Okinawa, JAPAN

My workplace organizes a vacation getaway for some of the employees each year and I decided to join them. The invitation was also extended to Matthew, but since the entire group consisted of women he decided he would take a break and stay in Taiwan for some alone time, it also gave me a chance to get to know my co-workers better. In truth, my employer came as well after my peers coerced him into coming, so my boss was the only male; I didn't see him much and actually forgot he was on the trip at one point.

I was so excited that I barely slept the night before and it didn't help that I had to be at the bus by 5:30am. I slept a little on the bus and the plane. Okinawa is only about a one hour flight from Taipei. Once we arrived it was touring time right away. I have never traveled in a large group before. Most of my travel experience have been solo and to be honest I actually don't care for the guided tours. We did see quite a bit of stuff, but you spend so little time at each place it almost feels pointless. It was a learning experience and I certainly will not complain about the price: NT$20,000 ($667CAD). That paid for the hotel (with one roommate), my flights, all of the meals while over there, and the tours. Not too shabby if I may say so.

Once we got off the plane it was rush to the bus and off we go. By the way, any information I have about the places I saw is limited as the tour was all in Chinese and I don't speak a word. So, I might unknowingly be wrong about some things that I might have just misunderstood during a mistranslation.

Our first stop was Fukushu En Park. It was built as the 10th anniversary of Okinawa's friendship with Fuzhou City of China and the 17th anniversary commemorative project of Naha municipal city government. It was completed in September 1992 and is 8,500 square meters in area. It represents the great trade era of Ryukyu and its Chinese architectural style has enormous impact on the Okinawan culture.

Our next stop was just next door, Kume-Shiseibyo (Kume Confucian Temple). This temple honours Confucious, a great philosopher and the founder of Confucianism, who lived about 2,500 years ago.




As you can imagine, there are plenty of temples in Japan, just like most Asian countries in general. After the first temple, we went straight to see another. While driving down one of the highways, I spotted a beach and it was in the most bizarre location, under the highway bridge! Yes, there were people there who were actually swimming when I took this picture and I was jealous.

After this we were dropped off downtown where we could do some shopping, then headed to dinner with the group and finally off to the hotel. I didn't really know what I had gotten myself into when I signed up for this tour. All the information I was given was in Chinese and I was told that someone would translate it, but that never happened. So, I didn't know what we were doing when or where I was supposed to be at what time; I just kind of followed everyone else. I was totally expecting to have some down time where I could just do my own things, like tan on the beach and swim in the ocean, but to my grave disappointment, that wasn't included. This was as close as I got.

I had to sneak into the ocean as I was told it's too dangerous to swim in at night and the tour guides wouldn't "allow" me. I was at a beach, across the street from our hotel; it's not dangerous, it's sectioned off. I understand their thinking it's dangerous and that's because very few Chinese know how to swim. I'm not going to lie, I was a little pissed when I found out that at no time would I be able to go swimming or actually be in some form of water. I have lived in Taiwan for over half a year now and hadn't been able to go swimming because of either weather and simply because there are no good beaches around unless I go all the way south to a national park. Anyway, I was very happy to actually be able to at least stand in the ocean. After I snuck in my ocean time, I headed back to the hotel for a midnight snack with the girls. What do you think we ate?

Sashimi, Sake, and beers of course! It was the best friggin' sashimi I have ever had; so fresh. Ugh! I miss it and crave it like a mad woman anytime I look at this picture. My mouth is salivating right now.


After we stuffed ourselves with alcohol and raw fish it was time for bed; for some well-needed rest.

The gift shop at the hotel, as well as any alcohol selling store, has these very potent alcoholic drinks which are also very expensive. I almost bought a small jar for Matthew, but then I decided against it because I wasn't sure how customs in other countries view these items. I'm sure it's a bit strange when you say, "Hi! I have a dead snake in a jar filled with alcohol in my bag, and I would like to enter your country."

The next morning we piled onto the bus and were off to the Okinawa Memorial National Government Park and the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (which I was insanely excited for).

