Okinawa Baby!

For those of you that may not know, I went to Okinawa during my spring break here in Japan. I went with two of my good friends here: John and Jill. Japan Airlines has this sweet deal with birthdays, so because it was John's birthday on April 3rd, we all got tickets for roughly $200. So, here's what happened.

MARCH 31st
A Friday. John and Jill arrive at my place around 8ish. They decided they would spend the night since we had to be up at 6:00am to head out to the airport. When they arrived, I presented them each with a present. You see, I had been helping clean out one of the school locker rooms and found three old volleyball uniforms. I was lucky enough to be able to nab them, since they were just going to throw them out. My vice principle's only stipulation was that I couldn't wear them around here. Okay, fine. But Okinawa is a long way away and certainly no one that would know us would be there. So, I showed them the goods, and they loved them. Of course we were so excited that we all had to try them on and take pictures. We didn't get to bed so early after all.









APRIL 1st
We started the day off right the next morning by not leaving on time. This may have had something to do with me, but I think I'm going to blame Jill and John too. We left my house around 6:50 and our flight left at 8:30. It takes a little over a hour to get there, so I figured we would still be okay. Well, half way there, I realized that long term parking is a 10 minute bus ride from the international terminal. So, when we got there, we had to park in short term parking. I'll tell you how much this cost later, but suffice to say we made our flight. Of course we were wearing the uniforms and we looked like some kind of important volleyball team from the Ukraine, so one of the check in ladies hurried us through security and stuff. No sweat. We were some of the last people on the plane, but we made it in time, and still in good spirits. Domo-Kun came along, too.



We touched down in Okinawa around 10:00am and wandered around the terminal for a while. We eventually bumped into another ALT friend of ours who lives on Iki (an island to the northwest of mine). So, we talked to him and his girlfriend (who was visiting) for a while and headed down to baggage. Here they are. Aren't they cute?


Next, we headed over to get our rental car. I'm not really sure of the model type, but it was a Mazda. I was really surprised that they would rent such a nice car to a bunch of rag tag gaijin, but, it is Japan and Japan is very trusting. After a brief overview on what would happen if we got into an accident, they turned over the keys and showed us how to work the GPS unit. By the way, the car was approximately $240 for 5 days. That came out to roughly $90 a person after adding in gas. Not a bad price at all. Of course, if we crashed the car, it would be an additional "outrageous" fee of $70 per person.



If you look close, you can see the Navigation system in "Video Game Mode". Courtesy of Mr. Durso.


Jill suggested that since we were in Naha already we should go to Kukosai-dori. A famous strip in Okinawa. Thus we headed.

We were feeling a bit hungry around 3:00pm, so we hit up this place. Not bad if you get chicken or steak. Awful if you get ribs. John found out the hard way. When we went, we were the only ones in the restaurant so they doted on us somewhat and tried out their English. They were very surprised that John wanted to eat ribs for 4-5 people and get appetizer stuff, etc. He ate them all, of course, but it's a shame that they weren't very good.

This is a type of Okinawan sake that is made from (you guessed it) poisonous snakes! Prices start at around $80 and climb into the several hundreds. The one on the far left has two snakes in it and costs roughly $450. Just think of the snakes as really expensive tequila worms.

John's coconut bra is actually two tiny ukuleles.

Lots of street vendors selling various handmade knicknacks.


After leaving Naha, our first stop was the west cape, slightly north from the city. We basically just wanted to see a beach. It was low tide at the time, and all the tide pools were filled with these gross sea cucumber things that spewed out white stuff if you touch them. Domo-Kun joined us.





Like Hawaii, Okinawa was home to a host of tropical plants, including pandanis. It was the first time John had seen such a "naughty" plant.

Before we left, we were also able to take part in a beetle love-making session. John has an eye for these kinds of things.


After soaking our feet in the sweet sweet Okinawan sand for a while, we decided to find a campsite for the night. Our intention was to camp every night and save a boatload in hotel fees. At first we thought our plan was doomed. The only reservation we made at all for the trip was the rental car (which if worse came to worse we could have slept in), and we only had some written directions that Jill had printed off the internet. Well, at the first campsite we went to, the couple running it said not only was that beach closed for the season, but that they didn't think many other campsites would be open. Finally they gave us directions up the road a few kilometers to "Inbu Beach", saying that it was maybe our best bet. So, we headed up the road as the sun began to sink. After a while we found it, and boy I've stayed in some "rustic" places before, but this one took the cake. It wasn't even so much that it was secluded, without water, or whatever. That's fine, if where you're staying is beautiful. Well, looking towards the ocean it was, but everything else, like most of Okinawa, was severely rundown and in need of repair. But beggars can't be choosers, and I kind of like the texture of old buildings and stuff. We tried to find the office to pay, but the workers had already left for the day. We decided to set up camp and pay the next day before we left.

