Japan has its own way of doing things, so does Okinawa. Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Kinda like Puerto Rico is to the United States. It’s been new experiences one after another. I’ve been wanting to try all the things. From shopping, to eating, to living a new way of life. So far….I’ve quickly been able to adapt.
A way of life.
One of the things that I instantly noted was that Okinawa is clean. I mean clean, clean. The homes and stores may have much wear due to the heavy salt and moisture of the sea nearby. But there’s not a lick of trash or sign of neglected anywhere. You can walk *almost* safely on the sidewalks…I still wouldn’t recommend it. No one eats and walks. They tuck the trash into their bags both men and women alike. They view it as their own responsibility and no one is to clean after anyone else. That includes cleaning the tables. They also appreciate nature and mingle in modern technology with as much plant life as possible. Tunnels under the mountains are common, but they do it with hills as well. They also serve as an escapes from the storms.
Minimalism is huge here so is ironically malls. There’s not a lot of room in between the wide open spaces of sea, but they have no lacking of parks here. Benches are scattered and the sea wall is decorated with art encouraging to come stay awhile. The interesting thing is where there are roads there tends to be wires, but they usually are in clumps and a lot of them. But in many places there are not wires because of tsunamis. There are many courtyards and in them are usually a flower garden. I’ve yet to see whether or not herbs or vegetables grow in the courtyards.
The best Thrift Store
Remember how I told you the Japanese are clean? Well so are their thrift stores. Their clothes are like new, you touch them and you *know* they are clean. Not to mention how lovely they smell. The malls have the newness. But the thrift stores they’re better, far better. I brought natural clothing of cotton, linen and etc. My mission of natural clothing is officially on the fast track. I’m pretty much going to swap out my entire closet for these clothes.
Being petite is an adventure at home, here…they fit as if they are tailor to my body. Tailored clothing is hard to find where I live because it is expensive. That is luxury for iron jeans, hemmed pants, and shirt sleeves to actually end on the wrists. The pants because most of the ladies here are 5 ft to 5.5ft do not have to be fix. I did not realize how much as woman quality fitting clothes that doesn’t break the bank would make me feel.
New experiences of a Conveyor Belt Restaurant
This is hands down my favorite new experiences of restaurants is Hamazushi. Probably a very good thing that its not anywhere near me in the states. I’d be eating there often. You have a device that you order on, and when ready there’s a ding signaling that the food is coming on the conveyor belt. My favorite food so far? It is the “fried” squid. So so good. I pretty much feel free to try most things here in almost every restaurant.
In the next posts I have two places that I want to show you in our Adventures. The sea wall and the Elephant Cave. I keep using the word it’s beautiful but it the adjective that seems so fitting in this place. Until next time: