Posts Tagged ‘Travelling’

Day 2 Started out with some heavy rain that seemed to get heavier every time I needed to get in or out of the car. Once in the car (and quite drenched) we headed to Guppi’s Shiatsu Massage. We had visited Guppi’s the first time we visited Miyakojima and Guppi had given us a lot of information on places to visit.

I kept in touch with him after we left and he offered to go with us to look at a apartments. Not only was he able to give us valuable information about the surrounding areas of each apartment and whether or not he thought they were worth it, but he also introduced us to more people and showed us some good places to eat.

Searching for an apartment

For anyone who is moving to a new location, having a good friend is invaluable. By day two, our friend Guppi had helped us search for an apartment, introduced us to a number of new people, showed us good places to shop, and had a number of appliances he wanted to get rid of that will save us from spending a lot of money. Not to mention the massage we got on the first day.

We looked at about a total of eight apartments and found one that we really liked. We decided to take it, but later realized the lower apartment has a dog. Since the idea was to really relax while we are here, we are going to look for another apartment.

When searching for a new apartment, and especially one in a new area, it is very helpful to make a list of the things that are important to you. Having a list will help you to quickly narrow down the list and also stop you from loosing focus on what’s important. Since the apartments here are quite different than what we were used to in Tokyo, it was easy to get excited about the size and forget about the location or price (things that are more important to me).

Adapt to the local situation

Once you get an understanding for the prices structure and quality you need to adapt to the local expectations. Apartments in Miyakojima go for far less than they do in Tokyo. Keeping the expectations of Tokyo would make it easy to be taken advantage of. The people are very honest here and it hasn’t been a problem at all, but in certain areas it most certainly could be. Lean the local conditions and adapt to them.

Know the general area

By visiting Miyakojima before hand we were able to see the layout of the island and could plan before hand where we hoped to live. Most of the housing is located in a tight small city and the rest of the island is basically farmland and forest. We are searching for a places just out of town, but close enough so we can walk to town if we want to save on gas. If you don’t have a chance to visit before you move, then I highly suggest getting to know some of the local people and ask them for advice.

It’s warm and raining again on day 3, but hopefully we will be able to find something today. I can’t wait to get out of this guest house. I have somewhat limited access to internet so I will post pictures once we move into our apartment.

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I had originally planned to post letting everyone know that I had moved out of my apartment and it might be a few days until I would be able to post again due to the lack of internet. Unfortunately, due to packing and planning, I was never able to get to a location to actually post it.

Things have gone well over the last few days. (For those who have missed the last few posts, I have given up my job and life in Tokyo and moved to Miyakojima, a tropical island of Okinawa.). I was worried about getting rid of all of our stuff, but we were able to sell about half and gave away the other half. We managed to take an apartment full of items we collected over the last few years, and eliminated until everything fit into about 6 suitcases (3 each for myself and my wife).

Each bag was packed to the exact weight limit perfectly. Or at least we thought. Due to our misinterpreting the weight rules we were about 30 kilos over. Luckily we were able to upgrade our seats to priority, which allowed for more luggage (and also a more comfortable ride). It was a little more expensive, but less than it would have been to pay the extra charges.

After a very short layover (we made our plane with about 5 minutes to spare) in Naha we arrived in Miyakojima around 4:00. To save money we are staying at the �Sun Room�, a guest house. It was once a karaoke box that has been converted into sleeping rooms. They also include a rental car and have internet so it’s not a bad deal, but not the cleanest place I’ve ever stayed either.

Tomorrow we will go search for a more permanent place to live.

Stay Tuned….