Hello!
Today was a picking-up-the-car-and-moving kind of day. So, after another lovely breakfast
downstairs, we packed up and around 9 am headed down to check out. R
requested a taxi, but once the gal at reception saw where we were going, she
said it was just a few minutes walk. She
circled the correct number on the hotel map for us, and her directions were
very easy to follow.
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| Now in the car heading north out of Naha |
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| The start of American Village |
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| At the top looking east from Nakagusuku Castle |
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| Approaching castle walls |
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| Looking at the Pacific side, and R says a nuclear power plant |
So, out and into our little rental car. The only problem is that while the suitcases
and carry-ons fit quite well into the trunk area of the vehicle, there was no
cover for it and they are exposed to plain sight. This concerned me a bit, so we decided that
we would head from Naha up the western coastal highway #58 to Chatan and to our
next hotel, to see if we could drop off the luggage there for safekeeping. I might add that from the DoubleTree Hilton in Naha to the Hilton Chatan Resort was something like
20 km!
On the road at last, and it definitely feels weird driving
on the left side of the road, especially here!
Nice little car, with a real Start/Stop button, but we’re not sure of
the manufacturer yet; we’ll have to take a look and see what is written on the
vehicle. No problems getting out of
Naha, and while I’m sure there is more traffic than there was 42 years ago,
everything moved along just fine!
As we got closer to Chatan, I tried to spot any buildings at
all that I remembered, but no such luck.
In fact, it seems that there has been a tremendous amount of U.S.
military building since I was here – and they’ve put fences around
everything! (But is that to keep the
Marines in or the public out??)
Nothing really for me to recognize – the first McDonald’s in
Okinawa is no longer where it was - until we got near Ft. Butler and the U.S.
Naval Hospital. So! The Naval Hospital is
still where it was, and is still painted white, but now is of course
incorporated into a secure area. But
there is my “hill” that we lived on!! I
was figuring the hill would be there, if anything, although the only expressway
on Okinawa runs right through the area, so I am hopeful!
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| Great view! |
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| Main entry gate to the 14th C. castle |
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| Impressive walls! |
We first found the Chatan area and the American Village – which quite frankly looks pretty awful; very,
very kitschy to say the least. Then we
found our hotel, and drove up to the entrance.
Our room wasn’t supposed to be ready until 3 pm but it apparently has
been vacated and would be ready for us about 1 pm. We left the luggage in the care of some nice
men, and headed back out to explore.
Stopped at McDonald’s for coke Zero and a sit down while we
planned our route to Nakagusuku Castle.
(One was very handy, although I’m not at all sure how I’d navigate a
left-side drive through!)
Our car does have a GPS system, and there are even a few
English words on it, but R prefers to
use Emmy, and I definitely agree with him!
We can’t even find out where to turn on the car radio, although it
periodically keeps turning itself on!
Also, when I try to turn on the turn indicators, I am basically turning
on the windshield wipers instead! How
Australian!!!
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| Stunning beautiful and well fitting walls; no mortar! |
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| Me in the middle for perspective! |
It took us about 15 minutes to wind our way up a hill and
arrive at the Nakagusuku Castle parking lot.
We paid our admission – ¥400 each (about $3.60 U.S.) and were
able to take a free electric shuttle golf-cart affair to the top of the
hill. Only problem is that it is VERY windy today, and VERY chilly! Talk about windswept…! The view from the top of the castle was
amazing – you can see both sides of the island, the Pacific Ocean to the east,
and the South China Sea to the west! How
fun!
(Copied from Wikipedia)
“Around the middle of the 14th century (Muromachi Era), the first
generation of Nakagusuku Ajis (Ryukyuan Lords) build Nakagusuku Castle and made
it their residence. The following generations built the south, west, fourth,
first and second enclosures. Artifacts
from the second part of the 14th century were found during the excavations, and
because of those artifacts, we know that the castle is from this period of
history.” But truly, it’s the walls
themselves that are amazing. The rocks
are put together to make these massive fortifications without the use of any
mortar – the pieces just fit together like leggos!
There were a few other people visiting the site, but no
crowd whatsoever to speak of. It’s
incredible thinking about people living there, and, while it’s not as ancient
as some of our Turkey sites, it is a very, very impressive castle ruin!
The convenient shuttle took us to the top of the ruin, and
as we walked through the enclosures and gates, we worked our way back down to
the entrance, which was very conveniently placed. All in all, a fabulous albeit COLD and windy
spot!
We still had a bit of time to kill before heading back to
the hotel, so I asked Robert to find me Plaza
House, to see if it was still there.
And, he found it, although it is certainly NOT in the form it was 40 years ago when I asked my dear friend
Celeste to go back to our apartment to get the rent money, as the Waterford
crystal I had been wanting to buy was FINALLY
on sale, and I was going to be picking out glasses! (She did, that is, go get the $$, and I
picked out what started to be my crystal collection!)
