick slab of beef tongue, and the crunchy sound as this symphony of umami fills your palate, will leave you wishing you had ordered more!

Hokkaido Soft Serve

Even in May, Hokkaido still feels chilly, roughly 40F. Still you see many people wearing sweaters or puffer jackets while enjoying Hokkaido soft serve. Almost any place that you go to is going to be good. No need to search for the best one, if you see one, just get it!

New Chitose Ramen Street: Shio Ramen

We thought shio (salt) ramen would be very salty, but boy were we wrong! The broth flavor is well balanced, not too greasy, and not too plain either. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to eat Hokkaido ramen in Sapporo city, but thankfully there is a whole ramen dojo inside New Chitose Airport. This place houses 10 of the highly popular Hokkaido ramen restaurants, allowing last-minute travelers the opportunity to savor Hokkaido shio ramen before their flights.

Sapporo TV Tower

The night view from up here is just average, not much to see tbh. Would not recommend, can skip.

Sapporo Clock Tower

Built in 1878, Sapporo Clock Tower tells the story of Western influence on Sapporo. We planned on touring the inside, but overslept (surprise, surprise!) So after dinner, we could only walk along the outside of the tower. But even then, it was still beautiful. At night, there were many photographers with their tripods set up in front of the beautifully-lit clock tower.

Part of our original plan was to get up early to visit Nijo Market. But we slept in till the last minute, and only had time to rush to the airport. We saved some sites for our next Sapporo trip. Sapporo one day trip - checked!

札幌除了啤酒超有名，每年的雪季也是揚名內外，很可惜今年因疫情札幌雪季繼續無法進行。原本年初想來札幌雪季的我們也只好取消行程，但我們這次趁離開北海道前，決定來個札幌一日遊。

交通工具

從新千歲空港到札幌市中心有快捷巴士，大約40分鐘就能到市區。先在站牌附近（機場內）買好車票，一人不到2000日幣，快速又方便。

住宿

すすきのグランベルホテル
https://goo.gl/maps/eMahwAcK4Gvifznx7

結束露營車後能睡到這麼舒服的床，我和UN大推薦這家飯店，價錢合理、房間夠大讓我們把大行李箱打開，頂樓還有很完善且有設計感的溫泉澡堂。我和UN入住後都覺得這價錢和設備實在是太不可思議了！

餐廳和景點

由於我們到房間後倒頭就睡，只能把北海道大學和北海道神宮留到下次。依照一貫作風，我們還是以吃為主。第一次吃到湯咖哩，好吃耶！以字面來看，原以為湯咖哩就是把咖哩煮太稀，但竟然湯頭非常香濃，且配上滿滿的北海道爆甜根莖類蔬菜，我和UN都對這湯咖哩稱讚不已。試了幾家湯咖哩店，我們選出最愛的兩家店。

Suage+

第一家嘗試的湯咖哩店，我們選的是野菜口味，三號辣度是店家推薦的，不會過辣，吃得非常舒服。店家也有賣湯咖哩包，能在家裡享用。

Soup Curry GARAKU

好友A&W推薦的湯咖哩店，也是我們比較下來最喜歡的一家，但店家推薦的三號辣度未免也太辣了吧！辣到我和UN講不出話來，隔壁四位壯漢也被這辣到汗流浹背，絕對要點一杯lasi滅火！冬天來吃應該非常暖身吧！這家我們也點野菜口味，原以為這些湯咖哩店味道會大同小異，但不只香料味不同，湯的口感也不一樣。

牛たん焼き仙台

進店後別猶豫，直接點厚片牛舌！鹽蔥加點檸檬汁配上肥厚適中的厚牛舌片，清爽的咀嚼感，你絕對會想再多點一盤！

北海道冰淇淋

五月的北海道體感溫度約華氏40幾度，但我們還是要穿發熱衣吃超濃郁冰淇淋。這裡的冰淇淋隨便一家都好好吃，絕對不需查人氣排行，看到就吃就對了。

北海道拉麵道場：鹽味拉麵

原先以為鹽味拉麵會非常死鹹，但完全大錯特錯！高湯味十足，湯頭不油膩，也不會過於清淡。由於時間關係，我們沒機會在札幌市區吃到拉麵。如果你也和我們一樣沒吃到拉麵（別哭），新千歲機場有北海道拉麵道場，結合北海道超有名的十家拉麵店，讓旅客們在最後一秒還是能吃到超美味的北海道鹽味拉麵。

