Elcasa Minami-Fukuoka

... the one hand, this is a very beautiful place with friendly people and very nice, warm weather. The culture here is indeed more laid-back and is noticeably different from the mainland. People just act different here yet it is still Japan. On the other hand, this is a somewhat sad place where the weight of history and the hideous events of nearly a century ago still linger in the hearts and minds of the inhabitants. In addition, the resentment over the continued U.S ...

... carnage that took place here -- basically a city the size of Regina wiped out during a battle that lasted several months. Let's hope that nothing like that ever happens again in this beautiful place.

To close out the day, we did something quite strange. As we were walking home we came across a small Russian restaurant called Perestroika. The sign on the front had a picture of Mikhail Gorbachev on it -- cheesy but strangely enticing nonetheless. We decided ...

... next couple of days as we go on two guided tours. One will be up to the north end of the island to an aquarium and a pineapple farm. I am sure that once we get outside of Naha City that we will see the true tropical paradise aspects of this island. We will also be spending some time outside of the city on the south of the island. There is a lot of World War Two history here as this south end of the island is ...

... 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.

... it was a hot day made even worse by humidity.

The aquarium was very cool (especially since it had A/C, ha ha). There were lots of little exhibits to look at in addition to several big tanks that were chock full of fish. Since we were in Japan, everyone had a camera and crowded around to photograph every fish. Luckily, I was taller than almost everyone there, so I got some pictures too. The big tank with the whale sharks, rays ...

... 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.

... through my mind and with that I asked for our money back for the following nights accommodation (it was already too late to check out on this night). He duly obliged before leaving us, and our 2 hours of free heat, to ponder where we would attempt to move to the following morning. This was a major inconvenience as we only had the one full day sightseeing in the city and we didn't want to have to spend half of it checking out of this ryokan ...

... rude and unfriendly. At the gates the Korean consulate, the security guard was terribly irritable and impatient, yelling at me when I questioned why they needed my phone number when my cell phone doesn't even work in Japan. I got through all of the paperwork and left the consulate with one last dirty look from the security guard. I headed across the street to a small shopping center with a Namco Playworld Arcade. I wasted money on games like Mario Kart Arcade GP and House of the ...

... the plane.) and we were off. When we arrived in Japan we were taken aside by personnel from the airline and our tickets and baggage were checked over carefully. Now we sit and wait for our connection to Manila. As for my impressions of Japan so far, the people seem friendly, Fukuoka international terminal is small and dingy but interesting modern architecture can be seen through the large windows.

... did not look at anyone and just minded his own business. People would happily give money to this begging person, as they consider it as an offering to god. Actually, young monks, have a difficult time in the beginning, because it takes a lot of mental strength to go out into the streets, and beg for money. Monks have no source of income, so that is the way they collect money for their parish. But it is seldomly seen in the ...