Ishigaki Island, Japan - February 21, 2014

It's a blur. I knew that I was about to realize my life-long dream of visiting Japan so my mind was racing. At breakfast, I warned my companions that it was entirely possible that I would burst into tears as soon as I touched the soil.

We pulled into port and had to wait for immigration officials to board. We were called by group to pass inspection which consisted of a thermal reader to check our temperature, fingerprints and the reception of a landing permit to be affixed to a paper copy of the passport.

I greeted the thermal camera operator with a happy "Ohaioo gozaimasu!" (Good morning) and responded to the inspection officer's instructions by saying "Hai, wakarimashita!" (Yes, I understand)

The officials were very serious so there was no time for chit chat. I had teamed up with some folks from Cruise Critic and booked a snorkel trip using an English-speaking dive shop called UMICOZA based in Kabira Bay. They specialized in trips to see the Manta Rays at a known Manta cleaning station. I had found their website on the internet and they were very professional and friendly in their correspondence.

Our group of four snorkelers rendezvoused at the Mosaic Cafe. Then we descended the ramp to the port.  The temperature was mild, the water appeared to be clean but we did not see the UMICOZA van in the tours area.

We looked outside the gate, no van. It was getting late so we boarded a shuttle bus to the local ferry terminal thinking they may have been confused about what we meant by cruise ship. No van at the ferry terminal either. Panic.

I turned on my cellphone risking expensive roaming rates to see if they had left a message. No signal!

Okay...time to use my Japanese for real! I went to the information booth in the terminal and said: "sumimasen...denwa ga arimasu-ka?" It worked! The lady guided me over to the pay phones! Hooray! But...the pay phones only took coins. Oh no! Luckily, at this point my cellphone enabled itself and I was able to call the dive shop.

The driver had been waiting for us at the cruise ship but outside the main gate. The van only had a window sign, no logo on the side so we had missed it. All was well but I have learned the importance of locking down the details when making these sort of plans. It is not enough to say pick me up at the ship...you need GPS coordinates to avoid confusion!

Toyo-san was our driver and guide. He spoke English very well but I had fun practicing my Japanese with him. Finally, away from the shipping containers and bus loads of tourists we began to see the beauty of Ishigaki Island.

Trees are a mix of tropical palms and deciduous. We saw a huge owl sitting calmly on an overhanging branch. There were green fields loaded with grazing cattle on one side and either rice fields or blue water on the other. Conditions were windless and warm.

It almost looked like the rolling hills of Rincon de la Vieja, Costa Rica that I had recently visited.

The road itself was smooth and the signs were in English and Japanese. It honestly would not be difficult to drive around in a rented car. At the shop, I zipped into my snorkel & wetsuit in ninety seconds. My companions...not so much. Hee! Wetsuit virgins, they were!

They had pre-ordered rental wetsuits by size and it was included in the price. The wetsuits were neatly laid out on the table with a name tag clothes pinned on with the respectful honorific-sama. Mine would have said "Lisa-sama."

Lois and Yves from Toronto got into their suits and birthday-girl Gill got into her fabulous pink booties while I just wandered around listening to the birds and breathing in tropical Japan. Gill got a fright with the heated loo-seat at the shop! No chilly buns at this party!

Because it had taken a bit long to disembark, find the van and get dressed, we decided to scrap our second snorkel spot with the Manta Rays and just do the coral garden.

We hopped back into the van, drove five minutes to the dive boat and waded into the super-clear water. The temperature was actually quite lovely. A two-step ladder into the flat-bottom boat and we were aboard. We were offered hot tea and there was a cooler filled with hot water which we could use to pour into our wetsuits to keep the chill off.

The trip to the coral garden took only a few minutes. We were just south of the famous Kabira Bay where snorkelling is not permitted. To save time, I reviewed the guidelines while we were underway. Any current? Nope. Any dangerous creatures? Nope. Are we anchored? Yes. Well, bye bye then! I plopped into the water while the others fussed with their stuff.

Snorkel-Ninja!

Wow! It took a few seconds for the water to enter the wetsuit and make a warm layer next to the skin. The visibility was excellent and there was absolutely no current and very little chop on the surface.

