Colored glasses...

Day 478: Part 2

After Shuri Castle we decided to drive down the southern coast and visit Himeyuri no To (ひめゆりの塔).

This is the site where many female students were killed during the war. Many of them, still teenagers, had to care for the Army's injured and perform tasks that are unthinkable to you and I.

They hid in these caves to escape the bombing but I can't describe to you how it was. If you get a chance, please go to this museum. Like the museum in Hiroshima, it'll move you.

Sometime it's hard to swallow the dark history of such beauty.

Our next destination was close. The only problem was that the main road would take us all the way back around. So I checked my iphone and found a shortcut--a bumpy, dirt road that we almost got stuck in.

But we made it to our destination, Kyan Misaki and Heiwa no To.

On another sad note, these are the cliffs were many people committed suicide during and after the war. It's beautiful, but very heavy.

The view from the Nirai Kanai bridge is amazing.

Soba time! A couple weeks ago I started exchanging emails with Kate, a fellow blogger who lives in Okinawa, and we decided to meet up during my stay. So we met up with her at Yonabaruya (与那原家) in Yonabarucho.

Okay, now this was some better tasting Okinawa soba.

Kotteri Nankotsu Souki Soba.

Thanks Kate! It was great meeting you!

Off to the American Village!

Yogurtland!

A&W!

Tacos!

Spam!

Ow..stomach ache...

Are you Shurious?!

Day 478: Part 1

Time to hit the road in my fresh yellow wheels. Let's move on out!

But wait...while everyone is still getting ready, I think I'll go grab me a bowl of ramen. Although ramen is still scarce in a land dominated by Okinawa soba, I managed to find Rinya (林屋) in Ginowan, claiming to serve Kyoto-style ramen.

Mmm...not bad. It does remind me of Kyoto. Well sort of. It's similar to the ramen I had at Masutani.

Alright, time to get our Okinawa soba on. Last night, I mentioned to the owner of Kuran that I wanted to try Shuri Soba (首里そば) so he grabbed his phone, called someone up and made us a reservation. How cool was that! Everyone knows everyone here.

Upon arriving at Shuri Soba we noticed that the place was packed. This shop has been around for years and it's easily one of the most popular shops among tourists. I only say among tourists because the only locals in the shop were the ones working. Which leads me to say...

Are you serious? This is Okinawa soba? I mean...it's good...but...I've had better stuff in Tokyo (no offense). The noodles were too hard, almost raw, and we all agreed that it didn't meet our expectations. Perhaps there's a reason why locals don't come here. Anyway, next stop Shuri Castle!

Shurijo is a castle in Okinawa. I'm not much of a historian but it was built by the Ryukus and it's one of the main tourist stops on the island.

Shureimon (above) and Kankaimon (below).

Seiden, the main hall of the castle, is currently being remodeled so it wasn't very attractive with the giant scaffolding in front of it.

How do I get over there?

The castle was actually destroyed four times due to fires and war. The current building was constructed 70cm higher to protect the ruins of the previous buildings.

This is what it would have looked like on New Year's Day.

To be continued...