Okinawa World

Welcome to Okinawa World! Where you only have to travel about 2.5 hours from Yomitan to get to. Still not a fan of sitting on a bus! But oh well, so it goes sometimes :)

Okinawa World is a theme park in the south east part of the island. One of the main attractions is the Habu (Japanese name for a variety of poisonous snakes found on Okinawa) museum and show. It's a decent sized building housing a variety of skeletons and other bits and pieces of snakes found around the island. With a show and live animals around the top. Can't say I was a huge fan of the show - prefer to see animals out in the open than in a cage!

This is the demonstration of "hot vs cold" where they used the balloon to show that the snakes heat sensor was working. In my opinion, it's more that the orange was used to bonk the snake on the head more than heat or anything!

Bunch of pictures of the outside area where reptiles were being held.

Saw one of these fellows out on the rocks when paddle boarding.

Mongoose ball.

Sea snakes. Looks very smushy like it's been in the water too long! (Duh)

Underneath the area there is a large cave that is about 30 minutes to walk through. Tons of stalactites and stalagmites. Random selection of photos from that. Not sure why everyone is so ok with being so far underground in Japan. It's like it's forgotten how common earthquakes are here. Didn't really bug me or make me not want to go. More of a thought like: "If this path does cave in there's absolutely no way out".

Fish that can be found in the caves down there. The exit (or entrance depending how you look at it) leads out to the open air and points towards the sea.

Little bit of local fruit grown at the park. Star Apple? I think that's what it is called from when I had it forever ago. Not sure! But it tastes pretty good.

Tomorrow is the flight to Sapporo. Where I should have wifi again and can have my phone uploading pictures which usually has dinner photos. Ready to be back on the main land!

Okinawa: Churaumi Aquarium

Went to the Churaumi Aquarium on Saturday. First off, the buses here are soooooo slow. Really slow. Most only come once every 30 minutes as well. I keep mentioning it because it is just so frustrating taking hours to get places! I should probably spend some time to actually look at the size of the island which would give me a better feel for how big it is and how long things should actually take. But I'm still not a fan of buses so I'll say neh to them.

Any how, Churaumi Aquarium! It's interesting how it is set up. There is the Churaumi Aquarium but it's at an expo park which is free to everyone. This would also include the dolphin, manatee, and turtle ponds. Japan seems to be good about sharing with it's people. Which is nice! Our bus driver was quite kind and helped switch buses at an earlier stop instead of the bus station so that arrival at the aquarium would be much earlier. This was also aided by an elder lady from Montana who is a native of Japan. She also had a coupon to the aquarium which when given to the ticket office cost us nothing for the tickets. I'm still not entirely sure what happened... Supposedly it was only for a discount but I won't complain. 

Water feature in the expo park.

Like the Atlanta Georgia aquarium there's a spot for people to get in there and touch some sea life!

They had a different selection to that which I saw in Atlanta. 

Puff fish I think? Saw one of these about twice it's size while diving. Not sure if I got it on camera though... I still want to see way bigger things in the water though. 

Also saw one of these out in the water too! And probably didn't get this on camera either. Lion fish (It's real kids, not just on Old Maid). They have poisonous spines so don't get too friendly.

Asian flying fish. Didn't want to spread it's wings fully but still fun to see like this. First time I've ever seen the myth in flesh.

Octopus

Giant crab

I'll take two of these for dinner please. About the size of my leg..

They also had a tank of Tiger and Bull sharks. These are actually the ones you need to worry about running into while out in the water. 

I still wanted to get in..

Kids, the other other white meat.

And then the 2nd biggest tank in the world. It definitely has really good spots for viewing the tank. And I think the whale sharks are bigger than those of the Atlanta aquarium. After learning that you can dive in the tank in Atlanta I looked to see if you could here... no go! Someday..

Hungry fish is hungry. He let go eventually but was holding onto the fin of his friend for a while.

Ohm... nom...

Ohm.. nom.. ohm nom..

Ohm nom nom nom nommmm

And the dolphin show. This little fella can get some air. Technically this first shot is from the training that you can also watch. Which is kind of fun. A mini show if you will! The trainers would just run through certain things with each animal. 

Plenty of cute kids around at the park. Sat next to a couple who really wanted to roam. This one had really sad tears rolling down the cheek but I'm not sure those can be seen.

Back flip tail kick for style.

A pretty nice park for sure. If a bit far from everything else on the island (such an odd spot to put it).

And a little fried assortment of tempura and sushi plus noodles for dinner.

Okinawa: Dive at the Kerama Islands

Made it out to the Kerama Islands to the west of Okinawa for 3 dives. Here's a random selection of images from the dive. Sorry again if some are no good. As I've said before I can't see which one to pick before I post it! Also of note, these are pictures taken while recording video. Hence a little bit of the fuzzy or bit off image quality.

