沖縄旅行！OKINAWAAAA!!!!!! Part 2
Okinawa - the place where i saw my first Sakura Bloom!
Okinawa - the place where shisah's RULE!
shisah's are the okinawan equivalent of the こまいぬ(komainu), the pair of guardians seen at the entrances of temples and houses... one has its mouth opened, to signify beginnings, and the other has its mouth closed, to signify endings. the okinawan shisahs were being sold everrrrrryyywhheeerrreeee...........
THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE TRIP! :) :) :) 花山さん、かれんちゃん、erwin brunio!
WHALE WATCHING!!!
damn! this is the BEST shot i have of the 2 humpbacks that we saw! but luckily for me, erwin came much more equipped and RECORDED the jumps. yipppeee!
MY FIRST DIVE IN 2 OVER YEARS! happy but the water was BLARDY COLD. erwin and i were both thankful for the 5MM wetsuits but it was STILL COLD. we were able to take hot water showers on deck, so i'm eternally grateful for hot water... seriously. :) we did 2 dives and 1 snorkel. the 2nd dive was not as good, first, i screwed up at the safety stop, then, the boat left without us! nearing the end of the dive, there was a very strong current and we had to crawl along the corals to move ahead. then, at the safety stop, i didn't realise that there was a current pulling us downward - and i thought my depth gauge was spoilt! cause i was finning up, but could only maintain a depth of 12m... supposed to fin to 5m and stop. so erica, one of the dive masters had to inflate my BC and pull me up to 5m. .... after we surfaced, the boat left! and we had to waiiiit and float around till it came back. blah. watever the case, i'm definitely going to dive in warmer waters from now on!
island boy erwin, whose work is to dive... was fine! :) see how cool he is!
Snap Shots of the City.... Night and Day!
Koksai Street at night - some semblance nightlife! some bars open till 1am... but are closed on sunday *tieow* -- watever the case, its tonnes better than the area around kansai kokusai centre. seriously... its worse than.. MANDAI.
Still Kokusai street - there are tonnes of shops, specially for tourists, selling nothing but omiyage! very interesting. went mad inside toy shops! but managed to exercise some self control!
saw these... preserved snakes or something. can someone tell me wat they are??? we didn't ask :(
went to 居酒屋 （izakaya - a pub) and watched a live okinawa shamisen performance and wat i will now call a ''mask dance''
day time reveals personality and lots of greenery... even within the main city -- i like!!!
but it was also because of the greenery that we failed to locate hanayama san's house the first time we searched...
can u blame us??
SUNDAY WAS BEACH DAY!!!!
we even had fun on the bus ride there and back!
MiHama American Village! (very lovely in the day, but not safe at night, hanayama san says. apparently there was a highly politicised episode about a decade ago, when i child got raped by an american soldier.)
i'd be fooled if someone had told me that erwin's university entrance exam scheduled 2 days after this photo was about ''the mechanics of sandcastle building''. :P
after a while on the sand, we proceeded to the american village proper
doing touristy things... taking touristy shots...
this open space where bands perform has been the starting point for many successful japanese bands.
my indulgence... elaine!! can u figure out what the tees say and figure out who fits which tee?
took a ferris wheeeeeeelll!
LAST DAY: was spent entirely at Naha City's 療育センター that provides a comprehensive and holistic range of services for children with disabilties, teachers, and family members. the way they conducted their classes reminded me of RFKC, the songs, the children stirred in me memories of the RFKC kids u know.. :) reading, playtime, ball time classes and a trip to the fastfood restaurant, Lotteria, where the children ordered and paid for their own food. :) that was a first for some of the children and the joy on their faces.. wah. indescribable. i don't think i can do this full time. you need alot of heart. i have a renewed respect for the families and teachers for children with disabilities.
LAST NIGHT: a slooow and peaceful night at hanayama san's new apartment! with dinner and an ofuro session with karen!
i think at the end of it, karen had the mooost fun! :) she really loved erwin and cried on the day he left.
so, that, in a nutshell, was my okinawa trip :)
Okinawa - the place where shisah's RULE!
shisah's are the okinawan equivalent of the こまいぬ(komainu), the pair of guardians seen at the entrances of temples and houses... one has its mouth opened, to signify beginnings, and the other has its mouth closed, to signify endings. the okinawan shisahs were being sold everrrrrryyywhheeerrreeee...........
THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE TRIP! :) :) :) 花山さん、かれんちゃん、erwin brunio!