Sapporo TV Tower

這夜景有點普通，能看夜景的範圍也不大，不是特別推薦的一個景點。

Sapporo Clock Tower

門票200日幣。建於1878年，詮釋北海道首都札幌充滿外國和日本歷史文化結合。原先計畫進去參觀，但我們睡過頭（不意外）！晚上吃飽飯後在外面參觀，許多專業攝影師架好腳架拍攝。

原本我倆想起個大早去二條市場，但睡到最後一秒才起床，只能梳理後直接去機場。留了幾個景點好讓我們有機會能再來札幌一趟，札幌一日遊完畢！

2022 April-May List

2022 April

April was so eventful! There was Easter Sunday, Staycation with friends, friend’s birthday party, and UN returning from Philippines. UN was gone for more than half of the month, but my friends kept me occupied. To be honest, I’m still in denial that we are leaving Okinawa. It wasn’t until UN scheduled our household goods move that I finally came to terms with the reality that we need to start packing.

復活節、和朋友Staycation、朋友生日、UN從菲律賓回來，雖然四月有一大半UN都不在，但感謝朋友們讓我生活不孤單。老實說我還是無法接受我們要搬離開沖繩，一直呈現選擇性失憶狀態，直到UN把我們的搬家日期訂好。好吧，開始收拾家裡了！

Staycation at Kafuu | 沖繩度假

Kafuu Resort Fuchaku Condo Hotel
https://goo.gl/maps/GYgkMgV91Qwh3PWMA

We finally went on a staycation before the big move! Kafuu’s rooms were huge, and every room had an ocean view, great for families! For dinner, we went to a nearby Tapenyaki place. The next morning, we took a stroll around town and did some shopping at local gift shops. We also went to Halekulani to buy the limited time only Leonard’s Bakery Hawaiian donuts!

我們終於在大家搬家前一起來個staycation！Kafuu的房間有夠大，每間房間都有海景，很適合全家來沖繩住。我們晚上到附近餐廳吃鐵板燒，隔天到附近的一些小店逛，還到Halekulani買限時的Leonard's Bakery夏威夷甜甜圈（超好吃！）

One of my favorite photos!

Lunch before our staycation

Visit our friend before we head to Kafuu

Arrived at Kafuu Resort

Boat ride experience at Halekulani

Leonard’s in Okinawa!!!

Ryukyu Kings Basketball Game | 琉球國王隊

https://goldenkings.jp

Can you believe it?! Loud cheering was prohibited due to the pandemic! Cheering was replaced by applause. This game was between Ryukyu Golden Kings and Shiga Lakestars. The game was very intense in the beginning, but in the second half Ryukyu Golden Kings pulled away. With their winning record, it was no surprise that Ryukyu Golden Kings won this one! A big thank you to the Okinawa Taiwan Association for treating us to this game!

什麼！因疫情關係，竟然大聲歡呼是禁止的，完全用掌聲代表一切。這場比賽是沖繩琉球和滋賀對打，一開始比數激烈，但第二節下半沖繩隊開始把比分拉開。幾乎沒輸過的琉球隊當然也是贏了這場比賽啦！謝謝琉球台灣協會讓我們免費看賽！

Easter Lunch | 復活節午餐

Happy Easter! Every Easter was packed with activities, and this year was no different! After church, we went to an Easter potluck at our friend’s place, surrounded by so many good friends and so much good food! I even got to meet a one-week old baby at the potluck!

復活節快樂！每年復活節一定是行程滿滿，今年也不意外！教會結束後就到朋友家開吃，超多朋友聚再一起，還有剛出生不到一個禮拜的小寶寶一起參加！

Kana-Gushi | 金串

金串 KANA-GUSHI
https://goo.gl/maps/Fw7cVzbNK3Aftbjn9

Happy birthday to E! It has been so long since I’ve had Sichuan dishes. The food was so spicy that I couldn’t talk. But I love the taste so much! If you are craving for Sichuan dishes, you must try this place!

