nothing to prove

going down south

Just when I thought it was starting to get warm in Niigata it was time for me to pay a visit to my college friends in Okinawa. Tom, Aaron and I all studied abroad in Tokyo and took a few Japanese classes together. Lindsey, who I also saw in Osaka a couple weeks ago, and I played intramural volleyball together all through college. Needless to say I know these people pretty well and it was amazing to see them again!

I started off my journey on the night bus to Tokyo. Same things applied to this night bus that I stated about the Osaka one but the Tokyo bus was around four hours instead of eight. Arrival in Ikebukuro was around four in the morning so I had some time to bum around Ueno park, trying with little success to see sakura (cherry blossoms) again, before heading to Haneda Airport for the first time. When the plane finally began its decent into Naha I couldn't believe how similar the landscape was to Hawaii. I think Hawaii is a little bit more developed and Okinawa is slightly more run down but overall there is a definite feel of deja vu.



Thankfully Lindsey met me at the airport to bring me back to the school they all teach at, Okisho Junior High School, to see Tom and Aaron. Admittedly I was pretty gross from the bus and airplane rides but we grabbed chanpuru (stir fry) for lunch together and caught up a bit before I headed to their apartment building. After the short walk behind the school I was there was able to freshen up before meeting up with a Japanese friend, Tomotaka, while they were all at work. A couple summers ago I was a counselor for English immersion camp for students from Okinawa and that is where I met Tomotaka, who was actually in the other group. I got to do some of the typical tourist things with him such as see the Tsuboya pottery area and Shuri castle. The pottery village was great to see because of my obvious connections to ceramics. Recently Japan has begun minting a 2000 yen note and the picture is of a gate at Shuri castle. It was nice to have the tour guide, despite the fact that he hadn't been to either place.

Later that night Tom, Aaron, Lindsey, and I meet up with some of their friends for dinner at a restaurant called Sam's by the Sea, which is apparently a chain from Hawaii. It had a surf and turf style menu, the waiters were dressed as sailors, and we were even given escargot as an appetizer. Afterwards we headed back to Kokusai Dori (one of the main streets in Naha) to hit up Paul and Mikes place which is the local gaijin (foreigner) bar. Once a few more drinks were down the hatch, Tom, Aaron and I decided to head to a bar called Stereo. That place was a small bar that had a huge collection of music on records and in a computer. Customers got to request anything they wanted and the bartender played it. We were going to go dancing, which Aaron and Lindsey eventually did, but I hurt my foot earlier in the day so I wasn't feeling up to it. Tom and I had a few more drinks before heading back to crash. The three of them had work the next morning.


Managing to get up at a decent hour I headed on a short walk for hungover breakfast at McDonald's before the four of us and a few others headed to the northern part of the island. Around noon we headed for Nago to meet up with a group of young adults who were studying English. After a couple hours of driving we stopped for lunch at an A&W, where the rootbeer flowed, and then we stopped at the Orion brewery, where the real beer flowed. The brewery was pretty fun but Aaron, Tom and I had been to the Asahi Brewery in Kanagawa so we already had an idea of how beer was made. None the less we got some free beer and I raided the souvenir shop. By the time we finished up it was time to check into the hostel we were staying and get some free food at the group barbecue. There was a bit of socializing with the Japanese and plenty of food to go around. We wanted to go out drinking as soon as possible since there was an enforced curfew but ended up having to wait around for someone that could drive us. In the end we got to sing some karaoke for a couple hours before buying some beer to bring back to our room and drink until we passed out.



The next day we were awoken by this really odd and quite annoying music being played over the intercom. It seemed more like a prison than a hostel but we quickly grabbed some lunch before hitting the road once again. Our first stop was the pineapple winery. Like any other small tropical island, Okinawa grows pineapple and makes just about anything you can think of made from it. We drank some wine and at way too much pineapple flavored things before leaving. A little bit further up the road and we started to hit the beaches. It was a pretty windy day so we didn't lay out but it was still nice to feel the sand between our toes. After visiting a couple beaches, it was off to a quaint restaurant at the top of a mountain. It is actually really famous and was packed. The only thing you could order was drinks and pizza but it was damn good and well worth the narrow trek.


We decided to head back and get some rest before heading out one last time Sunday night. Upon our return, we all headed out to do some shopping and eat Okinawa soba for dinner. When we got back to their apartment we took some time to sit and relax before going out. By the time it came around to going out Lindsey wasn't feeling well so it was just a boys night out. Beforehand we had collectively decided to make it a low key night with just a couple drinks to keep it relaxing and inexpensive. Just around the corner there was a bar named, ironically enough, Zero Style. Of course, the night took a turn for chaos when we started playing batsu games (loser has to do something). Not long after we had all kissed practically everyone in the bar, involved the bartender in our craziness, and taken plenty shots of liquor that I have never heard of or want to take again. I don't even know what time we crashed.


The next day we all woke up drunk but I was determined to get to the market one last time to get some last minute shopping done. Using the map and landmarks from Friday I managed to find my way pretty easily and managed to buy everything I had wanted. Just before I was about to leave I ran into a cool little art shop. The drawings intrigued me and the owner actually stopped making keitai (cell phone) accessories in order to talk to me a bit. It was a proud Japanese moment and we actually had a short but nice conversation before I purchased a drawing from him of a shisa (an Okinawan guardian dog). Then it was back to the apartment so Lindsey could take me back to the airport, I was glad my friends could just leave work to help me out. A part of me didn't want to leave my friends and that reaffirmed a lot of why I am leaving in July despite all the fun traveling I have been doing... I miss the people I care about.

posted by Aaron @ 9:26 PM