Winding Down in Japan

We’ve about a week remaining in this epic trip and 4 ports of call will be in the Japanese islands. Today, we took a short look at Okinawa and the port of Naha. My cold is keeping me from doing much but we did take a walk to the Kokusai-Dori Street shopping district. It was less crowded and more westernized than many of the ports we have visited. There was a combination of small food and craft stalls alongside small shops. Bargaining didn’t work here! Our first shop was a tea house where we both tried local teas and watched the crowds walk by. The shop owner went out of his way to be nice to us and told us so much about Japan. He was from Tokyo. Our next shopkeeper pointed out that we were NOT in Japan. We were in Okinawa. He prided himself as being apart from the rest of Japan and wanted us to know how different their culture is. Who knows? Can anyone out there clarify for me? We failed at finding suitable meds at the pharmacy. They just kept wanting to give me cough drops. We did succeed in finding the pottery district though, and that was good news! I was able to buy a piece of locally made pottery to add to my collection back home. First things first, though I’ve got to get it home!

Our second port of call is Ishigaki. We opted to do this port on our own, too. It’s a small beach resort of sorts. We met K and K outside, and shared a taxi with them to Kabira Island where we took a glass-bottom-boat ride to explore the coral and the sealife there. Windy, cold, and beautiful! Although, yes, a bit like Silver Springs, FL. From there we went to Banna Park for great views of the city and ship below. We ended our day in the city eating noodles, seated on the floor, with only chopsticks, in an authentic Japanese restaurant with no one there speaking English. It was an experience we won’t soon forget! I’m very chop-stick challenged so my lunch was quite small. Of course, we had to shop, rain and all, for the famous black pearls. There may be a few under the Christmas tree next December. Then, maybe not.

The big dining room gets old after three weeks at sea. It was the Lido deck for some great salads and snacks. No after dinner entertainment for us tonight. We have a day of rest at sea tomorrow and are determined to beat this bug! South Korea awaits in two days! We’re excited about that one!