Hotel New Century Okinawa

... ducks that were living in the carp pond. It is amazing how sometimes the simplest things can bring the greatest pleasure -- I really enjoyed feeding those animals.

We then proceeded to the ocean and a cliff-filled area known as Manza-mo. There were some spectacular sights here. It was a very windy and rainy day but this did not dull the spectacular view. No wonder this was a favourite place of Ryukyu kings.

The Churaumi Aquarium was indeed a sight to ...

... 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 ...

... the US invasion forces landed near the end of the war. Apparently this was one of the most difficult and bloody battles of the Pacific War. It is hard to believe that this beautiful place was once a WW2 killing ground. Thousands of Americans died here and hundreds of thousands of Japanese died. I'm sure that the war memorials here will be very sobering.

It will definitely be an interesting couple of days.

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 ...

... we saw how Okinawans lived in the past (obviously). The Okinawans lived in squat wooden houses on shelly lawns. What's interesting about this island is that it was not always a part of Japan- that only happened in the last century. It had its own special Ryukuan culture, as evidenced by many things around the island that are different from Japan's other islands. One of Okinawa's most special features is the shisa dog. Shisa dogs are ...

Well, so after Nanna (Manna) left we were sad to realize that was the end of our visitors for awhile. Next came New Years. We celebrated with some new friends to bring in the new year. Since we couldn't do the New York count down we did a count down with the Japaneze. We got a chance to do some deeper exploring of some of the old places we've been ...

Wow! So much has changed since I last blogged. First off we had Trevor's birthday and Ava's 3rd birthday. We will have her kid party next weekend. I got a part time position as a health and PE teacher at one of the middle schools on base. I was really excited, but at first a little sad it is only part time. Then I thought about it and realized I get the best of both worlds. I get to be ...

No new pictures yet, sorry. So It's only mid point of the week and already this week sucks. Well not all of it, yesterday Noah decided he wanted to use the potty and he didnt want mommy in there so he shut the door and kept me out. Of course i kept checking on him but when he finaly let me in, he had pooped and peeped in the potty! I was so excited. Hopefully he makes a habit of this. On the down side of this week, I took Noah to the doctor on Monday ...

Well, we finally made it after long flights from the east coast! Our hotel room that we stayed in, before we got our house, was small but we made it work. After a few days, we got a car and were able to travel around. Our first travel was to the Zoo. It is amazing how close you can ...

... oikea amatöörimoka, ei hyvää päivää! Päätettiin nimittäin näköjään jättää kaikki matkashekit sitten himaan! Oujee, juuri näin! Ei se nyt silleen ole ongelma kun Visa vinkuu ja Mastercardi maukuu, mutta kyllä pikkuisen ottaa pattiin turhaan vaihdella niitä ja maksella vaihtomaksuja! Kannattaa aina tehdä himassa tsekkauslista tarkkaan, mutta eihän tälläiset vanhat "reissukonkarit" sellaisia tarvi? Eihän?? :-) Nyt mietiskelen tässä juuri ennen lähtöä, että miten toimia ...