Last Sunday took a cab to the train to the plane and jetted off to Okinawa for a much needed Holiday. My timing was less than perfect as rainy season was in the fullest of swings for my entire 3 day, 2 night stay. For the uninformed, there are only 2 seasons on the island- Rainy and Dry. The day we arrived was Rainy and the day we departed was the beginning of Dry.

(Sighs).

Anyway on that 1st day the itinerary was quite full of travel modes, as I previously mentioned, including cab, train, plane, car and- for my very first time- Monorail!



Yes indeed, Okinawa doesn’t boast much in the way of public transportation (no train and sorry bus service) but the Monorail takes you from the Airport to many convenient locations. It was perhaps the slowest train ride I’ve ever experienced, definitely setting the tone for island life, but was nonetheless pleasant, clean and affordable.

Considering the rather quick 1 hr. and 45 min. flight it is quite difficult to describe how different the Island is from the rest of Japan. Examples-

More than once while waiting for service we were graciously asked to be patient as, “it’s going to take a little time”, a seemingly common and most enjoyable occurrence.

The native girls’ fashion appears to be, gratefully, about 10 to 15 years behind the rest of the Nation’s female populace. It’s kind of like stepping out of a time machine in 1993.

The language is the same but everything else is just a little bit bent into a slower, more natural, less harried frame.

And then there is the Ocean….



Good Goddess, what a pleasure to finally be back on an actual Beach and to dive into the warm, beautiful, glorious, captivating Sea. Yes……the Gods smiled upon us on Monday afternoon when the rain, finally, was briefly interrupted by a few hours of near sunshine as I dashed to the beach and dove into the inviting water. Bliss! After I managed a blast by wakeboarding for a good 15 minutes (being pulled behind a solo pilot on a Jet Ski) which turned out to be my absolute limit. When I let go of the rope I collapsed in the warm ocean and layed there for about 10 minutes just catching my breath and recovering whatever remaining strength I had.



NIRVANA!

A photo of me swimming in the Pacific.

The food was wonderful and the drink plentiful- and Lord we did indeed amply sample the Drink, Awomori Shochu went down like a submarine- with the natives friendly and most helpful. Due to the rain we spent one day at the World’s Largest Aquarium (I don’t know if that’s true but it is a Damn Big One!) and a gawky good picture taking time was had by all.



We drove back through a torrential downpour and repaired to a nearby Izakaya for dinner and drinks.



Then more drinks…..and finally some more drinks before heading back to the Hotel for a good nights rest.

On our last day we made it to the Airport on time but damn near missed the flight -long story- because of baggage complications and when we boarded the plane I thought the rest of the passengers were going to burst into applause. But, you know, I think that everyone is happy when they’re arriving in Okinawa…..but nobody is happy to be departing.

Thanks JAL!