OK, well not all dancing perhaps, but definitely all singing!
You may remember that my water boiler has been playing up since last winter, pretty much since I moved in fact! In summer it's not a problem because my water is heated purely by solar panels, but between October and April it needs oil to heat it.
Apparently the boiler system was old, and my owner knew that she was probably going to have to replace it at some point. This winter, so far she twice had to get repairs done on it. The last time she repaired it, just before I went on holiday, I woke up the next morning to renewed problems. She decided to replace it.
Hooray!
I now can have a shower with continuous hot water, I keep going into the kitchen to wash my hands and look at the shiny new control panel! And it's a gas boiler, not oil, which means that hopefully it will be cheaper to run, and also means that I don't have to hang around on Mondays to catch the oil delivery van. Even without central heating, bathtime is going to get a whole lot more pleasant!
And did I mention the all singing all dancing bit? Seriously, it's a bit like having a maid to run your bath for you... As with the oil system, the bath will automatically fill to the desired level at the touch of a button, and then keep the water hot at the desired temperature. But this one plays a little ditty when it's finished and a woman's voice shouts out in Japanese, 'Your bath's ready'! Rather fun!
And if you put the lid on the bath and set the timer, then it will automatically fill your bath for the time that you want it! I'm going to try that tomorrow morning!
Oh, what fun!
さあ、新しいお湯の暖房が有る。全部が自動。それに声を出す。ちょっとお手伝いさんが有るみたい！タイマー機能も有る。楽しい！
Friday, December 31, 2010
Christmas in Naha、 那覇のクリスマス
Well, another wonderful Christmas in Naha! Actually, although I went to Okinawa last year, it's been almost three years since I was last in Naha. Hard to believe that time flies by so quickly! No photos in this post itself, because I'm having a spot of bother with rotation with some of the key photos, photos as always at the right link.
Two years ago, I had intended to revisit Naha and the islands around Ishigaki, but sadly ANA never re-released the cheap fares of 2007, and I ended up having bought an outward fare with no way of affording the return fare... That holiday had to be cancelled which was very disappointing. Last year, I went only to Miyakojima, a beautiful island, but it could not maintain my interest for the whole holiday. This year, I learnt from previous mistakes and, wanting to go again to both Naha and the islands surrounding Ishigaki and reserved/cancelled/reserved/cancelled etc etc outward flights, until the inward flights were released. I also had hotels booked for a myriad of outcomes...! At one point in October I think I had four possible cancellable holidays booked! As half expected though, ANA again did not release cheap return fares, so I decided to go only to Naha with ANA, and back with Skymark. I had also managed to find myself a fantastic long-stay plan with a favourite hotel for its breakfasts (30000yen for 6 nights B&B, Sun Palace Kyukyo), so was very happy!
By the time my holiday came around, it was really starting to feel like winter. OK, not cold as in the way the UK has been recently, but I've become somewhat softened to life in Japan so a maximum of 10-12C during the day and 4-8C at night was unpleasant! And my house has a somewhat bizarre characteristic too - that of being about 5C colder inside than outside during the winter, and the reverse during the summer... Of course, that could be due to only having hot and cold air-conditioning in my bedroom (radiators don't exist). There was a rather funny incident a couple of weeks ago when I was getting ready to go out to work, and had put on my hat, scarf and gloves... Only to step outside the door and have to take it all off again because it felt so hot!
Coupled with these winter temperatures, my water heating was playing up again, the successful outcome of that is in another post. I could be in the middle of a shower in my minimalist unheated bathroom, when the boiler would suddenly decide it didn't want to play anymore... I was getting a little cheesed off, as well as having a cold to show for it.
The holiday came at last and, just as I relaxed with the pleasure of being off work, my cold escalated! The flight out was somewhat painful - blocked sinuses meant that ear pressure on landing was not nice. And for the next five days the headache intensity increased to be the most excruciating headache I've ever had. However, this was my long-long-awaited holiday, and boy did I mean to make the most of it!
I arrived in Naha on Thursday 23rd, visited a nearby garden and got a light dinner of avocado taco rice before an early night intended to knock my cold on the head... Next day, armed with a 6 pack of tissues I got a highway bus up the island to the South-East Botanical Gardens. I've been meaning to go here for so long now, apparently they are the largest tropical gardens in Japan. Not driving, I'm very pleased to have GPS on my phone. To get here, you take the 111 Highway bus from Naha Bus Terminal at Asahibashi. The bus takes just under an hour to get to Okinawa North Interchange (Okinawa Kita Inta-). From there it's about a 15 minute walk (or, according to the website a 5 minute taxi transfer... Hmmm, where is the line-up of taxis on this roundabout?!) Actually even Navitime let me down a little on the way back... It suggested a shortcut which brought me out precisely *under* the bus stop...
