Yoron Coral Hotel Yoron-cho

... into that here. I will say though that, although the bases no doubt serve an important purpose for U.S. interests in the Far East, they are a contemporary expression of the military tragedies of the past that have befallen this beautiful island. If you want to get a more graphic and political view of the impact of these bases, read "Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson. <br><br>Our first stop was at a re-creation of a traditional Ryukyu village. Ryukyu (if I didn't ...

... of the Japanese Navy's main command posts during World War 2. What an interesting and spooky place this turned out to be. Two things really struck us. First of all, these tunnels were dug from the rock by hand using pick axes -- there are thousands of metres of tunnels here. Secondly, many military officers committed suicide here after it became apparent that the battle with the U.S. was lost. The scars from exploding hand grenades can still be seen in some 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 ...

... did all of our shopping in fast forward. On our way home, we stopped at the military exchange, the small American-style mall on base. My mom and I went inside to buy silk robes, like the one Julia gave me for Christmas. We also got books for our respective plane rides, and then went to dinner at Macaroni Grill nearby. It was absolutely delicious, and Riley was very funny. While Julia packed at home, my mom and I took Riley ...

On Saturday, I managed to wake up a bit earlier, which is good because we had to be out of the house and on the road to get to the aquarium. Okinawa's aquarium is located near Nago, on the north tip of the island, and is the seconds largest aquarium in the world after the one in Georgia. It also has the largest sheet of plexiglass in the world for its main tank, which holds three whale sharks. We were very excited to see this, even ...

... but we did snag some Anpanman gummies.<br><br>When we got home, it was definitely Riley's bedtime, but then Mom, Julia, and I watched UP!, which I got for about 90 cents in Beijing. It worked, but since it is such a new movie, of course it was bootlegged and thus had a laugh track from the movie theater and also some of the writing was in Russian. It was still a good movie though. Afterwards, I fell asleep in about a second, despite this really not very action-packed day.<br>

... 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.<br><br>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 ...

... 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 ...

... room, kitchen, and living room with comfy couches and a tv. But the best part is the two balconys....they have trees and all types of foliage growing on them and it's the perfect place to sit and blog about our arrival.<br>It's funny, becaue I didnt feel sad during the weeks leading up to moving, and I thought for sure I would be sad leaving the airport to Tokyo, but I was not. Then I thought to myself, well, Im sure i'll be sad once I'm there ...

Hep! Okinawan touhut jatkuivat viela taman paivan. Eilen illalla kun blogia mentiin hotellin aulaan interswebbiin lahettamaan niin tormattiin kummalliseen ilmioon. Siella oli lankkareita katsomassa formuloita netin kautta. Ja kuinkas kavikaan - suomalaisia totta maar! (toim. huom. Hyva Gimmi!) Mikas siina, varmaan matkan ainoat lankkarit ja valittomasti kotimaisia. Hekin olivat aivan sattumalta tormanneet taalla hotelilla. Ja jopa ...