On Okinawa Honto's Manzamo, and more

View of the elephant trunk-like feature
that's Manzamo most famous sight

Another part of the scenic Okinawan cliffs that
caught many a photographer's attention and fancy

These two islands joined together by a rope

that I viewed from that vantage point surely
have an interesting story surrounding them...

Two weeks ago, I was in Okinawa. Perhaps because that part of Japan feels like a majorly different world from Hong Kong -- particularly since one place represents an idyllic vacation spot for me whereas the other is the often super intense and busy place where I live and work -- the time that I was there actually feels like it was further in my past than a mere two weeks ago.

Indeed, I had to check the calendar to make sure that it really was the case that just two Sundays ago from today that I had strolled about the green area atop the coral reef cliffs at Manzamo and beheld breathtakingly beautiful views like the ones in the photographs at the top of this blog entry.

Located just off Highway 58 on Okinawa Honto, Manzamo faces the East China Sea and is part of the Okinawa-Kaigan Quasi-National Park. A splendidly scenic spot, it invariably attracts a number of visitors -- almost all of whom were either Japanese- or Cantonese-speaking. (The definite sense I had from my visit to Japan's southernmost prefecture is that the vast majority of tourists visiting it are Japanese from other parts of the country -- and that Hong Kongers make up a dominant percentage of Okinawa's non-Japanese visitors.)

Strangely, however, neither of the two guide books I've used on my recent trips to Japan (i.e., the third (i.e. 2005) edition of The Rough Guide to Japan and the current edition of Frommer's Japan) give Manzamo so much as a mention. And ditto re Japan-guide.com -- an on-line resource that I've found pretty helpful and useful when visiting other parts of that East Asian country.

Especially when reading Frommer's Japan, I wonder if English-speaking visitors to Okinawa are predominantly Americans whose greatest knowledge of, and interest in, this part of Japan stems from it having been the only part of the country on which ground battles -- and horrifically bloody ones that saw hundreds of thousands of casualties at that -- were waged during World War II? (And I guess this may well be so, what with there being 14 American military bases on Okinawa.)

In any event, I have to say that I'm glad that the two American friends with whom I had an Okinawan rendez-vous shared my preference for checking out Okinawa's beautiful natural sights over visiting sites where large numbers of people -- civilians as well as military personnel -- prematurely lost their lives, and in terribly violent ways at that. For even while I do realize that it is important to not forget the past, I also do not want to dwell too much on its sadder parts -- and prefer to be able to enjoy and celebrate the fact that beauty exists in this part of the world which, particularly after a visit to the Okinawan Prefectural Museum, I came away from a visit realizing has seen its share of tragedy yet still has endured.

Heart and vintage (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

As regular visitors to this blog (including fellow participants of Sandi's and/or Gattina's Photo Hunt memes) can't help but realize, I love hiking in Hong Kong -- and really heart that there are plenty of cool sights for me to check out when I'm on the trails.

To be sure, when out on a beautiful, clear air day hiking such as the Tai Tan Country Trail (that I like so much I've happily hiked it twice -- with different pairs of friends -- as well as took enough photos to make up three photo-essays (see here, here and here) the first time around), it can be hard to tear one's eyes away from the gorgeous -- vintage even? ;) -- vistas that abound in this part of the world.

But my experience of hiking on hazy, misty, foggy and polluted air days have trained and taught me to look closer around me as I walk along the trails. And now, even on days when one can see far into beautiful blue yonders, I find that there invariably are nearby things that will catch my eye.

