Miyakojima Paradise Blog

Bonjour à tous!

Last week we fully enjoyed the sunny weather (30°C already!) to go on our first snorkelling tour of the season!

This blog already have a lot of articles dealing with Miyako’s aquatic life and loads of photos with coral and tropical fish, so today’s thread is about the program of a snorkelling tour in MiyakoJima.

We generally leave at 11.00 am, so everybody can sleep as long as they like! We prepare everything in advance (snorkelling set, lunch boxes, etc) so you just have to bring your towel and your flip-flops (without forgetting the sunblock!)

The “road trip” goes along the sea front so you can have a nice view of the costs, then we stop in a place overlooking the lighthouse at the very end of the eastern peninsula.

Heading to Yoshino after this little pause, we book for everybody tables and parasols so everybody can comfortably undress

After few pieces of advice about the good using of the material and some recommendations, everybody throws oneself into the water….

…and surprise,  you are already surrounded by a bunch of curious fish, swimming around you. In order to make this snorkelling tour more interesting, we bring some fish food, so everybody is free to feed the fish and enjoy the show!

The time spent in the water globally depends on people’s wishes, we adapt the situation to your desires!

Then we have lunch just in front of the sea, during which the cost guard comes to talk about Yoshino and share experiences. He also likes to give tourists small presents he made from coral (necklaces or straps, both if you’re lucky!)

In the afternoon we get back to the water at high tide, so we can see more varieties of fish, like sword fish for exemple.

After a good shower we leave Yoshino beach, the head full of good memories.

Tempted?

During April, the big event here in MiyakoJima is the national triathlon!

the entire island is thrown into a frenzy during this competition in which 1,500 athletes compete every year.

Participants must go through three stages of swimming (3 km), cycling (155 km), and running (42.2 km) within 14 hours to complete the race. While the course may be tough, participants can enjoy the beautiful view, cool breeze, and warm ocean of Miyako. The athletes could have to deal with a great numbers of difficulties; first, the current between the two islands of Miyako and Irabu, where the first stage of the triathlon takes place. Weather can also be a great hurdle, depending on the wind, the heat and the humidity rate (it’s a tropical island!).

Those pictures are from the official website, hopefully I will publish ours by the end of the month

The triathlon will begin on April the 16th and end on the 19th 2010.

If you want to grab more information, please visit the official website: http://www.miyako-net.ne.jp/~strong-e/

Going to MiyakoJima means also discover the local food, especially the traditional dishes of the Ryukyu islands (already mentionned by Miyako ^^)

For today’s thread, we’re going to talk about something else: the exotic fruits! Here you’ve got plenty of them, and maybe there are some you’ve never heard about

The number 1 fruit in Miyako is of course Mango, well-know in the whole country. Some of them can reach inimaginable prices and are generally offered for special occasions (around 10,000 yens, or 107 USD). Mangos can be found between June and August, especially the Irwin and Keats species, which have become brand names of their own.

Guava: can be found from August to September, this fruit has a pink flesh and you can even eat the seed. The leaves can be used to brew medicinal tea.

Papaya: this fruit grows all the year and has the particularity to be eaten as a vegetable when not riped (the peel is green and the flesh is quite firm. It’s often used in thai gastronomy). Papaya is also well-known for its medicinal properties (the flesh, the seeds,the peel and the latex).

Passion fruit: from January to March, then from July to September, passion fruit is very cheap here in Miyako, and very easy to find!

Dragon fruit, or Pithaya: from May to October, two sorts exist. There is one type with a pink peel and white flesh, and another one with a red peel and a pink flesh, very sweet and sugary.

Star Fruit: fruit with yellow peel and a yellow flesh, with 5 sides, which gives it a star-shape when cut. The flesh is crunchy and juicy, with little brown seeds inside.

The Biwa fruit: the fruits are oval-shaped and have a yellow-orange color.  de forme ovoïde et de couleur jaune orangé. The bays have a juicy and yellow flesh with a slightly acid taste.

Kanisuto: an oval-shape fruit turning yellow-orange when riped. The peel is edible but very acid, and the inside of the fruit contains a stone a sweet flesh.

Erratum: further to a mistake, this fruit is actually called Kanisuteru, and I couldn’t find its equivalence in english. However there is one fact about it: it’s very expensive, one fruit can reach the price of 450 yens. I haven’t tasted it at the moment, but when I have the occasion, I will post the description of the fruit in this article.

