Crown Hotel Okinawa

Since this island is so small, we decided to do it again and this time go on a tour of the north today. This was a much less sobering tour than the one that we did yesterday given that it was more contemporary and less focused on the tragic past of Okinawa. Our stops today included of all things a pineapple farm and the world's second largest aquarium - apparently second in size only to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.<br><br>The bus ride today was a longer one as we had to ...

... been conscripted to work as nurses for the military hid in caves during the U.S. assault on the island. Unfortunately, these young girls were told by the Japanese military at the time that they should be wary of surrendering to the U.S. forces. The girls would not come out of their cave hiding place and the U.S. soldiers were unfortunately forced to gas them out, killing them.<br><br>Taking a tour like this is a very sobering experience. On the one hand, you ...

Today we arrived at Naha City in Okinawa. We flew from Tokyo in an ANA 747. It has bee a really long time since I've flown in a 747 and (other than landing which I hate with a passion) it was a pleasure. The service on ANA is impeccable and the 747 (despite Airbus' development of the A380) is still the granddaddy of all airplanes. It was a pleasure to once again be on a 747.<br><br>Upon disembarking from the ...

... a walk to the playground in her extreme stroller. She and another very little girl played on the slides as we and the girl's parents raced around trying to keep them from falling. It was actually not a very toddler-friendly playground, as we had to scale a hill to get up there and navigate the stroller down a staircase to leave. Back at the house, we packed up everything, getting ready to say goodbye to Okinawa in the morning.

... from the Chinese Fu dogs. They are a pair or lion-like dogs that sit on top of houses or in front of them. The one on the left, the female, has its mouth shut to keep in all of the good things. The one on the right, the male, is roaring to scare away the bad. Shisa dogs are everywhere; many of my souvenirs are shisa-themed.<br><br>After walking through the village, we made a pitstop at the Oceanic Cultures Museum, which ...

So our second guest was Manna (Trevor's mom)! She arrived about 10 days after my parents left. Though she was only here for a short 2 weeks, we made the most of our time. We took her to one of our favorite places to eat, Jack's Place! It is a Tapenyaki, where they cook in front of you. Trevor was able to get off a day to take her and the kids to the AQ ...

... s program and trying to keep up with that. Trevor is also doing an online class to try and finish up his degree. Trevor is still trying to get used to being behind a desk. He is coming along. We have been meet more people on island. We finally have neighbors on both sides! Both families are very friendly. I have helped to start a spouses club for Trevor's flight which has helped me ...

... the car started to over heat. I made it home then had the auto hobby shop come and tow it to check it out. well they couldnt come to get it till Tuesday, so we wait...and finally they tow it on tuesday and we wait for the phone call, now this is the second time since we bought this car thats this has happend and they suposidly fixed it the first time. they never call on tuesday and i call them they said its not over heating. i was like well did you ...

So, this third leg of our journey is fast coming to an end and we don't even know where the time went. Today we taught a final song to the San Iku elementary school in the Chapel in a 5-10 min. program we've been helping with called Hello TIme. We taught them Praise Ye The Lord and said our goodbyes. We had a lot of fun in that class. Okinawa overall has been a lot of fun. It has been a completely different experience from what we did in mainland Japan. Here we ...

... lopuksi seuraava: 1. Shin-Osaka-Osaka, 2. Osaka-Tennoji, 3. Tennoji-Kansai ...eli melko pitkä matka ja onneksi satuttiin yhdessä vaiheessa kuuntelemaan kuulutusta, että junan vaunut 1-4 menevät sitten lentokentän suuntaan ja vaunut 5-8 jonnekin ihan muualle ...joten ei muuta kun äkkiä seuraavalla pysäkillä ryntäys ulos ja oikeaan vaunuun sisään :-) Näinhän siinä sitten oikeasti kävi, että yhdellä pysäkillä juna katkesi kahtia ja toinen osa lähti täysin eri ...