deep into okinawa

i missed my car…

good morning. all i have to say about yesterday was WOW!!! oh my gosh, i’ve been coming to japan for almost 20 years and never seem to get enough of the culture. last night, i got culture shocked, chicken skin, irregular heartbeat, and everything else that comes with pure excitement. it all started with the chira chira girls contest in the morning with over 100 girls competing in fun waves off sunabe. it was such a great vibe and i was glad to be there to see all the happy faces. then we went over to sunset beach for the dragon canoe races. i wanted to congratulate kazubo-san’s team for getting 1st place. then we went back to hokulea at 2pm for the awards ceremony for the chira chira contest….

this was one of the coolest after parties i’ve ever went too. there was hula, tahitian dances, fashion show, followed by a bikini show. gosh, i got some great photos….

there were so many people having so much fun….

then here’s my culture shocker. i’ve been coming to okinawa for a long time and always seem to miss the big okinawan dance event. but not this year. there were over 10,000 people packed in front of the stage but we found our way up to the front row. once i sat down, i witnessed pure okinawan culture right in front of my eyes. i was i awe… my mouth was wide open for the whole time i was watching those guys pound the drums. my heart was beating so fast and i had chicken skin the whole time. it was amazing….
then it was the fireworks time so i headed back to the tent where everybody was. that’s when i bumped into kinsan and hayato as they were making their way up to the nearby hotel. the best view in the house!!! i was up on the very front row, then 5 minutes later on the 14th floor overlooking the huge event while fireworks were going off the richter scale….
as i was walking back to the car, i was feeling sorry for my friends back home. mainly my okinawan friends in hawaii that are pure 100% okinawan but haven’t been here before. this is an amazing island with amazing people and amazing culture. and it’s sad for me to think that 90% of okinawan’s living in hawaii will never ever get to experience what i’ve witnessed last night. yeah, we have okinawan cultural events back in hawaii but nothing comes close to the real deal. i woke up this morning still feeling the vibe. a vibe that i’m going to take surfing with me right now. i’m going to keep on soaking in the culture and keep taking photos and videos so i can share to my friends back home what their missing out. and let me tell you, their missing out more than their own culture, their missing out the true meaning of “MENSORE”….. GET YOUR ASSES TO OKINAWA. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE….