WE’RE IN THE TROPICS SO WHAT IF IT RAINS!!
15.01.2024
This morning I was awake early (6.00am) ready to shower and found I was third in the queue, behind Yoshi and Youko! Oh well, first in, best dressed; or in this case undressed.
So while waiting for a vacant bathroom, I sat on the lounge seat and watched the grey clouds accumulating in the skies and a gentle rain falling. It’s not ideal for a tropical holiday, but a little rain doesn’t hurt and it certainly doesn’t give you a cold.
After I got my turn to shower, Mami got the troops together and we made our way to the hotel dining room for breakfast. Mami could afford to be bright and breezy as she had a bath last night and slept in until 7.00am. Smart girl!!
Breakfast was a lot better than I expected for a budget hotel. We paid $50 per person for the room and breakfast was included. That is an amazing deal which my clever wife found for us. Have a look at the pictures to get an idea of what was on the menu. It was a really good breakfast and I think we were all happily surprised.
After such a filling breakfast, Mami suggested a walk in the park next to the hotel. I was the only taker on Mami’s offer but I was glad we did. There was only a slight drizzle of rain and happily it did not deter either of us from taking a walk.
The park had two small shelters which Mami said she’d love to do yoga classes in an outdoor setting like that. I could easily see Mami do something like this, as the park is nice, as is the view of the beach at the edge of the park.
However I was more interested in the 3 cats that I saw sitting on the wall at the edge of the beach. I did my usual cat miaows as I approached them and gradually walked up to them one at a time. Two of them let me come right up to them and pat them, but the other cat headed off into the undergrowth. Can’t win them all!
After our walk, we gathered the troops and headed into the mail street of Ishigaki. We looked around the shops and bought some things, one of which was a nice T-shirt with a Blue Seal Okinawan Ice Cream logo on it. We then went to a coffee shop which Mami said has good reviews. They use Roasters Coffee which has a unique flavour and I wanted to test the owner of the cafe and asked for a flat white! For the first time in Japan he said sure! He has a friend who is Australian, and made a perfect flat white!! It was a really nice experience.
On the way back to our hotel, we did a small detour to a river which flows into the sea on a nice beach. Unfortunately by the time we got out of the car and walked to the beach, the rain increased and there was little enthusiasm for continuing our expiration and headed back to the car.
As I write this, we are back in the hotel and while I am writing the blog, Nana is sleeping and Yoshi, Youko and Mami are playing a card game called Phase 10. The rain has put a bit of a dampener on the day!
To finish the day on a higher note, Yoshi has gone to another hotel that has an onsen and sauna. He will stay there until 7.00pm. This will make him very happy. Meanwhile, Youko, Nana, Mami and I will go out for dinner at an Izakaya.
All the above paragraph is old news, as we are now home again after an early dinner. It was a very nice meal with everyone having a say in what dishes we should get to share. From the pictures you see, fried fish, sushi, salad, pippies, beef sushi and kakiage. Truly something for everyone there,
We are going to play some games now, until Nana has to pick Yoshi up from his hotel with the onsen and sauna. So that is it for today! Thanks to all those writing questions, making comments and likes on the photos. Keep it coming, we love reading them and your take on what’s happening.