Trip to Southeast Asia Part V - Okinawa, Ishigaki Japan and Busan, South Korea

Naha, Okinawa, Japan

We left Taipei and after a day at sea, we arrived in Naha, Okinawa the largest of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Naha was almost completely destroyed in the battle of Okinawa so only a few of the city's buildings predate WWII.

Of all the countries we visited, Japan was my favorite. The people are SO polite and welcoming, the cities are clean, and I found the best shopping in Japan - to name a few of my reasons for liking it so well.  

As we sailed into port, we could see the city in the background and as we got closer, we could see the port terminal.

From the terminal, we took a taxi to Kokusai Dori, which was the shopping street and heart of the city.

We learned about the Shisa when we attended a lecture about the ports of call so we were watching for them. These gargoyle looking beasts are believed to protect from evils and bring good spirits. They can be found in pairs throughout the city in parks, on rooftops and gate posts etc.  

It was still the celebration of the New Year and the city was busy and filled with traffic and people so our taxi driver let us off a block away from the main street.

As we walked around, I had to take a picture of this lady who was cleaning up trash and dirt on the sidewalk- this is why Japan is so clean!

We found Kosetsu Ichibo one of the covered markets in Naha.

You could find most anything in this market!

Seaweed products

"Year of the Pig" souvenirs

Shisa figures - one always has his mouth open and the other has his closed!

All kinds of food and drinks!

Meats and Seafood

Even a pig head and feet were available!

Baked Goods

Habu Sake - snake wine made in Okinawa with a pit viper, honey, herbs and Sake. 

We saw this cute Japanese family with mom and dad helping the older children to paint some pottery items. Many of the people we saw wore masks.

These interesting instruments are Okinawan Sanshin which means three strings. They reminded us of the 3 string Russian Balalaika, except the body of the Balalaika is triangular.

Naha is the center of Okinawan pottery called Tsuboya ware which dates back to the 15th century and the Ryukyu Kingdom - which was in power and control of the Okinawan Islands until 1879.

I saw many examples of this pottery in lots of shops and so I bought a bowl and some small Shisa figures.

After we explored the covered markets we went back out to the street.

The main street - Kokusai Dori was closed to traffic and areas for children to play were set up. It was fun to see the cute Japanese kids enjoying the activities.

There was also music and some children performing.

Hal and a Shisa

When we finished exploring the city, we took a taxi back to the ship.

It was a pleasant day in Naha!

Ishigaki

Ishagaki is a small island with beautiful beaches and is a popular holiday destination. It was a bit cool to go to the beach so we explored the town and a small Buddhist Temple.

We took the ship's shuttle to the marina near town and then walked a few blocks into the city center.  We passed some shops and hotels with Shisa on the roofs and at the entrances.

The Shisa are ugly little things, but they kind of grew on me.

We found the Euglena Mall - another covered shopping area.

One of the shops had these cute little dolls called Sonny Angels -  they are made in Japan and are collector's items. I fell in love with them and bought 2.  They are packaged in fun little boxes with 6 sides and you don't know which doll is inside until you open the box!

After looking around the market we walked several block to the Torinji Temple -which was built in 1614 and is the oldest wooden building in Okinawa. It is a small Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine.

We looked inside the temple and then walked around the garden and grounds.  It was an interesting and peaceful place.

The ribbons and plaques tied to the wires and the trees are prayer flags that have mantras written on them promoting peace, compassion, strength and wisdom.

We left the temple and walked back to town, to the harbor and caught the shuttle back to the ship.  We passed more Shisa figures on our way.

We enjoyed seeing Ishigaki!

Busan, South Korea

After a night and a day at sea, we arrived at Busan, having traveled north quite a distance, and the weather was significantly cooler than Okinawa. Fortunately we had jackets and sweaters with us.
Busan/Pusan has a population of over 3 1/2 million people and is Korea's second largest city.  It has one of the world's busiest commercial ports.

The Busan Port Terminal with our ship in the background

We took the ship's shuttle from the port terminal into the city where we caught a taxi to go to see the Yongdusan Park and Busan Tower. This ariel photo gives a great view of both the park and the tower as well as the city and harbor.

Fortunately, there was an escalator that took us up the hill to the park area around the tower.

We saw the dragon, pagoda, Buddha and the statue of Yi Sun-sin.

Yi Sun-sin - famous Korean Naval Commander of the 16th Century - he won 23 battles against the Japanese in the Imgin War.

We rode the very fast elevator to the top of the tower for some awesome views of the city.

Panoramic view
We could even see our ship in the port. We took lots of pictures of Busan from different perspectives.

   Each section of the windows had distances of the tower to various parts
 of the world.

Of course we had to take pictures using the nice backdrops provided on the lower level of the tower.
After we exited the tower, we walked down the many stairs to the street level.  We then asked several people where Gukje Market was until we finally found it. This huge market combines indoor and outdoor shopping. You can find everything from souvenirs, clothing, electronics, housewares, food etc.

 

We had to take a picture of the KiraKira shop for our Kyra!

After all our walking around, we caught a taxi and headed back to the ship.

Back on board in the dining room that evening we enjoyed another yummy dinner!  We ate so many delicious meals - we are still trying to loose the weight we gained!!