Okinawa - home of the Pineapple Park!

I went to Okinawa!!!  I met a couple friends from training and we got a triple occupancy hotel room.  Big comfy beds, clean sheets, clean shower, balcony I could actually use, great view, air conditioning.  It was great!

            It was also fucking HOT and humid!  I got off the plane and had to wait a little while for my friends and I had to wash my face and re-apply my makeup b/c my face had melted off.  I also discovered that there are A&W’s aplenty in Okinawa and they have THE BEST FRIES IN JAPAN!!! I was in heaven.  These are not the same fries back home.  I happily waited for my friends amidst potatoes and ketchup :)

            When they did show up, we took a short taxi to our hotel and set up camp.  It was nice and spacious and very comfy.  Then we planned our trip.  In the lobby was the usual help desk for tourists and we were able to book a tour for the next day.  It included the Churaumi Aquarium which EVERYONE recommends.  It also took us to a butterfly observatory, pineapple park, and glass-blowing house.  We started pretty early and spent a couple hours listening to an audio-guide about various Okinawa places and picking up people from different hotels.  Finally, we got to the butterfly place, had a small lunch of udon noodles, and saw the sights.  It was really pretty and very tropical.  The overcast, rainy season made it feel especially tropical – especially when your clothes stick to you and you feel like you’re inhaling a bucket of water every time you breathe.

            Anyway, the butterflies were pretty and we got come great pics.  My friend was also freaked out by them, which was pretty funny.  He high-tailed it outta the butterfly house quicktime! :)

            On to the aquarium.  It was nice, big, had a dolphin show, HUGE tank with 3 whale sharks, stingrays, various fish, etc.  Really it was like any other aquarium and I actually prefer the Yokohama Sea Paradise Aquarium better.  BUT this one was cool for a special reason.  You can go to the top level and look down on the ginormous tank.  It was very Deep Blue Sea (great movie, Samuel L. Jackson, sharks getting smarter.  Watch it – it’s on TBS every weekend).  When I got there one of the whale sharks was right under the surface of the water and you could see it so clearly.  They also have the plexiglass floor to stand on.  Freaked me out and I had to work up to it but it was great and so cool!  Then we spent hours buying souvenirs and were late for the tour bus… :)

            Then on to the Pineapple Park!!! This was the highlight of my trip!!!!!  The park offers a pineapple cart ride so we had to take it.  It’s this cute, yellow cart with a big pineapple on the top.  It’s automatic and had an English voiceover explaining the place.  The cart moved and we went through this very lush and tropical area with flowers, pineapples, and greenery.  It was very Jurassic Park!  No lie! Try it!

            And the pineapples!!! I had no idea they grew from the ground with little sticks in the bottom.  And they are sooo tiny.  Just perfect mini pineapples no bigger than your thumb along our entire route.  Toooo cute!  Eep!  They actually sell the little pineapples at the airport as souvenirs.  They last about 2 weeks and you can’t eat them.

            Then we got to eat fresh cut pineapple samples, try pineapple wine (yum), a pineapple/lime drink (YUM!), and try several pineapple cakes.  It was great.  I ended with soft-serve pineapple and mango ice cream.

            Then on to the glass-blowing house.  They had a demo for us as we got there and it was amazing.  I love glass blowing and this took me over the top.  This guy came with a blob of glass and started rolling and pulling with pliers.  We were trying to guess what he was making b/c we really couldn’t tell.  He works so fast and seemed very arbitrary.  Then all of a sudden – BAM – it’s a fucking horse!!! Complete with mane, hooves, and teeth.  Seriously?   We were all flabbergasted.  Then he took a piece of paper and touched it to the horse and – POOF – up in flames.  That thing was still crazy hot.  And then we bought souvenirs :)

            The next day we went to the pool and did some shopping in Kokusai-Dori.  It’s the international area but really I didn’t like it.  The clothes were very outdated – even the high-end stores.  Everyone in Okinawa is more laidback and don’t worry so much about appearance (not like Tokyo).  But it was nice to walk around.  I was super-hungry so I bought a hamburger from McDonald’s and they are a little different.  The meat patty is REALLY flat.  It fit the bun circumference perfectly.  Strange…

And we had a great steak dinner.  It was a heavily nautical-themed restaurant.  Everyone had cute uniforms and the décor was dark wood with lots of “boating” stuffs.  And they cooked the dinner in front of us.  We ordered cool drinks and got to keep the cups.  I got Shishe (sp) – the guard dog, I think.  I love him.  Our chef was nice and kept us entertained.  He tried this neat little trick to flip the meat and pepper shakers and stuff.  It would have been so great if he hadn’t failed… hahaha!  Anyway, we ate waaaayyyyy too much, had a great time, and had to take a cab home b/c we were all waddling and couldn’t walk anymore.  Good times.

