Okinawa…
It was amazing. Beautiful, relaxing, fun and just really really nice. I had a great time! And so did Shumpei! I can not wait to go back to Okinawa!!
We have lots of photos, altogether over 200 I think, but for a bit of a preview of our trip see my flickr album here. Be warned, lots of photos of me without makeup and also lots of photos of water and trees and Shisa’s (Or Seaser’s…depending on how you like to spell it…basically a lion dog that keeps away bad spirits or demons in Okinawa and is actually part of their religious beliefs)
The early flight was a bit of a killer but the flight went well and we soon had our little rental car and were on our way to our hotel. Which was bloody awesome!!! It was on a cliff overlooking the ocean and was about an hour and a half from the airport up near NAGO for those who know the area.
First two days were spent just lounging around, reading my book while Shumpei tanned (and I took cover under giant umbrellas and extra sunscreen!). We also spent a whole day at the beach pretty much on the second day, at Manza Beach (You have to pay to go to beaches in Okinawa for some reason, I haven’t quite figured out how they manage to do that but it seems the way with most of them…can anyone tell me why?) which had cool floaty things that you could lounge around on while in the ocean. The food was great and I enjoyed quite a few tropical cocktails!!!
The third day we got up early, ate breakfast and headed back towards Naha, stopping at Nakamura House and Nakagusuku Castle ruins before going on into Naha. Our handy little car computer GPS told us the way. Nakamura House was really cool actually. It is the typical style house from the early 1700’s but used housing styles from way earlier and while it has obviously been restored it was still really cool to see all the tatami and cool trinkets! My apartment now does not have tatami but it makes me want to have it in our next place…When I was living at Shumpei’s house approximately half the rooms were Tatami and I always love it when we go back there.
Back in Naha we did our souvenir shopping, saw lots of goya and cupie dolls!!! Oh and pineapple lollies, biscuits, chips, anything pineapple! Here are a couple of photos from the trip! One of Okinawa’s biggest attractions is Shuri-jo (Shuri castle) so while Shumpei had visited it before we went to have a bit of a look. I could not beleive how many kids from Tokyo and Osaka that were on school trips to Okinawa. Shuri-jo was also pretty cool and while also restored (like most things after the Battle of Okinawa) I am lead to beleive they did a pretty good job of it. The gardens surrounding and the gate leading into the park were also really cool. I am a sucker for gates (mon’s)!
I think my explanation of everything is a little dull but check out some of the photos and see for youself. It is a shame I did not do the place justice. Can’t wait to go back again!!!
Lots of Wikipedia links for you history buffs. I learnt a lot while I was there but can not explain it very eloquently (or probably correctly!) and plus I have discovered a new found love of Wikipedia. Any questions, please ask and while I can’t be sure to know the answer I probably will know a Wikipedia link!
Popularity: 5% [?]
