We started out by walking about 15 minutes to where we would catch the bus to Haneda Airport.
It was another sweltering humid day so by the time we got to the bus stop, we all wanted to use the sweat wipes to soak up the sweat.
It was then about an hour on the bus. At the airport, we bought bento lunches to eat while waiting for our flight.
Kai had a tonkatsu (pork) sandwich. My wife had tenmusu (rice ball with tempura).
And I had rice ball with beef tongue.
In planning our trip, I learned that Okinawa was a lot further away than I had realized. It is about a two and a half our flight on a 777 to get there. The jumbo plane was packed as Okinawa is a popular tourist destination for Japanese.
We got a great treat when we saw Mount Fuji out the window. In five trips to Japan now, this was the first time I had seen Fuji-san.
Japan is renown for everything running with precision. Its trains are crowded but they are clean, quiet, and run on time. Unfortunately, their rental car companies are just as efficient as their American counterparts, meaning not at all!
It took forever for the shuttle to come and then for it to depart as they wait for a full bus before leaving the terminal. But the worst was at the rental desk. The credit card reader did not work, then it took forever for them to put us in the car. Kai got impatient, as did we all, but he was more vocal about it.
It turned out that our car was sitting right in front of us the whole time so not sure why they couldn't put us in it right away.
Traffic in Naha city was horrendous. I thought we had left the crowds in Tokyo but that is not the case! It over took an hour to drive to our condo which should have been a half hour in good traffic.
As a result, we got there after sunset. Kai wanted to go to the beach so we dashed out and let him enjoy until it got dark.
It was late and we were tired so we went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It was izakaya style with numerous small plates to choose from. We got gyoza and edamame for Kai, and also had assorted dishes including karaage, beef, grilled vegetables, and pork bellies, among others.
Back at our condo, Kai got upset when the wifi wasn't working well. One of the biggest issues with him is how upset he gets when things are not going well, and his long complaints about the wifi preventing him from doing pixel art that he can do at home anytime were particularly annoying.
Tomorrow, we start to really explore Okinawa.
I have never been to Okinawa. I am interested in seeing your pictures. I was surprised to hear of the situation at the rental car company. The Japanese usually take great pride in their work.
ReplyDeleteThe experience at the rental car company stood out because it was so unusually bad for Japan. But we're glad to be exploring Okinawa now.
Delete