Day 6 – July 18th: Okinawa or Bust (With a Side of Panic and Fried Chicken)
- majordetourllc
- Jul 25, 2025
- 4 min read
We were finally on our way to Okinawa! After a surprisingly great night of sleep (comfy beds, dark room, sheer exhaustion), we were up at 5:30 AM, ready to conquer the day. The plan was simple: check our bags, breeze through security, and board our flight like seasoned travelers. Reality? Not so simple.
We glided up to the check-in counter, handed over our large suitcases, and were met at the gate by the sweetest Japanese airline worker… who promptly informed us that our carry-ons were 1 cm too big. One. Single. Centimeter. No exceptions. Back to the counter we went, dragging our oversized offenders through the longest line known to man.
Meanwhile, Slade and Tara—shocking to absolutely no one—were hungry again, so we sent them ahead to forage for breakfast. With five minutes to spare before boarding started, we finally checked our “carry-ons” and sprinted to the gate. My inner “TSA trauma” had me braced for a long ordeal, but guess what? Japan doesn’t do TSA. Security took maybe three minutes, with airline employees smiling and bowing instead of barking orders.
We found Slade and Tara in the food court (Slade had already annihilated some Japanese fried chicken), but as we scooped them up to board, Tara’s face went pale. “I don’t have our boarding passes. I think I lost them.”
Cue panic.
The airline worker calmly told us to wait while she boarded everyone else. I swear, as we stood there with our passports in hand, every eye in that plane burned into our backs. But instead of melting down, I just felt relief when they handed us new passes and waved us through. We boarded last, with the entire cabin staring like we were those people. But hey—we made it!
Touchdown in Paradise- A quick two-hour flight later, we landed in the most beautiful place in the world—Okinawa. For Slade, this is “home,” and you could see it in his face the moment we stepped off the plane. The weather was surprisingly perfect—around 81 degrees and felt much cooler than Florida.
While Michael handled the rental car shuttle, I soaked in that Okinawan air (and mentally planned my first stop). Naturally, Slade’s first order of business was to show Tara his old stomping grounds, starting with… Ocean Breeze, the Enlisted Club on Camp Foster. Yes, we went to an American food joint first thing. Why? Because poor Tara has barely eaten this whole trip—Japanese food isn’t really her thing. She crushed some tacos, Slade got nachos, Michael inhaled a burrito, and I had a buffalo chicken wrap.
The Rental (and the AC Battle)- We checked into our rental around 3:45 PM—beautiful place, great location, walking distance to American Village. Perfect… except for the minor issue of no air conditioning. And if you know me, you know 68–69 degrees is my happy place.
We called the management company, but between the language barrier and the lack of urgency, it wasn’t looking good. “Send email,” they said. Michael tinkered with the AC for hours while Slade and Tara went exploring.
Slade was floored by how much American Village has changed. The Ferris wheel is gone, the small-town charm replaced by towering hotels and glassy skyscrapers. It’s still Okinawa, but it feels like it jumped from the 1980s to the 2030s overnight. Prices have also evolved—food and drinks are still cheap (beer is $3!), but hotels? The Hilton was listed at $800 a night. Insanity.
Round One Adventures- By the time Slade and Tara came back around 5 PM, they were buzzing with energy (and probably sugar), so they got cleaned up and ready for Round One. If you’ve never been, Round One is like a neon fever dream of every arcade, bowling alley, karaoke bar, and sports center you can imagine—stacked in one multi-level building. Think Chuck E. Cheese meets Dave & Buster’s but on steroids, with 10 times the games and absolutely zero chance of leaving before midnight.
Slade immediately disappeared into the sports games while Tara bounced between arcade challenges, from dance battles to claw machines, celebrating every win like it was the championship game.
Basically, they had the time of their lives. By the time they came back to the rental, they were sweaty, laughing, and armed with a bag full of random claw-machine wins—because clearly, the true test of skill in Japan is winning a stuffed Pikachu the size of a small child.
Plan B: Fans, Slots, and Curry-By 7 PM, we gave up waiting and headed to base for reinforcements—a fan, the commissary, plus a quick stop in the slot room. We walked out with $300 in winnings, feeling like high rollers, and made a celebratory stop at Coco’s Ichiban Curry. It was exactly how we remembered it, naan bread and all (minus the whole “order on a Japanese iPad” thing).
Back at the rental? Still no AC. One last call—this time, we got a woman who spoke perfect English. She promised someone would come right away. Thank you, baby Jesus.
At 10:20 PM, the maintenance guy arrived, took one look at the AC, and told us it needed a deep cleaning and couldn’t be fixed tonight. So… fan life it was.
Reflections on Day Six- Despite the heat, the unease of seeing how much Okinawa has changed, and the chaotic travel day, I felt a strange comfort as I drifted off to sleep. The island may have evolved, but so have I. The Okinawa of eight years ago isn’t here anymore, and honestly, neither is the “me” from eight years ago.
Tomorrow, we’ll explore more (hopefully in an air-conditioned house). I can’t wait to see what other surprises this island—and this trip—have in store.
Thanks for taking this detour with me.
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