Okinawa Pineapple Park

The family with the Pineapple Park mascot.

We traveled up north to check out the Okinawa Pineapple Park.  We got to ride around in a pineapple cart and learn about different kinds of pineapples and how they grow.  Did you know that there are both edible and ornamental pineapples?  We were very grateful the cart tour came with English translation.  My Japanese is just not extensive enough to cover the differences of various varieties of pineapples...yet. 

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Beni-imo & the Aquarium

The whole family

New Year's Eve we went up north to the Beni-imo store and then to the Aquarium. 

They have finally finished the renovations to the Dolphin Lagoon, so we were able to watch the dolphin show there and the big dolphin show in the Okichan Theater.  We've never seen the same dolphin show twice, and today was no exception.  In fact, there were three kinds of dolphins (instead of two) and more dolphins in the tank than we had ever seen.  Made for a very fun show (although the wind coming off the sea made for a very cold show, too.)

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Happy New Year!

Happy 2010, the Year of the Tiger!

On New Year's Day we traveled south to Okinawa World.  We were greeted by a large drum outside, where visitors took turns striking the drum for good luck in the new year. 

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