Golden Times

I think I might just have to quite my job, go back to Okinawa, find an Okinawan husband and live there...

....at least that was what I thought when we left the beautiful tropics of Okinawa.

There was a national 5-day weekend from 2nd to 6th May - or 'Golden Week' - for the most of Japan. Most Japanese go traveling or go back to their hometowns to visit the 'rents and family. Friend and I went to Okinawa [possibly the most popular place Japanese people like to travel to during Golden Week] for 3 nights, from Friday to Monday.

Okinawa is a string of islands way down in the south of Japan - its not even close to the mainland. The main island of Okinawa ('Honto') was a 2 and a half hour flight from Tokyo. Okinawa is closer to Taiwan and China than mainland Japan. There's also a big U.S. military base there. All these factors combined makes Okinawa a very different prefecture to the rest of Japan. At least that's what I heard before I got there.

And it was quite true indeed. It certainly felt very tropical island-esque; a bit like Hawaii or south Thailand, except without the obnoxious western tourists, pick-pockets and hard-selling money-grabbing hawkers. It's mainly a tourist attraction for the Japanese. And I'd rather hope it stays that way. (Oh how hypocritical of me...)

We stayed on Honto, in Naha - sort of the city centre of the island, in this guest house - which was basically a normal house with a couple of rooms available to rent. Very simple, but the host was very nice - offering airport pick-up, tea and biscuits etc. The only thing a little creepy about it was that it was supposed to be a guest house for women only - but the host was a middle-aged man who apparently has a Philippina wife, except we never saw or heard her....




1. 国際通り　Kokusai-dori - 'International Boulevard'
The first night we explored the only thing that was of like the must-see tourist trap in Naha - a big long street lined with shops and restaurants and bars and the occasional street-performer (Street performers here almost always involve comedy-value and they talk and make jokes more than perform their special skills like juggling fire-batons or what-not. 'Twas entertaining, still). Having said that ("tourist trap") we ended up coming here every night for dinner.

2. Okinawa Soba
Soba (buckwheat noodles) is supposed to be a must-eat in Okinawa. It's basically a little thicker than normal Japanese soba, topped with a few chunks of pork-belly. Tasted fab but not so good for the abs.





3. Shuri Castle & Nakagusuku Castle ruins
So our first full-day (ie Saturday) was delegated as 'culture day'. We took the monorail to our first culture site - Shuri Castle - architecturally an interesting blend of Chinese and Japanese tradition. In fact, it was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 so what we actually saw was a recontruction on the original site based on photos, historical records and memory. Anyway, it was at a nice high-ish point of the area and so it overlooked half of the city and over to the Sea of Japan.

On the way to our 2nd 'culture site', we stumbled across this little cafe (cafes here are so inconspicuous...wouldn't have noticed it if the street wasn't that quiet and if we weren't hungry as hell). It was run by one woman and had 3 chairs and a lunch menu of 2 options - the yakiniku lunch set or the tempura lunch set. All delicately home-made on the spot. 700 yen for starters, mains, dessert. and drink - WIN!

Nakagusuku castle ruins - a UNESCO World Heritage Site (loads of them in Japan!) - REALLY looked like it had been bombed the guts out of it.

I think if it weren't for the sun and heat of the day the place would've seemed a bit depressing, maybe a little eerie, but also somewhat refreshing from all the traditional temples and shrines blanketed across Japan. It was also very green as a forest was practically growing in and around it.

We ventured back to the city centre by bus, got told off for not having change for the bus, dragged our feet (energised by rice balls and chocolate) to the little 'beach' near the city centre, watched little children frolick in the surprisingly cold water and chatted to some Okinawan locals.


4. Snorkeling
I've never snorkeled before and OH my days it was probably one of the best experiences ever. We woke up to another beautiful sunny day at 6 in the morning, got picked up by the marine club guy at 7:30, got suited up and decked out and trained up for an amazing adventure. The water was cold but the wet-suits helped ease the chill-factor. After being told how not to drink or breath in sea water etc, we ventured out about 200 metres or so (actually I have no idea), whilst gazing underwater at the beautiful coral, spotting colourful little schools of various types of fish, starfish, sea snakes...it was absolutely fascinating. I was in awe of such creation, as well as of such a graceful and delicate God the Creator. No words can describe that kind of feeling. It was so peaceful, so chilled out....I felt like I wasn't merely looking but I was almost part of them. Ah to be a mermaid........


5. Sunset Beach
After snorkeling, we spent the rest of the day volleyballing, soccer, swimming and roasting on Sunset Beach. There was also a trio of 2 youngish Japanese lads and a middle-aged-looking perfect Japanese speaking American who happened to be practicing traditional Okinawan music on what looked like an Okinawan Shamisen (I think its called a Sanshin - somewhat like a 3-stringed banjo). It was golden just sitting in a free concert of traditional music, raspy old-Japanese-man-esque-singing, guitar, sanshin, the waves and sound of children in the background, under a blue sky, looking out into a crystal clear blue ocean......

After terrorising enough people with our beach ball and abominally bad soccer skills, we retired for the famed Okinawan BLUE SEAL ICE CREAM, made some like-minded ice-cream-loving friends (not pictured), and was treated to dinner back at the city centre, followed by drinks where M and her friend R joined us. We didn't actually see the sunset at the sunset beach...

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Leaving Okinawa was certainly not a fun moment. Okinawa is definitely one of those places that require more than one visit, especially when there are other islands to terrorise, other coral reefs to be in awe at, and other beautiful beaches to roast on...