Manza Hotel And Resort Okinawa

... 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 ...

... rooms. It was fascinating to be walking through an area that was central to major World War 2 battles nearly 70 years ago.<br><br>We also took in Shurijyo Castle which is a reconstruction of the primary castle that served as the main administrative centre when Okinawa was still a feudal fiefdom under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The castle had been destroyed several times, the latest of which was during the Battle of Okinawa during World War 2. This latest ...

... 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.

... handled this very gracefully and eventually ended up running back and forth through it in her diaper screaming. If only we'd just skipped all the museum stuff and brought her right to the fountain!<br><br>FOr dinner we tried Obbligato, a Mexican restaurant as imagined by the Japanese. It was pretty good; I got chimichangas for the first time and they reminded me of eggrolls. We also had a pitcher of margaritas, so a good time was had. <br>

... down the street. I got a glimps of a Peace Rally that the locals were having around the base. It was interesting, I just wish I knew what they were saying, or maybe not. Ava and I did a girls day, well just a couple of hours, and got our toes done at the infamous CoCo's. Don't they look nice! We tried to go to a water park, but come to find out they are only open on the weekends. Luckily it is inside of a huge park called ...

... to not pay for more than a night. It was good to catch up and head to a foreigners bar right on Kokusai-Dori - the main drag. The following morning, we boarded a boat for Zamami in the Kerami Islands group. The 2-hour boat ride was awesome, and we passed many islands, and many awesome beaches over the clear, steel-blue seas. The next couple days, we camped, hiked, and, of course, spent hours and hours...where? Yup, the beach ...

... is a little rough with him. Luke likes him too, when he isn't ignoring him. The other morning we walked into Noahs room and found a geco running around between his toys. So Jonathon and Noah ran around forever trying to catch it. and when they did the took it out side to let him free and it jump on Noahs face. He started to scream and rub his face and broke the tail off of the geco. It was so funny!

... on his own while i sit were the water meets the sand and get a tan. But today it was pretty choppy water and definatly NOT low tide. Noah has a life jacket but he still gets pretty brave. He wouldnt let me hold his hand at first but a couple of waves in the face later he changed his mind. We had a pretty good day, escpecially the part where Noah took a three hour nap.!!!

... once again in English but sad that we don't get to hear Japanese quite as much. We'll be glad to be in a familiar culture once again, but we'll miss learning of another culture first hand. We'll be happy that we can make a difference for our own community but sad because we now see what a great need the world has. It'll be nice to have burrito's, but there's no sushi in America quite ...