Hunger Banquet, Birthday Celebrations, and other events

So it was June 23rd, last week, and I officially turned 22. Sigh... life just flies by soooo quickly. It seemed like it was only yesterday when I applied for universities and delivered the Valedictorian speech for high school commencement. And I would have NEVER imagined myself spending a palindrome birthday half-way across the world in Japan. My friend Gaku from the rowing team had a birthday dinner for me. Ana, Gaku, and Gaku's friend Shintaro were there to celebrate with me. I felt overwhelmed cause I totally didn't expect this. Gaku bought a cake for me and had these streamer things. It was extremely nice of him to do all that for me. After that night, I went home and found two birthday cards in my mailbox, one from mommy and daddy, and the other from my good friend Gary back in Canada. I was so emotionally overwhelmed. A flood of emotions of memories of home swept over me. Then it just hit me that I have never been away from Canada for such a long period of time before in my life. I'm not really homesick, but theres always the phrase "Theres no place like home" and I can't deny that Canada is the best place to live in the world. With Bill C-38 passed, Canada is becoming more and more socially liberal and accepting of different minority groups. I am proud to be an ambassador of a country here in Japan that promotes the rights of these minority groups and advocates the importance of equality, open-mindedness and acceptance, not as a straight vs. gays vs. male vs. female vs. white vs. black vs. catholic vs. muslim, but peacefully together as humankind.

My Birthday cake: which says
アーサー
おたんじょうび
おめでとう
which directly translates to:
"Arthur
Birthday
Congratulations"

Gaku, myself, Shintaro, and Ana

So these past two weeks have been EXTREMELY busy. Last Saturday, June 25, I had to run back and forth between two events in the city with my friend Anastoria from Jamaica (who happens to also be in the rowing team with me): The Tottori University rowing regata (hosted by our club), and a Sweet Potato planting event (Japanese culture event for international students). The Tottori University regata was only for students who are NOT part of the rowing club, so I wasn't rowing that day. I was only there to help run the event and there wasn't much to do but help teams get in and out of the boat. So after a bit I went over the potato growing field next to the Tottori U International House where I live. It was super hot that day. The sun was literally BLARING down upon us. It was a totally fun experience planting the sweet potatoes (yams or in Chinese: "fan suu"). The event also made me realize why I'm not a farmer or why farming/agriculture is not for me. Its physically exausting with many hours of hard work and patience. The Japansee television station decided to interview me. I had trouble understand what he was trying to ask me cause he was speak really really quickly. Luckily Waka-sensei was there behind the camera translating some of the questions. Its so funny. In Tottori, there's so little going on that an International students potato picking event made top news. hahahahahahaha. So after the clip was broadcasted, everyone from my lab and my clubs told me that they saw me on television. Everyone made such a big deal out of it.

26th annual Tottori U Rowing regata (in the background is Koyama pond: the largest pond in Japan.. hahahaha)

My friend Anastoria (from Jamaica) and myself

Tottori International Exchange Japanese Culture event: Sweet Potato Planting

Sweet potato mmmmmm.. yams

Sunday, June 26: So the infamous Hunger Banquet FINALLY arrived. The organizing committee had to be there by 9:00. The event took place at a community facility in downtown Tottori (near Tottori station) which is about a 10 minutes train ride from where I live (Koyama area of Tottori City). Some fellow committee members decided to bike there so I decided to tag along... and boy was it a loooooong bike ride. It took us about a half-hour to arrive in downtown and it was super warm and humid on that day as well.
So when we arrived we helped set up the two rooms: one for the education part (Part 1 of the event) and the other for the hunger banquet simulation (Part 2). Moki, Piro, and I were the MC's for the education part of the event. The keynote speaker for the event was a lady by the name of Midori Takeuchi. She's a Japanese medical worker who travelled to hunger ridden countries across Africa. Even though I didnt understand a word of her keynote speech, I got a chance to speak to her after the event alone and I told her about my aspirations in life and how youth these days are growing up in a bubble. She wholeheartedly agreed with me and gave me her business card and asked me to keep her updated on my future international development initiatives.
So after the education was finished participants filed into the main room (each randomly taking a colour-coded card: each colour representing an income-level group [low- green, middle - blue, high - red] ) where the simulation took place. They were seated, treated, and fed exactly like they would in the real world. 60% of the participants were placed in the poor group, 30% in the middle income group and 10% in the rich group. The low income group (60 people) sat on the ground and were given a limited amount of plain rice and leaves to eat the rice with. The middle income group (30 ppl) were given curry on rice and sat on chairs, but had no table. The high income team had a full course, first class meal, with waiters, live entertainment, and even a security guard. Throughout the simulation, "happenings" or scenerios were enacted. For example, a person from the high income group goes bankrupt and is placed in the low income group, or a high income participant dies from over-eating (diabetes, cardiac arrest, high cholesterol etc...). There were protests, begging and stealing from the low income group. The event ended with discussion/reflection groups and a video from the 1980's "USA for Africa" recording of "We are the World". Overall the event went really really smoothly and was a huge success.
A lot of people ask me, "Since I won't have the chance to travel to underdeveloped countries and directly help out, why bother particpating in such events, discussion groups, forums, etc...?". I tell them that your role locally in your community is where it begins. Educating fellow members and educating yourself about the pertinent issues that affect the world community , educating yourself and others to ask the right questions is just as important as going abroad and volunteer for a sustainable development project. Thus I am more than glad to devote my time and effort to plan such meaningful event where our main purpose is to raise awareness amongst the community of all ages, and to raise money for credible NGO's. Like the "Make Poverty History" campaign at UW, I feel it is vital for EVERYBODY to be aware and care about problems that are going on in other parts of the world. As the lyrics from Michael Jackson's "We are the World"