The gardens were lovely. It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed snoozing on a hammock looking up at the tops of palm trees in the blue sky! Getting sunburnt in the process, it would seem too! I enjoyed the relaxation of it all, but didn't really feel that the gardens justified the entrance fee of 1000 yen, would not necessarily recommend it, and I am a big fan of botanical gardens! Plus, the piped relaxation music annoyed me - probably in part because of my headache! Look at the colour of my dragon fruit smoothie - believe it or not, it's natural!
That evening, I decided to go to a Spanish bar that I'd found on Navitime. However, not managing to find it, I ended up in an Irish bar (The Smugglers) instead. The staff were very friendly and spoke Japanese and English (many of them seemed to have studied in England/Canada previously), and in fact I ended up in making friends with one of the locals (Jun, and later his girlfriend Ayumi too) and having a very enjoyable time! They didn't speak much English at all, so we had to rely completely on my Japanese!
The following day, Christmas Day, I went to Shuri Castle. I had been meaning to go here for a long time, but was too castled and templed out previously. It dates from the late 1300s as a royal residence, although of course has been rebuilt several times. As a Ryukyu castle, it has many Chinese influences, and is completely unlike any Japanese castles I've seen in the rest of Japan. It's truly beautiful, and very impressive. Later on, as I walked in the grounds and around the lakes and stone streets, I really appreciated the tranquility. I also had an absolutely delicious okra curry sitting on a restaurant balcony waiting for the rain to stop... It didn't!
Incidentally, the monorail had been completely decorated for Christmas inside every carriage! All the handrails were wrapped in tinsel and baubles, and the windows had Christmas transfers on them! Very festive!
That evening I met up again with Jun and Ayumi. This time we went to an old haunt of mine, 'Wa no Ichi' to enjoy some traditional Okinawan food and see a favourite musician of mine, Jun Suzuki. I was impressed that not only did Jun recognise me after a couple of years but also that he remembered my name! Another fun evening ensued, and Jun and Ayumi managed to bring me out of my usual shyness which was a rather nice experience! Along with his own songs, some old some new, Jun sang some old Okinawa songs and some Christmas songs too. He told me that sometimes he plays now in Tokyo too, so maybe I'll manage that sometime. Oh, and listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NFzLcz3SsI&feature=related to his own upload of of one of his originals 'Itsumademo'!
The following day Sunday, Boxing Day, I went down to Itoman to the Okinawa Peace Museum. Having already been to the museum at Hiroshima, I knew that this was going to be disturbing. However, I knew that my understanding of the history of Okinawa, a place that I truly love, was scant. I wanted to know more. This part of its modern history was even more harrowing than I had expected, and all the more real because it was such a balanced account of the stupidity of the time.
In the Battle of Okinawa in World War 2, 40% of Okinawans died. Around 200,000 Japanese people died compared to 12,000 American people. The Battle of Okinawa was used by the Japanese as a delaying tactic to keep the war off mainland Japan. It was seen as expendable. Okinawa had only been officially part of Japan since the late 19th century, so only for about one generation until the start of World War 2. (From the end of World War 2 to 1972 it was US territory.) The Japanese government did not trust the people of Okinawa to stay loyal to Japan, and led them to believe that the American side were barbarians. There were many mass suicides from the cliffs to avoid capture by the barbarians. But also Okinawa had its own dialect, and the Japanese military were given orders to kill any Okinawan using Okinwan dialect believing they could be a spy. Many Okinawan civilians were killed by the Japanese military. Civilians and military alike fled to the caves as the war killed residents and troops en masse; as the military hid in the caves some soldiers were afraid that the crying of children would give away their location so children were killed. Many people died of starvation. Then, and indeed now, Okinawa was not economically comparable to mainland Japan, and there was not enough food to go round. Some civilians were forced to evacuate to malaria camps, so that there was food for the military personnel. Over 200,000 Japanese died in the 3 months that was the Battle of Okinawa. It was the only ground fighting fought on Japanese soil, and was also the largest-scale campaign of the Asia-Pacific War.
Most of what is known of the Battle of Okinawa comes from personal accounts. Slowly, over the last 30-40 years, survivors have started to open up and talk about their experiences in order that their testimonies may be passed onto future generations and that this situation may be avoided in the future. Many of these testimonies included not only the terror and horror but also moments of compassion on both sides.
