Southeast Botanical Gardens

Last month I talked about my "adult field trip" to the Yomitan Pottery Village and Zakimi Castle.  It was tons of fun and I couldn't wait for the November trip. This month for our field trip we went to the Southeast Botanical Gardens. It was such a beautiful day, 68 and sunny. Everything was so green and lush. It made me realize that even though I miss "fall" that I am used to in the states, fall here is different, but just as beautiful. 

At the gardens, there is a small petting zoo with squirrel monkeys and capybaras. The monkeys kind of creeped me out. The capybara rolled over like a dog when I petted it, which was kind of cute. 

After touring the gardens, we had lunch at the buffet restaurant overlooking the gardens. The buffet was such a good chance to try lots of different things I wouldn't normally order. Some things were pretty good, but nothing was incredible. 

Yep, those are both mine. I had to try everything

Just trying some squid

dessert

On my way home, I kind of got lost and happened upon a dam and beautiful lake. I figured I would stop and take some pictures. That's one of the things I love about this place, you can find somewhere beautiful just by getting lost. 

Another beautiful day witnessing beautiful things here in Okinawa. I am truly thankful for the chance I have to live in such a beautiful place and experience such wonderful things. 

Yomitan Pottery Village and Zakimi Castle

Yesterday I went on a field trip. It was a real deal field trip with a bus, name tags, and sack lunches. I was probably just as excited for it as I was for any field trip in elementary school. This field trip was put together by the spouses club here on the island. I was excited to finally meet some other wives and get to explore the island some more. 

We met at the community center and boarded the charter bus. Then, we headed to the pottery village in Yomitan. It is a very old village of 45 artisans who make and sell their pottery. We wandered around and looked at all of the cute little buildings where the potters had their stuff set up. All of the bowls, plates, vases, etc. were so beautiful, yet so expensive. I would love one of the beautiful sink basins to put in my dream house or an entire set of bowls, dishes, and glasses. But, that wasn't going to happen so I just got one pretty little dish to put in my room for jewelry/odds and ends. 

My dish

We then headed to Zakimi castle where we explored the museum and had a small lunch on a hill overlooking the Yomitan Peninsula. 

After lunch, we went to explore the castle ruins. This castle was built in 1400 by the Chuzan Kingdom who ruled over central Okinawa during that time and later united the Ryukyu Kingdom. Only the walls were left, but it was still very interesting to see. The walls were so intricately built with stones perfectly placed in order to last many centuries. There was a beautiful 360 view of the island on top of the walls. 

New Friends

And there it is, an adult field trip! It was fun and I can't wait until next month's field trip to the Botanical Gardens.