Ishigaki, Japan
Today we arrived in Ishigaki. One of the many islands of Japan and part of the Okinawa prefecture. The Captain arrived an hour early so that customs officials can board, set up their machinery in the main dining room, grab a complimentary muffin, and begin with the face to face inspection. Every passenger was required to meet with customs officials. It didn’t matter if you were getting off of the ship or staying aboard.
The process started at 8 am and HAL officials always take those on the HAL excursions first. After those folks are cleared we began deck by deck to clear all passengers. It’s done a little differently each time so that other decks have a chance to be first in line. Today we started with deck one and moved up very slowly. After a while, it began to move faster.
Deck 6 was called and we went down to stand in line. The staff went up and down the line and offered water or muffins. We were without food for at least an hour so I guess an assumption was made that it is feeding time.
We were not in a hurry. Late last evening I was on WhatsApp chatting with our tour guide for Ishigaki. We booked a tour to go snorkeling in the Blue Cave. The tour guide asked many questions. We went back and forth a few times about where to meet and what time we would be picked up. Snorkeling equipment was provided but we brought our own. Next question was shoe size. They provided shoes. Height and weight. They provided a wet suit and needed that info. Next was age. After I provided the answer the guide told us that they do not take anyone over 59. Sorry, the excursion is cancelled. We had booked this excursion a long, long time ago. Maybe they could have posted something on the description.
I guess we have reached a new part of life. Age discrimination is back in our lives. 16 to drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink. Younger than 60 to snorkel. What else do we have to look forward to?
We managed to get off of the ship at about 10 am. We were going to hire a taxi and go see the stalactite cave. Taxi was about 1/10 of the cost we spent in Guam for a similar distance. Communication with the driver was done with the translate app on the iphone. Incredible and very useful tool.
We spent roughly an hour in the cave. It wasn’t snorkeling but it was fun. We had the taxi driver take us to Eugena Mall and drop us off. The mall was an arcade and filled with many shops. We did buy a few items to take back on the ship. Again the translate was amazing. Use the camera feature and it will automatically translate what it sees through the lens. I bought some coffee liquor and some items for the grandkids.
Lunchtime. Terri likes to use Yelp and she found us a place not too far away. Small place with about 6 small tables and a counter. We sat at the counter. They had a menu in English and we ordered the burger plate to split. Terri had wine and I had a local beer.
We watched the cook prepare the meal. The waiter assisted. I’m guessing a husband and wife team. She was preparing some soup or a stew and would add some spices, stir it in and then took a small spoon to taste it. Everything was fresh. We watched her cut the veggies. He went outside to grab a leaf off a plant for a garnish.
White rice, Ishigaki burger, chicken noodle soup, some kind of spiced meat in the bowl, lettuce and tomato, red cabbage, a bowl of egg or yogurt, fried leaves with seasoning. Wow. Fantastic!
We finished our lunch, snapped the photos and said our good byes. They knew enough English to understand.
We visited a few more stores and then started back toward the ship. It was about a mile and one half and we enjoyed the walk.
The evening entertainment was trumpeter Chaw. Chaw is his nickname and his real name is very long and difficult to pronounce. Chaw is from Thailand. The house band backed him up and he did a marvelous performance. Great chops and a lot of endurance. I had to laugh when he performed the tune called “The Chicken”. The DHS jazz band used to perform this and other tunes by the same composer. Great performance. His last tune was “Feels So Good” by Chuck Mangione. I’m not sure why but he decided to do an unrequested encore. He probably should have ended after the Mangione tune because we didn’t feel as good when he did the encore. I gave it a 9. Eliminate the encore and it is a 10.…