Anticipation is nearly always more thrilling than the act or event.
The tycoon was pretty good but not much more than that. I would call it a severe tropical storm.
Only the beginning
It started off quiet but Okinawa took it seriously. Schools, public transport supermarkets were all closed.
As the afternoon wore on things got worse.
View from my chair
Old age anxiety sets in as I realise that I had forgotten an important line that stretches the cover and keeps the leading edge flat on the cockpit roof. However, the wind has got up and I am too scared to drive to the marina to attach it, My Tanto is very light and easily blown around by serious wind.
The wind freshens
The most awful thing is that my dearly beloved barograph appears to have died. There is no comforting tic, tic, tic from the archaic clockwork system. This makes me sad.
Phew!!
Anyway, it was fun but not the real thing; 40 – 50 knot winds at best.
What delight to find that the barograph works! The absence of tic, tic, tic can be attributed to my much diminished hearing.
About 7 years ago,Tim gave me a plant. It was n’t very big and was in a tiny pot. It has gone through phases of prosperity and collapse that correspond to my presence or absence from Okinawa. When I got back from San Francisco in March, I found that the plant had fallen over and had spent months without water nor care. It looked like a bunch of dried sticks – very dead.
Nonetheless, I stood her up, watered and fed her: miraculously she is now thriving. This makes me very happy.
Taller than me now!
And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. Typhoons and rumours of typhoons. Great excitement on the island as a typhoon is approaching. We love typhoons but have been badly deprived for 2 years. Luckily safety culture has not penetrated here. The folks are used to typhoons and wars. They are calm. The expat community however, is in a tizzy.
Looks like it will go right over us on Monday.
Typhoons are tricky, as those that are broadcast as deadly turn out to be feeble whereas those that are broadcast as feeble turn out deadly.
The great year for typhoons was 2012 when in 2 weeks we had 3 that drove the barograph off scale.
Those were the days my friend.
The barograph is the best measure of typhoon malevolence.
I install a new sheet to get some real data.
I go to the marina to shore up boat typhoon defences.
Brooding
The greatest risk for the boat is that the strength of the wind blows off the cockpit cover. The diluvian rains fill up the cockpit, the engine compartment and the boat sinks. I do what I can to reinforce the attachment of the cover with plastic cable ties.
You get the idea
Another potential disaster is the wind getting into the rolling jib, unrolling it and destroying the new sail with much thrashing. I tie up the jib with three lashings.
The new sail reels in much larger than the previous – typhoon destroyed – sail. Much more tempting to wind demons.
A delightful indicator of there being something up is the presence of Roseate Terns in the marina. They normally stay further out and indeed it is early in the year to see them at all.
Is n’t that something! Check top right for a millisecond!
Well, rainy season really. Ever since I got here in March, it has rained. Mostly fairly gentle stuff, but enough to give me an excuse for not doing much and also for the promotion of wonderful flowering trees.
Iju! the hillsides are covered.The hills are alive.This is called Getto, Shell Ginger in English, It is everywhere.Ancient Okinawa tree, recently pollarded. If you look carefully you can spot new growth. It will come back.
A slight diversion from rain: my goal during my stay in Okinawa is to gain weight. Subsequent to ailments I was left a bag of bones. After decades of doctors hectoring me with, “You must stop drinking, go on strict diet and be very miserable.” I now get,” Neil san you must eat and drink much more, especially very fattening stuff.”
I go on a soba binge. Luckily there are two restaurants that only serve soba within easy walking distance. I reason that the combination of the exercise walking to the restaurant and ensuing gluttony will be very good for me.
The first place is new. I think it has only been open for a couple of months. It opens only at lunch time and doles out wonderful steaming bowls of soba.
Yum! 3 different chunks of meltingly soft pork, tasty broth, a couple of slices of fishcake on top of perfectly cooked homemade soba. It is so good 1000 yen or $6 for amazing home cooked handmade food.
The second restaurant is ancient and famous, Soba Ya Gon.
So confident are they of their clientele that they have no sign – ‘Good wine needs no bush’ you know.
Spot the restaurant.
It is a wonderful place with adorable staff who grin and laugh their way through the day.
Menu. No hamburgers here.The best! You cannot see the noodles but all the soba is hand rolled on a maiden’s thigh.
I like to go to Soba Ya Gon as the itinerary reminds me of the triangular trade route, so much achieved with minimum effort. After wonderful lunch, I wander over to the Union supermarket. Union only does business in Okinawa I think. They only accept cash.
Tomomi san and Ichiro san ask me round for a birthday celebration meal.
Such fun!
Ichiro san paints me a birthday cardTomomi san makes me a birthday book.
We eat so well.
Octopus coctelIchiro san cooks an excellent paella.We drink the best wineWe eat, drink, laugh, watch the sun go down.So beautifulTomomi san makes me Cranachan! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranachan
” Neil san, it is too hot . You must go home and rest. You look like man on T-shirt.”
Classic Kiyuna
I get up very early and head off to the Lily Fields of Ie Jima.
Ie Jima
The population of Ie Jima suffered terribly during the Battle of Okinawa. Basically nearly all of them were killed. War no good.
Wonderful Chinen san, who tried to teach me Okinawa dance many years ago, comes from Ie Jima
I am here to visit the Lily Fields. Every years thousands of lilies flower on the west coast of the island. It is a very popular excursion to go to see them.