There were a few other campers that night, including a navy man with his family. I asked him if there were any good restaurants around he and he spent the next 30 minutes giving me the same directions about 15 times. He was a bit drunk and awfully nice, so I forgave him. But the restaurant he was giving us directions to was literally about a 5 minute walk. I preceded to set up the tent since John and Jill had gotten into a deep conversation about God while I was talking to the drunk guy. Domo joined me though.

The entrance to the beach. I think it probably was supposed to mean something else, but I later found out from a Japanese friend that "Inbu" is Japanese for the "genital region" of a person. Perfect. We stayed at "Crotch Beach"


This was the playground at our campsite. Other than this "Tetanus Slide", there were the "Rusty Nail Monkeybars", "Jagged Little Swingset" and "Sandbox of Glass". We were home.


John and Jill have deep conversations while I struggle with the tent and talk with drunk navy men.


"Domo! Domo!"


After pitching the tent, we headed off a couple miles south to see the sunset. Then, we decided to go to that restaurant that navy guy recommended. Well, no go. The place was packed. So we wandered a bit down the road and came across what seemed to be more of a house/shack, than a restaurant. We like these kind of things, so we headed in. 3 hours later, we ended up coming home. The nice folks of Okinawa like to talk and make friends and we made several that night. In fact we were invited to a BBQ along the coast the next day. Right next to where we were camping. We walked back to our tent exhausted, and ready for bed.

APRIL 2nd
I almost considered leaving the fly off of the tent since it was turning out to be such a nice night. I am so glad that I didn't. It rained all night. Luckily our tent, which was donated to us by the lovely Kate form Kawatana, held up quite well. No one got wet. The only person who really had problems was John, due to his not bringing a sleeping bag or pad. It got a bit more chilly than I think anyone expected. We woke up in the morning and decided that since it was raining a bit still that we'd have a drive around the island that day. We checked to see if the party was going ot happen, but the beach didn't look very populated and it was still drizzling a bit, so after lunch we hopped into our Mazda and headed up past Nago. We were driving around the midwest cape and spotted an aquarium. It looked interesting, but we weren't sure if we would go. Plus, Jill has an unreasonable fear of aquariums and large fish. We had almost written off going when Jill mentioned that she read it was the second biggest aquarium in the world (not really helping her cause). We were going to the aquarium.

The grounds of the aquarium were large. There was a botanical garden and a few "show" tanks where dolphins and such would perform acrobatics "a la" SeaWorld. We didn't seem to be there at the right time for the shows, so we took a couple pictures of the dolphins swimming around and then headed inside. The name of this place is "Churaumi Aquarium" and its main feature is the whale shark tank. Now, I've had a long standing fear of sharks. Up until two years ago, I would have my mom check the swimming pool for sharks before I could get in, etc. This fear, however, compelled me to read a ton of literature on them when I was in elementary school and I now know every little thing about them. All this notwithstanding, I have never been to a more awe inspiring aquarium. The main tank is so large, they are able to have 3 whale sharks swimming around. Add a school of giant rays, several schools of smaller fish, some nurse sharks, a few other weird fish like remoras and you've got a sight to behold! I'm not going to post all my aquarium pictures here. If you want, you can check my flickr site for some more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/origamikid Here's a taste for you, though.

Entrance to the aquarium.


Coming soon to DVD. We took Snoop Dog and gave him a camera. Then we stuck him in nature during spring break. Now you can see all these crazy turtles take their shells off and show us what they've got!


Pardon the composition of this shot. I handed my camera to a guy shooting with a Canon 20D, so I figured he could center the shark jaws. I guess I should have known something was up when he was trying to get pictures of sharks with flash through the glass... *sigh*


This is the main tank. When they feed the whale sharks, they all "stand up" and hover vertically in the water. Quite an incredible sight.


Some sort of new species of shark. There have only been three or so found ever. I forget the name, but it has something to do with its giant mouth.


After we left Churaumi, it was getting close to dark, so we decided to hit up an A&W for dinner. We were all very excited to have delicious burgers and root beer floats. For anyone that doesn't know, root beer is very rare in Japan, and A&W can only be found in Okinawa. Unfortunately, the lady misunderstood John and gave him a Coke float. Then, Jill told the lady she would have the same thing as John, so she got a Coke float. I got a Root Beer float and it was delicious. Suckers.

We headed home and played some cards and went to sleep. This time we arranged the bedding so John would be a bit more comfortable.

