Okinawa and lucky seat # 13

For Lunar New Year I made a plan to get away for a few days to Okinawa, Japan. I was very excited to ditch the cold and snow of Korea, even if it was just for a few days...OK, before I proceed let me just say that Lunar New Year here in Korea is (as Ron Burgundy would say) "kind of a big deal" I would easily say the biggest travel day of the year here in Korea. Well, my plane left Incheon at around 9 AM, so I figured if I caught the 5 AM bus here from Cheonan, it wouldn't be any problem at all. I can never sleep well the night before trips, so I woke up somewhere around 3 AM and was wide awake. At that point I figured I'd just take a shower, catch a taxi and try to grab the 4:30 AM bus (the first bus of the day) I thought there might be a few extra people, so thought if I could get there a little early, it might be good. So, I rolled into the bus station a little after 4 AM, expecting to easily be able to grab a ticket on the 4:30 bus. Well, to my shock and horror there were TONS of people and they had a sign up: 4:30-SOLD OUT 5:00 SOLD OUT 5:30 SOLD OUT 6:00 SOLD OUT 6:30 SOLD OUT The first time slot they had available tickets was 7 AM and it's a 2 hour drive to the airport...impossible to catch a 9:15 flight. So...I had NO CLUE what to do. I can speak enough Korean to get by, but by no means can I easily communicate. I tried to talk to a few other people if there were any other options. One guy (a college aged guy) also had a 9 AM flight and said he had no idea what he was going to do. We kind of waited near the ticket window as person after person came to window pleading with the guy to send another bus, but the guy just pointed to the sold out sign and barely raised his head. It was nearing 4:30 and I was trying to figure out what to do, if I missed my flight, as crazy of a travel day as it is, I thought I might not be able to get there until maybe even midday the next day. Ugh! So, I waited by the window, just trying to think...at around 4:24 a woman came up the window with three tickets in her hand, and exchanged them to the guy for some cash. She looked very irritated and the only thing I could guess was some of her family or friends didn't show up in time to catch the bus, so she had to trade in her tickets or something...I have no idea. Anyway, as soon as she traded them off and got her cash the guy looked up at me and motioned me over, I HAD A TICKET! I shelled out my 15,000 Won and headed for the bus, totally relieved I'd make my flight after all. As I got on the bus, I looked at my seat number...number 13! HA! A little ironic that an unlucky number could be so lucky that day. Anyway...the ride to the airport was fine, although traffic was heavy. When I arrived at Incheon I was shocked at how many people were traveling. I've traveled in the States on Christmas and Thanksgiving, and this seemed to dwarf either of those, there were people EVERYWHERE! Eventually I got my boarding pass and relaxed for a bit before the 2 hour flight to Okinawa. I arrived in Japan and after getting the 3rd degree at the airport (did I have any illegal drugs? No. Are you sure? Yes. You're sure you have no illegal drugs? Yes. Are you visiting any army friends? No. You don't know anyone? No. Not any people here? No. You're not going to an army base? No. All of this X 10) I made my way to the monorail to head into town. Now...I've been in Korea going on 4 years, and I had braced myself for not having a clue how to buy monorail tickets, but I didn't think it would be to the extent it was. When I say that there was very little English, I mean VERY little. On the big map it had the monorail stops in English, but that was it. On the ticket machine...nada! So, after trying to figure it out for 10 minutes, I stepped aside for a bit, just to breath in the fact that I was an idiot and just to laugh at myself. Finally I pulled myself together and watched some other people, then I got brave again and tried one more time. Got it! I felt like I had conquered Rome after buying my ticket! HAHA! I found my stop and had printed a little map for the hostel (ugh, yeah...I know. It was much cheaper than a hotel there) I was going to be staying at. The map was quite good and I think I'm good at reading maps. I found my way there quite easily and checked in...actually the place wasn't bad and it was really cheap, like $15 a night. Anyway, after dumping off my stuff I went out to explore. The first thing I thought was what I've always heard about Japan...it was VERY clean. It seemed quite a contrast to even Korea, which I think of as being a fairly clean place. The second thing I thought is "man, Japan has LOTS of vending machines!" HA! I'm talking every 20 steps there were more machines. If someone dies of thirst (at least in Okinawa, not sure about mainland Japan) in Okinawa, they are an idiot, or broke...or both. I have never seen that many drink machines in all my life, it was a site to behold! HA! I had made a plan to enjoy the day in Naha (I arrived around 12) on Saturday, and then Sunday and Monday go to a little island nearby named Tokashiki via ferry and ride a bike around and hit the beach. So, I made my way to Shuri Castle which was really cool. Most of the castle had been destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 and since rebuilt, but it was still really cool and fun to see. There were some really beautiful gardens and ponds near the castle and I enjoyed checking them all