What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

We had a great time shopping in Okinawa, not that we bought too many items but we were so impressed with the abundance of produce from un-ending aisles of sake, stacks of pot noodles, tins and tins of home made jam, endless choices of baseball gloves to the overflow of delicious lunch boxes (便當). Of course, there were the ubiquitous vending machines at every street corner, selling everything from bottled drinks, ice-cream, cigarettes to chocolate bars and snacks. Even more impressive were the fish markets where we found such a large amount of exotic fishes and seafood of different shapes and colors, which we had rarely seen. More famously was the shopping street of Kokusai (國際通) which used to be called The Miracle Mile because of its rapid recovery from WWII; the famous thoroughfare consisted of souvenir shops, ice cream parlors, international restaurants, boutiques and shops selling all manners of local produce. We came across an outdoor screen playing an interactive Ultraman (超人) movie and we became bystanders when the giant hero destroyed the monster in plastic suit (see photo below) ! We also visited the all-weather covered markets of 平和通、牧志市場 which comprised of mainly of local shops and eateries and where most of the local dudes hanged out. Lastly we had to pay a great tribute to our favorite market of 榮町市場 near Asato Monorail Station (安里), which we frequented everyday to buy our tasty lunches and dinners !

The coral island of Tokashiki (渡嘉敷島) with a local population of 700, lying about 35 KM west of Okinawa, made for an ideal day trip from the modern Tomari Pier on Okinawa. One word of warning though, despite the morning we left, the sea was not choppy and all seemed calm as we boarded the solid-looking slow boat, after the excitement and euphoria had died down, we actually experienced quite a degree of sea-sickness during the one hour ride. But fortunately the welcoming sight of Tokashiki with its lush green hills, turquoise lagoons and blindingly white coral beaches put some energy back into our rather flat battery. We walked the one and only main road with a gentle slope all the way to the other side of the island, where the fantastic Aharen Beach awaited our exploit. Along the way we spotted endless species of Hibiscus with their characteristic colorful combinations of petal, stigma, anther, filament and style, our cameras could not stop clicking and a few close-up shots would tell the stories (see below photos). We also passed by a black pig / boar farm where we met over twenty cute but muddy swine residents, all having a whale of a time, rolling in the mud and generally having a happy day. As we reached Aharen Beach, we were greeted with expressive rocks carved by centuries of ocean wave bashing and erosion and we took a tranquil picnic amongst these strange looking rock formation before walking the one hour journey back to the pier to end our day trip to this lovely and peaceful island in the western Pacific.

Having spent a couple of hours just admiring the stunning coastline and manicured grounds of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (沖繩海洋博公園), it's time for the main event - Marines Galore ! We knew the aquarium had been justly famed for its variety of species and the design of the exhibition, little did we expect to be spending over three hours exploring the different sections of the many display halls - the lighting was done just so perfectly to view the corresponding species at their very best. The center of attraction had been the massive whale shark(s) which the aquarium excelled with an international reputation of research into captive breeding; the other species were of equal curious interest to us including the majestic manta rays, shy and sleepy octopuses, gloriously florescent jelly fish, playful dolphins, sea turtles with perpetual deep-thinking expressions, cheeky blow fish, relaxing sea horses yo-yo-ing through their day, touch-me-not sea urchins and of course countless other species with difficult pronouncing names !  We had actually taken tonnes of photos but most of species did not wait for our "3,2,1" countdown and sped away just when the shots were taken, so here are a few good ones of our marine friends - enjoy !

Arguably the number one attraction in Okinawa was its famed Churaumi Aquarium (沖繩海洋博公園), located about 100 KM north of the capital city Naha. We rose bright and early to catch the comfortable and punctual bus heading north and admired the coastline along the way. The massive grounds covered by the aquarium was surprisingly mostly free of charge as one could linger all day around its manicured lawns, lounge around its blindingly white coral beaches, swim in the attractive ever-turquoise lagoons as well as visit the model villages showcasing life of the local fishermen and farmers. Or one could just buy a sea-salted ice cream and people-watch the many visitors from all over the world milling about looking jolly. We did just that for the initial two hours and were losing ourselves in the relaxing holiday atmosphere when we casually came across the aquarium brochure and abruptly realised of the ENORMOUS number of species of marine lives in residence here and felt a sudden urge to hurry up (!). So we quickly queued up for the admission tickets and couldn't wait to enter the MANY aquariums to visit the lovely playful sea creatures. See the next blog entry for the three hours (!) we spent inside the Aquariums.