Konnichiwa! Hi all. Sorry for the delay in this post...we have been a bit busy the past few months. The holidays went by like a flash. November saw two big events. Mike and Marie ventured out to Okinawa for a visit and Will celebrated his 30th.
While the weather was a bit on the cool side the rain held off and we were able to have a wonderful time with Mike and Marie. We started off with a birthday party and a trip to the fish market along with some sushi lessons.
Below Mike and Marie give maki rolling a try.
Practice makes perfect...what do you think??
This month we had the opportunity to see several Ryukyu historical sites and ruins. Below are a few photos from Shuri Castle, the royal palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
After Shuri Castle we visited the Nakamura house which is a restored farm house from the 18th century.
Below are some photos from the Nakagusuku Castle ruins. This castle was built over 500 years ago before the unification of the Ryukyu Kingdom
One day we took Mike and Marie down to Naha. Here we are eating at or favorite restaurant adjacent to the Naha Fish Market.
The next day we took a long drive up to Cape Hedo, the northern most point of the main island of Okinawa. Here we have stopped for a roadside picnic.
After lunch we stopped by Hiro's Coffee Farm...a great little place. Afterward we found out that Hiro had passed away recently but his kids are carrying on the small family coffee farm.
While enjoying some coffee a rooster decided to join us...much to the surprise of Ellie and Katie.
Finally we made it to the Cape in the following photos.
Mike and Marie volunteered to babysit over night and Katie and I took the opportunity to go stay on Hamahiga Island for the night. The following are a few photos.
This is the moon rising in the East.
The next day we went to the beach for some kayaking.
Below is a photo from Peace Prayer Park, a monument and museum to those who lost their lives (and those who survived) in the battle of Okinawa near the end of WWII.
We also had the opportunity to take Mike and Marie to our favorite restaurant NuJi...here Marie is practicing with hashi (chop sticks).
Dinner ended up getting rained out but here is Mike and Ellie waiting for Thanksgiving dinner.
The following photos are from Maeda Point on the west coast.
Finally we got to go see some Okinawa bullfighting. VERY different from Spanish bull fighting but we still got to see some Eisa dancing and had an enjoyable time.
Ellie was quite scared of this bull.
Mata ne for now. We will see you all in the states next month!!
