Osaka ni Kaerimasu

Yesterday was our last full day in Okinawa, and we did the usual routine of getting up for lunch (brunch, really) then lying on the beach all day. Swimming and rafting were intermixed. The weather was beautiful, and the water was even warmish, depending on whom you ask.

For dinner we finally tried Okinawan cuisine at a local place called Ura-Niwa, or "backyard garden". It was, indeed, in the backyard of a store on the main drag, and it was a lot of fun. I'd heard pork was a specialty of Okinawan cuisine, moreso than Japanese cuisine, and the grilled pork in miso sauce was really, really good. So was the fish dish we got, along with the appetizers of tuna tartar, carpacchio, and various other things I can no longer remember. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. After dinner we stopped at the Blue Seal ice cream/sushi shop. Michelle had chocolate and "sugar cane", which was yummy. I had squid in a sugar cone. Just kidding. It was actually a waffle cone.

Today we checked out of the hotel, and spent a couple hours enjoying the beach before boarding the bus for the airport and returning to Osaka. I have some photos of these activities, including the collection of orchids at the Okinawa Naha airport. Quite somethin'.