Hakata Green Hotel Tenjin Fukuoka

... it in my previous entry) was the original name of the Okinawan archipelago (it used to be known as the Ryukyu Kingdom which was a tributary state of Imperial China). Although commercial in almost all respects, this village was a very beautiful place to visit. We even saw numerous examples of the local poisonous snake (the "Habu") as well as a mongoose. Unfortunately there was no mongoose/snake fight today! I did get to feed a large number of carp as well as a couple of very ...

... yourself in a sub-tropical paradise surrounded by beautiful trees, beaches, and ocean. Yet, nearly 70 years on, the history of World War 2 and the horrendous events that happened in this place still weigh heavy on the minds and consciousness of the people here. When one considers the scale of what occurred during the Battle of Okinawa (around 13,000 Americans killed and over 200,000 Japanese killed), how can it not? It is mind boggling to consider the scale of ...

... 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 ...

... did all of our shopping in fast forward. On our way home, we stopped at the military exchange, the small American-style mall on base. My mom and I went inside to buy silk robes, like the one Julia gave me for Christmas. We also got books for our respective plane rides, and then went to dinner at Macaroni Grill nearby. It was absolutely delicious, and Riley was very funny. While Julia packed at home, my mom and I took Riley ...

Gisterenavond hebben we naar Nederland gebeld. Van de meneer in ons hotel mochten we de telefoon gebruiken als we dat wilden... en dat wilden we. Fijn om te horen dat alles daar goed gaat! Daarna zijn we op `avontuur` geweest in Komumoto City. In deze stad wordt niets in het Engels aangegeven. Zelfs ons hotel had op het dak geen Engelse aanwijzingen. Alleen in het Japanse schrift werd de naam weergegeven. (lastig zoeken!) Anyway, Ook in de stad waar in het geheel ...

... but very beautiful and worth a visit.

After leaving Seifa-Utaki, we visited Okinawa World with Gyokusendo Cave, which has one of the largest limestone cave system in the East. There were some strange shaped stalactites and stalagmites. The ticket for the park was the second most expensive, 1200 yen, but we had had a coupon of ANA beforehand, so we couldn't miss it. At first, I thought the cave was too long to my mom who has ...

... those Harajuku girls, they looked like strung-out rocker chicks who just came from a Halloween party at Disneyland. They wouldn't let me take a picture of them with their fishnets, parasols and excessive makeup on. But then again we were in Wendy's and maybe they had no time and were just hungry. **Note** This is not one of the girls I saw in ...

... canal all the way, but first I had to cross a big road via a traffic light. The traffic light was a little out of the way, but since no Japanese seemed to just walk across, I decided not to, either. Everyone always obediently waits for the lights to turn green, except on very minor roads. On my way to the station, I was not too sure whether I was going the right way, so I asked a food stall owner, a nice elderly gentleman for ...