I have a thing for the water and I'm not exactly sure why that is. When I was a young child I was petrified of the water, but my mother forced me to take swimming lessons until I was a teen. When I was 6 years old I actually drowned in a pool but was resuscitated. From that point on my mother made me take swimming lessons twice a week at two different centres so I would learn all the survival skills. I think that once I was in my late teens I really started to love the water and became strangely fascinated with fish. That being said, both my father and my younger brother are commercial divers and they spend a lot of time underwater, but I have not yet tried snorkeling or scuba diving; it's on my list. But until then, I shall enjoy all these silly aquariums.

Anyhow, once you past the entrance in the aquairum you come to a shallow tank where you can touch starfish and sea cucumbers. So that's what I did. The starfish were surprisingly hard almost like touching a rock; I wasn't expecting that at all and it shocked me a little. The sea cucumber was a bit more squishy like you would expect.


 

This place is huge! The aquarium is made up of four floors, with tanks containing deep sea creatures, sharks, coral, and tropical fish. The aquarium is set on 19,000m² of land, with a total of 77 tanks containing 10,000m³ of water. Water for the saltwater exhibits is pumped into the aquarium from a source 350m offshore, 24 hours a day.


There are plenty of small tanks with different kinds of fish and the museum is broken up into sections representing different parts of the sea and the creatures found in them. I love how colourful some fish are. I also really like funny looking fish that just seem to entertain me even when they aren't trying to. Don't you think this cuttlefish is so cute?

The main tank, called the Kuroshio Sea, is 35m long, 27m wide and 10m deep. It holds 7,500m³ of water. This tank is seriously impressive. Whale sharks and manta rays share the main tank with many other species of fish. It also hold 80 species of coral. The aquarium has successfuly bred some manta rays. One of the whale sharks, the largest, measures 8.5m. This is one of only a few aquariums that keeps whale sharks in captivity, and they are currently still trying to breed them.

It's feeding time!

After we toured the aquarium it was time for a dolphin show. The dolphin show is located outside. I felt a little bad for the dolphin as their aquarium seems very isolated. Apparently there are tunnels from the outdoor aquarium that leads to the aquarium indoors which is where the dolphins are normally when there isn't a show on. It seems a little crazy to me, but I guess it's possible. Talk about a real expense though.

This might sound silly but I have always thought that dolphins were just bizarre and they kind of scared me. I guess I just think they're devious creatures hiding behind a cute face. I would much rather swim with sharks than dolphins no matter how stupid it sounds; it's probably a ridiculous fear to have.

It's time to say goodbye to the dolphins and aquarium.








Next stop, a garden with butterflies and a bird sanctuary. This part of the trip really wasn't all that interesting and I think there might have been a mistranslation. I wouldn't personally have chosen the word 'sanctuary' in a title when the place is more like a zoo; the birds were in cages and there weren't very many types of birds there to begin with. After that, we headed out for a quick lunch and then to the Kadena Air Base. In truth, we didn't actually go to the air base. We went to a building with a lookout from across the street. While we were there not a single plane took off. It might be beacause I used to be an Air Cadet, so I have been to my fair share of air fields, that I don't have much interest in just looking at an air field. I suppose it was deemed interesting because the Japanese seem to be very interested in American culture and this air field is used by the United States Air Force.

We headed to a salt museum. Yes, salt. Okinawa is known for its salt products. They put salt in everything.

We were given some time for shopping. Instead I ran across the street to get a better look at the ocean, but I found something even better. A path that leads into the ocean so you can get a view of the ocean from the ocean.








It was very beautiful with the ocean breeze in my hair, and there was even a man enjoying a sea-doo ride in the distance. I had an epiphany while standing out there, I NEED to get myself a place near the water or even better, maybe I should just live on a boat so I can be on the water.

The one good thing about being the only non-Chinese speaking person on the tour was the ability to play the "foerigner" card. The tour guide seemed to be very angry that I went off track and visited the ocean instead of spending the dedicated time in the gift shop. But, being that I don't speak Chinese and the tour guide spoke some English but not enough to communicate with me, I escaped the ridiculous lecture. I actually found that tour guide to be more annoying than anything else, he always tried to joke with me but I never really got his jokes and I just found him irritable. I think he was angry because he also gets some kind of a payment or a percentage when we spend money at these shops because he only brings people to very specific shops, so when people like me decide not to even look in these shops, I lose him money. I don't really care about buying silly souvenirs because they just collect dust and take up space in my luggage when my luggage space is already limited.

