Miyako 158.70 square kilometres and is the fourth largest Island in the Okinawa Prefecture and lies 400 Kilometres east of Taipei, Taiwan.
It is also where Chisa’s youngest sister lives. She moved there to take an English teaching job, but met her Husband and now resides there with her two energetic children, the youngest four and the eldest nine. Her Husband was there to meet us with their son at the Airport, then joined us back at the Resort.
Miyakojima Tokyu Resort - we were in the building on the right
The next three images are taken from our Balcony, yes I am obsessed with Balcony Shots!
I was sooo impressed with the resort! I had no idea what to expect, and having been impressed with first Hotel I was blown away with the second! Shota and I were keen to check out the beach, which was only separated from the Hotel by the outside swimming pool…which also looked beautiful. So we took Shota's cousin with us and headed out there.
After enjoying the sand between our toes and the wonderful sunset, we showered and headed over to Shota’s Aunties house. The family lived, like a lot of Okinawa families, in an apartment block. Completely made from concrete, very different to the buildings I was accustomed to seeing in Tokyo. We enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal that included my favourites, tuna sashimi and sea grapes. There was also the traditional dish that had spam in it J Shota’s cousin was reminded during the meal to not “just eat the spam, but the veges too”… hahaha quite funny.
Nobutaka enjoying the local Awamori...Mmmmm.....it burns as it goes down your throat (trust me)!
Sunday we got up early to enjoy the best buffet breakfast ever!! No, really it was J Chisa’s sister even joined us with the Kids, as it was that good!
Next stop was the beach… we were supposed to go snorkelling, but sadly it was too windy to go out on the boat… so the boys and children just snorkelled at the beach. Shota saw a sea snake so was happy.
After our picnic lunch on the beach we headed back to the Hotel… I decided to stay there as I was tired (and a little over sightseeing). Plus I felt that someone should enjoy the resort. Whilst sunbaking by the pool I overheard a conversations by some Australians…. Why must we sound so annoying? Well the Aussies were with Americans too…. loud also …. So I pretended I couldn’t hear them and went back to my book.
Our Last Okinawa Sunset
Dinner was by far the best experience I have so far had! We went to a traditional restaurant that served Okinawan style dishes, and also had Okinawan Entertainment. The two performers were apparently in their eighties, I couldn’t tell, they certainly looked good for their age! The traditional music, to me, all sounds the same and it involves a small instrument, that looks like a ukulele… We were positioned at the back of the restaurant, so we could still have a conversation over the loud music.
The waitress preparing the traditional dish, Goya - it's the one with the Spam in it...
The highlight of the night was after the ladies finished their performance we were allowed to have a photo with them, wearing a traditional style vest. I was so happy!
I also was introduced to Lychee flavoured alcohol. I actually have no idea exactly what I was drinking as the menu, like usual, was all in Japanese. Shota’s Aunty thinks I am an alcoholic, as she was quite concerned that there was no wine on the menu for me order. I explained that I wasn’t an Alcoholic and soft drink or water was fine… As she nearly ordered me a shot… Shota intervened and said I didn’t need a shot with Dinner…. Then Shota found the wonderful Lychee flavoured drink… I think it was like flavoured vodka, mixed with lemonade or soda water. Anyway it tasted good, so I was happy.
The following day we enjoyed our final Buffet Breakfast in our wonderful Resort. And boarded a Glassbottom boat for a tour (conducted by a Western Man) around the bay.
We then visited a tiny Island called Kurima Island. It was so tiny that when up on this lookout we could see the whole thing! Incredible. Unfortunately the lens of Shota’s and I’s camera could not capture this scene… It was also very windy up there on the lookout.
After a quick snack… I had a mango sorbet, and a quick photo of the Goat in the back of the Van, we headed out for our final Okinawa lunch.
I was still full from Breakfast, but made room for a Japanese style curry. We were presented with gifts from Shota’s Aunty, a beautiful Okinawa Glass each. I was happy. (Mine is the pink one and Shota's is the blue one behind mine).
We decided to spend the rest of our afternoon at a Spa… then after an hour it started raining. There was also the single sex baths there too, but I didn’t feel ready for Shota’s Mum to see me naked! So I stayed in the Spa instead (where we had to wear bathers).
Later we did a final shop, this time in the grocery store, buying all the produce we can’t buy on the mainland of Japan. We then enjoyed our final meal in Okinawa…at the airport and flew back to Tokyo. Shota's Aunty and cousin joined us for Dinner :)
When we arrived at 12:30am, Shota’s Father called out “Jessh ca, wine”? Umm no, thank-you Nobutaka, I wanted sleep…
When we arrived at 12:30am, Shota’s Father called out “Jessh ca, wine”? Umm no, thank-you Nobutaka, I wanted sleep…
It was a wonderful four days away, it felt like much more! And I am very thankful and appreciative to the Suzaki family and hope they’ll take us away again someday…
I love that they thought you were an alco... Just like I did when You were here!! All thhese photos are awesome! Its so much easier to look at them on here rather than FB... And so much more detail!!! Give my love to Shota... Hope he's wearing the slippers!!'
ReplyDeleteShota's parents look like good fun! How lucky you were to be able to share that time with them? Pix are great - was the goat dead or alive?????
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