Got to Japan and, as usual, started following the signs. I knew I had to take a monorail and then walk for a bit. And so I bought my ticket and off I went. I was staying in a 'cabin' hotel, meaning I was sleeping in a pod with a curtain. It was a very thin mattress, Japanese style but I haven't slept this good since I got here (not that I didn't sleep before). It was dead quiet, and actually really comfortable! And you got to love them toilets! Heated seats I remembered but this one started making ocean sounds when you sat down so nobody could hear your business.
I arrived with rain and didnt't see much nature in the area I was staying at. Just a 2km strip of souvenir shops, restaurants, tax free shops and drug stores. Tax free heaven. I also saw a lot (well compared to South Korea) of foreigners and not Asian ones. I walked around for a bit but as I didn't bring waterproof shoes with me I soon went back and did my sudoku (thanks again mom for that 2019 calendar I'm still working on and no I don't want another one haha) and watched a few shows.
The next day I went to a few places that I read should have cherry blossom trees! First stop was Shuri Castle. It was a very hot day and I walked a lot today. On my way to the castle I saw a cherry blossom tree with only a few flowers but I got my hopes up! It turned out there was a big fire at the castle last year and they were still rebuilding it, so it was a lot of walking around and enjoying the views mostly. And unfortunately, no cherry blossom trees...
I then took the monorail back for a few stops and walked another 20min or so to get to Yogi park, another place that should have cherry blossom trees. Well, one thing I learned was what a cherry blossom tree looked like without any flowers. What a dissapointment and then there it was, the beginning of the season!! I found a few trees wíth flowers!!! They were beautiful and even though it was only a few, I loved every second of looking at it (and of course did a little selfie photo shoot)!
I then walked back to that 2km strip, which was right around the corner from where I was staying. I love my ability to navigate without online maps! Oh yeah and another thing about Japan, there's machines everwhere on the street to get a drink/soda/coffee from. Sometimes it's 4 or more in a row. I've seen this before in Japan but just wanted to mention it again! Depending on where you are in Japan, you can get pretty much anything from a machine. I decided to do a bustour the next day because everything is so far away and hard to get to by public transport.
The bustour started at Nago Pineapple Park, oh yes, only in Asia! I got into a self driving pineapple car through the park and afterwards walked around for myself. Besides the pineapple plants and other plants, there was also a Dinosour Adventure walk through. Now, most of you know I LOVEEEE dinosaurs and so I enjoyed this very much :)!!
After that we went to the aquarium, to be said the only one in the world where they have whalesharks with the purpose of breeding them. Anyways, it was beautifully done and again I saw sea creatures I hadn't seen before. When I saw the whalesharks, I just stood there thinking...I can't believe I swam with that there!! Holy crap!
Next stop was Kouri island, something about a boy and a girl made from his bone and ricecakes falling from the sky until it was so much the boy and girl started 'hoarding' them and the gods never let it rain ricecakes again..and so the boy and girl had to learn how to catch fish and grow fruits and veggies, I dozed off a few times on the bus haha. I did see cherry blossom trees on the way there :)!!
We also went to a big duty free shop..people went nuts, I guess that's what this island is for mostly, duty free shopping. Our last stop was the rock that looked like the elephant. It was a long day and after getting some food and packing my stuff, I went to bed. I now do know how Asian bustours work, you get off, they tell you; ok, 20min, 3:00 back in the bus. We do not wait, if you are late, take a taxi to the next stop, sayonara. Haha, fair enough.
Okay, gotta fly! Next stop; Hiroshima!
Cheers,
T.
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