Round 1 of the 2017 NRL season started last Thursday and my beloved Dragons kicked their season off on Saturday against the Penrith Panthers. If you follow the experts the two teams are headed towards different ends of the table by seasons end. Penrith are expected to finish in the top 2 with their skillful yet youthful side who have had another year of experience, where as the Dragons are expected to finish in the bottom 2 as the side on paper does not look a lot different than last year except for a few new purchases.

So with that said it was looking like a bleak, rainy, wet, and cold Saturday afternoon at Kogarah Oval. I got myself comfortable on the Northern end of the ground where I have sat in the same seat for 3 years. Not the best seat in the house but it gives a view close the action without a media pass. I need to find out how to get one of those!

Photo kit wise it's all the same equipment except I got myself a 2nd hand Canon 1.4x Mk II extender to give my 70-200mm a bit more reach. I get 280mm @ f/4.0 now which is still not ideal but hey... its the cheapest way in to the market for a 300mm. No where to rent the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 unfortunately so I'm still saving my pennies.

Here are some pics, I'm a bit rusty so nothing seemed to be tack sharp. At the moment I'm blaming myself and not the equipment. So here are some pics for you to enjoy

I get close but the visiting side always warms up on the Northern end of Jubilee. Peachy and Cartwright warming up

No warm up here, no one calls Hiku and Moylan go for an early bomb

Dragons one the front foot early in the first half. Penrith seemed a little flat. Thompson getting involved early and steams on to a short ball to make 4-0

Forwards are really going forward today for the Dragons, but the backs are making it a game of it too

Josh Dugan on the charge early taking a hand off McCrone

It's all in the eyes, Paul Vaughn making a strong debut for the Red V.

Tim Lafai out in the open spaces, which was something rare last year

P train they were yelling out at the ground. Awesome go forward from the props

There was tough defence too, Gypsy helping out the skipper

Widdop didn't do much of this yesterday, his running game was back and reaped in the dividends with 2 meat pies

Frizell was not to be out done by his 2nd row partner, took the line on all game

Thompson goes over for his 2nd meat pie of the day

Waqa Blake goes up high to defuse a bomb

Jack de Belin, contract extension ... shows what he is worth with a powerful run to get over the line

Celebrations all around the try scorer de Belin, but he is no where to be seen

That's half time, the Dragons showing some enterprise with the ball and using it well to be ahead at half time 18 - 4. 2 tries to Joel Thompson and one to Jack de Belin. Rain has held off, let's hope the Dragons continue with their form in the 2nd half.

The less photos in the 2nd half will be a good sign as the Dragons run down Southern end of Kogarah oval and I don't have that angle.

Te Maire Martin tries to spark up his side. Running in to traffic close to the line

Waqa Blake on the charge... not looking good for the Dragons here

Cleary steps inside Frizell, heading towards the try line

The view Russell Packer has when heading into the Panther's defensive line

After Thompson scores his 3rd the right side back 3 give the crowd a well deserved applause to making it out to the oval as it was a wet Saturday before the game started

Hopefully not celebrating too soon, 10 to go and up by 32 points

Former Dragon trying to lift his Panthers late in the game, Trent Merrin takes the line on

Winners are grinners, Nene McDonald successful as a Dragon in his first NRL game in the Red V

A real positive result today 42-10 winners. Dragons go forward was excellent and they used all that domination in a positive manner to score some really nice tries and weren't always relying on putting the boot to the ball to cross the white line, which was pleasing to see.

It's the first game of the year, and it's a long season. If we see more of this then it can be a promising season ahead. Not getting ahead of myself but it's always a good week ahead if your footy team wins!

Dragons 42 (Joel Thompson 3, Gareth Widdop 2, Jack de Belin, Cameron McInnes tries; Gareth Widdop 7 goals) def. Panthers 10 (Waqa Blake, Tyrone Peachey tries; Nathan Cleary 1 goal) at UOW Jubilee Oval. Half-time: 18-4 Crowd: 7,283.

Well the Dragon's footy season was close to a write off mid season and I took a punt to go on holidays before the season ended and if a miracle was still to occur I would make it back before the Grand Final. Anyways it doesn't seem like it was meant to be this year and I hope for a better season by my beloved Dragons for 2017!

I've decided to explore more of Japan mainly for a couple of reasons

I lost to my travel buddy. I wanted to go to Koh Samui and do nothing but eat and lay on the beach
Okinawa has a cool aquarium
Japan in general has very nice food
Okinawa has some nice beaches
Okinawa is meant to be different from the rest of Japan

The main thing I was reluctant to go to Okinawa was I had to do some driving. Although the Japanese drivers drive on the same side of the road, it is still very foreign. Though once you start looking at Trip Advisor or Google images those beaches and clean water make it look awesome.

Before the trip I had been religiously looking at the weather and watching the heat and humidity hit around 40 degrees Celsius. Perfect beach weather but also in the back of the mind I knew that we would be going in the middle of typhoon season. You some times hope that you get there in between seasons.

