Hello and good morning!
We are up and in the process of getting ready to move to our
next hotel, but while it was fresh in our minds, I wanted to talk about dinner
last night.
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| Rain clearing out last night! |
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| A rainbow over the sea! |
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| Stunning evening! |
About 7 pm we got into the
car to drive the very short distance to
Colombin,
a restaurant that had been recommended to us when we first arrived.
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| My lobster and chicken |
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| R's wonderful mystery meal! |
It was open and looked nice, so in we
went.
Not full, but definitely other
diners – all Japanese, from what we could see.
We were (fortunately!) given two menus in English (more or less, mostly
less).
And when I say in English, I mean
that the photos were identified here and there by a few words, supposedly
enough for us to match words to pictures and know the prices – sometimes.
I ordered Lobster Thermidor with chicken (rice on the side)
[¥2,589].
There were also a few slices
of boiled potatoes, a few pieces of corn on the cob, and some broccoli.
The lobster was fine, but I have to admit
that I was very suspicious of the chicken.
I like chicken to be thoroughly cooked, and this didn’t look like
it.
Also, and me being a very picky
American, I really do prefer white meat, but 1) I don’t know how to say that in
Japanese, and 2) probably wouldn’t have mattered if I did!
So, I basically ate the lobster and rice, and
that was fine.
Robert selected something
“unnamed” on the menu, which included: Tempura, Miso soup, with “clams”, Rice,
Noodles, Ahi sashimi, Lobster claw sashimi, Pickled ginger(?), Fish, and Salad
[¥1293]. This more traditional dinner was very good. Not too exotic for
American tastes. (Well, I’d probably debate that remark –
m)
R very much enjoyed his dinner, saving the tuna sashimi (the best)
for last.
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| Baby pineapples in the fields! |
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| LOVED our pineapple car! |
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| Traveling on pineapple car through the fields |
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| Stunning bougainvillea |
The final point is that the restaurant does not take credit cards. That is something that we charge-it-happy
Americans really don’t get (Miles, or Points, oh yes!), but R did some research this morning about
the Japanese and their banking system.
That is certainly a subject for an entire blog entry, which won’t happen
now. Suffice it to say that the Okinawans work basically on a cash basis, which
explains our inability to find ATMs at any place other than convenience
stores! One final point – most ATMs
apparently close at 5 pm each night, and also on holidays! Whew!
Hard to imagine!
Today we move back to the Chatan area, but a mile or so further
south along the coast than we were at the Hilton
Chatan Resort (which we loved!). I
had hoped to find a good hotel closer to the south end of the island, but it
appears that other than Naha, there are no good major places to stay. We will base ourselves in the Chatan area for
the next four nights in a self-catering small flat, and then take daily
southerly trips to hit some of the major sites on the island. That means that it is time to have the Battle
of Okinawa discussion, which I will do tonight.
So! More later and
lots of love!
m
xxx
Welcome back to Chatan!
We are now truly living, I believe, like a Japanese family!
Our space is
SO tiny, but everything is where it should be.
It’s one of those places, if you’ve ever
stayed in one, where only one person at a time can really move around, to avoid
gridlock!
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| Beautiful orchids |
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| Faux pineapples! |
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| Some kind of coconuts |
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| Lovely orchids |
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| Me on "overhead" route |
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| Interesting bougainvillea color! |
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| In the Shell museum |
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| More shells! |
And, our place includes two
lovely, comfy twin beds and a night stand between them, then a long table
height space where
R has set up the
computer.
There was, unbelievably, a
large coffee table with glass on it that we have moved in order to get around
anywhere; we are also using it as a repository for stuff.
My suitcase and our carry-ons are in the
closet, and
R’s is near the door, as that’s
about the only place!
(Although I’m must
be thinking that it might just bit under the table and work better there; we’ll
see!
There is also a love-seat-size sofa
bed opposite the table.
When you walk
in, immediately on the left is the stackable washer and dryer.
I’m actually using it now as a place to put
dirty clothes.
