Where to begin???

I know ... the beginning...


Saturday 14th July


Tokyo



It is raining, I am drinking a tall, cold, caramel, honey latte in a almost all glass Japanese Starbucks equivalent. On my left side is a busy main street bustling with people and Tokyo traffic mainly consisting of taxis. On my right side is a perfectly serene garden with an archery range dangerously close to members of the public. I remember thinking to myself that Tokyo is a pretty crazy place!!!









Top of the world trade center looking down below at the numerous train track systems which look like toys. I have a few hours to kill before my flight leaves for Okinawa. The flight (as we know) was extremely lucky and I basically hopped over the typhoon.













Okinawa











Coming out of the air conditioned airport, I was hit by a wall of heat (at 7 o'clock at night). 1hour later I found Okinawa Sora House.



Holiday Rule number 1:


ALWAYS OVER DO IT ON THE FIRST NIGHT!!!




In my case I extended this rule to the first 3 nights, getting back to the hostel at 5 or after and sleeping the day away...




But here's where the magic comes:

OKINAWA SORA HOUSE IS THE BEST PLACE I HAVE EVER STAYED EVER!!!!!

From the moment you walk through the door there is an atmosphere of friendliness, relaxation and a general laid back vibe. Light reggae or acoustic guitar music is playing, there is the smell of incense sticks, the walls are decorated with stuff gathered from around the world or pictures of visitors. In one corner there is a bass and electric guitar and tamba drums are scattered around the place....

Some people may think that this could sound like the dwelling of a hippy... and they would be right ...sort of. Upon sitting down on one of the sofas, very quickly I was invited up to the main platform to try some legendary Okinawan brewed awamori, a twist on Japanese sake it uses Thailand rice, and have a chat. A very young couple are interested in my experiences and we get talking. To my surprise they are married (so young) the husband asks all the questions whilst the wife timidly whispers in his ear. I am tapped on the shoulder from the other side and given a drink by a group of guys and we talk about sports. I feel completely relaxed within 5 minutes of setting foot in the place...!

Very nice indeed and it doesn't even matter that I can't understand half (probably less) of what is being said because everyone is so relaxed... that is until 12 0 clock at night when the group decide to head out for a club. I can now only understand a quarter (probably less) of what is being said due to deafening music of the underground bunker that is "MKE 1s" (or something like that).

There is lots of fun to be had in Okinawa it is incredibly beautiful and there is plenty to do. However it does have a bad side...

There are 20'000 American troops based in Okinawa and you literally can't walk up the main high street of Naha (The Capital City) without seeing a small gang of them. Okinawa is essentially losing its rich culture and laid back nature to America. There are American steak houses, army surplus stores and even an American Theme park just outside of the main city with the promise of recreating an all American town environment.

All of this would be OK if it weren't infringing on the Okinawan culture quite so much. For example the Americans brought tacos over to Okinawa but natives didn't much care for them and so invented "taco rice" an uncomfortable blend of the two. Its this kind of mixed up culture that makes Okinawa (or Naha at least) something of a circus. Kukusai Street is the main high street with loud music (sometimes Okinawan, sometimes Japanese, sometimes Western) blaring out of every shop, mainly selling souvenirs. Also very popular are inanimate models of the most random things in the world. Within 30 steps you can see Batman, a dinosaur (complete with flowers draped around its neck, Shima (a spiritual dragon/lion god), Marilyn Monroe, a hotdog putting sauce on itself, various anime characters and the odd robot!!!

However the worst American influence are the troops themselves. If anyone has seen the film 'Jarhead' then that is a very good depiction of these soldiers. Upon entering a nightime hotspot it is not long before we are approached by one or two of them and every one of them says the same thing. It is like they have read a script (maybe from the film Jarhead): "Hey hows it going I 'm in the army, why can't I get any Okinawan girls, you should go to this club its the best in Okinawa, we 're just here to keep an eye on Korea and blow s*** up..... and it goes on. They drink too much, pass out on the streets and certainly don't treat the place or people with the respect it deserves. I did my best to try and look as European as possible, My french buddy cleverly started every conversation with "bonjour" just to highlight the fact that we weren't American troops.

Inspite of that I still had a great time and met some great people through my 3 days of just lounging around Sora house, the next 3 days I managed to venture further out of the city for even more fun but I will save that for the next blog...

Wow that was quite long, and thats only part 1 of Okinawa....sorry!

Final Brucy Bonus:


In this picture everyone was supposed to be posing like shima... and everyone is except me, who at that time didn't actually know what shima was.... ah well.