Zamami Island, Japan, Okinawa

Zamami Island

I recently took a nice loooooong break from work (5 days) and headed down south to Okinawa to spend some time hoping around Naha for a day and then off to spend a glorious 4 days camping on the beatiful and quaint beach of Zamami Island.

First some travel stuff:

If you are headed to Okinawa from anywhere else in Japan you are fortunate enough to be able to use a couple different low cost carriers.

Peach Aviation (http://www.flypeach.com/)- I believe flies to most major destinations(Hokkaido, Okinawa. Osaka, Tokyo, etc.), They also fly internationally to Taiwan, South Korea and China.

or

Vanilla Airlines - I believe they only fly to and from Tokyo and other destinations in Japan. 

Both of these airline are fair priced however if you are on a strict time schedule you may be limited to the number of flights available per day. My flight cost around 140 USD round trip. It can cost more or less depending on the time of year.

From the tiny airport terminal in Okinawa reserved for PEACH and VANILLA, a bus will take you to the main terminal where you can access the monorail on the second floor to reach the city.

Flying into Naha we chose to stay the night and check out the city. This I would highly recommend as Naha has a rather large and fun shopping are commonly referred to as Peace Street.


Getting to Zamami:

 You can get to the island on two different boats.
1- The Queen Zamami - this is the faster of the two boats that goes to the island, however there are less available times to and from the island. Round trip it is around ¥5,970 (60 USD) 

2- The Ferry Zamami- Around the same price as the Queen but its slower. It does however have more available times. Round trip ¥4,030 (40 USD) 

Here is the English web link for information on the Island and the ferries.
http://www.zamamienglishguide.com/ferries.html

There are times tables and prices on the website.



Some more about the trip

It can be difficult to find depending on where you choose to stay, but I believe it is within walking distance of most stations.


I stayed at a hostel just off of stop 8. It was a bout a 15 minute walk to peace street from there and there are plenty of shops and places to eat once there. I recommend a tiny restaurant tucked away in the back of peach street.





 I cant recall how to get through the street to there but, its toward the back in the more foody area of Peace Street.

They had a wonderful lunch set that cost around 900 Yen. The menu was also in English, so choices were easy.

Once you have enjoyed the bustling city of Naha, you can make your way to the lovely beaches of Zamami Island.

This is the view from the beach to the camp group where we stayed on the island.

Arriving on the Island. 

When you arrive on the island you can access loads of information at the visitors center pictured here. There have a wall of restaurants, hostels, rental gear places and information on where you can obtain anything on the island. 

Directly across from the peer there is a small street that leads down between the homes and rental stores. This is where you will find the only small grocery store on the island. 

Camping on the Island

If you choose to camp on the island here are a few things

It cost around 300 yen, per person, per night to camp on the island. There is a designated camp group so please try not to camp anywhere but where is available. 

Once you arrive on the island there is a street leading from the pier that if you follow for about 15 minutes around to the left you will happen upon the camp ground. It just so happens to be off the beach where you can scuba dive with SEA TURTLES! woooo! 

Just to mention again that there is tremendous respect for the animals and sea life on this island, so please remember to respect their space. :) 

Rental gear for snorkeling  and diving is available in many shops around the island and are reasonably priced for a days use. 

 

This is the tent we brought along for the trip. it was small and fit two people well, but the tents you can rent are much better in size and easy to assemble.

Beach view near the camp sight

During our trip we biked around the island and saw a few of the observatories and mountain top spots to overlook the water. We rented bike from a small home on the side of the road, but if you have an international licence,  I would suggest a scooter. There are quite a few hills and we found ourselves walking the bike up the mountain more than riding it.

More of the spectacular views

Riding around the island there are several observatories in place that are simple gazebos for taking in the beautiful beaches of the island. I highly recommend seeing them if you have the time and are willing to make the trek. 

There are some small places around the island to try out delicious Okinawa soba! This place is tucked away down a side street surrounded by gear rental shops. I loved the food and they had English menus we could use.

 

Theres nothing too special about this picture... but LOOK at that cat. He looks sinister.

