７月２５日（土）

Today was the boys’ last full day in Japan, so we wanted to have some fun and go to the beach. Before that we shopped around 国際通り (kokusai doori, International Street), a street stretching for quite a way that has many types of shops selling Okinawa specialties, souvenirs, and various items appealing to tourists. There we got some better beach shoes for Lane. We had talked about smashing a watermelon on the beach, which is a bit of a Japan beach tradition/game.

The deal with the watermelon smash game is you and your friends make 2 teams. One person on one team is blindfolded and spun in circles by the other team, and then the blindfolded player’s other team members try to direct their teammate verbally as he gets one swing to smash the watermelon. If the first team doesn’t do appropriate damage or hit, the other team gets a chance. The game keeps going as team members take turns being blindfolded, until the watermelon s damaged enough to tear apart with hands and eat.

We found small watermelons at the supermarket but not big ones, and since we were worried the beaches might be closed due to a typhoon warning anyway, we decided to forego the watermelon. Since the weather was simply windy and didn’t seem at all a problem to be out in, we tried going to the beach but when we asked a lifeguard he told us the beach was closed due to the typhoon after all.

To make up for the beach disappointment we rode the monorail to 首里城 (shuri-jyou, Shuri Castle), a rebuilt structure based on the original castle of the independent Ryukyu Kingdom, which was destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa (the final battle of WWII).

off to Shuri

あしもとちゅうい (ashimoto chuui, watch your step)

monorail line

monorail car

rooftop garden we saw from the monorail

view from the hill behind the castle (we sort of approached from the back)

 

nice view

 

more views

 

snails we found up there

this is a standard seating area, I don't usually see these types of large seats meant for many to gather around in the US

 

long, winding walls

the boys, unawares

the boys, awares

 

entrance to the castle area

Add caption

throne of King of the Ryukyus (not the original, but a reproduction)

I got a picture with it, yay!

king's crown

fascinating, Chinese-influence

The symbol of the Ryukyu Kingdom, 左三つ巴 (hidari mitsudomoe) was all over the museum within the castle. Lane informed me that he had seen the symbol on standards at a festival in Kyoto, but I'm not sure why it was there. While trying to figure out why that was, I at least found some more information on Okinawan symbols here.

 we met some friendly, rather pushy ducks

 

sunset at the monorail station

wow

ooo

aaah

 After the museum we had some ramen and then ice cream from the Okinawan creamery Blue Seal. Nick got Blue Wave flavor, Kitty got ベンモ (benimo, purple sweet potato) flavor, and I got 塩ちんすこう (shio chinsukou, salt biscuit) flavor.

ice cream NOM

Speaking of benimo and shio chinsukou there are many Okinawan specialties. I will explain 4 of the most famous ones now.

1. Benimo are Okinawan purple sweet potatoes. They are often used to make sweet cakes sold in omiyage boxes (souvenir boxes) and ice cream.

2. Shio chinsukou are often sold in souvenir boxes like benimo cakes. They are simply small biscuits/cookies, they may have a very subtle savory taste but they are not unpleasantly salty. They come in a variety of flavors themselves, including benimo.

3. ゴーヤ (gouya) is a bitter gourd grown in Okinawa. It is usually found chopped up in ゴーヤチャンプルー (gouya chanpuruu), a stir fry with other vegetables, tofu, and meat or fish. In the line of pleasing tourists, however, many things such as shio chinsukou have come to be gouya flavored as well.

4. 海ぶどう (umi budou, sea grapes) is a seaweed that has many small spheres of liquid on it. The taste is very subtle but the texture is a little slimy, perhaps comparable to okra.

We took another turn around International Street while it was bustling on a Saturday night. Many of the shops are very much alike, and there are strange things sold. There are many dead ハブ (habu, vipers) preserved in jars of 泡盛 (awamori, Okinawan rice liquer). The vipers are known for their vitality and sexual practices, so drinking the awamori the snake is submerged in is supposed to supplement energy and have an intensifying effect on male sex drive.

 

just some...

International Street fun...

and the dragonballz

While shopping in Okinawa we found root beer regularly, which is usually not found in mainland Japan. The Swedish boy staying at our hostel said he had never tried it, so Kitty bought a can for him. That’s one of the cool things that can come out of staying at a hostel, getting new experiences through new friendships.

Kitty and I found some beers from local breweries Orion and Helios, and decided to try a few. Two were relatively ok, but one was just horrible. The one not pictured was brewed with gouya. It was my favorite of the 3.

completely uninteresting but it is indeed a beer

this is an abomination, we poured it down the sink to save ourselves

In the table with the stars L to R: bitterness, scent, body

 I thought the rating system for the beer's bitterness, scent, and body was kind of a nice touch.

Overall it was a great day, but I wish the boys could stick around longer.

７月２４日（金：to Okinawa)

Today Nick, Kitty and I ate breakfast downstairs at the ryokan, and got in a quick trip to the onsen before we checked out with Lane. Most of the day was spent traveling on two separate Peach flight with 那覇市 (naha-shi, Naha City), Okinawa as the final destination. It was one of the boys' last days in Japan, so they felt a little frustration at so much time being spent traveling. I think it was a fun trip regardless since we got to see many different places, but it is definitely worth keeping in mind when planning that travel time can be significant, even domestically.

Saw this liquid checking machine at security. Apparently it checks the contents of bottles for safety. Can we get some of these in the USA?

Fortunately, we registered the luggage we would check ahead of time online, so our luggage was less expensive than on the flight to Hokkaido. Peach doesn't connect your luggage to your final destination since it's a budget airline, so unfortunately we did have to check our luggage for each flight separately.

Yum! Not quite sure what it is supposed to resemble but it was good.

