This year, April was surprisingly cold in Tokyo. In such a freeze, it was quite a wonder how all these cherry blossoms could even bother to bloom. But the Japanese, loyal to their traditions and impervious to weather caprices, uniformly held the hanami (花見 – flower viewing) picnics under the trees all across Tokyo's cherry blossom's spots.Since I'm very easily bored with monotonous weather, 5 months of coldness was getting way too weary. Given that, what else was there to do than just run away from ugly cold Tokyo and head straight to the most southern end of Japan – to a tiny little island in the Okinawa prefecture, that is closer to Taiwan than Japan.
I gambled a lot, choosing to go in early May – it is supposedly the beginning of the Okinawa rainy season. But luck was with me, and I got four consecutive days of nice weather without a drop of rain.
The moment I landed at Miyako island's airport, the first thing that hit me was how different things are from Tokyo. The perspective definitely shrank – everything was tiny, small, very old-looking, and there were barely any people. Instead there were endless fields of sugar cane. Not much infrastructure (definitely no tourist infrastructure), not much of a vibrant life. Simply speaking such a countryside that I have long not witnessed. It was really hard to imagine that people can actually live is such remote and isolated areas. Well, only proves how much of a city girl I (unfortunately?) am.
But I didn't get away from Tokyo just to go to another big city. The point was to end up on a delightful beach, with ravishing sea view and do absolutely nothing – and I think I got it. Miyako island has several beautiful beaches, but my absolute number one was Maehama beach with pearly white and absolutely soft sand. Add to that the coral-reef-clear water, where you can enjoy snorkeling or breathtaking views of perfect blue gradients. It was the most gorgeous seaside I have ever seen in my life.
It had to be the laziest (and most blissful) 4 days of my life. I did not imagine myself capable of simply lying on one beach and doing absolutely nothing but sleeping with occasional plunges into the splendidly clear sea. I always thought I would go insane if I had to idle for hours in one place – but apparently I was wrong. I guess paradise does have that kind of effect on people – indolence and daydreaming in front of the sparkling sea finally became a pleasure. Hmm, so happiness is that simple, I thought - just put me on a captivating beach and the joys come flowing quite naturally. And in the background of my memories, the all-famous Okinawan folk song Shima Uta (島歌 – Island's song) played. Oh the happy life of a lazy bum.
Now back in Tokyo, with rainy and cold weather again. Can't believe it's almost June! I already miss Okinawa so much.
