Churaumi Aquarium, the Sequel

There are many, many things to do on Okinawa, but most people agree that Churaumi ("beautiful/graceful ocean") Aquarium is one of the "must see" destinations. The girls and I had been a couple of times, but John and his parents were looking forward to their first and only visit. It is about 90 minutes from where we are in Onna, and we figured that both the kids and the grown-ups would appreciate a pit stop along the way. A friend told us about Pain de Kaito, a wonderful bakery in Nago about halfway to the aquarium. It is the same bakery that runs the cafe at OIST, but the store in Nago has a wider selection. Poppy has never met a pastry he didn't like, so this rest stop was a crowd-pleaser.

This "cutout head" photo opportunity is a popular item at many destinations here. What I love is that it often includes the date and so I can keep things in order! 

The first stop in the aquarium was the touch tank. Maddox had been brave with her exploration the last time she and I went to the aquarium and she was eager to show Grandma and Zoe what they could touch. She says the sea cucumber is soft like petting a cat. I wouldn't go that far, but it is much softer than you would think. 

Zoe likes the aquarium the best when she is being carried by someone, preferably me. Sometimes she is exceptionally whiny about it, but on this particular day she was actually pretty good. We look cuter when we are smiling. By the way, am I getting any better at selfies? Methinks not.

Zoe did tell me a joke this morning, perhaps inspired by the aquarium.

Zoe:  "Mom, what did the octopus say to the shark?"

Me: "Please don't eat me?"

Zoe: "Correct. Good job, Mom."

I think the part that was supposed to be funny was when she told me I was right and that I was doing a good job. She must have declared it Opposite Day. (That reads like a plea for compliments; it is not. I know I'm awesome, but Zoe doesn't always recognize how amazing I am.)

The main attraction at the aquarium is the Kuroshio Sea tank. The name is from the warm current that supports the diverse and unique marine life in the waters around Okinawa. The tank is amazing - it was the largest in the world until Atlanta opened their aquarium. We Americans like things to be the best and biggest, don't we? The walls in this tank are two feet thick. That actually doesn't seem thick enough when you are looking at three whale sharks.

The Ocean Expo Park, of which the aquarium is a part, was actually built for the 1975 World's Fair. The aquarium was recently built, just in 2002, as a way to renew the park and give it increased visibility. It definitely worked as it has become a major tourist destination, and rightly so. The photo below gives you a sense of the size of the aquarium.  The Expo Park has many other parts to it, including an arboretum, playgrounds, and a traditional Okinawan village. We haven't been to much of the rest of it since the aquarium always offers something we haven't seen before.

Towards the end of the day, we ended up at the Dolphin Theater. One of John's graduate students had just arrived in Okinawa the day before and was with us on this day trip. Right before the Dolphin Show, he had a coffee float. During the Dolphin Show, he had a beer. He is very smart, and quickly learned the coping mechanisms we use to survive parenting young children. 

I don't think Zoe cared about the dolphin show. She was mostly happy to be sitting in Grandma's lap.

My favorite fact that Maddox taught me after reading the information at the aquarium is that there are some kinds of fish that change color after they have finished eating. They are one color when they are hungry, another color after they have eaten. I am looking into have some kind of color-coded sensor implanted on my kids' wrists or something. Are you whining because you are hungry? Are you really full or are you just trying to be excused so you don't have to sit at the table? Perhaps John can make an app for that. Isn't that the kind of thing sabbatical is for?

Until next time...