Thus it was, that (even) while walking along the Tai Tan Country Trail, I came to spot two rocks -- whose age I can't tell, but probably are old enough to be considered vintage -- that looked to me like nature had carved into hearts! (For surely you won't be stone-hearted and not allow me this stretch of the imagination that makes it so that I can "play" this week? ;b)

Okinawa hotel seaside views

Sunny morning view from the balcony
of the seaside hotel I stayed in for
the bulk of my recent Okinawa holiday

Another beautiful vision beheld from
the same balcony that same morning

Photo taken from that same balcony --
this time around sunset that same day

If anyone had told me before my recent Okinawan vacation that an enjoyable time could be had by just sitting on a hotel balcony and gazing out at the vista of sea and sky, I'd have dismissed the suggestion as something I'd be wont to do only in my twilight years. But that was before I saw the incredible view -- or, rather, views since it/they changed so much from minute to minute! -- from the balcony of the room at the Hotel Resonex Nago that I shared with two friends for the bulk of our Okinawa vacation.

And it wasn't just me either who found herself being drawn like a magnet to the splendid seaside sights! Indeed, it was the youngest -- and arguably most energetic -- of our party of three who proposed that we rest a bit, and hang out on the balcony to see the sun set on the second full day of our vacation.

As it so happens, the sunset we had hoped to catch turned out to be obscured by clouds hanging so low over the horizon that it looked like they would fall into the ocean! Still, we could -- and did -- take solace in having had many great views from that same balcony, including during the morning and evening of the previous day -- some of which I am very pleased to have managed to capture with my digital camera and thus be able to share with this blog's visitors. :)

Okinawa's Churaumi Aquarium and Ocean Expo Park (Photo-essay)

In deciding where to go on vacation, I usually do some internet research and also consult a guide book or two with regards to the place I have in mind to visit -- and to see what attractions there I should prioritize checking out. For Okinawa, I went through the additional step of comparing my "places I wanted to visit" list with that of the two friends I'd be meeting up with there.

As it turned out, all three of us had on our lists the Churaumi Aquarium that is part of the very large Ocean Expo Park located in the northwestern section of Okinawa Honto. So no prizes for figuring out where we went on our first full day in Okinawa. And suffice to say that the following photos give only a small taste of the many delightful sights on offer at those seaside facilities:- ;b

Puppet Ponyo (who of course went with me to Okinawa)
posing near the Ocean Expo Park's north entrance :)

Should I be nice and suggest that I spotted a frog
hugging -- as opposed to humping :O --
another frog inside the Churaumi Aquarium? ;b

Some of the smaller -- and cuter -- of the
critters spotted inside the Churaumi Aquarium

View of the aquarium's awesome Kuroshio Tank
inside which several creatures, including
giant whale sharks and manta rays, swim

A view from above of the same Kuroshio Tank --
and yes, it really was cool to have access to
this alternative view of that magnificent facility

At the vegetation rich beach near the manatee pool
looking eastwards towards sandy Emerald Beach

One of the high points of the free dolphin show
at the Okichan Theatre near the aquarium

The incredible dolphins made many splashes,
got people laughing with glee and won many hearts :)

The Lady (film review)

Michelle Yeoh as The Lady -- Aung San Suu Kyi*

The Lady (France-United Kingdom, 2011)
- Luc Besson, director
- Starring Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Htun Lin, Jonathan Raggett, Jonathan Woodhouse, Benedict Wong, Teerawat Mulvilai, etc.

More than one and half decades ago now, I rented a VHS tape of a Hong Kong movie dubbed into English and known as Supercop in the USA (but known as Police Story III: Supercop in Hong Kong and many other territories and filmed in synch sound largely in Cantonese) -- and, without much exaggeration, can say that I had my life changed as a result. For that film starring Jackie Chan also starred Michelle Yeoh -- and seeing her in action seriously blew my mind and sent me on a trajectory that led me via Philadelphia's Chinatown (as a result of a search of other movies in which the Ipoh-born actress featured) and our native Malaysia to Hong Kong where I now work and reside.

Long before I first came to know of the existence of Michelle Yeoh, I already was familiar with the story of Aung San Suu Kyi -- the daughter of assassinated Burmese nationalist leader Aung San who had herself become a major political force in the military-ruled Southeast Asian country and had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while under extended house arrest. A dignified beacon of non-violence, the woman known as The Lady to her people is one of those rare contemporary political leaders who seems to appear to be larger than life, almost mythical -- not least in that she has been credited with the kind of nobility and high-mindedness that borders on the saintly in any age, never mind our often super-cynical contemporary era.