out. One of the things I also loved about Japan was the signs, they seemed VERY animated and it made me laugh when I saw a few of the sign posts. For example, one of these had a person crying out with the phrase "Warning: Deep Water Ahead!" which can be very useful, but I think the "deep water" might have been about knee deep! HAHAHA! So, unless you're around 2 foot 5 I think you're OK. I spent a decent amount of time at the castle, there were lots of nooks and crannies to check out, and I always like getting random pics and just seeing everything around a place. Most of the place was free to see, and then to go inside the actual interior you had to pay...I seldom pay, but I decided to splurge and pay this time, and then after I did I kept asking myself "why did I pay for this?" HA! It was around $10 and the main building was basically like a museum, and I'm not much of a museum person. Anyway, it wasn't bad and there actually was one place you could see some of the original wall of the castle, so that was a cool pic. I finished my castle tour and headed back near the hostel to grab some dinner and get a good nights sleep (since I'd been up since 3 AM and walked 5 miles or more) so I could hit Tokashiki the next day. The ferry left at 9 AM so I wanted to make sure to get there in plenty of time. I woke up the next morning and it was really cloudy, windy and a little rainy. I made it to the wharf and prepared to buy my tickets. Well, unfortunately due to an incoming thunderstorm and high winds, the ferry service had been cancelled for the next two days!!! OUCH! That was my whole plan, and now...I just found out that it ain't happenin! Now, I will say the Japanese folks I met were VERY nice, actually some of the kindest nicest people I've met, but...communicating there was NOT easy. Even at the airport, English didn't seem as widely spoken, not even close to the same as Korea. So...at this point I was a little perplexed as to what to do. There was a big storm coming and I now had no plan at all. I felt pretty bummed out at first then decided to just make the best of it. Usually I am quite blessed with great weather when I travel (this summer in the UK with Mom and Dad, we didn't have ANY rain, and in Australia the only time it rained I was in the car) but this time...not so much. It was really expensive to take a taxi anywhere out of town (to the tune of around $100+) and plus it was raining. So, I decided to just do some city exploring, and that's what I did. I think over the next two days I walked down almost every street of Naha. I went to the baseball park, saw a cool little baseball museum there. There were some neat pictures of a baseball game they had played after the war. Thanks to my Japanese friend Tadashi for translating a few of the signs for me. I took a pic of the sign and emailed him and he was cool enough to give me the info from the sign. The sign said that the game was played after the war in 1949 to basically try and heal some of the wounds of the war, there wasn't any public transportation at that time, and people walked from some of the nearby villages to witness the game, which was a close game between the Okinawans and the Americans. I saw three wharfs. A bunch of cool little gardens and shops (the sign says to enjoy some noodles and drinks behind the stone wall), and actually bought a few souvenirs (I seldom shop much on a trip). Naha was a nice city to do some walking, the streets were clean and even though the map I had was 99.9% Japanese, I was able to navigate where I was pretty well. I think I must have walked 10-15 miles and even my calves were a little sore (and I usually walk everyday to school and enjoy walking) I ate some delicious Japanese food, of course I can't speak one word of Japanese...so I just pointed. I had a great time there...the people were friendly, it was clean, and it was fun to experience another culture, even for just a few short days.
Picture guide:
#1-Lucky seat #13 ticket stub
#2-Naminoue Shrine
#3/#4-Plaques at Naminoue Shrine...pretty sure they were wishes for family or friends written on the little wooden plaque
#5-Naminoue Shrine
#6-Outside walls of Shuri Castle
#7/#8/#9-Signs I liked
#10-Pretty garden
#11-Feathered friend
#12/#13-Garden and lake
#14-Sonohyan Utaki a UNESCO World Heritage Site
#15-Entrance to Shuri Castle
#16-View of Naha and the ocean from Shuri Castle
#17-Main building inside Shuri Castle
#18-Original walls of Shuri Castle (if I read the sign right! HA)
#19-Bridge over the lake
#20-Beautiful flowers on the street
#21-Garden restaurant with sign to enjoy the noodles and drinks behind the stone wall
#22-Naminoue Shrine from the bridge
#23-Naminoue Shrine at night, it was hard to get a good night picture!
#24-The boat I was SUPPOSED to take to Tokashiki...still tied up!
#25-KFC Japanese style...no I didn't eat there, I HATE KFC
#26-Tree restaurant
#27-Black Shiksa Express delivery truck, I love the logo and got a t-shirt with that logo
#28-Baseball stadium in Naha, Spring Training stadium for Yomuiuri Giants, the elite team in Japanese Professional League
#29-Bat from the game played in 1949
#30-Sign about the game, telling about the villagers walking from nearby villages to see the game between with US and Okinawa
#31-Shisa...the symbol of Okinawa. Basically it's cross between a lion and a dog and is meant to protect people's homes
#32-Japanese and Okinawan flags
#33-Glorious vending machines
#34-Main street through Naha