Yorontoupa^ku Hotel Yoron-cho

... ducks that were living in the carp pond. It is amazing how sometimes the simplest things can bring the greatest pleasure -- I really enjoyed feeding those animals.<br><br>We then proceeded to the ocean and a cliff-filled area known as Manza-mo. There were some spectacular sights here. It was a very windy and rainy day but this did not dull the spectacular view. No wonder this was a favourite place of Ryukyu kings.<br><br>The Churaumi Aquarium was indeed a sight to ...

... have supper there and were greeted by two Russian women who had moved here from Vladivostok to start this restaurant. Okinawa is definitely a very strange place to open a Russian restaurant. Given the difference in weather between Vladivostok and Okinawa, I can see though why these women learned Japanese and made the switch. We had the full course Russian meal consisting of -- what else -- borscht and pyrogies! It was just like being back in Saskatchewan! <br><br>

... 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 ...

... that. But she still let us shop for a nice long time, during which I got to experience the Japanese toy section (full of bizarre toys such as Anpanman, the superhero with bread for a head, Mameshiba, the puppy-faced edamame bean, and various other sad-faced adorable animals). I also perused the candy section but was disappointed- isn't it supposed to be shiny and colorful? There wasn't even a good selection of Haribo- not even fizzy colas! There weren't a whole lot of exciting ...

... was seatmates, as a screaming baby sat directly in front of me and the guy next to me hogged the armrest the entire flight and leaned across me to look out the window. I hated him deeply. Oh and also, we had to be bussed out to our plane for some reason, which necessitated everyone from the flight standing on a cattle car-like bus holding a strap with one hand and their luggage with the other. This was annoying enough for me ...

... 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!

... that I dont have a camera yet! Man, I really hope we can get one soon so I can start posting pictures. I think we are going to get our cell phones today and hopefully they will be bomb diggity and have cameras included in them.<br>Cant wait till this jet lag passes! I have had the worst neck head ache since this morning, Must be a mixture of lack of sleep and weird sleeping positions on the late night flight we had.<br>will be writing more later-cheers!

... up and cool down with the kids- they all get together on the field and do some Japanese stretches-even the teachers. This is a typical practice in Japanese businesses and companies- to do a morning stretch together before starting the day. I learned about it one of my business classes, and I thought ya, this movie is from 1985 too- they don`t do that anymore. But I have seen ...