Until I heard about Luc Besson's The Lady, I never ever would have put Michelle Yeoh and Aung San Suu Kyi together in a single thought or sentence. For although they both occupy prominent places in their respective worlds, those worlds do seem so very different -- and so too do their public personae: with, among other things, the Malaysian actress often coming across as someone who just cannot physically sit still and is inclined to leap before she thinks as much as the Burmese leader is quietly graceful and contemplative.

So imagine my surprise when Michelle Yeoh turned out to be quite the inspired choice to portray Aung San Suu Kyi in The Lady -- so much so that even while I initially could not help but be cognizant of my watching Michelle Yeoh acting in the Luc Besson-helmed drama, somewhere along the way, I actually stopped feeling that she was having to do such as consciously curb her natural bouncy way of walking in order to assume Aung San Suu Kyi's more elegant gait and, instead, focused on how a humanizing portrait of the iconic Burmese woman was being formed and given layer upon layer of emotion and overall depth.

Alternatively put: Over the course of viewing The Lady, I grew to feel like I had gotten to know more about Aung San Suu Kyi as a human individual and loving mother and wife to add to my previous knowledge of her as an inspiring and inspirational political figure. And I really do think that a significant amount of credit for this undoubtedly goes to the actress who so ably portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi in this film -- the same thespian who has demonstrated her dramatic abilities before in other movies yet still remains mainly assumed to be "just" an action actress by most movie-goers.

Perhaps it's an ingrained bias on my part but I really do wish that The Lady had given far more screen time to Michelle Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi. For although the film's title makes it seem like that would be the case, she/they really are not in a lot of the sections of this drama that turns out to also have many scenes in which Aung San Suu Kyi's husband, Michael Aris (played by David Thewlis), is the primary, if not sole, focus.

On a related note, I have no doubt that many of this film's viewers cannot help but be disappointed that The Lady actually is as much a story of Aung San Suu Kyi's love of her husband and her children as it is of her country -- and, even more, that it also is the story of Michael Aris' love of his wife. For my part, I am sympathetic to some extent to this choice of focus -- and do think that this emphasis does hammer home how much she (has) had to sacrifice as far as her family was concerned in order to stay in and true to her country.

At the same time though, I also can't help but feel that it truly would have made for a more interesting and dramatic -- and actually great(er) -- film if the focus had stayed more on Aung San Suu Kyi and her cause in Burma rather than be rather distractingly extended also to her husband and sons, however loved by her they were/are, over in England. At the very least, be it for technical or other reasons, it often seemed like the momentum often was disturbed, and the pace would noticeably lag, whenever the scenes shifted from Burma to England, with Michael Aris -- who actually had led quite the interesting life himself, including a stint as private tutor to children of Bhutan's royal family -- and David Thewlis sadly never ever seeming to come across as possessing the charisma that Aung San Suu Kyi and Michelle Yeoh so very clearly have in spades.

My rating for this film: 7

*photo credit: Vincent Perez/2010 EuropaCorp/Left Bank Pictures/France 2 Cinema

Flat and twigs (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

When out hiking in Hong Kong, I see a variety of subjects whose images I can't help but pause and attempt to capture with my camera. Early on, I tended to prioritize going on trails where I would be assured scenic views. But before too long, I got to realizing that the Big Lychee really has got plentiful, diverse and often pretty photogenic wildlife, so started to focus on looking near as well as far on the hikes that I go on here.

As those who checked out my Photo Hunt entry two weeks ago probably realize, butterflies and moths (regardless of whether they are going at it or not...) are among the creatures that almost never fail to capture my eye. At the same time, I didn't realize I had so many photographs of them -- and such a variety too -- that I'd be featuring photos of butterflies and moths in a second Photo Hunt entry in a row.