We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
so let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

This is true... this a choice we're making. The choice of whether to turn our backs and ignore the problems facing fellow humankind. Are the starving children across the world in any way shape or form less human than we are. Do they deserve to have equal and feasible access to education, clean water, food, and infrastructure as we do in the developed world? Of course they do.

Links

• Tottori University Hunger Banquet
• Make Poverty History Campaign
• Sarah McLachlan: "World On Fire" music video (Development-related video made specially for Engineers Without Borders)
  

Piro and I, 2 of the 3 MC's for the Education part of the Hunger Banquet

Moki, Piro, and I, the MC's for the Education part of the Hunger Banquet, listening to Murata-sensei speak (wife of Cates-sensei)

The middle-income group

The high-income group being served lavish meals with a Do Not Enter border around them preventing other income levels from entering

The border between the high income group and the low income group equipped with a security guard

The low-income group eating rice out of leaves and fruit they stole from high income group. Midori Takeuchi (in the red outfit), the keynote speaker of the Education part, also took part in the simulation

Birthday Trip to Okinawa

So Ana and I took a trip to Okinawa to take advantage of the Air Nippon Airlines birthday half price special. Back during Golden Week in Hiroshima, we met this Irish girl named Dee (Deirdre) who happens to be an English teacher in a smaller island (Kume island) west the main Okinawa island. Since we had a place to stay we decided "Why the hell not?".

Okinawa prefecture, for those of you who dont know, are the southern most islands of the country that aren't accessbile by any other means other than by plane. Okinawa is world famous for the place where people live the longest and where Karate was started. So I thought it was a worthwhile investment. And I've also been told that its one of the most goregous places in Japan, with absolutely stunning beaches and tropical weather. I've asked a few Japanese mainlanders if they've ever been to Okinawa, and most of them have said no. I guess it's the same idea if someone were to ask me if I have ever been to Newfoundland.

DAY 1: Thursday June 16th, 2005 - En route to Naha city (那覇), Okinawa prefecture (沖縄)

So the night before we didnt sleep cause we had to catch a really early bus (5:50 am) out of Tottori station en route to Itame airport in Osaka (about 3 hours away from Tottori). We had to catch a 10:00 am flight to Naha city (the capital of Okinawa prefecture). I decided to pack lighter this trip considering the lesson I learned when we went to Hiroshima during Golden Week so getting there wasn't too bad. The flight took approximately two hours. When we stepped off the plane, the first thing I noticed was that the Okinawan people look completely different from those on the mainland (they look more Fillipino than they do Japanese). Considering how secluded the island is from mainland Japan, I am not suprised. Supposedly, Okinawa has a lot of influence from Hawaii.



After gathering all the tourist information pamplets, we took the monorail to our youth hostel named "Cam Cam". The system is very convenient and very clever: having the main monorail line connected to the airpot. On the monorail I saw this poster for a Japanese version of "Mama Mia!" the musical.

