It was early December of 2011 and I was new to Japan . I took a stroll to the nearby Chikusa park and was awestruck by the clear blue sky and colorful trees.
Today’s clear blue sky reminded me of those days in Nagoya. I felt an urge to look at those pics and memories came flooding back. Here are some of my favorite pictures of autumn colors at Chikusa park, Nagoya, clicked with our then new DSLR.
Taar taar up pa..!
Taar taar up pa..!
(Star.. Star..! Up there! )
My LO was pointing upwards to the (imaginary) star. He loves the rhyme “Twinkle Twinkle little star” and the line “Up above the world so high” is his favourite.
“up pa… up pa..”
We had bought him a pack of radium stars for his room ceiling and it was lying idle in the shelf. I thought its high time to decorate his room with those stars. He was super excited and kept telling “taar taar” all the time until I finished.
It was getting dark outside. I pulled the curtains and closed the door. I felt a gush of happiness when I saw the stars above. It was stunning. My LO who was shouting suddenly lowered his voice to a whisper. He sat down and started admiring its beauty and I was moved.
I left him there and checked out the sky. It was a clear, no moon night with stars. I switched off all the lights and took him out to the balcony. It was dark and I pointed the real stars to him. He was still whispering “taar”. We both sat there for a while and I was lost in thought.
My childhood memories came flooding back. Those unwarranted power cuts, lying flat on the terrace gazing at the stars with my brother, pointing out all the constellations we knew and the quiet time we got. No worries except for the next day’s homework or the class test. The memory of Hale-Bopp and the enthusiasm we had in learning about planets, comets and meteorites is just awesome.
I wondered when was the last time I quietly admired nature and got immersed in its beauty. I grew up in Hosur, which is known for its pleasant climate. I remember those rainy days when I used to sit on a divan near the window with a book. Reading the book while listening to the subtle sound of raindrops outside is such a great feeling that can’t be expressed in words. I remember reading the novel, “His Name Was Not Listed” by Boris Vassilyev on one such beautiful rainy day. It’s still close to my heart.
As we grow older, the commitments and responsibilities are so overwhelming that we fail/forget/miss to look at nature through a child’s eyes. Childhood days are always the best. We need to create an environment where our children get an opportunity to experience and admire nature.
Still sitting in the dark, I found my LO sitting quiet. I wondered if he fell asleep. To my surprise, he smiled at me. It was a calm and serene smile.
** LO – My Little One – My baby
Lulled by the sea waves we had a peaceful sleep at the resort. We woke up to the sound of chirping birds and sunlight streaming through the blinds and wished ourselves a Happy Anniversary. 🙂
We decided to celebrate our anniversary wearing our traditional dress, Saree and Dhoti (In our mother tongue, Telugu, its called Cheera and Pancha) 🙂 Kiyotaka San and Yoriko San joined us in our celebration. Our traditional dress took them by surprise. 🙂
First Wedding Anniversary
Yoriko San suggested us few main tourist spots. We decided to visit Ikema island, Underwater Observatory, Kurima island and Cape Higashi Hennazaki.
Source: http://eng.tourland.co.jp
The Ikema Bridge connecting Miyakojima with Ikemajima is 1425m in length and was opened in 1992.
Ikema Bridge
Beautiful sea in shades of blue
Ikema beach
Cape Higashi Hennazaki is located on the easternmost tip of Miyako Island. It is approximately 2 km long, flanked by the East China Sea in the North and the Pacific Ocean in the south. There is a light house located at the tip of the cape.
Road leading to the tip of Miyako Island – Cape Higashi Hennazaki
The Light house at Cape Higashi Hennazaki
Cape Higashi Hennazaki
Kurima bridge is 1,690 meter in length and was completed in 1995. The view of sea from Kurima bridge is spectacular similar to the Ikema bridge.
Kurima Bridge – A view from Kurima island
The Irabu bridge is under construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2014. It will be 3500m long and a major tourist attraction. We didn’t get a chance to go to Irabu Island but we were able to click this pic from Kurima island.
Irabu Bridge
The Emerald Sea at Ingya Marine Garden Park
We drove across the whole island. Agriculture, Fishery and Tourism are the major industries in Miyako. Sugarcane fields were found everywhere. A major portion of Sugarcane products of Okinawa is from Miyako.
Sugarcane field
Dragon Fruit
Farming
After a drive across the island, we planned to spend sometime in the beach near the resort. While Ganesh went snorkeling, I collected few colorful shells and corals. The next day we started back to Nagoya.