I have been here many times. Previously all the lilies were white. Now they come in all colours. I do not think this is good.That’s more like it.Yellow Lilies
I think I am done with visiting things. Whether it be a cathedral, a shrine, a temple, a wonder of the world; I go ,”Oh that’s nice.” and then want to leave. This procedure usually takes about 10 minutes.
I catch the ferry back to the mainland. and go for lunch, which is the best part of any trip.
So nothing exciting really, just record of time past so I can remember what I have done.
I will start with a diversion.
A big hamburger
Middle son, James, had a birthday recently.
It’s a birthday cake!
So life here in Okinawa has been very pleasant but unremarkable. My physical weakness precludes much adventure.
Wonderful former colleagues organize a remembrance lunch.
Great people. Thanks.
I go up to OIST to see a piece by Kikuta san installed at the university.
Quintessential OkinawaPhotobomb
A lot of time is spent trying to get the engine to work.
At least the starter moto works
I call 1324, which is Kiyuna san’s secret emergency number.
I am distressed, Professor Kiyuna is calm. He is chewing an ancient Chinese health stone.
There is oil in the bottom of the engine compartment. This is never good news. It is also a drag to clean out. The best way is to tear an old copy of The Ryukyu Shinbun into strips and swab everything out.
Quality newspaper.
We take a rest by visiting a replica boat that has just sailed in from Micronesia, wherever that is.
HelloThe boatA sailor. They are great guys and er intrepid.
The oil problem is tracked down to leaking oil pipes. These crap out every 6 months or so. We have ordered new parts and hope to install them on Friday
You would think they would make them from something more rot resistant.Spot the leak zones. Better to discover when in harbor than when on the wild and wistful ocean I suppose.
One of my goals for this stay in Okinawa, is to gain lots of weight. I really work at it. Recently I have been eating buckets of fried fish. You can get many different varieties in all supermarkets. You then blast them in the air fryer for 5 minutes. It comes out hot and crispy.
It is very down to earth and I am the only Gaijin to be seen. Great food and super cheap because the yen is in a collapse. Fish is straight from the boat.
3 varieties of fish, oysters and a couple of prawns. $11!My companion gets papaya soba, which I have never heard of before.
I think I am safe n saying that it is the only piece in the ancient tradition of byobu painting that depicts Puffins.
Ichiro san and Tomomi san went to Mull last year to worship at the Puffin shrine. I asked him to make me a byobu.
Puffin with sea pinksIchiro san!They live by the seaI wonder what Kim Kardashian is doing?Let’s go and get some sand eelsThis what a fashionable Puffin wears in the late Spring. Pink pigmentation comes from crushed shells.Ichiro san also brings me a pack of dried Hokkaido salmon. So good!
I am a lucky boy.
I have been back in Okinawa about a week now. There are many administrative tasks: get new rental car, renew boat mooring documentation, renew My Number card https://www.kojinbango-card.go.jp/en/, pay, in fact not pay, tax, see various doctors, etc etc. These are all accomplished with the minimum of frustration and a lot of giggling. In fact it is a lot of fun – only in Okinawa.
This morning I get a letter from the Ginowan Town Hall awarding me 10,000 yen to alleviate cost of living increases!
I have had a lot of trouble getting a ticket back to Okinawa. Something to do with the Gulf apparently. I get a call saying that there is a ticket but I must leave now. I leave.
Blue, blue in OkinawaMy palace in Ginowan. My place is above the Izakaya.Tanto! Best car in the world
What did the earwig say when sliding down the ruler? “Earwig go again!”
The daughter of one of James’ colleagues is a baking fanatic. She cooks him a Prickly Pear Pie. She is 14 and already has subscribers who get a cake of choice each month.
Prickly Pear Pie! Delicious! It has 3 different layers of pastry base.
Friend and ex colleague, Arisa san, brings a group of Okinawa high school students for a week long study tour of Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Hats off to her; she organises all the flights, the itinerary, transport, hotels, etc, etc. She is a star!
First ride in a WaymoCaramba!Arisa and I drink Micheladas.Kampai!A Maraichi band pass through. They are fantastic. Photo does not show another guitar player nor the trumpet player.They kindly bring me gifts from Okinawa.
Anyway, a memorable evening!
However things go agley when, on arrival back at the hotel, one of the crew announces he has left his bag, containing passport, wallet, tickets, everything important, in the Waymo. He is not phased as all he knows is Okinawa where the bag would immediately be handed in. This is San Francisco; that bag is gone!
I get in touch with Waymo who tell me they have searched the car and sure enough the bag is gone. Most people would freak; thousands of kms from home, not speaking the language etc. Luckily they have Arisa san, who has many decorations for calm under fire. She contacts the Police and the Japanese Consulate. Two days later the poor student, who is also commendably cool, has a temporary passport and the SFPD promise to send the bag back to Okinawa if it turns up. Hmmm.
I am very pleased with myself as I make it all the way there without resting and then scoff breakfast, leaving nothing behind. Until recently I have been very short of breath and lacking appetite. The ladies in the Pork Store, whom I have known for years, notice this achievement and award me a Gold Star.
Crazy cowgirl waitress.Yum!View from my table!“Well done, big guy!” they cry.
Yep, the times are changing, in fact have changed!
I seem to be stuck in the U.S. My cheap ticket buddy cannot find me tickets back to Okinawa. ” This war shit has turned my business into a cluster f*ck.” he assures me.
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 