Toyoko Inn Satsuma Sendaieki Higashiguchi Satsumasendai

Since this island is so small, we decided to do it again and this time go on a tour of the north today. This was a much less sobering tour than the one that we did yesterday given that it was more contemporary and less focused on the tragic past of Okinawa. Our stops today included of all things a pineapple farm and the world's second largest aquarium - apparently second in size only to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

The bus ride today was a longer one as we had 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 ...

... this though, I probably would not have noticed this at all -- the signs that this prefecture is a bit behind others are subtle. A shabby building here, some litter in a river there -- things that one tends not to see to such a degree in other parts of the country. Nonetheless, this is quite a nice place and definitely a sub-tropical paradise.

We will definitely see a lot more of rural Okinawa over ...

... a stunningly hot day and the indoor area was air conditioned. After Shuri Castle, we went to Kokusai street in Naha City. This is a palm-lined street with tons of small souvenir shops, with a surfer atmosphere. I picked up quite a few gifts here! My favorite purchase was a red coral necklace for myself. The store's owner was so happy to see me for some reason that she gave me free shisa keychain. Riley was getting restless, so ...

... 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 ...

... to the car, it stopped raining, of course. Obviously after all of that I needed a nap, so I took one up in the guest room. When I woke up, we had an excellent dinner of pasta and root beer floats before heading to the mall. The Okinawan mall was different than other malls I've seen, with a more open floor plan while still having sort of individual shops. Right as we walked in there was a cartoon animal to ride on, which Riley saw and immediately wanted, so we had problems ...

... bear in mind that I was by far the tallest girl on the flight. At least the views were nice as I came into Okinawa! I could not wait to get off that plane.

Mom, Julia, and Riley were waiting for me at the gate, and I could not believe how big Riley had gotten! Apparently she was hiding in the lockers and attempted to stuff Julia in a locker too. Nice. We headed right to dinner at a place called Tsubaki-ya (an Izakaya type ...

... Park, so we played on the playgrounds there and worked up a sweat. After that we headed over to Araha beach to cool off and end our fun day by eating Ramen at the beach. We had fun even though it didn't work out how we planned. Other than that we hung out and have sent a few emails to Trevor. We get to talk to him on the computer here and there, but mostly it is just me that gets to talk to him unless he gets a day off. I hope you enjoy!

Our hotel, Onna Marine View Palace, was close to the Onna beach. We arrived there about 8, although we left the aquarium before dusk, because we were caught in a traffic jam and paid a visit to the Confectionary Palace, which was a gift shop and restaurant located on the way to the hotel. We had champloos, traditional Okinawan dishes, and they were inexpensive, but very good. After we arrived at our hotel, I enjoyed Awamori, Okinawan spirit ...

... know. We are about ready to give up, seems like we just had really, really bad luck with renting movies. Hmmm, play with the language selection one more time. Oh, if it is in English 1 it is the movie. If it is in English 2 it is the commentary. Boy did we feel silly. Anyway moral of the story is. Becareful when renting movies in a foriegn country. I think that's about all I have to report on for now. Oh ya and did I mention it's my mom's birthday? Love you Mom!!