Outside the museum, there was a vast area of memorial stones, each with maybe two hundred names of the Japanese and foreign people who died in the Battle of Okinawa. The sheer size of the memorial area had a horrendous impact.
That day felt phenomenally cold! I think the top temperature was actually 15C, but the wind was incredibly strong so it felt much colder. After the museum I went to a nearby restaurant and had a late lunch of a huge bowl of soki soba (steaming hot Okinawan noodles in soup with beef). On the way back to the hotel, I bought some cold medicine and this knocked me out pretty much until the next morning!
From Naha, you can get to the Peace Museum by taking a number 89 bus from Naha Bus Terminal, and changing at Itoman Bus Terminal for a number 82 bus (get off at Heiwa Kinendo Iriguchi). 560yen plus 460 yen each way.
On Monday my cold peaked although I didn't know it then. I was beginning to think my head was going to explode. Since Sunday afternoon, I had only woken up long enough to take more medicine, sleeping for almost 15 hours straight! On Monday and Tuesday, as a combination of my cold and the medicine I was taking, I was sleeping every time I sat down on a bus, woken up each time by my own embarrassing whimpering noises! Monday, I decided to go down again to the southern part of the main island to visit Okinawa World. To get to Okinawa World, you have a few options. The cheapest way is to take a number 54 or 83 bus from Naha Bus Terminal to its terminus Gyokusendomae (560yen). However the route only runs every 1-2 hours, so instead I used the same buses as to the Okinawa Peace Museum yesterday. I took the cheaper route back. Incidentally, this website is good for checking bus timetables around Naha http://www.okinawabus.com/noriaibus/index.html
There are a few ticket options, I got the most expensive pass at 1600yen to see the caves, the Ryukyu working village and the snake museum. I thought the price was rather steep, but in retrospect I think the caves were definitely worth the price. Gyokusendo Cave is claimed to have the greatest stalactites and stalagmites in Asia. It's 5km long with 890 metres currently open to the public. It was beautiful, and the subtle lighting and complete lack of piped music was great for the headache! I was expecting it to be cold, like everyone else it seemed, but in fact the average temperature is 21C! Lots of people taking off their layers at the entrance to the cave! I wasn't so impressed by the village, but the snake museum was very interesting too.
I had found an interesting looking Russian restaurant called Perestroika online, and rather fancied a spicy bowl of Borscht that evening. Unfortunately though it was closed for the Christmas holidays. So instead, I went to find the Naha Harbor Diner, a treehouse restaurant! It's not a real tree, a building like that wouldn't survive the earthquakes, but it is rather cool! Had a nice sausage and lentil stew, and glass of mango juice. It came to 1300 yen, so yes prices were rather high and the portion size would have have been small had it not been for my cold. But it was a very cool restaurant, and I'd go there again!
Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day again, so I took the bus to the Chinen coastline. Bus number 38. I went to Azama Sunsun Beach, a little too manmade for my liking. I must try again sometime to find that beach I found when I first came to Okinawa. I thought it was near Chinen Marine Leisure Centre, but I couldn't find it last time either... Nice and relaxing, and then I walked for a few hours along the coast. A lovely relaxing holiday! Now, where and when next?!
Two years ago, I had intended to revisit Naha and the islands around Ishigaki, but sadly ANA never re-released the cheap fares of 2007, and I ended up having bought an outward fare with no way of affording the return fare... That holiday had to be cancelled which was very disappointing. Last year, I went only to Miyakojima, a beautiful island, but it could not maintain my interest for the whole holiday. This year, I learnt from previous mistakes and, wanting to go again to both Naha and the islands surrounding Ishigaki and reserved/cancelled/reserved/cancelled etc etc outward flights, until the inward flights were released. I also had hotels booked for a myriad of outcomes...! At one point in October I think I had four possible cancellable holidays booked! As half expected though, ANA again did not release cheap return fares, so I decided to go only to Naha with ANA, and back with Skymark. I had also managed to find myself a fantastic long-stay plan with a favourite hotel for its breakfasts (30000yen for 6 nights B&B, Sun Palace Kyukyo), so was very happy!
By the time my holiday came around, it was really starting to feel like winter. OK, not cold as in the way the UK has been recently, but I've become somewhat softened to life in Japan so a maximum of 10-12C during the day and 4-8C at night was unpleasant! And my house has a somewhat bizarre characteristic too - that of being about 5C colder inside than outside during the winter, and the reverse during the summer... Of course, that could be due to only having hot and cold air-conditioning in my bedroom (radiators don't exist). There was a rather funny incident a couple of weeks ago when I was getting ready to go out to work, and had put on my hat, scarf and gloves... Only to step outside the door and have to take it all off again because it felt so hot!