Yet when thinking of how to combine the themes that Sandi and Gattina chose this week, the two photos at the top of this blog entry that each have a butterfly lying flat -- one actually on top of some twigs, the other near by some other twigs -- seemed perfect for the theme! And as a bonus, I decided to throw in the third photo: which isn't actually of a twig or even a stick but, instead, is of a stick insect -- and a very large (as in close to one foot long!) one at that!! -- to give further proof that Hong Kong may have pretensions to be Asia's World City but, really, still does have a very rich natural side to it. :)

Okinawa Rendez-vous -- for real! ;b

The squid ink yakisoba (fried noodle) lunch set at
Ashibiuna, a restaurant located in an old,
noble residence near Okinawa's Shuri Castle

View across gorgeous, clear waters
to Ie island from the grounds of the
Ocean Expo Park on Okinawa Honto

Late afternoon view from the -- I kid you not --
private beach of the hotel that we stayed at
in northern part of Okinawa island :)

A few years back, a colleague introduced me to an Okinawan izakaya in Causeway Bay here in Hong Kong -- and for a time, Kusuya-Rakuen was my go-to place to go after a stressful day at work, what with it seeming to have the perfect combination of great food (with my favorites including the soft tofu with toppings that included tuna sashimi and yam, and sea grapes), good drinks (Asahi and Orion beer on draft along with a wide selection of awamori) and a comfortably welcoming decor and overall atmosphere.

Unfortunately, I felt that the food quality there dropped radically about a year and a half ago. But even though I stopped patronizing that dining (and drinking) establishment, I never did lose my love as well as taste for Okinawan food that it gave me -- and, along with it, a desire to visit the Ryukyu Islands at some point in time.

This past week, that ambition was realized when I went to Okinawa's main island for a short vacation. And to add some icing to the already quite substantial cake, my visit there involved my meeting up with two friends -- one from the USA who I last saw seven years ago , the other of whom is originally from there but now lives in Tokyo -- in that part of Japan that can feel like a world unto itself. Alternatively put: we enacted our own Okinawa Rendez-vous -- albeit one that I actually thought turned out to be better than the 2000 Hong Kong film bearing that name that was, in fact, the first Hong Kong movie I viewed in Hong Kong itself!

To be honest, despite reading some about Okinawa and also having seen the place appear in movies such as the afore-mentioned Okinawa Rendez-vous, Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine (1993) and Yuji Nakae's Nabbie's Love (1999), I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the place. As it turned out, I have to say that the beauty of the ocean and beaches there far surpassed the levels that I thought that they would be at. At the same time, my Okinawan vacation was indeed as relaxing as -- and actually more pleasant than -- I had hoped it would be.

Although my general preference is to travel by myself (or, at most, just one other person), I think that the three of us actually collectively made for good company. Also, I have to admit that Okinawa is not the kind of place I'd have wanted to visit on my own as, among other things, its public transportation is not at the level of much more urban parts of Japan -- and consequently makes it so that those who rent a car, like we did, probably will have a more enjoyable vacation than those who don't. (And what with my not liking to drive, suffice to say that it was a great relief that I didn't spend any time behind the driver's wheel this past week, yet managed to benefit from the independence that came with not having to rely solely on public transportation in Okinawa!)

As can be imagined, we spent a lot of time talking and laughing over the course of our Okinawan rendez-vous. And yes, we definitely did do our share of eating really delicious food -- including at one very local izakaya in Nago which served up the biggest seafood salad I've ever seen (and wow, was it tasty too!)! Also, lest there be any doubt, we did go about doing our share of sightseeing as well. In addition, while a faulty adapter and the inability to get a replacement for it made it so that I ended up taking way fewer photos on this holiday than I wished I could have, I still did manage to snap some shots that I reckon are worth sharing on this blog -- starting with this entry along with a few others in the coming week or two. :)