The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

I will start by recording progress on my fitness campaign. You will remember that I walk to nearby restaurants and gorge thus becoming fitter and stronger.

To mark the upcoming Irei no Hi, OIST organises talks. I have experience with Irei no Hi; https://thequietripple.com/2016/06/23/irei-no-hi/

Yamauchi san, now in his 80s was a boy during the battle. His memories of trying to survive in Onna are heart rending. One thinks of Gaza.

Hooray, it is time for the Haari boat races. I crewed in the OIST boat many years ago. https://thequietripple.com/2016/06/23/irei-no-hi/. It does not rain. This means that it is very hot!

I take my amazing Nikon DSLR with pro lens and take lots of amazing photos. However, I manage to lose them all attempting to download them onto my computer! iPhone from now on. Anyway, such a lot of fun and I meet a lot of old friends.

I have to go for more root canal treatment, my hobby you know. This means a detour to the hard by Tomari Fish Market.

I am marooned on the island until my tooth is fixed = new crown etc. I feel the menace of increasing heat.

My phone is buzzing with warning emergency messages. They are in Japanese so I can only speculate. The loud speakers in the streets roar out messages. Finally a message in English comes over but I can’t understand due to the very metallic tone of the loudspeaker system. Is a huge tsunami heading straight at me? My apartment is about 5 meters above sea level.

What to do when you are in trouble? Go to Lawson’s of course! The ladies know me well and with patience and Google translate we establish that there has been an earthquake in the Philippines and the resultant tsunami will hit the beaches of Okinawa at 11:30.

“What must I do?”

“Go to the mountains Neil san.”

“Are you going to the mountains?”

“Oh no, we must work.”

I do not go to the mountain but decide to go to my dentist appointment instead. I am in pain.

My good friend Kinjo sensei says there is much rot under a crown. It needs to be removed and root canal treatment initiated.

Kinjo sensei does not do this kind of low life dental treatment; reserving himself for implants.

Not to worry, a branch of his empire does this sort of stuff.

He fixes an appointment the same afternoon. Thank you Japan. In San Francisco it would probably take weeks to find a dentist taking new patients and then further time to actually get an appointment.

Whilst waiting to be seated chez Kinjo sensei, I look at my Facebook page. It is my niece’s birthday.

I ask if we can send her a Japanese birthday message. The Japanese are so playful and they all jump on the idea.

The Tomari fish market is adjacent. Several fish stalls have been converted into restaurants that are crammed with Chinese or maybe Taiwanese tourists.

Anyway, I go to have root canal treatment done in a new dentist place.

The dentist name is Shinjo sensei.. He does the business and they charge me 1630 Yen which is $10.

Great day!

My new favourite places are the fish restaurants beside the Ginowan Fishing Port. When not eating soba for lunch I eat there. They are only a skip and a jump from my salubrious apartment

I am the only non Japanese. The food is fabulous.

There is a Farmer’s Market at the far end of the restaurant space.

Another great thing about the restaurant is that it is very close to the Yanmar store. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanmar. I can have a memorable lunch and then pick up parts for my engine.

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.

It started off quiet but Okinawa took it seriously. Schools, public transport supermarkets were all closed.

As the afternoon wore on things got worse.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

The barograph is the best measure of typhoon malevolence.

I go to the marina to shore up boat typhoon defences.

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.

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.

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.

Que sera, sera. I will keep you informed.

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.

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.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/東江そば+宜野湾店/@26.2911435,127.7572258,235m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e513007bde8f23:0xbd1b8f26e7d5c34d!8m2!3d26.2917094!4d127.7571707!16s%2Fg%2F11yz7q_fn3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUyMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

The second restaurant is ancient and famous, Soba Ya Gon.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Soba+ya+Gon/@26.2889401,127.7521573,460m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e51333b39cb711:0x8f0929649023c71!8m2!3d26.2890402!4d127.7530991!16s%2Fg%2F1wfvkdyx?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUyMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

So confident are they of their clientele that they have no sign – ‘Good wine needs no bush’ you know.