I hope this little presentation will make you salivate and give you the wish to discover them!

sources: http://tous-les-fruits.com/index-fruits-exotiques.html, http://album.aufeminin.com/album/see_64926_11/douceurs-des-antilles.html, http://fr.wikipedia.org, http://www3.city.miyakojima.lg.jp/kankou-english/

We use to say that Holiday rhymes with relaxing stay And we totally agreed!

Indeed we went into a partnership with Raifu, a massage center located on the 5t floor of the building hosting our shop! Now we are able to offer our clients a large range of exotic massages, achieved by a professional, with very affordable prices!

So please do not hesitate to try the traditional Hogushi massage during your stay in Miyako, or why not daring a tonic Romi Romi (Hawaiian massage) or a relaxing Balinese Rinpa massage? The massage center has a nice view of the seafront, so you can fully enjoy this moment.

Hiroé-san, the professional, offers short massages (min 15mn) as the reflexoly massages, but also three “packs”, which can last more than an hour and a half! A word to the wise…

Hi!

Today I wanted to share with you my first impressions about my life in Miyako!

I’ve been here for only one week and half, but the change of scene is amazing. First because the way of life is totally different from the capital. People are more relaxed, less strict in comparison with the big cities. I’m also fascinated by the omnipresent nature, by the wonderful landscapes and also by the local wildlife. Every day is a new discovery, and I am impatient to discover more so I can fully enjoy the splendours of the island.

Landscapes are changing depending on the luminosity, the season, the weather, the tide…We seldom contemplate an identical scenery when going twice to the same place. In the same way, if you wish catch sight of certain birds or fish, you have to know which places and which time are the most appropriated to do so.

Local traditions are also a great discovery, and I look forward to knowing the art of living of the Ryukyu inhabitants.

Of course you have to be realistic and understand that there is always a negative aspect, like in everything. However, when you think about the advantages and the drawbacks, it becomes easy to know that being here is a true experience

Hi everybody!

We decided to create a new area in the shop dedicated to accessories and jewels. Indeed, we are looking to diversify our products, in order to offer our customers a larger range of items, for both our international clientele (who often look for souvenirs) and our Japanese clients, who like newness!

We wanted to have a “natural” atmosphere for this area, in accordance with the handcrafted aspect of our jewels, glass-blowed by a French master, Dominique

Here are some pictures! We hope you’ll enjoy them!

Here is a display shelf dedicated to Dominique’s jewels:

All his jewels are handcrafted, as you can see below. We truly hope his little turtles will seduce our clients!

The necklaces are provided with a leather lace, woven or not:

And here comes Dominique, working on his jewels at Kawagoe, near Tôkyô:

This is a true work of art!

Summer season is coming fast, and the weather is already hot,  so we’ve got an idea! We should offer our clients some refreshing drinks; MiyakoJima is very famous for its tropical fruits, so why not drink a smoothie, to take away or to savour outside our shop on a terrace in front of the beach?

Our customers will thereby have the opportunity to drink cocktails made of fresh local fruits and enjoy the great taste of well-known MiyakoJima’s mangos!

Here is a preview of our future cocktails:

Miyako Dream:  mango, passion fruit and coconut

Red Light: strawberry, orange, lemon and banana (sorry for the blurred photo, I did not have time to take another one, everybody pounced on it!!)

Hi everybody!

This is my first article here on the blog of MiyakoJima Paradise. I’ve joined the team one week ago, and I’m currently completing a six-month internship, compulsory as part of my studies. I’m a French student,  and I will be (hopefully!) soon graduated from a business school specialised in tourism (I first obtained a French Bachelor Degree equivalent in Japanese and English languages).

I will be in charge of writing new articles for the following months, and I will write depending on the needs of the blog, but also depending on my thoughts; Despite it’s not my first trip here in Japan, I was told that living on a tropical island such as MiyakoJima was completly different from the life on the main island, Honshu.

So if you have any questions concerning MiyakoJima, I’ll do my best to answer it, knowing I had myself some  questions before my departure.

I hope to hear from you soon!

The touristic season is beginning next month, and the island is preparing to welcome visitors; on Painagama beach, in front of the studios, four shelters were built so people can enjoy their meal by the seafront without getting sunburned. Indeed, barbecues are very popular in Miyakojima, especially during summer time, and it’s easy to understand when you see the place!