Once we got to 那覇空港 (naha kuukou, Naha Airport) we took the monorail station connected right to the airport to the stop closest to our hostel and engaged in a brisk 12-or-so minute walk with our luggage.

Lights to show which stop you've arrived at on Yui Monorail!

We found some fun things in the street, too.

dragon head... just chilling

shisa (Okinawan lion-dog)

Mini tree pouch plants? What are these?

Shisa are usually found in pairs. Males are depicted with their mouths closed and females with their mouths open. I found a brief description of shisa I'd like to share.

We checked in to our four-person private room and it turned out we weren't allowed to use the AC except for 8pm to 8am. It was mid-afternoon, and Okinawa is very hot and humid, so we headed out to dinner early. We had great pizza at Nippori Pizza, and Lane said it even rivaled his favorite pizza place. It was unanimous that we thought it was really great pizza.

our hostel's sign

and the hostel itself

三毛猫 (mike neko, calico cat) we found on the way to dinner

it is definitely チョコドリンク (choko dorinku, chocolate drink)

The reason the hostel probably chose to only allow AC 8pm to 8am is that Japanese people tend to be concerned with being エコ (eko, ecologically friendly). Most don't leave their AC on all night but just set the time for an hour or two as they go to sleep so they go to sleep comfortably. Foreigners, though, want to use the AC all the time, generally, when it's hot. So as a compromise, the hosetel decided to expect travelers to leave during the day, but to allow AC at night when people would be in the hostel.


Hostels are really great for meeting people. If you ever travel alone try staying in a hostel. Foreign travelers tend to me friendly and like to rally together for group discounts and to go on day trips with others. It's a great way to hear about more places you might want to see in the area and take on a travel buddy or 3.

At night Nick, Kitty and I sat in the common space of the hostel, and chatted with a couple Australian men and a young Swedish brother and sister. They told us there was a typhoon coming in tomorrow (what is with us and typhoons?) and we just enjoyed socializing. They hadn't known each other before the hostel, but they had spent the day traveling together. I highly recommend hostel experiences.

Travel tips:
22. Stay in a hostel! You will meet new people, they will probably be adventurous, well-traveled, and open-minded.

７月２３日（木）

The weather in Hokkaido is much nicer this time of year than in Osaka or Tokyo. Every where we had been was burning hot. Hokkaido was also hot and humid, but not as overwhelmingly so as our other destinations.

We didn't have many plans for Hokkaido aside from relaxing at the onsen and trying out a ryokan experience. In the absence of anything the others were dying to do, I got really excited about going to Sapporo Beer Museum and trying all the beers. To get to the train station we had to use a taxi, which the ryokan front desk kindly called for us.

In the meantime, we took a walk by a nearby lake.

Nick and gazebo

湖 (mizuumi, lake)

It is a noticeable difference between big hubs like Tokyo and Osaka where you can't avoid people speaking English loudly at you, and Hokkaido where it seems very few people speak English. The taxi drivers spoke none, and the station staff also spoke very little. There was one other guest in the ryokan who spoke English with me, but for the most part I am getting to practice my Japanese uninterrupted.

On the train we talked a little about cultural differences between Japan and the US. One I think is interesting to mention.

Culture note: In Japan, people don't say anything when someone else sneezes, and the person who sneezes also says nothing. The action is usually completely ignored. There's no Japanese equivalent to "excuse me," or "bless you."

The boys had accidentally taken a key from a hotel they stayed in back in Hiroshima, so on the way to the beer museum we dropped by a post office and sent the key back to them. We laughed because the key was being sent to Hiroshima from Hokkaido, with my address in Osaka as a return address. So many places involved, so confusing!

After leaving the post office, we saw some cool stuff crossing a pass over the railroad tracks.

bicycle-accessible stairs: awesome

ooo trains

そのまま (sonomama, as it is) ... as what is?

that kid knows what's up

On our way the boys and I started talking about Japanese license plates. Kitty asked what the hiragana (one of the 3 Japanese alphabets) symbol on each one means. Unfortunately I couldn't answer because I didn't know anything about Japanese licensing of vehicles. I did a little research, however, and this is a good simple overview: Japanese license plates. In the article they mention "kei cars" (軽カー). These are just lightweight cars that have low registration costs, probably due to fuel efficiency.

We got to the Beer Museum and there were also restaurants that serve beer, there was even a beer garden but it only opened in the evening. Before heading to the museum, we decided to have lunch and beer at the restaurant in the museum. I had also been advised to try a Hokkaido specialty called ジンギスカン (jingisu kan, genghis khan), a grilled mutton dish. We mainly ordered genghis khan and 飲み放題 (nomihoudai, all-you-can-drink).

these pretty flowers were near the museum

YES

YES

YES

food time!

two classics and one black and tan: 乾杯 (kanpai, cheers)!

pork genghis khan

cooking genghis khan

Kitty being a sad kitty

score!

We drank many types of Sapporo's beer and I actually quite liked some of them. Standouts were the Sapporo Classic and their black and tan. There was another one that can only be sampled at the museum but I was not able to try it after all, because I overdid nomihoudai. The challenge of drinking enough to make nomihoudai financially worth it can be dangerous for lightweights. The result was unattractive public drunkenness in a foreign country, so don't make the mistake I did. When in a foreign culture it's better not to lose control like that.

The boys got a taxi and got us back to our ryokan. I missed out on dinner because there was no way I was putting food in me at that point. Could have been a good day for everyone; my indiscretion put a damper on that, though. At least the onsen bath felt really great regardless.

Travel tips:
21. Don't get too drunk in public, it can put a damper on your fun. Nomihoudai can be a trap.