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| Looks like hibiscus... |
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| Room 911! |
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| Picture window into bath and shower! |
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| View from balcony looking north |
However, on the way, I spotted a hotel that I was certain
was the only Hilton in Okinawa so
very long ago! It has changed names, and
is now the Costa Vista Wellness Center
and Hotel – but I even recognized the “rent by the hour” hotel at the
bottom of the hill! (Some things are just hard to forget!). And, as I remembered that the Hilton road was
not far from the road our apartment was on, we may have a candidate to explore
tomorrow! I’m so excited, although I’m
trying hard not to be!!!
At this point, we headed back to our Hilton Chatan Resort to check in!
Truly a lovely lobby, with a breathtaking view out over the water. Using a combination of $$ and Hilton Honors points, we have a
wonderful room on the Executive 9th (top) floor, with a stunning
view – and an executive lounge for food and drinks on a daily basis! Our room, 920, is mid-resort, with beautiful
views of the ocean and two of the hotel’s swimming pools. There is a third pool I understand, which is
indoors – but, the magic words “coin laundry” really hit me – I’ll be able to
do some wash before we have to leave this lovely place! (We’re here for three nights!)
Settled in to our room, and R now taking a nap. I will
shortly be joining him. We have decided
to try the Asian restaurant here tonight, as they are having a buffet with “all
you can eat” crab legs, which sound pretty good to us! May just sit in the
executive lounge and munch and drink first though – and may not make it out
again until tomorrow! (I am still coping
a bit with jet lag, which got me up around 4 this morning, so we have been
going awhile!) Hopefully I’ll be able to
include dinner on this entry, so there will only be one post for the day!
Oh, I forgot to mention that sometime around 4 there was a
knock at our door, and we were presented with a lovely tray of macaroons
arranged on top of chocolate “rocks,” some green seedless grapes, and two
slices of some sort of nut cookie.
Excellent!
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| View from balcony facing due east |
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| Wish it were warm enough for water slide! |
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| Our little "snack" |
Lots of love,
m
xxx
Up from a blissful 2 hour nap, feeling like I had been
rendered unconscious, which perhaps I was … needed a nice scrub and soak in our
wonderful soaking tub to wake up! Now
ready for dinner and heading first to the Executive Lounge to see what lies
within! More later!
m
Back yet again after dinner!
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| Plate of crab, sushi and salad |
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| Noodles with beef and 2 kinds of chicken |
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| Chocolate pound cake and cheese cake |
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| Vanilla soft serve with sprinkles! |
We both started with crab legs, sushi and green salad with
Japanese dressing. (Among our choices,
we could have had Italian or Thousand Island as well.) As the only sushi I like happens to be
cooked, I had the ebi (shrimp) sushi,
and it was excellent. The crab legs less
so, and there was no warm butter in which to dunk the pieces. Salad was great, and I included a few slices
of the sautéed garlic that we had first seen last evening at Heki.
Really, the nice thing about buffets is that no one seems to
count the number of plates you manage to mess up! After the first course, I went back for some
excellent American beef served rare, some chicken both - grilled and fried, as well
as an excellent noodle dish. There were
many choices available, although this is the first time, in my recollection
that we had the option of Okinawan pig’s feet – on which we both surprisingly
passed! There was Thai curry, five grain
rice as well as Japanese steamed rice, pork “pieces” and several fish dishes
along with three or four vegetables.
The dessert table included soft serve vanilla ice cream with
sprinkles or hot chocolate, and a very elaborate chocolate fountain with pound
cake, marshmallows and fruit for dipping.
The chocolate was dark, and absolutely fabulous, as yes, I did have a
few pieces. R got a plate of pineapple, which he offered to me. That was when I found that pineapple dipped
in dark chocolate is really delicious!
Who knew?! There were also plates
of cakes which were very pretty, but the cheese cake just wasn’t up to
standard. All washed down by a glass of
Chardonnay for R and a glass of
Sauvignon Blanc for me. Very, very good
dinner!
I did want to check out the coin laundry situation, and we
found that on the 1st floor, north side. They have seven washers and dryers, but all
the dryers were in use. Guess it’s a
popular place! I plan on spending some
early morning minutes there in the next day or two, as I never can resist a
washer and dryer opportunity!
Up to the room about 8:45 pm and R already sound asleep.
We’re still catching up on our sleep banks, at least I am! Not sure what we will do tomorrow, other than
hunt for my old apartment building, but we’ll see what the day brings!!
Lots and lots of love,
m
xxx
Hope you find your old apt. I remember writing letters to there but I do not remember you being there for 2 years. Alas my memory isn't all that great anyway.
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