Driving and Musicals

In our 48 hour weekend, we drove for 18 hours, and slept for 11 hours, which equals to 19 hours of being in Tokyo. Not a very long luxurious weekend, but filled with memories. We got a ride from a fellow coworker of mine who turned into our Chinese tutor. He drove us to Tokyo so he could also see his daughter who is a new university student. The first day was filled with driving, arriving in Yokohama, eating Chinese food to our heart's content, and making our way to Tokyo to watch Wicked...in Japanese. It was wonderful. The singing was amazing and since I saw it before in English, I could understand almost everything and it made it as breathtaking as the first time I saw it. Ron and I really enjoyed it.





The next day, we went around Akihabara on the mission of finding a DVD player so we could watch Japanese movies on our computer, no such luck, but we did manage to find some other nice things before we made our way to Yokohama once again. This time it was to watch our friend Kunino perform in Yokohama's 150th anniversary of their harbor being built. It was a surprisingly good performance. It was really interesting to see something historical from another culture. There was another part where they played out the bombings during World War II and it was really frightening to see what they went through. Very eye opening. Well, after the performance and the wonderful singing of Kunino's choir, we met our friend and made 8 more hours of travel until we came back to Morioka. I am so happy that we were able to make this journey, but the next time, we will definately use the Shinkansen.

Golden Week

For our Golden week vacation, we will be doing a sunrise-sunset mission. On the early morning of 4:35 am, we will be waking up on the eastern coastal city of Miyako. After seeing the beautiful sunrise, we will take a five hour drive, stopping at various tourist hot spots until we get to the western side of Akita Beach. There we will BBQ, see the sunset, and enjoy the company of the friends and the sand. There are only a few places in the world where the sun can be seen rising and setting on the same day. It is our mission to see both on May 4th.

The Forgotten Zamami Island

Forgotten because of the fact that I didn't include it with the other Okinawa pictures. It's a shame too because it was really so fun and I snorkeled which is something I didn't think I would do because of my fear of the ocean. I can swim around the shallow area, but if I see fish and algae and coral, no way!

On this small island though, two hours from Naha, Ron and I really got to enjoy doing absolutely nothing. I realized that although the purpose of this trip was to relax, going from city to city, taking buses for hours, hitch hiking, and trying to make an adventure everyday, a small island of 500 was just what was needed. Ron and I were able to eat at all 5 restaurants and we made several loops walking around the village. The turquoise water was amazing and going underwater was a completely mind bending experience. It was one thing to see these things through glass, but to be swimming with them was incredible. We saw lion fish, squid, and larger fish about a foot long. I would never try to touch them, but my inner challenge was won when I put on the fins and dove into the sea. Holding Ron's hand while swimming also calmed me down.

Enjoying Okinawa

Nago City and the Ocean Expo Park

Nago brought us a lot of adventure and firsts. After arriving and searching for our guest house for an hour, we finally found a series of shacks that barely looked like they were holding themselves up. The walls were peeling, everything felt "beachy" and it just looked worn down. However unsure we (I) felt about it, it was indeed our place. However, after going to the Orion brewery and sitting in the hammock watching the beach only ten steps away while talking with like-minded guests, we changed our one night stay to two. Great choice!






The next day, Ron went scuba diving for the first time. He said that he touched fish and coral and went down nearly 8 meters. I stayed on the boat because of my fear of the underwater world. I just felt like if I did scuba, the fish would scare me enough to panic, burst my eardrum, and die. Afterward, we wanted to go to the nearby ocean park that had Japan's biggest aquarium (apparently, it's not in Osaka) so as our mode of transportation, we hitchiked. I would never try it anywhere else but Japan. However, five minutes of shaking our sign and we were saved by a cute couple from Kobe who took us to the park. After enjoying the aquarium, dolphins, beach, and whale sharks, we were debating how to get back, since lightning may not strike twice. We started to walk with our sign and I was cranky so we stopped at a small Taco rice shop. While we were eating, a random lady saw our sign and asked if we could drive her car to Nago since she just drank some medicine. We gladly accepted her offer and along with a free ride to our destination, she also gave us fresh passionfruit. We came back to our guest house to a huge BBQ party. We drank the local liquor and enjoyed beach roasted chicken and homemade pizza. I like Okinawa.

Enjoying Okinawa

The capital city of Naha.








Since we finished our two year excursion of our ping pong travels- trying to see as much as we can in a short amount of time, we decided to spend one whole week in one place. Arriving in Naha felt like Hawaii, Philippines, and Los Angeles all at the same time, which equals good nostalgic feelings and promise of a great vacation. On our first full day in Naha, we enjoyed the colorful Kokusai-dori that was filled with souvenier shops and AMERICAN-ish food. Our lunch was tacos, which actually tasted amost authentic. We enjoyed the nearby beach and sun knowing that our friends in Morioka were still relying on heaters. We biked uphill to the famous castle, but since we were on a no castle/temple diet, we didn't enter but enjoyed the surrounding scenery. We were quickly falling in love with this addicting city.






Don't worry everyone, we're still coming back home!

Finishing Japan- Day 5

Last day in Kyushu

Waking up in Beppu, Ron and I finished our onsen adventure by going to this little house in the middle of nowhere and having a kazoku-buro (family bath), which means a private onsen made for families and couples to take baths together. Ron now knows what his future bathroom will look like.



After our perfect soak, we made it back to the city and endured a 2 hour bus ride back to Fukuoka where a big bowl of Tonkotsu ramen was waiting for us.




Another couple hours and we were on the road to the Fukuoka airport and 8 pm last night, we arrived in the city of Naha , making our 2 year Japan excursion fully complete. We have now been to every large part of Japan; Hokkaido, Tohoku, Honshu, Western Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and now Okinawa. Today we will lie on the beach with happy smiles on our face. Realizing how much we did in such a short time, it makes me happier to be able to finish this summer and head back and show everyone of the feat we accomplished.


Orion beer and Okinawa soba to celebrate our victory!