Sanga Ryokan Minamioguni-machi

... it in my previous entry) was the original name of the Okinawan archipelago (it used to be known as the Ryukyu Kingdom which was a tributary state of Imperial China). Although commercial in almost all respects, this village was a very beautiful place to visit. We even saw numerous examples of the local poisonous snake (the "Habu") as well as a mongoose. Unfortunately there was no mongoose/snake fight today! I did get to feed a large number of carp as well as a couple of very ...

... rooms. It was fascinating to be walking through an area that was central to major World War 2 battles nearly 70 years ago.

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 ...

Today we arrived at Naha City in Okinawa. We flew from Tokyo in an ANA 747. It has bee a really long time since I've flown in a 747 and (other than landing which I hate with a passion) it was a pleasure. The service on ANA is impeccable and the 747 (despite Airbus' development of the A380) is still the granddaddy of all airplanes. It was a pleasure to once again be on a 747.

Upon disembarking from the ...

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 ...

... 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!

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.

... 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 ...

... with about one hour to go before my flight was set to depart, let alone board. I sprinted to the check-in gate, which was empty because everyone else had gone through. Yikes! But for some reason the airport was deserted, and I was sitting at the gate, bored, within 15 minutes of arriving. I've had really good luck with being on time so far this trip (knock on wood).

One thing I did not turn out to be lucky with for this ...

... a blast. Aaron and Estaban, students of mine, helped me out a few times watching the kids and keep them close. On Mother's Day I also ran into a few spouses at a brunch that was held at one of the clubs on base. They invited me to eat with them and then to a new park, Round 1. It was a really neat place with, I believe, 3 floors of fun stuff for the kids to do. They had a blast! We had our usual hangouts with the neighbors and our ...

... but very beautiful and worth a visit.

After leaving Seifa-Utaki, we visited Okinawa World with Gyokusendo Cave, which has one of the largest limestone cave system in the East. There were some strange shaped stalactites and stalagmites. The ticket for the park was the second most expensive, 1200 yen, but we had had a coupon of ANA beforehand, so we couldn't miss it. At first, I thought the cave was too long to my mom who has ...

... do that at least a few teachers stop to comment, poking at my sandwich and saying how strange it is that I am eating bread with meat and cheese. D- Bring something from home that I have cooked to heat up in the microwave (really, you all know me, how often do you think that happens?) E- Get something from the store that requires little preparation and a microwave (a more likely option) So I have gone through all these options, now let me tell you about an incident a while ...