Only in my Mind

We went to Round 1 for the first time on Saturday. Round 1 is a seven floor multiplex with games, sports, and arcade games. It's right down the street from us and opened earlier this year. However, we just hadn't made it over and finally did this weekend when Noa hosted a youth event there. I summoned my courage to try the batting cages even though I haven't held a bat in years. I played freshman softball in high school and although I loved it, I didn't develop the skills to keep playing throughout my high school years. So, on this rainy Saturday, I stepped up to the batting cages with much trepidation. As I thought, I was really bad. Bad as in maybe hit every 3rd ball. Still, it was fun to pretend I was good at batting and I even got to hit several rounds since no one was waiting behind me. Here I am channeling my awesome inner softball player - even if it is only in my mind.

Tug-of-War (Tsunahiki)

This past Sunday we met up with some friends to experience the world's largest tug-of-war in Naha. This annual event is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. The event is so large that the main road is closed down for the festivities. First there's a parade for the Hatagashira, or the tall poles that represent each district. This involved lots of cute kids with flags and drums.

Here is one of the Hatagashira with the many men used to carry and lift it.

Here they are all set up. The men held them up the whole time with long poles.

Oh, and the parade had these cute girls with shell horns.

It's the east versus the west during the event. There's even a ceremonial meeting of the kings that represent the two dynasties of Naha from centuries ago. They each ride down the large rope and meet in the middle, issue challenges to each other and then the fun ensues! Here are one of the kings before the event.

And here he is on his way to give a challenge at the knot in the middle of the rope. He rode down the rope on a large wooden platform, guided by several men.

This cutie was in front of me while I was taking pictures and I couldn't resist snapping a quick pic of her.

See that gold ball high in the air above us? When it opens, the tug-of-war officially begins.

Now, for the rope. The rope weighs about 40 tons and is over 300 feet long. It's held together in the middle with a giant wooden peg. The main rope has smaller ropes coming off of it for the participants to use. After the event, spectators and participants can cut off a piece.

Before the event, people were sitting and standing on the massive rope. I had to really push my way through the crowds to get this shot. Considering around 25,000 people attend each year, it's no small attraction.

Let the pulling begin!

I'm in!

I pulled for the east side. I couldn't really understand the Japanese, but apparently they are chanting "Yoisho! Oshoi!" and "Hai-yaaah" which means "heave-ho!"

Although I was enjoying it, the pulling was actually a lot of work. The tugging part lasts about 30 minutes.

I let Noa jump in for a few minutes (while I was catching my breath and giving my hands a break). He obviously got into the spirit of the event.

At the end of the event I had a well deserved beer and got a piece of the rope. It's said that the piece of rope gives you good luck for the next year.

Afterwards, our group walked around downtown Naha and ended up having dinner at a little random place we stumbled upon. We had a great time laughing and chatting the night away. Here I am with my pal, Amy.

The only downfall of the whole day was the gigantic blister I brought home.

Ready for Fall!

With my fall toesies!

Yoron Getaway

We celebrated Noa's birthday this past weekend by taking a trip to one of Okinawa's outer islands, Yoron Island. To get there, we had to drive north and then take a ferry ride to this tiny island. Yoron is the sister island to Mykonos Island in Greece and uses lots of white on their buildings, walls, and statues.

We stayed at a small resort called Pricia, which definitely had that Mediterranean feel with all the blue and white. For the first night, we stayed on the ground level in a modest, low-cost room in a building like this:

But, when we realized the weather was going to give us some problems and we wouldn't be spending most of our time on the beach, we upgraded to a nicer room. We later decided that this was a smart move, considering our new room had a hot tub, private yard, a little kitchen, and more space overall.

Here's the outside view from the back. We were on the ground floor and didn't have upstairs "neighbors."

Our hot tub. :)

The view of the ocean and our yard with lush, green grass. I'll admit it, I ran around the yard barefoot several times.

Here is the living room and kitchen (in the back).

Most of the Japanese-style hotels and resorts have separate beds and this place was no different. We're also not big fans of the Japanese pillows, which we've named "rice pillows." It feels like they are filled with cut up straws, which just isn't as comfy as our regular cotton pillows. Still the room was clean and bright.

Now, on to the resort grounds. This is the area where the resort held nightly outdoor barbecues. We didn't get to enjoy this due to the rain, but we did get to watch a lightening storm while we were drinking beer and cooking our raw meat on the table grill in a nearby covered area.

See how the buildings have that Mediterranean look to them. Cute, right?

The little pavilion is for weddings.

Pricia Beach

One thing that was a little bizarre were all the stray cats we encountered, both on the resort grounds and out in town. Although super cute and extremely friendly (especially for cats), most had some sort of disease or infestation. I started to name them after their "condition." We got to know Mange, Disease, the Twins, Momma, and a few others.

Can you find 5 cats in the picture below? Hint: there are 2 pairs that look alike.

This little one was my favorite. We named him Bandit.

These two boys met us at the beach.

Yoron seemed to be mostly farm land or beach with a little Mediterranean/Japanese-style town in the middle. We rented a scooter and spent 2 days exploring. One of our favorite places to visit was Umi Cafe. We ate some delicious lunch there and enjoyed sipping coffees and perusing Japanese magazines. I also loved taking pictures of the eclectic decor.

The entrance:

Some of the decor that I liked. It was beachy, eclectic, and artsy.

Mmm...iced lattes! Oh, and notice how Noa ended up with the beverage with a flower design on top!

Noa's omelet on bread with a small salad on the side.

Their take on a chicken gyros: chicken,veggies, oil, and a warm pita. Mmmmmm...

I couldn't resist it of course.

Nice view!

We explored a couple of beaches. They were lovely, as most beaches are on these outer islands.

Team Juloa on Udonosu Beach

Here's one of the scooters that we used to travel all over the island (it's only about 8 square miles in area).

Okaneku Beach (it was pretty cool and windy this day). We walked along the beach and collected shells and sea glass.

We even found one shaped like New Hampshire.

These two hermit crabs were duking it out on the coral.

And lastly, the obligatory self-portrait.

Happy Birthday, Noa!