Okinawa

For some reason I was surprised at how built-up Okinawa was, although I'd read in the past about Marines crashing helicopters into heavily populated areas. Everywhere I went on the island in the two days we were there was very developed. A fair number of motorcycles/scooters being ridden about, generally by young people with open-face helmets. A young girl on a motor scooter actually drove by a group of us several times doing wheelies as we walked around the "American Village". That will catch your attention. The Japanese certainly know how to do neon, many of the signs were printed in English even in the areas that weren't adjacent to one of the many military bases still on the island.

The sushi restaurant we went to had a sink in the small lobby for washing your hands on the way in. Seems like a good idea to me. The sushi comes by on a small conveyor belt and you just grab what you want as you're sitting at your table. The table also had a hot water spigot built into it for refilling your green tea. You know the price of the sushi based upon the color of the plate. Those plates must've also had some kind of microchip in them because when it was time to ring up the bill, the waitress just ran her little wand over the plates and a check was printed out the other side of the wand system. Handy system as the five of us had probably 70 plates stacked up all over the table by the time we finished (generally only two pieces of sushi per plate). No tax or tip so the meals really aren't too expensive. Many places also don't take credit cards or if they do they charge a large fee, which is suppose is a little surprising given the Japanese affinity for technology, but in any case I prefer that way...makes things simpler and cheaper for everyone on the whole without Visa taking their fat cut. All in all, an efficient and tasty experience.