JasonKimball.org

As a military member stationed in Okinawa, you here plenty of stories about "Gate 2" street that usually involve late nights and lots of drinking. However, this weekend is all about enjoying music, dancing, and entertainment at the Gate 2 Festival.

Gate 2 will transform into a festival where everyone can enjoy local bands, street dancers, amateur wrestling and more! The main attraction, motorbike parade, where more than 300 motorcycles will rumble through gate 2 street.

Here are some quick photo’s I took on Saturday when my wife and I went out.

You can check out the entire gallery by going to my Okinawa album and selecting Gate 2 Festival.

Driving to work the other day I heard a song on the radio and the band sounded a lot like a band that I have really liked for about five years. I hadn’t heard their music on the radio that often so I wanted to wait and hear who this band that sounded so alike was. To my surprise, it was the band O.A.R. ( Of a Revolution) that I had liked so much over the years.

It turns out that their song ‘Shattered’ was one of the most popular songs in the country. I thought I heard it being used for a college football promo weeks before but wasn’t sure.

Anyways, I got their new album, "All Sides " and I really like it.

The video below is of their new song Shattered. Enjoy!

From the moment I landed on Okinawa I heard stories of different houses and areas that were haunted by ghosts. One of the most popular ghost spots is at the Royal Hotel near Nakagusuku castle ruins in Nakagusuku village.

The story behind the haunted Royal Hotel is a Naha businessman decided to build a luxury hotel on the hillside of Nakagusuku castle. The major problem was there were no blueprints when the building began.

Many villagers warned the businessman that the grounds were sacred, but he ignored all the warnings and continued to build. The man spent millions of dollars trying to build the perfect hotel. Warnings about the hotel being close to sacred land and restless spirits continued to be ignored.

Some of the workers left after hearing the warnings, and many others left the hotel only after several workers died in construction accidents.

Eventually the businessman lost all his money and went bankrupt. It has been said that the businessman went insane shortly after the failure of his hotel.

The hotel was left unfinished. There are many stairs that lead to nothing throughout the entire hotel. I didn’t experience anything strange, but the hotel does give off a weird vibe.

You can read more about this story and many other Okinawan ghost stories from the book, “The Ghosts of Okinawa” .

Here are some of the pictures I took when I went there with my wife and friend Ashley.

How to get there

From Camp Fosters legion gate, go straight through the first light and follow the signs leading towards Nakagusuku for about 1 kilometer where you will take a right. After making the right turn you will follow the signs straight all the way until you reach Nakagusuku on your right side. I went through the castle ruins and then onto a paved road that led to the hotel.

Another day of venturing around the island led us to the Nakagusuku castle ruins located in Kita-Nakagusuku Village. I set a goal when I first arrived here on Okinawa to visit all of the major castle ruins before I left and this just happened to be one that never got checked off.

I thought that Nakagusuku castle would be like many of the other castle ruins that I have visited so far. However, Nakagusuku seems very large in comparison to some of the other castle on the island. It consists of six enclosures and two main gates that offer a great view of the Nakagusuku Bay and Pacific Ocean.

Nakagusuku is believed to be the home of the famous Ryukyuan commander, Gosamaru. Here Gosamaru used the castle to defend against attacks from Lord Amawari of Katsuren castle .

More importantly, Nakagusuku Castle has been recognized as one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Helpful Information

Hours: Open daily 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (until 6:00 p.m. from June – September)

Entrance fee:

Tel: (098)935-5719

How to get there

From Camp Fosters legion gate, go straight through the first light and follow the signs for about 1 kilometer where you take a right. After making the right turn you will follow the signs straight all the way until you reach Nakagusuku on your right side.

I like to think that in my two years of living on Okinawa I have ventured around and seen tons of what Okinawa has to offer. I suppose my restaurant/culinary skills are lacking because I was completely unaware that a great little Italian restaurant was right down the road.

It was not until after posting a question in a Okinawa hai forum about favorite restaurants that I soon realized about the Rose Garden restaurant and their wonderful breakfast.

We strolled into the busy Rose Garden parking lot at around 9:45 a.m. hoping to get a one of a kind breakfast experience that everyone else raved about.

The first thing I noticed when we walked inside was the hometown diner feel that it gave off. Being from a small town, I really like the small diner/rustic atmosphere it oozed.

Their menu has plenty of great dishes that are all offered at reasonable prices. I personally decided to with the rib-eye steak and eggs breakfast that was about ¥1400. The steak was cooked perfect and so were the eggs. I usually don’t order steak for breakfast, but this selection really delivered. I would even say that it offered enough food for even a "hungry man". My wife and Ashley decided on french toast, bacon, eggs, and home fries meal which was around ¥900. The bacon looked like enormous slabs on meat ready to be eaten by an entire army. Ashely thought her french toast was a little more on the toasty side. But I think she still ate it all!

What I really enjoyed most about the Rose Garden was their coffee and the freshness of everything served on the plate. I believe their coffee is made from %100 arabica coffee beans. I am not a fancy coffee drinker, but I really enjoyed their coffee a lot.

We were almost out the door when the ladies noticed different jams and spreads being sold next to the register. The cashier said they were imported from Denmark or Holland. I hope they taste as good as they look.

I really looked forward to going back to the Rose Garden and trying one of their omelets. I noticed one as we were leaving and it looked mammoth.

If you live near Foster/Kadena and are looking for a new spot to try out, check out The Rose Garden restaurant.

Helpful Information

Hours/Phone

Everyday : 8:00 A.M. – Midnight (Last order at 11:00 P.M.)

Phone: 098 932-2800

Location/Directions

Directions:

From Kadena gate 2, go to 330 and turn right. Straight shot approximately 5 Km passing Awase Golf course on your left. Down the hill A&W on you left side The Rose Garden is just prior to crossing under the large Okinawa Expressway overpass.

From Camp Foster exit out the Legion or PX gate turn left. Straight shot approximately 2 Km passing McDonald’s on the right then coming up to the large Okinawa Expressway, The Rose Garden is on the right side. You need to go to the first light and make a U turn then back to The Rose Garden on the left.

He was told that he needed to accessorize!

It seems like every other weekend I find out about another fantastic festival of some kind happening on the island. This really gives me a chance to get out and enjoy the culture and take some pictures too!

This weekend I headed back down to Naha’s Kokusai street with my wife and sister for the Royal Procession. The Royal Procession is a parade of all volunteers that want to showcase what Okinawa was like during the time of the ancient kingdom. Members dress in colorful outfits and perform numerous dances.

Click to enlarge

You can find all of the pictures taken throughout the day by checking out my Okinawa Photos section and selecting the Royal Procession album.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

For the few people that come and visit my website on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, you may have noticed that the design has changed.

I found a really great theme named Evolution created by the crew over at bloggingtips.com. If you are interested you can check out there site and also the Evolution theme itself and see if it is what you have been looking for.

The Evolution theme offers some really great features that you would only find in premium WordPress themes. The great thing is that this theme is absolutely free.

Let me know what you like or dislike about the new look of JasonKimball.org. If you have any suggestions, leave a comment and let me know what you would do differently.