Arriving soon questions abound

[greenflash]

I'll be arriving on the island soon and I have a few questions/need advice on some basics. I have a few friends there but it seems like as soon as they got there they disappeared. They're probably just enjoying the life too much to write or call (apparently I've turned into their mother). I thought I'd throw my queries to the learned (ahem) masses here and see what happens.

1. Where to live? I'll be at Futenma and would like to live in a 2/3 br place near the beach. I'm single 30 and have left the partying/drinking days behind. I don't necessarily want to live in a permanent Griswold vacation, but I don't need folks throwing up in the potted plants either. Are there garages or will I need that extra bedroom for the bikes, surfboards, fishing poles, and kayaks? As I understand it they'll basically charge me whatever my housing allowance is, so how do I find a good place? Any suggestions on location?
2. How can I find a good cleaning or laundry service? Any recommendations?
3. How's the fishing?
Thanks in advance for any replies.

[socalheart]

1. Chatan area is good and near Futenma. I don't know if Ginowan has any good beach residences. Tomiya Housing (http://www.tomiyahousing.com/english/index.html) is strong in that area.

2. The JU Classifieds have good listings for cleaning services.

3. Shawncot (http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/member.php?u=387) is the fish guy here. check out his website from his profile page.

[cbodfish]

I am guessing that you are not in the military, correct?

[Sex Wax]

I can store your surfboards for you (as long as they are longboards, and I can use them every now and then, as mine sucks).

:thumbup1:

[Alana]

for housing my DH and i are considering moving off base and i just googled Okinawa Housing and Okinawa Rental. if your military you have to live in approved off base housing and most places can tell you if they are approved or not. the agencys ive looked at are JoyHousing (www.joy-housing.com), Central Housing (www.central-housing.jp/sitemap.html), Koza Housing, (www.kozahousing.jp/) & Tomiya Housing (www.tomiyahousing.com/english/index.htm)

[Asshat]

I have to question the quarters allowance of a single person (Marine?) here though. I don't think a garage and house on the beach are going to be much under 3K per month.

An apartment maybe for 2K, with shared parking, no place for the surfboards, etc.

[OtisPMerriweather]

Well, seeing as how there's not many "beach" houses close to Futenma anyways, the closest he?/she? is going to get is the group of houses in American Village where I live, or the group of houses on the left as you're going into Sunabe. They aren't beach houses, but the seawall is close..Good resource for housing: www.oki-us.com.
If you are a Marine, I wouldn't be in too much of rush. The process, even on accompanied orders, is dreadfully slow. Navy and AF seem to get thru quicker.
If you need a lot of storage space, your best bet might be family housing on Camp Lester, and Sunset beach is only 2 blocks away.

[socalheart]

If you are a Marine, I wouldn't be in too much of rush. The process, even on accompanied orders, is dreadfully slow. Navy and AF seem to get thru quicker.

Really? The guy is 30 years old and probably has a bit of rank on him. Is it an issue even then? I've seen them let younger a/d live off base who are horrible neighbors, as proven by the article/thread about horrible American neighbors. heh.

[Asshat]

Really? The guy is 30 years old and probably has a bit of rank on him. Is it an issue even then? I've seen them let younger a/d live off base who are horrible neighbors, as proven by the article/thread about horrible American neighbors. heh.

Isn't he single?

[socalheart]

uhm... weird laggy repost thing happened... :confused:

[AFuel567]

Check out Tokuzato they have they nicest newest, American friendly stuff on island http://www.tokuzato-hsg.jp/orchidvalley/index.html

[socalheart]

Now that you mention it, Afuel (and hiyas again, sashiburi), Taurus Housing (http://www.taurus-housing.com) is pretty new also and throwing up a bunch of new housing. Their website is completely in Japanese though...

[P_chan]

Sunny's has got some nice houses and it's too bad. But if I could do it again, I'd go with tokuzato.

[greenflash]

From my google earth study of the area things don't look that far mileage wise, I know traffic is a bitch but commutes are the price we pay to live where we want. How is the housing process slow? I'm not applying for base housing since I'm single (officer if that helps clear things up for the on base requirement) and on three year orders. I'm not doubting your experiance but right now I don't know what I don't know about the whole process.
Garages are a luxury we seem to have a affection for in the states but don't often exist in other countries or urbanized areas. I was curious if they are common but it's not a necessity with modern adhesives and storage hooks.
Walking distance to the beach is good enough for me, long board toting distance to a surf spot is much better.
Don't worry, I'm the perfect neighbor. I don't drink, smoke, play any instruments, or have any pets and I'm not home much.

[OtisPMerriweather]

Well, for officers, the process is a lot simpler, since you can deny quarters. Basically, the process is this:

Once you check in to Futenma, you'll go over to the billeting office with your orders (your sponsor should already have a room locked on for you in case you come into the airport late at night.)

As you are checking in, notify the clerk at the desk that you wish to deny quarters and move off-base. They will give you a form called a "Certificate of Non-availability" upon which you will affix your John Hancock and the Billeting Manager will sign it as well. This form tells the housing office it is okay for you to move off base.

go over to the housing office (I prefer the housing office on Kinser as it is not as crowded- Kadena HO deals with everyone else on island and they are really anal about appointment times...you can usually just walk right in at Kinser and get seen the same day.) anyways, get this week's listing, a printout of about 7 or 8 pages. This is important, because going straight to the housing agency, they will sometimes show you homes that have not been inspected yet..this presents a BIG problem later on.

Get the listing and start looking for a house close to the area you want to live- for you, that will be Futenma, Ginowan, Chatan, Sunabe- and in your price range.

There are a lot more steps, but this will get you started. the housing office on Kinser will give you a much more thorough brief. I ran the Futenma Billeting Office for 2 years, so this info is pretty specific to your case. Hope it helps.

[AFuel567]

Now that you mention it, Afuel (and hiyas again, sashiburi), Taurus Housing (http://www.taurus-housing.com) is pretty new also and throwing up a bunch of new housing. Their website is completely in Japanese though...
Hi SoCal,
Taurus is building a lot of new stuff but it mostly appears to be for the Okinawan market where Tokuzato and Joy seem to have cracked the code on American style housing here on Okinawa. But lots of nice new stuff going up all over the place:D and its always fun to do a little window shopping/tire kicking.:D