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Published: November 22nd 2015
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Hello world,
So this is going to be a pretty brief entry because, well, we didn't really do anything... at all, which was wonderful! i know that we seem very active at the minute but truth be told i am a sloth at heart... and i love nothing more than sloth days.
We woke early(ish) around 7am it would appear that some shops don't open for business until 11am and close around 10pm... and a lot of the businesses set varying hours of operation, very different from home... and it is fascinating, i like Okinawa hours. There are a lot less people riding bikes around Okinawa in comparison to Kyoto and the vibe is certainly a lot more relaxed.
We went for a walk to gain our bearings and start getting used to our new location for the next 5 days, we walked along the beach front promenade that is directly out the front of our apartment, unfortunately however we do not have a direct gate access to it so we must walk around to the park two doors down and then through it to get to the beach. Unlike home, swimming is only allowed within netted areas
at this beach and the next over (sunset beach, i think its called, and i'm not yet sure if it goes for all beaches) so we of course obeyed this rules, as i have a sneaking suspicion that Okinawa has some pretty nasty jelly fish.
Speaking of things that make you go "OUCH!". Brad and i were taking an afternoon dip (in the netted area) when i came up from ducking my head under the water and saw a tiny little head looking back at me... By the time my brain had received the message "SNAKE" i was already telling Brad to move out of the water and i was heading for the sand as fast as my little legs and arms could get me there. There were two americans (father and daughter) swimming close by and a nosey American lady standing at the waterline with what i suspect were her two toddler age children. I tried to say "excuse me, but i think i just saw a snake in the water" to the father and daughter, they were not responding. The mother then appeared to have herd what i was trying to tell them and then went over and informed them of the news. Interestingly instead of leaving the water for a responsible among of time to let the snake go off and find fishes to eat... they swam closer to the spot where we were and the father with his teenage daughter behind hime, then loudly proclaimed "i can't see any snake" in a condescending tone. I won't hold the actions of a few american's against an entire population but a lot of them that i have had contact with have been overly loud and kinda annoying. There is a large American military presences in Okinawa and i can tell you, there seems to be more American's than Japanese at times. Some are perfectly lovely people, but this family of what appeared to be 3 teenagers, mum and dad were loud and totally fucking up my tranquility that i was trying to achieve by doing nothing but swim, eat, sunbath and read my book. So realising that they weren't moving anytime soon, we removed ourselves from the beach and went in search of groceries.
We found a great supermarket that has a widest selection of fruit, veg and meat products that we have seen to date and we were so pleased it was only a short walk to and from our apartment. we went up ate beautiful fresh dumplings that you can buy ready made in the super market to cook at home and we vegetated. we watched a couple of movies. After our first night, we had learned that our bedding appears to be home made and consisted of a lot of hard thick timber. I know that a lot of Japanese people still sleep traditionally on the floor with thin mattresses, but this bed... holy crap, sleeping on the sand on the beach probably would have been more comfortable. Brad had the great idea of pulling the thin mattress of the top bunk along with the doona for extra padding... we both squished in as best we could onto what appears to be a double single size bed. Neither of us very comfortable but unable to keep our eyes open we fell asleep.
That was pretty much it, Nothing crazy or amazing... just being here, experience daily life and enjoying the sun, sand and clear blue waters of Okinawa... it is technically autumn here, but the only indication is that they strangely sell jumpers, thick knits and turtle necks in the shops and the Japanese wear them! it was 27 degrees today! maybe the locals feel that is cold, but i think they are mad!
So Sayonara for now lovelies, we are still loving our holiday but god, do we wish for a better bed!
XO bradaline
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