The next day, I decided to hit Iriomote, considered by many the last populated frontier of the empire of japan (err sovereign japanese soil) that actually has stuff to do.  I decided to stay in a guest house on Hoshizuna beach (the name reminds me of Hanauma beach in Hawaii that also has great snorkeling) that was almost ryokan--ish in that they prepare individual meals for guests (there weren`t that many this time around, I think there had only 5 people) and you sleep in the old school japanese tatami mat fashion.
 
So I'm wandering down the beach looking for star sand and lo and behold, who do I walk into but the female half of the british couple I met on Taketomi! and they are even staying in the room next to mine. small world around here, and it was really a blessing as otherwise I really would`ve been alone around there (yes,  a calculated risk I was prepared for but it`s nice that it wasn`t the case). so we have our dinner together and then go to a bar/restaurant about 100 ft down the road to continue chatting.  They`re on the 3rd week of a 3 week vacation to Japan, and the girl definitely has the travel bug. she`s traveled extensively throughout asia (hit almost as many countries as I have) and has even gone 9 weeks in South America alone. pretty crazy. the 3 of us talk a lot of our experiences in Japan and traveling in general.
 
one thing that was interesting that I sorta forgot about since I hadn`t seen any caucasians in a while is how much they stand out, and it`s esp so outside the major cities like over here (the okinawa islands tend to be popular tourist spots for the japanese but few non-japanese come here). the guy is pretty tall and he says he`s like the white elephant in the room - everyone else makes a lot of effort not to notice, but the inquisitive attitude is palpable. so they prob get a lot of secret stares where ever they go.
 
for me, of course, it`s different, since everyone assumes I`m japanese (I seem to have this panasian look about me bc wherever I go in asia, everyone assumes I`m a local) at least at first glance.  so they`ll act japanese around me and it`s only when I open my mouth to talk that they know for certain otherwise.  but even if I don`t, there are still some mannerisms that they might notice if they are around me for a bit. I think it`s body language, hard to describe.  So I have a unique opportunity to observe (not listen, unfortunately) how the japanese are normally, whereas if I were the caucasian couple/white elephant, it`s never quite normal - everyone is secretly staring
 
interestingly, whenever people do find out I`m from NY, they are quite fascinated. i think i might be the only one they`ve ever met
 
the girl is also currently on an asian kick - and she has the same explanation that art and I do. it`s a lot easier to go wandering around asia while single or as a couple than to be bringing children with you (japan being an exception). other places like europe are much more hospitable towards children.
 
also got a common sense tip on sleeping on tatami mats from them - there`s usually a closet full of extra bedding and you should liberally add to the cushioning (they said it`s the princess and the pea technique). and it worked for me (I had 4 in total I was sleeping on, I think) such that I had no backpains in the morning 
 
so walking back from　the bar/restaurant where we had dessert (some pretty exotic stuff actually, a pumpkin filled filadough with orange marmalade and something else with blueberry jam which I forget but was quite tasty), it was incredibly dark. it was actually the first time thus far in my trip that I was sufficiently outside of the city at night to see stars and they were beautiful (and different of course) than in the US. we even saw a shooting star
 
so we breakfasted together, exchanged busines cards, took pictures, and said our goodbyes - talking to these guys was one of the highlights of my trip :)
 
the next day was my hiking adventure - which turned out to be not quite that adventurous but was nice nonetheless. there are regular tours up the urauchi river in the NW part of Iriomote and then one can walk up to a waterfall. the river boat ride was scenic (but nothing beats the mekong delta for scenery, personally) and the japanese only descriptions were obviously lost on me.  
 
the actual 1.5 kim hike up to the falls was easy/modest (heck some parts of the path were even paved with stones) but I had some added strain in that I brought my full backpack since I was going to catch a ferry back to ishi immediately afterwards. the fellow tourists were all japanese and pretty elderly/middle aged. I found myseld at the head of a column (the path only allowed single file) - when I looked back I definitely had a Bridge Over the River Kwai-like moment, even had that whistling song in my head. the scenery was beautiful as was the waterfall. there are a bunch of animals (incl this indigenous only to iriomote wildcat) that we supposedly could see but I didn`t see any. yet they have pictures of the wildcat all over the place, including iriomote wildcat crossing signs on the highways. I think it`s a bit hyped up and a marketing tool.
 
unfortunately, I don`t think most of the elderly/middle-aged people behind me ever made it to the falls. no, they didn`t fall off the cliff (I hope not) but I was ahead of them, got to the falls, took a number of pictures and enjoyed the view and headed back to the riverboat, but I didn`t see any of them.  they prob got an earlier boat, but I would`ve seen them at least when I double-backed to the boat if they had gone to the falls- oh well. it was a good view.
 
and, while waiting for the bus to the ferry back to ishigaki, I stumbled upon this neat little cafe and had a mango smoothie with candied fruit chunks. the place was really nice - it could easily have been found in any quaint town in the US, not the furthest reaches of sovereign japanese soil