An Okinawa Favorite

New Toes!

Ask any woman living in Okinawa what one of her favorite things about living here is, and topping the list would be "Going to Cocoks! (for you trivia people, cocok is Indonesian for "harmony") I will forever remain grateful to Rebecca for introducing me to this wonderful place (thanks Rebecca!) For you non Okinawa folks, Cocoks is the local nail/spa/salon. For 3990 Yen (roughly $40) you can go have your feet soaked, filed, rubbed, and pampered (it feels so GOOD when they wrap your feet in those hot towels!). You also get a leg and foot massage with scented oil of your choice. While you relax in the big comfy recliners drinking delicious iced tea, you browse through books of artwork trying to decide what artwork you want the lovely ladies to paint on your toes. They call it "Toe Art"- and Art it truely is! The choices seem endless. It's absolutely amazing what they can paint- flowers, beach scenes, shisia, holiday themed artwork (including shamrocks, candy canes and pumpkins), abstract designs, Hello Kitty....it's so hard to decide! There are close to 100 pages of designs- and LOTS of designs on each page. And the colors! Reds, pinks, purples, oranges, greens, white, blues, gold, silver, black...between the designs and the colors the choices just boggle my mind (granted, that isn't hard to do).

Rebecca and I went on Friday- we waited until May 1st so we could take advantage of the 20% off they offer during your birthday month (and then we almost forgot to ask for the discount!). We had such a great time relaxing, drinking tea (lots and lots of tea....which meant by the time we left we really really had to go pee!). The ladies who work there are amazing- they work with tiny little paint brushes and put incredibly detailed designs on even the tinniest toes. On the design I choose, they even blended the nail polish (I didn't know you could even do that!). On Jena's latest design (picture to the left), she said the put glitter on- one flake at a time. I had a terrible time deciding on a design...when they last for a month or so it is a big commitment! A lot of the designs I would enjoy for a week or two...but a month? Maybe not...

The picture below is the first design I had done. I loved the gold accents. After pulling up the photo I realized I these done in mid February...and they removed the last of the design when I went in (so they were on my toes for over 2 months!).

So here's to Cocok's- a place I will continue to enjoy during our time here...and maybe I will be brave enough in the future to try a really funky design!

You can check here for more photos of Cocok's toes... Cocok's on Okinawa Hai