Kumamoto Royal Hotel

... the scale of this tank. Truly extraordinary.

Our last stop of the day was at the Nago Pineapple farm. Pineapple and sugar cane used to be a couple of important cash crops here in Okinawa but, due to competition from lower cost suppliers in the 3rd world, are primarily grown today for the benefit of the tourism industry. It was interesting to learn more about pineapple (I guess that I could have simply looked this up on Wikipedia but definitely more interesting ...

... any pictures to upload of this eerie and fascinating place as my camera battery was drawn down and I was forced to use an old-fashioned disposable film camera. I've been in caves before but the stalactites and stalagmites and the underground stream that runs through this one are just beautiful. This cave was well worth the visit.

One of the most sobering places that we visited was the Himeyuri Monument. This was an area in which Okinawan school girls that ...

... 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.

... 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 ...

... soaked before realizing that I had packed an umbrella in my purse. Whatever, I still felt like a champ for remembering my way back to the hotel without needing a map.

Luckily our hotel was a stop on the hotel express bus's line, which I must mention was unexpectedly very luxurious, so I was able to hop on the bus with little hassle. Anxiety only developed when the bus got stuck in rainy city traffic, and I got to the ...

... and a World Heritage Site recognized by UNESCO. The garden had some Okinawan tastes and it was more like Japanese garden than Chinese one. There were twin limestone bridges on the pond: one bridge on the pond was interestingly rock-made and the other bridge was beautifully stone-made, which may have some meaning I don't know. Finally, I encountered Deigo, the Okinawan prefectural flower blowing in the spring. Usually I am not ...

... over the other mountains, as well as a lake and the town of Unzen itself. I knew that I`d have plenty more opportunity to get up close and personal with volcanoes in the days ahead... Agter a much easier descent, I had another mooch around town and relaxed by the side of a nice lake where more cherry blossom could be seen, before boarding a bus to Shimabara. The weather really started to clear at this point, so it was a scenic journey as we descended from ...

Finally arriving in Kumamoto, walking into my Apt. I received a pleasant surprise. IT ROCKS!!!!. Really clean, spacious, and just awesome. Since I am roommate-less for about 2 months, I got first dibs on choosing a room. I weighed the consequences between living in the smaller, western sized room, or moving into the larger, yet more difficult to maintain Japanese style room. I figured...when In Rome. (In case youre wondering, the ...