Last ! If you are in Okinawa a MUST is to try some Beni Imo ice cream! Yes, I know that sweet potato flavored ice cream sounds funny. BUT ITS AMAZING ! I loved it and ate it like every day (fatty me). Its an absolute must if yo go to Okinawa! 

Butterflies

Has it already been two years?

I cant believe that in just three short days I will finish my time here in Himeji schools and prepare to leave Japan in August. Its almost hard to believe that its really over. I know this was the best choice I could have made for myself as an educator because it provided me with real insight sa to how my student feel as language learners, but I wonder a great deal about how it has changed me as a person.

So many things have changed in my life during these past two years and I know that going home things will be different. I cant say exactly how they will go, but I have goal and aspirations for the next 3-5 years of my life that motivate me and inspire me to continue learning and traveling as much as possible.

My mind races as I prepare plans for Spain and Italy. I get lost in the thoughts of how my experiences will change me and what I can learn about myself as I take this journey alone.

Butterflies my friends, butterflies.

Seoul South Korea Dr Fish

Dr. Fish

If you happen to find yourself in Seoul with a desire to try something new, head on over to Dr. Fish.

What could be a better way to relax after a coffee and a yummy snack but to sink your achy feet into a tiny pool and have loads of tiny fish nibble the dead skin off for you! Dr. Fish is a moderately famous with travelers as a strange place to see when taking a trip to Seoul. Best known for the “dinning” experience, Dr. Fish offers an array of treats and drinks to enjoy before or after you spend some quality time with your new aquatic cleaners.  The café itself is separate from the fish and you are able to choose if you would like to eat before or after, you cannot eat while being eaten…. That sounds gross.

 The menu ranges from typical café treats such as cookies and cakes, to sandwiches and popular local favorites including a giant slice of bread covered in honey and whipped cream. If you love bread as much as I do, you’ll love this option. You can choose to get a set or combo of the Dr. Fish experience and a snack or you can choose to do the two separate. I chose a brownie set which was around 10 USD and was surprisingly delicious. As we enjoyed our brownies I got to thinking about how big the fish might be and what exactly they do to your feet and I think I syced myself out just a little. Because when it all came down to it, I was completely afraid of putting my feet in the water.

I sat down to put my feet in and THEY KNEW! Instantly the little fish swam to surround the area under where my feet hovered about the water and I couldn’t do it. I was frozen with my feet above the water like a cat. Finally after a few deep breaths I stuck my feet in and I’m certain even the people downstairs in the café could hear me squeal. Yes, squeal.  I had to force myself not to kick the poor little guys off of me and as I held back an all-out scream. You know that tingly feeling when your foot falls asleep and you then you try to walk again. Yes, that times like a hundred is how I felt with my feet in the water. Let’s just say it took some adjustment time for me to be ok with basically being eaten alive.  The worst is when they go between your toes! AH! The feeling! I sat most of the time with my toes curled because it was just too much!

A basic 20 minute “meal” starts with an employee washing off your feet and then you can settle onto a cushion of your choice to feed the fishies! The fish at this particular place were fairly small in size (thankfully) and were none too shy about nibbling away at the parts of my leg that they could reach too.

A little difficult to spot right away, it can be easily accessed by local transit and is reasonably priced for its “services”.

Tabi READY TO GO 

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM 

Getting to Dr. Fish

Take the Seoul Metro to stop Euljiro 1 –ga  on the green line.

From Exit 2 you can go straight across the roundabout area and down toward the lemonade shop.

You have to purchase This particular Dr. Fish was located just across from the Lemonade shop in between a beauty supply store and a yakiniku shop. (photo attached).

I believe it is on the 5^th floor of the building.your snacks and such on the 4^th floor and then proceed upstairs to the fish dining hall.

Enjoy J

Seoul South Korea

Seoul South Korea

I took a very short trip to Seoul, South Korea with a couple mates of mine from back home early in April. I was excited to go because S. Korea is RIGHT there and I had not yet had the opportunity to get over there and see anything. Due to the time limitations and the somewhat aggressive communications between the north and south at the time we went, we decided to forgo the border and see sights in the city.