Coupled with these winter temperatures, my water heating was playing up again, the successful outcome of that is in another post. I could be in the middle of a shower in my minimalist unheated bathroom, when the boiler would suddenly decide it didn't want to play anymore... I was getting a little cheesed off, as well as having a cold to show for it.
The holiday came at last and, just as I relaxed with the pleasure of being off work, my cold escalated! The flight out was somewhat painful - blocked sinuses meant that ear pressure on landing was not nice. And for the next five days the headache intensity increased to be the most excruciating headache I've ever had. However, this was my long-long-awaited holiday, and boy did I mean to make the most of it!
I arrived in Naha on Thursday 23rd, visited a nearby garden and got a light dinner of avocado taco rice before an early night intended to knock my cold on the head... Next day, armed with a 6 pack of tissues I got a highway bus up the island to the South-East Botanical Gardens. I've been meaning to go here for so long now, apparently they are the largest tropical gardens in Japan. Not driving, I'm very pleased to have GPS on my phone. To get here, you take the 111 Highway bus from Naha Bus Terminal at Asahibashi. The bus takes just under an hour to get to Okinawa North Interchange (Okinawa Kita Inta-). From there it's about a 15 minute walk (or, according to the website a 5 minute taxi transfer... Hmmm, where is the line-up of taxis on this roundabout?!) Actually even Navitime let me down a little on the way back... It suggested a shortcut which brought me out precisely *under* the bus stop...
The gardens were lovely. It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed snoozing on a hammock looking up at the tops of palm trees in the blue sky! Getting sunburnt in the process, it would seem too! I enjoyed the relaxation of it all, but didn't really feel that the gardens justified the entrance fee of 1000 yen, would not necessarily recommend it, and I am a big fan of botanical gardens! Plus, the piped relaxation music annoyed me - probably in part because of my headache! Look at the colour of my dragon fruit smoothie - believe it or not, it's natural!
That evening, I decided to go to a Spanish bar that I'd found on Navitime. However, not managing to find it, I ended up in an Irish bar (The Smugglers) instead. The staff were very friendly and spoke Japanese and English (many of them seemed to have studied in England/Canada previously), and in fact I ended up in making friends with one of the locals (Jun, and later his girlfriend Ayumi too) and having a very enjoyable time! They didn't speak much English at all, so we had to rely completely on my Japanese!
The following day, Christmas Day, I went to Shuri Castle. I had been meaning to go here for a long time, but was too castled and templed out previously. It dates from the late 1300s as a royal residence, although of course has been rebuilt several times. As a Ryukyu castle, it has many Chinese influences, and is completely unlike any Japanese castles I've seen in the rest of Japan. It's truly beautiful, and very impressive. Later on, as I walked in the grounds and around the lakes and stone streets, I really appreciated the tranquility. I also had an absolutely delicious okra curry sitting on a restaurant balcony waiting for the rain to stop... It didn't!
Incidentally, the monorail had been completely decorated for Christmas inside every carriage! All the handrails were wrapped in tinsel and baubles, and the windows had Christmas transfers on them! Very festive!
That evening I met up again with Jun and Ayumi. This time we went to an old haunt of mine, 'Wa no Ichi' to enjoy some traditional Okinawan food and see a favourite musician of mine, Jun Suzuki. I was impressed that not only did Jun recognise me after a couple of years but also that he remembered my name! Another fun evening ensued, and Jun and Ayumi managed to bring me out of my usual shyness which was a rather nice experience! Along with his own songs, some old some new, Jun sang some old Okinawa songs and some Christmas songs too. He told me that sometimes he plays now in Tokyo too, so maybe I'll manage that sometime. Oh, and listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NFzLcz3SsI&feature=related to his own upload of of one of his originals 'Itsumademo'!
The following day Sunday, Boxing Day, I went down to Itoman to the Okinawa Peace Museum. Having already been to the museum at Hiroshima, I knew that this was going to be disturbing. However, I knew that my understanding of the history of Okinawa, a place that I truly love, was scant. I wanted to know more. This part of its modern history was even more harrowing than I had expected, and all the more real because it was such a balanced account of the stupidity of the time.