"Cam Cam" youth hostel

Streets of Naha

Mama Mia! the muscial... in Japanese

I found it quite funny cause the cast is made up of Japanese men and women. So do they sing ABBA songs in Japanese? hehehe. Im curious to find out. Anyhoo, approximately 15 minutes we arrived at our main station. Considering that the Japanese "rainy season" was SUPPOSE to be over two weeks before we didnt expect it to rain. But guess what? It was raining. After stepping out onto the streets of Naha, the first thing I noticed about it was how run down it was and different it was from Hiroshima. We arrived at our hostel, got our stuff set up. We were placed in these little compartment bunks, which I found very cozy and it helped keep my privacy. We changed into dry clothes and then we decided, since it was raining, to make it our shopping night. So we headed out to "Kokusai-dori" (International Street)(国際道理), the main shopping street. It was basically a few kilometres of restaurants, stores, and bars. The stores were very "Hawaiian", "beachy" and "islandy" (as to be expected). Supposedly the Okinawan "mascot" are a pair of lions called the Shisa which are supposed to bring good luck.

Ana at Kokusai-dori

Me in front of a store on Kokusai-dori

We headed to this cool little local market place where there were "street-side" styled restaurants. We had "Okinawa-soba" for dinner. It was absolutely yummy.

Okinawa soba mmmmm

local market restaurants

me in front of meat market

Me pretending to be a "Fugu" (a fish that only professionals can cook due to its poisonous liver)

Arthur the Okinawan

After Kokusai-dori, we headed back to the hostel to change and get dry up from the rain. The typical Canadian that we are, we decided not to bring umbrellas only to get soaking wet. We decided to head to his bar named "Paul and Mike's Place" which is a famous bar for international foreigners. Since there was a military base here in Naha, many marines station themselves there.

So here where it gets interesting. That night, Paul (one of the owners) was bartending that night and he happens to also be Canadian. A couple was sitting next to us and Ana mentioned how they looked really familiar. So we went to chat with them and it turns out that we were in the same restaurant in Hiroshima called "New York, New York" at the exact same time. What a small world. So then these two US marines came in, Chaz (what kinda name is Chaz) and Tommy, and sat next to us and we all started chatting. Us "anti-war" Canadians starting picking their brains (not that there was much to pick from). They were, not to be mean, kinda "air headed". One of them, after being based in Okinawa, was going to be sent out to Iraq in a month. So we asked him if he agrees with the war? He says him and his fellow navymen "are programmed to kill" and that "President Bush did the right thing", even though he agrees that US is mainly there for the oil. At this point I was shaking my head inside to how "brainwashed" and "uneducated" this guy seems to be. "I dont know what its like in Canada, but in the U.S. we are democratic and citizens have rights and I am fighting to protect the rights of those citizens". Like come on. I try my best not to laugh at the ignorance of Americans, but this is just too funny how isolated these people are. The Bush administration seems to have done a great job in brainwashing citizens with the "war on terror" in a country who's freedom was never really under attack. 9/11 nothing to events like the Rwanda genocide and the AIDS crisis in Africa. Considering that the amount of deaths of US troops in Iraq is inching closer and closer to the amount of deaths in 9/11 one has to question the motive of this war.
Then he goes on to say that "I will fight to protect my country's freedom after what happened during September 11th 2002". Then I proceeded to ask, "wasn't it 2001?" Ana started cracking up laughing her head off. Then I proceeded, "shouldn't you at least know actual date of the event that is reason why you are about to head off to another country to kill innocent people?" Chaz said that after going through the mandatory "post-war" rehab (de-brainwashing session) program, hes gonna head back to his family in Boston. So we told him that we are going to find him in Boston after hes done (if hes still alive that is) and have him speak about his experience and his "post-brainwash" feelings about everything. So that was that. It was the most humerous night.

We headed back to the hostel and a bunch of other Japanese youth and this old hippy Japanese war veteran invited us to drink and chat. There I had the Okinawa alcohol called "Awamori" for the first time. I was tired so not long afterwards, about 3 am, I hit the sack.

Me and the people at the "Cam Cam" youth hostel

DAY 2: Friday June 17th, 2005 - Ferry to Kumejima (Kume Island- 久米島)

Map of Okinawa prefecture (and where we travelled to)

We got up and we caught a ferry from Naha to Kumejima to meet up with Dee (our Irish friend who we met in Hiroshima). Kume island is supposed to be one of the most beatiful places in Japan. The ferry ride took 3 HOURS!!!!! There was a tatami room for everyone to sleep. I said I wasn't going to get sea sick but I ended up feeling queezy since the waves were just too intense. So we slept for the rest of the ferry ride.

