Ryukyu Travels: Pre Christmas Dinner (Dec 18)

So I heard about this restaurant that is only open for six weeks during the Christmas season. It is called "Happy Dream." We just call it the "Christmas House."

The restaurant is actually a residence of a retired marine and his Okinawan wife.

I designated the day a "Family Fun Day" which always gets greeted with groans and complaints. I offered to have the kids invite friends. "No one wants to have dinner with my parents, mom!" I guaranteed them a GREAT time--and threatened them--so they agreed.

Patrick brought a couple friends, Antinette and Ashley...

Caroline brought her best friends since 2nd grade (they are in 7th now), Veronica.

Mr and Mrs Claus for the evening!

As soon as we arrived, we were all smiles! What a treasure! Not that we are short on Christmas decorations around Okinawa, they love celebrations, so the whole island is lit up. But there was something special about being in someone's home, filled with the Christmas spirit.

The front door to their house/restaurant...

The courtyard was all decorated and Christmas music was playing. Kids from the neighborhood came with the parents to see the lights.

These two are growing up so fast...

You may have noticed that Caroline and Veronica don't have any shoes...
Since this is an Okinawan home, leave your shoes at the front door.

The menu is written in Katakana. Katakana are the characters reserved for adopted words. Japanese words are written in Hiragana or Kanji. Caroline and Veronica are taking Japanese I and were reading the menu for us.

Turns out Bill knows the owner of the home/restaurant. He greeted Bill right away. He retired from the Marines in 1995, then he worked a civil service job in Bill's building before retiring from everything, for good, in July 2011. They chatted for awhile and I walked around and took pictures.