We woke up at seven thirty in the morning, and fifteen minutes later the same two ladies that served us dinner the night before were serving us breakfast. They laid out another huge meal, and we ate as much as we could. After a shower we cleared out of the hotel, and they had our car waiting for us when we went outside. What service!
We drove back to town, and found some glass bottom boats that were doing tours. I had always wanted to try one, and so we parked our car and went over there. Like I said before, parking is a big deal, and so we weren’t surprised when an old lady came over to us and sternly told us that we’d have to shop at her store if we planned on parking there. Kuniko explained about the glass bottom boat, and she said that it was OK to park as long as we shopped when we got back. She urged us not to look in the other stores on the walk over – “they have nothing worthwhile”, she said.
We boarded the boat with about ten other people, and looked through some glass tables that gave us a view of the bottom of the sea. They urged us to be on the lookout for a professional diver that was to do a demonstration for us. We pulled up next to an old-fashioned boat, and while we waited patiently, and old woman wrapped in white cloth jumped in the water and did a couple of flips under our boat. Kuniko and I looked at each other and we both said the same thing in English – “cheesy”.
After the lady finished her routine we headed out to see some reefs. The variety of sealife was really amazing – we saw quite a few brightly colored fish, and the kids around us would shout “Nemo!”, “Nemo!” every few minutes.
Our next stop was a fish market that we had passed on the way into town. We stopped in, and it was huge. Kind of like the Costco of fish markets. They had large tanks full of live fish that you could buy and have cut up while you watched. There were many booths that sold all kinds of strange things, and it was fun to see all the options that seafood lovers have. The sushi was cheap there, but it was a little early, so we left with only an ice cream cone.
From there we drove straight back to my place in Futami, and we unloaded our gear there. We were both exhausted, so we took a nap on my new bed, and woke up around 5:00 o’clock. Kuniko drove me to my local JR station, and I still made it to my Japanese class on time.
After class I came home to find a message on my machine from the master of the yakitori. I had forgotten, but he had invited me to swing by the yakitori that night because his wife and daughter were coming in. I rushed down to the yakitori and caught them still there. The baby was beautiful and healthy, and the master’s wife looked like she was full of energy. She playfully asked me if I had a baby yet, and I playfully answered, “ã¾ã “.
After a couple of beers I went home and went to bed. What a long day!