You'll have to look a little bit for the turtle in the next few. I should have better shots of it somewhere but hard to find with what I'm working with.

All in all worth the dive. Happy I was able to get in the water!

Out in Okinawa - Shuri Castle

Getting around in Okinawa does kind of suck. Thankfully a map with some of the routes was picked up so hopefully life will be a bit easier now. I'd like to make it to the aquarium and will try to do so tomorrow. We'll see how it goes! Definitely not like the main land at all..

Anywho, here's the Shuri castle in Okinawa. Just a couple of shots as there isn't a huge bit to visit. But they did have some good soft serve ice cream! Got one with raspberry, blueberry, vanilla, and pineapple layers. Was pretty good.

Tried the Okinawa Soba noodles. One of the local delicacies. I can't say it was to die for but the pork in it was quite good!

The following were taken at about 8:30 PM. Still need to learn a bit about taking pictures at night. But gets a nice different glow from the long exposure so it's a little fun. Didn't take a whole bunch.

Sorry, a bit disorganized at the moment. Really out of my flow. Still no guarantee on posts every day for a while! The dive shop I was hoping on being able to just go in and book with but have changed plans since it's so hard to get around here has not replied to my email. So hopefully they will soon... 

Stand Up Paddle Board and Surf Lesson

My hotel in Fukuoka was right next to the Hakata station. This was my view from the window. It was one of the biggest rooms I've had. Though it was oddly equipped and felt like it might have been from the 70's. Still, when visiting Japan. Being next to the station is key.

Some fake cherry blossoms just to keep the season going longer. It was kind of nice, actually!

I don't have WiFi here so I'm not really able to get the pictures from  my phone. They'll have to come later.

On the first full day it was out to the river and some mangroves for some SUP (stand up paddle boarding). Pretty fun though did make my feet kind of tired. They might be a little swollen apparently. Oh well!

Quite a fun activity and not hard at all to do. I stayed up the entire time until almost back when I was checking the GoPro and it had some funny message on it. Then I might have got a little wet.

Also, stupid me pressed the button to stop the camera. So not all of it was captured. Live and learn I guess~

Later in the day I tried surfing for the first time. A loooot harder than I thought. And not even the standing up part. The paddling out in the waves far enough part. I'm not really out of shape and it didn't make me lose my breath... But holy cow my arms just couldn't propel me well enough. I think I was sitting a little wrong when trying which didn't help. But it was still fairly fun though probably not worth the money I spent. Oh well, at least I can check that off the list!

Okinawa is.. interesting. At the moment I'm kind of wishing I hadn't booked a full week here, but that's probably because I haven't gotten to the part I'm really on the island for - the diving. It's not exceptionally different from any other resort place I've stayed. Though I've usually ended up in a spot where I have lots of choices for meals and things close by. Where I'm at right now isn't that way, not a lot of food choices! Though thankfully convenience stores actually have good food. And there is a super market even closer which has better than convenience store food. Truly it's kind of like going to a restaurant at home.

Anyways, tomorrow will be trying to get around the island some more. I know there's a bus network and I'll do some looking into figuring out how to get around. It is definitely not as easy as getting around on the main land which I actually miss. But, it is what you make of it so I'll keep going!

Again posts might be harder and I make no promises for a bit. But I'll try to throw some things in for my own memory and to share with you.

Short stop in Fukuoka

Like I've said yesterday this is going to be a little shorter as it was mostly a day of moving around and getting things in order. I spent some time putting another package together (3rd one I'll have sent home now) to alleviate some of the room and weight issues my pack was experiencing. Mostly the room issues were troublesome. I wouldn't mind another 5-10lbs so long as it was due to me having more room! Though admittedly my feet would be less than happy about it.

Fukuoka is odd... not in a bad way but compared to everywhere else so far it kind of feels empty. Which considering it's actual size really doesn't make sense. A relative Ghost town, compared to other cities in Japan at any rate. Still see more people that I would back home.

I decided to go look for some shrines as it's one thing I've done pretty much every day since I got here to collect a stamp. I came across 4 which I believe were all temples (not Shinto shrines) and didn't have anywhere to get the stamp! Cherry blossoms season is definitely coming to a close down here.

On my way to Shofukuji I ran across these kids playing some baseball in the alley. They were pretty funny. It was also apparently allowed to get someone out by hitting them with the ball rather than touching their person. Seemed to be having fun. Home and 2nd base were manhole covers for the 2 teams of 2. Of course time outs came anytime there was a car.

This one was running the fun part of having to chase the ball when hit. They were doing pretty good!

And what looks like a pre-school. Japanese children are pretty darn cute.

This was my Japanese style breakfast this morning at the Ryokan. I like Japanese food but I'm just not all that much into rice for breakfast I guess! Still fun to experience. And still felt dumb sitting in my Yukata by myself!

