Tonto Is Alive and Well and Living In Okinawa

It was like stepping into a time machine and going back two decades.  We had lunch at Marunaka Teishoku, a teishoku being a set meal.  Usually a meat or seafood entree served with rice, a noodle or seaweed salad, and soup.  It was my favorite restaurant when living in Okinawa in the 90's, and it's still alive and well.
No place I have ever eaten has done it better than this place.  So yesterday was a special meal and I felt as if it were Christmas, my birthday, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one fantastic day.  The same pictures in the restaurant still adorn the wall, the same waitress still took our order, and the same cook can still be seen behind the counter hard at work ensuring that our order would be perfection...and it was.  They say that you can tell the quality of the meal by the silence at the dining table.  Needless to say few words were spoken, only an occasional slurp or the sound of a pair of chopsticks was heard, and then it was over.  Time to move on, too many castles to visit, too many people to catch up with.  
On our way back to the house we passed strange but impressive small vehicles with odd names.  You don't see these cars in the United States.  Small, utilitarian, efficient with names like Parsley, Jesus, We've, Jimny, and even Tonto.  I wanted to roll the window down and ask the driver if he had seen the Lone Ranger, but I just smiled and waved.  He would have probably called me the Japanese equivalent of Kemo Sabe, and I still don't know what that means.
Before stopping at home we pulled up to a Family Mart, the Okinawan equivalent of a 7-11 and purchased a bottle of Shikwasa, which is also known as the Hirami lemon.  It's native to Okinawa and just delicious.  It has a taste similar to the tangerine, but also has it's own unique flavor.
All in all it was a lovely day, and I finally caught up on my sleep last night, sleeping 12 hours, and now it's 6 a.m. Saturday morning.   I have already started the day with a cup of coffee, a piece of mochi with strawberry and azuki filling, and a piece of funny looking Japanese swirl cake.  I promise to eat well, and write more tomorrow.  Until then, I must find my mask and be off  "Hi-yo Silver...away!"