Blogs from Naha, Okinawa, Japan, Asia

Tour Day 132, Cruise Day 30 – Osaka, Japan – I fully intended to visit Kaiyukan, the Osaka Aquarium, and to ride the Tempozan Wheel (a.k.a an observation wheel or a giant wheel), but I saw too many deployed umbrellas from the Deck 9 Lido Market while having breakfast. By lunchtime, I saw fewer umbrellas and took a chance. Of course, the gangway is mid-ship, the immigration facility is at the bow and all of the attractions (including Legoland, which I had no intention of visiting) are well past the stern of the ship. A bump in the road. I walked past the wheel and saw there are three flights of stairs to reach the boarding area. On a clear, beautiful day, just another bump in the road but on an overcast day with compromised vistas, ... read more

Excursion to Southern part of Okinawa At the end of 16 April, Ms Akamine asked us to come to Akamine station at 9 o’clock the next day. We got up and had breakfast early in the morning and headed for Akamine station by monorail. Unlike the previous day, it was brightly sunshining; Ms Akamine regretted planning to go to the beach the previous day. She brought someone who is currently a taxi driver and knows roads very well. After leaving Naha city, the driver headed for southwards direction. We were told that our first destination would be Peace Memorial Park. I’d heard that Okinawa had an extremely fierce battle at the end of the Second World War and an awful lot of civilians lost their lives in the most desperate and unimaginable circumstances. As soon as ... read more

Wednesday, 26th October 2016 It's day #6 of my trip today and my penultimate day in Okinawa before flying back to Taipei tomorrow. I'm still determined to idle around in Naha city today, doing some eating, some shopping and chit-chatting with the friendly locals. I could sense their smile when they realised that I was from Singapore. At least, they had nice memories of the place where I came from. Words like "clean", "safe" and "hot" were used to describe my country. In the afternoon, there was a colourful street parade along the International Street with teams mainly from the US walking through the 1.6km boulevard. I was informed that they were here to take part in the 6th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival. While I did not know the exact significance of this festival, it seemed that ... read more

Monday 24th October 2016 I managed to squeeze in a 4D3N Okinawa excursion in the midst of my Taiwan trip. I've done Okinawa in January 2013 and it is always good to be back to a familiar place with some new experiences to take away. The flight time from Taipei to Okinawa is a mere 70 minutes via Eva Airways. After a quick meal service onboard, my near-empty plane landed safely at Naha Airport. I took the 1625 hours flight and it was evening by the time I reached my destination. My hotel (Okinawa Kariyushi Lch Izumizaki Kenchomae Hotel) is a pleasant monorail ride from the airport station, located at the start of the mile-long Kokusai Dori (International Street). It is right next to the Ryubo Departmental Store that is home to a couple of nice ... read more

A contemporary Okinawan traditional wedding is a beautiful fusion of many cultures. The bride and groom wore three outfits, the MC presented the whole ceremony in faultless English and Japanese and family and colleagues all performed for the beaming couple. Hikari and Masa began the party in Ryuku kingdom royal costumes, performing an Okinawan dance, accompanied by the brides' father and friends on sanshin. Hikari read a moving letter of thanks to her parents and to end the wedding all the guests were called to dance with the bride and groom. It was a perfect wedding.... read more