When I got there and got my boarding pass and everything, I got in line so that I could get myself and my carry-on checked and searched. This was where I had to part ways with my family, knowing I wouldn't see them for over two months. This was really hard on me because I'm so close to my mom. But I did it, and I got on the plane. There were a few long layovers between the long flights and by the time I reached Okinawa I had jet lag so bad I couldn't stand it! Needless to say, after Nicole drove me to her and Jaron's place I went straight to bed.
Day 1
I woke up around 9:30AM, feeling much better and super excited. I'm pretty sure I said "holy crap i'm in freakin Japan" about a million times that first day. Nicole made us waffles and then we set out on our first adventure. We pulled out 5000 Yen from the ATM (about $65) and then picked up Jaron and us three drove to American Village. We went into a candy store and bought a bunch of candy; I wasn'tsure what kinds I was getting, I just bought the stuff that looked interesting haha. After that we went to this place called "Doctor Fish"; you take off your shoes, stick your feet into the water, and a bunch of little fishies start nibbling on the dead skin on your feet! It was Nicole's third time so she was pretty calm, but I kept giggling and acting all spastic because I THOUGHT I knew what it was going to feel like but there's no way I could quite describe the experience haha.
Next we went to this place called Arashi's. You order out of a vending machine, give the ticket to the hostess, then go sit down and wait for your food. I was a bit nervous at first, especially since I don't eat with chopsticks ever, but I loved eating there! I ordered garlic rice with eggs and onion soup and these dumpling things dipped in soy sauce. It was incredibly delicious and my chopstick skills were pretty darn good!
Next we went to Toguchi Beach and just walked around in the rain for awhile. Gosh it's absolutely beautiful here. The ocean water is so clear I can see the fish swimming around and the sea urchines...OH, and its so GREEN on the island. Everything is so green and lush and beautiful. Most of the time I feel like i'm in the middle of the jungle, it's absolutely breathtaking.
Day 2
This was more of a lazy day. Me and Nicole went around to a couple of the shops and I bought a few souveneirs for some family. We went to this place called "The Sauce" and just had a lazy day. Learned a few phrases in Japanese, such as "Arigato Guzymus" which means "Thank you very much" and stuff like that.
Day 3
On this day, me and Nicole drove to Nago for the annual Cherry Blossom festival. I was so excited for this because this was the exact time when the Cherry Blossoms started to blossom and I was going to BE there! We watched a performance and walked through the streets, taking pictures and taking in all the booths of food and games. It was kinda like Peach Days, except Japanese-style haha. After walking around for a bit and eating some food, we came across a long stone stairway that went up into the trees with a large sign that read "Nago Castle Ruins". We of COURSE walked up the long stairs until we reached this placed where people would thbrow in a coin, ring the large bell, then clap twice and pray. It was small but well-worth the trip.
Next we went to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. This place is famous for it's HUGE tank full of humongous sting rays and three large whale sharks and lots lots more. It was GIGANTIC! They also had huge sea turtles and sharks and DOLPHINS!!! This place had an outside park area as well and it was gorgeous. I could honestly live here the rest of my life because of the extremely nice local Okinawans and the beauty of the island.
Day 4
This day I had a nice, relaxing morning. Unfortunately it was raining and a little cool so we didn't end up going snorkeling like we had planned, but we still ended up having an amazing day. We picked up one of Jaron's co-workers named "Byrnes" and drove to Naha for some shopping. Most of the shopping we did was in this shopping area called "the Tunnels". The reason for the name is because there's a huge covering over the top and it looks like you're underground. We came across this really cool antique shop with an upstairs that had the coolest stuff! There were really old temple-stamp books and textbooks, coins, old posters and pop cans, plates, and much, much more. We spent SO much time in just that one shop! We also spent some time in the fish market, looking at all the oversized fish, crabs, lobsters, skinned pufferfish, squid, clams, and anything else you can think of.
After that we drove to Shuri Castle. This place was HUGE and so beautiful and full of history! There were lots of sacred sites and once we went inside we had to take off our shoes and couldn't take any pictures. We saw the king's throne and lots of really cool older stuff he used to use.
Day 5
This is today. We woke up, ate some waffles, and then went to Toguchi Beach; today me and Nicole went snorkeling!!! This was my first time and WOW I absolutely loved it. It was a bit chilly so we put on some wetsuits and headed out. I saw a bunch of bright blue fish and large sea urchines and got a couple shells and such, it was so cool! I'm hoping the next 4 days are as fun and exciting as the last few!!
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