It's be a long while since I wrote on this blog, and I noticed I have quite a few new followers so I thought it's about time I introduced myself for the new people here!

I'm Rachael and I used to live in Okinawa from 2015-2017. It seems like ages ago, yet not long at all. In this recent COVID-19 crisis, and the inability to travel, i've been reminiscing a lot about our time in Okinawa and longing to make a visit back there. Who know's when that will happen again. We also had a long awaited trip booked to Italy for my 40th in September this year, which also looks unlikely to happen, but we're just waiting to see what happens.

I'm waiting out this pandemic in Melbourne, Australia, but here's some of my favourite pictured from Okinawa. If you're living in, used to live in, or just want to visit Okinawa, I hope you enjoy these pictures.

Kin Cosmos Field

Okinawa Cherry Blossoms

Camping on the beach

A beach somewhere in northern Onna-son

Tropical Fruits at Onna no Eki

This!

Our Favourite Beach - Maeda Beach

Where is your favourite place in Okinawa? What do you miss about Okinawa the most?

Slowly but surely I am getting through the posts from our March trip to Japan.

One of the best days of this trip had to be the day we went to the Ghibli Museum, followed by a stroll through Inokashira park and Kichijoji. I have been to Ghibli Museum a couple of times before, but had never made it to Inokashira Park and Kichijoji before, which I now realise what a huge shame that is because I LOVED both.

Anyway, as always, the Ghibli Museum was great, and G really enjoyed all the displays. I even got to have the exclusive Ghibli Museum beer while I was there! If you want to go to the Ghibli Museum on your Japan trip, start planning early as you need to book tickets in advance and can't buy them when you get there!

This beer is delicious and only available for purchase at the Ghibli Museum

So fluffy!

Seriously, does it get any more picturesque than this??

After the park, we wandered around Kichijoji and bought some cute things on the tourist street, then spent a good amount of time in the Kichijoji Uniqlo before calling it a day.

About a month ago we were lucky enough to have a short trip back to Japan. It had been almost 2 years since we moved back to Melbourne from Okinawa, and as always, I never stop missing Japan.

This trip, we kept short, only 8 days so just centered ourselves in Tokyo and hung around there. It was such a great decision because we found ourselves the perfect Airbnb in Shibuya and although we walked a ton everyday, we managed to get really comfortable long sleeps in at night so the holiday was incredibly relaxing. I swear i was getting 10 hours a night, which basically hasn't happened in about 20 years!

Once thing I did notice, however, when we were looking for a place to stay, is that since the Japanese government regulated Airbnb and required people to get a licence before they can let an apartment, the number and variety of places is much less, as well as being more expensive! We ended up finding a place on Homeaway which was cheaper than anything we saw on Airbnb, but it felt like slim pickings compared to a few years ago. This is the place we stayed at, which I would definitely recommend for the bed alone. It was probably the most comfortable bed i've ever slept in!

Anyway, on to our adventures. Seeing as both H and G had never been there before, we decided to head to Kamakura for a day trip. We splurged and got Green Car tickets and took the short (1 hour) trip from Shibuya to Kamakura. Although i've been to Kamakura numerous times, I had never been to see the giant Buddha, so we headed there first. After checking that out, we wanderd to Hasedera, which has to be one of my favourite temples (aren't they all). It had heaps to see, lots of gorgeous blossoms out, and to top it off, there was a buddhist vegan restaurant at the top!

Entrance to Hasedera

The restaurant at Hasedera