生日快樂朋友E！太久沒吃川菜，辣到一度我講不出話來，但有夠想念這味道！在沖繩想吃川菜，這裡絕對會滿足你！

Mamma Lella Pasta & Pizza | 約會日

Mamma Lella Pasta & Pizza
https://g.page/mamma-lella-pasta-pizza?share

Every time UN and I drive by this place on our way up to Yanbaru, we talk about dining here. After almost three years, we finally made a reservation and came! This place is quite cozy and the atmosphere is perfect for date night! Love their pizza! The dough is on point!

我和UN每次經過都說絕對要來這家用餐，說了快三年，我們終於來了！比薩餅皮非常Q彈，小小一家餐廳非常有氣氛，生意也非常好，絕對適合約會日來。

2022 May

In May we went on a road trip in Mainland Japan with our friends. There were too many LOL moments that I will need to write a separate post to document that trip!

五月和好朋友們一起到本島玩，搞笑事實在太多了，我一定會寫一篇文章來紀錄我們的旅行！

PCS Packing | 搬家

(Previous PCS experience: New York and Virginia) Soon after we returned from our Mainland trip, we switched into moving mode. As the Japanese movers were packing, UN and I felt a rush of sadness. Okinawa is not only the place that we have lived together the longest since we got married, we really love it here. I’m extremely grateful for this million-dollar balcony view that we get to enjoy. 

I can’t sing enough praises for the Japanese movers! They were efficient and careful. The entire team packed up and moved everything onto the truck within 4 hours! But I had a huge scare because soon after they shut the crates, I realized that I was missing my wedding and engagement rings! When I told the movers, they carefully opened back up the crate and knew exactly which box the rings were in. Talk about great customer service!

（之前搬家經驗：紐約、維吉尼亞）從本島回來後，我們立刻進入搬家狀態。搬家人員到家收拾時，我和UN突然一擁而上的不捨。沖繩不但是我們結婚後住最久的地方，我們也很喜歡這裡，尤其陽台美景讓我們每次看到都覺得很感恩，被我稱為億萬美景。

這次搬家，一定要大稱讚日本搬家公司！整齊快速又乾淨，完全不拖泥帶水的打包過程，竟然4小時內全部打包乾淨！結束時，我鬧了一個大包，我忘了把婚戒和訂婚戒收起來（開始搬家前美軍特別派人來提醒我們要把重要文件和物品收好）。發現時，搬家工人小心翼翼打開準備空運的木箱子。日本搬家工人真的很細心，完全記得東西擺放位置，非常有效率地找到我的戒指。太謝謝了！！！！！

Graduation Party | 畢業派對

Neighborhood AG Church
https://goo.gl/maps/j6aXGdhaJtRtZHpv8

UN and I serve as the youth group leaders at our church, ministering to middle and high school students. What joy it is to celebrate the graduates of 2022! It was definitely not easy for them as they spent the last almost three years either doing virtual learning through a computer screen, or wearing a mask for more than 7 hours a day in class. But they did it! Congratulations are in order!

我和UN在沖繩教會負責國高中部門，好為這些畢業生開心。經歷了COVID天天戴口罩上課和將近一年無法到校上課，真的是辛苦大家了。

Last Dive | 最後一潛

This was UN’s last dive in Okinawa before we move! When we first moved here, UN signed us up for scuba diving lessons within the first week. I nearly gave up halfway through the class. Looking back, UN made the right call to push me to get certified. We were able to dive in Phuket and other remote islands around Okinawa. Every dive was memorable in its own way. UN always says that I am a better diver than him, and I would have to concur, haha.

UN離開沖繩的最後一潛！想起我們剛搬來沖繩時，UN第一週就幫我倆報名潛水課程，上課過程一度差點放棄。回頭看，UN這決定絕對是對的，後來我們到泰國和沖繩離島潛水。每次潛水都超好玩，也超開心。套一句UN常說的話：你比我潛的更好。（我也這麼覺得，哈哈哈！）

Diving at Seawall