Ferry to Kume Island (Naha port)


Ana sleeping in tatami room of ferry


Me on the deck of ferry looking out to the East China Sea (before getting seasick)


Our lunch: Okinawa cheeseburger (meat patty and egg wrapped in seaweed and rice)

When we arrived at Kume at around 5:30 pm, Dee was on the docks ready to greet us. Dee is a member of the JET program (Japan English Teaching) and was stationed in Kume. Sadly when we arrived it was raining, so we couldnt see the "turqoise-water" that we see all the time in brochurs. Dee said that the island is GOREGOUS on days with good weather. So anyways she drove us around the island and took us to the infamous beach on the island with the turtle rocks. The landscape was absolutely stunning and gorgeous. I couldn't EVER imagine living in a tropical paradise and here she is, an Irish 23 year old, living in a part of the world where very few foreigners have ever travelled.

Dee and I on the beach (w. turtle rocks)

After seeing the beach we headed over to a restaurant where she introduced us to her fellow JET teacher friend Andrew, who happens to be from Vancouver, Canada, and to her Japanese friends Aki and Aki's fiance who's name I forgot. Three other okinawan ladies ended up at the party and I forgot their names as well.. lol... I am really bad with Japanese names. We tried many unique dishes such as "fish heart", "chicken gizzard" and of course many cups of awamori (Okinawa alcohol). Okinawa is also popular for "bitter mellon" (foo gwa), which supposedly is exclusive to Okinawa, but I have it all the time in Canada so I knew that wasnt true. In Kume, everyone buys a bottle of alcohol, puts their name on it, and continues to drink it the next time they return to the bar/restaurant. Its a cool little system, but sadly it would only work in a small island like this. The air conditioner at this place was blaring and we had just got out from the rain so I was like "uh oh".

Ana and the other Japanese ladies at the restaurant

Andrew holding up a bottle of awamori


Bottle of awamori (prepared by mixing with water)


Shelf w. bottles of awamori w. customer's names written on them

After the meal, we headed over to this little Jamaican-style bar for a few drinks. Dee and Andrew made us try a shot of "Spirytus" which is Polish vodka composed of 96% alcohol. It went down soooo strong and it smelled like rubbing alcohol. I felt the burning sensation running down my system. And not surprisingly afterwards I started feeling tipsy. It was extremely fun night having a chance to experience local island life. We headed back to Dee's place and went to bed.

Click Here to watch a video of us taking the Spriytus shot

Bottle of Polish vodka called "Spirytus" (96% alcohol level)




Dees guest bedroom

DAY 3: Saturday June 18th, 2005 - Spa Galore and more Awamori

The next day I woke up with the sniffles. I knew the wet clothing and blaring air conditioning will do some damage. Dee took us to this little restaurant for lunch. The food was amazing. I was thinking to myself that if I were to miss one thing after leaving Japan, it would defintely be the food.

restaurant where we had lunch

After the restaurant we went to the Kume Island turtle museum which happened to be next to the beach with the turtle rocks. It was kinda tiny and uneventful, but we go to see cool giant tortoises nonetheless.
Then afterwards Dee took us to this AMAZING spa next to the turtle museum called the "Bade House". So you walk in and there is this GIGANTIC water area with massage jets, hot tubs, an area with individual stations where people can watch a screen and do water aerobics, a steam room (not a sauna), and an outdoor hottub looking into the gorgeous ocean. It was cloudy so it was the best weather, but it was still beautiful nonetheless. After the pool area, being the only male out of the three of us, went to another side of the spa with a hot spring (famous Japanese 'onsen') and a dry sauna. It was kinda odd and awkward considering that everyone was naked but I got used to it. An English student of mine told me that the nakedness in hot springs acted as an "ice-breaker". hehehehe. So that was a great experience.

Me at the Bade Hause spa enjoying a piece of cheese cake

After the spa, we picked up Andrew and we headed to someones house for an indoor BBQ to "welcome us to the island". The house belonged to a friend of Ken (who happens to be a friend of Dee). Ana and I felt so special and it just comes to show how warm hearted people are here. We're just visiting the island for two days and they're holding a BBQ for us. I was blown away. Everyone was super duper kind and the food was great. I drank more awamori and I tried raw horse meat for the first time. I also got a chance to play the Okinawa guitar called the "sanshin". The one thing that disheartened me about Japanese people is the division in gender. Ana told me about this, but I had to see it for myself. Basically in most families the woman does EVERYTHING. They cook, they clean, they take care of the children and the men just sit around drinking beer, having fun with the rest of us, and ordering the wife around. I was appalled! I was thinking that this would never be accepted or tolerated by women back in Canada.

