Sunday, May 13, 2007
Comprehensive Park
We have a park here in Okinawa called Comprehensive Park. Despite the promise of a wide range of park activities that its name suggests, Joe and I have never felt compelled to visit. Until yesterday.
Why oh why did we wait a year and a half to visit this wonderful place? It's got a full-on water park, with slides and pools and a view of the ocean. (Unfortunately, according to the sign, the admittance of tattoed people is verboten. Sorry Joe!)
There are walking paths, a couple of running tracks, a weight room, and dance classes. There are ponds where you can buy boxes of fish food to toss into the mouths of the most desperate carp I have ever seen. (Feeding fish is, bar none, Joe's all-time favorite park activity. But seriously, the Japanese park carp are worse than pigeons in their frenzy for food. There were one or two of them yesterday that I thought were gonna jump out of the water and bite my hand off.)
There are tennis courts, camp grounds, a bicycle race track,and playgrounds. You can rent bicycles there. If you are feeling really ambitious, I suppose you could even ride a unicycle. I saw not one, not two, but THREE little kids teetering around (successfully!)on unicycles. Crazy.
I didn't see a cafe, nor a zoo. A few months ago, Joe and I met a man married to the designer of the park (he was an asssistant designer). Maybe we should complain to him. Nahhh...the place was awesome. Besides, in our couple hours there we didn't even see the whole thing. Who knows what else other kinds of excitement Comprehensive Park holds in store!
Why oh why did we wait a year and a half to visit this wonderful place? It's got a full-on water park, with slides and pools and a view of the ocean. (Unfortunately, according to the sign, the admittance of tattoed people is verboten. Sorry Joe!)
There are walking paths, a couple of running tracks, a weight room, and dance classes. There are ponds where you can buy boxes of fish food to toss into the mouths of the most desperate carp I have ever seen. (Feeding fish is, bar none, Joe's all-time favorite park activity. But seriously, the Japanese park carp are worse than pigeons in their frenzy for food. There were one or two of them yesterday that I thought were gonna jump out of the water and bite my hand off.)
There are tennis courts, camp grounds, a bicycle race track,and playgrounds. You can rent bicycles there. If you are feeling really ambitious, I suppose you could even ride a unicycle. I saw not one, not two, but THREE little kids teetering around (successfully!)on unicycles. Crazy.
I didn't see a cafe, nor a zoo. A few months ago, Joe and I met a man married to the designer of the park (he was an asssistant designer). Maybe we should complain to him. Nahhh...the place was awesome. Besides, in our couple hours there we didn't even see the whole thing. Who knows what else other kinds of excitement Comprehensive Park holds in store!
