Day 59: Finding Nemo
We must have come to Ishigaki at a very windy time which, if you know me pretty well, is not ideal as wind is my least favourite weather phenomenon (I hate how it makes everything feel chaotic). And while threatening looking rain clouds kept coming and going, we were determined to go snorkelling because it doesn't matter if it's raining if you're in the water, right?
After hiring a snorkel set from a place down the road (¥1500 for mask, snorkel and flippers) we headed to Yonehara Beach which, while not a "sanctioned" beach, was known for having the best snorkelling on the island. And they weren't wrong. The amount of colourful fish we saw was incredible. We even saw a squid and a pufferfish. Just amazing. Oh, and in case you were wondering, we never found Nemo but we did find Dory, so that's something.
But first, breakfast. There is this little bakery in Kabira Bay called Pinacolada which do delicious Japanese-style baked goods including curry buns and mini pizzas.
Mini pizza with a tonne of vegetables. Actually delicious. We also got this curious croissant which had ham and a stick of that fake tasting cheese inserted into it. No photo because it was still warm and I wanted to eat it straight away.
They are really easy to miss, but if you stand still for a bit and look down you'll see a whole host of hermit crabs scuttling about and getting smashed constantly by waves.
Adam trying to video some.
When the clouds went away the beach looked like this. It doesn't look real!
That Okinawan sun is strong. Much stronger than that weak European sun. Sunscreen is a must.
You don't even want to know how many photos we took just to get one. Jumping shots are hard work.
Don't get sand in your pants, Adam.
After snorkelling we went to this local restaurant (Oisi.sa.gu) for hand made soba noodles. They do soba a bit differently in Okinawa with the noodles not being made from buckwheat but being made from regular wheat. They also look more like hand chopped noodles, Chinese style.
And yes, I have a snorkel indentation on my sans make up face. That mark insisted on staying put for the entire afternoon. Not pretty.
I opted for the noodles that were made with local peppers. This was so good and made even better when you added a splash of the super spicy Okinawan pepper sauce.
Kabira Bay is full of tourists, but if you walk just a few metres away you find little paths like this that lead to...
Scenes like this. Not shown: the incessant and strong wind.
This is now my phone background and makes me relaxed every time I look at it.
