Day 9

Sorry for the delay here - been busy and tired. But, Day 9 pretty much signified the start of the dark days of the trip. (Ok, that's a bit dramatic, but just not as great as the previous 8)

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise again and a lovely breakfast in Okinawa. We were really bummed that we weren't staying longer, but reminded ourselves that this wasn't a relaxing beach vacation. We were flying out around noon, so we got off to an early start to return the rental car by 10 am. In hindsight, I should have booked the flight for much later in the day, but we didn't know. We drove the ~1 hour to get to the airport and saw a few U.S. military vehicles driving with a "student driver" sign on them. Dave thought that was funny, so we grabbed a picture. As we neared the car rental place, we couldn't find a gas station. There were EV fast charges everywhere, but no gas station. We finally found one and after maybe twists and turns in the road and all around confusion, we got gas and returned the car.

The flight was uneventful (no Pokemon plane!), although we both had the beef broth drink this time, which was very good. Then we found the airport bus to get to our hotel. The direct one to the Westin didn't go for several more hours, but they told us to talk another one, walk for a little bit and then there is a free shuttle. Of course we didn't know this until after we bought the tickets and otherwise could have taken the train. It all wound up working out, but it was annoying. The bus driver had a need for speed and was flying over really high bridges in very small lanes. We made it in one piece and figured out the shuttle bus, despite the fact that there were no signs anywhere.

We got to the Westin and checked in. The thing about Starwood Hotels in Japan is that no one cares a bit about status or anything like that. You're just a regular peon. Our reservation was set for one person instead of two by the Google travel agency, and she told me that she was going to charge an extra ~$100/night for Dave. I said no way because I knew that the rate covered it. She then said that she would lower it to $50 to which I also said no way. I asked if there was a cancellation fee now due to this and she called someone and they said no. Amazing that they would rather lose a 2-night reservation than try to accomodate us.

I found the documentation about our rate and showed her that there was 0 charge for an extra person. She said ok right again and said, sorry, she didn't know. So weird how that worked out. We were directed to our room - a big thing over here is for someone to actually take you to your room. The room was nice, but nothing special. The shower stall was an odd shape, but there wasn't really enough room for the water to spray you properly. The bed was comfy as always, but not sure that I would recommend this hotel as it wasn't near anything. (15 minute walk to the railroad or take their shuttle bus, which takes about 10 minutes if you catch it at the right time).

We ventured out to go and find the owl cafe that I found online. There's a kitten and an owl that are supposed to be best friends and they had cute owl-shaped food. I assumed that it was a full owl cafe  - in that there were other owls, but not so much. It was an awful experience. After finding the place in the middle of nowhere (I also got eaten to death by mosquitoes on the way - first bugs we've had since we got here), we made it to the place. The Japanese version of Edward Scissorshands is working there, and all we see is a food menu. We went inside and asked about the owl. The owner woman came out and said "shh" and then said we can see the owl. We ordered some maple pancakes, but then she told us that we needed to order a drink. Dave got an owl beer. Then she said we both needed a drink. I got an iced tea for the outrageous price of 700 yen (~$5.50). She then opened a curtain in the back and there was a house-shaped cage with a glass window that had a kitten and an owl separated by a fence of types. Standing about 10 feet behind a ledge, we were allowed to take pictures.

Then she grabbed the kitten out - a scottish fold with calico coloring - and held it while we could take pictures of it while she held it. Wouldn't even let us hold the kitten! The owl didn't want to come out, and after a few half-ass attempts, they said that the owl wasn't coming out. That was it - what a huge waste of money. We were pissed.

We left the cafe and bought some bug spray and then went to a place I had read about called "All-You-Can-Eat Alley". It wasn't an alley, but the fifth floor of a building. For 4500 yen ($36), you can eat and drink all you wanted for three hours. It's normally 3500 yen, but I think it was more money because it was a Friday night. There were 8 different restaurants which were all busy, but we were seated quickly.

The first one was a tempura place. We got fried salmon, chicken, cheese, beef and a sweet potato - all of which were naturally delicious. It seems odd to say it but the Japanese are great at frying things. Then we went looking for another place where you grill your meat on the table. We went to the wrong one, and wound up at a seafood place, but didn't realize until after we ordered chicken type items. As per usual, the chicken had skin on it, so we needed to peel all of that off. Next we went to the beef grilling place, so we grabbed some sirloin and cooked it up on the table. Then, mostly full, we grabbed some dessert at the "international" restaurant, where Dave had a hot pear with ice cream in it (in the picture it was on fire - Dave's did not come with flame), and I had a small chocolate cake/brownie. Then we headed out and went back to the hotel quite full.