Food at the BBQ

Me attempting to play the Sanshin (Okinawa guitar)

After the bbq party we went back to the Jamaican bar. EVERYONE was there and everyone who we met the past two days from the island was there. We drank more awamori, cocktails and chit chatted. It was super fun. So I thought at this point (around 1 am) that the night was over. But noooooo... Dee took us to ANOTHER party.

The group at the Jamaican bar

Myself, Ana and Dee

This time we ended up at some local small island karaoke bar. The owner of the bar was some 50 year old lady who came over to talk to us. ALL night she sat next to me, lifted up her dress and was touching my legs.. I was soooooo uncomfortable, but at the same time I was shocked and in awe that was being hit on by a cougar...... in Japan.....hahahaaahahahahahha ... I spoke about it to Andrew afterwards and said it was normal for older women to start hitting on younger men at little karaoke bars like this. Basically it was tons of fun AGAIN drinking more awamori. The night lasted till around 4 am. lol... mind you we had a cold too AND that we had to catch the ferry back to Naha at 8:30 am. Before heading back to Dee's place to sleep, we said goodbye to all the nice people we met and whom we had a GREAT time with. We said goodbye to Andrew and we exchanged emails to keep in contact. All three of us were super tired. めちゃつかれた!

All of us at the karaoke bar

DAY 4: Sunday June 19th, 2005 - Shuuri jo Castle

So today we got up super early with just 2 hours of sleep to rush to the harbour to catch the 8:30 am ferry back to Naha. Unlike the ferry we took TO Kume, this ferry will take 4 hours instead of 3. Before we boarded the ferry we said goodbye to Dee and thanked her for the hospitality and welcomed her to come visit us in Tokyo (during work term) or in Canada. As the ferry left Kume jima, I stayed up for a bit to watch the goregous waves to reflect on the experience in Kume. Everyone told me about "Okinawa time" where if one says, for example, meet for dinner at 6 pm, everyone will be stylishly late and arrive at 7. lol... Everything in Kume and Naha is sooo laid back and relaxed compared to mainland Japan and in Canada. I grew up always trying to experience the most that I can and take the most out of life always wanting to do more more and more. But I guess that moment of reflection made me start reevaluating my "always-on-the-go" tendancies. Soon I started to feel sea sick again and I went to sleep in the tatami room. Sooo at around 1 pm a ship worker woke us up. I got up to realize that EVERYONE had left the ship except for us. hahahahahaha. We completely overslept. We stepped off the ferry and the weather WAS FANTASTIC!!!

So when we got off the ferry back in Naha we headed off to our new hostel named "Coco Shanti". It was located in this little path off of Kokusai-dori. We unpacked our stuff and decided to hit up a beach considering that we didnt see much in Kume. There was ONE beach in Naha city called "Namioue Beach". So we decided to go see it. When we arrived, it turned out to be the DIRTIEST and most ghetto beach I have ever seen. It was facing these industrial ships and a highway filled with traffic. The beaches in Tottori are even 100x better than this. Even Canadian beaches are better. So we decided to leave.

Namioue Beach

We decided instead to check out Shuuri Castle which was used by the Kings (emperors) of Okinawa before it became part of Japan. In Okinawa there is a HUGE influenced by the China so there is a unique mix of Chinese and Japanese culture. The castle was gorgeous and was where the G-8 summit was held in 1998. We walked through the castle and we ended up taking pictures dressed in traditional Okinawan outfits. So that was interesting being able to see two rival Asian countries back in WWII mix in a colourful array of harmony. Okinawa, unlike mainland Japan, has a close and friendly relationship with China.

Entrance to Shuri castle

traditional okinawan outfit

A throne fit for a king

After the castle we headed back to Kokusai-dori, did some shopping, then we head back to our hostel. There fellow Japanese youth invited us to drink with them and to eat with them. So we hung out with them for a few hours before heading out again. Supposedly we are the first foreigners ever to use the CocoShanti youth hostel. So they treated us with extreme kindness and were really really really impressed by our fluent English. It was hilarious.

