Orion Happy Park & Nago Pineapple Park

來沖繩就是要喝Orion啤酒！以前對啤酒不熱衷的我因沖繩天氣太熱，天天只想喝超冰啤酒。到酒廠時，工作人員會給指定開車司機（UN）和喝酒的人（我）不同顏色的徽章。導覽後駕駛人能拿到一杯無酒精飲料，而喝酒的人能拿到兩杯啤酒。千萬不要偷偷換杯子，喝酒不開車懂吧，導覽人員也非常仔細觀察大家！

這天根本是觀光客行程，酒廠逛完去鳳梨園。離Orion啤酒場約10分鐘，適合小孩或來沖繩非坐鳳梨車不可的遊客。園裡有超洗腦鳳梨歌，去了就知道我在說什麼！最吸引我們的是伴手禮區，鳳梨蛋糕配牛奶很好吃（要選有果粒的），鳳梨醋配氣泡水很解渴。沒機會來鳳梨園但想買鳳梨伴手禮，那霸機場也有。

One of the staples of Okinawa is Orion beer! I was never a beer person until I moved to Okinawa. The hot and humid weather here makes me crave for ice cold beers. At Orion Happy Park, staff will give the designated driver (UN) a different colored badge than guests who are drinking. At the end of the tour, designated driver can choose from a selection of non-alcoholic beer and juices, while others can enjoy up to two free beers! No switching badges, because the staff is secretly watching you! No drink and drive! #notonedrop

This day was a tourist day for us, after Orion Happy Park, we drove to the nearby Pineapple Park. This place is perfect for families, especially after you’ve had a few Orion beer. It has a pineapple shuttle that takes you from the parking lot to the park entrance. They play this pineapple theme song on repeat, everyone who has been there knows what that song is! But the main attraction for us was the souvenir shop! Pineapple cake goes really well with milk. Pineapple vinegar with seltzer water quenches your thirst. If you missed the chance to buy pineapple products, they have a small store at Naha Airport too. 

景點清單一和二
Sightseeing To-Do List No. 1 and 2.

5 Alaska Cruise Must Dos | 五樣阿拉斯加郵輪必做的事

(Please scroll down for English translation.)

七月時到阿拉斯加玩（又是一篇遲遲沒寫完的旅遊文）。紐約到西雅圖的飛機因天氣關係取消，感謝聯合航空努力把我和UN擠進下一班飛機，我們才能趕上搭阿拉斯加郵輪。但機場大亂，我們的行李沒順利抵達西雅圖。告訴郵輪公司我們的情況後，服務人員立刻給我們盥洗用品、免費送洗衣服、給我們正式場合服裝、還提供好多我們需要的物品。看到我沒外套，直接送我長袖上衣先防冷。也幫我們和航空公司聯絡，讓我們出發第一站就拿到行李。郵輪一向有服務周到的名聲，但Holland America的服務好到讓我們感動！

UN以前搭過阿拉斯加郵輪，所以有些經驗，加上朋友推薦，我們選擇Holland America。這五點是我們覺得搭阿拉斯加郵輪必做才不會後悔的事：

1. 住陽台套房：在旅遊業工作的朋友推薦這路線要住陽台套房。沿途能看到野生動物和超美風景！船開進冰山時，能在自己房間看風景。還能每天早上坐在陽台看書賞景吃早餐。

2. 冰川路線圖：為了保護環境，一天只有兩艘船能進冰山看景。那山景美到我無法形容，根本是地理頻道現場版。大自然太美了，照片完全無法詮釋眼前壯觀美景。住陽台套房能在房間看景，我們房間直接正對一片冰川，還能聽到冰川崩裂轟聲。

3. 直升機遊覽：搭直昇機到雪山裡拉雪橇，至少一生一次一定要體會！根本是國家地理頻道的畫面，完全比我想像還要壯觀的景象。從一片綠地到一轉彎一片雪山，真的只有直升機能給你這片景！

