Monday - another journey

Today was another journey before headinghome to Tokyo on Tuesday evening. This morning Ayaka woke me yp at 6.30am - no time for sleeping in on this holiday. We had a european breakfast which I thought would last us all day. We were seated at a window which looked out over the sparkling pool and manicured gardens. After breakfast we went & got our bags and headed to our rental car. This was the best idea ever as we could go wherever we chose and at whatever time we wanted to. We visited a famous cape where there is a coral formation that resembles an elephants nose and trunk. There were many market stalls nearby and both Ayaka and I did a little shopping. We then travelled on further and visited Ryukyu Mura. This was the original name given to Okinawa. This place is set up as a village that depicts a house in Okinawa some 200 years ago. Okinawa is a very Hawiann type place and here we drank delicious coconut milk. We also watched a live show of Japanese singing and dancing. We then headed on the road again until we stopped at the South East Botanical Gardens. The scenery took your breath away. As it was very hot we decided to take a train ride around the gardents. The area is absolutely beautiful and I took many photos. Again there was a large shop where I bought a Okinawa t-shirt. We then decided to make our way to the hotel where we would be staying for the night. The hotel was in the main street of Okinawa and what a main street it was, no time to rest at hotel we just had to hit the shops. The city is name Nara and is the capital of Okinawa.
Ayaka and I decided to split to give us time to shop on our own, this was a great idea as it have us both the opportunity to seek out our own individual interests. Finally I found Dale some cool gifts, I then went to a beautiful garment shop where I bought a lovely blouse. I met up with Ayaka about 2hrs later and she had also done some shopping. We went back to the motel and showed each other waht we had bought, then Ayaka said she had seen some earrings and a matching necklance that she liked, so guess what we went out shopping again. the earrings and necklance were just beautiful, so I bought them for her to thank her for all she had done for me.
We then decided to have a special dinner on our final evening in Okinawa. We chose a lovely Japanese Restaurant. Sitting was Japanese style as was the food of course. I had deep fried vegetables and finished off with a parfait of icecream, cream and fruit. During dinner there was Japanese dancing and singing and it was a lovely way to end our trip. We then left the restaurant, and the street was still buzzing, we thought we would go for another quick walk as all the shops were still open. At the place where Ayaka got her jewellery, the guy asked me if I could be his adopted mother, he was a lovely guy and I even had my photo taken with me. He said I was a special mother and he liked being my adopted son. We then went back to the motel to sort our shopping and get our clothes ready for tomorrow. We had a really fantastic day and I must congratulate Ayaka on her navigation skills, she had certainly done her homework.
Well tomorrow I will report on Tuesday's adventure. There is still so much to tell but I do not want to bore you all at once.
Bye for now
Judy