Western Hotel Okinawa

... the snake-like journey up to the northern part of the island. This could have been a boring experience but it turned out to be quite an enlightening one as the tour guide provided a lot of commentary that provided context on all of the places that we were about to visit. Of interest during the journey was passing by (and through) the large U.S. military bases that still cover the landscape of Okinawa. I could comment on this in a politically sensitive manner but I will not ...

... 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 ...

... it became very clear that our stay here on Okinawa will be a hot and humid one. The weather conditions are pleasant though and we are clearly enjoying this a lot more than than the current conditions on the Canadian Prairies. <br><br>Naha is a typical large Japanese city but it is evident that Okinawa is one of the poorer prefectures in the country. I had read about this in my travel research. If I had not read ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

... one of our favorite places). We did some 100 yen shopping and then some more shopping, LOL, and even a beach visit. Although it was too cool to swim the water wasn't really cold. We got to also take her to the Shuri Castle. It is definetly a must if you visit Okinawa. We got a chance to go to a new place called Rykuy Mora. It was a old village that ...

... meet more families in his flight. We have been doing some more exploring some with friends and some just us. All has been fun. Halloween has snuck up on us and we are also getting our first visitors in 4 days. Then we get to start a new count down to our 2nd guest. I can't believe it has been almost 6 months! Well, we miss and love you all. I hope you enjoy the pictures and a few videos.

... anything else? Theres no antifreeze cause it all leaked out. So they said they would check again and we wait.... so today I get a call from Jonathon at work and he said we no longer have a car, it was a headgasket that had blown and it would be $1200 to fix it and we only paid $1600 for it. There is no sence in spending that kind of money on this car. we are junking it. But listen to how great of a friend i have. They have a van that they bought spur ...

... had one english class and more bible study type classes. We've been to some spectacular beaches here in Okinawa and we had the opportunity to visit the world's third largest aquarium, which was amazing. Check out the pictures. Oh, and that enormous tank with all the fish, it has a restaurant attached from which you can watch all these amazing sea critters as you eat really good Japanese food. It was great. We've handed out tracts and had the opportunity to witness ...

... joten kannattaapi olla todella tarkkana! Kansain kentällä jouduttiin ikävästi jakautumaan kahteen ryhmään, koska tässä vaiheessa Samin oli palattava takaisin Babylonin oravanpyörään pyörimään ja suuntana oli aina kylmiä väreitä selkäpiissä reissulla aiheuttava Suomi, Finland :-) Uskoisin, että Samilla on ollut kuitenkin melko mieleenpainuva reissu ja travellauksen kipinä jo syttynyt sydämeen? :-) Minulla kyseinen kipinä on jo ajat sitten räjähtänyt t ...