Hello Mother, Hello Sister...
...and anyone else who cares about my blog.

Here's the scoop... Back in early September, DnC had another one of their barbecues in the park. It was at the same park as we did last year. This time around, we had a bunch of people from work, which was interesting. One of our co-workers claimed that his wife was xenophobic, and it was a good chance for her to overcome her fear. Another co-worker's wife could ride the Uni pretty well. Impressive.
Unfortunately, even though there was leftover sushi rolls, it was spoiled by the end of the day, so I couldn't eat any of the leftovers. Dangit.

We had a quick dinner for freshcoast's birthday back in mid-September. It was a Okinawa-style restaurant. Which gave me a pre-view of what we would be able to eat in Okinawa. Unfortunately, Midori couldn't make it. (She had a long commute from school back then). It was a relatively small gathering, with DnC, Dave, freshcoast and Rie.

The BIG event in September was our trip to Okinawa (沖縄 to go here. Given that it would take a day to travel and a day to take care of business, we decided to make a trip of it. It was a first time there for me, but Midori has been there a long time ago. We took off from FUK because the package deal from there was cheaper than flying from KMJ. We took the limited express train to Fukuoka, which makes it relatively painless.

We arrived in the early afternoon and got our rental car. Unlike in the US, the rental cars in Japan are kept until it is driven into the ground. Our rental has definitely seen better days, but it was fully functional. It was a bit of a trick to get to the hotel, since the intersection that would get us there was less than intuitive. We stayed at the GRG Hotel, which was pretty good for the price.

After the day's travel, I didn't feel like driving, so we took the monorail to our first destination, Shuri Castle (首里城). It, being part of the Ryuku Kingdom independent of mainland Japan for most of its history, has a different flavor from other castles in Japan. After touring the castle, we found a nearby diner and dove into てびち (pig feet), チャンプルー and 沖縄そば (Okinawa noodles). I didn't like pigs feet very much before, but that wasn't too bad.

We made our way back to the monorail after dinner and stopped at Omoro-machi area in Naha, which is noteworthy for having a Duty-Free Shop. I didn't quite understand at first, but after watching Midori make a purchase for her dad, I began to grok. Basically, one has to be from outside the prefecture to make purchases there. The stuff there is treated as if it is not imported into Japan yet. Then, the traveller who comes to Okinawa technically imports it into Japan when they go home, duty free. Or, put another way, the items there are treated like any other duty-free shop elsewhere in the world, except that it's physically in Japan. I don't know how they got this through the legal and regulatory barriers, but there it was. After midori purchased a belt for her dad, we hopped back on the monorail and moved to Makishi station. There, we walked down Kokusai-dori (国際通り), which is basically a string of gift shops (with other shops and restaurants mixed in).

After all that walking, Midori was getting tired, so we went back to the hotel to prepare for a new day.

Second day was a big road trip. We basically drove up the west side of the island hitting various tourist spots. Our first stop was simply a brown sugar factory, where we got a short tour and got to shop in the attached gift shop. The next stop was more of a tourist spot. The Ryukyu Village (琉球村) was a collection of homes from the Ryukyu era, transplanted and preserved there. There were craft items in the Ryukyu style, as well as some activities if we had time for them. Moving right along, we stopped at Manzamou (万座毛), which is a rock shaped like an elephant's trunk. That's all it was, but it was a nice view of the ocean. Next, we stopped at a confection factory, where we taste-tested pretty much every cake, cookie, bun, etc. they had on display, as well as having a little snack of ice cream and a cream puff. The place also was next to a beach, so I was able to go out and step in the water a little bit. We didn't have time to take a dip, however.

Our next main stop was the Nago pineapple garden, ナゴパイナップルパーク. Again, we were able to taste every kind of pineapple cake, tart, juice, wine, cookie, pie, etc. There was also an all-you-can-eat pineapple bar. However, by the time we got there, we were pretty much stuffed silly on all of the other stuff. :(

That was most of the agenda that day, so we started heading back to the expressway entrance, near our final stop. We thought we were in no hurry, so we stopped at every interesting little sight or thing we saw along the way. Which lead to my main disappointment for the trip. The tour package included a free entry to the Nago Paradise (botanical garden). However, by the time we got there, it was closed. DANG. If we didn't make all those stops (including an extra trip back to the confectionery shop when we realized that we had a coupon for free cookies there as well), we would have made it. Bummer.

So, we got on the expressway and got back pretty quick. Our dinner was obtained at a convenience store, but in Okinawa, they have てびち in the convenience stores. Pretty cool. We also picked up Taco Rice, which is also considered an Okinawa dish. It is steamed rice with taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and salsa on top. Yum.

The last day was the big day, the reason we were on the island to begin with. It started out with a little thrill. I left the light on in the car the night before. The hotel staff told me before it sat in the parking structure for 1/2 an hour, but that was enough for the car to not start the next morning. The hotel staff was kind enough to give us a jump, and we were off. We got to the consulate a half-hour early, and was able to get started right away. Overall, the process was relatively painless... except for the $355 fee. Ouch.

We finished before noon, which gave us time to go to the Ashibina outlet mall, where we had our final meal in Okinawa--more 沖縄そば and Taco Rice. From there, we drove back to the car rental place, but I missed a turn because the navi was off by a few meters. And, because it didn't give directions when one is in a minor road ("Please make your way to a major road, as shown...."), I had to kind of feel my way back to the shop.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, as we moved smoothly to the airport, through Fukuoka, and back to home.

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Dan has finished his term at the Japan office, so DnC held a send-off for him. We had the usual suspects there. It was a good dinner. It seems he's got a job lined up at the headquarters... which reminds me of how uncertain my prospects are.

It was a long entry--the Kagoshima stuff will have to wait. Until next time.