Kurabi Yufu

... presence by the locals was very evident everywhere that we went.

We will miss Okinawa and hope that perhaps someday we can return to visit again. It was well worth it to make the trip down to this place not only for the warm weather and the friendly people but also to learn that, where we come from in Canada, we haven't known (and hopefully will not know anytime soon) the horrors that the ancestors of the people we visited experienced and still feel the pain from today.

Today we decided to do something that I don't normally like to do -- go on a guided tour with a bunch of other people and get caught up on a commercial racket. Given that neither of us have ever been to Okinawa and don't know our way around, we decided to go on a bus tour and are we ever glad that we did.

The tour took us to a number of historical and interesting spots, most notable of which was the old Imperial Navy Underground Headquarters that served as ...

... it became very clear that our stay here on Okinawa will be a hot and humid one. The weather conditions are pleasant though and we are clearly enjoying this a lot more than than the current conditions on the Canadian Prairies.

Naha is a typical large Japanese city but it is evident that Okinawa is one of the poorer prefectures in the country. I had read about this in my travel research. If I had not read ...

On Sunday, we woke up early again to drive to Shuri Castle, down in Naha. Shuri Castle today is a recreation from memory of the 14th century castle that was destroyed during the battle of Okinawa. Chinese envoys used to come to the castle to crown the Ryukuan king, and there are many portraits and artifacts from these kings inside. You have to take off your shoes to walk around in the museum. We were happy to do so, since it ...

... not just Okinawa but many other Pacific islands such as Micronesia, the Philippines, Tonga, and Yap. There were a lot of really cool things to see there, like the stone money tablets of Yap and recreations of ancient fishing vessels. I was mad that there was no gift shop! After that, it was still hot out and we came across a flat fountain with a water show. Riley went over to investigate and got nailed in the face by a jet of water ...

... of my still-tender toe, but I just pointed to it and tried to explain, and so the lady doing my feet avoided it except to paint it. It was extremely relaxing- the little girl across from us completely conked out. I chose jasmine oil to help me recover from my fatigue, and opted for some nail art to try to blend in more in Asia.

Unfortunately when we left the nail salon, it was pouring, so we slipped along the road in our massage oil-covered flip flops. Then when we ...

... bear in mind that I was by far the tallest girl on the flight. At least the views were nice as I came into Okinawa! I could not wait to get off that plane.

Mom, Julia, and Riley were waiting for me at the gate, and I could not believe how big Riley had gotten! Apparently she was hiding in the lockers and attempted to stuff Julia in a locker too. Nice. We headed right to dinner at a place called Tsubaki-ya (an Izakaya type ...

... down the street. I got a glimps of a Peace Rally that the locals were having around the base. It was interesting, I just wish I knew what they were saying, or maybe not. Ava and I did a girls day, well just a couple of hours, and got our toes done at the infamous CoCo's. Don't they look nice! We tried to go to a water park, but come to find out they are only open on the weekends. Luckily it is inside of a huge park called ...

... in flowers so much, but the name appears at the beginning of a popular Okinawan song, Shimauta and that's why I stopped to see it closely. Unfortunately, it was not blowing at that time, but the bark of the tree was so stout.

On our way back to Okinawa DFS, we passed a graveyard. Interestingly, it had Okinawan gravestones shaped like houses. They may cost much more than our simple ones, but may be able to house more dead bodies.

... school we worked at in India. It was extremely successful even though we didn`t have a large turn out we raised about 800 usd. I got to auction off the boys that came with us. They were to be manservants for the night! It was very successful! I also made some cookies to sell which went like crazy! Ok that's all for now! Hope this makes you happy for a while Mom and Elina!!! To everyone else that may happen upon this- I miss you lots and hope that life is treating you all well!