Today I walked up to an older Japanese gentleman, outside a gym, and had my phone read the following message to him in Japanese:
“It’s a sensory experience, so it’s good at the gym, do you sweat?”
He smiled.
Then I looked down at my phone. OMG. Somehow I had not translated “Can I pay for a day pass at the gym, for today please?”. I had the arrows going in the wrong direction, so I was speaking English and my phone was trying to hear Japanese. With some frantic phone handling and fast talking, I got the right message to him. He was chuckling now, and nodding too. That’s how my workout at the “Old School Hardcore Nago Gym” began.
There was so much gear, very old gear, medals and photos, all packed into a very small space. It definitely lived up to the “old school” vibes and probably “hardcore” too, though it was empty when I arrived.
We’re in southern Japan now. Okinawa. On the beach. It was cool to arrive here from Tokyo. We could see coral reefs as we landed. Fresh orchids all over the airport!!
This is definitely offseason in Okinawa and I’m loving it. We’re surfing in wetsuits. Surfed a reef break today. First time ever, and no reef scars to prove it. Locals surf that little break under the bridge below!!
I have energy all day. I don’t miss the afternoon exhaustion that sets in when you’re in the tropics, where the heat forces a siesta or at a minimum a mid-afternoon retreat to AC. We’re eating the freshest yummiest sashimi, straight off the boat to the butcher to our dining room table. Going for beach walks and runs out the back door.
We find coffee shops in island nooks with so much vibe. It’s like Santa Cruz or San Diego cool but it’s Japanese. So chill. So quiet. Best of all we got a rental car despite my very-not-real-international-drivers-license-from-the-internet. They laughed at me at the airport. In a small town an hour from the airport they smiled and rented me a car. We knew our chances were slim. According to the Internet what we did is impossible. Having a car here is a game-changer.
Okinawa is a Blue Zone. Women live longer here than anywhere in the world. Hmmm. Okinawa has a complicated history with the US military. Ironically the NYT ran an article about Okinawa a few days before our arrival. Also ironically Hazel’s 4th grade curriculum had us read a biography about a girl that got Leukemia after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. We were reading it in Varkala, days before flying to Japan. I started weeping. Gutted. Nothing like traveling to expand your capacity for empathy. When others’ shoes are so close, it’s easier to walk in them. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking. I was going to say I have complicated feelings about war but I don’t. I think it’s stupid. Really, that’s the word that comes to mind every time. War is heartbreaking and atrocious and all those things too. But the fact that war exists as a thing feels so stupid and a failure of humanity. The Globe & Mail gets it. This was their headline on Remembrance Day 2021.
To end on a lighter note, here are some more scenes from Okinawa. Maybe the Almonds and Dried Fish are one of the Blue Zone secrets?? Nuts and eyeballs for longevity. Did you know hurricanes and typhoons are the same meteorological thing? If it hovers over the Northwest Pacific Ocean (usually East Asia) it’s called a typhoon, if elsewhere it’s called a hurricane. I love the fun facts of travel.
Love Justin’s big grin below before SUP snorkeling!! He is becoming a waterman. Air was cool. Water was warm. Fish were vibrant. Coral was cool. We were the only people out there with our local muti-purpose guide (surf. SUP, snorkel and if conditions permit - wing foil!!). He is also giving us loads of local intel mostly related to food. Sweet.
One morning these dudes just paddled by while I was eating breakfast!! Legit.
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