Maeda Point

I had another chance to jump in the water. I want Diving again with my buddy Dave. This was his last chance to dive this year on Okinawa. We didn't want to go to Maeda at first, since we have done it so many times. However, the weather was acting up so most of the other dive sites were too rough. We got to Maeda and it looked pretty calm. We walked down the stairs, felt like hundreds, and got in. We went down, out, and to the right. We swam along and were having a good time. We decided to head for the cave. We got to the cave and swam in. As we swam in it was pitch black, luckily I had my flashlight with me. The picture to the right is a pic that Dave took of me with my flashlight about to enter one of the caves. We made it in and had a look around then headed back out, stopping along the way for me to explore a tiny little shoot off of the bigger cave, It was way cool. We then went back out to the ocean, and as you head out of the cave, you see the beautiful blue of the ocean. It is breathtaking, which is really strange, when breathing underwater. Anyway, we started to head back and went through some other cool little caves.
We found a lionfish (poisonous of course), Dave got really close and got some good pictures.
Then, as Dave swam ahead, I was looking at a fish. As a started to follow him, he was across a crevice from me. I was looking at him and swimming in his direction when I caught out of the corner of my eye a school of fish. I thought at first it seemed like a large school of fish. Then I realized it wasn't stopping, the school of fish kept going and swimming by us. It was like being on one side of the train tracks and looking at a friend on the other side as a very very long train goes by. I stayed where I was watching in utter amazement as these thousands of fish swam by. The school of fish must have lasted about 3 or 4 mins. It was like nothing I have ever seen. There must have been 50 thousand fish or more... The picture to the left here is a picture that Dave took, I can only assume that the light on the bottom is the reflection of his flash off of the fish. I can't wait to go diving again. To see more pics click on my Dive Buddy's picture like to the side or right here http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubaholic/sets/72157594158523874/

JCG

To recap, the Typhoon that was heading our way hit, however, it had lost its momentum, so no real damage. We stayed up and watched the Ger V Por game, well at least I did. We got a few hours of sleep, then got up and went to see the FC Ryukyu Game. We were exhausted, so we took a nap, got up at about midnight, and went out to see the World Cup Game. I was glad to see Italy win, I felt they deserved it more. Plus with Zidane's Red Card, they really showed they had more class. Anywho...

Emily and I had another action packed and fun filled weekend. We started Friday, by staying in since we were so tired from the past months activities. Then Saturday we went to Mods and saw Namiko-san play. She is awesome, and I am sure Emily will write all about it.

After Namiko-san at Mods, we went to Martins, yet again. In the picture from left to right is Shota-san (of the B-trippers), Hisano-san (was with the Rubies, now sings alone), Emily and me of course, then one of the best musicians in Okinawa, according to Shota-san. The guy on the end is just another friend, however he was very drunk... We didn't drink too much since we had an early morning planned. We did however stay out much longer than we had planned. We wanted to go home early at about 2:00 am, however, we didn't call it quits until everyone else went out to eat at 4:30. We made it home and crashed...

We had a unique opportunity to go out with the Japanese Coast Guard on an Open House. We went on board one of their ships then went out to sea. They then did an exercise. Basically it was a boat rescue. They had a helicopter fly over a smaller boat, and lowered a rescuer onto the boat. They then hooked a line from the helicopter to the boat, and lowered another rescuer and a stretcher to the boat. They rescued the people in need of help, and sent everything back up the line. It was very impressive, especially since we were moving foreword the entire time. Emily and I got a picture with the mascot, a sea lion...

Late Night?

Since our BBQ got canceled due to the typhoon we decided to have a typhoon party instead. We then stayed up to watch the Germany V Portugal game. I guess we can't all be night owls...

Arrgh, Dar She Blows!!!

Here comes Ewiniar the first Typhoon of the season to head our way! I tend not to get too excited over these, since everything on the island is made of concrete. However, this one looks like it might go right by our side of the island and they are predicting wind of 100 knots (115 mph) or greater! We were planning a BBQ, but it looks like it will turn into a Typhoon Party instead. If it actually comes up here, often times they change direction randomly, Emily and I will make our ritual venture out to Toguchi Beach and see what the surf looks like. Last year there were two Okinawans surfing in the Typhoon charged waves. We will post some pics if we get anything exciting. Our island is the one circled in red below.