Then just after that on
the same side, is the toilet room, followed by a large sink area with mirror,
followed by the built in large shower compartment.
Very compact!
On the right-side of the door is a small kitchen area, complete with
microwave, sink, dishes, hot plate and kettle and coffee maker.
Then the closet.
And that’s it!
Oh!
Except we’re on the top (10
th) floor with a balcony and have
a nice small wooden table and two wooden chairs to sit on outside.
Our view is stunning, but then seriously,
when isn’t water stunning?
At the
moment, the tide seems to be fully out, and there are a number of folks walking
around among the tide pools.
My main
question so far is:
Immediately behind
the toilet, and attached thereto, is a small sink.
And, when the toilet is flushed, the water
first runs through the sink, and I have no idea at all how to – or if we
should! – turn it off!
Seems like a
great waste of water to me, but I’m from Tucson via California, where we have
to be careful.
Oh well!
We’re now settling in after a lovely morning and drive
south.
Upon leaving the
Beach Palace, we headed back north to
Nago (only a few miles) and went to the
Pineapple
Park.
We had seen an advertisement
for it, and it looked enjoyable … and I really do love pineapple!
Arrived there around 10 am, and were guided
through the property to the parking area.
We got the trolley shuttle to return us to the entrance, where we got our
tickets.
The very first thing you do is
get in the self-driving
PINEAPPLE for
a ride around the property!
It was
GREAT!!!
We enjoyed it very much – so
much, in fact, that we bought the entire set of three photos that had been
taken as we went along.
Hopefully
R will be able to take a photo of the
photo to share, as we’ve never ridden in a pineapple before!
After that, we walked the overhead route of
the gardens.
Truly an incredible display
of orchids, bougainvillea and tropical plantings.
Then, an excursion through their shell
museum, which was pretty incredible, and finally, out through their shop.
Do you know there is really such a thing as a
pineapple wine?
(Although honestly,
after the swill we had last night (I couldn’t drink it!) I would think it would
definitely be the way to go!
We did
purchase a few items – I couldn’t really resist the pineapple vinegar; we’ll
see how it travels home!
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| Our toilet with sink attached at back! |
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| Sink and shower compartment |
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| View from our 10th floor balcony! |
From there, we went looking for the
PGO Glass Factory.
We did
manage to find it, but it was labeled CLOSED, so we had to make do with the
Ryukyu Glass Works.
They had some really lovely things, but when
one looked closely, the things I really wanted to buy were all marked “Hand
Made in Vietnam!”
I don’t think so! So,
definitely saved some money there.
By
this time, it was about 12:30 pm and we wanted to be back in Chatan by 3 or so
to check in.
Decided to take the Pacific
(east) side back south, which was a road I’ve never been on before.
Honestly, when I lived here I visited Korea
(south), Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok, but never made it north of
Kadena Air Force Base – missed a lot!
We
first passed Camp Schwab, which is a Marine base.
In front of the main gate, there was a very
large group of very organized protesters waving signs.
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| Another view from our balcony! |
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| Standing on the balcony to take photo of room! |
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| A photo of our photo in pineapple cart! |
It looked like they had set up quite a long
line of booths and tents, and
R first
thought it was some sort of street market.
No … definitely a protest, although with everything in Japanese, we have
no idea why.
I’m thinking it’s because
the U.S. wants to build or expand yet another base and the locals have had
enough.
Don’t necessarily blame them, as
when we got around Kadena AFB, the noise of the plane engines taking off and
landing seemingly right in the middle of Okinawa City, was deafening.
I wouldn’t like it either!
Worked our way across the peninsula just south of Kadena to
the Chatan area, and to our hotel. It’s
brand-new (celebrated its first birthday in December) and spotlessly clean –
just tiny, and rather fun, actually!
It’s definitely one of those spaces that MUST remain organized if you
want to have any chance at all of making it function properly! We’ll see!
That’s about it for the moment! Lots of love,
m
xxx
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