APRIL 3rd

John's birthday. It was a gorgeous day, so we figured we'd drive over to the east coast, find a quick bite to eat and then drive up along the coast all the way up to the northern point. Well, it didn't start off so great. It took us forever to find a restaurant that was serving at 10:00am. And then it took a while to even find a convenient store. Finally, at a Family Mart, we got our food and tried to find a beach.

I don't think the beach we got to was really any kind of tourist beach, but we liked it just the same. We ate and went exploring along the rocks. After we got a ways away from our car Jill and John decided they wanted to hop into the water, So, we stripped down to our underwear (Jill had a swimsuit on) and got in. When we first arrived at our swim spot, not a person was in sight. But, by the time we left, there was no less than 4 fisherman hanging out on the very rock where we left our clothes. I had a chat with one of them as I tried to put my shorts and shirt back on. I asked him about the possibility of sharks, and he said there was. Great. It was getting to be around 3:00, so we decided to pack up and head out around the coast. Not before we got a shot with Domo-Kun, though.







We befriended a dog.




We headed up along the cast and checked out the more undeveloped areas of Okinawa. Very beautiful. The drive just felt good. Good weather, good tunes, and beautiful scenery. We were making our way up the coast to the northern cape, but along the way we stopped at a few sights as well.



Along the east coast


Landlocked boats in a small town.


One of the many dams in Okinawa.


A sign next to the dam lookout. Can you find the terrorist in this picture?


These windmills are awesome, we had never had a chance to get so close to one before. The speck at the bottom is Jill.



Finally around 5:00pm or so, we reached out destination, Cape Hideo. We hung out there for over an hour taking in the sights and chatting with people. We saw two other English teacher there and ran into one of the guys we had talked to at our Saturday night restaurant. He invited us to come stay at his place that night and it did sound quite tempting. You see, by now, John and Jill were starting to realize that they were badly sunburned and sleeping on the ground just wasn't appealing to them. The man told us that if we wanted to, just go back to the restaurant we met him at and the owner could tell us where his house was. We never took him up on the it, but it sure was nice of him offer. Since it was starting to get late, we hopped in the car and started going back down south along the west coast to try to catch a sweet sunset.





After the sun had set, we went back into Nago for dinner, since it was John's birthday. It was because of him that we got cheap tickets, so we treated him to a steak dinner. Originally we were going to rent a Ferrari for him for 6 hours. But it was kind of expensive (go figure) and it wasn't a convertible. Plus, if we wrecked it, we'd be screwed. So, we opted for a steak.

When we got back to the tent and John decided that he was so sunburned that he wasn't going to sleep in the tent and opted for the car, though, not before he and Jill took turns slathering aloe all over each other's back.

I should also mention that we had packed up our tent earlier in the day just in case we found another place to camp when we were driving around. Well, we never found one, so we went back to Inbu for the night. The problem was that since all the campers had left that day everything was kind of "locked up". So we sort of "broke in" and set up our tent again in the middle of the night.

We played a few rounds of a card game called "Casino", and went to sleep.


APRIL 4th

We woke to find a mini modeling shoot going on outside our tent. Two younger girls maybe around 13 and 15 were posing for a man with an expensive camera. I'm still not really sure why they were doing it. Maybe they were family and were just shooting for fun. But, they had two very expensive cameras as well as an underwater video camera. Plus it looked all very planned. I told Jill that they were making a karaoke video, but she didn't agree. I guess we'll never know, but it was very weird and they really had no reservations about shooting only a few feet from our tent.





John woke up feeling awful from his sunburn, and because he slept in the car at an incline his feet had swelled up pretty bad (apparently something that happens when he gets sunburns). We took showers, etc and packed up the tent. After his and Jill's terrible night, we decided we would find a suitable hotel in Naha for that night since the next day we were leaving out of Naha to come home. We figured that the best way to cure a bad night of sunburn would be to go get crunk on pineapple wine, so for the morning, we headed to the Nago Pineapple Park. This very place gives you the opportunity to ride around on driverless "robot" go-carts, see lots and lots of pineapples, check out a very oddly place collection of shells, eat your fill of fresh pineapple, and get blitzed on pineapple wine. All for the low low price of $5. I only got to really enjoy the first three things, as afterwards I had a case of the runs and spent most of my time looking for a clean bathroom that wasn't occupied. I never found one. I did get some nice shots of the flowers on the grounds and stuff, though.
