4. 狗拉雪橇：怕狗又愛狗的我實在太愛這行程！阿拉斯加哈士奇身形細長，和我們認識的哈士奇體型比較不同。牠們食量驚人，一天約六千卡路里，也擅於長跑。坐完雪橇後能和狗狗團隊互動（天啊太可愛了），工作人員很有耐心也很了解每隻狗的個性。UN說這些狗牙齒都超健康，表示營區提供的飼料非常好。

5. 望遠鏡：讓你從房間裡能清楚看到有熊出沒，坐直升機時能看到山羊，在爬山時能看到老鷹，船在大海裡能清楚看到鯨魚，進冰川時能看到海獅！

如果岸上團體活動有體力或預算有限制，我們很喜歡在Sitka坐船出海看動物（一人約美金180元）。野生海洋世界，我們親眼看到鯨魚媽媽和小孩從水裡跳出來呼吸再進去水底下潛水！約每五分鐘就能見到鯨魚們出現，為什麼那畫面好感人（沒錯我看到哭！）

A delayed post of our Alaska trip in July. Our original flight from New York to Seattle got canceled due to weather. Thankfully United Airlines found us two seats in the next flight out to Seattle so we could catch our cruise. But the many cancellations led to our checked in luggage not making it onto our new flight. After we informed Holland America, our cruise company, the staff immediately provided us with toiletries, clothes, free laundry services, formal wear rental and much more to accommodate our daily needs. They even gave me a long sleeve shirt seeing that I didn’t have any jacket on. They also coordinated with UA to receive our luggage at our first port of call. Cruise ships are well known for their excellent customer service, but Holland America took it up a notch, we were so touched by their staff. 

UN has been on an Alaskan cruise before, his experience plus the recommendation from friends led us to selected Holland America. On this trip, here are the five must-do’s:

1. Balcony stateroom: this is a must for a scenic cruise like this one. You can see wildlife and beautiful scenery! When the cruise ship enters glacier bay park, you can enjoy the view from your own room. The best part is having breakfast on your balcony every morning. 

2. Glacier Bay Route: to protect the natural phenomenon of glacier, only two cruise ships are allowed into glacier bay every day. Words can’t describe how beautiful glacier bay was. It was like watching the discovery channel. We could view glacier straight from our balcony, and can even hear the thunderous roar when glacier advances. 

3. Helicopter tour: take a helicopter ride onto the glacier and ride a dog sled, a once of a lifetime experience. It was a scene straight out of National Geographic. That transition from green mountain top to white glacier can only be seen from the helicopter. 

4. Dogsledding: for someone like me who has a love-fear relationship with dogs, I absolutely LOVE this part of our itinerary! Alaska huskies are skinny and long, different than the American huskies that we are more familiar with. They have a huge appetite! They each consume 6000 Cal a day to fuel their running. After dogsledding you can meet and greet each member of the team. The trainer knows each dog’s personality very well and takes really good care of them. UN noticed that the dogs’ teeth are very healthy, which means they get really healthy foods and are well cared for by the trainers. 

5. Binoculars: they let you see bears clearly from your stateroom, mountain goats from the helicopter ride, eagles on your hike, whales in the ocean, and seal lions in glacier bay!

For those with limited budget or physical limitations, I really recommend the “Otters, Raptors, and Bears: Oh My!” excursion package at Sitka (costs $180 pp). This is sea world in the wild, we saw whale mom and baby whale breached the water surface and dove back down! Wait about five minutes and they would breach again! It was a sight that would bring tears to your eyes (yes I cried!) 

PADI Open Water License | 潛水執照經驗

(Please scroll down for English translation.)