WHALE WATCHING!!!
damn! this is the BEST shot i have of the 2 humpbacks that we saw! but luckily for me, erwin came much more equipped and RECORDED the jumps. yipppeee!
MY FIRST DIVE IN 2 OVER YEARS! happy but the water was BLARDY COLD. erwin and i were both thankful for the 5MM wetsuits but it was STILL COLD. we were able to take hot water showers on deck, so i'm eternally grateful for hot water... seriously. :) we did 2 dives and 1 snorkel. the 2nd dive was not as good, first, i screwed up at the safety stop, then, the boat left without us! nearing the end of the dive, there was a very strong current and we had to crawl along the corals to move ahead. then, at the safety stop, i didn't realise that there was a current pulling us downward - and i thought my depth gauge was spoilt! cause i was finning up, but could only maintain a depth of 12m... supposed to fin to 5m and stop. so erica, one of the dive masters had to inflate my BC and pull me up to 5m. .... after we surfaced, the boat left! and we had to waiiiit and float around till it came back. blah. watever the case, i'm definitely going to dive in warmer waters from now on!
island boy erwin, whose work is to dive... was fine! :) see how cool he is!
Snap Shots of the City.... Night and Day!
Koksai Street at night - some semblance nightlife! some bars open till 1am... but are closed on sunday *tieow* -- watever the case, its tonnes better than the area around kansai kokusai centre. seriously... its worse than.. MANDAI.
Still Kokusai street - there are tonnes of shops, specially for tourists, selling nothing but omiyage! very interesting. went mad inside toy shops! but managed to exercise some self control!
saw these... preserved snakes or something. can someone tell me wat they are??? we didn't ask :(
went to 居酒屋 （izakaya - a pub) and watched a live okinawa shamisen performance and wat i will now call a ''mask dance''
day time reveals personality and lots of greenery... even within the main city -- i like!!!
but it was also because of the greenery that we failed to locate hanayama san's house the first time we searched...
can u blame us??
SUNDAY WAS BEACH DAY!!!!
we even had fun on the bus ride there and back!
MiHama American Village! (very lovely in the day, but not safe at night, hanayama san says. apparently there was a highly politicised episode about a decade ago, when i child got raped by an american soldier.)
i'd be fooled if someone had told me that erwin's university entrance exam scheduled 2 days after this photo was about ''the mechanics of sandcastle building''. :P
after a while on the sand, we proceeded to the american village proper
doing touristy things... taking touristy shots...
this open space where bands perform has been the starting point for many successful japanese bands.
my indulgence... elaine!! can u figure out what the tees say and figure out who fits which tee?
took a ferris wheeeeeeelll!
LAST DAY: was spent entirely at Naha City's 療育センター that provides a comprehensive and holistic range of services for children with disabilties, teachers, and family members. the way they conducted their classes reminded me of RFKC, the songs, the children stirred in me memories of the RFKC kids u know.. :) reading, playtime, ball time classes and a trip to the fastfood restaurant, Lotteria, where the children ordered and paid for their own food. :) that was a first for some of the children and the joy on their faces.. wah. indescribable. i don't think i can do this full time. you need alot of heart. i have a renewed respect for the families and teachers for children with disabilities.
LAST NIGHT: a slooow and peaceful night at hanayama san's new apartment! with dinner and an ofuro session with karen!
i think at the end of it, karen had the mooost fun! :) she really loved erwin and cried on the day he left.
so, that, in a nutshell, was my okinawa trip :)
posted by oatsandapples at
09:06
3 Comments:
wah... you'd so much fun!! eating, sightseeing, shopping, watching performances, DIVING!!!! i'd give my cny here anything for just a day of what you enjoyed!
poor lil karen must be really feeling upset when you and erwin had to go alr. hope you two can meet up again! :)
By
Elaine, at Wednesday, February 21, 2007
hey u went to the toy store right?! did u find my Konjiki no Gasshu Beru and Kiyo Takamine toys? haiya.. nvm, i think u will never find them! haha!! they could be outdated in japan. :(
By
Elaine, at Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Wah lau, and AYF paid for this? Basket, AYF in KL, what a waste of my time. Went to a jungle in Malaysia as a trip - like reservist.
The snake sake was Habu snakes huh? Very venomous pit vipers. Okinawan kids are taught from young how to catch/deal with them if confronted.
By
J, at Thursday, February 22, 2007
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