From the pineapple park, we started heading towards Naha and hit up BIOS on the way. This is Okinawa's biopark which includes a riverboat tour, lush grounds with many tropical plants, some animals, and gift shop where you can buy prize orchids. It was a good time and plenty of great photo opportunities for me. While we were there, our friend Aki called Jill. Aki is working as a flight instructor in Okinawa on base. He told Jill earlier that he could probably get us some free seats in a training craft so we could get a nice aerial view of Okinawa. Well, when he called, there was apparently only room for two people, so one of us would have ot stay behind. With no one wanting to leave an odd man out, and not really wanting to play Jan-Ken-Pon (Rock Paper Scissors), we decided to opt out. Man, that would've been cool, though. We hung out some more at BIOS and played around on their playground and check out the petting zoo. Apparently American and Japanese petting zoos are different, because I've never seen animals chained to umbrellas in the middle of fields before. Weird.











We left BIOS and hit up a place called Shakey's Pizza. Apparently this is some kind of chain in America, but I'd never heard of it. John ordered first and he ordered so much food that the lady thought that he had ordered for all of us. If I remember correctly he got a large pepperoni pizza, some onion rings, and garlic toast. He went back and got a coke. The pizza was good and very satisfying. Finding good pizza in Japan is somewhat of a struggle, because Japanese cheese is just not very good. After that we wandered to the video game arcade upstairs, where I played a boxing game where one actually has to box. John and Jill played a rafting game where you actually have to paddle, and a Taiko drum game where you actually have to drum. Seeing a pattern here?

Though I faired better with this game than my real attempts at boxing, I was still really tired after round one.


We eventually left as it was getting dark and started to head into Naha. They wanted to get a hotel room due to their sunburns and Jill's guidebook had several listed. She read off the descriptions of many hotels and we, not surprisingly, chose the quaintly described "bottom of the barrel" Okinawa Guest House. After much searching, we found the place by accident. Words cannot properly describe this place, but I'll give it a try. When I said we wanted to stay there, the guy running it said he had a room for the three of us, but it might be a bit small. John and Jill were in the car, but he led me upstairs to show me the room. All it was a was a bamboo loft in a tiny room that you had to get to by stepping on a cinder block and going through a window. When I asked him about parking he pulled out a yellow piece of foam core with a map drawn on it. The map lead to the parking lot, and we were supposed to stick the map on our dash so we wouldn't be towed. When I came back down and got in the car, I was laughing so hard I was crying. Jill got a shot of that. Once we settled in, we headed up to the community room on the 3rd floor to talk to other Guest House roomies. Two Japanese guys (who we think were gay lovers), a girl our age doing fish parasite research from Norway, and us. John played guitar, we folded origami cranes and had a pretty good time. After a while, other Japanese folks trickled in and started making some food. I wandered to the roof and got a few shots of the surroundings. By the way, this place was 1,500 yen a night, or about $13.


This one is for Dorothy. She thinks I don't cry enough.


Thirteen dollars a night.


Some vending machine right beside the Guest House.


























APRIL 5th

We woke the next morning to the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Try to imagine a firebell ringing and then imagine it right next to your ear when you are in a deep sleep. Okay, then multiply it by 5. That's what we started hearing around 8:00am every 20 minutes or so. By 9:00 it was every ten minutes. Apparently the Guest House was next to a parking garage and every time a car came or left it would make this wretched noise. We got up, Jill took a shower, and John and I went to the Lawson's near by to get ingredients for French toast (we just felt like French toast). After that we turned in our sheets and headed out to Shuri-jo (castle) This is an old style Chinese-type castle that was obliterated in WWII. Luckily they rebuilt it and now you can pay a lot of money to go see a lot of nothing. Don't get me wrong, it was cool. But, I would have been just as content to not even go in. I couldn't take pictures inside and everything was written in Japanese. But, on the plus side, I got a sweet hat that says, "I'll Be Pork, Camp-R" with a silhouette or a flying pig with a halo. That hat, combined with my aviator sunglasses, newly grown beard, and a camera with a large lens made me look pretty awesome (shady), but I persevered with it through the end of the trip. Also, while we were there, I saw an Asian version of "The Edge" (guitarist from U2).





Sketchy McGee and his big dumb friend Hank. Hank likes flavored ice.




It was getting late in the day and we still had to return the rental car and catch a flight that day, so we left and headed to lunch... In a treehouse! We saw it when we first flew in and decided we had to have at least one meal there. It was a plethora of Asian cuisine and good lunch prices. I had Thai curry. While we were in the restaurant it began to pour, signifying that it was our time for me to leave this little island and return to my (smaller island). We returned the rental car, much to the relief of the workers that had rented it to us, caught the shuttle bus back to the airport, got on our plane, and left. Definitely a good trip. When we arrived back to our car, we got the final total for our five day "short term" parking. It was $120. The guy did a doubletake when the price came up on the screen. To put it in perspective, we could have stayed at Okinawa Guest house for a week for the same price. Our car had more expensive lodgings than us.







The End!

More pictures at http://flickr.com/photos/origamikid/sets/72057594100137765/