I hopped on CX162 early Saturday and bound for Okinawa via Hong Kong. There are no direct flights to Okinawa from Sydney and the trip to Hong Kong was best priced (no I am not sponsored by Cathay Pacific but I wish I was). I also have the chance to meet family on the over night stop over. Why just an over night you may ask? well it stops me from spending more money :)

After a very generous feed from my family in HK (we managed to fit 17 people plus a baby on the one round table!) it was back to Hong Kong airport for my journey to Okinawa. I boarded KA378 and after about 2 hours in the air, the eagle had landed in Okinawa Naha International Airport.

First port of call after collecting my bags was to get to the hire car. After consultation with my work colleague, he suggested I use ORIX car rental service. You get taken via a coach to the rental garage and have your paper work all done. I wanted to get a Honda Jazz (or they are known as Fit in Japan) however I ended up with a Suzuki Swift, the Japanese Mini :)

Taking a pic of the Swift just to remember the number plate when i parked in the valet area.

After checking in to the Hyatt Regency in Naha and grabbing some snacks at the tea break we decided to head out to town. This is about a 5 minute walk to Kokusai Street. This is a known tourist strip, so it should not be hard to find a feed, and definitely not hard to find a Blue Seal ice cream. I can't believe how many Blue Seal ice creams stores there are and they are so close together. You also do not need to worry about convenient stores as they are about 20m apart, whether it is a Lawson or Family Mart.

The tourist strip was a buzz after passing heavy shower which was happening when we were checking in.

Very cool Mario Kart tour, flexible enough you can dress as your own favorite super hero. Unfortunately it was too wet the next evening to have a go.

After having a walk down the strip it was finally time to grab a bite and we decided to grab some Ramen for the evening.

Pretty much a seafood ramen with your usual pork. Some massive scallops inside too :)

Decided to retreat for an early night as the plane rides tend to take a bit out of me. Hoping for a sunny day for day 2 of the Okinawa trip.

Wake up in the morning just in time for breakfast and we can relax and coast around since we are not on a tour bus. This is a huge plus in my opinion. Today's agenda is to go to Shuri Castle and then find somewhere nice to eat Teppanyaki. Oh and find a SIM card. I made the mistake of not buying a data SIM at the airport, and found it pretty hard to get a SIM from a convenient store. So after some research in the hotel, I had to find a BIC Camera store in the Naha area. Basically it is a big electronics store selling consumer and home appliances.

Off on our journey, the road was wet but it was not raining. Heading to the castle we got hit by a passing shower but this really doesn't dampen our spirits and we are armed with an umbrella when we arrive at the castle just before midday.

The Shuri castle was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in the 1992.

A palace throne I believe, the writing is in Japanese and I followed no guide

One of the gates to enter the Shuri Castle

With the weather holding up we decided to continue with the royal theme and head to the Shikina-en Garden. Was meant to be one of the main gardens for the Emperors back in the day.

One view of the pond in Shikina-en Garden

airbnb for the Emperor, Tatami mats for 5 adults a kitchen and i think it is a bathroom

The picture does not do justice to the surreal feeling of the garden, you could sit and just look at the pond all day and let time fly.

It was time to find the SIM card so we could do some research on the run. We did have a plan but the way we like to travel is to be a bit more flexible so we do not need to meet time lines. Off to BIC Camera store near Naha, and I picked the SIM up. Also had a look at the Fuji XT-2 and the Fuji X-Pro 2. Both seemed quite snappy in AF and well if I had the money I would probably still go for the X-Pro 2. For the time being the X-Pro 1 is still the work horse for me in travel and I am a bit reluctant to part with it for now.

After picking up the SIM card, the weather gods are again against us but at least we got the outdoor site seeing out of the way for the day. We head back in time to grab the free drinks and nibbles at the Regency Hyatt. I'm getting cheap and try to drink and snack as much as I can.

The decision was to go to Sam's Anchor Inn. I thought this was the well ranked place for Teppanyaki but I was wrong. There are quite a few Teppanyaki places around and there are also lots of Sam's Restaurants! Anyways we decided on the Anchor Inn version of Sam's and there was a Teppanyaki menu on offer with lobster and Okinawa steak. So it was worth a go.

Sam's Anchor Inn, the main dishes in our Teppanyaki set meal

There was a little bit of walking today so it's an early retreat. Need to check out in the morning and head to Onna-son for the next part of our trip. The next hotel is near the beach so hopefully the weather clears up and we can have a dip in that crystal blue water.

The weather awaits us on Day 3 of our trip, this is the view from the Club breakfast lounge at the Regency Hyatt

Before making a break to Onna, we decided to try our luck to head in to a local market that wasn't too far from the Hotel. We were in search for some Miso paste and we thought best to get the local produce stuff. However the markets do not tend to be buzzing around 11am. The mini shops don't open up until later in the day and in the evening they tend to be more busy. We found some Miso paste and decided to try and grab a quick bite. A bit of too'ing and fro'ing we decided to enter a noodle bar, that had two occupants in it.

