27th August Wednesday

Today was supposed to be Katsuren Castle and the American Village. We had made rough plans to meet at 1000hrs. At about 930hrs I went to chat with Sensei Bob, next thing Renee was at the door and it was 1100hrs. They has just woken up. So we decided to make today a rest day, we have all been going at it full tilt since we got here and we are all starting to feel the strain.

So I relaxed in my room catching up on photos and this blog. At 1200hrs Sensei Bob and Iwent to A&W for lunch. I had the Aloha burger, it was OK, but Sensei Bob loves the burgers. After that we both needed supplies, so we headed to the shops and wondered around. I bumped into Adam and Renee and wondered around in the nice cool air with them for awhile then headed back to the hotel.

There was no training for me tonight, but there was a possible plan to take Uechi Sensei out for dinner. Andy got off work early and just as Celina and Angela got back from Naha he arrived at the hotel. They had a quick freshen up and then Andy took us on a tour of the important Isshin Ryu places. One thing thatI missed last year was Shimabuko Sensei's tomb, was it was really good to see that. We got caught in the usual mid afternoon down pour and had to wait it out in the car. The rain made the smell from the pig slaughter place over the hill even worse!

It seems that his family is not too diligent in the up keep of the tomb though. It looks likes it could do with a really good clean and polish. We got some pictures in our Gi's, wich was really nice. After that we drove around to Shimabuko Sensie's old house, which is a really run down old place now. Looking at the picutres back in the day, it has really been let go to rack and ruin.