            My final day I spent in the airport.  My friends’ flight was earlier and I decided to go to the airport with them b/c I didn’t want to go back shopping anywhere in case I missed my flight.  Big mistake.  I had A&W and bought sooo many things.  Souvenirs mostly but still.  Stuff I did NOT need.  I could barely carry them.

            All-in-all it was a great time and I love spending time with those guys.  I’m so happy I went.  I definitely wanna go back when it’s it not rainy season to enjoy the beaches and explore some more.  Someday…

Korea - South Siiide!

So, it's been a while...again!!! Really I have no excuse :)

I've done a lot since then, tho!  I went to South Korea!!!  Seoul and Busan to be exact.  It was fun and and I got to spend time with my friends from training.  I prefer Busan and definitely wanna go back.  It was so bright and airy and full of AMAZING coffee shops!!!  Big places with 3-5 floors, big comfy chairs, and free wifi!!! I could live there, seriously.  I loves me some coffee shops.  I also had the best latte of my life there :)  

Busan really was beautiful with a pretty big beach BUT I saw pics of it in the summer and it gets CROWDED.  Ugh, I don’t think I could handle it.  My friend also tried a bug!! It looked like a cockroach without the shell.  She bought a cup from this woman on the pier.  In the fish market there were all these people selling them in boiling cast iron skillets.  Gross! So she scooped it into a cup and gave 3 toothpicks so we could share.  Needless to say, the extra toothpicks were a waste of space.  She put one in her mouth and it immediately came back out between her lips.  Then she chewed.  EEWWW!!! I feel gross thinking about it!! Anyway, she said it tasted like nothing and also kind of like a bean.  Whatever, I’ve tried some things in Japan but eating bugs is not on my bucketlist.  Anyway, we walked around with the cup and we asked a stranger what it was.  Their English was poor so we got “baby butterfly.”  I almost gagged!  Then later we were told it was silkworm!!! Oh man, I’m so glad I never ate it!! Would you?

We also got ridiculously lost in Busan and walked around for quite a while searching for our starting place and trying not to get angry at each other because we were hungry and lost.  But overall, it was a great place to visit.  I’ll be going back.

Seoul was pretty good.  I didn’t do a lot of shopping but my friends went nuts.  I did find some great cosmetics and jewelry.  In Myeong-dong it’s amazing to see how smoothly the shopkeepers transition from Korean to Japanese to English.  They would be rattling on in Korean, see my Japanese friends, and IMMEDITELY flip in to Japanese seamlessly.  It was an art :)

My beef with Korea (and I’ve said the same about Japan) is that there is nothing uniquely Korean that shows the culture.  And I looked!  But I feel that these places had some great things but others saw how popular they were and they set up shop with the same things offered so now everyone carries the same thing and nothing stands out.  We walked down any street and there was a twin or triplet of that same store 100 feet away (or less!).  Buying gifts was a tad difficult.  It’s not any easier here in Japan, however, and I’m worrying about what I’ll take back for others.

I also had my first experience in a hostel.  2 actually – one in Seoul and one in Busan.  Both were very clean and friendly but the toilets reeked!!!  Ugh – like backed up sewage!  Disgusting!  Otherwise, hostels aren’t bad and I’ll try them again. 

I also almost missed my flight!!! The bus that takes you directly to the airport just stopped running.  We didn’t know it at the time but eventually we asked someone and they said it’s stopped for now.  I was already waiting 20 minutes.  So we hauled ass to the subway station and asked “information” how to get to the airport.  They told me to take this train, then this train, then this train, etc.  It was too much.  I was freaking out and one friend was trying to find directions and another was meeting a friend she should have met earlier but couldn’t b/c my bus was late.  Finally, after speaking with several unhelpful people, I hopped the train, barely said bye to my friends, and tried not to freak out as I urged the train to move faster to Seoul station.  Seoul station is huge so I had to go from one end to the other and JUST made it in time (3 minutes) to catch the express to the airport.  I made it to the airport, checked my luggage, grabbed food b/c there’s not food on the flight, and realized that my gate was the furthest away and included another train ride to that area.  UGH!!!  I made it to the place with 5 minutes to spare.  Freakout!! But I made it :)

South Korea was great and I will be going back!