The plan for this weekend was to fly a jet to mainland Japan for several days of training.  My bags were packed and the jets were fired up, but alas we had some maintenance problems and could not get out.  I’m all about making lemons into lemonade, so I decided to maximize another free weekend in Okinawa.

Once it was clear work was done for the weekend, a buddy and I took off for Shuri Castle in Naha.  It was a nice trip, but our visit was cut short when it started to pour.  Before the rain came, we did get to visit the castle itself and see a performance by some traditional Japanese dancers.

The dancers were interesting to watch.  They move at an unusually slow pace and they all have these eerily emotionless expressions on their faces when they dance.  It was like watching dolls or mannequins dance.  They all had bright and colorful costumes and generous amounts of makeup.  Certainly not something I’m used to seeing on men.  It did make for some great photos that you can see in the gallery.

On the way home we checked out a cool (but expensive) camping and sporting goods store.  I have thought about buying a nice road bike while I’m here, but the prices were a bit too high for me there.  Later that night, I convinced a few of the guys to stray from our regular sushi joint for some delicious gyros at a place out in town.  The crew has gone to the same sushi place every week since we’ve been here and I was dying for a little variety.  It turned out to be a nice place with great food.  Next time I’ll have to try the falafel there.

I reluctantly woke up early this morning and headed out for some diving.  It was raining when we headed to the dive shop, but it cleared up nice and turned out to be a beautiful day.  The ocean was as calm as glass at our dive spot and visibility in the water was 70+ feet.  The conditions and sea life made for two great dives.  The dive spot is called “Toilet Bowl” because the little inlet is shaped like… a toilet bowl.  You have to drive on some back roads and then hike through some jungle to get there, which makes the experience all the more interesting.  When my dive buddy gets his pictures developed, I’ll post them on the site.

We finished diving around lunchtime and started scouting out restaurants on the drive home.  We randomly selected something that looked local and non-touristy.  We hit the jackpot with what turned out to be a seafood restaurant.

There we were sitting on the floor on bamboo mats, eating tofu, fish, and seaweed, sipping tea, and watching some crazy Japanese gameshow on TV.  Cue the “I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so” music.

It feels like I have so little liberty time, so I’m really doing my best to maximize my time here.  I know it seems like all I have is time off based on my blog entries, but that’s only because I have mercifully spared you from posts on processing travel claims and filing international flight plans.

I had such a good time in Okinawa the last time I was here, so I’m trying to squeeze that 1 year of fun into a short 6 months.  So far, so good!