Off on our holidays!

The Japanese do not take their holiday entitlement. So the government create public holidays in order to force people to have a rest. In May there is a three day public holiday called Golden week. (mmm yeh I know 3 days does not a week make!) So Dominic and I took the whole week off and the week before it!

So wearing my Snoopy chocks away t-shirt we headed off to the south west islands of Japan, Ishigaki, Myakojima and Okinawa. 

Ishigaki - a direct flight from Tokyo. Met at the airport by a very laid-back Korean hostel owner after we'd seen various posters displaying the poisonous wildlife in the area.  We rented the owners car- no paperwork to fill-in, no surveying the car beforehand and I don't even think he checked whether we had a driving license! 

Jimmy the jockey!

 



He had drawn a map of the local area on which he marked the various local beaches, bakeries, cafes and restaurants and where to watch sunsets.  

We went down to a beach from which you're not allowed to swim because they don't want people interfering with the pearl cultivation beds. The water was a fabulous turquoise. 

We spent the next 5 days driving around going swimming, snorkeling and venturing to 2 nearby islands.  The furthest one is known as the jungle of Japan. We weren't sure whether to go or not but eventually did and went to do the trip down the mangrove river and then walk to a few waterfalls. Down at the river at the ticket "office"  the woman selling the tickets asks "where are you from?" Dominic says Ireland and her immediate response is "cold". The bloke in the ticket booth with her who we assume is her husband pipes up that he lived in Ireland for two years. He's a jockey he says the name of the stable he used to work at,  Dominic is able to tell the guy that his mum and dad know the owner! Bonkers!

I feel that the lonely planet guide loves telling its readers to go to way out places and then suggest going somewhere even further away that is absolutely brilliant. They said the best beach in Japan is Moon beach on this jungle island, so we decided to head for it. At the bus stop we can't work out what the schedule is. Thankfully someone tells us we have a two hour wait. We asked them if they know our favourite beach on Ishigaki. They do so we asked them how Moon beach compares. Without hesitation they say our beach is better. So we head straight back to the ferry. Ha! Lonely planet we have beaten you! 

View from our bedroom

However at the beach I realise I haven't got my snorkel gear. Dominic has and is telling me that he can't describe how fabulous the fish are. (His snorkel mask is fitted with prescription lenses so borrowing them would not be the best!)    But then the sea goes absolutely flat, I am just standing in the water up to my waist and I can see perfectly the fish swimming around me.

We tried out the various local restaurants; the only issue being that you would typically bump into somebody from the hostel and then there would be the awkward question of whether you should eat together....

Best snorkeling

 

Sat here and enjoyed a pizza!

Next Myakojima, my favourite island. It's actually one island linked to 4 others by very impressive bridges. One of which I think is the longest bridge in Japan. How on earth such a small community can afford or justify the expense I have no idea but it was very handy for us.

There are many beautiful beaches. We stayed at a weird Moroccan place that was expensive and had shared toilets and bathrooms. The owner was great at knowing what the weather was doing and which direction the wind was blowing and based on this was able to tell us the best                                                              beaches to go to.

We went to what was labelled the best snorkeling beach.  We just walked in from the beach and within a few yards it was just like swimming in an aquarium. The guy renting out the umbrellas and chairs played an Okinawan instrument that sounded very plinky-plonky. It was most surreal to be snorkeling and hearing this music.

 


The Japanese apparently love getting kitted out for any activities. So they went into the water with a full wet suit, booties, gloves!, and often a flotation vest.  We just had our swimming gear but it made me wonder if they knew something we didn't.

Our last island was Okinawa. It's bigger and it's famous for having about 20,000 American troops living there. Someone commented that the best areas are fenced off for their training activities.

We flew into the capital Naha which does not look attractive and headed out for an hour to get to the Marriot hotel. Our friendly relocation agent in Tokyo, Louise, had moved in December to work there. She had arranged a great hotel rate and somehow managed to get us upgraded twice. From our massive luxurious room we could see the huge pool below. We had fun with Louise going to a tourist village recreation thing which normally I would not like but it had lots of crafts you could do.  So between us we made a candle!

trendy coffee van

Fabulous Japanese meal at the Marriot!

Also visited the massive aquarium. Beaches looked great but you could only swim in the netted area. So even if you walked out to the deepest bit you were still not up to your armpits. So we were glad that we had maxed out on swimming and snorkeling at the previous islands. 

We headed home.  And I joined a four week intensive Japanese course the next day. 

April events....

Friends A and G arrived into a very wet Tokyo. Impressibly spurting Japanese words and full of cultural knowledge. They put us to shame (as normal!)

They were keen to go to NohTheatre. An ancient Japanese art form. We went to a performance with English subtitles. We were also handed an English summary sheet as we walked in. Good eh? However the session started off with a 30 minute talk by a Japanese man who stood on the same spot and had no visuals to accompany his talk. He laughed in several places but I checked and the Japanese in the audience we not laughing along with him. In fact a guy in the front row had hit head right back enjoying a good sleep.  Know how he felt as it was incredibly difficult to stay awake! 

With the rain we thought all the blossoms might have disappeared but we decided to go and seek them out anyway. We then managed to find a Gyozo dumpling place someone had recommended and gorged on them with grated carrots and beer. (The beer was not grated). 

For discussion class, talking
about needs found this!

Doing the Shibuya crossing but going their own route!

Ordered a Deuter 20L for the weekend!

Our friends then disappeared to do some travelling around Japan and the following Friday we met them in Hiroshima for the weekend.(I'd decided my Deuter 10L was not up to the visit so ordered a 20L joining Amazon prime to get it in time.  I'd been hanging out to get it in Kiwi Turquoise but it was not to be found anywhere...I've included a photo as I know everyone will be interested. If you need me to send you the link to a video showing all the features just let me know.

In our hotel room on the eighth floor? We were woken up at 1 AM by the earthquake....

The next day A & G had arranged a guide to take us to the shrine built on stilts in the water and then to do all things related to the atomic bomb. Thankfully the old photos were suitably grainy so I could not see the full horror of it all.  All the various venues focus on peace rather than war. A number of kids were out in town collecting signatures to stop nuclear weapons, to give to Obama on his visit.(list of signatures not nuclear weapons).

Know where we are but no idea how
to get to where we want!

Intrepid explorers!

The next day we went to a temple with lots of waterfalls. Lovely.Decided to go on the recommended walk which came without a map. Never a great idea. Several paths were roped off and we ended up climbing down another way. And then following a service road that is in the process of being made. Visitors at the temple were surprised to see us appear from the river!

We all got ourselves lunch at the station and headed off to a park. One of the nicest I've ever been to. Dominic and I then returned to the train station to go home. 

We got to go to a baseball game to see the Giants play, luxuriously from a box. In the cheap seats on everyone's chair was a freebie of a Giants branded t shirt.  I did not realise but some were orange and some were black.  When you looked at the crowd something was cleverly spelt out in kanji.

A&G returned to base. We went with them to the cheapest bar in Tokyo.  It's a set of vending machines that unusually stock alcoholic drinks.  So everyone buys whatever they want and stands or sits around drinking. 

We finished off their holiday with a display of ikebana, then to a garden with bonsai trees.  It's part of some wedding complex. So you cannot move for brides and grooms and their entourages. 

That's it!