Everyone at the "CocoShanti" youth hostel

So after hanging out with them we headed back to "Paul and Mike's Place" for a few beers. Paul was there bar tending again and this time we also met his buddy named Wayne. We also met two US mariners (not navy marines... just sea workers on a ship doing research) and I had a nice chat with one of them. Really kind people and weren't airheaded like the two navy guys we met here the other day. At around 3 am, we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

"Paul and Mike's Place": a bar for foreigners

DAY 5: Monday June 20th, 2005 - Attempted Beaching

So in an another attempt to find a nice beach and in hope that today's weather was going to be as nice as the day before, we decided to head to Manza beach. But since it was too far away we decided to head to Moon beach instead. The bus ride was two hours in length in a small town north of Naha called Nago. When we arrived we hit up the beach... then guess what happened "IT STARTED RAINING". We are having the worst luck in the world. Everytime we hit up a nice beach, it starts to rain. But luckily we got a chance to see some of the nice turqoise, clear water we wanted to see so bad. But since it started to pour we couldnt stay there for about an hour and half or so and we had to head back. The bus ride back was cold and wet, but we survived. The beach was absolutely goregous nonetheless. It just seemed awkward for me to imagine myself living in a "beach-oriented" city. It seems soooo opposite from Waterloo and Toronto that I just CANT picture myself living here other than for vacation. I guess not living here makes it more special and more "paradise-like".

"Moon Beach" in Nago city, Okinawa

We headed back to Naha, did some more walking around town and went back to the hostel to shower. We were sooo tired this day and since Paul and Mike's was closed for the day, we decided to hit the sack earlier than usual. After dinner we walked around for a little bit visiting more stores and we ended up at a Karate dojo. Since Karate was invented in Okinawa, it was a very neat experience to see an "authentic" Karate dojo first hand.

Karate dojo (Karate was invented in Okinawa)

DAY 6: Tuesday June 21th, 2005 - Sightseeing craze

Considering that this is the last day of us being here in Okinawa, I decided to get up super early, 8:30 am, and cram in a whole lot of sight seeing before we catch our flight out of Naha at 4:15 pm. So in the morning Ana and I went to the Tsuboya pottery village. Okinawa is famous for its pottery and we got a firsthand chance to watch them make those giant lion statues and how they molded them out of clay. We walked along the ancient Tsuboya village and saw some really old abandoned kilns (used to "bake" clay into pottery). It was really neat.

Click here for a video from the pottery making factory

Me in Tsuboya 'pottery' village

The famous Okinawa Shinsha lions (found in pairs: male has mouth open to scare away predators, and the female is smiling to promote friendship)

Store in Tsuboya 'pottery' village

Pottery making factory

Ancient outdoor pottery kiln

After Tsuboya village Ana decided to head back to the hostel to get some rest cause she was really tired from the day before. I gathered my stuff and headed off to do more sight seeing. My next destination was the old underground Japanese navy headquarters. During WWII Pacific war Okinawa had a huge battle with the United States, and before conceding defeat over 200 Japanese soliders committed suicide in this underground navy headquarters. I absolutely love exploring places of history like this. Even though it was kind of morbid, I feel it's an important part of history that needs to be remembered and not forgotten.

Stairs leading down the old underground navy headquarters

Leading commander headquarters (Command Onta)

Wall filled with grenade marks when the soliders committed suicide

Afterwards, as my last stop before heading to airport was the Fukushu-en Chinese Gardens. This garden was built to commerate a partnership and friendship between the city of Naha and the Chinese city of Fukushu (friendship built up from trade agreements and sharing of resources). The garden was beautiful, but by this time, the sun was blaring on me and I was super tired. I walked around the garden took some photos and decided to head to the nearest monorail station.

Fukuen garden

Me looking very tired in the last few minutes in Naha

But before I boarded the monorail I went into this shopping mall to get a cold drink and there was this little market and in EVERY stand there were free samples of food they were selling. It was amazing. Basically what ended up happening was me not having to pay a yen for lunch. And I got to try a whole of Okinawan food for free too. hee hee.. So after thaat I boarded the monorail and headed to meet Ana at the airport.

Reflections

Overall this trip was amazing, despite of the bad luck we had with the rain on the three days that we went to beaches. We got to explore a part of Japan where tourists wouldn't normally travel. We explored an island off Okinawa mainland and got to experience local life and met many new friends. This trip, like Hiroshima, had a nice balance of culture, fun, hardships, and new friendships.

Okinawa prefecture license plate