It’s a splendid and breathtaking place one has to visit. 🙂 And next to come is my post on Battle of Okinawa.
The photo frame I made using the shells collected at the Miyako beach
Sep 1, 2012
Nagoya
It was 7:00 AM and we were rushing to catch a taxi. I had no clue where we were heading to.. We finally got a taxi. Ganesh directed the driver to go to Chikusa station. That gave me an impression that we were going to take the Shinkansen since it’s our usual route. He answered all my questions with a “Shhhhh…… “
K: Where are we going…?
G: “Shhh… Suspense… “
K: By train..? By car..?
G: Shhh…. (smile) Looks at his iphone (tensed smile).
One thing for sure… We were running late. We took the JR line from Chikusa, went to Kanayama and there… I saw him inquiring about the train to Chubu Centrair Int’l airport. OMG..!!! To the airport…???? I was going mad, very anxious to know where we were heading to… But I couldn’t pester him a lot because he was restless. The train arrived. We got into it. Little relaxed..
The next day, we were going to step into our second year of marriage. Yup..! Our First Wedding Anniversary…!!! 🙂
Our Marriage – Sep 2, 2011
I was lost in thoughts. Suddenly, I heard him talking to himself looking at his iphone, “We need to check-in atleast 20 min before departure.. I think we can manage”. We reached the airport at 7:50 AM, ran towards the airline counter and checked-in our baggage.
All I knew was we were late. Run Run Run…….!!
K: Where are we going..? (gasping for air) When is the flight..?
G: 8:20
I tried to look at the display but it was useless.
Boarded the flight, SKY551… Naha..? Where is Naha..?
Okinawa..?? Wowwww…. OKINAWA ..!!
Looking at each other we began to laugh. Relaxed and happy. This was a surprise from my husband for our First Wedding Anniversary 🙂
It was a 1.5 hour flight to Naha. At the Naha airport while I was looking at the pamphlets for details of the top tourist places in Okinawa, I was surprised to hear Ganesh asking the person at the counter to keep the luggage until 1:00. What..??? Where are we going again…? Ahhhh……….. He kept me guessing… Again…!!!
He told me that we were going to spend only few hours in this city of Naha, Okinawa. As Okinawa is the southern most part of Japan, I just couldn’t guess what the next place we were going to visit was. It was indeed thrilling. We took a monorail and got off in a station which was very close to the famous shopping street, the Kokusaidori.
Kokusaidori – The shopping street @ Naha, Okinawa
We bought a hat and Okinawian style beach dress. We were very happy to find sugarcane juice. It’s been longtime.. we used to eat lot of sugarcane back in India.
Ganesh told me that it was time to get back to the airport. We took the monorail back to the airport. Late…!!!
Realized we were running late again. Reached the airport at 1:15 PM, checked in our baggage. It might have been perfect if we had proceeded directly to the gate after check-in. But my dearest husband wanted to have a look at the Armani and Coach sunglasses at the duty free shops. Unlike our last flight, I had some time to check the flight info and the destination. It was a place called Miyako. Before I could browse some details about the place, as expected, we heard an announcement calling out my name. “Kiiiruuthaanaa” (Keerthana)..
Run Run Run………………….!!!
Ganesh couldn’t control his laughter. Second time in the day, we ran helter skelter to catch the flight. 🙂
Nagoya, Naha, Miyakojima
We landed at Miyako airport. Kiyotaka San and Yoriko San of Pai Base Resort came to pick us up at the airport. It was a 20 minute drive to the resort. Yoriko San briefed us about the tourist spots in Miyakojima. Ganesh and I were amazed at the island’s close resemblance to India. The sugarcane fields, the flat roofed independent houses, tractors and cows in the fields reminded us of the drive to our village in India.
Okinawa is around 1500 km from Tokyo. It has a tropical climate unlike the rest of Japan. We were able to see Sugarcane, mangoes, guava, papaya and many other tropical fruits and vegetables. Felt like I was in India… 🙂 Miyako Island belongs to the Okinawa prefecture and is about 290km southwest of Naha city. It has a population of around 55,000.
Naha and Miyakojima
Our cottage was facing the beach. It had a very beautiful view of the sunset.
Cottage and the Sea behind
It was a pleasant evening and Ganesh just couldn’t resist diving into the sea. He snorkeled and I enjoyed the beautiful sunset. It was also a full moon day. We took the car and went downtown to have our dinner. The city was almost shut down except for few restaurants.
The next day we celebrated our First wedding anniversary and went around Miyakojima. Nature at its best @ Miyakojima in the next post. 🙂
Life...!!! It goes on... 