Okinawa

Today we had an early day going to Okinawa. It was a nice day. We started at Shurijo castle. We learned a lot about the culture and island. Okinawa is different from main land Japan, it was ruled independently for a long tome before being taken over by Japan and eventually the US in WWII.  The island has a great deal of culture and heritage from in China. 

The castle was rebuilt 4 times due to fires and eventually bombing in WWII. It was recently finished in the 90s for visitors. The emperor would meet the king in the castle. 

Next we went to create our very own Ryukyu Bingata, which is the art of painting a dye on a cloth to make colored fabric. I was really looking forward to this part of the tour, but I'm not sure everyone read their guide when booking this tour as not everyone did the craft and yet they paid for it, silly. Anyway, I was very excited to create my very own craft that was like what they do in the island. 

We painted on small bags, learning the technique with a language barrier took time and patience which not all had. I loved the craft and was declared the number one on our group. It wasn't great, but I took the time to try to do a decent job, and I'm proud of my attempt. Travis also did a nice job, but has decided he's not a handi-craft expert and will keep his "day" job. 

After our craft time we had a brief period to shop before heading back to the ship. Once we arrived back we had a treat. A group of children, ranging from teen to 3 or 4. They did traditional dance with drums. And eventually dragons. Very fun to see. 

This evening we get a massage and I got my very first facial. It was fun to treat ourselves. We then had a nice night with dinner and the show. 

Off to bed soon as it's another early day tomorrow in Taipei, Taiwan. 

Much love!