快恭喜我拿到潛水執照！感謝主我們平安沒事，安全上岸。也感謝主創造海底的美麗景色，讓我們能慢慢欣賞！

對任何水上活動都非常有興趣的UN，第一個禮拜在沖繩已經幫我報名潛水執照班！課程維持一個禮拜，兩天教室上課，兩天泳池練習，週末到海邊實際演練！那週好忙但也更了解自己，原來學潛水不但能看到超美海底世界還能更認識自己！

泳池練習第一天，教練教我們一些水裡技能。一切都很順利，直到需要在水底12英尺把蛙鏡裝水然後吐氣清空。我的天啊，把我嚇壞了！我不但嗆到還感覺到溺水，一度緊張失控想衝上水面（潛水大忌）。好險老師把我抓住，安撫我的情緒，讓我能在水裡練好清蛙鏡這技巧。超感謝老師那時把我抓住，讓我覺得安全不害怕！

那天被嚇壞了，一直夢到在海裡溺水，整晚沒睡好。起床後身心疲憊，完全不想繼續潛水執照的課程。第二天的泳池練習，一度太驚慌遲遲無法進入水裡，還和UN說我想回家了。講完那話，我就進去水裡潛水（那畫面也太戲劇化了吧！）第二天非常順利，也把該學的技巧學會了。

那週末我們到海裡練習，總共四次潛水。海底下景色超美，真慶幸當時教練和UN的鼓勵讓我沒放棄！還有，我要感謝我的同班同學們（全班共四人），不但沒笑我還一直鼓勵我。在浪大時我無法抬起氧氣筒時幫我一把，在我快崩潰時確定我一切都好。

有些朋友問到我們的課程資訊，在此解釋一下：
課程是美軍提供。執照是PADI（國際潛水協會）認證，一班學生不超過六人。價錢美金300含潛水教材、電子手錶、潛水裝備（需自備潛水靴、蛙鏡、吸氣和fin），共維持一週。最後兩天海底練習，教練會視情況而決定潛水地點和時間，通常約早上六點半。共四次海裡潛水，能到海裡60英尺，前三次海裡練習確定學生們熟悉潛水技能，第四次教練帶著學生們參觀海底生物。過關後，學生會收到PADI潛水執照。

My instructor Everett and classmates!

I am now PADI certified open water scuba diver!!! PTL that we safely resurfaced. Also thoroughly amazed by the beauty of God’s creation down in the deep blue ocean!

Being the beach boy that he is, UN signed me up for open water diving class the first week we got to Okinawa. The class was one week long, first two days in the classroom, second two days in the pool, and weekend in open water! It was a busy week, but not only did I get to see the beautiful water world, I also got to know myself more!

We started learning some skills on the first day we got into the pool. Everything went smoothly until when we got to 12 ft and I had to fully flood my mask and clear it. I totally freaked out!!! Water got into my nose and I felt like I was drowning, lost control and instinctively tried to resurface (a big no no in scuba diving). Thankfully my instructor held onto me and calmed me down so I could master this very important skill!

Terrified from that incidence, I had nightmares about drowning, and didn’t sleep well that night. I was so physically and mentally tired that I didn’t want to continue on the second day. I hesitated going into the pool on the second day, and even told UN that I wanted to go home. After I said those words, I went back into the water (what a dramatic change!) Glad to report second day went splendidly and I mastered all the skills taught that day. 

On the weekend we practiced in open water, and dove for a total of four times. The view under the sea was spectacular, so thankful that my instructor, classmates and UN were so encouraging and didn’t let me give up. They even helped me carried the very heavy oxygen tank when the waves were crashing on me, and made sure that I was good at all times!

Some people have asked me about the class, here’s some info:
Our certification class was done through a military base dive shop, and is PADI certified. Each class has no more than 6 people. Costs about $300 USD per person, and includes instruction materials, dive computer, equipment rentals (need to purchase your own mask, snorkel, shoes and fins), and it lasts for a whole week. The last two days of open water dive, the instructor will determine suitable dive spots according to the weather that day. We started the day’s dive at 6:30 am. We dove for a total of four times and down to 60 ft. The first three dives were skills testing and the last dive was a fun dive. After we passed all written and underwater skills testing we will receive our PADI certification in the mail!