Coming into Japan, the Immigration Officer points out that my Permanent Resident Card will soon expire. I go to the Immigration Office in Kadena. I dread much bureaucracy but they tell me to come back with my passport, a recent photo and ask me to fill in a very straightforward form. This I do and hand them over. The Immigration Man asks me to have a seat. I imagine that a dossier will be set up, sent to Tokyo and eventually return to Okinawa. A fee will be paid and I will eventually get a new card. Not so. Ten minutes later I am presented with a shiny new Resident Card!

My right eye aches and is red in the morning. I dread the the infamous uveitis. My doctor directs me to the Hayakawa Eye Clinic, which is just up the road.

Within 10 minutes a charming nurse sits me down in front of a series of eye diagnosis machines. We giggle a lot because I am so big that she has to alter the set up of each machine. I see the Opthalmologist a few minutes later. He clearly understands what is going on and explains, in perfect English, that my uveitis is still lingering but my eyes are OK for such an old man. He prescribes eye drops an I pay a risible charge.

So destiny calls. I must lose two more teeth. Oh dear, this aging is not too much fun. At least they dress me up as a little flower prior to extraction.

The great thing about having your molars extracted is that the dentist is close to the Tomari Fish Market.

Not much about turquoise sea and breathtaking sunsets. It is so incredibly hot that airconditioning proximity is essential.