An Okinawa lady who was the only worker at the time served us. She was the chef and waitress. With the use of google translator we managed to order some Udon and Soba. I must say two bowls for under $10 Aussie seemed a bargain and I definitely had no regret, the soup was clear and tasted MSG free and it was quite delicious in my humble opinion.

One of the noodle bars in the local market, not the one we ended up eating at

It's about an hour drive to Onna in the wet, which ruined a trip to Cape Manza that has the iconic cliff face of an elephant trunk. We've got a free day in 2 days and hopefully that allows us to head down there and check out the remarkable view.

Checking in to Kafuu Resort Fuchaku, the condo is large with a nice view, hopefully the beautiful sunset is a sign of better things to come in regards to the weather. The beach is just across the road.

With the wet weather, we checked in and I decided to burn some fat in the tiny gym at the resort, the pool was out of action as it was closed due to the soon approaching typhoon. The reception desk told us its very likely the two pools in the complex will be open the next day.

With a lot of walking planned for our Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium visit the pool would look like the order of the day to relax.

Dinner was at the resorts Orange restaurant. Lobster was served and it was a lot better tasting than the one at Naha. A couple of cocktails made the sleeping for the night easier :)

Next morning the weather again was not looking pleasant but we did not care too much as the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium would be indoors and the only thing out door was to walk from the car park to the aquarium and the dolphin show was also out doors.

The aquarium was a good hour drive from Onna-son. By the time we got there it was near midday. The aquarium features at the start are quite a teaser before you reach the main tank which has two massive whale sharks and who knows how many sting rays and fish.

Impressive little lion fish and some photo bombing fish

Inquisitive turtle on the seabed of the tank. One of the sharpest shots I have through a piece of glass

Seahorses are little interesting creatures

They look artistic in a tank but are menacing in the ocean... jelly fish

Look at the size of that thing!!! whale shark to human

One of the main attractions at the aquarium is to eat lunch or any meal next to the large shark tank. Sharks swim by, large fish swim by, sting rays glide past it is all very awesome to see such large marine life before your own very eyes. Mind you, you need to wait patiently to get a table right next to the tank, but keep an eye out for those sneaky tourists that try to nab your table!!!

This friendly sea creature wanted to have a bit of my lunch and drink

After a solid 3 hours in the aquarium we headed out to the feeding and acrobatic dolphin show. After watching many of these dolphin shows and even swimming with one previously they are still very enjoyable to watch.

The dolphin's show off during their encore performance

There was a huge traffic jam on the way back to Onna-son. It took about 1.5 hours to get back to the hotel. Our chosen eating place was to try another market, it was called Onna Station. This probably was not the greatest move. I should have driven to the American Village. Onna Station served small bites but it was near closing time. The food was not bad, just that we probably wanted a little more after such a big high after the aquarium.

The pool was still open at the resort and I chose the roof top infinity pool, I could still enjoy the nice surroundings even though it would take a little time to warm up in the pool.

Wishing for some sun on the open day I had planned for this trip, we woke up to you guessed it a rainy day. So Day 4 early on was instilled as a lazy day. Long sleep in but made sure we did not miss breakfast.

Finished reading my book "West with the Night", which is about Beryl Markham being a pioneer pilot in Africa delivering anything from medicine, to alcohol and providing hunting tours. She was an amazingly independent and strong lady who also had a passion to train race horses. For the book worms not a bad read if you want to read something inspiring and motivating. After the reading I felt we needed to go for a coffee break, well I was tired. We punched in cafe bars in the GPS and decided to see if we could find a coffee shop along the beach even if it were a wet day. After going past maybe 2 pr 3 of these places, anything advertised as a cafe & bar typically was not opened and opened from 5pm til late, which kind of indicated to me these were more bars serving sake.

So we deiced to go wit hthe flow and punch Starbucks (no not another plug) We ended up driving about 30 minutes and lucky enough for me the travel buddy grumbled a little after the choice but there was a nice little bakery in the mall where Starbucks was located. So we have some happy campers. Managed to do some last minute souvenirshopping and the coffee certainly got us buzzing.

We had a last swim at the roof top pool, and it was more a bittersweet swim because we didnt even get to set foot on to the beach. We had another awesome meal at the BBQ restaurant at the hotel, mind you this was our second choice the first being the Japanese restaurant.

Rightly or wrongly the evening flowed with beverages and we ended worse for wear. Luckily we had a late checkout and late afternoon flights.

Okinawa didn't let us down in the last morning either the clouds were there and the drizzle set in on the drive back to Naha. It was a strange holiday, we didn't do very much yet we enjoyed it, the food, the slow going of the town and well the aquarium was the absolute highlight. Followed secondly by the food and beverages.

Come 4:45pm it was time to board KA379 and head back to home via HK again. Okinawa in a nutshell thoroughly enjoyable if you want to do nothing :)