Traveling in the Past - Okinawa 2018
Traveling in the Past
Okinawa 2018
I was going through my old posts, trying to pick up posts about my travels. It looks like for the most part, I just briefly mentioned my travels in an HNW post and posted photos, but I didn't write a separate post about it. So, I decided to write about the past travels, at least of what I could remember from the trips.
Since this was back in 2018 and I couldn't find any copies of the itinerary anywhere, so I can't tell you exactly where I stayed at, but I do remember that my friend and I had a good time.
I went on this trip with a flamenco buddy. Her hubby was away on a business trip at the time, so she could get away for a few days. It looks like the trip I booked was for 4 days, but I'm pretty sure it was a late afternoon flight out of Haneda on the first day and a morning flight out of Okinawa on the last day, so basically we had two days for any activities. This trip included a car rental and tickets to the Churaumi Aquarium.
I did driving since I was more familiar with the northern part of the island than she was. She knew her way around Naha, but she hasn't been up to the northern parts all that much. I took her to my favorite burger joint, Gordies in Chatan, where their burgers are charcoal-grilled to perfection. I practically inhaled mine. LOL After dinner, we then proceeded to go find our lodgings. It was close to the aquarium and I remember the room having a bit more roomy and being a resort hotel, they had plenty of places to hang wet snorkeling gear. There was a step in the doorway the exact same height as the one at home, so out of habit, I took my flip flops off and stepped into the room. That set of my friend in a giggling fit. She was like, we're staying at a hotel, you don't have to take you shoes off at the entrance. We had a good laugh over that. From what I can see from the pics, it looks like the resort hotel was at the top of a hill since the view was pretty nice. But, it was cloudy the next morning, so I didn't get a shot of the sunrise.
I remember googling snorkeling spots in the area that locals go to. I think the car navigation got us there with few mishaps. Sadly, the weather wasn't all that great during our activity days, and that it was a chilly day on the day we were going snorkeling. My friend's wetsuit didn't get delivered on time, so I lent her mine since I was more used to colder waters than she was. Although she's a licensed diver, all of here diving trips were in the tropics so her experience with cold water was pretty much nil. I, on the other hand, was used to snorkeling in the late spring/early summer colder waters in Hayama, so I managed to get by with doubling up on rash guards. But still, it was mighty chilly in the water. She had to get out sooner and warm up in the car. I saw quite a few of the same types of fish I see in local waters, but maybe more so now because the water temps are rising. I've heard that the neon damselfish are surviving through the winter in recent years. I did see a variety of butterfly fish and parrotfish that I don't see locally, tho.
Looking back at the photos, the Churaumi Aquarium was on our to-do list on the second day. I've been to the aquarium a few times before, so nothing really stood out. I'm trying to piece together what we did. It does look like we went up to Cape Hedo, the northernmost part of the main Okinawa island, and stopped by a roadside station to pick up some shikuwasa, a small and sour citrus fruit commonly used Okinawa, especially with Awamori, an Okinawan spirit.
We checked out of the resort hotel before going to the Aquarium, then made our way down to Naha after visiting Cape Hedo. We drove down the other side of the island, where there are fewer tourists, and came across a coffee shop run by a local coffee grower, and a ranch with horses. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the evasive and endangered Okinawa rail, but we weren't so lucky. Unfortunately, we couldn't capture the sunset, either, since there was a thick layer of clouds along the horizon. We stopped by my favorite chicken and waffles place, also in Chatan. It was her first time but she liked it. I experienced chicken and waffles for the first time at this place a few years back, and remembered how crispy yet tender their fried chicken was. We also stopped by the American Village, a shopping mall in Chatan that's near one of the US military bases in Okinawa, to see the Xmas decorations.
We made our way to Naha, and she took me to an Okinawan bar she frequented whenever she was in Naha. They put on an Okinawa dance and song show. While the technique in singing traditional Okinawan songs and playing the sanshin (Okinawa string instrument) impressed me, I wasn't really impressed with the overall show, which made me feel back since my friend wanted to show me something she liked. I couldn't really get engaged as much as she was. The cover charge was overly expensive, in my opinion, and the wine they served wasn't all that great, either. I wasn't impressed with our stay in Naha because the bed at the hotel we stayed at was so uncomfortable. I'm spoiled by memory foam mattress tops, so I can't sleep on hard beds.
Of course, the weather was the best on the day we were flying out. Just our luck, hey? But all in all, it was a fun trip.
So concludes my 2018 Okinawa trip, at least of what I remember from the trip.
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