The 100 Yen Store

I've discovered the 100 yen store - there is one about 1 mile away from me! - and they just have the COOLEST stuff there! For those of you who aren't hip to the yen rate - it is currently about 120 yen to the dollar - so everything is about oh um I dunno - but it's less than a dollar, that's for sure LOL!

First, we have bento supplies -
which is just a cute name for styrofoam containers for carrying your lunch - but they're adorable! Check out the little fish shaped containers (at the bottom left of the picture) with the red lids - those are to put soy sauce in - tres clever! :o)

aren't these cardboard baking pans adorable? I haven't tried them out yet - but will be sure to post my reactions once I do! I know that some of the muffins we've bought from local bakeries are baked in these - and I just love the idea of disposable baking pans that are functional yet pretty!

How about these AWESOME erasers?!? I've never seen such cute erasers in my life - and a lot of them are actually scented - like pineapple, or apple, banana, or strawberry! There are clay erasers, critter erasers, Hello Kitty erasers, fruit and sushi and vegetable erasers, and even decadent little dessert erasers! Some of the erasers are even little "puzzles" that you can take apart and (hopefully) put back together - I love Japanese office/school supplies!

Real live tawashi - Japanese scrubbing brushes - I've even found some of the crochet pattern books for tawashi, but I'll talk about that at a later time! These brushes are very cute, but I haven't opened any of them up and used them yet - mainly because they're so cute I don't want to ruin them - but it really is the Japanese way to use these brushes to clean - WITHOUT cleansers or soaps - because the chemicals are not good for the land!

yes - I found yarn and needles at the 100 yen store - the yarn only comes in white, black, and beige, and the needles only come in size 6 - but they are bamboo needles and are actually quite nice - way better than I would have expected for 100 yen! The yarn is antibacterial yarn - which is what the tawashi pattern books call for - so I shall have to get some deciphering done and make up some tawashi!

I'm really not sure what my plan is for this plastic cherry garland - but it's just kitschy enough to be something I would use in my kitchen somehow, so we shall see!

I really didn't need this little wire "bascket" but found the spelling so charming that I just HAD to buy it!

Where the heck have I been?

Busy busy busy - but we are finally settling into our new home in Okinawa Japan! It's VERY hot here, and humid, and it rains just about every single day - but I love it! There are so many new sights and smells and sounds - it's just awesome!
We've seen gigantic flies - well, ONE gigantic fly, and it was dead, but after I tell you how big it was - you'll understand when I say - I'm kinda HAPPY it was dead when I found it!!! It measured approximately 4 inches from wingtip to wingtip, and was approximately 4 inches long - a FLY!!!!! It was crazy to see all of it's bazillion eyes - so big!!! EEEEWWWWW!
There are also LOTS of snails here, most of them seem to be your regular cute little snails - but THESE ones are gigantic - and they make a horrible scary sucking squiching noise when you touch them - shudder - but I still like 'em of course LOL! Ginger (the dog) thinks they're TOYS, until she gets close and they retreat, VERY noisily, into their shells - then she turns tail and runs haha!
Lizards are also running rampant around here - at night you can hear them making their little "chucka chucka chucka" noises - if you don't know what I'm talking about - they puff out their necks and make a kinda squawky noise - hmmmm - maybe I should make a sound bite and insert it in here LOL! Geckos are good luck though - so we all LIKE them - oh yeah - except for Tim who came walking, VERY rapidly, outta the shower the first night we were here. HUGE EYES. Trying to sound calm. "There's a gigantic lizard in the shower". I laughed, and he said, "is he gonna BITE me?" - of course, I had to laugh again LMAO! Mr. big bad Marine, veteran of wars and racetracks - scared of a little lizard! OK, in all fairness, it wasn't THA