This was dinner, though only the display in the window version. Most restaurants will have at least some of their food as a fake reproduction out on display. Helps for one like me to order! Rice was pretty darn spicy and the ramen was cold! It was ok, though not what I was expecting (Expecting beef rice bowl with warm ramen).

Flying tomorrow so really don't know if I'll post anything. Okinawa is going to be somewhat of a break for me as it usually takes at least 30 minutes to put something up. And generally in excess of an hour. Where a couple of days will be spent mostly on or in the water as well I don't know that there will be much to share. Though I will still try to put at least something up for that day.

Miyajima: Itsukushima Shrine

Glory to the Shinkansen making it super easy to get everywhere in Japan in just a few hours. Though my backpack has definitely gotten heavier instead of lighter as I had hoped! I'll have to see if I can mail some stuff before I fly and lighten my load. Good thing I'm a large fellow! Though I do wish they'd make a bigger pack so I could have fit more in.

Anyhow, on to Miyajima. It's a nice small town out on an island not far from Hiroshima. About ~20 min train ride is all. You then hop on the ferry and bam, you're there. Hiroshima has a lot of oysters and I grabbed one of these babies after arriving. Cooked oyster on potato, never a mix I would have thought of. 

Little look inside. Trash cans are hard to find in Japan. Not super common at all.

And a first look at the giant "floating" torii gate. It's actually just sitting on the sea floor but looks to float as it's out in the middle of the water.

5 tier pagoda right next to the shrine.

An interesting herb and tea shop I walked into. The road was lined with lots of places to shop but this one stood out considerably.

Automated line to make local treats.

There's a different breed of deer on the island to that which you find in Nara. Far less aggressive and considerably cuter looking. But you can tell they've still been given treats. I was trying to use this one's hunt for food to get a good shot of it and the gate.. but well... it stuck a little close.

The blossoms here are still holding on though you can see that they're starting to disperse. I'd really like to be somewhere that has a reall good sakura-fubuki. I think that would be some fun images to catch and environment to be in.

This fella was taking advantage of the fallen cherry blossoms that had fallen and hoovering them up. I'd try to find one that actually had a little more action but kind of hard to do without being able to look at each individual one.

Yay! Sort of!

This anonymous shadow is Beau from Holland (I'm going to be mad at myself if I spelled that wrong. Sorry! I'm horrid with names.). She should have let me put up the other pictures I took of her, too. A shadow isn't much for representation of who she is. I met her back around the first attempt to get a deer in a shot. It's a good location for getting yourself and the gate. She had also been to Nara and had bag damage from the deer trying to get into it. Rule #1 when visiting Nara = don't feed the deer or they'll think you have more.

She's a very down to earth and good person. I enjoyed my time speaking with her as she's that type of interesting person you could spend a long time talking with. She's also traveling in a similar fashion to myself where she has a month to get around and is her own guide. Choosing her own destinations and the time spent there.  I loved how she has two cameras with her. One a normal digital camera you can find all over. And an older film camera for capturing that special picture and doing it in a different way. I can understand and agree with that sentiment.

I can't say how long we talked but it was nice to just sit and speak with her. I won't go into further detail as this is enough to help me remember later on.  She had pleasantly surprising and refreshing views on the world and life in general. Really could have talked to her for quite some time. It was wonderful to have met her and a fun connection to have made. Sometimes I fear the world has lost a lot of the people like Beau. 

Mr. Purple, aka Walking Encyclopedia - One of the interesting people you can meet while walking around. Loves summer, dislikes winter. Appears to know numerous facts about locations around the world. Also enjoys listening to metal.

Yessssss.. kind of. I'll count it. I should have had a roll or something and got it to follow me out farther. It's too bad Beau had to get back to Hiroshima. I think these are some of my favorite shots (minus the ones I'm not allowed to share) for today.

Will have to crop this guy out... Never mind walking up next to the gate and spending way too long there with a bunch of people waiting for him to leave!

Definitely liked Miyajima Island. It has a nice feel to it and a great sunset. Plus who can complain about meeting a nice person.

I'm also staying in my first Ryokan here (

http://www.kinsuikan.jp/

). Not in a Japanese style room though I went with the whole meal deal. I was also provided my first Yukata (which I still need to find one to take home and now want to even more as it's nice). I will say I feel a little dinky walking around in it by myself, though! I get the feeling all of the actual Japanese people think I'm odd....

Anyways, here's dinner. And I forgot to take a picture of desert. A plum pudding with ice cream.

Things inside box then go into heated pan next to it. After the fuel has burned out you can drink it as well. Quite good.

Hiroshima Lemon Cider and a Miyajima Island Cider.

I fly to Okinawa on Wednesday and will moving around tomorrow so I'm not sure how posts will go. I'll do my best of course but no promises.