The first species I identified was a Blue-Head Wrasse…very similar to those in my favourite place, Bonaire. There were also Princess Parrotfish, Butterflyfish and Angelfish.

Towards the bottom, were two sea snakes coiled together. I would have thought that they were mating but they appeared to be of different species.

Folks were still on the boat getting their snorkels and fins sorted. I asked them to plug their ears while I asked about the sea snakes...nope, not dangerous! So I continued on looking at the beautiful blue coral, anemone and dazzling fish.

It was overcast and started to rain a bit so after an hour we headed back to the shop. I presented the guide with a small gift from back home, a little tuque with a logo from my local dive shop +Action Scuba. He was really appreciative.

There were hot showers and tea for us. They dropped us off at a local restaurant. Those cattle we had seen grazing were to be our lunch. Ishigaki Island beef is famous!

The restaurant was so Japanese that *this* is where I got all weepy. We doffed our shoes at the door and put them in a little cubby. The wooden floors were so clean and smooth. The table was low and had adorable seat cushions with an owl motif. Owls are big (popular) in Japan!

The table had a brazier (shichirin) in the centre of it. We ordered our meals. I tried to practice my Japanese again but the waitress didn't seem to understand me. I was trying to find out if there was a mixed grill with samples of beef, pork and chicken.

Unsuccessful in communicating my wish, I opted for the premium steak set which came with 180g of beautifully marbled flank steak, miso soup, salad, vegetables and rice. For dipping, there was BBQ sauce, wasabi, lemon and soy sauce. It was probably a bit pricy at 6,800 yen (almost $70 USD) but I had budgeted for that. Besides, I rarely drink booze so it cost the same as a regular steak plus three foo-foo cocktails back home. Bonus in Japan, the tip is included.

The server brought a bowl of already glowing briquettes for the brazier and set them up placing the grill on top. We used long tongs to place the beef on the grill. Since the meat was nice and fat, there were a few grease fires but that's all part of the fun! Who needs eyebrows anyway?

With an enthusiastic "Itadakimasu!" addressed directly to the food, I dug into my salad which was dressed with some lovely sesame-ginger. Then, I enjoyed the miso soup which only had broth and a few negi (scallions) cut into it. My meat was nicely done and it curled up onto itself like fatty bacon.

For veggies there were cabbage and carrots which I ate raw, some eggplant and local specialties kabocha (squash) and goya (bitter melon) which were better grilled.

I mixed the meat and veg into my bowl of rice and tasted the flavour / texture explosion. Oh, yeah. The way that the thin meat tastes so full is a wonder in itself.

It was a terrific meal and very filling. I gave the waitress and the shop owner a great big "Gochisoosama deshita!" to thank them for the meal. I would have loved to have included a link to the name of the restaurant but Lois and Yves paid on their credit card and I gave them cash so they have the bill with the address on it!

It was only a short waddle back to the ship…yep… got big - time fat on this trip.

My cabin on deck 4 was just slightly above eye-level if one were on the dock. I had to be really vigilant about closing the drapes when I got changed in port!

The Japanese officials had had a very long day overseeing the disembarkation and compliance with customs and immigration regulations. Finally, when all the gaikokujin (foreigners) were safely back on board they could relax a little.

One of the officers, still in his blue serge uniform had invited his wife and young family to see the ship pull away. It was really heart-warming to see this heretofore über-serious man cuddling his gorgeously chubby 1 year-old and holding his three year-old boy by the hand.

I waved to the little boy from my window and he saw me and waved back excitedly! Then the daddy made the baby wave and blow kisses to me, too.

I did a little pantomime of pretending to sleep on my pillow, popped into view suddenly wearing my snorkel and acted silly wearing terry cloth slippers on my head like bunny ears! The kid was cracking up and so was his dad.

I want to spend weeks in Ishigaki and the surrounding islands. One day is just not enough.

After a nap and a quick hunt to snag a few pieces of sushi from the buffet for dinner, I happily retreated to my cabin, dreaming of Japan and of floating in the crystal-clear water.