Shikina-En Royal Gardens

Since we found ourselves in in Naha city anyway (after having dropped off Aaron & Masayo at the airport to embark upon their new adventures beyond Okinawa), we decided to make a day of it & explore some new sights. So we made our way around Hwy 329 (becoming 82 & then turning left onto 222) & we had soon arrived at the lovely & picturesque Shikina-En Royal Gardens:

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We were thoroughly impressed with the natural beauty of this very historically significant site. A blurb from Wikipedia (on the Shuri Castle page):
"Built in 1799, the royal gardens and villa were not only where the royals relaxed but was also used to host the investiture envoys who came from the Great Empire, China. The garden's circle layout resembles plans used in modern Japanese gardens, but the Villa itself with its red tile is uniquely Ryūkyūan, and pond and bridge to the miniature island is in the Chinese style. This is a rare, historically valuable example of Ryūkyūan landscape gardening, and Shikina-en is also registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, separate from Shuri Castle."

Photos of our excursion that day:

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More info & multimedia related to the gardens from other sites:
http://www.okinawaindex.com/index/?tid=3&cid=75&id=2
http://www.straycompass.com/video_page.php?recordID=75
http://okinawa.com/content/view/145/101/lang,en/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/denysokinawa/2554706113/

Naha Tsunahiki Tug-of-war Rope

After having bid farewell to Aaron & Masayo), we were on our way to find something fun to do in Naha (since we were there anyway). As we were driving away from the Naha Airport along the access road that runs along the military harbor towards the city center, we noticed a HUGE rope, mostly covered by tarp, in the usually empty paved lot of the military port facilities. Curious cats that we are, we quickly u-turned around to investigate the scene. And we were delighted to discover & behold the giant rope that was being prepared for use at the annual world-famous Naha tsunahiki tug-of-war (pitting eastern Okinawans vs westerners, for bragging rights & good fortune in the coming year), which we did not attend during either of our years in Okinawa (not being fans of how incredibly crowded Naha gets during such events). We enjoyed watching the workers preparing sections of the massive rope for several minutes before continuing on to Shikina-En.

Photos of the rope:

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More info & multimedia about the Tug of War event:
http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/public%20affairs%20info/Archive%20News%20Pages/2006/061013-naha.html
http://www.ocvb.or.jp/card/en/0600001264.html
http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=7138
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildvinephoto/3372062550/
http://okinawa.com/content/view/59/36/
http://www.okinawahai.com/my_weblog/2008/10/the-naha-tug-of.html
http://gillbertbu.blogspot.com/2007/10/o-tsunahiki-great-naha-tug-of-war.html

Horseback Riding

After a rainy week we took our friends Masayo, Sayaka (visiting Okinawa from her Kansai home) & her young son Haruto to Toma-san's stables in Onna-son (where we volunteered with the weekly hippotherapy program run by EDIS) to have some fun playing with the horses. We were not surprised to find & clean up some very dirty (with dried mud) equines & stalls. But after quite a bit of brushing & currying of Luca & Karen, we enjoyed some fun riding!

Photos of the equestrians:

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Surprise Party

As an early & pleasant surprise for our good friend Masayo's birthday (only 2 months away), her loving husband Aaron organized a group of her close friends to gather at one of her favorite restaurants on Okinawa (Bistro Cyrano, in Ginowan, serving a DELICIOUS Japanese take on French cuisine) for a celebratory evening together. We were delighted to assist & attend. Masayo was truly surprised & equally delighted at the thoughtfulness of all of us who will dearly miss her & her actual birthday when she's too far away from us in San Francisco, CA.

Photos of the surprise fun:

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Omedeto Gozaimasu, Ma-chan!

Keramas B'day Dives

As our birthday gift to Aaron, we treated him to a day of boat diving almost anywhere around Okinawa & several neighboring islands. To our delight, he chose the Keramas! So we spent yet another gorgeous day around the islands of Zamami (for the first 2 dives) & Tokashiki (for the final dive, a drift). We also gave the dive camera to Aaron to capture the sights & memories of his day & we're impressed with what he had to show us! Enjoy!

The full photo set:

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