Epic Asia

Our travels started on 12/10 for the US members of the group and the 12Th for the Okinawan crew. We have enjoyed Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Siem Reap and Singapore. We leave today (12/22) on a 5 day cruise which will take us to Phuket (Thailand), Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lots of spicey food, exotic coctails (they make a mean Mojito in Siem Reap) and fantastic people. The elephants in Chiang Mai were great fun and Cambodia is a step back in time. More later.....ENJOY

The New Baby

This is the newest edition to the Westcott household....Her Japanese name is Mike Neko (sounds like Meekay Neck O) which means tortoise shell patterned cat. Her alias is Miss Mike (rhymes with bike,like,hike). Remember Johnny Cash's song "A Boy Named Sue"? This is "A Girl Named Mike". She is very sweet, talkative and cuddly. Sukoshi (Cat #1) is upset and spends most of his time growling and running away from her. She really wants to be his buddy, but will have to wait until cat #1 is ready. Sushi (Cat #2) is still MIA. We think she is either living large with another family or she has gone on to glory. When I went to the stray animal facility to post a sign about Sushi I met and got hooked on Mike. I gave it a few days and went back. I told myself if she was still there she was mine. SCORE...I was talking with Garth about the fact that we could end up with 3 cats if Sushi came back. "Dad will flip", I said. Garth's reply was, "He'll get over it". Good, good boy.......

Family Photo Japanese Style

I have never been one for professional "Olan Mills" style photography. Maybe it's the lack of spontaneity or the atrocious backgrounds, I don't know. As a child I distinctly remember a "Knott Family” photo which included alot of polyester and Dad's permed hair and handlebar mustache. I think it was 1976 because we were all wearing red, white and blue. That said, I have always felt a tad remiss about the lack of professional photography documenting the Westcott Family (circa January 1996). The only "real" pictures we have are our wedding photos which are really a collection of photos taken by friends and family. So.....I decided that we needed to get with the program and we had some photos taken professionally. To jazz it up we decided to do it Japanese style (Ageda Photography on the 330 near Gate 2 street). You wouldn't believe how much clothing goes under a kimono. Heath was cinched so tight he could barely breath and it was a production for me to sit down. It’s a wonder the Geiko and Maiko don’t fall flat on their beautifully painted faces. It would be close to impossible not to dismantle the entire outfit trying to go to the bathroom. Anyway, it was great fun and very worthwhile cultural experience. I would highly recommend this for any family here on Okinawa.

Okuma Weekend

We had a great time at Okuma a few weekends ago. Our friends Meiko and Vivian made it from Portland, OR to Okinawa unscathed and we thought we'd introduce them to northern Okinawa. Okuma is an Air Force military resort on the western side of the island. We have a group of friends on Okinawa that make regular treks to the resort for some down time. We had a group of about 20 adults and 10 children. We had a birthday celebration for three of the kids (Garth, Aspen and Matt) with 2 pinatas, a water balloon toss and pin the tail on the donkey. Tom and Brian (the chefs) cooked up some Kahlua pork and garlic chicken. Stefanie made a birthday cake that looked like a WWE wrestling ring. For the adults there were homemade pina coladas, ample beer and cigars, golf and big time laughs. Fast forward a few days and we finished our week with Meiko and Vivian. They were delayed leaving Okinawa by 1 day due to the issues with the Bangkok protests, but were able to fly to Honk Kong the day after Thanksgiving. We received and email today saying they were routed to U-tapao airport in Pattaya, Thailand and will somehow make it to Chiang Mai to catch up with her mom........What a trip.

Here's Garth......

This is my tribute to Garth......The little baby that was born in 29 Palms, CA on 11/24/97 has just turned 11 years old. His feet are bigger than mine and he is almost as tall as me. When did that happen????? As Garth approaches the Tween-Teen years I am hoping that he can hold on to his humor, his enthusiasm and his big heart. It's not easy being a kid, however, I hope he'll look back on his childhood as being a happy one. Here's to you Garth.....LIVE WELL