In the Battle of Okinawa in World War 2, 40% of Okinawans died. Around 200,000 Japanese people died compared to 12,000 American people. The Battle of Okinawa was used by the Japanese as a delaying tactic to keep the war off mainland Japan. It was seen as expendable. Okinawa had only been officially part of Japan since the late 19th century, so only for about one generation until the start of World War 2. (From the end of World War 2 to 1972 it was US territory.) The Japanese government did not trust the people of Okinawa to stay loyal to Japan, and led them to believe that the American side were barbarians. There were many mass suicides from the cliffs to avoid capture by the barbarians. But also Okinawa had its own dialect, and the Japanese military were given orders to kill any Okinawan using Okinwan dialect believing they could be a spy. Many Okinawan civilians were killed by the Japanese military. Civilians and military alike fled to the caves as the war killed residents and troops en masse; as the military hid in the caves some soldiers were afraid that the crying of children would give away their location so children were killed. Many people died of starvation. Then, and indeed now, Okinawa was not economically comparable to mainland Japan, and there was not enough food to go round. Some civilians were forced to evacuate to malaria camps, so that there was food for the military personnel. Over 200,000 Japanese died in the 3 months that was the Battle of Okinawa. It was the only ground fighting fought on Japanese soil, and was also the largest-scale campaign of the Asia-Pacific War.
Most of what is known of the Battle of Okinawa comes from personal accounts. Slowly, over the last 30-40 years, survivors have started to open up and talk about their experiences in order that their testimonies may be passed onto future generations and that this situation may be avoided in the future. Many of these testimonies included not only the terror and horror but also moments of compassion on both sides.
Outside the museum, there was a vast area of memorial stones, each with maybe two hundred names of the Japanese and foreign people who died in the Battle of Okinawa. The sheer size of the memorial area had a horrendous impact.
That day felt phenomenally cold! I think the top temperature was actually 15C, but the wind was incredibly strong so it felt much colder. After the museum I went to a nearby restaurant and had a late lunch of a huge bowl of soki soba (steaming hot Okinawan noodles in soup with beef). On the way back to the hotel, I bought some cold medicine and this knocked me out pretty much until the next morning!
From Naha, you can get to the Peace Museum by taking a number 89 bus from Naha Bus Terminal, and changing at Itoman Bus Terminal for a number 82 bus (get off at Heiwa Kinendo Iriguchi). 560yen plus 460 yen each way.
On Monday my cold peaked although I didn't know it then. I was beginning to think my head was going to explode. Since Sunday afternoon, I had only woken up long enough to take more medicine, sleeping for almost 15 hours straight! On Monday and Tuesday, as a combination of my cold and the medicine I was taking, I was sleeping every time I sat down on a bus, woken up each time by my own embarrassing whimpering noises! Monday, I decided to go down again to the southern part of the main island to visit Okinawa World. To get to Okinawa World, you have a few options. The cheapest way is to take a number 54 or 83 bus from Naha Bus Terminal to its terminus Gyokusendomae (560yen). However the route only runs every 1-2 hours, so instead I used the same buses as to the Okinawa Peace Museum yesterday. I took the cheaper route back. Incidentally, this website is good for checking bus timetables around Naha http://www.okinawabus.com/noriaibus/index.html
There are a few ticket options, I got the most expensive pass at 1600yen to see the caves, the Ryukyu working village and the snake museum. I thought the price was rather steep, but in retrospect I think the caves were definitely worth the price. Gyokusendo Cave is claimed to have the greatest stalactites and stalagmites in Asia. It's 5km long with 890 metres currently open to the public. It was beautiful, and the subtle lighting and complete lack of piped music was great for the headache! I was expecting it to be cold, like everyone else it seemed, but in fact the average temperature is 21C! Lots of people taking off their layers at the entrance to the cave! I wasn't so impressed by the village, but the snake museum was very interesting too.
I had found an interesting looking Russian restaurant called Perestroika online, and rather fancied a spicy bowl of Borscht that evening. Unfortunately though it was closed for the Christmas holidays. So instead, I went to find the Naha Harbor Diner, a treehouse restaurant! It's not a real tree, a building like that wouldn't survive the earthquakes, but it is rather cool! Had a nice sausage and lentil stew, and glass of mango juice. It came to 1300 yen, so yes prices were rather high and the portion size would have have been small had it not been for my cold. But it was a very cool restaurant, and I'd go there again!
Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day again, so I took the bus to the Chinen coastline. Bus number 38. I went to Azama Sunsun Beach, a little too manmade for my liking. I must try again sometime to find that beach I found when I first came to Okinawa. I thought it was near Chinen Marine Leisure Centre, but I couldn't find it last time either... Nice and relaxing, and then I walked for a few hours along the coast. A lovely relaxing holiday! Now, where and when next?!
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