July 4th Weekend

After out trip to mainland I had to go back to work for a week. Then I had a four day weekend for the 4th of July. Our weekend started when we went out Friday night to see the B-Trippers play. Then we stayed and watched the Deutschland V Argentina Game... GO DEUSTCHLAND! We stayed out late, however, I got up the following morning to Go SCUBA!

SCUBA Diving with my friend Dave. We went to Hoshu and Hoshukita. Hoshukita (toilet bowl) was a blast. Emily and the dog even got in the water, a little. We saw a bunch of cool stuff, a few nemos, a sea snake, a tons of fish.

Then we went to Hoshu. Here we almost killed ourselves. We saw a lot of cool stuff and explored a lot. Then we entered a tunnel... The tunnel was a little tight, but not too bad. Once we got in and could see the exit, we saw a school of lion fish guarding the exit. Lion fish are poisonous, and you can get stung just by touching them. Dave tried to scare them off by blowing air, and waving, but it wasn't working. We couldn't turn around it was too tight. Then one of the fish swam to the left, and opened a hole. We both swam through avoiding the fish and everything else... What fun!

Sunday we went to the 24th Peaceful Love Rock Festival. We saw the B-Trippers, Jet, Jupiter, a Led Zepplin Tribute band, and of course Kween! We had a blast, and spent the whole day with our friends. Hisano-San, Saki-san, and Emiri-san Kawaii Desu ne? It was a scorcher of a day. We sat in the sun for the B-trippers for 20 mins, and then had to retire to the shade. However once the Led Zepplin Band came on we couldn't control ourselves and had to get up and dance with the crowd. Emily even came down into the pit. Oh yea, the rock fest is held at the Ginowan town all purpose arena, and one of the purposes is bull fighting. SO, when I say pit, it is because you have to go down from the seats into the open area in the center. After led zepplin, one of our favorite bands came on, Kween. They are a Queen tribute band. They do a really good job, and they really do rock. However, the lead signer is a little bit overweight, and yet he still wears the skin tight white jumper suit, so it is kind of funny as well. Of course afterwards, we went out to an Izakya...

Monday I got up to go diving again! Probablly not such a great idea, as I had been out in the sun drinking beer all day the day before, and had stayed out late the night before. Dave and I made it to Onna Point. That was an adventure in itself. We had to use the truck to get back there. Once there we had to snorkel out a ways to get to the dive site. We had a great dive, and again saw lots of critters, not much in the way of deadly encounters, which was fine with me. I did see a cool see slug that was White with Blue stripes! I wimped out on the second dive though, which turned out to be a smart decision. When I got home, Emily made tacos, I ate two and passed out...

Honshu

Tadaima!!! So, I recently returned from a 6 month business trip. After flying in from the US, I was exhausted. I was met at the Airport by Emily, who took me directly to the bar to meet up with Shota-San and watch the Japan V Australia World Cup Game!!! Unfortunately they lost, but I stayed up and we watched the US V Czech... and they lost as well. Needless to say I was wiped out. I spent the next few days recovering and getting ready to head up to Honshu (aka Mainland Japan).

Emily and I went to Tokyo, Kyoto (the old Capital) and Nara (the Oldest City in Japan, and the original capital). Tokyo was fun. There was a lot to see, however, we only had a chance to glimpse a little. We took a bus tour in the morning and then used the trains the rest of the day. Emily wrote about most of this in her blog ( http://emiriinoki.blogspot.com/ ) so I wont reinvent the wheel here. I will say the the Shibuya Crossing was something else. I also really enjoyed seeing the old temples. I have a new appreciation for the Shinto religion, and I defiantly enjoy the Japanese attitude towards peace and harmony in nature...

Towards the end of our trip we went to Nara, and were visiting Todaji Temple. Emily stopped to feed Bambi...

Middle East

Well as I had said before I had a chance to travel to the middle east. I made it to Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, and Qatar. While there I stoped in and saw Petra in Jordan and the Pyramids in Egypt.
Petra, a site built by the Nabataeans around the 6th century, was also used in the Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade... For more pics of me in the middle east visit our pic site at http://www.msnusers.com/EmilyandDave/jordanampegypt.msnw