Miyako jima

This weekend a bunch of us went to Miyako jima, one of the bigger islands of Okinawa. There were lots of little places to see, but we didn't see any of those. After arriving on the island in the evening of Friday, we ate a hearty meal and then did what the locals do: drink and go to bed late at night. On Saturday, we had a long lunch at a Greek restaurant on Ikema Island in the north, which said restaurant had a "fantastic" view. Afterwards, we took pictures of the long bridge that connects the two islands from a place which had one of the best beni-imo mochi ever. we drove from extreme north to extreme south to the Maehama-yonaha beach (but, not before we got lost and had a cockroach attack in the car) and we lazed on the longest white sand beach in Japan. Came back to the hotel before sundown to shower and then headed off to Pizza Doraku for dinner. Wrapped up the evening early, some drank in our hotel room, talking et al. Et al included Paul capturing the big ass cockroach which had snuck into the room, attempts at waking a sleeping Amy by putting her hand into a bin of water, and my trying to read "The Idiot" amid general delight and joy. The next day found us heading to the Cape Higashi-henna Misaki, on the way to which we found the Sunflower Festival being held in Miyako. The sky gradually turned overcast and on the return from the cape, it started pouring down. We headed off to the German culture village, where a replica of the some of the buildings of Miyako's sister city in Germany had been constructed. After Nazi salutes and random roving, we drove back up to Hirara in search of the elusive Bagel shop. We circled the block until we asked a lady on the road where it was. She pointed to a building with closed shutters exactly across the road, the irony...! We instead turned to All American Food then. We had ample time to waste in Hirara. We found a cafe restaurant and played Asshole. Then went into an arcade where Amy slammed poor unsuspecting crocodiles, Paul and Christina shot zombies and I did one of my worst purikura (print club) until it was time to go to the airport, easy and relaxed - the extreme opposite of our ride to the airport in Naha. Amy had a class and could not leave earlier than 4-30, and our flight was at 6-35. we had about one and a half hour to reach the airport, park the car and check-in. It was very tight and we thought we could make, if it wasn't for the jam on the expressway because of a military truck that had tipped over. We honestly thought that we wouldn't make it to the flight in all that traffic!! Paul stressed and cussed and broke all courtesy rules of the road; and I sitting in the passenger seat wanted to have my own gas peddle to somehow make things start moving again. If we couldn't even catch our flight, what was the point of reserving hotels and rentals cars and planning a trip; all energy gone to waste! Rachel and Brigit were at the airport and we had given them instructions to fake an illness and somehow hold the plane up! The stress wasn't worth it. But we made it by a few minutes and ironically, the plane was delayed 10 minutes. It is sort of funny to talk about it now! That was our trip to Miyako, a relaxed island mini-holiday over what might have been a boring weekend otherwise.