We started our journey with little to now idea how we really wanted to spend our time there and as my friends had just gotten to Japan the day before I assumed they might have to deal with some jet lag while there. We stayed at a quiet little hostel nearby the central area of the University in Seoul. Its reasonably price for nicer accommodations and the owners are laid back and helpful. On that note; if you are vegetarian or allergic to say garlic (my friend was) then possibly S. Korea can be taken off of your to do list and replaced with another location that does not drown everything in garlic and meat sauce. Not that it isn’t a cool place to visit but you’ll be hungry the entire time and surrounded by inedible and stinky food.

We chose to see a few places reachable by local transit and mostly bob around the central area that we were staying in. During the day the streets are moderately busy but things do not begin to bustle until mid to later afternoon and into the evening. Seoul is a night owls dream as many places never really close (bars) and its “hip” to go out late in the evening. When I say late I mean around 11 or 12. Quite literally starting your evening when a Debby is cozy in bed because she is apparently 95.

Coming from the very clean streets of Himeji I am always a little shocked to see how dirty places can be. Seoul was moderately clean; however there is still a sense of just dropping trash wherever, it’s weird. As we wondered about we saw wall and entire buildings covered in graffiti and street art, sides of buildings littered with fish tanks filled to brim with “food” and more coffee shops than you can count. Seriously, Seoul loves coffee.
IT’S EVERYWHERE!

We spoke with our host and he looked almost shocked at our situation (food wise) and recommended a place that, maybe, we could eat at. We attempted to find this place and after some deliberation, decided that we should just pop into a small side joint and see what we could muster. We showed the women a few words written in Korean on our map (thanks to our host) that explained about our dietary needs and a few jumbled minutes later we had giant bowls full of rice, veggies and some sort of meat (which I could easily pick out). After some SERIOUS stares from locals and those who ran the place, we finished what we could, save for one of us who didn’t eat at all, and headed out. The woman saw that my friend didn’t eat and made her a special giant sushi roll as we left. It was really nice of her to make sure that she got something to eat no matter what.

Street art was EVERYWHERE. Some great, some just horrible graffiti 

Hanging at the park near the college area. 

I have NO idea what is in there.... but they eat some of it live. Ew

Poor little fishes. 

Street performers! 

My favorite part of Seoul was the DOG CAFÉ! I was in doggy heaven. Puppies as far as the eyes could see and I got coffee too, SAY 

WHHHHAAAAAT! 

It took a little searching for the place but eventually we found that café just off the main road. You do not have to pay to be in the café; however the prices of the drinks are a bit higher than normal cafes. This is to provide services for the pets and employees. 

I had a mocha café drink and it was around $7 US and wasn’t too bad either.  When you enter there seems to be a dog that will attach itself to someone the minute they enter the room.  For me it was spritely little fellow with a bum front leg who seemed to have a serious distaste for, well, every other dog. He promptly climbed in my lap and proceeded to “yell” at the surrounding dogs until the people in the café took him and put him in his own special room away from everyone else.  Then I spotted the dachshunds! SO CUTE ! One seemed to have some serious love for a guy there and followed him around like Schotzi followed me. Then I saw a majestic little fatty from across the room and after an eternity of waiting, he came to hang out.  I was way too happy to just hang with a dog in my lap. I should probably get out more….

DOGS! 

Watch yourself Tabi...... 

As we traveled to different sites in Seoul we happened upon found some odd things to eat, see and smell, but all in all I wasn’t horribly impressed with Seoul. It probably has more to offer than I took in, so I may go again, but not for long.

Met some cute kiddos at the palace. 

Cherry Blossoms are beautiful anywhere you travel. 

In every subway! I suppose it should be comforting , but its really not. 

That my friends, is a Seoul classic. Its a hot dog wrapped in french fries and deep fried. We couldn't find the poo shaped pastries, but you cant win um all.  

Typical street foods. 

My second favorite part of the trip would be the Dr. Fish experience. This little gem will get its own post!