It is a wonderful place with adorable staff who grin and laugh their way through the day.

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.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Union/@26.2876727,127.7530762,234m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e51332fedfc04f:0x5a605b912dd2c8c4!8m2!3d26.2880689!4d127.7533056!16s%2Fg%2F1tdcd3rr?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUyMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Anyway, I stock up on sashimi and such and set off home. I take the wonderful path by the little stream that meanders through the apartments.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shisa+Waterfall+Spring/@26.2876727,127.7530762,234m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e51332f3421809:0x68d2dc7009bcb8a4!8m2!3d26.2874289!4d127.7542494!16s%2Fg%2F11dym3tqb_?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUyMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Another delight is the opportunity to visit the excellent bakery that lies adjacent to the path.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yamagami+Bakery/@26.2885544,127.7555347,240m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e513327b6f62fd:0x2aa3869cf32fd778!8m2!3d26.287891!4d127.755102!16s%2Fg%2F11c3v6c8px?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUyMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I reach home with swollen muscles from the exercise, swollen stomach from the soma, swollen bag with sashimi and pastries. Good circuit.

Back to the rainy season; Saturday night brings impressive rain.

Next morning, today, I rush to the marina to see if the boat has sunk. Not so, she has retaliated fiercely but the water has made it in nonetheless.

More rain predicted.

I have made it to 74 – hooray!

Tomomi san and Ichiro san ask me round for a birthday celebration meal.

Such fun!

We eat so well.

Very good birthday!

Kiyuna san is disturbed by my physical condition.

” Neil san, it is too hot . You must go home and rest. You look like man on T-shirt.”

I get up very early and head off to the Lily Fields of Ie Jima.

The population of Ie Jima suffered terribly during the Battle of Okinawa. Basically nearly all of them were killed. War no good.

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 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.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/motobu+seafood/@26.6292321,127.8817791,1683m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m10!1m2!2m1!1sfish+restaurant!3m6!1s0x34e4fd64d17c95c9:0x53fad0585ac2f722!8m2!3d26.6241583!4d127.8879536!15sCg9maXNoIHJlc3RhdXJhbnRaESIPZmlzaCByZXN0YXVyYW50kgEKcmVzdGF1cmFudJoBJENoZERTVWhOTUc5blMwVkpRMEZuVFVOM2NsOUxlSGgzUlJBQuABAPoBBAgAEEk!16s%2Fg%2F11y1sxscyv?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQyNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Run down looking shack by the side of the road. Great food!

Great lunch!

So nothing exciting really, just record of time past so I can remember what I have done.

I will start with a diversion.

Middle son, James, had a birthday recently.

So life here in Okinawa has been very pleasant but unremarkable. My physical weakness precludes much adventure.

Wonderful former colleagues organize a remembrance lunch.

I go up to OIST to see a piece by Kikuta san installed at the university.

A lot of time is spent trying to get the engine to work.

I call 1324, which is Kiyuna san’s secret emergency number.

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.

We take a rest by visiting a replica boat that has just sailed in from Micronesia, wherever that is.

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

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.

No drama really just the generally delightful experience of living in Okinawa when it is cool.

I order my usual dose of meat from a Halal butcher in Tokyo. https://aminhalalfood.com/collections/lamb

I go down to the Tomari fish market.

The marina where I keep the boat has increased the fees.

I take my annual pilgrimage to the iris fields of Kijoka. Oh dear, they are much diminished.

We go for lunch at one of the small restaurants on Ginowan Fishing Port https://www.google.com/maps/place/えいと食堂/@26.2850536,127.7409554,882m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e56cb596296a4d:0xdaee5a2e55f9f338!8m2!3d26.2851736!4d127.7435458!16s%2Fg%2F11b7hmd6tz?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQwMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

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.