都市下検分 (Urban Reconnaissance)
I had time to kill in Ginowan between classes, so I did a little walking around the the area surrounding Global Village.
I've always found it interesting how the Japanese separate themselves from the rest of Asia. A long ass time ago someone I knew mentioned they wanted to travel to Asia, and when I told them they were already in Asia they gave me a weird look like they'd just smelled a fart. It's not like Japan is radically different from the countries occupying "mainland" Asia. In fact, much of Japanese culture was hijacked from it's neighbors to the east, especially China since the original Japanese founders wanted to emulate the country (how ironic).
Anyway...I want to stop in this restaurant one day, more for the Vietnamese food than for the Thai food. Cafe Kurukuma's already got Thai covered in my eyes, but Vietnamese food is something I haven't had a chance to get my taste buds on.
I used to collect toys up until I was like...19 or something, mostly action figures based off of comic books (Spawn), video games (Street Fighter 2, Final Fantasy VIII), and anime (Trigun, Gundam Wing), but this store is definitely for the hardest of the hardcore. I don't think they sell toys so much as they do models that you have to hand assemble and paint yourself. There are all sorts of magazines dedicated to this, but I don't have the patience to sit in my living room making tiny ass pieces of plastic look perfectly battle damaged.
Churches: the surest sign that you're not too far from a military base (or two). Global Village happens to be between both Camp Lester and MCAS Futenma.
Another sign that you're near a base: Latin jazz bars.
I wonder if dudes who play the sanshin get as much ass as dudes who play the guitar?