Churuami Aquarium

Being Asian after running through the pouring rain.

Holy toledo it has been a long time since I wrote. I know I still need to do Liam's 1-year update. Little dude is so grown up and he has changed so much, it's ridiculous.

Anyway, this weekend is kind of exciting. As you all have heard, there is a super typhoon that is going to hit us here on Okinawa tomorrow night around midnight. I have heard some compare Typhoon Songda to Hurricane Katrina! This is the first typhoon that will actually hit Kadena since we have lived here, so we are pretty anxious to see what these typhoons are all about! We are all stocked up on food and water since we are not allowed to leave our house when it gets close to us. This base turns to a ghost town! Right now I guess you can say we are experiencing the "calm before the storm." It is 9:30 at night, and there isn't even a slight breeze outside and the typhoon is less than 24 hours away! So, since we are going to be stuck indoors all weekend on our nice, long, 4-day memorial weekend, we decided to take the only opportunity we would have to do something fun before the storm hit. We got up early and headed up to Churuami Aquarium!

It was about a 1.5 hour drive. We took the scenic route up, and the expressway on the way back. It is sooo pretty up north! It is very mountainous and you are driving along the ocean the entire way. It was cloudy and drizzly when we got there, but oh so humid as usual. The aquarium was super sweet! My favorite thing about it was that all the creatures in the tanks were ones you could find out here in the local area. Every tank was a tropical fish tank, so it was very different than what I was used to at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. First off we saw a "petting tank" with starfish and sea slugs. From there there were a lot of tanks with fish that looked like they belonged on "Finding Nemo." If we're just being honest, I wanted to just bee-line to the 2-million gallon tank and check out the whale sharks! About 15 minutes after we got to the aquarium, a SWARM of Japanese high school students showed up and flooded the place. Before their arrival, it was pretty quiet and Liam got front row views of all the tanks. We were trying to stay ahead of the crowd, but it just wasn't working. They cramed in any little space they could find, and holy cow were they loud! Needless to say, Liam went into sensory overload very quickly. All the locals were trying to talk to him and wave to him, and all the tanks, and the loud noise...I just wanted to run to a corner and hide with him for a minute to have some quiet time to pull ourselves together! It was so chaotic haha!

Eventually, we made it to the whale shark tank. For those that know me, you know I have a phobia of deep water and large objects ( boats, whales, airplanes...) I wouldn't say it's a serious phobia or anything, but seeing these things makes me freak out a little. As soon as we turned the corner and I saw the tank, I instantly started feeling sick! It was the craziest thing and I have never experienced a feeling like that in my life! I was getting all panic-y and nauseous, it was nuts! Kyle basically told me to snap out of it and stop being a baby hah And so I did. The tank was incredible! There were three whale sharks, all of which I was told were not full grown. There were manta rays, sting rays, all kinds of schools of fish, tuna, sharks, and so much more! There were so many different fish in there, you didn't know where to look!

After we spent a good 45 minutes at the big tank, we moved on to see what else the aquarium had in store. We saw so many more tanks filled with crazy looking fish and eels, it was a blasty blast. After 2 hours in the aquarium, Liam had enough of the shenanigans. We got a phone call from Kyle's boss stating that the TCCOR had dropped to 2, meaning that the storm was closer and we needed to strap everything down at home and prepare for the storm. Since it was a 2 hr drive home, we figured we better head out. As soon as we walked out the door, I saw a Japanese man passing out umbrellas for you to borrow as you walked around the park. I figured, " eh, it's just sprinkling....I don't need an umbrella." Right as we turned the corner to head to the car, it starts pouring. Kyle and I are in a sea of Japanese people with umbrellas, and we are the only dumbass Americans who don't have one. We look like complete idiots and we are soaked. As I recall, Kyle said I looked like a " wet rat." I should mention that the rain feels like bath water. It's so warm, that Liam was soaked in his stroller and he didn't even care the least bit. I started to feel bad for him, so we decided to run the rest of the way to the car ( which was a good 10 minute run hah)

Our drive home was a little nerve-racking as well. It was dumping rain most the way, and it was near impossible to see out the windshield! Great idea to go on a mini-trip the day before a hurricane. Who's bright idea was that?!....

As unfortunate as the rain situation was, it made for a good memory and a story. It is moments like that that you look back on and laugh. All in all, it was a great day. We didn't get lost at all, and I loved spending the day with mi familia! I hope you all get to enjoy your nice sunny Memorial Day weekends!! Don't forget the reason for the holiday, dudes!

xo