After he lectured me through a Chinese co-worker who didn't bother to translate, we headed to dinner - Japanese barbecue. The table has a built in barbecue and it's really like a buffet. You can go up and take what you want, or some restaurants have you order off of a menu. Everything is uncooked and you cook it on the barbecue at your table. It was certainly delicious and also a lot of fun. After that we headed back to the hotel for some down time before bed.

The next morning we hopped on the bus and headed to Shurijo Castle Park. Shurijo Castle served as the center of Ryukyu Kingdom. It has architectural influences from both China and Japan. The park was impressive but not as large as I would have expected.

Koufukumon Gate: The east side managed the official registry records, and the west side housed the office that managed the temples.

Nichiei-dai: A sundial placed in front of the Roukokumon Gate. It is said that the use of the sundial began in 1739, and kept the time in the kingdom until 1879, when Ryukyu became a prefecture of Japan.





There were many gardens and things to see and learn there. However, one of the larger buildings was under renovations when we were visiting, and you had to pay to enter the building. Unfortunately, the entire exterior was hidden behind scaffolds and sheets. We continued and walked around the gardens to some lookout points; they give a gorgeous view of the city below. The heat was excrutiating that day, but the breeze at the lookouts made it a little more bearable. Though, I certainly went through enough bottles of water that day - I definitely got my recommended dose of water. After that, we headed to Gyokusendo Caves at Okinawa World (a theme park of sorts).

Okinwa Worls is a touristy theme park about Okinawan culture. Its main attractions are the natural caves, a craft village and a snake museum. Gyokusendo Cave is the second longest cave in the country, with a total length of 5km.

However, only about 850m of the cave is open to the public, but you can see spectacular stalactites and stalagmites.









After exploring the magnificent cave, we headed back to surface level and watched a show on traditional dance and music. There were many foreigners there, by the bus loads. I didn't realize that guided tours were as popular as they are. After that we headed out for dinner, and hot pot was on the menu (it's not even a Japanese dish, it's Korean). Either way, I got to eat some more seafood, and king crab legs were on my plate. Delicious!

We headed back to the hotel for our last night's sleep in Okinawa. The next morning we headed out to the harbour for a fun ride on a glass-bottom boat. I have been on many boats before, but never a glass-bottom one. I guess I didn't know what to expect. I was picturing a small boat for some reason, with the centre being made of glass. I was wrong. it was a rather large boat and they drive out to the ocean and turn off the engines. The workers call on a certain amount of people to go to the basement part where they have some windows. Taking pictures didn't turn out as clear but I'm sure just diving in the water with the creatures is even better than some images.

It was a fun experience nonetheless. Although, I will admit that it has given me another reason to learn how to dive. Yes, it's shameful. Both my father and brother are professional commercial divers and I have never even gone snorkeling. It's on my to-do list.

This day was a bittersweet day as it was our last day in Okinawa, and it was really more like a half-day. After the glass-bottom boat ride we headed back to the downtown core for our last meal in Okinawa.







Many of us chowed down on lunch like animals, in a rush to run out and get our last minute shopping done. For those of you who don't personally know me, I have a younger brother and he likes T-Shirts. When I was a flight attendant I use to buy him one everywhere I went.

In Okinawa I was having a hard time finding him one, in fact I never did. They had plenty of T-Shirts there, they just didn't have any in his size. The largest size I could find was an XL and even that seemed difficult enough. My little brother isn't so little, he's about 198cm (6'6"). So, he's pretty tall even for our home country of Canada, but here in Asia, he's more like a monster. I took one of the T-Shirts out of the packaging to look at it and their XL size isn't the same as the ones in North America and I knew right away that it wasn't going to fit him. My search pretty much ended there. So I went and had my last salty Okinawan ice cream cone.

We piled onto the bus and headed to the airport. As you can imagine the bus ride to the airport, the plane ride back to Taiwan, and the drive back home was a quiet one. Exhaustion had finally set in. It was time to take a short rest and start the work week the next day. The biggest difference I found between Taiwan and Okinawa was that Okinawa felt and looked like an island, like how your mind pictures an island. Taiwan has never felt or looked like an island to me. I have yet to see a beautiful beach here. Okinawa was like the Japanese styled version of Hawaii; so if you are in the area you should check it out. It was certainly worth the $600CAD.