May 7	Home	Calender	Map	Japanese	May 9

May 8

Arrive in Naha, Okinawa / Stay at Gekkousou

Spent the day eating and napping, and later, hanging out with Inamoto-san. Before he left for Motobu port (the stop before Naha, the final stop), we took some pictures. Turns out both Motobu and Naha are on Okinawa Island, so around this time I decided that I'd start from Naha in the south, and bike up the coast of Okinawa to Motobu, where I'd catch the ferry back to Kagoshima, a few days later. I copied down some information from Inamoto-san that he got off the internet, including free beaches along the coast.

After arriving in Naha, the "capitol" city of Okinawa Island, I called Gekkousou, which is the guesthouse that my friend Mitsuru, from Takeo, had suggested. I mentioned that he said "hi", and they instantly knew who I was talking about. They all consider him their "little brother".

Gekkousou, which means "Moonlight", was a 2-story guest house off of Naha's main street, Kokusai Dori. This street first reminded me more of a hangout in Bangkok, Thailand, than of proper Japan. Lots of touristy crap on sale, and lots of food to be eaten, and bars to drink at. The folks at Gekkousou also own a bar (called Kotobuki) around the corner, and I have to say that all of the folks I met at both locations were pretty friendly. The girl at the front with the shaved head was Maiko-san, and she was really nice about speaking to me only in Japanese, since she saw I was making an effort (even though it was obvious that they can speak some ammount of English there).

After unsuccessfully looking for Goya (a vegetable similar in taste to bitter melon, which is a local food specialty), I ate a yummy fish with sour plum and shiso sauce, and then headed over to Kotobuki. One of the other residents at the guest house played a 3-song guitar set: "Close to You", "Neko" (a song in Japanese which I am on the look-out for!), and "No Woman, No Cry" (by Marley, of course). The two bartenders were Pi and a guy with a mohawk. Both were super nice.

I then retired to the guest house, and after being bitten by atleast 5 mosquitos, learned that I should take a shower and then put on my long-sleeve shirt for armor. This works.